As video games continue to mature as a narrative form, the medium has allowed a growing number of developers to explore issues that wouldn't typically be confronted in a game, whether it be the plight of refugees trying to cross a border as in Papers, Please, or the pain of losing a loved one to an incurable illness as in That Dragon, Cancer. Jupiter & Mars, a new PSVR-compatible game coming to PS4 later this year, tackles the growing issues of climate change and mankind's impact on the environment, and it wraps its message up in a beautiful and surreal undersea adventure that calls to mind Sega's classic Ecco the Dolphin series.
Jupiter & Mars is the debut effort of Tigertron, an independent studio founded by former game journalists James Mielke and Sam Kennedy. According to Mielke, the idea for the game first began to germinate after the release of The Cove, a 2009 documentary about dolphin hunting. Mielke was working at Q Entertainment (Lumines, Child of Eden) at the time and was deeply affected by the film. "I started to think, could I be doing something better with my time rather than just making another game for another console cycle?" he said. Rather than embark on a new career path, he decided to use his years of experience developing games as a way to raise awareness of ecological issues, enlisting his longtime colleague to help bring his idea to life.
Much like Ecco the Dolphin, Jupiter & Mars is an underwater adventure game set in the distant future, after humanity has disappeared. The planet is slowly recuperating after being ravaged by the effects of climate change; major coastal cities have been submerged by the rising sea levels, and neon-colored fish and coral reefs have begun to gradually repopulate the sunken steel and cement ruins left in man's wake. Despite the Earth's steady recovery, mankind's impact can still be felt in the traces of technology that linger on the ocean floor, particularly the "space stations"--mysterious bases that continue to disrupt the environment even in their semi-powered state.
While Tigertron's message is clear even from this brief synopsis, Jupiter & Mars doesn't lecture players; rather, the game conveys these issues subtly through its world and gameplay. "We're not trying to preach, we're not trying to be heavy-handed and tell you, 'You're such a bad person for using plastic and wearing leather Nikes,'" Mielke said. "What we want to do is, we want to present a really compelling world. Our goal is to get people to think, like, 'Well, could this really happen?' And if they become curious enough to investigate for themselves what the reality is, then for us that's mission accomplished."
The game casts players in the role of the eponymous Jupiter and Mars, two highly evolved dolphins with special abilities. The pair are entreated by an ancient race of whales known as the Elders to find and shut the remaining space stations down, and their ensuing journey takes them through five diverse and visually stunning biomes, from crystalline tropics to murky ocean depths and even the submerged remains of London. To shut the space stations down, however, the dolphins will first need to figure out how to slip past the AHDs--acoustic harassment devices--that surround each base and emit audio pulses that deter marine life.
Both Jupiter and Mars have their own innate abilities that players will need to utilize to navigate the ocean. Jupiter, who players control directly from a first-person perspective, is able to emit pulses of echolocation to illuminate her surroundings and interact with other marine life; Mars, your constant AI companion on the journey, can ram into objects on command to break through crumbling gates and open new passageways. In the same vein of a Metroid game, the dolphins will also need to acquire power-ups to gain access to new areas of the world; the Aqualung ability, for instance, allows Jupiter and Mars to dive much deeper below the surface than they typically could, while the Tail Kick power lets them swim against strong currents that would normally be impassable.
While the overarching goal of the adventure is to neutralize the space station located in each biome, Jupiter & Mars also features lots of light environmental puzzle solving and other kinds of moment-to-moment gameplay. Throughout the journey, you'll encounter various sea life in need of assistance; early on in the game, a mother turtle asks you to rescue her babies, who are scattered about the area and tangled in plastic. You'll need to use echolocation to track down the turtles and free them, thereby opening up a pathway to a new location. During the course of your adventure, you'll also come across collectibles in the form of trinkets and other remnants of human society. These are hidden around the environment and tucked away in clam shells that Mars can crack open, encouraging you to poke around and explore each locale.
Jupiter & Mars doesn't yet have a release date, but the game is slated to release for PS4 in late 2018. While the title is compatible with PSVR, the headset isn't required to play it. For an even closer look at the game, you can watch us play 13 minutes of it in the video above. The footage is taken from an early build and may not necessarily be reflective of the final version.
