[UPDATE] The Season 7 mid-season premiere picked up 15.9 million total viewers, according to Variety. This is up by 3.9 million viewers from the live-+same day ratings announced earlier this week.
According to Deadline, Sunday's episode,"Rock In The Road," picked up 12 million viewers; 7.3 million of them were in the 18-49 demographic, giving the show a 5.7 rating. Viewership is up 13 percent compared to December 2016's mid-season finale.
This is the first time that a Walking Dead midseason return has risen since Season 4, in 2014. However, the 12 million number is down 13 percent compared to the Season 6 mid-season return in February 2016. Last year, the Grammys took place on a Monday, while this year they were held on a Sunday, competing directly with "Rock In The Road."
Also note that these numbers are only preliminary. AMC will announce how the show performed with live/same-day figures and the three days after combined later this week.
In what sounds like very good news, Eurogamer reports today that the Nintendo Switch will tie digital purchases to an account, not a specific piece of hardware. For the Wii U, games are linked to your console, so if you want to re-download on a new system, you're (probably) out of luck.
The passage reads: "Your Nintendo Account contains your Nintendo eShop purchase history and current balance. By re-linking your Nintendo Account after initializing the console, it will be possible to redownload any software or DLC purchased using that account. (Software that has been discontinued may not be available to redownload in some cases.)"
We have followed up with Nintendo in an attempt to get more details.
The Nintendo Switch launches on March 3, which is just a few weeks away, so it won't be long before we know a lot more specifics about the console.
As mentioned, the Xbox One price cut is good on all Xbox One and Xbox One S bundles, including the 1 TB Xbox One S Halo Wars 2 system that launches today. Its list price is $350, but the discount brings it down to $300. It comes with a copy of the Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition, which unlocks today ahead of the RTS sequel's official release on February 21.
There are quite a few Xbox One S bundles available, including the 500 GB Battlefield 1 system that comes with that game and a one-month subscription to EA Access. It normally sells for $300 but is now available for $250 thanks to the price cut.
The $50 price cut on all Xbox One models is good at all major retailers in the US, including the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Target, GameStop, Best Buy, and Walmart.
Right on schedule, BioWare today released a brand-new trailer for its spacefaring RPG Mass Effect: Andromeda that spotlights the game's weapons and skills.
BioWare explains that Andromeda offers "amazing freedom of movement," including a jetpack that you can use to get to high ground to gain the upper hand. The video also talks about Andromeda's "seamless" cover system, which allows you to use basically anything as cover. The goal, BioWare says, is to give players the tools and freedom to take on missions however they want.
Also in the video you'll see Andromeda's four types of weapons: pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, and assault rifles. There are no class-specific weapons, so everything is available to everyone. Additionally, Andromeda's skills and abilities are not limited by class. There are three categories of skills: combat, tech, and biotics; all of these can be upgraded throughout the game.
This is the first in a new series of videos that shows off different elements of the game. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest Andromeda videos as they become available.
Sony today launched the latest PSN Flash sale, this one themed around action games and more. PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita games are marked down, along with movies and TV shows that fit the bill of "action."
This PSN Flash sale runs until Monday, February 20, at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET, so you don't exactly have to rush to take advantage of these offers.
This sale runs alongside the regular slate of weekly PSN deals. This week, the weekly deals are themed around the Final Fantasy series and titles from 2K Games. You can see a roundup of the best deals here.
In other PSN news, Sony has dropped the PlayStation Plus requirement to play games online for a week. This started today, February 17, and runs until 11:59 PM PT on February 23. As part of this, you'll be able to access any game's online mode that would ordinarily require a Plus subscription. You won't, however, receive any of the other benefits of Plus, like access to the month's free games.
Injustice 2 developer NetherRealm will announce the next playable character for the fighting game on Thursday, February 23. The developer made the pre-announcement on the Injustice website.
The latest character to be confirmed for Injustice 2 was Swamp Thing. Other confirmed playable characters for Injustice 2 so far include Batman, Blue Beetle, The Flash, Harley Quinn, Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Deadshot, Gorilla Grodd, Aquaman, Robin, Cheetah, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Black Canary, and Atrocitus.
