Xbox Live Gold subscribers wanting to claim Watch Dogs on Xbox One and Kane & Lynch 2 for Xbox 360 for free will need to do so quickly, as the games will no longer be available as part of the Games with Gold promotion after today. The other Xbox One freebie, Ubisoft's Grow Up, will continue to be available until July 31.
Replacing Watch Dogs on Xbox One is Runbow, which will be available from July 16 - August 15. For Xbox 360, Kane & Lynch 2 is being swapped out for Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, which will be free from July 16 - July 31.
You can use the links below to grab the current Games with Gold games.
Switch owners have another opportunity to try Splatoon 2 before the game releases next week. The Splatfest World Premiere demo goes live in the US today at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET and in the UK at 5 PM BST.
Unlike the Testfire beta Nintendo held back in March, which was only available at specific, hour-long blocks of time, today's demo runs for four hours and gives players a chance to participate in Splatoon 2's first Splatfest. These events are a returning feature from the original Splatoon and pit two teams against each other over a divisive topic. Players choose a side and take part in Turf Wars to earn the most points for their team. Today's theme is already a contentious one: which is better, cake or ice cream?
Players can already create a character in the demo and choose their side, but they cannot participate in Turf Wars until the Splatfest kicks off. Nintendo has said that four different weapons will be available to try during the event: the Tentatek Splattershot, the all-new Splat Dualies, and "remixed" versions of the Splat Charger and Splat Roller.
Splatoon 2 releases exclusively for Switch on July 21. Nintendo recently broadcast a Nintendo Direct devoted to the game, which revealed some new details and gave fans a refresher on its many new features. You can read our recap of the broadcast here. The Nintendo Switch Online mobile app will also release alongside the title next week, and it will allow players to set up private battles and voice chat with friends, as well as view a game-specific service called SplatNet 2.
We teamed up with Activision to give away twenty (20) Destiny 2 Early Access Beta Codes. To enter for a chance to win, scroll down below.
Destiny 2's early-access to the Open Beta begins on these dates and platforms:
July 18th at 10:00AM Pacific on PlayStation 4
July 19th at 10:00AM Pacific on Xbox One
This is NOT an instant win. Competition ends Monday, July 17, 2017 at 5:00PM Pacific. Twenty (20) winners will be contacted via email with their early-access code. Entry is open worldwide. Codes are for the Early Access Open Beta only and do not give access to the full game when it launches officially.
Disney's big D23 convention takes place this weekend, and there's a good chance it'll be headlined by Star Wars: Episode VIII news. However, it's also shaping up to be a good weekend for gamers, as there'll be news about Insomniac's Spider-Man game, Star Wars: Battlefront II, and Kingdom Hearts III.
The reveals are coming as a part of D23's games show, called Level Up. It takes place tomorrow, June 15, at 1 PM PT/ 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST. It'll be livestreamed on Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube. Gaming personalities JackSepticEye and Strawburry17 will be hosting.
Of the three games to be talked about, Kingdom Hearts III is perhaps the most mysterious. The game has been long in development, having been originally announced way back in 2013. We recently got a new gameplay trailer, but otherwise we haven't heard much news about it. It'll be interesting to see what Disney shows off this weekend. The game is planned for launch no earlier than 2018 for PS4 and Xbox One.
Nintendo is giving away another free Pokemon for Sun and Moon. This time, players in the US, Europe, and Australia can snag a rare shiny variant of the guardian Pokemon Tapu Koko.
What makes this particular Pokemon special is its appearance; unlike most other pocket monsters, Tapu Koko cannot be found in the wild in its shiny form, making this the only legitimate way players can obtain one. The Pokemon is level 60 and comes equipped with an Electric Seed, which synergizes nicely with its ability Electric Surge. Electric Seed boosts Tapu Koko's defense in Electric Terrain, which the Pokemon creates when it enters the battlefield. Tapu Koko also knows the following moves:
Nature's Madness
Discharge
Agility
Electro Ball
To obtain the Pokemon, select the Mystery Gift option from the game's menu screen and choose to receive your gift via the Internet. You can then pick up your Tapu Koko from the deliveryman inside any of the game's Pokemon Centers.
