Destiny 2's latest weekly reset has brought with it yet another set of activities to take part in, and a new round of bounties from Spider. If you've been playing since the launch of Forsaken, you likely know what to expect, and the highlight as always when it comes to Spider is the bounty that rewards you with Powerful gear. For this week, it's Wanted: Gravetide Summoner. Here's where to go and how to complete the mission.
Unlike the majority of Spider's bounties, there's little confusion about where to go with the one that rewards Powerful gear. You'll receive an Adventure in the Director on the planet where the target is located, which in this case is Titan (right near The Rig Landing Zone). Head there to start the mission--Bungie's recommended Power level for it is 540. We'll have a video walkthrough coming soon.
Manage to complete the Adventure and you'll net yourself some Powerful gear. This is among the most desirable form of reward in Destiny 2, as it's likely to increase your Power level (making you more powerful and potentially making more high-level activities viable to you). As such, it's good to knock out as many challenges and bounties each week as possible that offer them, such as this Spider bounty and the Ascendant Challenge.
Alongside the weekly reset, Bungie has launched a new Crucible mode called Breakthrough. It will be featured in its own playlist for this week before transitioning into the Competitive playlist. You've also got a new Ascendant Challenge if you're looking for something difficult to tackle, as well as the next mission from Petra to continue the story that has developed since Forsaken's Raid was beaten for the first time.
Update: As expected, Epic has rolled out a second Season 6 teaser for Fortnite on Tuesday. This one features the same sort of style, with a purple color scheme, the cube in the background, and lightning in the foreground.
What's different is the character featured this time around--rather than Monday's llama, this time it's a woman wearing a hat with bull on the front, spiked shoulder pads, and a mask over her mouth. It's decidedly less party-themed than the llama image, but once again, it could be that this is a preview of a skin that will be available next season. Unfortunately, it doesn't give us much sense for what kind of theme to expect from Season 6, and barring any leaks, that might remain the case until Thursday's launch.
Original story: Fortnite Season 6 is just around the corner. Epic has confirmed that the new season will release on Thursday, September 27 to follow shortly after the end of Season 5 on Tuesday, September 25. Unlike some other seasons, though, Epic hasn't been quite as clear about its hints of what's to come. Here's what we know so far, including a look at the first teaser for Season 6.
First, a primer. In August, lightning bolts struck the desert and left a glowing purple cube. It had a few strange properties like recharging shields and bouncing players off if they got too close. The cube spent a little while dormant before starting to move slowly across the map, rotating at regular intervals. Fans quickly decoded runes it was leaving behind to predict it was heading for Loot Lake, but what would happen when it reached that point was still mysterious. That is until last week, when it hit the lake and began to melt, turning the whole pool into a bouncy surface.
That all leads to the latest, when Fortnite dropped its first real Season 6 hint on Twitter. The teaser image shows what appears to be a robotic llama within an image of the cube, with a caption that reads "All great parties need a DJ." Presumably that's a skin players will be able to obtain next season. That, or Fortnite is ditching this whole "battle royale" fad to bring back the rhythm genre. We'll continue to update as more teases appear to drop details.
This only leaves a few precious hours left to finish your Season 5 challenges before the season ends, so be sure to check out our Season 5 challenges roundup to chase down any that you may have missed.
Many Pokemon fans were confounded this past weekend when a strange, unidentified Pokemon began appearing in Pokemon Go immediately following the game's latest Community Day event. The monster could only be found in the wild for 30 minutes (though it has since been sporadically sighted in the game), and when captured, it would reveal itself to be a Ditto or another Pokemon, furthering the mystery of whether or not it was a deliberate tease on Niantic's part. It turns out it was, and the unusual Pokemon now has a name.
The Pokemon Company has confirmed that the strange, Ditto-like monster is a brand-new species of Pokemon called Meltan. In a new trailer the company shared, Professor Willow from Pokemon Go calls Professor Oak, the most prominent researcher from the main series, with news that Ditto masquerading as an unidentified Pokemon had been sighted recently. Oak says he recalls seeing the monster in ancient texts and that it's a Mythical Pokemon known as Meltan.
Meltan is classified as the Hex Nut Pokemon. It is a pure Steel-type with a fluid, amorphous body made of liquid metal. According to the official Pokemon website, Meltan can use its arms and legs to corrode and absorb metal. It can also generate electricity, which it uses both in battle and as a source of energy. You can take a look at some images of it in the gallery above.
It's unclear how players will be able to obtain Meltan, but as The Pokemon Company previously teased, you will need to connect Pokemon Go to the upcoming Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee in order to obtain it in the Switch games. More details will undoubtedly be revealed closer to those games' release.
Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee launch for Switch on November 16. As noted, the games feature connectivity with Pokemon Go. On top of being able to obtain Meltan, players will be able to transfer Gen 1 Pokemon they caught in the mobile game (plus their Alolan variants) over to the Switch RPGs. Nintendo is also releasing a Poke Ball-shaped controller called the Poke Ball Plus alongside the games on November 16; everyone who purchases one will receive the Mythical Pokemon Mew.
Season 6 of Fortnite draws ever closer. The new season of the massively popular battle royale game releases this week on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile, and developer Epic Games is continuing to build excitement for it by sharing more teaser images of what's to come.
The first teaser, which dropped on Monday, gave us a look at a strange llama DJ--presumably one of the cosmetics players will be able to get their hands on during Season 6. Tuesday's teaser continues that trend, showing off an outlaw outfit that you'll likely be able to obtain during the new season. Like the first image, this one is also set against the infamous purple cube that recently plunged into Loot Lake.
Whereas previous seasons of Fortnite have adhered to a general theme--Season 4, for instance, was loosely themed around movies--the purple cube seems to be the unifying element of Season 6. The mysterious object has been the subject of much intrigue since it first appeared on the island in August, following a massive lightning storm. Soon after it materialized, it began slowly rolling around the map until it ultimately sank in Loot Lake.
It's still unclear what this development portends for Season 6, but it had an immediate effect on the environment. After plunging in, the entire lake turned purple and took on the same characteristics as the cube, propelling players into the air when they came in contact with the surface.
Epic continually refreshes various aspects of Fortnite's map with each season, so there will almost certainly be more changes in store for the island once Season 6 rolls around. The new season begins on all platforms this Thursday, September 27.
A former employee of Telltale Games has filed a class action complaint against the company in California federal court. The complaint alleges that the developer was obligated to provide 60 days notice of the impending termination, in compliance with the state's WARN Act.
Kotaku reports that the complaint filed by attorneys for Vernie Roberts, Jr., is seeking missed wages, salaries, 401K contributions, and any other compensation that would have been earned during the 60-day WARN Act period. The suit also names "all other persons similarly situated" who could join the class action, which could be as many as 275 employees who were fired from Telltale last week.
As the report notes, companies have some wiggle room with exceptions to the WARN Act, such as if the company is seeking to acquire new capital and can't risk the information of pending layoffs becoming public. It's unknown how many employees will join or if the lawsuit will ultimately be successful.
The closure was sudden and surprised employees, who were left with no severance and only nine days of remaining health benefits. The reported rationale for the lack of severance was that this was being classified as a business closure rather than partial layoffs. Telltale has now said that The Walking Dead, currently in its final season, may continue with "potential partners"--which could raise legal questions about the studio closure.
Tuesday has arrived, which means the weekly reset in Destiny 2: Forsaken has taken place. As always, this marks a shift across the game, as standard challenges are reset (offering a new set of Powerful rewards) and other activities are shuffled to present you with something new to do. The Iron Banner has concluded and Lord Saladin is gone from the Tower, but this week marks the debut of a new Crucible mode. Here's everything to know about the latest weekly reset.