Injustice 2 launches for PS4 and Xbox One on May 16. You may not have to wait that long to play, however, as a closed beta is going on right now. This beta just recently added Black Canary to its playable roster.
It's a big year for Xbox. Not only is the company launching new hardware this year in the form of Project Scorpio, but Microsoft plans to have more Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusives this year than last. Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has weighed in with his thoughts on what he believes will be a momentous year for the Xbox brand.
"2017 is shaping up to be one of the "most exciting" years ever for Xbox gamers," he said in a post on the Xbox Wire. "We are preparing to launch the most powerful console ever made this holiday--Project Scorpio--along with a diverse lineup of games. In fact, we are committed to delivering even more exclusive games for both Xbox One and Windows 10 this year than we launched in 2016.
"I was very proud of our first-party lineup in 2016 and I am encouraged by an even bigger and more differentiated first-party lineup in 2017, starting with today's launch of Halo Wars 2."
In terms of first-party Xbox exclusives for 2017, there is Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and Crackdown 3, in addition to Halo Wars 2. Spencer said State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3 are "looking and playing great." He teased that Microsoft will have "more in store for [fans]" at E3 2017 in June.
"With such a broad and varied roster of games and first party exclusives on the horizon, continuous improvements across Xbox Live, and the upcoming launch of Project Scorpio, 2017 is going to be an incredible year for Xbox One and Windows 10 gamers," Spencer said. "On behalf of everyone at Team Xbox, thank you for your continued passion and support."
Fallout Shelter was the first mobile game that Fallout 4 and Skyrim developer Bethesda Game Studios ever created and it won't be the last. Director Todd Howard revealed last year that the studio is making more mobile games. These have not been announced just yet, but in a new interview with GameSpot, Howard recalled the huge success of Shelter and teased the studio's next mobile title.
"We loved making it so we were ecstatic when it was so successful," Howard said about the free-to-play Shelter. The game was released for iOS and Android devices in 2015; as of June 2016, it had more than 50 million registered players. Bethesda doesn't provide specifics, but reports have said the game has made millions of dollars, with revenue coming from microtransactions.
"It kind of blew us away," Howard said about the reaction to Shelter.
He added that the key to long-term success in the mobile market (and elsewhere) is to continually release new updates to keep players engaged. Bethesda has definitely done that, as Shelter has been supported with lots of seasonal updates and other patches.
Shelter still has a "pretty active player base," Howard said.
Looking ahead, Howard teased Bethesda's second mobile game, saying it's something that the studio has had in mind for a long time.
"We do have another mobile project game that we thought about for a while," he said. "Based on the Shelter experience, we're kind of rolling on something new."
It remains to be seen which studio is working on the new mobile game. In December 2015, Bethesda Game Studios opened an office in Montreal with an aim to "expand its development capabilities in console, PC, and mobile gaming."
GameSpot has a For Honor review in progress up--we'll be posting our final review once we've had a little more time to dive deep into the game's fighting mechanics. Until then, check out the roundup below. We'll continue to update this article as more final reviews come in.
"One-on-one battles are fun and challenging for the way they punish you for thoughtless play. But this heavily contrasts with fighting For Honor's AI minions, which frequently feel mundane; defeating them simply requires mindless swinging rather than the calculated execution of one-on-one combat. Fighting these "opponents" also proves middling due to the inability to lock onto them directly. More often than not you'll find yourself swinging your weapon wildly at the air rather than hitting them.