Nintendo has been offering Pokemon Sun and Moon players a steady stream of free items and monsters since the games' release. Recently, players could snag five rare Mega Stones by inputting a special code. There are more adventures still in store for the Alola region; this November, Nintendo will be releasing Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, another pair of titles set in the same world but with an "alternate story." Players can pre-order a special Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon steelbook dual pack right now from Amazon. Nintendo is also releasing the classic Gold and Silver versions on the 3DS Eshop this September, and any Pokemon captured in those titles can be transferred to Sun and Moon via Pokemon Bank.
After three years, Peter Capaldi will end his run as the title character on the television series Doctor Who this holiday during the annual Christmas special. But, of course, the end of one Doctor just means that another is going to take his place. That new actor's identity has been a well-guarded secret, but we've learned when the reveal will happen: July 16.
The official Doctor Who Twitter account stated in a video teaser today that the 14th Doctor's identity will be shown following the Wimbeldon Men's Final. Whether that's a clue in some way to the next Time Lord's identity remains to be seen.
Speculation around who could play the next iteration of the Doctor has spanned actors ranging from Ben Winshaw (from the recent Bond films) to Harry Potter star Rupert Grint. But as we saw with the reincarnation of the Master a few seasons back, the Doctor's identity is gender fluid.
Who do you think will take on the new Time Lord's mantle? Let us know in the comments below.
It's been more than three years since Nintendo first revealed it was developing a "Quality of Life" product, but the company has yet to formally announce the proposed device. The last time we'd heard about it was over a year ago, in February 2016, when Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima revealed that it would not be ready for some time. However, according to its annual report for the fiscal year 2017, it appears that Nintendo's mysterious QOL system is still very much in development.
In the section regarding its research and development activities, Nintendo reveals that one of its current initiatives is a "new product that improves people's QOL (Quality of Life) in enjoyable ways." The excerpt does not give much more insight into the product or offer any more details about how it will function, but from the description, it appears to be the same sleep sensor the company has been discussing for the past several years. "Our aim is to enable consumers to make daily efforts to improve their QOL in a fun manner by making sleep and fatigue status visible and offering various services based on this information," the report reads.
Nintendo's first QOL product was to be a sensor that could measure a person's sleep and fatigue levels without the need to be worn. According to the company's late president, Satoru Iwata, the product would be placed at a user's bedside and would automatically measure data about the person's sleep quality. "Inside the QOL Sensor is a non-contact radio frequency sensor, which measures such things as the movements of your body, breathing and heartbeat, all without physically touching your body," Iwata explained.
Since then, however, Nintendo has shared few details on the product. Last year, president Kimishima briefly discussed the device at an investor's briefing, and from the sound of things, it appeared it had a long way to go before it was ready for release. "We do not feel that we are currently at a stage where we can commercialize a product that deals with sleep and fatigue," he said. "So we are not planning to launch any products in this area in the fiscal year ending in March 2016. However, we do believe there is potential in the QOL sector, so we will continue to consider further development in this area."
Nintendo's mysterious QOL product isn't the first time the company has experimented with health and wellness; the exercise game Wii Fit was one of Wii's most successful titles, and Nintendo had even announced a Vitality Sensor peripheral for the console, though that device ultimately never materialized.
Marvel and DC comics franchises have come to dominate the superhero movie genre, but that isn't stopping longtime friends and collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg from entering the fray with Robert Kirkman's Invincible.
The duo's latest adaptation, announced in April, will bring Kirkman's Invincible--a superhero comics series that the Walking Dead creator launched in 2003--to life on the big screen. In an interview at a "Film Independent at LACMA" screening of Preacher in Los Angeles, Rogen said he's more focused on making a good movie than trying to compete with Marvel or DC.
"My favorite of the superhero movies that have come out recently have been Logan and [Spider-Man: Homecoming], which are both movies that would be great movies if you removed the fact that they were superheroes," he said. "They were good movies where one of the characters was a superhero. And I think that it's an exciting thing that people have accepted that."
Invincible follows superhero Mark Grayson, the son of a hero named Omni-Man. Markus inherits his father's abilities and the books portray his struggles to cope with his powers and responsibility as a teenage hero.
Goldberg and Rogen began their current run of adaptations with the oft-maligned Green Hornet movie in 2011, but they've learned a lot since then, especially from their work bringing the Garth Ennis-written comics series Preacher to AMC.
"We did The Green Hornet and learned a ton of s*** that now we're re-applying," Goldberg said.
