July isn't just for fireworks and barbecues. It's also the month when Amazon Prime Day 2018 is going to happen. This Black Friday-like event happens every summer, and this year is no different. You can expect the Amazon to offer temporary discounts on games, tech, movies, toys, and anything else you might want to buy from the world's largest online retailer. Other retailers may also offer discounts that day to cash in on the commerce craze. Here's everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2018.
What is Prime Day?
Prime Day is a massive sale Amazon puts on each year in July for Prime members. It all began in 2015, when Amazon had a sale to celebrate its 20th birthday. In the years since, Prime Day has grown into a shopping extravaganza in its own right, with deep discounts on all kinds of items.
When is Prime Day?
Prime Day begins at 12 PM PT (3 PM ET / 12 PM BT) on July 16 and will last 36 hours, through July 17.
For Prime Members Only
The catch is that you have to be an Amazon Prime member to take advantage of the deals. The company ruffled feathers earlier this year when it upped the annual price of a Prime membership from $99 to $119. (You can also get a one-month membership for $13). Having to buy a subscription is a bummer, but there are ways around dropping cash just to take part in Prime Day. If you've never been a Prime member before, you can get a free 30-day trial just by signing up. Students get an even better deal: their Prime membership begins with a free six-month trial.
Even if you're a lapsed Prime member and you can't get the free trial, signing up for a one-month membership may be worthwhile, depending on what Prime Day deals you want to take advantage of. There's also a good chance Amazon will offer a discount on Prime subscriptions in the run-up to Prime Day, so your best bet is to wait and see.
What kind of deals can we expect?
Amazon always drops prices on tons of items, with big discounts in particular on its own hardware: Echos, Kindles, Fire sticks, and tablets. Additionally, you can expect big savings on video games, consoles, gaming accessories, 4K TVs, other electronics, apparel, outdoor gear, baby products, and nearly anything else you can buy at the online retailer.
Already Amazon has dropped the price on the Echo Show from $230 to $130 for Prime members and begun offering discounts on select items like furniture and luggage. Many more deals are to come, and you can see a selection of the first promotions. Meanwhile, Twitch Prime--which you get for free with Amazon Prime--is giving a ton of free PC games this month.
We'll have lots of Prime Day deals coverage on all things gaming and media here at GameSpot when the event rolls around. Make sure to check back closer to the the big day.
It's that time again; let's check out what's new to Netflix this week! A lot of titles are coming to Netflix this month but the first week of July is easily the biggest for incoming movies and shows. On July 1 alone, the Jurassic Park franchise, The Boondock Saints, Menace II Society, Happy Gilmore, Interview With A Vampire and a bunch more movies and shows were added.
July 6 is the big day for Netflix Originals with shows like First Team: Juventus and Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee coming back as well as a few movies like their adaptation of Jack London's White Fang.
Some other notable additions throughout the week include Pandorum, Bo Burnham's What, Get Smart with Steve Carell, Scream 4, and a new season of Inside the World's Toughest Prisons.
For the full list of everything coming to Netflix this week, scroll down. If you'd like to find out about everything that's coming to Netflix in July, check out our complete list.
Arriving To Netflix The First Week Of July
July 1
Blue Bloods: Season 8
Bo Burnham: what.
Chocolat
Deceived
Finding Neverland
Get Smart
Happy Gilmore
Hawaii Five-O: Season 8
Interview with the Vampire
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park III
Madam Secretary: Season 4
Menace II Society
NCIS: Season 15
Pandorum
Penelope
Queens of Comedy: Season 2
Rica, Famosa, Latina: Seasons 1-4
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Spanglish
Stealth
Swordfish
The Boondock Saints
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Princess Diaries
The Voices
Traitor
Troy
Van Helsing
We Own the Night
We the Marines
What We Started
July 2
Dance Academy: The Comeback
Good Witch: Season 4
Romina
The Sinner: Season 1
July 3
The Comedy Lineup-- Netflix Original
July 5
Blue Valentine
July 6
Anne with an E: Season 2-- Netflix Original
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: New 2018: Freshly Brewed-- Netflix Original
First Team: Juventus: Part B-- Netflix Original
Free Rein: Season 2-- Netflix Original
Inside the World's Toughest Prisons: Season 2-- Netflix Original
Sacred Games-- Netlfix Original
Samantha!-- Netflix Original
Somebody Feed Phil: The Second Course-- Netflix Original
The Fosters: Season 5 New Episodes
The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter-- Netflix Original Film
Grand Theft Auto V players in GTA Online have reported receiving in-game messages stating that Grand Theft Auto VI will launch in 2019. Developer Rockstar Games has addressed the rumors, confirming the messages are fake and not from official channels.
GTA Online players reported receiving the message, which reads, "Rockstar Message GTA VI Coming 2019," on Reddit and the GTA Online forum. This inevitably prompted people to ask the Rockstar Support Twitter account about it. The response follows below; it confirms it is indeed a hoax, as suspected.
Although Rockstar hasn't provided any information on how this happened, the Reddit community has speculated that an opportunistic hacker is using mods and a flaw in the Rockstar Social Club's messaging system to send out the message. Perhaps the biggest giveaway is that the pop-up messages are predominantly appearing in the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC versions of the game, where mods are more prevalent.
This is a hoax made with the use of mods, and not an official message or statement from Rockstar Games. *OV
— Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) July 2, 2018
Obviously, it'd be incredibly out of character for Rockstar to simply reveal the release date for the next entry in its biggest franchise in such a haphazard way. Rockstar like to be very measured in the way it reveals games, delivering fleeting teases and drip-feeding little details to build up excitement.
On top of that, casually announced GTA VI would steal all the thunder from its next game: Red Dead Redemption 2. As confirmed in July, Red Dead Redemption 2's release date is October 26, 2018. The much-anticipated sequel will be available for PS4 and Xbox One. Rockstar hasn't said whether the game is coming to PC, but one of the programmers working on the game has indicated Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC is in development.
July is officially upon us, which means a couple of new Games with Gold are now available to download. Xbox Live Gold subscribers can grab two new free titles for Xbox One and Xbox 360, with another pair of freebies set to arrive partway through the month.
On the current-gen console, Gold members can download the fast-paced twin-stick shooter Assault Android Cactus at no charge until July 31. 360 owners, meanwhile, can grab Sega's classic fighting game, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, for free until July 15. The latter is also playable on Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility.
In addition to those titles, players will be able to grab two more titles for free beginning July 16. On the Xbox One side, Gold members will be able to get the colorful puzzle game Death Squared for free until August 15, while Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction will be available to download on Xbox 360 through the end of July. Like Virtua Fighter, the latter is also backwards compatible with Xbox One. You can see the full list of July's free Games with Gold below.
On top of this month's freebies, Gold members still have a few more days to claim a holdover from June's Games with Gold lineup. The Smite Gold Bundle is available to download for free until July 15. The bundle includes an assortment of items for the free-to-play game, including additional gods, skins, and announcer packs.
July 2018 Games With Gold
Xbox One
Assault Android Cactus (July 1-31)
Death Squared (July 16-August 15)
Xbox 360 (playable on Xbox One)
Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (July 1-15)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (July 16-31)
Here's a PSA for PS4 owners. Assassin's Creed Odyssey might not launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC until October 5, but you can download an Assassin's Creed Odyssey theme for your PlayStation 4 right now. No pre-order or any other purchase is necessary. Just hop on the PlayStation Store, add it to your account, and you're good to go.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is primarily being developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the same team that made Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Set in Ancient Greece, Odyssey leans into RPG territory more than any other entry in the series. It lets you play as a male or female protagonist, grants you branching dialog choices, and has you make decisions that can significantly affect your experience with the game. You can read more about what changes are in store in our Assassin's Creed Odyssey hands-on preview.
