May's Pokemon Go Community Day is nearly here. This month's event takes place around the world on Saturday, May 19, and those who participate will have a chance to get a special Charizard that knows a rare Fire-type attack.
As usual, the Community Day isn't centralized at a particular location, but rather during a specific window of time, meaning players can head anywhere to take part in the event. The Community Day runs for only three hours and begins at different times depending on which region you live in. You can find the scheduled hours for each region below:
North America
11 AM - 2 PM PT
2 PM - 5 PM ET
Europe and Africa
10 AM - 1 PM BST
Asia-Pacific
12 PM - 3 PM JST
During this month's Community Day, players will earn triple the usual amount of Stardust for capturing Pokemon. Any Lure Modules that are activated during the event will also last for three hours, up from their usual 30-minute duration.
The featured Pokemon during this month's Community Day is Charmander. During the event hours, the popular Red and Blue starter will spawn much more frequently than usual. If previous Community Days are any indication, players may also have a chance to encounter a rare Shiny variant.
Any Charmeleon that evolves into Charizard during the event hours will learn the powerful Fire attack Blast Burn, even if the Pokemon was captured prior to the Community Day. However, Charmeleon will need to evolve before the event ends in order to learn the attack, giving you only a brief window of time to get the exclusive move.
In addition to its monthly Community Days, developer Niantic will host another series of real-world events for Pokemon Go throughout the summer. The Summer Tour 2018 kicks off next month with a Safari Zone event in Dortmund, Germany, and continues in July with the second annual Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago. The tour will be capped off by a special Safari Zone event in Yokosuka later this summer.
In the meantime, Pokemon Go players can still capture the latest Legendary Pokemon, Latios and Latias. The two Eon Pokemon recently traded locations, meaning Latias is now available across North America, South America, and Africa, while Latios can be found in Europe and Asia. The Legendaries will remain in their current locations until they're scheduled to leave the game on June 5.
While Deadpool 2 may not technically exist in the main Marvel Cinematic Universe, it still happily employs the time honored tradition of the post-credits scene--with an extremely Wade Wilson twist tossed in for good measure, of course.
Don't pretend like you didn't come here for spoilers--there are a lot of those ahead.
As the dust clears in the final conflict between the X-Force and "Firefist," we see Negasonic Teenage Warhead and her girlfriend, Yukio, tinkering around with Cable's time travel tech, which, according to him, should be all but useless now, keeping him stranded in the present day. Apparently, however, the gadgets of the not-too-distant future are no match for the engineering prowess of the X-Men, because NTW and Yukio are able to fix the device and pass it over to Wade.
That's right: Deadpool can time travel now, and it goes pretty much exactly the way you'd expect.
The first stops in Wade's timeline-manipulation grand tour are well within the scope of his own movie. He immediately hops back to prevent the death of his girlfriend, Vanessa, by correcting his botched cream cheese spreader throw and nailing her would-be murderer right between the eyes. Next up is the rescue of Wade's favorite faux X-Force (fauX-Force?) member, Peter AKA Sugar Bear, the regular guy with no powers. Peter met his untimely and grisly demise the first time around after he became the unfortunate recipient of Zeitgeist's acid vomit, so Wade steps in just moments earlier, telling him to go home before he can put himself in more danger.
It's worth noting that he does not try and save the rest of the team. Sorry, Terry Crews fans.
After the great Peter rescue things start to take a far more meta twist as Wade begins to hopscotch through various other movies. His first stop is 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the infamous "first appearance" of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. "First appearance" gets scare quotes in this case because, as fans will quickly tell you, the Deadpool who appeared in Origins was basically anything but Deadpool--a mutilated science experiment, sure, but other than that? Not so much. Origins' Deadpool was a mouthless, shirtless, dead eyed foot soldier who had about ten minutes of screen time total, so present day Wade is here to clean up the mess. Deadpool is dead, long live Deadpool.
The final stop on his trip is even more meta. Wade roles up to the home of Ryan Reynolds in 2010, as he first lays eyes on the script for the disastrous Green Lantern live action movie where Reynolds starred as Hal Jordan, complete with CGI costume and digitally enhanced comic book muscles. Green Lantern has become infamous as one of the pinnacles of bad superhero movies. So naturally, it's the perfect target for Deadpool's self-aware gags. Wade shoots Reynolds in the head, "preventing" Green Lantern from ever existing in the first place. Case closed. No more jokes about green cartoon super suits to be found here, folks. As far as DP is concerned, it never happened. Time to move on.
Now, what does any of this mean? That's a great question. Obviously, especially in the case of the movie-hopping, some of these gags exist just to be gags. Deadpool killing a previous, inferior version of Deadpool simply provides some laughs for fans who have been paying attention these last nine years.
Even with the in-universe stuff, it's pretty safe to assume that the continuity of Deadpool is a "Butterfly Effect" free zone. Wade saving Vanessa probably doesn't mean that the plot of Deadpool 2 never happened, saving Peter probably doesn't cause some sort of temporal ripple that means Cable never stuck around at the end, and so on. That type of consequence exists in movies like X-Men: Days of Future Past, but not here.
It's one of the benefits of being a character like Wade Wilson: You get to pick and choose what rules you want to follow and when. If anything sticks in a relevant, plot-enhancing way it'll likely be a continued role for Morena Baccarin, should she return for any sequels. And that's good enough for us.
Ubisoft will announce another new AAA game soon. The Assassin's Creed publisher announced today that it will have three AAA games coming in the current fiscal year (which ends on March 31, 2019) including The Crew 2 and The Division 2, as well as an unannounced game.
Ubisoft said it expects the games to combine to sell 19 million units, which compares to to its previous forecast of 23 million unit sales across four AAA games. One of those games, Skull & Bones, has been delayed to the next fiscal year, which explains the downturn in sales projections.
Ubisoft provided no further details on what the "unannounced franchise" is, including whether or not it is a completely brand-new IP or a sequel in an established franchise.
During an earnings call, Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez said Ubisoft will announce the new game at E3 2018. Ubisoft's E3 2018 briefing is slated for the afternoon of Monday, June 11. What are you hoping that the unannounced franchise is? Let us know in the comments below!
Treyarch has big plans for the next entry in the Black Ops series. Along with revamped multiplayer, an expanded Zombies mode, and a series of solo missions centered around the Specialist characters, the developer plans to bring the battle royale craze to Call of Duty. During yesterday's Black Ops 4 reveal event, we got to play over an hour of multiplayer. We also spoke with studio design director David Vonderhaar about Treyarch's influence on the Call of Duty series and how the team is looking to make big changes with the next game.
Set between Black Ops 2 and 3, this fourth entry in the series re-examines the pace of combat, rebalancing many of the more established perks and weapons, while also slowing things down to offer a team-oriented and consistent combat loop. One of the biggest changes in Black Ops 4 is the move back to more traditional infantry-based multiplayer gameplay. Gone are the thruster-packs and wall-running antics of the future soldiers, and in their place is a more tactical take on engagement.