[But] despite these evident shortcomings, For Honor already has the workings of a well-made multiplayer fighting game." -- Matt Espineli [Full review in progress]
IGN -- No score (review in progress)
"For Honor is a unique and somewhat risky venture in this day and age of publishers being hesitant to stray far from the model of their proven hits. Like a delicious, gamified Turducken, it's a brawler with the depth of a fighting game inserted into the body of a third-person action game, which is in turn stuffed into an online team-based objective game. And in my roughly 40 hours spent playing a combination of alpha and beta tests, it's easy for me to say that For Honor's combat system is the most tactically complete and flexible version of melee combat I've ever experienced." -- Brandin Tyrrel [Full review in progress]
PC Gamer -- 74/100
"Outside of the fighting, however, For Honor is a needlessly bloated game. There's a lot of tediously granular customisation, a tacky free-to-play-style storefront selling in-game currency for real-world money, and a tangle of ugly, confusing menus to wrestle through before you can get into a battle. And as time goes on, and those stalwart, hardcore players continue to hone their skills, it'll be even more unwelcoming to newcomers. Stick with it, though, and you'll find a rich, tactical fighting game with wonderfully weighty combat and hidden depths to uncover. But if you want something accessible you can easily dip in and out of, you may want to swear fealty to another lord." -- Andy Kelly [Full review]
Eurogamer -- Recommended
"For Honor skews a bit too sharply towards defensive play at higher skill levels. Whatever the differences between characters, the safest approach is often to let the other person make the first move, then dodge or parry and deal out a vengeful drubbing. If the battle is not yet won, however, it's off to a bloodthirsty beginning, and it's worth bearing in mind the example of Rainbow Six: Siege - another terrific multiplayer effort from Ubisoft that wasn't all it could be at release. It's scruffier fixtures notwithstanding, this is one of the finest weapon-based fighting games I've encountered - a game of mindgames and reversals in which you'll savour nothing quite so much as a glorious defeat." -- Edwin Evans-Thirlwell [Full review]
The first clip from the upcoming Kong: Skull Island that was released this week was an intriguing dialogue scene. Now a second clip has landed that delivers full-on monster action--specifically, King Kong versus a Skullcrawler, one of the movie's terrifying new creatures. Check it out below:
Kong: Skull Island is released on March 10, 2017. It stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, John C Reilly, Corey Hawkins, and John Goodman.
In a recent interview, Hawkins revealed that despite the scary threat in the trailers and clips, the film wouldn't be entirely dark. "The tone of the movie is the tone of the set," he said, via Collider. "There were serious undercurrents of shooting this film, and then there was shooting with these guys--you've seen the cast--it was one of those journeys.
"We got the opportunity to find the light moments. It can't be all serious at all times, and I think in our darkest moments you have to find the humor and the lightness. Sometimes humor is necessary to get you through. It's honest."
Images alleged to be concept art from Sony Santa Monica's canceled sci-fi game have leaked.
The images were first spotted by Nerdleaks, which says the pictures were published by a former employee who was working on the game before leaving in 2014. The complete gallery have since been backed up on Imgur (via Eurogamer).
Nerdleaks goes on to reveal more information about the canned project. The game was apparently futuristic, with dinosaur-like enemies and a heavy emphasis on exploration.
Sony Santa Monica's current project is PS4's God of War, announced at E3 2016. The game's director, Cory Barlog, says it will offer a "more diverse emotional palette" than previous God of War games.
The first trailer for the new Will Ferrell/Amy Poehler comedy The House has come online and it's pretty wild.
Ferrell and Poehler play parents who can't afford to send their daughter to her favorite college. So what do they do? With the help of their neighbor Frank (Jason Mantzoukas), they create a casino in their house, of course. The premise is crazy and so is the trailer, as basically everything associated with casinos--good and bad--is happening here. Poehler wields a flamethrower at one point, while someone unfortunately loses a limb as part of a shakedown gone wrong. It's all pretty wacky--take a look at the trailer below..
The House opens on June 30. It was directed by Andrew Jay Cohen and written by Brendan O'Brien alongside Cohen; they both worked on Neighborsand The 40-Year-Old Virgin, among other comedies.
A poster has also been released, showing Ferrell and Poehler as suave-looking casino operators. The movie's tagline is "If you can't beat the house, be the house."
Amazon has a pretty solid deal going on right now for Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV. The role-playing game is discounted to $40 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
This is not a Deal of the Day item, but if you're interested, you may want to act quickly; there is no word on how long the deal will be available. Go to the product pages here: PS4, Xbox One. Shipping is free with Amazon Prime (via Kotaku).
"While it's safe to assume fans and outsiders will find some aspect of Final Fantasy XV disappointing--be it the shallow story or finnicky Astrals--it would be hard for anyone to deny that Final Fantasy XV is a fascinating game after giving it a chance," reviewer Peter Brown said. "Where its characters fail to impress, Final Fantasy XV's beautiful world and exciting challenges save the day."
The gang discusses the influences that Prey is taking from other games like System Shock and BioShock.
Learn what set the explosive events of Dawn of War III in motion.
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