Activision has announced a release date for the third DLC expansion for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. The Absolution Map Pack arrives for PlayStation 4 next week, on July 6.
Like previous expansions, Absolution adds four new multiplayer maps to the popular shooter: Bermuda, a shantytown built around shipwrecks; Permafrost, a frozen cityscape; Fore, a gigantic miniature golf course; and Ember, a remake of the Resistance map from Modern Warfare 3.
In addition to that, Absolution introduces a new cooperative Zombies map called Attack of the Radioactive Thing. This particular chapter is inspired by 1950s-era monster movies and has players gunning down zombies in a beach town whose residents were transformed into gruesome monsters by a horrible government experiment. Players can also expect to find new weapons, traps, and more in the mode.
The Absolution Map Pack is included in Infinite Warfare's $50 season pass or can be purchased individually for $15. Like previous Call of Duty expansions, Absolution arrives first on PS4 thanks to Activision's timed-exclusivity deal with Sony. An Xbox One and PC release will follow about a month later. Additionally, Activision kicked off the Call of Duty Days of Summer event this week that adds summer- and beach-themed modes and content to Infinite Warfare, Modern Warfare Remastered (which recently received a standalone release), and Black Ops 3.
There has been a lot of clamoring for more Wii U games to be re-released on Switch--justifiably so--but it isn't Nintendo's only system with games that make sense for the new console. One GameCube classic, Pac-Man Vs., is now headed to Switch by way of a larger collection.
Bandai Namco today announced that Namco Museum, the latest compilation of the company's games, is headed to Switch and includes the beloved Pac-Man Vs. If you're unfamiliar with the game, it's a competitive multiplayer take on Pac-Man. Three players assume the role of ghosts and try to deal with the fourth player, who plays as Pac-Man and does the usual eat-all-the-pellets routine. It was the result of a collaboration between Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto and Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani.
Exciting as this release is, you'll unfortunately need two Switch systems to play, at least when engaging in four-player multiplayer. In that case, the Pac-Man player plays on one system while the three ghosts play on the other. We've followed up with Bandai Namco to find out if this means you'll need two copies of Namco Museum. The original version was played by connecting Game Boy Advance systems to a GameCube.
Namco Museum launches for Switch on July 28 in the Americas and is priced at $30. It also includes a number of other games, complete with online leaderboards (which Pac-Man Vs. does not support). You can see a trailer above and a full list of announced games below:
The first downloadable content for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now just hours away. The Master Trails is slated to launch tomorrow, June 30, but it'll actually arrive on the Eshop a bit sooner, depending on where you live.
A Nintendo spokesperson confirmed with GameSpot that The Master Trials unlocks tonight at 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET, at least in the United States. That means a good portion of the country won't have to wait until it's actually Friday to start playing.
The Master Trials will be available for both the Switch and Wii U versions of Breath of the Wild. Its most significant addition is the Trial of the Sword, a 45-room challenge that powers up the Master Sword. It also introduces a harder difficulty mode, an item that allows you to create a fast-travel point anywhere, a system that tracks where you've been, new outfits, and more.
This is the first of two DLC expansions on the way, with the other being the Champions' Ballad pack, which is due out later this year. That includes a new story chapter centered around the other four champions from Link's era. These DLC packs are not sold individually; they're only available through the $20 season pass. If you're playing on Wii U, you may be faced with a larger download than the one on Switch.
The Lego Ninjago Movie is the next release in the film series, and now Warner Bros. has announced it's getting its own dedicated game too. The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, and it will come out the same day as the movie, September 22.
This next Ninjago game lets you play as characters and battle your way across eight different locations based on the film's story. As you can probably tell, you play ninjas Lloyd, Nya, Jay, Kai, Cole, Zane, and Master Wu. They must master "the art of Ninjagility," ranking up and upgrading skills like the ability to run up walls, high jump, and use "Spinjitzu combat" to battle the evil Lord Garmadon and his Shark Army and save their homeland of Ninjago.
"Enhanced movements will help players traverse Ninjago with the fluidity and grace of a secret ninja warrior and improve their combat skills," said Tom Stone, managing director of developer TT Games. Check out some of the game in action in the trailer below.
Each of the locations in the game also features a Challenge Dojo, where you test out your combat skills against increasingly tough enemies. There's also local multiplayer gameplay, where up to four players can battle each other in four different split-screen game modes.
Nintendo has announced a new batch of rewards for its My Nintendo program. The rewards will go live this Saturday, July 1, and as usual are made up primarily of discounts for a number of 3DS and Wii U titles, though there still aren't any being offered for the company's newest console, Switch.
While we won't know exactly how much players can save on the games--or how many points they'll cost--until the rewards roll out this weekend, the new selection of discounts includes some great titles. We've highlighted the most notable ones below:
My Nintendo members can already redeem one new reward, however: Pikmin Short Movies, the animated Pikmin shorts directed by Nintendo's famed designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The videos are available for both Wii U and 3DS for 40 gold points. Additionally, a Hey Pikmin wallpaper is available for 50 platinum points, and users can still snag discounts on the Wii version of Pikmin as well as Pikmin 3 for Wii U.