However, many of the more established features from the previous Black Ops games are still present. Along with the Pick 10 system, which allows you to customize your build with weapons, perks, and attachments, the Specialists from Black Ops 3 also make a return. In Black Ops 4, the Specialists--who include Ruin, Seraph, and Battery--and their dynamic with the other members of the team are far more important to winning matches, and there are many cases where the team will use their unique skills in tandem. My team used Recon's Vision Pulse ability to highlight all the enemies in a room, for example, and then relied on Ajax's riot shield to clear it out. This emphasis on teamwork and how to balance it with Call of Duty's gameplay took time to figure out, Vonderhaar said.
"It's really hard to make a tactical game if your character's not [on the ground], so that was the main motivation for us when looking at Black Ops 4. We looked at the thrust-packing and wall-running from the last game... but for the experience we wanted to make, it made the most sense to make things a little bit slower--and slower by Black Ops standards is not slow at all! To give it a more tactical experience, it was really about the [removal of] health regeneration and keeping you on the ground."
The general flow and movement of Black Ops 4 feels far more in line with Black Ops 2.
One thing I appreciated about playing Black Ops 4 is that the Specialists have a much stronger presence in-game. Compared to Black Ops 3, the unique characters were mostly about their special abilities, which were only activated every so often during a fight. But with each character having access to a particular set of gear in BO4, their place in the general flow of battle is much more identifiable. This goes great with the more tactical approach the game is going for, with players having to be a bit more reliant on their squad while also being more aware of which Specialists are on the other team. During our few games, I was more cognisant of which characters were in use by the enemy squad and how to best counter their skills. This was a nice change of pace from most other COD multiplayer games, where both sides just spam the same tactics ad nauseam.
While skilled players are still capable of taking on multiple enemies at once, there are a few changes in Black Ops 4 that they'll have to get used to first. Though players actually have more health than in previous COD games, Black Ops 4 also removes health regeneration in favor of a new healing button. This makes healing a conscious decision, as opposed to running for cover and waiting for the damage to pass over, that can also lead to some hairy moments where you have to pick a good time to heal. Also, the mini-map will only show a set distance ahead of you--meaning you're largely blind when navigating much of the map.
The more tactical flow of matches took some time for me to get used to, which meant a few failed games of multiplayer. Despite these changes, Black Ops 4's multiplayer still runs at an extremely brisk pace. The general flow and movement of Black Ops 4 feels far more in line with Black Ops 2, which was a favorite among fans. There were a number of thrilling moments during my matches in Hardpoint, Domination, and the new game type Control, which forces the teams to fight for specific territory with only a limited number of lives. Seeing the team gel together, as opposed to just running off and trying to be the hero, was exciting to be a part of.
One of the new game types in Black Ops 4 is the long-rumored battle royale mode called Blackout. Set on a large map, where players can take control of characters and use any weapon from the Black Ops games, Treyarch aims to make a battle royale mode that is consistent with the style and tone of the series. While the team hasn't shared any more info regarding the specifics of player count--which according to Vonderhaar is still being decided--they're confident they're introducing a new take on the game mode that will feel unique to Call of Duty and to other games of the sub-genre.
"We love those types of games internally, and our fans love those types of games as well," said Vonderhaar. "I think there's a strong opportunity to create something special for the series, and specifically for Black Ops fans. There's a unique way to do that for Treyarch, and for Call of Duty. If we didn't believe that, then we wouldn't do it. This is a unique battle royale-experience for the Black Ops series... All we really want with [Blackout] is for Black Ops fans to have an experience to call their own. We're going to do it the Black Ops way."'
The new pace of combat felt fresh, and I'm already looking forward to getting into a few more matches with the Specialists, along with diving into the new battle royale mode.
Treyarch plans to launch Black Ops 4 on October 12 for PC as a Battle.net exclusive alongside a simultaneous console release on PS4 and Xbox One. Going hands-on with it took some adjustment--who knew that we'd be so used to using jetpacks and exo-suits--but these changes felt welcome after few matches. The new pace of combat felt fresh, and I'm already looking forward to getting into a few more matches with the Specialists, along with diving into the new battle royale mode.
Ubisoft's ambitious pirate game Skull & Bones is not going to launch on time. Ubisoft announced today that the PS4, Xbox One, and PC pirate game is now scheduled to launch during the company's fiscal year 2019-2020. That means the game will launch sometime between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020.
"Ubisoft has decided to give itself more time to develop Skull & Bones to offer players an even more engaging experience," Ubisoft said. During an earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said Ubisoft will only incur a "very small" marketing expense for Skull & Bones during the fiscal year, which suggests Ubisoft won't talk much or at all about it until 2019 at the soonest.
Skull & Bones, which was announced at E3 in June, is an intriguing-looking naval warfare battle game where players try to sink their enemies in the Indian Ocean. Developer Ubisoft Singapore made the naval battle sequences in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
The studio has contributed to many Assassin's Creed games over the years as a co-developer; and it also made the canceled Ghost Recon: Phantoms. Skull & Bones is the studio's first title as a lead developer since then.
Publisher Titan Comics has unveiled a new comic series based on Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise. Titled Assassin's Creed: Conspiracies, the two-part, standalone mini-series debuts this summer and takes the franchise to an entirely new era: World War II.
Conspiracies follows the story of Eddie Gorm, a rookie member of the Assassin Brotherhood who must stop the Templars from unleashing an atomic weapon. Here's Titan's synopsis of the series: "In the depths of World War II, fresh Assassin Eddie Gorm uncovers Templar plans to create a devastating new weapon at the dawn of the atomic age."
Conspiracies is written by Guillaume Dorison, with artwork by Jean-Baptise Hostache. The series was previously published in French, making this the first time it will be available to an English audience. The first issue launches in stores and online on August 1. Ahead of its release, Titan has shared the cover and several pages of interior art, which you can take a look at it in the gallery below.
Conspiracies certainly isn't the first comic series inspired by Ubisoft's stealth-action franchise. Earlier this year, Titan released a comic adaptation of Assassin's Creed Origins. That four-part mini-series takes place after the events of the Assassin's Creed Origins game and features historical figures such as Cleopatra.
A variety of other major video game franchises have also received the comic treatment courtesy of Titan. The publisher has previously released comics based on Bloodborne, Wolfenstein, and most recently Dark Souls, with one inspired by Life Is Strange set to follow later this year.
A low price may be nice, but nothing beats free. Good thing, then, that we all have a selection of games to play for free this weekend. Better yet, one of them you can even keep and play forever as long as you grab it in time. Let's dive in and see what kind of digital fun we can have this weekend without spending any money.