Breakthrough, The New Crucible Mode, Is Live
Bungie has launched a brand-new Crucible game type called Breakthrough. This is a mode that transforms partway through the match. Initially, two teams compete to control an area. The team that successfully does so gets their hands on the Breaker, which then has to be taken to the other team's Vault to hack it (while that team attempts to defend). The hacking team has a certain amount of time to successfully pull off the hack, and if they don't manage to complete it, they lose. It's a best-of-three affair.
Breakthrough will be live for a week as the featured playlist (and is available to Forsaken owners for private matches), so you can easily jump in and take part in a match. With the weekly reset on October 2, Breakthrough will join the Competitive playlist. There are also new maps, including a PS4-exclusive one, to play the mode on.
Ascendant Challenge
The Ascendant Challenge has moved locations once again. Once you've grabbed the weekly bounty from Petra, you can use a Tincture of Queensfoil to gain a buff that will allow you to see and access the Taken portal. This week's portal is reportedly located in Harbinger's Seclude; we're working on a guide now and will report back with all the details. No matter the particulars, the end result is the same: a piece of Powerful gear for completing the bounty.
Spider Bounty -- Wanted: Gravetide Summoner
Spider's set of bounties have rotated, but the one you should care about most is the most expensive. For five Ghost Fragments, you can pick up Wanted: Gravetide Summoner, which is worth doing because it offers Powerful gear, unlike Spider's other bounties. The corresponding Adventure for this bounty can be found on Titan.
Nightfall
Among the Nightfall Strike options this week are the following: The Corrupted, The Inverted Spire, and Strange Terrain. All three carry the same 540 Power level recommendation. Most notable among these is The Corrupted, which was added to the game after Forsaken's launch, once the DLC's Raid was beaten for the first time.
Eververse
The selection of items and bounties available from Tess at Eververse has changed again. Of course, you'll want the Rise of the Challenge bounty, which provides you with a Prismatic Facet for completing any challenge (the Facet is used to activate the Prismatic Matrix, netting you a cosmetic reward). Among the weekly bounties, the most lucrative--in terms of Bright Dust earned based on the Eververse Bouty Notes spent--is Heroism in Battle, which has you complete five Strikes within a week.
As for the lineup of items available with the Prismatic Matrix, which rotates each week, there are two Exotics and a handful of items up for grabs--all 10 are from Forsaken. Here's the full list:
All Mine -- Exotic emote
Sneak Attack -- Exotic weapon ornament for The Colony
Loaded Dice -- Legendary weapon ornament for Hazard of the Cast
Denial Dance -- Legendary emote
Swiftsong -- Legendary Sparrow
Spectral Circuit Shell -- Legendary Ghost Shell
Cordial Diamond Shell -- Legendary Ghost Shell
Battle-Shrike -- Legendary Sparrow
Beastly Projection -- Rare Ghost Projection
Lucky Shot -- Rare Emote
Petra
Unfortunately, Bungie has continued to move Petra around. She's no longer located next to the Dreaming City's Landing Zone, having moved to a new spot in Rheasilvia. She'll as always offer a piece of Powerful gear for completing two of her weekly bounties, of which you have several choices.
Among them is a new mission, Dark Monastery, that continues the story that's developed since Forsaken's Raid was first beaten. You'll also notice some visual differences in the Dreaming City, with Taken Blight balls filling in the sky in some spots.
Clan Bounties
Three new weekly bounties from Hawthorne are now available. These run the gamut and unfortunately don't overlap at all--you'll be taking part in Escalation Protocol, the Blind Well, and Adventures. All three offer Legendary gear and clan XP, although the one involving Escalation Protocol nets you the most experience points.
Mutual Escalation -- complete five waves of Escalation Protocol with clanmates
Draw From the Well -- Tier II and Tier III completions with clanmates
Band of Adventurers -- complete three Adventures with clanmates
Vanguard Strikes
The weekly challenge for Strikes calls on you to complete a Strike using the same element of subclass as one of your team members--Void would be a wise choice, as you'll see below. You'll have to do this three times to earn a Powerful gear reward. The modifiers for this week are as follows:
Void Singe -- increases Void damage
Glass -- recovery is twice as fast but health and shields are halved
Heavyweight -- more Power ammo, Power weapons do more damage
Daily Heroic Story Missions
Another set of five story missions are available for you to choose from for daily Heroics. Completing any three of these during the week will net you a Powerful gear reward. The modifiers are the same as the Vanguard Strikes outlined above--Void Singe, Glass, and Heavyweight. Here are your choices and the recommended Power levels:
Combustion -- 280
Looped -- 280
The Gateway -- 310
Deep Storage -- 310
Off-World Recovery -- 360
Gambit
The weekly bounty you can pick up from The Drifter right now is Do It. This tasks you with earning a total of 12 points--you start out with zero and earn three for each win, but a loss will cost you one. The reward is 75 Infamy rank points along with a piece of Powerful gear.
Flashpoint
The Flashpoint isn't tied directly to the weekly reset, as it rotates more than once a week. As of this writing, you'll find it on Io; simply complete any activities, like Public Events, Lost Sectors, and Heroic Adventures to build the completion meter and earn a piece of Powerful gear.
Destiny 2 has kicked off a new competitive multiplayer mode, so you can start trying it out right now. The new Breakthrough mode is available for all players on a special playlist starting today, but owners of Forsaken can play it in private matches as well.
Breakthrough takes place across multiple phases. The first is an area control phase in which both teams clash over a central zone. Capturing it gives one team the control of the Breaker, while the losing team continues to attempt to capture the zone and get the Breaker for themselves. Meanwhile, whichever team is controlling the Breaker uses it to hack the enemy team's Vault. That will start a time limit to win the round, and the best of three wins the match.
Starting today, September 25, the mode is only in the Weekly Featured Playlist, but it will be added to the more general Competitive playlist on October 2. You can play Breakthrough on the Equinox, Firebase Echo, Citadel, and Convergence maps. PlayStation 4 owners can play it on Gambler's Ruin too.
This is the second new mode to launch since Forsaken, the first being the new PvP/PvE mixture Gambit Mode. Check out GameSpot's Destiny 2 review-in-progress for our thoughts on the online shooter.
The Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, introduced in November 2015, lets you play original Xbox and Xbox 360 games on the current-gen console. But what games are available? We've rounded them all up--and we'll continue to update this post as new games are made available to the extensive list. More are added regularly, although new original Xbox games will be less common. [Updated September 25 with two more games.]
Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Lineup:
Xbox
New titles are bolded
Black
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
BloodRayne 2
Breakdown
Conker: Live & Reloaded
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Dead to Rights
Destroy All Humans
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Full Spectrum Warrior
Fuzion Frenzy
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Hunter: The Reckoning
Jade Empire
The King of Fighters Neowave
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
MX Unleashed
Ninja Gaiden Black
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory (Europe only)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Psychonauts
Red Faction II
Sid Meier's Pirates
SSX 3
Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars Battlefront II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Xbox 360
New titles are bolded
0 Day Attack on Earth
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
A Kingdom for Keflings
A World of Keflings
Aegis Wing
Age of Booty
Alan Wake
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Alice: Madness Returns
Alien Hominid HD
Altered Beast
Anomaly Warzone Earth
Arkanoid Live
Army of Two
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed III
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation HD
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed Revelations
Assassin's Creed Rogue
Assault Heroes 2
Asteroids & Deluxe
AstroPop
Aqua
Axel & Pixel (not available for purchase)
Babel Rising
Band of Bugs
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts n Bolts
Banjo Tooie
Banjo Kazooie
Batman: Arkham Origins
Battlefield: Bad Company
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 1943
BattleBlock Theater
Battlestations: Midway
Bayonetta
Beat'n Groovy
Bejeweled 2
Bejeweled 3
Bellator: MMA Onslaught
Beyond Good & Evil HD
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
BioShock
BioShock 2
BioShock Infinite
Bloodforge
Blood Knights
Blood of the Werewolf
BloodRayne: Betrayal
Blue Dragon
Bomberman Live: Battlefest
Boom Boom Rocket
Borderlands
Borderlands 2
Bound by Flame
Braid
Brain Challenge
Bullet Soul
Bullet Soul: Infinite Burst
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Burnout Paradise
Burnout Revenge
Cabela's Alaskan Adventures
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013
Cabela's Hunting Expeditions
Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -- added August 28
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood -- added September 25
Call of Juarez: The Cartel -- added September 25
Call of Juarez Gunslinger
Capcom Arcade Cabinet
Carcassonne
Cars: Mater-National Championship
Cars 2
Castle Crashers
Castlestorm
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Catherine
The Cave
Centipede & Millipede
Child of Light
Civilization: Revolution
Clannad
Commanders: Attack of the Genos
Comic Jumper
Comix Zone
Condemned
Contra
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Crackdown
Crazy Taxi
Crystal Quest
Crystal Defenders
Cyber Troopers Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram
The Darkness II
Dark Souls
Dark Void
Darksiders
Darksiders II
Daytona USA
de Blob 2
Dead Rising 2: Case West
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
Dead Space
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 3
Dead Space Ignition
Deadfall Adventures
Deadliest Warrior: Legends
Deadliest Warrior: The Game
Deadly Premonition
Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue
Defense Grid
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Dig Dug
Dirt 3
Dirt Showdown
Discs of Tron
Disney Bolt
Disney Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Divinity II
Domino Master
Doom
Doom II
Doom 3: BFG Edition
Doritos Crash Course
Double Dragon: Neon
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age II
Dragon's Lair
Driver: San Franciso
DuckTales Remastered
Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Dungeon Siege III
E4: Every Extend Extra Extreme
Earthworm Jim HD
Earth Defense Force 2017
Earth Defense Force 2025 -- added August 7
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Encleverment Experiment
Escape Dead Island
F1 2014
Fable Anniversary
Fable Heroes
Fable II
Fable II Pub Games
Fable III
Faery: Legends of Avalon
Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 3
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
Feeding Frenzy
Feeding Frenzy 2
Fight Night Champion
Fighting Vipers
Final Fight: Double Impact
Flashback
Flock
Forza Horizon
Fret Nice
Frogger
Frogger 2
FunTown Mahjong
Galaga
Galaga Legions
Galaga Legions DX
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Gatling Gears
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 3
Gears of War: Judgment
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
Gin Rummy
Girl Fight
Goat Simulator
Golden Axe
Go! Go! Break Steady
Golf: Tee It Up
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grid 2
Grid Autosport
Gripshift
Guardian Heroes
Gunstar Heroes
Guwange
Gyromancer
Gyruss
Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo 3
Halo 3: ODST Campaign Edition
Halo 4
Halo: Reach
Halo: Spartan Assault
Halo Wars
Hard Corps: Uprising
Hardwood Backgammon
Hardwood Hearts
Hardwood Spades
Harms Way
Haunted House
Heavy Weapon
Hexic 2
Hexic HD
Hitman: Absolution
Hitman: Blood Money
Hydro Thunder
I Am Alive
Ikaruga
Ilomilo
Injustice: Gods Among Us + disc-only Ultimate Edition
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos
Iron Brigade
Jeremy McGrath's Offroad
Jet Set Radio
Jetpac Refuelled
Jewel Quest
Joe Danger Special Edition
Joe Danger 2: The Movie
Joust
Joy Ride Turbo
Juju
Jurassic Park: The Game
Just Cause 2
Kameo
Kane & Lynch 2
Killer Is Dead
The King of Fighters '98
The King of Fighters 2002
KOF Sky Stage
Lazy Raiders
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Lego Batman
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Limbo
Lode Runner
Lost Odyssey
Lumines Live!
Luxor 2
Mad Tracks
Mafia II
Magic: The Gathering 2012
Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
Mars: War Logs
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Matt Hazard: Blood, Bath, and Beyond
The Maw
Medal of Honor: Airborne
Meet the Robinsons
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 10
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug XX
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Midway Arcade Origins
Might & Magic Clash of Heroes
Military Madness
Mirror's Edge
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Missile Command
Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
Monday Night Combat
Monkey Island: SE
Monkey Island 2: SE
Monopoly Deal
Moon Diver
Motocross Madness
Ms. Splosion Man
Ms Pac-Man
Mutant Blobs Attack
Mutant Storm Empire
Mutant Storm Reloaded
MX vs. ATV Reflex
N+
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
Neogeo Battle Coliseum
Nights Into Dreams
Of Orcs and Men
Omega Five
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Operation Flashpoint: Red River
The Orange Box
Overlord
Overlord II
Outland
Pac-Man
Pac-Man C.E
Pac-Man CE DX+
Pac-Man Museum
Peggle
Peggle 2
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark Zero
Persona 4 Arena
Phantasy Star II
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds
Pinball FX
Planets Under Attack
Plants vs. Zombies
Poker Smash
Portal: Still Alive
Portal 2
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia (2008) -- added August 7
Prey
Pure
Putty Squad
Puzzle Quest
Puzzle Quest 2
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
QIX++ Puzzlegeddon
Rage
Raiden IV
Raskulls
Rayman 3 HD
Rayman Legends
Rayman Origins
Red Dead Redemption
Red Faction: Armageddon
Red Faction: Battlegrounds
RoboBlitz
Rocket Knight
Rockstar's Table Tennis
R-Type Dimensions
Runner 2
Sacred 3
Sacred Citadel
Saints Row
Saints Row 2
Saints Row: The Third
Saints Row IV
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell
Sam & Max: Beyond Time & Space
Sam & Max Save the World
Samurai Shodown II
Scarygirl
Scrap Metal
ScreamRide
Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World
Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage
Sega Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl
Sensible World of Soccer
Shadow Assault/Tenchu
Shadow Complex
Shadowrun
Shadows of the Damned
Shank 2
Shinobi
Shred Nebula
Shotest Shogi
Silent Hill: Downpour
Silent Hill HD Collection
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Sine Mora -- added August 7
Skate 3
Skullgirls
Skydive
Slender: The Arrival
Small Arms
Sniper Elite V2
Soltrio Solitaire
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic CD
Sonic The Fighters
Sonic Generations
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II
Soulcalibur
Soulcalibur II
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Space Ark
Space Giraffe
Space Invaders Infinity Gene
Spec Ops: The Line
Spelunky
The Splatters
Split/Second
Splosion Man
SSX
Stacking
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Steins; Gate 比翼恋理のだーりん (Japan only)
Steins; Gate (オリジナル版) (Japan only)
Steins; Gate 線形拘束のフェノグラム (Japan-only, requires game disc)
Strania
Street Fighter IV
Stuntman: Ignition
Super Contra
Super Meat Boy
Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
Supreme Commander 2
Syberia
Tecmo Bowl Throwback
Tekken 6
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Texas Hold 'Em
Ticket to Ride
TimeShift
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Tomb Raider: Anniversary -- added August 14
Tomb Raider: Legend -- added August 14
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Torchlight
Tour de France 2009
Tour de France 2011
Toy Soldiers
Toy Soldiers Cold War
Toy Story 3
Toybox Turbos
Tower Bloxx Deluxe
Trials HD
Trine 2
Tron: Evolution
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
Unbound Saga
Undertow
Vanquish
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead: Season 2 - A Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
This week's PlayStation Store sale is a big one. That's because multiple publishers are dropping prices on their games at the same time Sony is running a special sale just for PS Plus subscribers. All of these deals end on October 2, so make sure to pick up any games you want before then. Let's take a look at what digital PS4 games are on sale this week.