The free dynamic PS4 theme plants a male Spartan warrior on the right side of your PS4 dashboard. If you press up on the controller to bring up the top row of icons, the soldier is whisked off the edge of the screen and replaced by a female Spartan warrior.
If you want to pre-order Assassin's Creed Odyssey, you'll face a whole mess of different versions of the game. To help you sort through what comes in each one, check out our Assassin's Creed Odyssey pre-order guide to find the one that's right for you.
Here's some good news for anyone who likes having joy and excitement in their life: Peggle is free to download for PC on Origin right now. It normally sells for $5, but for a limited time, you can get it to keep and play every day forever. So hurry to the Origin Store to download your copy now--it's been available for quite some time now, so it could be going back to its regular price soon.
What's the big deal about Peggle? If you haven't played this marvelous and highly addictive game, it's like a psychedelically-enhanced version of pachinko. You aim and shoot a ball from the top of the screen. The ball bounces and ricochets between colorful pegs on its way to the bottom. Each peg it touches disappears. Clear out all the orange pegs, and you can proceed to the next level.
It's a wonderfully simple setup that combines skill and luck in equal measure. Each new world has its own "teacher" who grants you a limited power that can help you clear pegs in all sorts of creative new ways. Throw in a bunch of optional challenges, and you have a game you can spend many pleasant hours trying to complete.
Whether you've played it before or not, Peggle is always worth a download when it's free. Head over to the Origin Store to add it to your collection before the price goes back up.
It has not been an easy road for Dead Island 2. The game was first announced in 2014, but since then it lost its initial developer and faced considerable delays. Despite that, the game's publisher, Deep Silver, is assuring fans that the game is still in development and will definitely still release.
On Deep Silver's Dead Island Twitter account, the company has been responding to many tweets, asking if the game is still in the works. While it hasn't shared much more information (and nothing on a possible release date), it has said repeatedly that the game is still in the works and to watch the Twitter account for more details at a later date.
Dead Island 2 was supposed to release in 2016 (after facing delays that pushed the release window back a year). Unlike the original Dead Island, which was developed by Techland (which went on to create Dying Light), it was being developed by Yager. In 2015, Yager and publisher Deep Silver parted ways due to a "difference of vision" for the game, and Yager later filed for insolvency after the game deal dissolved. The game was seemingly shelved for many months, until Deep Silver announced a new developer was on board to make the game.
Sumo Digital, the UK studio behind Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed and LittleBigPlanet 3, took over production in March 2016. "We're looking forward to exceeding fan expectation," the company said at the time. "[We have] an ambitious design that we're confident will take bone-crunching, visceral, zombie action to a whole new level."
Prior to its change of developers, publisher Deep Silver shared some details about the game. It will feature melee combat and role-playing elements like the original Dead Island, but also "never-before-seen" handcrafted weapons. The game will be set in California, with locations like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Venice Beach in LA playing backdrop to the action.
Deep Silver also said there will be "seamless" multiplayer for up to eight players, where you can "cooperate, compete, or simply coexist." The game will also feature a handful of dedicated classes that offer unique gameplay, including the action-focused Berserker and the stealth Hunter.
It's a good time to stop by the local GameStop or head to the website, because between now and July 15 the retailer is running its annual summer sale. This year you can find lots of good deals on games, consoles, and accessories for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The main difference between this sale and GameStop's regular weekly sale is quantity. A lot more games are on sale now than usual, even if the sale prices are about the same as you'd find any other week. At any rate, let's dive in and see what kind of money we can save during this year's GameStop summer sale.
On the hardware side, if you buy a 1TB Xbox One console, you'll get a $50 GameStop gift card for free. The green and gray Xbox One wireless controller is available for 20% off, bringing it down to $52. PS4 owners can grab a gold or magma red DualShock 4 controller for $55, saving $10 in the process.
All in all, there's a lot of deals during GameStop's summer sale, so you're sure to find something worth playing, no matter which platform you prefer. We have more of our picks below, but you can find the full sale here.
In addition to the arrival of the delayed Playground mode, a new content update (version 4.5) is now available for Fortnite on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. The update introduces a handful of new weapons to both Save the World and Battle Royale modes, including the recently-teased Drum Gun.
Following the rollout of the 4.5 content update, players can now find and wield the Drum Gun in Battle Royale mode. Epic describes the new gun as a "hybrid weapon that combines the stopping power of a rifle with the suppressive ability and fire rate of an SMG." It comes in Uncommon and Rare varieties, uses Medium Ammo, and can be found in chests, Vending Machines, or as floor loot.
The Drum Gun is the only new weapon to arrive in Battle Royale this week, but Save the World players can now get their hands on two new items: the Freedom Herald Pistol and the Stink Bomb--the latter of which made its debut in Battle Royale mode last month. Additionally, to coincide with Independence Day, Stars and Stripes Heroes are now available to purchase from the Event Store for a limited time. You can read more about the new items in the patch notes on Epic's website.
The new content update arrives after last week's 4.5 patch, which also introduced a new weapon to Battle Royale: the Dual Pistols. On top of that, the patch made a number of changes to existing weapons--particularly shotguns--and introduced the Final Fight Teams of 12 limited-time mode, which would eventually be replaced by 50v50.
Season 5 of Fortnite: Battle Royale is right around the corner. Ahead of the new season, players got to witness the Evil Lair's rocket take off and create a mysterious crack in the sky. Since the rocket launch, additional rifts have begun popping up around the island, and they appear to be growing and swallowing up nearby objects. What that means for the future of the game remains to be seen, but players won't have to wait too long to find out, as Season 5 kicks off next week on July 12.
Good news for deal hunters: Sony is running a massive Mid-Year Sale on the US PlayStation Store, with discounts on over 800 items between now and July 17. That's a seriously big sale, significantly larger than most weekly PlayStation Store sales. So if you're looking to save money on digital PS4, PS3, PS Vita, and PSVR games, now's the time to do it. And if you're a PS Plus member, you get a bonus 10% off. Let's take a look at some of the biggest and best games that are on sale right now.
To kick things off, you can grab last year's Egypt-set Assassin's Creed Origins for $36 ($30 with PS Plus). For the same price, you can get Diablo III: Eternal Collection, which comes with all the expansions that acclaimed dungeon crawler has gotten since release. Or you can kick it in the apocalypse with Fallout 4 for $18 ($15).
If you're looking for games that cost less than lunch, you can find plenty of them during the sale as well. The Zelda-like game Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is down to $6 ($2). The side-scrolling shooter Sine Mora EX is the same price. And if you haven't saved (or killed) a group of teenagers in Until Dawn yet, you can add it to your collection for $6 ($5).
Those are some of our picks for the best games in the PlayStation Store's Mid-Year Sale. You can find more below, or you can scroll through the whole big sale here.
Twitch Prime continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. Each month, Twitch users with Amazon Prime get a bunch of freebies, ranging from games to in-game items for titles. Perhaps the most exciting is free Fortnite gear, such as the Fortnite Twitch Prime Pack #2, which Epic Games has just announced. It includes exclusive free cosmetics and other items for Fortnite players, including the newcomers on Nintendo Switch. Here's what you can still get and how to obtain it.
Twitch Prime subscribers can now grab Fortnite Twitch Prime Pack #2. To claim your pack, link your Epic and Twitch accounts, then click on the crown next to the search bar on Twitch. Here's what you'll receive:
Exclusive Battle Royale Trailblazer Outfit
Exclusive Battle Royale True North Back Bling
Exclusive Battle Royale Tenderizer Pickaxe
Exclusive Battle Royale Freestylin' Emote
Note that, according to Epic's announcement, "While you can only claim your Twitch Prime loot on a single platform (PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One), your content is shared and available to use across PC/console and mobile, as long as you use the same Epic account. Content is not shared between Xbox One and PS4, even if you use the same Epic account."