Fallout 4
Anyone with an Xbox One can download and play Fallout 4 for free between now and Monday, May 21. All you have to do is download the free version here. When you do, you'll find yourself in a vast open-world version of Boston that's been devastated by nuclear explosions. Good thing you can build new settlements and stomp around in power armor.
If you decide you want to continue playing after the free weekend is over, you can buy it--and all the DLC--at a discount. The game itself is on sale for $15 / £10 / $20 AU on the Xbox Store, or you can get a physical copy of the Game of the Year Edition for $30. Alternately, Amazon U.S. is selling digital codes of Fallout 4 for Xbox One for $10 (£9 in the U.K.).
Rainbow Six Siege
Thanks to frequent updates, this tactical team-based shooter keeps getting better and better. And this weekend only, you can play it for free on PS4, Xbox One, or PC (via the Uplay Launcher).
Any progress you make during the free play weekend will carry over to the full game if you decide to buy it. Between May 17 - 28, you can get the game for half price on the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store. On PC, you can get it for as low as $10 between May 17 - 21.
Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition
Between now and May 19, you can grab a no-strings-attached free copy of the PC strategy game Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition from the Humble Store. Unlike the other games on this list, it's yours to keep forever if you do.
Galactic Civilizations II is a PC strategy game from 2006 that's set in a future when humans have colonized other planets. Unfortunately, several races of aliens had eyes on the area where we set up shop. Cue an intergalactic war of civilizations. Your job is to conquer the stars by managing resources and deploying forces in order to defeat (or befriend) the enemies in whatever way you choose. If that sounds like your cup of extraterrestrial tea, grab it quickly before the price goes back up.
Free Redbox game rental
The final free game you can play this weekend is up to you. By clicking here, you can rent any game from Redbox for one day for free (the discount is added once the game's in your cart).
The games on offer are an impressive bunch, even if the selection is fairly small. On PS4, you can get recent releases like God of War and Shadow of the Colossus as well as older popular games like Grand Theft Auto V and Overwatch. On Xbox One, you can rent newer games like Far Cry 5 and Sea of Thieves, alongside the likes of Fallout 4 and Minecraft. Unfortunately, no Nintendo Switch games are available to rent through Redbox at the moment.
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Is there anything more difficult to make sense of in movies than the X-Men film franchise? Whether it's the initial trilogy, the three prequels that followed and completely changed the established timeline, or the three Wolverine spin-offs that are set all over the place, the X-Men movies are... a lot to deal with.
And that's before you throw Deadpool into the mix. While the Merc with a Mouth makes a mockery of just about everything--and plenty of meta jokes at the expense of his own movie universe--Deadpool and Deadpool 2 do exist in the X-Men franchise. More specifically, they are set in the altered timeline that follows the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Where in that timeline, though? Based on simply watching the films, chances are you'd expect they were set in modern day--2016 for the first movie, 2018 for the second. However, Deadpool 2 throws a massive wrench in that assumption. If you have yet to see Deadpool 2, consider this your spoiler warning as we're going to dig into the movie's events.
First and foremost, Deadpool 2 begins with Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) playing with a music box designed to look like Logan's final moments from the 2017 film Logan, with the Hugh Jackman character dying. That particular movie is set in the year 2029, so either Deadpool can see the future or it's actually set in a post-post-apocalyptic world. However, neither of these are the case. Like most things Deadpool-related, this moment can simply be chalked up to another in a long line of jokes, even if that can be frustrating to those trying to keep the timeline straight.
However, the movie's tinkering with the timeline doesn't end there. During a scene at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Deadpool jokes--because that's what he does--that none of the A-grade X-Men ever show up in his movies. Instead, he's saddled with Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and, in this sequel, new addition Yukio. As he registers his complaint with the universe, the camera finds Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Professor X (James McAvoy), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) in a room, as Beast quickly closes the door to avoid the Merc.
It's a great joke and an excellent set of cameos. However, it simply makes no sense. These versions of the characters are from 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, which was set in 1983. Are we to believe the X-Men haven't aged in 35 years? Xavier should certainly look a bit more like Patrick Stewart at this point.
Yes, this is taking Deadpool 2 and its jokes way too seriously. In many ways, though, that's half of the fun. Taking a moment to examine the timeline this franchise has built, destroyed, and built again is interesting--especially when you take into consideration the gripes people have about the comparatively tiny discrepancies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Honestly, do you really care how long after Marvel's Avengers that Spider-Man: Homecoming is set? Not really, but it can be fun to talk about with fellow fans.
Besides, in many ways, making viewers obsess about timeline inaccuracies is exactly what Deadpool and Deadpool 2 are striving for. These movies are a complete romp that are about making jokes that appeal to the kinds of fans who spend a lot of time thinking about things like the X-Men movie timeline and whether the DC Universe is too dark and gritty for its own good. The titular character is simultaneously making jokes with fans and trolling them. And those very same fans eat it up.
In the end, it doesn't really matter what changes he makes to the timeline, because thanks to Cable's watch, he spends the movie's post-credits scene traveling back in time to change a number of things--including the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. At long last, that first, horrible version of Deadpool is gone once and for all.
Through the antics of that sequence, the character is making tons of massive changes to an already wildly confusing timeline. By the time he's done, who knows what state it's in? Perhaps it's even more unrecognizable before, or maybe nothing has changed. After all, once Deadpool 3 eventually hits theaters, chances are everything will be status quo because that's exactly what it should be. Deadpool's actions aren't going to have major implications on X-Men: Dark Phoenix or New Mutants, and they probably won't help Gambit get made any sooner.
Still, it's fun to think about. At least, until trying to make sense of it gives you a headache, then just go watch the movie again and laugh at the dick jokes. Really, though, would him going back in time to kill baby Hitler really have been so bad?
The X-Force weren't the only new characters introduced to the live action Deadpool universe in Deadpool 2. A brand new X-Man got added to the ranks--sort of. It's--well, OK, it's a little complicated. Negasonic Teenage Warhead has a girlfriend now, and her name is Yukio--but who is she, really? It turns out that's a really good question and the answer is: She's a couple of things.
First and foremost, she's one half of the first ever openly LGBT+ couple in a live action superhero movie, which is a pretty big deal, considering just how long it's been and just how many movies have ridden in on the superhero tidal wave. We may not know a ton about her and NTW's backstory together, or where Yukio actually came from, but we know flat out that they're dating and we'll absolutely take it. It's really about time.
Beyond her representational status, we get to see Yukio on screen be a pretty bubbly addition to the X-Mansion. She's not exactly the most verbose mutant around, but she seems pretty unbothered by Wade's presence, which makes her a standout among her teammates, who really would rather be anywhere but near him. Wade seems to like her, too--or maybe he's just happy to finally have an X-Man who isn't constantly on his case. It's honestly a 50/50 shot.