With Battlefield V deploying in November, EA seems eager to squeeze every last dollar out of the previous entry it can. To that effect, Battlefield 1 Revolution is on sale for the appealing price of $12. This version comes with all of the expansion packs and multiplayer maps that have come out since the game launched. Not a bad deal at all.
If you're interested in trying out an MMO, you can pick up The Elder Scrolls Online for $10 this week. It contains the base game and the Morrowind expansion. If you like that, you can also grab the Summerset DLC on sale for $24.
And if you haven't played The Last of Us Remastered yet, you can fix that for $10 this week. The game and every piece of DLC is half off because September 26 is Outbreak Day, the day when the zombifying brain infection reached critical mass and the government declared a national state of emergency. A sale is the obvious way to celebrate.
You'll find more of our picks in the list below, or you can head over to the PlayStation Store to see the full list of discounted games and add-ons.
As it has done nearly every Tuesday for the past several weeks, Microsoft has rolled out another new batch of backwards compatible games for Xbox One. Two more Xbox 360 titles are now playable on the company's current-gen console, and this week both of them come from Dying Light developer Techland's first-person western series, Call of Juarez--perfect if you need something to tide you over until Red Dead Redemption 2 launches next month.
The first game is 2009's Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Despite being the second entry in the series, it serves as a prequel to the original Call of Juarez. When it first released, GameSpot awarded the Xbox 360 version an 8/10 in our Bound in Blood review and said, "Though the game is marred by its short length and weak enemy AI, those looking for a fun and different shooter experience shouldn't have any hesitation about biting the bullet and taking a ride with the McCalls."
The second new backwards compatible game is Call of Juarez: The Cartel. Unlike other installments in the series, this title features cooperative elements and is set in the modern day, casting players in the role of one of three agents tasked with busting a drug network. It didn't fare quite as well as its predecessor; GameSpot gave it a 6/10 in our Cartel review, saying, "The Cartel is worth playing if you have a buddy or two along for the ride. Otherwise, the potential is hard to see hiding behind all the glitches and obscenities."
If you still own a physical copy of either title, you can pop the disc into your Xbox One, which will initiate a download and allow you to begin playing. Alternatively, if you've owned either title digitally, it will appear automatically in the Ready to Download section of Xbox One's My Games and Apps menu. If you're interested in picking either up for the first time, you also have the option to purchase the games digitally from the Microsoft Store.
Since Microsoft rolled out Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, more than 400 Xbox 360 titles have been made playable on the current-gen console, as have more than 30 original Xbox games. You can see everything in our full list of backwards compatible games. If you need recommendations on which ones are worth revisiting, you can also check out our gallery of the best Xbox One backwards compatible games.
Total War: Rome 2 is receiving a backlash on Steam's user reviews, over a rumor regarding the appearance rates of female generals. An update to the game launched in March adding female generals, and players have complained that too many women generals is historically inaccurate.
PCGamesN reports that a negative review on Steam complained that "over 50%" of the generals are now women, though no users have produced evidence that the rates have changed. That's indicative of a flurry of negative reviews. Its all-time score is mostly positive with 22,000 reviews, while the recent category is marked as mostly negative from 1,300 reviews. In response to the controversy Creative Assembly issued a statement denying that it has changed the spawn rates.
"There have been no changes to recruitable female general spawn rates. But with the addition of the Family Tree feature and the new gameplay options it brings, playable factions may gain more female family members via marriage."
It went on to state that female generals have a 10-15% chance for some factions. Greek, Rome, Carthage, and Eastern factions have a 0% chance, while Kush has a 50% chance--all in the interest of representing the cultural differences at the time.
"These percentage chances are moddable by players," the statement continues. "We've not seen a verifiable bug where this is shown to be different or not working as intended. We have no plans to patch this out or remove this feature from the game."
Last month, community editor Ella McConnell replied to the concerns, with a statement that Total War games are historically authentic, but not historically accurate.
"If having female units upsets you that much you can either mod them out or just not play," McConnell said. "People saying they won't buy the game because there are too many women in it is fine with us--if that's their reason, we'd rather they didn't anyway."
We're nearing the end of September, and while that might mean you're back into your school routine, there's still plenty to watch in your free time. Netflix is introducing a load of new movies, TV shows, and original series for when you have time for some weekend binge sessions. Here's the full rundown on what's new and leaving in September 2018.
The big addition in September is Black Panther, the Marvel superhero movie that took the world by storm this past February. If you happened to miss out on this celebration of African culture--which we described as "a top tier Marvel movie with all the humor, style, action, passion, and fun that the MCU has come to embody" in our Black Panther review--then now's your chance. Other film highlights coming in September are Groundhog Day, Scarface, Bruce Almighty, The Breakfast Club, Lilo & Stitch, The Emperor's New Groove, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Netflix exclusive Next Gen.
The list of new TV shows isn't as impressively large, but there are a few stellar options being added. Both Bojack Horseman and Stranger Things are getting new seasons. If you like staying appraised of everything going on in the MCU, Iron Fist is also returning another season.
If animation is your thing, new anime series Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan--about a rookie air force pilot who finds herself being chosen as the destined rider for an actual dragon--and animated series The Dragon Prince--which is created by the same folks behind Avatar: The Last Airbender--debut on Netflix this September.
Of the movies and TV shows being removed, Nolan's Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are the two noticeable standouts. They've unfortunately left the service already, but you can get a look at what you still have time to watch below.
Arriving in September
September 1
Unforgiven
10,000 B.C.
Another Cinderella Story
Assassins
August Rush
Bruce Almighty
Delirium
Fair Game
Groundhog Day
King Kong
La Catedral del Mar
Martian Child
Monkey Twins
Mr. Sunshine
Nacho Libre
Pearl Harbor
Scarface
Sisters
Spider-Man 3
Stephanie
Summer Catch
Sydney White
The Ant Bully
The Breakfast Club
The Cider House Rules
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Keeping Hours
The River Wild
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
Two Weeks Notice
September 2
Lilo & Stitch
The Emperor's New Groove
Maynard
Quantico: Season 3
September 3
A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities
September 4
Black Panther
September 5
Van Helsing: Season 2
Wentworth: Season 6
September 6
Once Upon a Time: Season 7
September 7
Atypical: Season 2
Cable Girls: Season 3
City of Joy
Click
First and Last
Iron Fist: Season 2
Next Gen
Sierra Burgess Is A Loser
Stretch Armstrong & the Flex Fighters: Season 2
The Most Assassinated Woman in the World
September 10
Call the Midwife: Series 7
September 11
Daniel Sloss: Live Shows
The Resistance Banker
September 12
Blacklist: Season 5
Life
On My Skin
September 14
American Vandal: Season 2
Bleach
Boca Juniors Confidential
BoJack Horseman: Season 5
Car Masters: Rust to Riches
Ingobernable: Season 2
Last Hope
Norm Macdonald has a Show
Super Monsters Monster Party: Songs
The Angel
The Dragon Prince
The Land of Steady Habits
The World's Most Extraordinary Homes: Season 2 Part A
September 15
Inside The Freemasons: Season 1
September 16
Role Models
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
September 17
The VVitch
September 18
American Horror Story: Cult
D.L. Hughley: Contrarian
September 21
Battlefish
Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan
Hilda
Maniac: Limited Series
Nappily Ever After
Quincy
The Good Cop
September 23
The Walking Dead: Season 8
September 25
A Wrinkle in Time
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
September 26
Norsemen: Season 2
The Hurricane Heist
September 28
Chef's Table: Volume 5
El Marginal: Season 2
Forest of Piano
Hold the Dark
Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father: Season 2
Lessons From A School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane
Streaming platform Hulu has announced everything that's coming to and leaving the service in September, which we're now nearly halfway through. Starting with what's arriving, there are a lot of high-profile movies being added to Hulu throughout the month, including There Will Be Blood, Any Given Sunday, Jerry Maguire, Unbreakable, City of God, and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, all of which debuted on September 1, meaning you can stream them right now. [Update: If you're more interested in what's coming next month, Hulu's October lineup has been announced.]