Now is a good time to hop into Fortnite, thanks to the arrival of Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War. If you'd like some help completing this week's challenges, be sure to check out our guide to Fortnite's challenges for Week 2 of Season 4.
And if you haven't claimed Fortnite Twitch Prime Pack #1, you still can.
Now that Ant-Man and the Wasp is in theaters, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are getting to see just how powerful--and exciting--that superhero duo is when they work together. What comes next, though? It's a question that many have about nearly every aspect of the MCU, but one there is seemingly no answer for yet. Warning: The following includes spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed, though, has high hopes for the future of this particular piece of this crazy universe. While a sequel to Ant-Man and the Wasp has not been announced, he's certainly hoping to tell more of this story.
"I have fallen in love with these characters and I feel a certain ownership over the characters, you know, and if there are further stories to tell, which I think we all believe there are great stories to tell, I'd love to be involved with it," the director tells GameSpot. "There are just the things that we set up in this movie that you know are going to be paid off one way or another, and again, I can't spoil anything, but yeah, no, I'd love to do it."
When it comes to those spoilers Reed is talking about, of course he's alluding the fact that a mid-credits scene in the new movie sees Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) turned to ash as part of the Thanos finger snap in Avengers: Infinity War. For his part, Ant-Man is stuck in the Quantum Realm with seemingly no way to come back.
Those who have been keeping tabs on filming of the next Avengers movie know that Paul Rudd was spotted on the set of Avengers 4 in his Ant-Man suit, meaning the film does find a way to bring him into the fold. So clearly all hope isn't lost.
What's more, it's doesn't seem all that likely that Marvel would immediately kill off its first female superhero to have her name appear in a movie title. Given that there's another Spider-Man film, along with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3--even though those characters were all similarly turned to ash--you have to believe that there is life after Thanos, at least for some of those he wiped out. Hopefully, Hope, Janet, and Hank are among the faces resurrected.
Still, who knows if there will be another Ant-Man and the Wasp movie, or if they'll simply be integrated into future Avengers films. Whatever the case, this hopefully isn't the last fans have seen of either character, as they've become a breath of fresh air in what's lately been a dark and dire universe.
The first cast photo for It: Chapter Two makes them look like a pretty happy bunch. The Loser's Club is all grown up now, though who can say how long the glee will last when they've got a killer clown on the hunt for them.
The full cast gathered around the table shows Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh alongside costars Bill Hader as Richie Tozier, James Mcavoy as Bill Denbrough, Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom, James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon, and Andy Bean as Stanley Uris.
The photo was released by the official It movie Twitter account. Even though the movie isn't coming out for more than a year, and people are already getting hyped about it with the release of the first cast photo.
The first It movie was based on the Stephen King novel, but this one will follow the cast all grown up, as Pennywise the sadistic clown returns to plague the group once again. It: Chapter Two is expected to be released September 6, 2019.
It might have taken the animated adaptation of the classic video game Castlevania more than a decade to reach screens, but the first season of the show was highly acclaimed when it hit Netflix last year. The only real complaint fans had was that Castlevania Season 1 was far too short--just four episodes--but luckily, a longer Season 2 was greenlit soon after its release. Netflix has now revealed when the next season will be with us.
As announced during the Netflix panel at Anime Expo 2018, Castlevania Season 2 will arrive on October 26. The season will run for eight episodes and will be released by Netflix in its entirety. The season is once more written by acclaimed comic book writer Warren Ellis, with Richard Armitage returning as monster hunter Trevor Belmont. Although the show is produced in the US, it is heavily influenced by anime, and takes much of its visual inspiration from Konami's classic 1997 game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Last month, Armitage also revealed that Season 3 was already in production. While this hasn't been officially confirmed by Netflix, the actor told Digital Spy, "We're about to record a third. The second season hasn't been aired yet, but we're about to do a third."
In related news, Netflix has also announced that its highly acclaimed anime series Aggretsuko will get a second season. The show is produced by Sanrio, the Japanese company behind the hugely popular Hello Kitty brand, and tells the story of death metal-loving red panda Retsuko and her struggles with the modern workplace. For more, check out our list of the most metal moments from Aggretsuko, and why Aggretsuko is one of the best anime of the year.
Star Wars: Episode IX is set to start production this summer ahead of its December 2019 release. The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams is returning to the director's chair, along with most of the main cast from The Last Jedi. But as ever, there will be a host of new characters, and it has been reported the The Americans star Keri Russell has joined the cast.
According to Variety, Russell was one of several actors that Abrams considered for the currently-unknown role. Russell has worked with Abrams before, having appeared in the director's 2006 action hit Mission: Impossible III. As well as the lead role in FX's acclaimed show The Americans, Russell also appeared in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac are all expected to return for Episode IX. Ridley has already stated that this will be her final Star Wars movie. "I am really, really excited to do the third thing and round it out, because ultimately, what I was signing on to was three films," she said. "So in my head, it's three films. I think it will feel like the right time to round it out."
Abrams joined the movie in September last year, following the departure of original director Colin Trevorrow. Although little is known about Episode IX at this stage, Abrams has already stated that he won't play it safe with his second Star Wars film. "I feel like we need to approach this with the same excitement that we had when we were kids loving what these movies were," he said. "But at the same time, we have to take them places that they haven't gone, and that's sort of our responsibility."
Episode IX hits theaters on December 20, 2019 and is currently the only other Star Wars movie on Disney's release schedule. Despite rumors that the studio might have stopped development on some of its planned spin-offs following the financial disappointment of the recent Solo: A Star Wars Story, last month a Disney spokesman denied this was the case. In addition, there are two separate Star Wars movies series in the works, one from The Last Jedi's Rian Johnson, the other from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Looks like Amazon's streaming list is getting a whole lot longer this July. A host of new shows and movies are coming to Amazon Prime Video including oldies, newbies, and originals.
A handful of new shows are being added like Burn Notice and The Closer, along with a few originals like Comicstaan. Amazon will also be adding new seasons of shows they already have like season 6 of The Americans. One notable addition is that the first two seasons of 21 Jump Street, the show that made Johnny Depp famous, will be added to Prime.
Most of the titles added will be movies though, and there are a lot of them. To name a few, Snowden, American Psycho, Mulholland Drive, The Twilight Saga, and the Jaws franchise will all become streamable on Amazon starting in July. Amazon will also be the only place to stream a new movie called Zoe starring Ewan McGregor which will be released July 20.
If you want to know everything that's coming to Amazon Prime Video in July and when, check out the complete list below.