When Yukio was first announced and shown in the trailers we weren't given an official character name, just the actor, Shioli Kutsuna. Fans guessed that she was actually the mutant named Surge because of a clip featuring her swinging what looked like an electrified chain. Surge, over in the comics, is a Japanese mutant named Noriko Ashida and she--surprise!--has the ability to generate and manipulate electricity--so, really, a pretty good guess, given how little information was available.
Obviously, now that we know Yukio is not in fact named Noriko, the Surge comparison starts to get a little thin. Not only do the names not match, but Yukio's costume doesn't resemble Surge's uniform at all--no cool looking robot gauntlets to be found. That wouldn't necessarily be a dealbreaker, since costume updates for live action adaptations happen all the time, but given how no other pieces were falling into place, it seemed like pretty definitive answer. Yukio isn't Surge. At least, she's not really Surge.
We don't get a great look at Yukio's personality or mutation in Deadpool 2, but they obviously have something to do with electricity, or maybe even technology, given how she and NTW enable Wade's post-credits craziness. So it's probably a safe bet that Yukio's pulling a considerable amount of inspiration for Surge but, very likely, was the victim of some sort of rights issue when making the transition from page to screen.
The name "Yukio" is another X-Men callback, referencing a character from Logan's corner of the X-Universe: a beautiful and deadly human "ronin samurai" and thief who Wolverine encounters during his time in Japan. Despite her relative obscurity in the scope of Marvel's mutant roster, Yukio became a pretty endearing side character for a decent amount of the X-Men's adventures through the '90s, even going as far as to be one of the in-universe inspirations for Storm's iconic mohawk look and costume update. She was also a key player in the bulk of Logan's storylines involving his oft-forgotten wife, Mariko Yashida, and adoptive family. She even got her very own live action incarnation back in 2013 in The Wolverine, played by Rila Fukushima.
Clearly Deadpool 2's Yukio isn't exactly that character either. As far as we know, she has no connection to Logan and no history as a wandering samurai thief (though, hey, maybe she does? Who can really say. She didn't get that much screen time, maybe we're in for a big surprise somewhere down the line). This leads us to believe her name and the reference contained within is yet another shout out-slash-dig at Hugh Jackman's long list of X-Men and Wolverine spinoff movies.
Wade Wilson (and Ryan Reynolds) have never been shy about playfully taking shots at both Jackman and Logan, especially given Reynolds' weird history with his Deadpool debut in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Taking an obscure stab at The Wolverine by stealing one of the character names and, in effect, turning all of her tropes on their ear by making a hardened, ninja-inspired thief into a bubbly teen girl seems like it falls pretty squarely into the Deadpool wheelhouse.
So, who is Yukio? Well, as far as we can tell she's a totally new invention for Deadpool 2--but one that just so happens to be one part Surge, one part canonical, comics-verse Yukio, and one part left field Hugh Jackman meta-gag tossed into a blender, poured out, and re-shaped into something original. Nobody said Deadpool's handling of its own source material had to be faithful, after all. Making things simple just isn't his style.
We found out last month that No Man's Sky would be coming to Xbox One at some point this year with an update called "Next", but now we finally have a release date. The title will launch on Xbox One July 24 in the US and July 27 in Europe alongside the new multiplayer update.
Not only will you finally be able to play with your friends in the ever-expanding universe of No Man's Sky, you can either choose to work together, or against one another. And you won't be limited to just your party--you might also run into a few random explorers out there. The update will also allow you to build bases and colonies, engage in epic space battles, and build, race, and share different tracks on planets you discover.
But never fear, PS4 and PC players, the multiplayer update will come free to you too. However, the Xbox One version of the game will come with the multiplayer update and the Foundation, Pathfinder, and Atlas Rises expansions already installed. And of course, it will also have an Xbox One X-enhanced update.
In our original No Man's Sky review, Peter Brown gave the title a 7/10. "The more you get to know it, the more you recognize its faults, and it's easy to fall so deep into the act of exploring and trading that your focus narrows to those aspects alone," Brown said. "If, however, you consider everything it has to offer and listen to what Atlas has to say, No Man's Sky becomes more than a collection of slightly different worlds in a seemingly never-ending galaxy--it becomes an examination of the meaning of life in a way that's more valuable than all the gold or starships in its virtual galaxy."
A Japanese manga detailing the origins of Pokemon has revealed some previously unseen monsters from the first generation, Red and Blue. The book, centered on the life of Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri, showed off four unused designs.
The manga was shared on Twitter by Game Freak's James Turner, who has designed plenty of Pokemon himself. In a grid of Pokemon we can see four unfamiliar designs: a deer, a crocodile, a cactus, and a swordfish or shark. Presumably, to get access to designs like this the manga would have had to collaborate with Game Freak itself.
The unused designs are surrounded by Gen 1 mainstays like Blastoise and Voltorb, so these were very early ones that were cut. They're unlikely to make a return, especially since many of the animals and plants they're based on have since been used for newer Pokemon. Still, it's an interesting look at the design process.
Right now all eyes are on E3, where Pokemon fans hope Nintendo will outline what it has in the works for a Switch game. We outlined some of our own hopes and dreams ourselves. In the meantime, if you have a catching-'em-all itch that needs scratching, Nintendo is giving away free Legendary Pokemon all year in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon.
Cable, Domino and the X-Force weren't the only new additions to the Deadpool corner of the live action superhero universe in Deadpool 2. We also saw the unexpected live action return of the Juggernaut, the character who is part supervillain, part anti-hero, all vintage meme. Surprise!
It's been twelve years since we saw Cain Marko in the flesh in the 2006 movie X-Men: The Last Stand, and things have changed pretty considerably since then. For one, Deadpool 2's Juggernaut isn't actually flesh at all, but a 100% CGI generated creature who, like the monster in the original Frankenstein movie, isn't credited as a mocap or voice actor and only as "himself." For another, we actually get some scraps of his backstory--it's brief and very much in passing, but, hey, we'll take what we can get here. It's been a really long time.
With that in mind, now's as good a moment as any to take a look back at just who and what the Juggernaut is, where he fits into the crazy, complicated X-Men timeline, and what his presence could mean for future Deadpool movies.
First things first: Cain isn't technically a mutant, despite making his home in the X-Men corner of the Marvel Universe. He's a human with superpowers, but they're not genetic. Instead, he gets his abilities from a demon named Cyttorak. No, really, it's a whole thing.
Cain found a temple to Cyttorak and a cursed ruby inside which allowed him to become the avatar of Cyttorak and a "human juggernaut." If you're a big Doctor Strange fan, that name might sound familiar--the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak are a tool Strange has used pretty frequently in the past (we even got to see them in action in Infinity War). But for Cain, the "human juggernaut" part of the deal is what's really important. Essentially, his powers are exactly what they say on the tin: He's totally unstoppable--super strong, super durable, super fast, the works.