New episodes of the Hulu original show I Love You, America, premiere on September 6, while the Season 22 premiere of South Park comes out on September 27. The full season of American Horror Story: Cult hits on September 18, while premiere episodes for a number of other series returning (or debuting) this fall arrive toward the end of September. Those include This Is Us, Lethal Weapon, and The Gifted.
As for what's leaving, the Christian Bale thriller American Psycho, the 1989 feel-good baseball movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Smith's Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and the Star Wars spoof Spaceballs all left on September 1.
Season 6 of Fortnite is almost upon us. After much speculation--and a rather bizarre turn of events related to the mysterious purple cube that has been rolling around the island--Epic has finally confirmed when the new season of its massively popular battle royale game will begin, and it's very soon.
The developer announced on Twitter that Season 6 will begin this coming Thursday, September 27. [Update: Following the release date, we have our next bit of info regarding the new season: a pair of teaser images. The first shows what appears to be a llama skin that might become available, while the other is a woman in a cowboy hat. Presumably Wednesday will bring with it another teaser, so stay tuned.]
It was presumed that the season would begin sometime this week, as the official Fortnite website stated that Season 5 officially wraps up on September 25, and Epic typically kicks off a new season shortly after the previous one ends. This, however, is the first time the developer has confirmed when Season 6 will start, although it hasn't shared any additional details beyond that. Just what Season 6's theme will be, or what kind of comet/rift-style event will kick it off, is still anyone's guess.
That also makes this your last opportunity to complete any remaining challenges and unlock the rest of Season 5's Battle Pass rewards. If you need help finishing up any challenges, you can find tips for each weekly set of missions in our complete Fortnite Season 5 challenge roundup. We've also put together a gallery of all the Season 5 rewards gallery so you can see what you can unlock.
We don't yet know what to expect from Season 6, but some strange events have been unfolding in the game ahead of it. Back in August, a lightning bolts struck the desert and left a mysterious purple cube in its wake, which fans had begun affectionately referring to as "Kevin." The cube would react differently depending on how players interacted with it; standing close to it would rejuvenate players' shields, but striking it would cause them to launch backward and take damage.
Soon after it materialized, the cube began slowly rolling around Fortnite's map. It was unclear what its destination was, but last week, the cube plunged into Loot Lake and melted, much to the surprise of fans. Not only did it turn the water purple, but now the entire lake has effectively become a giant trampoline, boasting the same bouncy property the cube had. It's unclear how this all relates to Season 6, but we won't have to wait much longer to find out.
Rockstar revealed some new information about Red Dead Redemption 2 today, with a focus on the wide variety of wildlife to hunt and horses to ride. Telling isn't quite as effective as showing, though, so the studio was sure to release a new batch of screenshots as well.
This set of screens shows off Arthur hunting and fishing, finding a trapper at a trading post, strapping a kill onto his horse, and tracking a wounded animal through a snowbank. Plus we get some nice new views of Arthur with his horse, as well as wild horses that you can break and tame to become your own.
The hunting, crafting, and horse taming systems all sound pretty detailed, given the details accompanying the announcement. You'll have to be careful how you track animals and even which weapon you use to maximize the value of the pelt and meat. Not all animal interactions are violent, though; keeping your horse fed and groomed will increase its stats.
If you don't have a console to play RDR2 on yet, Sony announced a new PS4 Pro bundle that includes the standard version of the game as a freebie. For more details check out our pre-order guide.
The last week of September sees a few more TV shows, Original series, and movies added to Netflix. There are a few noticeable titles being added, but there isn't as much as the first three weeks of September. If nothing tickles your fancy, then you only have to wait a week for October's add-ons.
Fans of The Walking Dead can finally watch Season 8 on Netflix. First debuting on October 22, 2017, The Walking Dead: Season 8 continues the escalating conflict between series protagonist Rick Grimes--now leading the group of survivors in Alexandria--and another group, called the Saviors, who force other communities to pay tribute to them. Andrew Lincoln reprises his role as Rick, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays Negan, the dangerous leader of the Saviors. Season 8 marks the last full season of The Walking Dead that Lincoln will be a part of as he's scheduled to leave the show in Season 9.
On September 25, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl comes to Netflix. Don't worry, this is the first film in the franchise--the one that most fans agree to be the best. The movie stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, and features equally magnetic performances from Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann. Even if the follow-up films weren't as universally loved, The Curse of the Black Pearl is still regarded as a modern-day classic for its goofy humor, charming cast of characters, and well-written story about pirates struggling to remain relevant in the face of well-armed trading companies.
You can check out our full list of series, Originals, and movies coming to Netflix in September if you need to catch up on previous weeks. Below, we've outlined everything coming to the streaming service this week.
Netflix U.S. Releases (September 23 - September 29)
September 23
The Walking Dead: Season 8
September 25
A Wrinkle in Time
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
September 26
Norsemen: Season 2
The Hurricane Heist
September 28
Chef's Table: Volume 5
El Marginal: Season 2
Forest of Piano
Hold the Dark
Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father: Season 2
Lessons From A School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane
Overwatch is preparing to release another major patch with various balance changes, but the most serious reworking is coming to the engineer Torbjorn. In a video detailing the changes, game director Jeff Kaplan said the team is aiming to make his functionality less narrow and situational.
When the changes go live, Torb will no longer have armor packs or use the scrap system at all. Instead, his secondary ability will change to "Overload," which will look a lot like what you currently may recognize as his Ultimate ability. It will give him a speed bonus, damage resistance, and firing rate increase.
Meanwhile his Ultimate ability will change as well. It's still called Molten Core, but instead he will shoot out pools of liquid magma. Those pools of hot metal can do area-of-effect damage, and will do extra damage against armored opponents. Finally, his turrets will no longer have build levels. Instead, they'll be permanently set at the second level, with a short build time. Torbjorn will also be able to toss his turrets into hard-to-reach places.
"The goal of all of these changes is to make Torb a more acceptable pick on both attack and defense and less map or role-dependent than he was previously," Kaplan said.
If you haven't jumped aboard Overwatch yet, Humble Bundle is offering it as part of this month's subscription, through October 5. You could get the game as well as some other goodies for just $12.
If you're not a fan of the white spider logo costume you've probably seen Spidey rock in most of the pre-release videos and images of Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4, then never fear. Not only does the game feature more than 20 alternate suits, but it also features the webslinger's popular Tony Stark-created suit featured in recent big screen films like Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The Stark Suit--as it's referred to in the game--is actually one of the first ones you'll have access to. That's a huge plus, as not only is this suit one of the most aesthetically awesome costumes Spidey's worn in either the comics or in movies, it also unlocks what is probably one of the most useful powers in the game: Spider-Bro. Initiating Spider-Bro releases a small drone that flies around Spider-Man and zaps enemies with electricity, rendering them temporarily paralyzed and making them easy pickings. The effect lasts for a decent amount of time as well, meaning Spider-Bro can easily become your favorite crowd control move in the entire game.