Amazon Prime Video's New Releases For July 2018
July 1
21 Jump Street, Seasons 1-2
Burn Notice, Seasons 1-7
Damages, Seasons 1-5
NYPD Blue, Seasons 1-12
The Closer, Seasons 1-7
20,000 Days on Earth (2004)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
All is Lost (2013)
American Psycho (2000)
American Psycho 2 (2002)
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)
And God Created Woman (1988)
Angel Heart (1987)
Angela's Ashes (1999)
Assassination (1987)
Avenging Force (1986)
Barfly (1987)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blue Chips (1994)
Body Count (1997)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Cadillac Man (1990)
Christmas Trade (2015)
Cronicas (2004)
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Double Jeopardy (1999)
Dr. T. and the Women (2000)
Finding Bliss (2009)
Gran Torino (2008)
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
Invaders from Mars (1986)
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Ladybugs (1992)
Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf (2014)
Letters to Juliet (2010)
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
Mixed Signals (1997)
Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988)
Ms. 45 (1981)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Murphy's Law (1986)
Next (2007)
Number One with a Bullet (1987)
Our Nixon (2013)
P.O.W. the Escape (1986)
Patriot Games (1992)
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Rabbit Hole (2011)
Sahara (2005)
Sex Drive (2008)
Six Shooter (2013)
Snake Eyes (1998)
State of Grace (1990)
Street Smart (1987)
Stripes (1981)
Switchback (1997)
The Act of Killing (2012)
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
The Brothers Bloom (2009)
The Eternal (1998)
The Foot Fist Way (2006)
The Fourth War (1990)
The Graduate (1967)
The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008)
The Invisible War (2012)
The Longest Yard (2005)
The Mechanic (1972)
The Monster Squad (1987)
The Twilight Saga (2008)
Trade (2007)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Waste Land (2010)
Witness (1985)
Woody Allen - A Documentary Parts 1 & 2 (2011)
Wooly Boys (2004)
Yelling to the Sky (2011)
Zodiac (2007)
July 8
Snowden (2016)
July 9
Jaws (1975)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Jaws 3 (1983)
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
July 13
Comicstaan, Season 1, Episodes 1-4-- Prime Original series
Amazon's Prime Day doesn't begin until July 16, but several lead-up deals are already available for Prime members. In particular, Amazon/Twitch Prime members can get free PC games from Twitch each day between now and July 18. All told, 21 free games will be available in July.
Seven games are free to download today, but you'll want to grab them soon, because they're only available for a limited time. For instance, if you missed out on getting Pillars of Eternity while it was free, that deal's gone. But don't worry, many free games lie ahead. The latest freebie is Gonner, a challenging procedurally-generated platformer. It's available until June 12.
Several of the past few days' games are still available as well. The first-person puzzle game Q.U.B.E. 2 is available for free on Twitch until July 9. Battle Chef Brigade, available until July 10, is a fantasy-themed game that mixes side-scrolling brawling with match-three puzzling mechanics. Available through August 2 is an SNK bundle that includes Metal Slug 3, The Last Blade 2, and Twinkle Star Sprites.
To get your free games, you'll first have to link your Twitch and Amazon Prime accounts. Then, head to Twitch.tv and click the crown icon next to the search bar. That opens a drop-down menu where you'll find your free games, along with any other freebies you haven't collected yet. Just note you'll need the Twitch desktop app to access the games.
Upcoming games that will be free for Prime members in July include Tacoma, Broken Age, and Brutal Legend. You can find the full schedule here.
Ant-Man & The Wasp is now in theaters, and of course it has two post-credits scenes (I guess we should lean into calling them stingers this time around, right?). That was never really up for debate. The real question on everybody's mind has been whether the after-credits scenes connect Ant-Man and the Wasp with Avengers: Infinity War. The answer? Unfortunately, yes. Warning: Spoilers ahead.
In the first scene we get a look at what Scott, Hope, Hank, and Jan have been up to in the time immediately after Jan's return. They've taken their lab-sized bridge to the Quantum Realm and either totally rebuilt it or just conveniently shrunk it down with Pym Particles to fit in the back of a van, and now, Scott's about to make the jump. This time, he's not on a rescue mission, but after more "quantum particles," which he alludes to being part of Ghost's "cure" (the solution to her problem of phasing in and out of different quantum states uncontrollably).
It's worth noting that with this new, smaller bridge, Scott isn't using the submarine like vehicle that Hank used when he went to pull Jan out. He's just going in with the Ant-Man suit and a plucky attitude. That matters because just seconds after Scott successfully makes the jump, he suddenly finds himself out of communication with the team back in the normal sized universe operating the device's control panel. Unsurprisingly, we learn that all three of them were dissolved into dust care of Thanos's Infinity War finger snap, right at the most inopportune time, leaving Scott presumably stranded in the Quantum Realm with no way to get out, no way to communicate with the outside world, and no one alive with the knowledge that he's even there at all.
It's a pretty bleak fate, given how obscure the Quantum Realm is to begin with, and with Hank, Jan, and Hope gone, the list of people smart enough to engineer a way to reach him--or even aware that the Quantum Realm exists--shrinks pretty dramatically.
The second post-credits scene takes place immediately after the first. We're taken to the Lang house--eerily deserted, with the TV cut to an emergency broadcasting channel. Upstairs, the giant ant "stand in" Hope programmed to mimic Scott's routine keeps on keeping on, oblivious to the apocalypse, playing Scott's drum set.
There's basically an endless list of possibilities revolving around the Quantum Realm. Obviously, part of Avengers 4 is going to have to deal with Scott either getting out of or going further into the Quantum Realm. We learned in this movie that quantum particles can literally affect the nature of reality and can cause (or, significantly, reverse) the phasing of matter between parallel universes. We also learned that spending enough time in the Quantum Realm alters one physiology and can imbue a person with the ability to control--or at least manipulate--quantum particles in people's bodies.
Granted, it's pretty unlikely that Scott is going to stay trapped in the Quantum Realm for as long as Jan was, but we shouldn't rule out the possibility that he's going to come out the other side displaying similar energy manipulation abilities, at least temporarily.
With abilities like that, or with the quantum particles he harvested (and, maybe, can continue to harvest), there's a whole new list of potential failsafes against the Infinity Stones. It's probable--maybe even likely--that when the Stones destroy matter, they're not actually vaporizing it, but instead forcing it to phase out of our reality into another--maybe even into a place that is touching or related to the Quantum Realm. Failing that, it's certainly more than possible that the quantum particles are a way in which the Stones can be reliably counteracted; even if people were literally reduced to dust, if quantum particles can alter the fabric of reality, what's to say they couldn't reach into an alternate universe and pull a new version of a vaporized person back into our dimension?
It's also worth considering that the Quantum Realm may have literally been out of reach of Thanos's snap all together, and thus, in one way or another, immune to the Infinity Stones' powers. Of course, there's the chance that Scott just got lucky enough to not be one of the people randomly chosen, but he's atypical for the surviving group in that he wasn't one of the original Avengers, which is one of the major commonalities between nearly all of the remaining heroes post-Infinity War. If the Quantum Realm is somehow safe from the Stones abilities, it may come into play in a totally different way come Avengers 4 next year.
We still can't be completely sure of all the details surrounding Ant-Man's mysterious absence from Infinity War, but chances are it's going to have something to do with someone named Ghost, set to make her MCU debut as the villain of this summer's Ant-Man & The Wasp. But who exactly is Ghost, and what about her was so important that it might have stopped Scott from showing up to fight Thanos?
In the comics, Ghost is a pretty shifty character. Originally introduced as a male Iron Man villain in the late '80s, Ghost was an average joe working in tech before a series of accidents prompted him to augment his body with "flux state" processors that were, eventually, merged with him permanently. The processors allowed Ghost to become incorporeal and invisible, and gave him the ability to phase through matter, which is obviously where he got his code name.
Beyond that, very little is actually known about the original Ghost's past. His origin story was only ever recounted by him and never actually corroborated. We don't even know his civilian name or who he was in his past life beyond the details he volunteered (or, you know, fabricated).
Ghost's motives are as unclear as his backstory. Typically he acts as a mercenary with a preference for jobs that rally against corporate expansion and greed--the reason he and Tony are so frequently at odds--but because of his murky history, it's difficult to connect the dots about why he does what he does. He's acted as a member of various teams, including the semi-reformed villains club the Thunderbolts, but he rarely spends too much time in the spotlight.
It's largely assumed that, rather than any sort of wealth or personal vendetta, Ghost values more abstract concepts like anarchy and chaos for his own supervillainous M.O. Sometimes even his teammates find themselves a little creeped out by him--especially when he seems to be veering into obsessive-eccentric territory.
In the live action universe, however, we're probably going to see a very different interpretation of Ghost. A woman this time around, played by Hannah John-Kamen, we get some indication from the trailers that her powers are going to derive from the Quantum Realm.