It's actually pretty unlikely that the Cyttorak element is going to come into play here in the Deadpool movieverse--after all, it certainly didn't back in The Last Stand, and let's be honest, when people think of the Juggernaut, "demonic avatar" isn't exactly the first thing that pops into the casual fan's mind. On top of that, he's introduced as being a prisoner in a mutant detention facility, which likely means the Deadpool universe isn't all that interested in differentiating between demon powers and those bestowed by genetics. However, we did get some confirmation onscreen of another critical part of Cain's history in this version: He's the step-brother of Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X.
As far as comic book odd couples are concerned, Juggernaut and Professor X are definitely up there. Stand them next to each other and there's basically no way you'd ever guess they have anything to do with one another. But the truth is, Cain's spiral into villainy is actually deeply wound up in his childhood jealousy of Charles. When his father, Kurt, married Xavier's mother, Sharon, Kurt decided to favor Charles, sparking up a lifelong resentment. Cain grew up ruthlessly bullying Charles to make up for it, which in turn just made Kurt's favoritism worse. You get the idea. He's got some pretty major daddy issues over the whole thing.
The reason Cain's costume includes his iconic (let's be honest, extremely goofy looking) domed helmet is to prevent Charles specifically from reading his mind--though it has the added benefit of keeping every other psychic out as well. We know this is still canon in the Deadpool/X-Men film universe because Cain directly acknowledges it--so, sure, we may never actually see Xavier on screen with Wade in a way that isn't a punchline, but that part of the shared universe is anything but stagnant.
Of course, the future of the Juggernaut in film may or may not continue much past this movie. The final battle between Cain and Colossus seemed pretty decisive, all things considered--but it's not like strict continuity and the rules governing things like life and death have ever been that big of a deal to Wade Wilson, so maybe it's best not to count The Juggernaut out just yet.
Here's a great deal for anyone who wants to try out a game for free. Between now and May 21, Redbox is offering a free one-day rental of any PS4 or Xbox One game you can find in stock. All you have to do is select the game you want right here and choose where you want to pick it up. Thanks to an automatic coupon, the one-day rental becomes free in your cart.
You have to pick up the game by 9 PM (local time) the day you reserve it. And if you don't return it by 9 PM the following evening, you'll be charged $3 for an extra day--and $3 for every day after that. Even so, this is a great deal if you want to play a game for a day, or try a game you think you might want to buy.
On Xbox One, you can rent newer games like Far Cry 5, Sea of Thieves, and Metal Gear Survive, alongside older games like Fallout 4 and Minecraft. Unfortunately, no Nintendo Switch games are available to rent through Redbox at the moment.
So hop over to the Redbox website and reserve the game of your choice now. Just make sure to do it soon, because the deal ends Monday.
Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.
One of the biggest new features being introduced in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is Blackout, a battle royale-style game mode in which players compete to be the last one standing. Other battle royale games, particularly the two most popular examples of the genre, PUBG and Fortnite, support up to 100 players in a match, but Black Ops 4 developer Treyarch says it still hasn't settled on how many will be supported in Blackout.
Speaking to GameSpot, David Vonderhaar, studio design director at Treyarch, revealed that the developer is still experimenting with the player count for Blackout mode. "We haven't actually decided," Vonderhaar said. "We have to create the best experience, and to create that experience in a Call of Duty universe, you have to try various flavors of that until you find the right one."
During the Black Ops 4 reveal presentation, Treyarch described Blackout as a battle royale game done "the Black Ops way." It features the largest map the developer has ever created--approximately 1,500 times larger than Nuketown, the iconic map from the first Black Ops. The mode draws heavily from previous Black Ops games. Players will be able to use characters, items, and weapons from every past installment, including the RC Car. It can also be played solo or in teams and features ground, air, and sea vehicles.
Prior to its release, Activision will host a pre-launch closed beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Activision hasn't announced when the beta will take place and what modes it will feature, but those who pre-order the title will gain access to the beta.
After much teasing and speculation, Activision finally pulled back the curtain on this year's highly anticipated Call of Duty game, Black Ops 4. Like previous entries in the series, Black Ops 4 includes a variety of different game modes, such as the ever-popular Zombies, but this year's installment will also feature its own take on the battle royale genre.
Dubbed Blackout, the new battle royale-style mode pits players against each other in a fight to be the last one standing. On the official Call of Duty website, Activision revealed that Blackout will be playable solo or in teams, just as Fortnite and PUBG. Where it differs from other battle royale games, however, is that it draws heavily on previous Black Ops titles. Developer Treyarch says it wanted to create a battle royale mode "the Black Ops way," and to that end, it has incorporated elements from the entire series into the mode.
According to Treyarch, the map in Blackout is the biggest one the developer has ever created. Some of its locations are old maps taken directly from past entries, and players can use weapons and items from every previous Black Ops game, including the RC car. The map also features land, air, and sea vehicles, and players can play as Hudson, Reznov, Mason, and other characters from the series. However, Treyarch says it is still undecided on the number of players Blackout will support.
Activision announced a ton of new details about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 during this week's special reveal event. Along with Blackout, the publisher talked a lot about the new Zombies campaign, which is set across three unique maps at launch and places a stronger emphasis on mystery. Activision also revealed that Black Ops 4 won't have a traditional single-player campaign; rather, the game will feature solo missions that focus on each of its Specialist characters.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 12--nearly a month earlier than Call of Duty games typically launch. The PC version will be available exclusively via Blizzard's Battle.net service. Activision will hold a beta for Black Ops 4 ahead of its launch later this year, although exact details on that will be announced at a later date.
Activision blew the lid off of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 during this week's big Community Reveal Event, giving the world its first look at its newest online shooter. Like previous entries in the series, Black Ops 4 is being developed by Treyarch, but this year's installment features some significant changes to multiplayer.
In a post on PlayStation Blog, Treyarch confirmed that Black Ops 4 is bringing back the Pick 10 system. The developer had previously teased that the feature would return in this year's installment, and now we have confirmation that it is indeed coming back. Treyarch didn't share any other details on how the Pick 10 system will operate in Black Ops 4, only saying that it is being "revamped" for the title.
This time around, Treyarch has made combat in Black Ops 4 more tactical. Each of the game's Specialist characters feature unique abilities that can "be applied strategically across game modes." Health no longer regenerates on its own; instead, players will have to press a dedicated healing button in order regain health. Treyarch says this change makes recovering a tactical choice, as it presents a risk factor because you have to disengage in order to do it.
Additionally, players will be able to fight underwater in Black Ops 4. However, thrust jumping and wallrunning--staples of previous Black Ops games--have been removed from this installment. There's also a new category of attachments called Operator Mods, which give a specific weapon a special buff; for example, one Operator Mod for the LMG adds suppressive fire that distorts and disorients enemies.