Unlocking the Stark Suit is pretty straightforward. If you've just started the game and are looking at a mainly empty list of boxes in your suits menu, the Stark Suit is actually eighth on the list. You'll need to be level 10 to get the chance to unlock it, but once you're there, you'll also need a few of the tokens you've likely already been collecting around New York--specifically, one base token, one research token, and three crime tokens.
And the high tech Stark Suit isn't the only one from the Homecoming movie featured in the game. If you recall, the Peter Parker in that movie started his crime fighting wearing a simple red hoodie and blue pants, and that simple homemade suit can also eventually be unlocked and worn in this PS4 Spidey title. This suit doesn't have a specific power that it comes with, and will probably take you a while to achieve, as you'll need to find every backpack hidden throughout the game.
Marvel's Spider-Man is out exclusively for PlayStation 4. Check out of all of our recent coverage around the game, including:
The start of Season 6 of Epic's phenomenally popular Fortnite: Battle Royale is just around the corner. The new season kicks off on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile later this week, but to help further build excitement for its release in the meantime, the studio has begun dropping teaser images to usher in its impending arrival. The first features...a llama. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. [Update: Following the pattern from just before the start of Season 5, Epic has indeed released a second Season 6 teaser. This one features some similarities--the purple color scheme and the presence of the cube and lightning--but otherwise is quite different.]
As it did in the run up to Season 5, it appears Epic will share a series of teaser images leading up to the start of Season 6. The company tweeted the first one out on Monday, which presumably shows off a new DJ llama skin you'll be able to get your hands on during Season 6; in the background, you can see the infamous purple cube. "All great parties need a DJ," the tweet reads. It should be noted that Fortnite's Battle Royale mode celebrates the first anniversary of its release very soon.
Epic hasn't shared many details yet on what to expect from Season 6. The developer recently confirmed the new season officially begins on Thursday, September 27, but we don't know much about it beyond that. One thing that is safe to assume, however, is that Epic will offer another new Battle Pass when the season does kick off. The developer has released a new Battle Pass at the start of every season thus far; these could be purchased for 950 V-Bucks and leveled up as you completed weekly challenges to acquire new cosmetics and other rewards.
Some strange things have also been happening in the game itself that signal some sort of major changes in store for Season 6. Last month, a purple cube materialized on the island after the desert was struck by a lightning bolt that emerged from the giant rift in the sky. The rift has since closed, and the cube began slowly rolling around the island until it made its way to Loot Lake and plunged in, turning the lake purple and bouncy.
It's unclear what any of this means for the future of Fortnite, but every lingering question should be answered when Season 6 begins this Thursday. In the meantime, it's your last chance to unlock any remaining Season 5 rewards. That season ends on Tuesday, September 25, so you have until then to complete Season 5 challenges. If you need help finishing them up, you can find tips for all 10 weeks in our Season 5 challenges roundup.
While the future of the connected DC universe isn't clear, the studio isn't slowing its movie production. The standalone Joker movie is currently shooting in New York and now the Harley Quinn spin-off film Birds of Prey has been given an official release date.
As reported by Variety, Birds of Prey will hit theaters on February 7, 2020. The movie is set to focus on a team of supervillains, which the site states will include Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya. While Robbie is the only confirmed cast member, there have been recent reports that actresses under consideration include Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Beauty and the Beast), Jurnee Smolett-Bell (Underground), Margaret Qualley (Death Note), and Cristin Milioti (Black Mirror).
Birds of Prey has been in development for several years. Bumblebee writer Christina Hodson was hired to write the movie back in September 2016, while indie filmmaker Cathy Yan was announced as director in April this year. It is expected to start production early next year.
More recently, Robbie spoke about her plans for the movie, and described it as a "R-rated girl gang film." She also explained why it was important that Harley's second movie wasn't a solo film. "Harley loves interacting with people, so don't ever make her do a standalone film," she said. "She's got to be with other people, it should be a girl gang. I wasn't seeing enough girl gangs on screen, especially in the action space. So that was always a big part of it."
Suicide Squad 2 is also in development, but it does not have a release date. In addition, a Harley Quinn and Joker movie is in the works, but again, it is unknown when we'll see that. In related news, it was reported earlier this month that Superman star Henry Cavill will no longer play the character in the DC Universe, although Cavill himself was somewhat ambiguous on the matter.
Pokemon Go's latest Community Day took place this past weekend, and by all accounts, it was a fairly standard event. However, something rather unusual happened right after the Community Day ended: a strange, never-before-seen Pokemon briefly appeared in the wild. [Update: The Pokemon Company has confirmed the unusual new monster, and its name is Meltan.]
In each region, an unidentified Pokemon began swarming immediately after the event concluded. No one knows what kind of monster it is; it was first discovered in the game's files shortly before the Community Day by dataminer Chrales, but it was listed with the name Kecleon--a chameleon Pokemon first introduced in the Gen 3 games Ruby and Sapphire.
The strange monster, which you can see below, appeared in the wild for precisely 30 minutes following the Community Day, after which point it disappeared just as suddenly as it debuted. Niantic hasn't formally acknowledged the new Pokemon, but it most closely resembles Ditto, albeit with what appears to be a golden nut for a head.
Moreover, when the strange Pokemon was captured, it would reveal itself to be Ditto. Some players have also reported that the new monster would turn into Chikorita--the featured Pokemon during September's Community Day--or the aforementioned Kecleon when captured.
Whether or not it has any relation to the shapeshifting Pokemon remains to be seen, but it is considerably smaller than Ditto, so it isn't likely to be an evolution of it. Barring a small handful of exceptions--for instance, Bellossom is notably smaller than Gloom--Pokemon generally increase in size when they evolve.
While the upcoming Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee games for Nintendo Switch will feature only the original 151 Pokemon (plus their Alolan variants), The Pokemon Company had previously teased that players could receive a brand-new Pokemon by connecting the Switch games to Pokemon Go. Whether or not this is the Pokemon in question remains to be seen, but we'll likely learn more soon, as those games are scheduled to launch on November 16.
Suicide Squad was a box office hit, and Margot Robbie is reprising her role with a spin-off love story between Harley Quinn and the Joker. Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have provided an update on the story, which they describe as a cross between Bad Santa and This Is Us.
"It is great," Ficarra told Metro. "The whole thing starts with Harley kidnapping Dr. Phil. Played by Dr. Phil hopefully. Because her and the Joker are having problems with their relationship. It was sort of like, we wrote Bad Santa a couple of years ago, and it was that sensibility mixed with our This Is Us sensibility. We kind of meshed them together."
That means the story will be earnest about its relationships, but between "mentally deranged people." They noted that they don't know when it will go into production, however. They suggest that DC has other movies in the queue that may come first, like the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix Joker origin story or a Birds of Prey standalone film.
The Phoenix movie has been in active production, and the studio has been showing off slight glimpses at what we can expect from it. So far we've seen a debut image that looked distinctly un-Joker-like, instead depicting Phoenix's character as a greasy sad sack. A follow-up video showed him in circus clown make-up and starting to display the character's signature grin.
Still, the Leto depiction from Suicide Squad, which would presumably be the starting point for any Joker and Harley spin-off with Robbie, doesn't quite seem to match Phoenix's upcoming movie. DC allows its film and TV universes to be more splintered than MCU's sprawling interconnected universe, so it's likely the two versions of Joker won't match up with each other.
It's a new week, which means a new selection of digital Xbox One games is on sale. This week's discounts are remarkably good, especially if you're into Warner Bros., Lego, or first-party games published by Microsoft. You'll need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to get some (though not many) of the discounts. Let's take a look at this week's deals before they go back to regular price on October 1.
There's a Lego sale on Xbox One this week--and if you're into these games, you'll find no shortage of titles to choose from, including Lego Jurassic World, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Lego The Incredibles. Each one is marked down between 10 and 50 percent, depending on how long it's been available.