The Ultra Bonus Event is now underway in Pokemon Go, bringing an influx of Gen I Pokemon with it. For a limited time, Pokemon originally found in the Kanto region will appear much more frequently in the wild. That isn't all, however; the three Legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres have all also returned to the game, but for only a few days.
From now until September 20, you'll have another chance to fight the three Legendary birds in Raid Battles. While the three are available, the duration of Raid Battles has been extended to 90 minutes, giving you some extra time to battle and catch them. Niantic also says you'll have a chance of running into Shiny versions of each Legendary.
On top of that, you'll now be able to get your hands on some previously region-exclusive Pokemon. Until September 30, you'll have a chance of hatching Farfetch'd, Kangaskhan, Mr. Mime, and Tauros from 7 km Eggs. Each of the aforementioned Pokemon is typically only available in a certain part of the world, making this many players' first opportunity to add them to their collections.
On the same day Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres leave Raid Battles, another Gen I Legendary, Mewtwo, will take their place beginning at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET. This isn't the Psychic-type's first appearance in Pokemon Go, but it has up until now only been available through the invite-only EX Raids. This marks the first time Mewtwo will be available in regular Raid Battles, making it much easier to finally capture one. It will appear in Raid Battles until October 23.
While not part of the Ultra Bonus Event, players still have only a few more days to capture a different Legendary Pokemon, Regirock, which is also scheduled to leave the game on September 20. Pokemon Go's next Community Day event will take place not long afterward, on Saturday, September 22. This time, the featured Pokemon will be Chikorita, one of the three starters from Pokemon Gold and Silver.
It's just hours before WWE's next PPV, Hell in a Cell, and it's looking like this event will be a little bit shorter than previous ones, as there are only eight matches in total on the card, including the one on the Kickoff Show. The event will be coming to you live from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Competitors will be locked in a gigantic chain-linked enclosure and have to duke it out. Many times, the fight explodes out of the cell, and for some reason, the superstars climb to the top of it, and someone falls or jumps off the top. It's terrifying. As of this writing, there are two Hell in a Cell matches, and there may be even more.
The event will air on PPV and the WWE Network at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET / 12 AM BST (Sept. 17). Just like every PPV, there will more than likely be a Kickoff Show before the main card starting one hour prior. There will be at one match on the pre-show.
Almost every year, fans remain on the edge of their seats as WWE superstars perform in the enclosed structure, then break out, climb to the top, and almost kill themselves jumping off of it. Considering that Jeff Hardy is fighting Randy Orton in the cell this year, that may mean Hardy will swanton off the top, and fans will collectively have a heart attack.
It's still early, but there have been a few matches already booked for the card, outside of Hardy/Orton. Brie Bella--who I thought was on Raw--teams up with her husband Daniel Bryan to take on Maryse and her husband The Miz. Both Miz and Bryan put on a fantastic match at Summerslam, so this should be a fun one. In additional, three title bouts have been booked. Former Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss gets her rematch against Ronda Rousey, and hopefully, Rousey won't ragdoll her around again like the squash match at Summerslam. There's also both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship matches as well.
At the time of this writing, there are eight matches booked for the event, but you can expect this card to fill up exceptionally quickly in the next week or so, including matches for the United States Championship.
Hell in a Cell match card:
The New Day (c) vs. Rusev & Aiden English (Smackdown Tag Team Championship) [KICKOFF SHOW]
Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton (Hell in a Cell match)
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntrye (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose (Raw Tag Team Championship)
Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse
Charlotte (c) vs. Becky Lynch (Smackdown Women's Championship)
Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Alexa Bliss (Raw Women's Championship)
AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Championship)
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Braun Strowman (Hell in a Call match for the Universal Championship with Mick Foley as guest referee)
Make sure to come back to GameSpot on Sunday, September 16 for live coverage of the event.
WWE's next PPV Hell in a Cell is happening later today, and as we get closer to the event, more and more rumors start spreading around the internet. However, there is something fun about checking all these rumors out. More often than not, these rumors are totally bunk, but most wrestling fans enjoy knowing more about what's going on backstage, even if the info isn't 100% accurate.