Black Ops 4 launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 12. The game will only be available for the latter via Battle.net, making it the first Call of Duty game to appear on Blizzard's PC platform. Ahead of its big Community Reveal Event, the box art for Black Ops 4 leaked online.
As promised, Activision unveiled a ton of details about this year's Call of Duty game during its big Black Ops 4 Community Reveal Event. One of the more surprising things we learned about the title, however, is that it won't feature a traditional single-player campaign, as previous installments in the series did.
In lieu of a single-player campaign, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will feature an assortment of solo missions that revolve around each of the game's Specialist characters. These will still contain the spectacular set-piece moments the series is known for, and they'll reveal each character's backstory and other details as players work their way through them.
The solo missions are set between the events of Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 3. A handful of previous Specialists return in this installment, including Ruin, Firebreak, and Seraph, and Treyarch says they've been reimagined this time around. There are also a number of new Specialists in the game; so far, we've seen ones named Recon, Crash, and Torque.
During today's stream, Activision also revealed Blackout, a new battle royale mode for Black Ops 4. Blackout features elements from the entire Black Ops series, including previous weapons, items, and characters such as Hudson, Reznov, and Mason. Players will also be able to pilot land, air, and sea vehicles in the mode as they battle to be the last player standing.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 12. Like previous Black Ops games, it is being developed by Treyarch. This time around, the title won't feature thrust jumping or wallrunning, but it will once again have a Zombies mode. You can take a look at the box art for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 here.
The critically acclaimed RPG Divinity: Original Sin II is coming to PS4 and Xbox One this summer, and along with a remapped control scheme, the console version will come with a number of significant changes. At a preview event, Bandai Namco revealed a list of adjustments being made to the RPG to tailor it to consoles and improve the overall experience.
Most notably, developer Larian has "completely reworked" Act 3 of the game. The Arx region now features new dialogue, NPCs, and quests in order to improve the story and overall flow of the game. Additionally, seven new combat encounters were added to Arx to resolve some questlines.
To ease new players into the game, Larian is introducing an optional tutorial level in the console version of Original Sin II. There's also a new, more welcoming difficulty setting called Story mode. This mode gives players the ability to flee from battle at any time and resurrect their party members an unlimited number of times.
Larian has also reworked the interface of the Journal and inventory screen. All Journal entries have been completely rewritten for extra clarity and are now divided into quests, lore, and origin quests. New map markers have also been added to help players better track quest objectives. In terms of inventory improvements, players can now select multiple items at once to more easily manage their inventory, as well as add unwanted items to wares.
Rounding out the changes are a number of balance and AI adjustments. Some underused skills, such as Petrifying Touch and Sucker Punch, have received buffs to make them more useable. The game economy has also been reworked so that armor prices reflect their usefulness, and the difficulty balance in Explorer mode and Hardcore mode has been improved.
Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition launches on PS4 and Xbox One in August. Ahead of its release, Xbox One owners will have a chance to try the game out early. Starting May 16, the first three hours of Original Sin II will be playable for free via Xbox Game Preview. Those who purchase the game on Xbox One will get early access to the entire first act, which is approximately 20 hours of content. Any progress made can be carried over to the full game when it releases.
Rockstar has rolled out another batch of content for Grand Theft Auto V. Along with a new selection of in-game bonuses and discounts, the developer has introduced a new, battle royale-inspired Adversary mode for GTA Online called Trap Door, which is available to play now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Trap Door pits teams against each other on a floating platform that is shrinking "rapidly" throughout the match. Each time a player is killed, they are transported to the red zone, where they're given only a few seconds to escape to the main platform before the zone disappears and dumps everyone within into the ocean.
To commemorate the launch of Trap Door, everyone who participates in the new mode in the next few days will receive extra bonuses. From now until May 21, Trap Door is paying out double the usual amount of GTA$ and RP. You can jump into the mode either from the boot screen or by setting a waypoint to the Featured Adversary mode.
In addition to Trap Door, players will earn double GTA$ and RP for Biker Business Sell Missions, while Smuggler's Run missions will pay out double GTA$ this week. Those who also participated in last week's Business Week event will now find their bonus money waiting in their Maze Bank accounts.
On top of the aforementioned bonuses, players can save 30% off of Executive Office Garages in GTA Online this week. An assortment of "fan favorite" vehicles and weapons are also on sale; the full list of discounted items can be found below. You can read more about this week's GTA V discount on Rockstar's official website.
This Week's GTA Online Discounts
Vehicles
Mammoth Hydra -- 40% off (Buy It Now & Trade Price)
We've reached the middle of the month, which means the second half of May's free Games with Gold are now available to download. From now until the end of the month, Xbox Live Gold members can grab two more titles for Xbox One and Xbox 360 at no charge, and they're both certainly worth a download if you don't have them yet.
On Xbox One, subscribers can get the critically acclaimed Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Originally released in 2015, The Phantom Pain is the latest mainline installment in the Metal Gear Solid series, and the final entry overseen by Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. GameSpot's Peter Brown called it "undoubtedly the best Metal Gear game there is" and awarded it a rare 10/10 in our Metal Gear Solid V review.
This month's second free Xbox 360 game is Vanquish, the cult favorite shooter from Bayonetta developer Platinum Games. In our original Vanquish review, GameSpot awarded the title a 9/10 and called it "one of the most gleeful and memorable experiences" of its time. Like other titles offered through Games with Gold, Vanquish is also playable on Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility.
Vanquish will remain free to download through the end of the month, while Metal Gear Solid V will be available until June 15. Gold members can also still grab the recently released Super Mega Baseball 2, which is free to download throughout the entire month. You can find the full list of May's free Games with Gold below.
May 2018 Games With Gold
Xbox One
Super Mega Baseball 2 (May 1-31)
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (May 16-June 15)
If there's one thing that's harder to grasp than the complex story of Kingdom Hearts is that the original game will be 16 years old this year. But with Kingdom Hearts III coming to PS4 and Xbox One in 2018, all those years of putting together the most unlikely groups of characters from the Disney pantheon with others from the Final Fantasy series will reach a conclusion. We recently had the chance to go hands-on with the game at a premiere event with the developers, and there was a lot to see when it came to series' growth over the years, and just how much things stay the same.
While we still don't know how the incredibly dense story will tie up in this game, we do know it picks up after the side-story Dream Drop Distance, with an older Sora continuing his travels with Goofy and Donald in tow. There's nearly twenty years worth of some intricate plot to be resolved in this conclusion, which will be a big undertaking. But in a strange way, the next game did show a sense of growth about it, giving a feeling that it's aware of its legacy and impact it's had over the years by showing more of Sora's maturity.