This is also your last chance to redeem some older rewards, which are set to expire soon after the new wave rolls out. We've listed the most notable ones and when they expire below:
My Nintendo is Nintendo's successor to the Club Nintendo program. Users can earn platinum points by completing objectives in Nintendo's mobile games such as Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run or by logging in to the eShop and Miiverse regularly. Gold points, meanwhile, can be earned by purchasing games for Wii U or 3DS through the eShop. Switch owners can also earn My Nintendo points by purchasing games either physically or digitally.
Vicarious Visions used the original games' level geometry, but the gameplay is rebuilt from scratch. Some new features for the updated versions include a unified checkpoint and save system (including manual and auto-saving), as well as a unified menu system and Coco as a playable character for every level in the game.
In GameSpot's Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy review, critic Peter Brown said Vicarious Visions has "succeeded in revitalizing Crash from an artistic perspective while preserving the charm that made him appealing when he first showed up," but he notes that "Crash's original adventures aren't as inventive or surprising as they were 20 years ago."
For a wider view of critical opinion, check out our review roundup below or take a look at GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
Game: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release: June 30
Price: US $40 / £30 / AU $70
GameSpot -- 6/10
"The culprit behind Crash's dated feel is the passage of time. Vicarious Visions, for its part, succeeded in revitalizing Crash from an artistic perspective while preserving the charm that made him appealing when he first showed up, but years have passed since the original PlayStation was relevant, and we are well past the formative years of 3D gaming. It's easy to imagine how a dyed-in-the-wool Crash fan will fall in love all over again via the N. Sane Trilogy, but if you're experiencing Crash for the first time--or the first time in a while--it might pain you to realize that Crash's original adventures aren't as inventive or surprising as they were 20 years ago." -- Peter Brown [Full review]
IGN -- 8.5/10
"I didn't want the Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy to break what wasn't broken. Thankfully, Vicarious Visions clearly didn't want to either, and the studio's reverence for the original maddening yet rewarding challenges that have stood the test of time is clearly on display. On one hand, that leads to the frustrating limitations of the original Crash Bandicoot persisting 20 years later. But it also results in the incredible visual and aural overhaul and the gameplay tweaks to earlier entries, like time trials and crate counters, that Naughty Dog added later in the series. Those additions make the overall package so much more cohesive while never forgetting what made, and what still makes, so much of Naughty Dog's original trilogy a blast to play." -- Jonathon Dornbush [Full review]
Game Informer -- 8/10
"Not all games from yesteryear hold up well. The original Crash Bandicoot likely would drive people nuts if it returned in its original form. Vicarious Visions made it fun again, without altering its DNA--a feat that deserves recognition. Although Crash spins and jumps his way through most levels, variety was the key to this series' success. Naughty Dog always included a different wrinkle or evolution of a concept in each stage, and that continues here. For all three games, the feeling of repetition never sinks in, a factor that goes a long way in making this trilogy a blast to play. It's good to have Crash back in the limelight. I hope this isn't the last we see of him." -- Andrew Reiner [Full review]
GamesRadar -- 3.5/5
"There's just no escaping it, there might be brand new death animations to keep you entertained--oh look I've been swallowed by a lion again--but there's no avoiding that the controls just mean that Crash Bandicoot has become Dark Souls. It's a horrible shame. After being so excited for the remaster, there's just no avoiding that the N. Sane Trilogy and you aren't going to get along for a while. When it takes sheer willpower to survive the original's first island when you've played the game for years, you know something has gone wrong somewhere. Those coming in fresh to the franchise aren't going to know what's hit them. Sure, it's big, beautiful, and positively packed with charm, but it's time to prepare to die. I love the N.Sane Trilogy in its new roguelite form but some things will definitely frustrate those new to the franchise looking to find out what all the fuss is about." -- Louise Blain [Full review]
Trusted Reviews -- 3/5
"It's no big surprise to say that the N. Sane trilogy is another pleasant form of fan service from Sony, which does seem keen on this kind of thing when you remember it's doing the same with Final Fantasy XII and Shenmue III. And the intended audience will love it. If you don't fall into this group, though, I don't think you should take the plunge now. Probably best to find something that was developed a bit more recently." -- Simon Miller [Full review]
TheSixthAxis -- 9/10
"As far as remakes go, you can't get any better than this. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is exactly how fans envisioned it--an unadulterated celebration of a PlayStation pioneer. With such a weight on their shoulders, Vicarious Visions have pulled it off with such diligence, infused with a streak of their own creativity. Then there's Naughty Dog original efforts, of course. Even those only acquainted with Uncharted and The Last of Us can appreciate how the studio first made its name, and the journey from Crash Bandicoot to Warped is one of continued innovation. Some two decades later, it's great to see that some things never change." -- Jim Hargreaves [Full review]
Death Note is the upcoming movie adaptation of the classic manga series, and it is due to arrive on Netflix in August. Following March's teaser, a full trailer has now been released. It certainly lives up to the dark, gruesome tone of the source material and suggests that director Adam Wingard (Blair Witch, You're Next) is delivering the horror goods. Check it out here:
Netflix has also released a behind-the-scene promo, which you can watch here. Death Note tells the story of a high school student named Light, who comes into possession of a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone whose name he writes into it. Light sets out to rid the world of evil but finds himself relentlessly pursued by a legendary police detective.