Sea of Thieves is discounted to $39 / £32.50 just in time for the release of its expansion. Strategy fans can command the action on faraway battlefields in Halo Wars 2 for $20 / £15. And if you're planning to play Mega Man 11 when it comes out next week, you can get the first 10 installments with Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 & 2 Combo Pack for just $15 / £20.
Those are some of our picks for the best Xbox One games on sale this week. You can find more in the list below, or check out the full list of discounted titles here.
Forza Horizon 4 is the latest in the racing spin-off from Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games. As distinguished from the main Forza Motorsport series, Horizon has always taken the racing action off the track and into detailed open-world environments. Horizon 4 is set in the United Kingdom and features a new season-changing mechanic.
Forza Motorsport and Horizon have established themselves as some of the most reliable franchises around, and this one is no exception. GameSpot's Forza Horizon 4 review noted that everything you do feels valuable and the package as a whole adds up to celebrate the joy of driving. The critical consensus seems to agree that this one is another winner and a system showpiece for the Xbox One. Read on for a glance at impressions from around the industry, or go to GameSpot's sister site Metacritic for a wider view.
Game: Forza Horizon 4
Developer / Publisher: Turn 10 Studios, Playground Games / Microsoft Studios
Platforms: Xbox One
Release date: October 2
Price: US $60 / £49 / AU $78
GameSpot -- 9/10
"Everything you do in Horizon feels valuable, no matter how big or small--from the basic thrills of speeding a fast car down a gorgeous mountain highway to spending time tinkering with your favorite ride to manage seasonal road conditions to just hanging out with friends and strangers online and goofing off in friendly games. The charm of the Horizon series is as palpable as ever, a winning, all-inclusive recipe that celebrates the joy of driving above all else." -- Edmond Tran [Full review]
IGN -- 9.6/10
"I'll always have a massive soft spot for the down under delights of Forza Horizon 3, but open-world racing has never looked as good as it does in Forza Horizon 4. It combines a beautiful world that's really four hugely distinct maps in one with a constantly rewarding and self-renewing racing experience and I really can't tear myself away from it. Playground Games hasn't just upped the ante once again; it's blown the bloody doors off." -- Luke Reilly [Full Review]
USGamer -- 4.5/5
"You can debate the merits of some of this version's additions, but the same strong core that has pushed Forza Horizon to the top of the driving sim heap remains firmly in place here. It's an incredibly impressive graphical production that puts even its beautiful predecessor to shame, and it's a true pleasure when out on the road. Forza Horizon 4 is one of a handful of showcase games that truly ought to sell you on an Xbox One X and a 4K TV." -- Kat Bailey [Full Review]
Destructoid -- 9/10
"Forza Horizon 4 is another fantastically fun Forza Horizon game even if it's tough to pinpoint Playground's grandest ambition. If it was to reinvent the series with seasons, that falls a bit flat and underwhelming. But, if it was to simply remove the constraints and make everything as open and free as possible, then Playground hit its target in the most impressive way. Regardless, Forza Horizon is still the king of open-world arcade racers, and it really doesn't look like that'll change anytime soon." -- Brett Makedonski [Full Review]
GamesRadar -- 4/5
"Forza Horizon 4 isn't as bombastic as its predecessor, but still a challenging and all-encompassing online racer. And the more introverted moments of driving through autumnal or snow-dusted Britain are beautiful, especially as a showcase for Xbox One X." -- Justin Towell [Full Review]
The latest trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has been released. The sequel to 2016's hugely successful Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them hits theaters in November and stars Eddie Redmayne as young magizoologist Newt Scamander, with Jude Law as the younger Albus Dumbledore and Johnny Depp as the villainous Gellert Grindelwald.
The trailer starts with a menacing voiceover from Depp, then sets up the basic plot, which involves Dumbledore telling Newt to travel to Paris on some unspecified--yet clearly dangerous--mission. There's plenty of footage of Grindelwald performing scary-looking magic, appearances from the first movie's Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) and Jacob Kowalsk (Dan Fogler), plus Claudia Kim as the shapeshifting Maledictus and Callum Turner as Newt's brother Theseus. Check it out above.
This latest trailer follows the one that was screened at San Diego Comic-Con in July, and the first teaser released back in March. The Crimes of Grindelwald is directed by Davis Yates, who helmed the first movie as well as the last four Harry Potter movies. It also stars Ezra Miller and Zoë Kravitz.
In a recent interview with Collider, Yates spoke about the movie's portrayal of the younger Dumbledore, and what Jude Law would bring to the role previously made famous by Richard Harris and Michael Gambon. "We're seeing Dumbledore as a young man, and Dumbledore as a young man's quite a rebel," he said. "He's quite complicated. He's far from perfect. He's an inspiring teacher, all the pupils love him, but as ever, being Dumbledore, he's a wonderful manipulator and he has this incredible ability to sort of maneuver people into situations that they may not want to be maneuvered into.
"Jude brings this amazing freshness and sexiness and sensuality and sort of wit and sort of charisma to the role. And it's actually really wonderful to see this character as a young man and with Jude playing him. He's doing a really wonderful job."
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald releases on November 16, 2018 release, and, according to Potter creator JK Rowling, will be the second of five movies.
Agent 47's next adventure, Hitman 2, arrives in November, and it takes the deadly assassin to a number of new locales on top of all of the levels from the previous game. One of the new areas players will travel to is Santa Fortuna, a village nestled in the jungles of Columbia, and now publisher Warner Bros. Interactive has provided a closer look at the locale in a new trailer.
As the video above showcases, Santa Fortuna is a small, secluded settlement located in the Colombian rainforest. By all appearances, the village is peaceful, but it harbors a dark secret: it also happens to be the home of the Delgado Cartel. As fate would have it, all three of its leaders are currently in the area, which is where Agent 47 comes in.
Players will need to make use of their surroundings in clever ways in order to assassinate members of the cartel. The level encompasses the cartel's mansion and surrounding grounds, including coca fields and a network of caves and ruins. It's also the perfect place to demonstrate some of the new tricks Agent 47 has added to his repertoire in Hitman 2, such as the ability to use foliage to evade detection and hide bodies.
Santa Fortuna is one of six new areas featured in Hitman 2. As previously mentioned, the game will also bring back all six locations from 2016's Hitman--Paris, Sapienza, Marrakesh, Bangkok, Colorado, and Hokkaido--as part of the Hitman Legacy Pack DLC. Each returning map will be updated to incorporate the new gameplay elements from Hitman 2.
Hitman 2 releases for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 13. The game will be released in standard, Gold, and Collector's editions; the latter two include various digital bonuses and grant players access to the game four days early. Those who pre-order any edition of Hitman 2 ahead of its release will also get immediate access to the standalone Sniper Assassin mode.
The 2014 action thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service was one of that year's biggest surprise hits, grossing $414 million worldwide. Last year's sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, made a similar amount at the box office, so it's no surprise that a third movie is now on the way. It has been reported that it will arrived next year.
The news comes via industry analysts Exhibitor Relations. In a tweet they stated that Kingsman 3 will hit theaters on November 8, 2019, with Matthew Vaughn returning as writer and director. Vaughn helmed the previous two movies, as well as the first Kick-Ass.
If the November 8 date sounds familiar, it's because it was date that the next Jame Bond movie was scheduled to be released. However, the loss of director Danny Boyle last month meant that the Bond film has moved back to February 2020, with True Detective's Cary Fukanaga now directing.
While no further details about Kingsman 3 have been announced yet, it is expected that stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong will return. Given the release date is now just over 13 months away, expect more casting details to emerge soon.