Preacher, which rather infamously has diverged far from its source material, provided its own set of lessons, especially regarding whether to stick to the books or alter the story as needed. "The biggest lesson is to do both things simultaneously," Goldberg said. "Throw it all away and come up with something completely different, and then also don't throw anything away, and then discuss the two options and then see what makes sense."
Skip Bolen/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
"It's a movie, so a lot of stuff it's just like, there's no time for that, there's no time for that, there's no time for that," He continued. "Whereas with [Preacher] we're like, we can get there in the third year if we want. We could hypothetically do all sorts of things down the road. With Invincible, we have to do something in 120 minutes, or whatever it is."
Despite that, Goldberg said Invincible will resemble its source material more than Preacher has so far. "We just started writing it, but we really are on the same page as Robert Kirkman," he said. "I think we have like a really clear direction for it that is way closer to the comic than [Preacher] has been."
That can still change, of course. Goldberg said that when they originally pitched the Preacher adaptation to AMC, it was as a "straight up" adaptation of the books, Sin City-style. That had changed by the time they shot the show's pilot, thanks in large part to the influence of Preacher creator Garth Ennis, who told them to alter as much as they needed to.
Making Invincible a good movie first--one that would be just as good if it didn't involve superheroes at all--remains the focus for now.
"That is much more an idea I can wrap my head around as a writer than this 'universe-building,' as it were, and how to introduce one piece of what might ultimately be a 30-piece puzzle," Rogen said, referring to the cinematic universes being built by Marvel and DC. "Like with Sausage Party, that was like, a movie. If it wasn't food, it would still be a movie. It worked. In real life, you could work out all those analogies. And that's been our approach."
The recent release of Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has been marred by connectivity issues, which publisher Square Enix attributed to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks from a third party. Today, Square published an update on the situation, explaining that the attackers had started targeting internet service providers--but the attacks have been contained, for now.
In a post on its website, the company stated that, after its own defenses had helped contain the DDoS attacks, the third-party had moved up to attack ISPs. This meant that the problems were out of Square's control, and it required intervention by ISPs.
"Since July, the attacks have shifted away from the Final Fantasy XIV game servers, and the target has changed to focus on the upper-tier internet service providers that are required to connect to the data center," the company wrote. "These attacks to the upper-tier ISP network are causing lapses in communication to the game servers, giving rise to instant disconnects during logins."
However, it appears that, for the moment, the attacks have been contained. ISP defenses have provided relief from the issues plaguing the game. Nevertheless, Square warned that the problems could arise once more. "There is the possibility that the attacks could occur again," the post reads. "Therefore, we will seek to strengthen our cooperation with the upper-tier ISPs and continue observing our defenses."
Stormblood launched last month and received critical acclaim. GameSpot gave it a 9/10, with critic Pete Davison writing, "While new players--or those who never beat A Realm Reborn's complete story--may feel aggravated at being locked-out of the expansion until they catch up, there's little denying that Final Fantasy XIV as a whole offers astonishing value for those willing to immerse themselves, and it will only continue to grow and expand over time."
If you're not a fan of sports, then sports documentaries can be painful and downright excruciating. Even ESPN's 30 for 30 series, which has become the gold standard for presenting the history of sports, can sometimes feel dry or dull to the average person. However, director Jake Szymanski and writer Murray Miller--the minds behind 2015's 7 Days In Hell--have a new sports mockumentary out that is beyond belief, called Tour De Pharmacy.
The HBO 45- minute fictional movie recounts the story of five cyclists during the 1982 Tour De France, a year when everyone was abusing some sort of drugs during the yearly race. Andy Samberg stars as Marty Hass, the first African cyclist in the event, whose father owned a diamond mine in Nigeria. In addition, the movie features Orlando Bloom as previous Tour De France winner Juju Pepe, Daveed Diggs as Jackie Robinson's nephew Slim Robinson, Freddie Highmore as Adrian Baton, a female cyclist posing as a male, and John Cena as Gustav Ditters, who gained 200 lbs. of muscle during the off season. In addition, the movie features present day interviews with the athletes, and Jeff Goldblum steals the show as an aging Hass, who still dresses like it's 1982.