It's not explicitly clear what the origins of Ghost's powers are beyond that--she apparently "stole" Pym's tech relating to his Quantum Realm research, or perhaps had some sort of accident with it, both of which imply that she's potentially got some sort of history with Pym or his labs.
If not Pym himself, she may have some sort of connection to Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), who we know was working with Hank on the Goliath project prior to the shuttering of Pym's programs.
With the Quantum Realm factored in, it's likely that Ghost is also going to have some connection to or relationship with the currently lost Janet Van Dyne, who, as we learned in the first Ant-Man, has been trapped in the Quantum Realm for years. There's a distinct possibility that Ghost's tech, accidental as it may be, is going to be one of the keys to Janet's eventual return.
As for her motivation? Well, that's a little more clear than her origin. According to Luis in the trailer, Ghost apparently wants to "take over the world or whatever," which, in terms of comic book supervillains, is pretty standard operating procedure. Of course, given Luis's penchant for, well, we'll say creative storytelling, there very well might be more to Ghost than world domination--especially if she does wind up having a personal stake in Pym's research.
At this point, thanks to the fluid nature of her comic book inspiration and the major departures from the source material that are already clear, anything is possible.
It's hard to argue that the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline can be a troubling one. Whether it's the small inconsistencies--when, exactly, is Spider-Man: Homecoming set--or the order or the films relative to their place in the timeline, there's always quite a bit to sift through. Warning: Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow.
That's no different for the MCU's next release, Ant-Man and the Wasp. Though it's releasing after the game-changing events of Avengers: Infinity War, the new Marvel film is actually set before Thanos went on his finger-snapping rampage. In fact, Ant-Man and the Wasp serves as more of a sequel to Captain America: Civil War than just about anything else in the franchise.
So why slot a sequel to Civil War after the release of Infinity War? A big piece of the puzzle is it serves as a sort of palette cleanser for Marvel fans who watched so many of their favorite superheroes get turned to dust by Thanos. "I love that we come off of this cataclysmic event in Infinity War, and then have a self-contained, fun, clever, action-packed, emotional ride," Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige tells GameSpot.
For Peyton Reed, who directed Ant-Man and the Wasp, the movie's place in the timeline is similar to the first Ant-Man--which he also directed. "Us coming out after Infinity War absolutely mirrors the first movie coming out right after Age of Ultron," he says. "And it's, I'm sure, by design from Marvel, you know, and really kind of showcases their willingness to embrace wildly different tones in movies. But for me, I think it's great because we don't have any of the story burden of servicing, you know, Infinity Stones and stuff like that. We can just tell the story which, in the movie has really high stakes, but they're intensely personal stakes."
The idea of embracing different tones is one that's important to Feige and the team at Marvel Studios, as evidenced by the three MCU films released in 2018. "One of the big reasons we wanted to make this movie, and one of the big reasons we wanted the movie released in this order: Black Panther, Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, to show how different the tones can be, and that I've always said I always want to expand the definition not just of what a 'comic book' or 'superhero movie' could be, but now what a Marvel Studios movie could be, or what [the] MCU could be," he explains.
As Marvel looks to the future or what a movie in the MCU can be, Ant-Man and the Wasp hits theaters on July 6. For more on Ant-Man and the Wasp, don't forget to check out our review of the film, as well as Feige's thoughts on evolving the superhero franchise in the future. We also have details on the post-credits scenes.
The first reviews are rolling in for Marvel's newest film as the general release of Ant-Man and the Wasp is fast approaching. The film stars Paul Rudd as Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp, and it follows the physics-defying duo as they embark on a mission to find Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and subvert an intriguing new villain.
The film includes all kinds of other characters besides the two that are named in the title and has been pretty highly anticipated after the success of the first Ant-Man and the questions regarding his absence from Infinity War. So far, the film has a score of 70 on Metacritic which is a solid endorsement, but if you want a better look into the good and the bad from Ant-Man and the Wasp, check out the snipits from the reviews below. Ant-Man and the Wasp is now in theaters, and yes, it does have after-credits scenes.
GameSpot -- No Score
"Like the original Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp is primarily a palette cleanser in the MCU as a whole (the first movie was sandwiched in between the dense Age of Ultron and the dour Civil War). Ant-Man and the Wasp is hilarious, fun, silly, self aware, and creative. Filled with pseudo-science gobbledigook, crazy action, and multiple villains all vying for screen time, it's one of the most comic-booky MCU movies yet. The fates of all our favorite heroes after Avengers: Infinity War may still be up in the air, but in the meantime, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a welcome distraction." -- Michael Rougeau [Full Review]
Den of Geek -- 2.5/5
"Lacking any chance of displaying cinematic flourish or a point-of-view, Peyton Reed's straightforward effort misses the righteous zeal of Ryan Coogler's Black Panther or the playful cheekiness of James Gunn and Taika Waititi's Marvel entries. Ant-Man and the Wasp, by comparison, is just there, a flat-looking comedy that's bereft of too few laughs when juxtaposed with Thor: Ragnarok, even though that film was ostensibly about the apocalypse and this one is supposedly a laugher." -- David Crow [Full Review]
CNET -- No Score
"Ant-Man and The Wasp takes the stakes and scale of a typically colossal Marvel film and brings them down to the most intimate level, focusing on families in this love letter to father-daughter relationships.The 20th Marvel Cinematic Universe film is a light, welcome break from the mess that is reality -- more specifically from thinking about the epic scale of destruction in Avengers: Infinity War. It's a silly, fun comedy, well-timed after the superhero smashes of the last few months, with an easy-to-follow plot (even with multiple foes) and a whole lot of love, making it one of the best MCU sequels." -- Caitlin Petrakovitz and Eric Franklin [Full Review]
ComicBook.com -- No Score
"Most of Marvel's stars and directors recently attended the premiere of Ant-Man and the Wasp and, unsurprisingly, many of their reactions are incredibly positive.The same goes for James Gunn, writer and director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. After seeing the film at the premiere on Monday night, Gunn took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the work done by his Marvel cohorts. 'Ant-Man and the Wasp is everything you want it to be,' Gunn wrote. 'Hilarious, sweet, moving, & wall-to-wall fun. Killer work @MrPeytonReed! And great performances by @EvangelineLilly, @hannahjk1 & of course @Dastmalchian. I loved it! (Pro tip: see it before Avengers 4!)'" -- Charlie Ridgely [Full Review]
ScreenRant -- 3.5/5
"All in all, Ant-Man and the Wasp represents Marvel Studios at its best. The movie balances exciting action, well-timed humor, and a heartfelt emotional storyline to great effect, letting the heroes shine in their own unique way while also tying the movie into the larger MCU. After the weighty and stuffed team-up that was Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp provides a return to form for Marvel. It operates as a reminder of how well the studio works on a smaller scale, even as fans may be more interested in Marvel's loftier goals of tying together a decade's worth of movies for a grand event." --Molly Freeman [Full Review]
Variety -- No Score
"The director, Peyton Reed, also made the first Ant-Man (2015), but at the time he'd never helmed a special-effects blockbuster before, and his inexperience showed. He jammed comedy, action, and origin-story mythology into a film that had more amiable spirit than craft. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Reed keeps the entire movie — one-liners, Macy's Parade effects, hand-to-insect-wing combat — spinningly aloft. Always an inspired director of comedy (Down with Love, Bring It On), Reed has learned how to operate the heavy machinery of a Marvel superhero movie yet keep it all light and fast and dizzying." --Owen Gleiberman [Full Review]
IndieWire -- B-
"No matter its uneven variables, Ant-Man and the Wasp remains satisfying in that slick, crowdpleasing sort of way that became Marvel's hallmark, at least until the shocking finale of Infinity War. That movie upended years of formula with a grim cliffhanger that left audiences reeling. Released just a few weeks later, Ant-Man and the Wasp practically feels like a mea culpa, or at least the opportunity to take a breath. At this point, no studio does a better job of giving the people what they want." --Eric Kohn [Full Review]
Entertainment Tonight -- No Score
"The sequel to 2015's Ant-Man, whether by nature or by design, is as close to the polar opposite of Infinity War as can be: Like something of a palate cleanser, light and a whole lot of fun and on a significantly smaller scale. (As small as one of these massive Marvel movies can get, anyway.) Our eponymous duo is not trying to save the galaxy, or the planet, or even their neighborhood. A simple rescue mission drives this story: Save Janet van Dyne." -- John Boone [Full Review]
Vox -- 3/5
"Ant-Man and the Wasp is an airy, nimble piece of filmmaking: Reed's confidence to unapologetically embrace weirdness — like imagery of ants playing drums or responding to telepathic commands — gives the franchise its distinctly playful spirit. His stars, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, reprise their roles and further energize Marvel's most lovable romance. And the action sequences, with their constant, dynamic manipulation of size and scope, are as creative as they are thrilling. The film is bundles of fun, so much so that I found myself wishing it had a bit more to offer than just a good time at the movies."-- Alex Abad-Santos [Full Review]
One of Fortnite's most sought-after skins is now available again, for a limited time. The Red Knight skin is available in the Item Shop now, after a long absence since February. This version of the Red Knight appears to be missing her back bling, the Red Shield, but Epic says it's aware of the problem and will be granting it to anyone who has purchased the skin.