It stars Nat Wolff, best known for the hit teen drama The Fault in Our Stars, plus Keith Stanfield, Paul Nakauchi, and Shea Whigham. Willem Dafoe will perform the voice of Ryuk, the demonic creature who puts the story into motion. Although we don't see much of Ryuk in this trailer, we do hear Dafoe's distinctive voice. The movie hits Netflix on August 25, 2017.
In an interview last year, Wingard explained that Death Note wouldn't be for the faint-hearted. "We can do whatever we want," he told Collider. "It's an anime film. So, technically, it's a cartoon that you're bringing to life. It was important that you have those adult themes. So, it's got nudity, it's got swearing, it's got a ton of violence."
The Death Note manga ran for 108 issues between 2003 and 2006. These were subsequently collected into 12 graphic novels, which to date have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. There have also been three live-action Japanese films, an anime series, and a number of video games for the Nintendo DS, published by Konami.
While many Switch (and Wii U) owners may be looking forward to tomorrow's release of the first Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC pack, today offers a reason to check out the eShop. A pair of new games launch today for Switch owners.
The first of these is Gonner, a procedurally generated platformer that features elements of roguelikes. It's also incredibly difficult, a fact the official description doesn't shy away from acknowledging, telling prospective buyers outright, "You will die. A lot. This is by design, but it's not made to feel unfair."
Gonner was originally set to be released for Switch earlier in June, only for it to be delayed indefinitely. A reason for this has not been provided, but that wait fortunately turned out to be only three weeks. You can pick up the game today for $10/£9; a trailer for the PC version can be seen above.
Also new on the eShop today is another ACA Neo Geo game. This time around it's Magical Drop II, a puzzle game in the mold of Bust-a-Move (aka Puzzle Bobble), where you fire orbs up to create matches and clear the screen. It features two-player support and carries the standard Neo Geo game pricing of $8/£6.29.
The first trailer for Inhumans has arrived. The upcoming Marvel show focuses on a family of superpowered moon-dwelling beings, whose members include the hypersonically-voiced Black Bolt and the super-haired Medusa. The trailer suggests plenty of family intrigue and provides us with a first look at giant teleporting dog Lockjaw. It's certainly dramatic, although at times it also has the feel of a cheesy '70s sci-fi show. Check it out below:
Inhumans is overseen by Scott Buck, the showrunner for Netflix's Iron Fist. Anson Mount stars as Black Bolt, with Iwan Rheon as Maximus, Serinda Swan as Medusa, Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon, Isabelle Cornish as Crystal, and Ken Leung as Karnak.
The show is co-produced by ABC and IMAX. The first two episodes of the eight-part series will get a worldwide release in IMAX theaters on September 1. The series premieres on ABC on September 29, with the first two parts airing back-to-back.
The Inhumans were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in a 1965 issue of Fantastic Four. Their first self-titled comic line ran from 1975 to 1977, and they have subsequently appeared in a variety of limited and ongoing series over the past four decades.
The first trailer for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is here. The movie is a follow-up to the classic '90s adventure and stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan. The trailer delivers a mix of comedy and outlandish action sequences--check it out below:
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is directed by Jake Kasdan, the son of legendary Star Wars writer Lawrence Kasdan. It hits theaters on December 20, 2017.
In a recent interview with Deadline, Kasdan explained that the movie is not a remake of the original film. "Jumanji is the kind of movie that I think people shouldn't out-and-out remake," he said. "To me, a big part of its power is in the unique elements of its original execution. Within that, I think there's this central idea and mythology that's mysterious, but powerful, and commands a powerful part of the imagination.
"I was a fan of the original movie, and I felt like this [movie] really honored it, and included a lot of the stuff that I loved about the original movie, but did it in a really new way."
The 1995 original Jumanji starred Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, and Bradley Pierce. It is based on the novel of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg.
A game that promised the "world's fastest platinum Trophy" has been pulled from the PlayStation Store, according to the title's creator. ★★★★★ 1000 Top Rated is a tile-sliding puzzle game whose developer claimed you could earn its platinum Trophy in under 20 minutes.