What makes this short film work so incredibly well is how off-the-wall it is. Right off the bat, the film explains that cyclists regularly urinate while riding, with the commentator stating with a to-the-point inflection in his voice, "[this] is a thing that cyclists actually do." That line sets the whole tone for the entirety of the 45 minutes: it's sarcastic, absurd, and does not shy away from making fun of the little-known-facts in the world of cycling. That's the charming thing about Tour De Pharmacy: it presents what many would consider to be a boring topic in the most outlandish way possible, while being brutally honest in a comedic fashion.
What drags the viewer deeper down the rabbit hole are the incredibly bizarre--yet hilarious--tangents Tour De Pharmacy detours through time and time again. While the film relies heavily on interviews with celebrities and comedians posing as experts, these moments go entirely off-the-rails, sometimes for a few minutes, like when an animated educational video is shown about how blood cells work, which takes an exceptionally dark turn.
Another perfect example of this is when legendary boxer Mike Tyson--who says he is a huge Tour De France enthusiast--recounts the time his bike was stolen. To make matters even more baffling--yet entirely hilarious--the whole scene is reenacted in the graphical style of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, which you can see a screencap of below.
As over-the-top the comedy may be in this film, it has a remarkably enthralling story about five cyclists trying to be the best, even if drugs, death, or romance get in the way. Each of the five characters have distinct, engaging story arcs that weave their way through the narrative. It is all set up with a ludicrous story involving the head of the Tour De France, Ditmer Klerken (played by Kevin Bacon), who overspendings after credit cards were introduced to his country, and in doing so, he puts pressure on the cyclists to pay him to help with the debt. There is a lot to keep track of as the movie progresses, but at no time does it feel like information overload, as much of what is presented is purely for a quick gag.
Yes, Tour De Pharmacy is silly and sometimes downright stupid, but its absurdist humor and mocking of sports documentaries is wonderful, and perfectly points out nonsensical elements from the genre it parodies, while telling a story that is weirdly captivating. It's a fine follow-up to 7 Days In Hell and another huge success for Szymanski and Miller. Cycling and the Tour De France may not be everyone's cup or tea, but Tour De Pharmacy makes cycling enjoyable to a mass audience, through jokes about very real problems like performance enhancing drugs, cheating, and Toto singing about Africa.
Tour De Pharmacy is currently available through HBO Go, HBO Now, and on-demand for HBO subscribers.
The Hitler who debuted recently in Preacher season 2 might be the most sympathetic version of the historic mass murderer that's ever existed onscreen. Executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg didn't disagree with that assessment during interviews at a Film Independent at LACMA screening of Preacher in Los Angeles this week, although they did tease that the Fuhrer has a darker side.
Shocking, we know.
"Hitler's not going to remain in his current situation forever," Goldberg said.
The last we saw of him, Hitler was being viciously kicked by a room full of bullies, including good old "Arseface" Eugene. In Preacher's vision of Hell, where denizens are forced to relive their worst memory over and over (until the machinery breaks down at least), Hitler's become contemplative, quiet, and apparently regretful. He can't even stick up for himself. That's probably not going to last, however.
"I think there's still other sides to Hitler," Rogen said.
Other sides, like a darker side?
"I would say Hitler's got a Hitler side," said Goldberg.
If there was ever a show that was going to get away with portraying Hitler in a sympathetic light, it's Preacher. The AMC adaptation of the classic Garth Ennis-written comics holds nothing sacred, including God himself, who in the series' lore has ditched his throne and left Heaven in shambles. Next to that awesome blasphemy, what harm is a little likable Hitler?
"It's something that I've been obsessed with for a long time, that we kept discussing, and it slowly became something that was hard to resist," Goldberg said. "Hitler's been there for like 70 years--what would he have realized in 70 years? We think that one thing he would come to see is that many of the things he did in fact were heinous. And over 70 years in Hell, with all the people still coming down to Hell, if he could talk to them, maybe he'd have a different perspective than you'd expect."
"It was probably one of those things that someone brought up jokingly, and then were were just like, 'We could actually do that,'" Rogen said. "If there's one show that could do that, I guess it's this one. So we might as well do it."
Skip Bolen/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
Hitler is just one of the many twisted additions in the show that never appeared in the original comics. At this point fans have come to expect that the show is a very different story, although at the end of season 1, when main characters Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy had finally embarked on their long-awaited road trip from the books, it had briefly seemed like the show would start hewing closer to the source material.