The Red Knight has been an enviable rarity for months. It hasn't appeared on the store since February. Some fans on Twitter have even expressed some annoyance that it's coming back at all, since seeing it had become such a rare treat. The new version of the Red Knight is available for 2,000 V-Bucks, just like the original, and has a matching Crimson Axe for 800 V-Bucks. Another new legendary skin, Criterion, is also available for 2,000 and includes the back bling Stabilizer. You can see both skins below.
Meanwhile, Fortnite Season 5 is just around the corner, and Epic is once again teasing the big world-changing event with weird happenings around the map. It already threw a curve-ball with a missile launch that cracked the sky, so where this all ends up now is anybody's guess. You can help ring in the transition to a new season by making a fan film and winning some V-Bucks in the process.
The Week 10 challenges are now live, and you only have until next Wednesday to finish all of Season 4's challenges if you own a battle pass. Check out the season rewards to see what you can earn for your trouble.
There's a recurring source of tension in Ant-Man and the Wasp thanks to Scott Lang's sentence of two years under house arrest for his actions in Captain America: Civil War. No matter how many zany adventures Paul Rudd's character has in this sequel, he has to periodically race back to his San Francisco apartment and re-don his ankle bracelet whenever hapless FBI agent Jimmy Woo (the funny Randall Park) decides to check in on him. It's a fun bit, and it harks back to an earlier age in the MCU, when a Marvel hero's biggest concern could be staying out of trouble with the law.
We've yet to see what a post-Infinity War world looks like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Regardless of how it eventually gets undone, what effect will Thanos's finger snap have in the short term? How will the tone shift in Avengers 4? Those questions are irrelevant in Ant-Man and the Wasp, which quickly places itself before the events of Infinity War. That may be a knock against it for those hoping for some answers, but this movie's tone is much lighter as a result, perfectly in line with the original Ant-Man's.
The first Ant-Man introduced Scott Lang (Rudd) along with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Ant-Man and the Wasp directly picks up their story following Scott's involvement in Civil War: Scott's two years of house arrest are almost up, but Hope drags him back into a life of illegal heroism in a plot to save her mother, Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet van Dyne, from the "quantum realm" in which she's been stranded for 30 years.
How can Janet be alive down there after all this time? How could Hank and Hope possibly find her? This movie is brimming with pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo about things like "entanglement" and "quantum tunnels." It gets a little exhausting, but the movie is self aware about its own ridiculousness; at one point, Scott asks Hank and his colleague Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) whether they just stick the word "quantum" in front of everything to make it sound more scientific. Good question, Scott!
Ant-Man and the Wasp introduces a couple of new villains in the forms of Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost, who stalks the heroes in hopes of stealing their secret lab, and Walton Goggins' Sonny Burch, a black market merchant who decides he wants the quantum tech for himself. Goggins is his typical hilariously sleazy self, while John-Kamen's more overtly dramatic performance fits her character.
But most important is the Wasp herself, Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne, who completely owns this movie. Hope proves--unsurprisingly--to be a much more capable Ant-Man than Ant-Man himself, with confidence and skill that are thrilling to watch. It makes the entire plot of the first movie--that Hank had to enlist the deadbeat Scott in the first place instead of just trusting his daughter to do the job--seem even more ludicrous in retrospect. Hopefully Lilly decides to stick around the MCU for a while, as her presence would be much appreciated in future installments.
Like the first Ant-Man, this movie has great fight choreography that sees both heroes frequently changing from normal to small to massive and back again in creative ways. Some of the most fun sequences are car chases where one or more vehicles are constantly shrinking down to Hot Wheels size and back to normal, throwing off pursuers and causing general zany chaos.
There's an added dash of humor from the fact that Scott's suit for much of the movie is malfunctioning, leaving him unable to control when he changes size. That leads to an especially funny sequence where Scott is running around his daughter's middle school at about 3 feet tall, trying to remain undetected. Cassie herself is still played by the ridiculously charismatic Abby Ryder Fortson, who gives Paul Rudd tit-for-tat in every scene they're in together.
Michael Peña's Luis returns with a vengeance too, with his voice-overed montage gag from the first--in which he tells a story while the characters he's describing act it out--is funnier than ever. This time around he gets injected with a sort of truth serum, causing his rapid fire rambling to span topics ranging from Scott's psychiatric health to his family's love of Morrissey. He's more actively involved in the story, as well, which is pure wish fulfillment for viewers who loved his character in the first movie.
Like the original Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp is primarily a palette cleanser in the MCU as a whole (the first movie was sandwiched in between the dense Age of Ultron and the dour Civil War). Ant-Man and the Wasp is hilarious, fun, silly, self aware, and creative. Filled with pseudo-science gobbledigook, crazy action, and multiple villains all vying for screen time, it's one of the most comic-booky MCU movies yet. The fates of all our favorite heroes after Avengers: Infinity War may still be up in the air, but in the meantime, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a welcome distraction.
The Good
The Bad
Lighthearted and funny
Pseudo-science mumbo jumbo gets ridiculous
Evangeline Lilly phenomenal as the Wasp
No answers for Infinity War fans
Multiple fun new villains
Creative shrinking-and-growing action
Self aware about its sillier aspects
Much-needed palette cleanser following Infinity War
A new batch of games has gone on sale on the Nintendo Eshop, meaning Nintendo Switch and 3DS owners have a new selection of deals to peruse. The Switch sales aren't quite as exciting as they have been in weeks past, though there's still some good discounts on there. Nintendo 3DS owners have quite a few terrific games to choose from this week, thanks largely to a sale on games published by Atlus. Read on for our picks of the best games on sale this week on the Eshop.
Switch owners can download the Banjo-Kazooey-esque Yooka-Laylee for $30, or the acclaimed Metroidvania-style game Axiom Verge for $15. Sine Mora EX is a side-scrolling shooter with a unique time-manipulation mechanic; it's on sale for $12. Those in the mood for an adventure/sim game can pick up This is the Police, which is also on sale for $12. It puts you in the shoes of a police chief who has to manage his squad while keeping a corrupt city in order.
Nintendo 3DS owners with a fondness for JRPGs can have a field day in the Eshop this week. A bundle of heavy-hitters are on sale, including Shin Megami Tensei IV for $12. It's a tough game with a memorable story that has you fighting, recruiting, and combining demons. Persona fans can grab Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth for $15. It takes characters from Persona 3 and 4 and drops them in an Etrian Odyssey-style adventure.