Things are sure to get chaotic when WWE's PPV Hell in a Cell comes to the WWE Network and PPV on Sunday, September 16. This year's event will be hosted by the AT&T Center in Dallas, Texas, and the show will begin at 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT with a Kickoff Show starting one hour prior. There will be multiple title matches and at least two confirmed Hell in a Cell matches at the show.
So far, there aren't any huge rumors leading into Hell in a Cell yet, but WWE programming still has to get through this week's episodes of Raw and Smackdown to push forward, which is usually when the rumor mill really starts moving. Below, you can see the latest rumors for the upcoming PPV. If you'd like to know more, check out the updated match card for the show and our predictions.
As rumors get confirmed or debunked, we'll keep you updated.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte have been battling back and forth on Twitter, and Charlotte posed the idea that their match should be a Hell in a Cell match. As of this writing, that would make three of the event's matches contested inside the cage. [UPDATE]The match doesn't have this stipulation yet, and it doesn't seem like it will be added.
The AT&T Center has revealed some of the card for the PPV. One match has not been confirmed by WWE, and the card is always subject to change. The new addition is Rollins & Ambrose vs Ziggler and McIntyre for the Raw Tag Team Championships. [UPDATE]Match confirmed and recently added to the card.
Shawn Michaels may be coming out of retirement for the next Saudi Arabia show on November second, according to Wrestling Observer. Apparently, he would be involved in a tag match.
It's looking like Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Lashley will be added to the card, according to how Owens' storyline is going, with his most recent attack on Lashley. [UPDATE]It's hours before the event, and this match hasn't been added. It seems very doubtful.
Many are speculating that Nikki Bella will interfere with Ronda Rousey's match, in order to set up Bella/Rousey for WWE's all-women's PPV, Evolution, for October.
Kurt Angle has been away for a while, and according to Sportster, Hell in a Cell or the Raw after the PPV could be when he returns, in which he'll battle Constable Baron Corbin so Angle can get his spot back as General Manager.
Make sure to come back to GameSpot on Sunday for live coverage of Hell in a Cell.
As the world of Mayans MC is being built, it continues to find itself populated with familiar faces from Sons of Anarchy. In the first episode of the series alone, both Gemma Teller Morrow (Katey Sagal) and Marcus Alvarez (Emilio Rivera) appeared. While Gemma's cameo will play a bigger role in Season 1, chances are she won't be seen much. Alvarez, on the other hand, will be a pretty constant presence. The following contains spoilers for the second episode of Mayans MC.
Now, a third fan-favorite character has been introduced. Chucky Marstein (Michael Ornstein) started off as a compulsively masturbating thorn in the SAMCRO's side. Eventually, though, he became one of its most trusted allies and managed to escape the series alive. Now, Chucky has made his way to the Mayans MC, where he seems to essentially playing the same role for this new club.
Now, Chucky works at the same scrapyard the club operates out of, using his prosthetic hands to do office work. He only appears for a moment in the second episode, but you'd better get used to seeing him around the Mayans.
Speaking to GameSpot, showrunner and executive producer Elgin James confirmed that Chucky will recur throughout the season. "[Ornstein] is like such a gift as a human being, nevermind the Chucky character," he said. "He does a lot on our show. I mean, he's another one, it's not just a little like, 'Hey, check this out, isn't this funny?' Like Chucky plays a role in the season and in the series."
While James won't say exactly how Chucky will factor in the story, other than his role at the scrapyard, he couldn't be more excited about weaving the character into his series. "He's just been a gift to every single person [to] now have him in their life," the executive producer explains. "It's been great, it's one of the greatest [gifts] Kurt [Sutter, creator of Sons of Anarchy] has given us, besides careers."
Hopefully, Mayans MC makes as much use of Chucky as Sons did. What's more, if this is how Mayans plans on continuing to integrate Sons of Anarchy characters into its story, James and his team should definitely sprinkle in a few more. Perhaps we can find out whatever happened to Nero (Jimmy Smits) and Wendy (Drea de Matteo) after they left Charming in the Sons of Anarchy series finale.
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