Now, however, Sony has apparently pulled the game from PSN. The game's creator, Top Rated, states the platform holder "has pulled the game temporarily and asked me to change the game's name and not mention Trophies in the Store trailer." The developer says it's happy to comply, but it doesn't know when the game will be live once again.
The title is a simple puzzle game that costs $0.98, seemingly designed purely to offer an easy platinum Trophy. It's unclear if the platinum will remain when the title returns to PSN--some downloadable games do not offer the prize, sticking only to bronze, silver, and gold Trophies.
We'll keep you updated if the game returns to the PlayStation Store.
For a variety of reasons too complex, legal, and boring to recount, Spider-Man: Homecoming--while being the fifth film to feature the character in the last 15 years--is the first that actually places the webslinger in the same world as his Marvel counterparts. Outside of his cameo in last year's Captain America: Civil War, the cinematic incarnations of Spider-Man have always lived in a bubble, separate from the explosive adventures of Iron Man or the bruising exploits of the Hulk. It was always strange to have Marvel's marquee character not exist within its own cinematic universe; imagine if Batman didn't live in the same world as Superman, let alone have moms with the same first name. How odd that would be.
Homecoming, then, is a fitting subtitle for this latest Spider-Man film. Not only does it refer to its setting, which puts Peter Parker back in high school, but it also cleverly alludes to the fact that, finally, Spider-Man is back with his Marvel superhero pals. Most importantly, Homecoming also fixes what the previous Spidey movie series fumbled: the characterisation of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The Tobey Maguire-led films made Spider-Man too morose and mopey, while Andrew Garfield's take on Peter Parker in the Amazing series made the normally awkward character too hipster cool. But Spider-Man: Homecoming gets both sides of the character right.
Doing both sides of the character justice goes a long way in Homecoming. After all, Spider-Man became of one the comic book world's biggest names not because he was the most powerful or exotic, but because he was--outside of the whole irradiated spider bite thing--just a normal guy. When he wasn't fighting super villains as Spider-Man, Peter Parker was dealing with the same issues many of us faced: money problems, job security, family concerns, love, and rejection. While other superheroes were billionaires, aliens, or gods, Peter Parker was mundane; just a good kid trying to make the best of what he had. He was us.
Homecoming firmly keeps Spider-Man as one of the little guys, looking up as the titans fly overhead. In this case, that titan is none other than Tony Stark/Iron Man (played again with the same roguish charm by Robert Downey Jr), who reluctantly takes Peter as a protege of sorts after the events of Civil War. Stark kits Peter out with a high tech costume, assigns him a nanny in the form of Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), and tells him to keep his nose out of trouble. "Be a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man," Stark tells Peter. Of course, he offers this advice via a remote controlled Iron Man suit while thousands of miles away. Tony Stark, true to character, is an absent dad.
But Peter--played by the excellent Tom Holland--is exhilarated after his brief adventure fighting against the likes of Captain America in Civil War, and wants more than just the middling thrill of stopping an occasional bicycle thief in Queens. Peter thinks he's ready to be a fully-fledged Avenger, and despite protestations from Stark, he sets out to try and stop a gang of petty thieves from selling advanced weaponry salvaged from the various alien and robotic calamities that have befallen Earth in recent years. Leading this gang is Adrian Toomes (played with dignified menace by Michael Keaton), a former salvage company worker who's outfitted himself with a set of impressive (and dangerous) robotic wings. Toomes wants nothing more than to keep his operation under the radar and away from attention of the Avengers, and the last thing he needs is a pesky kid in red and blue tights dragging him into the spotlight.
Toomes--otherwise known as the Vulture--isn't the only thing complicating Peter's life. There are also all the other pedestrian concerns related to being a teenager; study, field trips, bullies, getting a date for the dance. Homecoming director Jon Watts had previously cited the '80s films of John Hughes as a key influence, and in many ways, this latest Spider-Man does capture the sweet, awkward tone of Hughes' best movies. Homecoming is in many ways a coming-of-age film about young characters trying to grow into themselves. But instead of Molly Ringwald finally getting a kiss at the end, it's a superhero who can stick to walls that finally learns a bittersweet lesson about growing up.
With its focus on relationships, Homecoming has plenty of heart, but it also doubles as an outstanding comedy. A lot of this humor comes from the geeky fanboy reactions of Peter's best friend Ned (played by Jacob Batalon) after he discovers Peter's secret, but the rest of the cast does a great job of keeping the tone light and breezy. From the perpetually put upon Happy Hogan, to the sardonic Michelle (played by Zendaya), to the weary Coach Wilson (Hannibal Buress), and even to a hilarious recurring cameo from another Marvel cinematic universe character. Homecoming delivers a steady stream of laughs, making it the most uproariously funny Marvel movie since the first Guardians of the Galaxy.