After several years of waiting, Capcom has finally debuted its remake of classic survival-horror game Resident Evil 2. If you only watched its E3 2018 reveal trailer, chances are you have some questions regarding how it plays and how faithful it is to the 1998 original. There are still plenty of details that we don't know, but Capcom has at least offered some clarity on its most curious changes.
To ensure you're kept up to date on everything there is to know about Resident Evil 2 remake, we've compiled all the information we have on the game so far: how it came to be, why its camera is from the third-person over-the-shoulder perspective, and more.
While not explicitly titled "Resident Evil 2 Remake," the game is in fact a total remake of the classic survival-horror game, and not a remastered version of the PS1 original with touched-up graphics--much in the same vein as 2002's Resident Evil remake. You once again control rookie cop Leon Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens are transformed into zombies by a virus two months after the events of the first Resident Evil.
The project came to be after Capcom producer Yoshiaki "H" Hirabayashi took to Facebook on July 30, 2015 to ask the Resident Evil community if they'd be interested in a remake. The request was met with enthusiastic support, which prompted Hirabayashi to pitch the idea to his boss sometime later. The result of the pitch meeting was confirmed the following August when the game was formally announced by Hirabayashi in a special message to fans.
How It Plays
The Resident Evil 2 remake plays from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective, similar to Resident Evil 4. If you're worried this deviates too far from the original's fixed-camera system, don't let this get you down: the remake still emphasizes survival-horror above all else. You're not given the same amount of power that the more action-oriented games in the series offer you.
The new aiming style feels like a modernized version of the aiming from classic Resident Evil games that allows you to move and pick out where you want your shots to land.
This manifests itself in combat. When you aim, the cardinal markers on your reticle slowly move until they're closed in on the center, allowing you to fire a more precise shot. But when you move, the reticle resets and takes time to close in again. Shots take time to line up and you need to stand still to get them just right; you can't instantly fire from the hip and expect to hit your target. It's a small change, but it completely alters your sense of control. The new aiming style feels like a modernized version of the aiming from classic Resident Evil games that allows you to move and pick out where you want your shots to land.
Progression also remains largely the same as the original Resident Evil 2. You're still solving puzzles, tracking down keys, gathering resources, and putting them back into item boxes for later use. But there's more freedom to explore and discover secrets at your own pace and in varying orders--which is a welcome change of pace from the more constricted adventure game-like progression of the original. You're constantly investigating new pathways and gaining new items that might help you open up the way to your objective.
In the same way Resident Evil 7 felt like a classic Resident Evil game played from the first-person perspective, the Resident Evil 2 remake feels the same--but from an over-the-shoulder perspective.
Why The Third-Person Camera Perspective?
As stated, Resident Evil 2 remake will play from a third-person over-the-shoulder view. Hirabayashi told GameSpot that he and his team chose the perspective because they wanted the experience of playing the game to be "intimately terrifying in nature, to [have] up-close and personal zombie encounters that you can only get with that kind of view." He commented further that the perspective was also chosen to open up new possibilities for the series' classic puzzle-solving.
Based on our time spent playing the game at E3 2018, the third-person perspective plays well with the labyrinthian corridors of the police department, making exploration feel unsettling and claustrophobic. We're curious how it'll be effectively used in the latter portions of the game.
How Faithfully Does It Recreate The Original?
Currently, all we have to go in terms of judging the game's faithfulness is the Racoon City Police Department--the primary location of the first playable demo at E3. The remake appears to closely recreate many of the area's iconic rooms and corridors, while adding in new details to give it a more modern flair. Some rooms have been slightly rearranged, but the overall structure of the police station remains largely the same--at least from the first floor. Some areas are much darker than in the original too, forcing Leon to brandish a flashlight in order to safely navigate the environment. Also, there are no longer any loading screen doors, so say goodbye to your old-school escape techniques, zombies will now follow you from room to room whether you like it or not.
Leon is still the rookie cop with a heart of gold that we all remember, yet his naivety and sense of honor is reframed and more subtly reflected in his line delivery. Commanding officer Marvin Branagh appears to be a more substantial character who still warns Leon of the dangers ahead, but who seems to have a larger presence, remaining in the main hall after gifting you with a survival knife (and not a keycard).
Story events seem to be remixed as well. The beats we've seen so far are incredibly similar, with Leon reaching the police station, but the story progresses slightly differently. For example, you're forced to explore the Eastern side of the police station first before encountering Marvin, instead of meeting up with him first to unlock the doors to both the Western and Eastern sections.
How Will The Leon/Claire Campaigns Work?
One of the most unique aspects of the original Resident Evil 2 was how it separated its campaign; you had the option to start the game as either Leon or Claire. And depending on who you finished the campaign with, you could then start a new one from the other character's perspective. This closely tied into the Zapping System, where each of the two playable characters are confronted with different storylines and puzzles depending on the order you choose to play their scenarios. You had the option of starting the "A" scenario with either of the two protagonists and then completing their subsequent "B" scenario, resulting in a total of four different scenarios.
It appears that the remake won't use the Zapping System, but will instead offer a total of two completely separate campaigns starring Leon and Claire. It's unclear if your actions in either of the two campaigns will impact the other.
Any Other Fancy New Features?
Similar to Resident Evil remake, whenever you're grabbed, you can instantly stab a zombie to push them away and avoid damage. Interestingly, your knife will remain in the body of the zombie until you pick it back up. We're curious what would happen if you left the knife in the zombie and carried on, as there also seem to be puzzles that involve using your knife. Are you forced to backtrack and retrieve it? Or are there multiple combat knives you can find? Time will tell.
As you explore the RPD, you'll get your hands on wooden boards that you can use to barricade doors and windows from zombies and other bioweapon threats. If the absence of loading screen doors hurts your sense of safety, then these new wooden boards can serve as a decent--albeit temporary--replacement.
Lastly, a gunpowder crafting mechanic is present, which allows you to create much-needed ammo from scratch. If it's anything like past games, you'll likely be relying on it to create the fancier ammo types needed to swiftly take down strong opponents.
What's The Release Date?
Resident Evil 2 remake will release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on January 29, 2019. That's not too far away, but gosh doesn't it just feel like an eternity?
Fortnite's newest limited time mode, Playground, will leave the game on Thursday, July 12, developer Epic Games has announced. Writing on Reddit, the developer said it appreciates all the feedback players have provided about this mode. It's going away so Epic can "take it back under construction" before presumably bringing it back with some changes.
The next version of Playground is expected to feature new functionality that will allow players to select teams from within Playground. If Epic can deliver this, it will give players the ability to have things like:
1v1s and 2v2s
Aim assist for controllers
Editing other player's structures
Traps affecting teammates/enemies correctly
Highlighting teammates on the map
Damaging enemies with your pickaxe
Epic said it hopes to deliver a "full creative mode" inside Fortnite someday, and Playground is the "first step" towards that.
Playground is intended to be a "low-pressure environment" that acts much like a private server. It allows players to explore the map and play around with up to three friends, free from the risk of being eliminated by other people.
Each Playground match lasts for one hour, and the storm circle won't begin closing in on the map until 55 minutes have passed. Friendly fire is enabled, although players will respawn immediately unless eliminated by the storm. There's also much more loot to find, and it affords opportunities to screw around with the game that you could not in a regular match. Check out GameSpot's video above to see what you can do in Playground.
Playground disappears on July 12, which is also the start of Season 5. We don't yet know exactly what to expect, but there's likely to be map changes--or perhaps a new map--along with another Battle Pass, new skins, and more.