Much like the previous games, Kingdom Hearts III is still a celebration of all things Disney. This also marks the first time that Pixar-themed worlds will be in the game, which includes Monsters Inc. and Toy Story. In the demo, we got to play through portions of the early worlds you'll explore, which recontextualizes the iconic locales of Disney films to fit the space of an action-RPG. As the first Kingdom Hearts game on modern consoles, the next game takes advantage of the new hardware, featuring some impressive visuals. Playing on Xbox One X, performance was mostly solid, save for some dropped frames during some of the hectic combat encounters.
First up was Olympus, a more combat-focused section, pitting Sora and the gang against a massive Titan. In order to reach the Titan, you'll have to run up the cliff-face while raining down large boulders from the mountaintop. This section also helped introduced many of the more stylish contextual abilities and skills in Sora's repertoire. One such ability is to call in various Attractions, allowing Sora to conjure vehicles themed after Disneyland rides--such as the train from Big Thunder Mountain and the rideable tea cups from the Mad Tea Party ride. These Attractions are not only gorgeous spectacles to watch in battle, but also offer interesting ways to switch up your tactics while dealing damage in rapid succession.
The Toy Box world--based on the Toy Story series--was where things really opened up. Transforming the trio into action-figures based on characters from a video-game, they team up with Woody and Buzz Lightyear to stop the Heartless from taking over toys as they search for their missing owner, Andy. But in familiar Kingdom Hearts fashion, similar events from the film clash with the conflict dealing with the Heartless, resulting in some bizarre, yet oddly satisfying encounters. You'll start off by exploring Andy's room, before eventually moving onto the Galaxy Toys store to battle Heartless-possessed toy robots and kaiju action-figures.
Kingdom Hearts III maintains Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance's focus on movement, and it utilizes a number of special combat moves that change depending on the location and party makeup. One of Sora's new skills is to transform his keyblades into new weapons for a limited time, allowing him to open up new combo attacks and special crowd-control moves. One such Keyblade can transform into mage's staff, summoning a large sand tower to damage all enemies nearby. Moreover, team-focused attacks also make a comeback, including the standout Rocket Charge special where Sora, Woody, and Buzz ride a firework rocket as they ram and spin into enemies before jumping off as the rocket explodes. And of course, summons are still present, but now a part of the Link system. With it, you can call in support from Ariel and even Wreck-It-Ralph, who places special blocks that can stun nearby enemies.
These were undoubtedly fun to use--and a bit surprising to see how off-the-wall many of these skills are--they can be tough to keep track of, with all the moves and skills you have at your disposal. This might have been because the Toy Box level is a little later on in the game, where you'll have new weapons and abilities to use, but it felt overwhelming and somewhat daunting to try and figure out the mechanics of these moves, how to activate them, and which ones to use exactly for certain situations--which has me worried that some younger fans may find themselves lost with certain aspects of gameplay.
Diving into these two worlds for Kingdom Hearts had me wishing I could experience more, especially with the new visuals and increased scale of each world. While it was overwhelming to get a handle of the new mechanics, and the frame-rate drops during some moments felt jarring, I did feel some reassurance that things were looking good for the next game in the action-RPG series. Perhaps it was nostalgia playing into it, but there was an extra twinge of excitement in seeing these characters come back in a big, if somewhat bizarre way. Which seems to be the norm for the series.
Blair Brown, who most recently served as a producer at BioWare, has left BioWare to join Respawn Entertainment in July where he will contribute to the team's new Star Wars game. In addition to Andromeda and Inquisition, Brown worked on Anthem and "something else" that he didn't name outright. It's not uncommon for studios to work on projects that never see the light of day, so it sounds like the "something else" that Brown worked on is one of those.
It's been an amazingly wild ride but after 6 years, 3.5 games; Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda, (something else), and Anthem, I'm leaving @bioware next month. Super excited to start at @respawn in July and work on a new @starwars game! Eeeee!!!
Brown leaves BioWare after the launch of Andromeda, which many remarked was not the franchise's highest point. He also leaves amidst the ongoing development of Anthem, for which he served as a producer. That game was recently delayed, and is now due out in 2019.
Respawn, which was founded by Call of Duty veterans, created the Titanfall shooter series which has so far spanned two instalments. In 2017, EA purchased Respawn for hundreds of millions of dollars. All we know about Respawn's Star Wars game is that it is a third-person game that is being directed by God of War III director Stig Asmussen. If EA is to announcement more details on the game soon, that could happen during E3 2018 next month.
A new PlayStation 4 update has landed--but it's not the type that adds new features or functionality. Version 5.55, which is mandatory, "improves system performance" in unspecified ways, according to the official patch notes posted by Sony on its website.
"This system software update improves system performance," reads the one-line patch notes.
If you're not automatically prompted to download the update, you can navigate to Settings and then to System Software Update where you will see a button that says Update. It's possible to download and install the update via a USB storage device, too; here's how to do that.
This update follows version 5.50 that was released in March. That was a much bigger update that brought new organizational features, additional parental controls, and a new supersampling option for PS4 Pro, among other things.
Overwatch is celebrating its second anniversary next week, and in the meantime Blizzard has been revealing some of the new cosmetic items coming in the anniversary loot boxes. The studio already showed off a villainous look for Soldier 76, and now it's Tracer's turn. The de facto face of Overwatch is getting the "Lightning Tracer" skin, with a new tracksuit and, more noticeably, a very different hairstyle.
When the event kicks off next week it will introduce 50 new cosmetic items, which includes eight Legendary skins and three Epics. The anniversary loot boxes will also bring back all the seasonal cosmetics you may have missed over the years. Logging on between May 22 and June 11 will get you a free loot box that guarantees one Legendary item, and the 50-box bundle will also include a bonus Legendary loot box.
Overwatch Anniversary 2018 begins next week, but we're starting the celebration early with new item reveals.
Blizzard will be rolling out in-game events during the anniversary celebration as well. The Petra map will be added to the Deathmatch rotation, and Deathmatch is getting its own new Competitive mode. Plus just like the seasonal items, old Arcade brawls will be made available as they rotate daily.
A Legendary edition of Overwatch will launch on May 22 and include 15 skins. A free weekend is coming from May 25-28 to open it up to new players as well. Before all that, though, the Pink Mercy skin for breast cancer research is still available through May 21, so grab it while you can.
Two of the biggest names in Hollywood are coming together again for a new movie, it seems. Deadline reports that Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio are teaming up for a Civil War movie about Ulysses S. Grant, with Spielberg directing and DiCaprio in the title role.
It would be their first time back together since 2002's Catch Me If You Can.
The movie will be based on Ron Chernow's 2017 biography, Grant, which writer David James Kelly (Robin Hood) is adapting for the film. Sources told Deadline that production companies Lionsgate and Appian Way, which acquired the film rights to Grant last year, see the production of the movie as a priority.