"I think just as at the end of the first season everything lined up to a place where you completely recognized it, you just got there in a way you would never have expected. I think that type of thing is what we'll continue doing," Rogen said. "There will be benchmarks where you recognize every element of what's happening from the comic. I think just how we get there is hopefully surprising and original."
Season 2's next episode, "Dallas," will focus on the three main characters, particularly on more unexplored backstory for Jesse and Tulip--backstory that's wholly original to the show.
"In the comic you just kind of wonder, you know, 'How the f*** did they get there?'" Rogen said. "As [the characters] start to feel like real people and they occupy a real physical space and there's human beings performing it, you just start to ask more questions. We've adapted a few things now. There's some questions in a comic you don't ask, but as soon as there's a human there, your brain starts to wonder a little bit. It's interesting."
They always eventually want to reach the important "milestones" from the books, though.
"I think we're always kind of getting closer to the core of the comic, because as we progress onward a lot of the key characters that everyone loves are going to come into play," Goldberg said. "We don't want to waste any of the good characters. We want to bring back all of the craziest, most memorable, most bizarre Garth creations."
Skip Bolen/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
Preacher showrunner and Executive Producer Sam Catlin teased some upcoming storylines from the books they'd like to portray on the show. "I love the Saint of Killers origin story from the books, I think that's really cool," he said. "There's so many world yet to conquer: San Francisco, and New York, and the south of France, and Cassidy's origin story, all those things. There's so much that we've yet to draw on."
When Goldberg and Rogen first pitched Preacher to AMC, they'd envisioned it as a "straight up" adaptation of the books, Sin City-style. "Garth was the first person to be like, 'You know that's a bad idea, right?'" Goldberg said.
What the show transformed into instead is a sometimes meandering--but always compelling--exploration of themes and characters whose payoffs have so far been worth it, despite the time it takes to get there.
Preacher season 2 is currently airing Mondays on AMC. Check out GameSpot Universe on YouTube for our Preacher episode breakdowns and much more.
Top image: Skip Bolen/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
Her Story was one of the biggest surprises of 2015. The indie game by Sam Barlow was acclaimed for its unique format: players navigate through desktop menus and watch recordings to investigate a mystery. Today, Barlow announced the follow-up to Her Story, a spiritual successor called Telling Lies.
First reported by Variety, Telling Lies has a very similar format to Her Story, but with much higher production values and an expanded scope. Barlow has even said that he hopes to get Hollywood talent on board to act in the game.
Since it's a spiritual successor to Her Story, the game will explore similar themes. However, it'll feature an entirely new story, characters, and locations. Barlow is drawing inspiration primarily from 1970s-era thriller films, in particular Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. "Imagine Steve McQueen's Shame mashed up with The Conversation," Barlow told Variety. "[The '70s] were such a golden age exploring the intersection of government, society and individuals."
It's currently early in development; Barlow says that he's in the scripting phase. It's being published by Annapurna Interactive, which will also oversee the production of the live-action parts of the game. There's no word yet on when it'll be released, but Barlow says that he hopes to begin shooting in late 2017 or early 2018.
Her Story launched back in 2015 on PC; if you want to read more, you can check out our 8/10 review here. Justin Clark wrote, "It's a 200-piece psychological puzzle offering the cheap, gamey thrills of putting two parts together, but it is much deeper, darker, and even sadder when you realize what the picture might be when it's finished."
The next batch of Street Fighter V costumes has been revealed, and the outfits are all about nostalgia. Alex, Ibuki, and Juri will all get retro-style costumes next week. In addition, Capcom will release a classic stage alongside the new outfits.
The costumes and stage all are inspired by older Street Fighter titles. The stage, Suzaku Castle, is Ryu's home level, and it originally appeared in Street Fighter II. "Forget Guile's jet, Ryu's temple roof stage is where the truest of warriors fought for arcade supremacy back in 1991," Capcom said in a blog post.
Alex's costume, meanwhile, is inspired by his look in Street Fighter III. He's got longer hair and new green pants. Ibuki's outfit also comes from Street Fighter III and is described as "more rugged" than her normal costume. Finally, Juri's is from Street Fighter IV. You can see images of the stage and the costumes in the gallery above.
The costumes and stage will launch on July 25; the outfits will run you $4 each. Although Capcom hasn't stated the price of the stage officially, if it follows past stage DLC, it'll likely cost $4 as well.
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