Although Spider-Man fans will have to wait until next summer to see the webslinger in his next live-action movie, the animated film Spider-Man:Into The Spider-Verse is releasing in December. The movie will feature various versions of Spider-Man, and it has now been reported that Nicolas Cage might take on one of these characters.
According to Collider, Cage will play Spider-Man Noir in Into The Spider-Verse. This version of Spidey first appeared in Marvel comics in 2009, and as the name suggests, is a darker version of the character. The Spider-Verse is a multiverse containing different Spider-Men, and we already knew from last month's first trailer that there are at least three characters with Spider powers--Miles Morales, Peter Parker, and Gwen Stacey.
This will actually be the second animated superhero movie that Cage will lend his voice to this year--he also plays Superman in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, which releases this month. Cage was actually close to playing the Man of Steel in a live-action movie back in the 1990s, when he was cast in Tim Burton's Superman Lives. However, that film ultimately never happened. Beyond that, Cage is known for movies such as The Rock, Leaving Las Vegas, and Wild At Heart.
Into The Spider-Verse also stars Shameik Moore (The Get Down) as Morales, Jake Johnson (Jurassic World) as Parker, Hailee Steinfeld (Bumblebee) as Stacey, and Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) as the villainous Kingpin, plus Mahershala Ali (Luke Cage), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), and Lily Tomlin (The West Wing).
The film is produced by The Lego Movie's Phil Lord and Chris Miller, with a screenplay by Lord. In a recent interview, Miller spoke about the movie's distinctive visuals. "This is a new, unique experience, and we are pushing the medium," he said, via Indiewire. "We're getting away with so much with this movie. It's a pretty wild style." Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse hits theaters on December 14.
In related news, it was recently reported that Sony is developing a live-action Spider-Man spin-off movie based on the Korean-American superhero Silk. This is the latest in a number of films that the studio is looking to make, using heroes and villains from the wider Spidey universe; other include the Silver and Black and Morbius: The Living Vampire, which currently has Jared Leto attached in the lead role. The first spin-off, Venom, hits theaters in October.
Niantic's phenomenally popular mobile game Pokemon Go is celebrating its second anniversary this month, and the developer is commemorating the occasion in a number of ways. First, series mascot Pikachu and its pre-evolved form, Pichu, will appear much more frequently from July 6-31, and players will even have a chance to catch a special version of the Electric mouse for a limited time.
Throughout the remainder of July, a "summer style" Pikachu will also appear in the wild. Like the various hat-wearing Pikachu that were available during certain in-game events, this Pikachu only differs in appearance, sporting a straw hat and sunglasses. Additionally, players who have a gold Pikachu Fan medal will be able to purchase special items for their avatar, including a t-shirt and Pikachu ears.
Finally, Niantic has revealed that the Mythical Pokemon Celebi will soon make its debut in Pokemon Go. As was the case with Mew, Celebi will be the subject of a new Special Research quest. The developer hasn't announced when the Celebi Special Research quest will kick off, only noting that it will be available "in the near future." You can read more about Pokemon Go's second anniversary celebration on the game's official website.
In the meantime, players will soon have another chance to capture the Legendary bird Articuno. As a reward for completing enough Global Challenges during the recent Safari Zone event in Dortmund, Articuno is returning to Raid Battles for a very limited time this Saturday, July 7. The Pokemon will only be available during a three-hour window of time, and players will have a chance to encounter its Shiny form.
The following day, July 8, Niantic will host the next Pokemon Go Community Day. This month's featured Pokemon is Squirtle; the classic starter will appear much more frequently for the duration of the event, and players who complete Field Research tasks will have a chance of finding a special Squirtle wearing sunglasses. Any Wartortle that evolves before the Community Day event will also learn the powerful Water attack Hyrdo Cannon.
The Pokemon Go Summer Tour made its first stop this past weekend with a special Safari Zone event in Dortmund, Germany. During the event, players around the world had a chance to participate in Global Challenges, and developer Niantic has revealed the reward for their efforts: another opportunity to catch the Legendary bird Articuno.
This Saturday, July 7, Articuno will return to Raid Battles for a limited time. The Legendary Ice-type will only be available for three hours, but Niantic has confirmed it will be the only Tier 5 Raid Boss going on around the world during that window of time, temporarily replacing the game's current Legendary, Regice.
Moreover, the developer teases that players may have a chance of encountering a rare Shiny Articuno, giving you an added incentive to stop by a Gym this Saturday even if you already have one in your collection. Additionally, players will receive five Raid Passes for free when they spin a Photo Disc at a Gym. The Raid Passes are required to participate in Raids.
Global Challenges will also be available during Pokemon Go's next two real-world events, Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago (which takes place July 14-15), and the recently announced Safari Zone in Yokosuka City, Japan (August 29 - September 2). Niantic hasn't announced what reward players will earn for achieving the global goal during each of those events, though it seems likely they'll unlock additional opportunities to capture the other two Legendary birds, Zapdos and Moltres.
Pokemon Go players also have the game's next Community Day to look forward to this weekend. The event takes place on Sunday, July 8, and features the Gen 1 starter Squirtle. Those who complete Field Research tasks during the Community Day will also have a chance to find a Squirtle wearing sunglasses, like the Squirtle Squad from the Pokemon anime. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Regice will be available in Raid Battles until July 19.
A new season of Fortnite: Battle Royale is quickly approaching, but before it arrives, Epic has rolled out one final set of challenges for Season 4. Week 10's challenges are now available across all platforms--PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile--and, as usual, they consist of seven different objectives that run the gamut from straightforward tasks to more involved treasure hunts. Here's how to clear all of this week's challenges and unlock the remaining Battle Pass rewards before Season 5 begins.
The trickiest of the bunch is a Hard challenge that simply asks players to search between movie titles, which may give you some trouble if you don't know where to look. The area in question is just northeast of Junk Junction, where a cluster of buildings, including a movie studio, is located. Follow the dirt path that's south of Junk Junction to the east until you come upon the three-way fork north of the aforementioned buildings. The Battle Star can be found in a small patch of dirt to your right (south). You can see this in the map below or follow along in the video above. Either way, all you have to do is run up to the star and collect it in the same way you'd open a chest.
While you're in the area, you can work toward clearing another challenge that asks you to search seven chests in Junk Junction. This task doesn't need to be completed in a single match, so you can repeatedly drop there at the start of a round and open chests until you reach the requisite number. Another challenge has you search a chest, Ammo Box, and Supply Drop, although this one does need to be completed in a single match.
The other potentially tricky challenge this week is to skydive through 20 floating rings. This one will certainly require multiple attempts; the rings appear at three different elevations (which are denoted by different colors), so you'll potentially only be able to rack up three of them in a single go. Fortunately, you can have your glider out to ensure you easily dive through the center of the rings, so all you'll need to do is play enough rounds and you'll be able to complete the challenge.
The remaining challenges are fairly self-explanatory. One tasks you with eliminating three opponents in Fatal Fields, while another challenges you to eliminate 10 opponents total. Both are labeled as Hard and are worth 10 Battle Stars each. The final challenge has you deal damage to opponents' structures, which can most easily be accomplished using explosives or the Minigun. You can find the full list of Week 10 challenges below.
Season 5 of Fortnite: Battle Royale begins on July 12. You'll have until then to complete any remaining challenges from Season 4 and unlock new skins, gliders, emotes, and other Battle Pass rewards. If you still need help clearing any of this seasons tasks, be sure to check out our complete Season 4 challenge guide.
Fortnite Season 4, Week 10 Challenges
Search Chests in Junk Junction (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Deal damage to opponents' structures (5,000) -- 5 Battle Stars
Search a Chest, Ammo Box, & Supply Box in a single match -- 5 Battle Stars
Skydive through floating Rings (20) -- 5 Battle Stars
Hard: Search between movie titles -- 10 Battle Stars
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