However, it may not get started soon, as Spielberg has already reportedly said Indiana Jones 5 and West Side Story will be his next films. As for DiCaprio, he hasn't been in a movie since 2015's The Revenant, for which he won his first Oscar. Among his confirmed upcoming projects includes Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. DiCaprio is also set to play Teddy Roosevelt in a biopic directed by Martin Scorsese.
Spielberg already made a Civil War era movie with Lincoln. His latest movie was the futuristic blockbuster Ready Player One.
As for Grant the man, he was a general under President Lincoln during the Civil War and helped win critical battles against Confederate general Robert E. Lee. He went on to serve two terms at the 18th president of the United States, from 1869 to 1877.
PUBG's second map, Miramar, will launch for everyone on Xbox One very soon. During the latest episode of Microsoft's Inside Xbox series today, the company announced that Miramar will be available on May 24 for all players. That's just a few days away.
It was initially released a few weeks ago, but only on PUBG's test servers on Xbox One. So the official release next week will expand its availability significantly.
Unlike PUBG's first map, Erangel, Miramar is set in the desert and features things like dry mountains and villages to explore and fight in. Miramar was added to PUBG's mobile edition through an update earlier this week, which upset some Xbox One owners who thought they might get to play it sooner.
In addition to the arrival of the new map, PUBG on Xbox One is set to receive a title update that improves performance, Microsoft has announced. However, no further details about what the update improves appear to be available yet; keep checking back with GameSpot for more.
A new Xbox One update is out now for everyone, and it adds a number of notable features and improvements. Starting off, the May Xbox One update introduces the ability to link your Discord account with your Xbox account to chat with friends and see what they are up to.
The new Xbox One update also introduces support for 120Hz refresh rate for 1080p and 1440p output resolutions on Xbox One S and Xbox One X. Of course, you need a monitor or TV that supports 120Hz for this, but it's a nice option to have if you're after it. "High refresh rate support can provide a smoother gaming experience and lower latency on some displays, and games may benefit from reduced tearing and stuttering via 120Hz output," Microsoft said.
Also new with the update is the ability to trim Game Capture videos from within the Guide. Previously, you had to boot up Upload Studio, and that could take a little while. The new update also includes Family Settings improvements in the form of a "Details" page that collects all the relevant family settings.
Additionally, today's Xbox One update changes some button commands; the "View" button on the Home screen can now be used to re-order group items and more. Additionally, capture options will now display when you press the "View" button on the Guide's main tab. Lastly, the May update changes the Xbox Accessories App to "make it easier to navigate, and to look and feel more consistent with the rest of the Xbox One dashboard."
Believe it or not, E3 2018 is almost here. The annual gaming extravaganza returns to Los Angeles in June for what is poised to be one of the biggest week's all year for gaming news. Much of the news is expected to come from the various press conferences taking place during the week. Microsoft, Bethesda, and EA have already announced the date and time of their briefings, while Sony has finally confirmed its plans.
EA kicks things off on Saturday, June 9, with its EA Play briefing, while Microsoft and Bethesda will follow on Sunday afternoon and evening, respectively. Ubisoft will follow Monday afternoon, with Sony's presentation expected later that evening. Nintendo then keeps things moving with its briefing on the morning of June 12. We'll be streaming all of these press conferences here on GameSpot as well as on Twitter.
There will be a PC Gaming Show this year as well, while we hope that indie publisher Devolver returns this year because last year's show was bananas. That is scheduled for the afternoon of Monday, June 11.
Below you can see a rundown of the press conference times and dates that we know about. We will continue to update this post in the days and weeks ahead leading up to E3. The show itself runs June 12-14, and like last year, it's open to the public--here's how to get tickets.
In other news, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has confirmed it is attending E3 this year, though this doesn't necessarily mean we'll learn more about the upcoming sci-fi game. Still, its presence could be one of the most exciting parts of this year's show.
A new Halo game has been announced--for arcades. Halo: Fireteam Raven is a new co-op shooter developed by arcade mainstays Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix in partnership with Halo custodians 343 Industries. The game is set during Halo: Combat Evolved's timeline, and puts you into the boots of Fireteam Raven on Alpha Halo. This is a group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, and you'll fight alongside Master Chief himself and other members of the UNSC. Like in other Halo games, you're squaring off against Covenant creatures.
The game plays on a 130-inch, 4K screen and the setup is outfitted with four physical machine guns. Players can work together or compete against one another.
"Halo: Fireteam Raven is without a doubt, the most spectacular arcade experience we've ever made," Raw Thrills CEO Eugene Jarvis said in a blog post. "After years of development it is now ready."
Halo: Fireteam Raven will start to show up at Dave & Busters locations in the US and Canada this summer, with more coming in the fall. The game is also baked into the Halo Waypoint website, as you'll be able to scan a QR code and see results on the website.
While a cool and exciting announcement, this is probably not the Halo game many are looking forward to. Halo 6, or whatever the next entry in the series is called, is in development but has not yet been officially announced. E3 2018 is coming up in just a few weeks, and given that it's been three years since Halo 5, now might be the year the next Halo is officially announced.
The Division was generally well-liked by critics and it was a commercial success, selling more copies at launch in March 2016 over its first 24 hours than any previous game in Ubisoft history. However, players left the game in part due to its lingering issues and lack of compelling content. To its credit, Ubisoft pushed hard to fix and improve the experience, and it worked to an extent, with the game reaching 20 million registered players by Ubisoft's count. Given the game's commercial success, it was unsurprising when a sequel was announced. And now, Ubisoft has spoken about how it plans to do better with The Division 2--right from the start.
"We were surprised a little bit by how fast people consumed content on [The Division 1]," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during an earnings call today. "So we've been working with the teams to bring a lot of content at launch and to be ready to continue to supply content a lot during the years that follow the launch. We are working hard to make sure we have lots of content available so people can stay in the game for the long run."
For his part, Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez said The Division 1's end-game was not as good as it could have been, and Ubisoft is taking steps to improve this with the sequel.
"Very clearly what we call the end-game part was something that [The Division 1] could have improved, and we believe that we've got it now [with The Division 2]," he said.
Martinez added that The Division's 1.8 update--which overhauled a handful of the game's systems and added more modes for players craving further variety--was well-received by players. It speaks to Ubisoft's commitment to improving the game for people still playing.
For The Division 2, Martinez said Ubisoft has the "right tools to deliver a much better game." Guillemot added that Ubisoft is leveraging all of the experience and feedback it received from The Division 1 to make The Division 2 a "fantastic" game.
The Division 2 is currently in the works at the same primary studios as the first entry, including Massive Entertainment, Red Storm, and Ubisoft Reflections. You'll be able to transfer some progress from the original game to Division 2, though how that will work is not yet clear. No more details have been discussed; the company says a full reveal is coming at E3 2018.
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