But it all comes back to character, and the Peter Parker/Spider-Man we spend time with in Homecoming is pitch perfect, with Tom Holland playing him with a precise mix of awkwardness and exuberance. This Peter Parker is in love with being Spider-Man, and his joy and enthusiasm when he's in costume is infectious. The Vulture, too, continues the Marvel films' recent streak of actually having interesting, relatable baddies. Toomes is indeed threatening, but his intentions are pure, and he joins Tom Hiddleston's Loki as the only other Marvel villain you can't wait to see more of.
It's one of the best crowd pleasers in the Marvel oeuvre, and the best Spider-Man film so far.
Spider-Man: Homecoming gets everything right about this beloved Marvel character, which after the Batman and Robin-like awfulness of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, comes as a huge relief. It's one of the best crowd pleasers in the Marvel oeuvre, and the best Spider-Man film so far. There's a scene halfway through the movie where Spider-Man, after climbing to the top of the Washington Monument, looks down, nervous about the height he's finally reached. "I've never climbed this high before," he says to himself. Well, now you have Peter Parker. Now you have.
Konami has released a new update for its Nintendo Switch exclusive Super Bomberman R, and it's a big one. Patch 1.4 introduces team battles, four new maps, three new characters, and a bunch of fresh accessories.
Team battles allow players to "create their own teams to battle against other players from around the world," according to Konami. Battles can be set up with either three or four teams all facing off against each other, and the winner is decided by the last squad standing. The mode also includes an option to pit one team up against four others "to create the ultimate challenge."
Elsewhere, Battle Mode receives four new maps. They are Plain Floor, Desert Fort, Panic Factory, and the fan-favorite Classic Conveyor Belt. And you can play them with three new characters, each from some of Konami's other famous series. First up is Silent Hill's Pyramid Bomber, who can beat enemies "instantaneously" when contact is made. Then there's Simon Belmont from Castlevania, who can draw in bombs and characters from far away, while Gradius's Vic Viper has "super-fast movement." Finally, new accessories in the Snowflake and Item series are now available.
"In almost every respect, Super Bomberman R plays it safe with its tried-and-true formula," said our reviewer, Jason D'Aprile. "The story mode is short (less than two hours at most), but fun with some creative boss battles and plenty of nostalgic throwbacks. The heart of the game--the battle mode--is a welcome retro rush, and decades since the franchise debuted, it's still one of the best party games around."
Would Nintendo ever remake any of its Super Mario games? If so, it won't be what series creator Shigeru Miyamoto would want, it seems. He said in an interview recently that he has no interest in remaking any of the past Super Mario games--he wants to look forward instead.
"I don't really feel like I want to remake any of them," he told IGN (via Nintendo Enthusiast). "It's more natural to always create new mechanics and new games."
Super Mario remakes are not totally new for Nintendo, as the DS game Super Mario 64 DS was a remake of sorts of the classic Nintendo 64 title.
"So we've been making Mario games for over 30 years, and through that process, we've made changes to the games. Some games tended to be a little bit harder, and a little bit harder to play, and then so we teeter back to make it accessible to all kinds of gamers, and then we go back the other way," Miyamoto explained. "It's been kind of a give and take in that way."
Star Wars: Battlefront II doesn't launch until November, but you may not need to wait until then to try the new sci-fi shooter. Multiple people on games forum NeoGAF are reporting that they received an email today containing a code for a Battlefront II alpha on PC.
That's all there is to go on at the moment, as DICE does not appear to have officially announced an alpha testing period for Battlefront II as of yet. We have contacted publisher Electronic Arts will report back with anything we hear in return.
Spider-Man will not show up in the upcoming Venom spinoff starring Tom Hardy. Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirmed this tonight at the red carpet event for Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Asked outright by Variety if Tom Holland's Spider-Man would be in the film, Feige said, "No." He added: "No, I think the folks there are making a great Venom movie and I don't know much about it, but I know they're off to a good start with Tom Hardy."
The Venom movie, which is due out in October 2018, is being made by Sony, which owns the rights to Spider-Man and associated characters. Marvel had to strike a deal with Sony to allow Spidey to become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Homecoming and last year's Captain America: Civil War.
Ruben Fleischer, who directed Zombieland, is attached to directed the untitled Venom movie.
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in theatres on July 7. Holland stars as Spider-Man, with castmates including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Michael Keaton (Vulture).
The next Pinball FX game has been announced. Pinball FX3 is coming this year, and it aims to be the game that "redefine[s] the console and PC digital pinball experience."
Specifically, the game has lots of new features aimed at turning pinball "into a true community experience," developer Zen Studios said in a PlayStation Blog post. Additionally, the game will support multiplayer, including user-created tournaments and league play.
Pinball FX3 will support the "majority" of purchases from Pinball FX2 and Zen Pinball 2, so players can bring that content to the new game at no extra cost.