Rumors of Kingsman 3 first appeared last month. According to The Hashtag Show, the movie will feature two new characters, a "young, cocky and charming son of a British Duke" called Conrad, and an older man Ralph Fiennes is reportedly under consideration for. It has also been reported that Vaughn is planning a prequel spin-off titled Kingsman: The Great Game.
The latest trailer for Bumblebee has arrived. The movie is the first spin-off from the Transformers series, and it focuses on the early adventures of the much-loved Volkswagen Beetle Autobot. It stars Hailee Steinfeld and WWE star John Cena and hits theaters in December.
The new trailer is a lot more plot-focused than the previous teaser, released back in June. It's set in California in the 1980s, with Steinfeld playing a young woman who finds Bumblebee in a trash heap. The pair start to bond, but of course there is in danger in shape of Decepticons, who are looking to destroy Bumblebee. Along the way we see appearances from other classic Transformers--all in their original '80s designs--plus Cena as a gruff Government agent. Check it out above.
Bumblebee also stars Jorge Lendeborg (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Jason Drucker (Diary of Wimpy Kid), Ricardo Hoyos (The Belko Experiment), and Gracie Dzienny (Chasing Life). It's directed by Travis Knight, who previously helmed the Oscar-nominated animated movie Kubo And The Two Strings. It is released on December 21.
In terms of other Transformers movies, the future of the franchise remains uncertain. When Bumblebee was first announced, it was supposed to be the first in an ongoing spin-off universe of Transformers movies. However, last year's Transformers: The Last Knight was a financial disappointment compared to the previous four films. As a result, the Transformers movie originally scheduled for 2019 was removed entirely from Paramount's schedules.
This follows the rumors back in February this year that Habsro, the toy manufacturer which owns the rights to Transformers, is planning to reboot the whole franchise. It was also reported that a new agreement with Paramount means that Hasbro will have greater control over the property, including greenlighting movie projects.
Nintendo's newest IP, Dragalia Lost, is a mobile role-playing game that can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. You start the game as a young prince who must find a dragon to bond with so that he can become powerful enough to save the kingdom from a growing demonic threat. Joined by his younger sister, and eventually a diverse group of over 60 other party members, the prince grows stronger by taking on quests, completing missions, and killing bosses.
Despite being a mobile game, Dragalia Lost has dozens of mechanics, ranging from party management to dragon rearing. Unlike most triple-A RPGs where a majority of the game's systems are thrown at the player in rapid succession over a daunting two-hour opening--I'm looking at you Xenoblade Chronicles 2--Draglia Lost introduces each of its mechanics slowly. There also aren't many cutscenes in the first hour of the game. Although some of the story elements are detailed early on, the game spends a majority of its start having you play in small strikes that reinforce the lessons from the tutorial. By the time Dragalia Lost starts pulling you out of the gameplay to show you a lot more cutscenes, you've got a fundamental understanding of the controls.
It's all pretty intuitive. By the end of the demo, I had played the first 45 minutes of Dragalia Lost and was quickly swiping through all the features that had befuddled me before. What struck me most about Dragalia Lost's opening hour was how the game had been designed for two different types of players: RPG veterans and newcomers to the genre. Every lesson has two levels. You can listen to one of the characters explain something and then just go do it, or you can listen to one of the characters explain something and then let the game show you what they mean.
For example, every character has their own advantages and weaknesses, weapon type, and multi-tiered skill tree. You can also equip different items to your characters and dragons, build different types of shrines in your castle, raise new breeds of dragons, and plant a diverse assortment of healthy herbs in your garden. Which characters you have on your team can also affect how your entire party can attack, defend, or heal, and certain enemies are easier to deal with when using specific weapons. These are all of Dragalia Lost's simpler to grasp mechanics that are introduced within the first hour or so.
You can micromanage it all. You can pull out the spreadsheets and start comparing the percentages if you want. But if any part of the game is too confusing or just not something you want to do, you can ask Dragalia Lost to do it for you. At the push of the button, the game will maximize your characters' abilities based on team dynamic and even change your roster if there's a better lineup available to tackle the next mission. You lose some of the challenge if you continuously do it, but it's a simple and welcome fix if you're struggling.
Dragalia Lost's opening hours reminded me a lot of the earlier Pokemon games, specifically Generations I-III. What the player needs to know--catching Pokemon, battling, and type advantages--is detailed out, but the more nuanced mechanics--different balls and every specific type advantage--are hidden away in optional conversations. A Pokemon veteran can tackle Brock with their Squirtle no problem, but a newcomer can ask around town and learn from one of the folks near Brock's gym that Water- and Grass-type Pokemon are your best bet against someone who solely uses Rock-type Pokemon, as well as where these type of Pokemon can be found. The game teaches you about type advantages whether you want to or not, and newcomers can rely on optional systems to slowly learn the vast assortment of type advantages.
Similarly, in Dragalia Lost, you eventually encounter enemies that rely on shields to protect themselves from initial attacks. When you first confront them, Dragalia Lost teaches you how to use the game's main character to perform a Force Strike, a move that when perfectly timed can instantly destroy a shield. Knowing that you have a character who can quickly take down shields is all the information you need to beat the harder enemy mobs and bosses down the line. You can identify other means of dealing with powerful targets yourself or ask the game to give you hints and help out. Combat is fairly straightforward to figure out if you've played other RPGs, it utilizes several interlocking rock-paper-scissors features, but the game details how all types of advantages work if you're still learning to juggle multiple in-game systems.
Dragalia extends this to all its features, which is most helpful when balancing your four-person party, managing every characters' multi-tiered skill tree, or choosing the correct fighter for handling a particularly troublesome enemy. Dragalia Lost wants you to have the game experience you want, whether you're looking for complex RPG mechanics, straight story, or something in between. I left my time with the game's demo with a smile on my face and eager to play more, which is not common for me when it comes to RPGs.
Releasing a game like Dragalia Lost to the huge audience on mobile devices is a smart choice. This makes it more accessible to a wider audience, especially kids or people who don't normally play games outside the Apple or Google Play stores. Dragalia Lost has goofy humor, an easy to follow story, a colorful cast of characters, and really catchy music. I can see it finding a foothold in the non-RPG crowd and helping new players discover the joy behind micromanaging complex video game mechanics.
Dragalia Lost launches on September 27 for Android and iOS devices.
Some say they are happy that The Walking Dead: The Final Season could be completed, while others are dismayed that Telltale is choosing to go ahead and finish it without so many of the developers who worked on it. According to reports, Telltale laid off more than 200 staffers without any severance pay, leading to a rally on social media and elsewhere of people calling on Telltale to do right by its employees. That side has now received a big jolt of prominence, as God of War director and industry veteran Cory Barlog has called on Telltale to make things right with its now former employees.
"I would hope this means that you will first pay your entire team their severance, and then proceed to finish the final episodes," Barlog wrote on Twitter. "I would be fine waiting however long it took to ensure we first treated those who worked so hard with the humanity and respect they deserve."
Someone pointed out that it is unknown if Telltale employees affected by the layoffs had terms in their contracts that included guaranteed severance pay. Even if this wasn't in their contracts, Barlog said he hopes the decision-makers are respectful enough to do right by their employees during a hard time.
"I think what I am suggesting is that when you look people in the eye and ask for their best, to come together and create something great, you should take on that task as well," he said. "Treating others with respect is not a law, but how great would the world be for our kids if it were."
There is no word on who the mysterious potential partners are that Telltale could work with to complete The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Telltale was upfront about how it is making no promises about the final season, adding that even if Episodes Three and Four are released, they might only come out "in some form."
Everything about the Telltale situation appears to be a developing story, so keep checking back with GameSpot for more.
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