"Zen Studios has enjoyed a deep conversational relationship with the pinball community for over a decade. We have learned from each other, worked together, and developed a better game together," Zen Studios VP Mel Kirk said in a press release. "Pinball FX3 is a milestone step forward for players on console and PC, and I am excited that many of our new features are suggestions from the community. We remain 100% committed to providing our players with an exceptional value, allowing them to bring their collection forward with them as we can all enjoy a host of new features and upgrades together from day one."
Zen Studios also teased that Pinball FX3 will include three new tables from a "brand-new IP partner" at launch, though these have not been announced yet.
As always, the pinball wizards at Zen Studios are working on new and exciting content. Pinball FX3 will launch with three brand new tables from a brand-new IP partner. These tables will be announced at a later date. That's an intriguing note, as Zen has already worked with gigantic companies such as Marvel, Lucasfilm, Bethesda, Fox, and South Park.
Pinball FX3 is coming to PS4, Xbox One, Windows 10, and Steam this year. A teaser trailer can be seen above.
Retailer Best Buy has launched a new sale on the Oculus Rift headset. The store is currently offering a nice package that comes with the headset, Touch controllers, and a $150 store gift card for $600. The headset itself normally goes for $500, with the controllers available for $100, so this deal is pretty sweet if you want to buy more stuff at Best Buy.
In March, the Facebook-owned Oculus dropped the price of the Rift to $500 and the Touch controller package to $100.
Speaking with GameSpot, Oculus VP of content Jason Rubin said of the price drop, "We think that this is a massive difference. It's very clear the reason we've sold 5 million Gear VRs is because of its price. It's very clear that the reasons certain console VR is doing well is because of its price."
The Rift's price point (with controllers) is now below HTC Vive's $800 price. It's still above PlayStation VR, however, which starts at $400.
One of actor Josh Brolin's next big movie roles is Cable in the Deadpool sequel. Today, the Oscar-nominated actor posted a photo of himself transforming into the character. Understandably, it looks like it's going to take a lot of makeup for him to get into character.
For the Instagram image's caption, he wrote, "Insanity on the brink. Face is morphing into something machine, fierce, hair sliced, arm machined, bulged."
As explained by Collider, Cable's comic book look features a mechanical arm and eye, and his face is scarred. The Instagram shot shows that Brolin is getting makeup for half of his face, or something else. We don't know yet how the Cable's comic look will vary from the movie.
Brolin previously released a video of himself getting ripped for his role in Deadpool 2--watch it here.
In other Deadpool 2 news, Reynolds posted a picture of himself giving a piggy-back ride to Hunt for the Wilderpeople actor Julian Dennison, supposedly confirming that he'll be in the movie.
A new patch is now available for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The Nintendo Switch racing game's second update, Version 1.2, makes a number of changes, some of which sound pretty significant.
For example, you can no longer use an item after it was used to block an attack. Additionally, the patch changes the Boomerang item so that it will return to the first slot, where possible, after it is caught.
For online matches, players who fall behind will receive even items that help them catch up more frequently. Additionally, no more than two Piranha Plants can go out as items at the same time on any course for online races.
The latest weekly sales charts for Australia and New Zealand have arrived, showing which physical games sold the best in both regions over the past week.
In New Zealand, Tekken 7 was the best-selling game of the week. Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Fallout 4, Prey, and Grand Theft Auto V making up the top five for New Zealand.
You can see the full Top 10 sales charts for Australia and New Zealand below. As usual, these are the all-platforms charts and they cover physical game sales only, this time for the week ended June 11. Another thing to note is that the group that puts together these lists, the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, does not release specific sales numbers.
Australia/New Zealand Top 10 All-Platforms Sales Charts:
The first full trailer for the new Jumanji film, Welcome to the Jungle, will premiere tomorrow, but ahead of that, a teaser has been released that shows off a brief look at what to expect.
The teaser shows off the characters played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan. We also see some snippets of action, including a motorcycle chase, a giant hippo, and, in a nice callback to the first movie, there are rhinos causing havoc.
A game for those who seek to find, a way to leave their world behind. See the Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle trailer tomorrow! #JumanjiMoviepic.twitter.com/hpN6IM5Rc7
They discover that choosing a character in the game transports them into a jungle as that character. Jake Kasdan, the son of legendary Star Wars writer Lawrence Kasdan, is directing Welcome to the Jungle. The film opens this Christmas.
The 1995 original Jumanji starred Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, and Bradley Pierce. It is based on the novel of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg.
Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres in July. It's the acclaimed show's penultimate season, with Season 8 bringing the show to its conclusion, but when will that season air? It hasn't been decided yet, apparently, but it could be 2018 or 2019, it looks like.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner David Benioff said about the Season 8 premiere date, "We honestly don't know yet." He added: "There's been a lot of back and forth about air dates. That's a long way off from being settled."
Also in the interview, Benioff said the Season 8 scripts are "nearly completed," before backing off and saying, "I shouldn't say "nearly." The other showrunner, D.B. Weiss jumped in to say, "I wouldn't go that far. It's exciting, but there's always pressure. You don't ever want to drop the ball."
Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres on July 16; there will be seven episodes. As for Season 8, while the release date hasn't been announced, we know it'll only contain six episodes.
While Star Wars: Battlefront II's DLC maps and characters will be free--and there is no season pass--the sci-fi shooter will have microtransactions. Now, a new video begins to explain how this system will work, and it sounds familiar to the setup in a lot of other titles.
As explained in the video from BattlefrontUpdates produced in partnership with EA, the main way to progress in Battlefront II is by unlocking crates. You do this by spending credits that you acquire by playing the game, or, if you want to speed up your progress, by spending money. In the alpha version of the game, Crates contained mostly Star Cards and crafting elements.
Additional videos from BattlefrontUpdates cover things like Star Cards specifically and the overall progression system. The progression video also confirms that weapons and vehicles can be customised just like in DICE's Battlefield 1, which is pretty cool. You can watch those videos below. Bear in mind that everything shown in all of these videos is subject to change, given the game is only in an Alpha state.
Battlefront II design director Niklas Fegraeus spoke to GameSpot at E3 about the sci-fi shooter's free DLC plans and more.A number of high-profile games are offering their DLC maps and modes for free, including Halo 5 and Titanfall 2, and the Battlefront sequel joins them for some of the same reasons. Fegraeus said that giving away DLC maps ensures that everyone can play together. In 2015's Battlefront, EA added numerous maps as paid DLC, and as time rolled out, the community became more and more splintered, leading to player figures falling.
"I think the main thing here is to keep the community together," Fegraeus said about Battlefront II's free DLC model. "In terms of the brand, to me, when it comes to Star Wars, that's a family feeling. If you're a fan, you're a part of the family. And splitting that up and saying, 'If you have this content you can play here, but if you have this content you can play here.' And if you don't share, you will be split up. What we wanted to do was have a journey that starts at the launch of the game. So when the game launches, this journey starts with different seasons [of DLC]."
Battlefront II's first season of themed DLC launches in December, themed around this year's new Star Wars film, The Last Jedi.
The overarching goal for Battlefront II's free DLC campaign is to allow players to stay together, whether or not they've spent any (extra) money on the game.
"No one will ever be locked away by some purchase that they made," Fegraeus said.
Game of Thrones returns for its seventh season next month. The highly anticipated season is the show's penultimate one, and fans are eager to see how the events unfold. Now, creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff have pulled back the curtain, a little bit, and shared some new insight into what fans can expect from the upcoming season.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Weiss said one element of Season 7 that is "most exciting" is the ability to "play interactions between various characters that for years we haven't been able to play." Season 7 will feature a "whole bunch of reunions and first-time meetings" that fans have been waiting for.
Benioff added that in Season 7, as with every season, "everyone steps up their game."
"It's kind of astounding to us. We were looking at a battle scene and we set more stuntmen on fire in one of these shots than have ever been simultaneously set on fire … But every department constantly improves, from the effects to the acting," he explained. "[Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner] have been great from the beginning and how they've grown as actors--I mean everybody in the cast has, but in them it's especially pronounced since they started as kids. Now we're coming into the final season and it's very gratifying. We've managed to keep everybody on the same path moving the same direction for so long."
Also in the interview, Benioff seemed to agree that the pacing for Season 7 is faster, and it's leading to an epic conclusion.
"For a long time we've been talking about 'the wars to come,'" he explained. "That war is pretty much here. So it's really trying to find a way to make the storytelling work without feeling like we're rushing it. You want to give characters their due, and pretty much all the characters left are important characters, even the ones who might have started out as relatively minor characters have become significant in their own right."
For his part, Weiss added that the scope of the overarching story has of course scaled up with every season, and this "feeds in a little bit into the pacing."
"It's this urgency from within the story that drives the pace rather than any external decision," he said. "Things are moving faster because in the world of these characters the war that they've been waiting for is upon them, the conflicts that have been building the past six years are upon them and those facts give them a sense of urgency that makes them move faster."
Games are discounted by as much as 65 percent, while Xbox Live Gold members can save up to 10 percent more. The full list of titles and prices hasn't been announced yet, but that should happen soon, given the sale is starting this week. The promotion wraps up on July 10.
Going back to the Xbox Ultimate Game Sale, we'll report back with all the offers when they're announced. Are you looking forward to the sale? Let us know in the comments below!
The voice cast for the upcoming Castelvania animated show for Netflix has been announced--and it includes some big names. In a weird and wonderful YouTube video (via Polygon), producer Adi Shankar and Dracula voice actor Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Call of Duty) announced the voice cast.
Richard Armitage, who played Thorin in the Hobbit trilogy, will play the role of Trevor Belmont, while Battlestar Galactica actor James Callis voices Alucard. Honey, I Shrunk The Kids actor Matt Frewer plays The Bishop, while Blow actor Tony Amendola portrays The Elder. Additionally, Smily Swallow voices Dracula's wife, Lisa Tepes, and Alejandra Reynoso portrays Sypha Belnades.
Netflix announced the series earlier this year and said that it was due out sometime in 2017. It's now been confirmed that the show premieres very soon, arriving on July 7.
The show was written by Warren Ellis, the famed comic writer behind series like Transmetropolitan. You can watch the first trailer here.
"Inspired by the classic video game series, Castlevania is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes himself," an official description reads.
Ubisoft has released a big patch for its open-world shooter Ghost Recon: Wildlands. The update, which is out now, brings with it some bug fixes, small improvements, and a new way to play the game called Tier 1 Mode.
Tier 1 Mode introduces a new difficulty option, and changes the way in which you level up. You start off at level 50 and work your way down towards level 1 by earning Tier Points (rather than XP), which can apparently unlock rewards. It seems there are no separate objectives or locations for Tier 1 Mode--you simply flick a switch in the menu to turn it on after reaching level 30 in the base game.
Elsewhere, the patch introduces a HUD indicator that tells you why you've been detected, and fixes a bunch of bugs. You can take a look at the full patch notes for the update--which comes in at around 7.4 GB on PC and 8.8 GB on PS4 and Xbox One--below. A video overview can be seen above.
Ghost Recon just recently received new DLC called Fallen Ghosts. The expansion consists of 15 new missions, three locations, and four bosses to eliminate. It's out now, included for free as part of the season pass, or available on its own for US $15 / £12 / AU $23.
Ghost Recon: Wildlands Title Update 5 Patch Notes
User Interface
The reason for detection is now displayed above the mini-map.
Gameplay
Fixed a bug where the player could not use the drone or the binoculars after using the medic drone to heal.
Fixed a bug where vehicles would take low damage when shot from a long distance.
Corrected a bug where the Stoner LMG folded buttstock would be described with an incorrect location in the loadout.
Corrected a bug where Whisper pistol had no silencer and would alarm NPCs if players used it.
Audio
An unusual noise was heard near a ruined hut…
Fixed a bug where the M9 handgun would sound the same with or without a suppressor.
Narco Road
Fixed a bug where the follower icon could be missing when in the tac-map.
Fallen Ghosts
Fixed a bug where the player would be detected by NPCs when shooting at long distance with a crossbow.
PC-Specific
Fixed a bug where excessive lighting would occur in certain weather types in the Fallen Ghosts expansion when the Enhanced Godrays option was enabled.
Fixed a bug where selecting the left-handed mouse option would display the right click for fast travel on the tac-map instead of the left click.
Fixed a bug where an Xbox One controller would lose input if the controller was disconnected while the game was unfocused.
Fixed a bug where the mouse click was not displayed for the Skills shortcut in the command wheel.
Fixed a bug where a pop-up related to Easy Anti Cheat would be displayed at every game start if the User Account Control feature was enabled in Windows.
Fixed a bug where rapidly closing NVIDIA Ansel after it was open caused the game to run at 1 frame per second.
Ever since Steam started giving refunds to dissatisfied players who've played two hours or less of a game, it's been unclear how often that refunds are requested. Today, Garry Newman, a developer of Rust, shared some new stats that give an idea of how many people ask for refunds.
On Twitter, Newman posted a screenshot that shows the data for Rust's total number of refunds and money refunded, and it's a lot. Around 330,000 purchasers of Rust have asked for refunds, resulting in $4.3 million given back to them.
This sum isn't exactly a complete loss of sales for Newman's studio, as the introduction of the refund system has likely encouraged people to be less discerning in their purchasing habits. Nonetheless, 330,000 is still a very large number of refunds given out. To put in perspective, according to SteamSpy, 5.5 million people own Rust.
Talking to PC Gamer, Newman said that players most often listed "not fun" and "bad performance" as reasons for asking for refunds.
Last month, a new stats page for Steam as a whole went live, which revealed that Valve deals with thousands of refund requests per day. As of this writing, during the past 24 hours, 225,000 people have asked for their money back. This is a massive spike in requests likely due to the Steam Summer Sale happening now.
Installation 01, a fan-made Halo game for PC, has been in the works for quite some time. However, with any game like this, the legality is a big question mark. With fan-made tributes to Metroid 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Metal Gear Solid being shut down by the publishers of those games, Installation 01's future was uncertain. But today, the team confirmed that 343 Industries is allowing development on Installation 01 to continue, under a couple of conditions.
On its website, the team shared that it had been in contact with 343 regarding Installation 01's legality. Recently, the studio held a call with the game's developers and confirmed that it's "not under imminent legal threat," according to the post.
Installation 01's development is covered under Microsoft's Game Content Usage Rules, as long as the team remains non-commercial and doesn't accept any money for the work. As a result, Installation 01's project manager announced that the team will never take donations, nor will it sell anything related to the game.
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