The title may sound a bit like an early April Fool's joke, but the Final Fantasy series is making its streaming television debut with a new show called Final Fantasy XIV: Daddy of Light. The Japanese TV drama, originally called Final Fantasy XIV: Hikari no Otousan in Japanese, premieres in April in Japan and will be available worldwide on Netflix this fall. Get a sneak peak in the trailer above.
The show is a mix of live-action scenes and in-game footage. It's a classic father and son story with a very modern twist: the son gives his dad a copy of Final Fantasy XIV for PlayStation 4. As the dad starts to play, his son joins him online, helping his father through the game but not revealing his true identity. Meanwhile, the son writes a blog detailing his experiences secretly reconnecting with his father.
Final Fantasy XIV: Hikari no Otousan premieres on Japanese TV and on Netflix in Japan in April. The show will hit Netflix worldwide this fall, according to its official Twitter account as translated by US Gamer. The show's official website has now gone live.
In what seems like such an ideal pairing that it must be an early April Fool's joke (it's not; we double-checked), Rocket League will soon receive new DLC themed around the upcoming Fast and Furious movie The Fate of the Furious.
A new $2 DLC pack includes the Ice Charger vehicle, which is based on the Dodge Charger that Vin Diesel's character drives in the film (you may have seen it in the trailers). It also comes with an exclusive set of wheels and six premium decals: Clean Cut, Crazy Sandwich, Flames, Rakugaki, Rally, and CCCXL. Some of these can be seen in the gallery below.
The DLC is slated for release on April 4 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The movie itself debuts just over a week later, on April 14.
It's not the first time Rocket League developer Psyonix has teamed up with an outside company to promote something in-game. In addition to a variety of game-themed customization items, there is also a premium DLC pack that lets you drive the DeLorean from Back to the Future, complete with flaming tire tracks.
Each of the last two years, Steam has held a big sale dedicated to anime games. That's again the case this year with a new promotion that's now underway.
As part of the sale, a variety of new anime has debuted on Steam, with much of it on sale. Season 1 of Berserk is $4, Season 1 of Ace Attorney is $8, and Ghost in the Shell is $5.
You can check out everything on sale here. The sale runs from now until Monday, April 3, at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET/6 PM GMT.
Warhammer II introduces four new playable races: High Elves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen, and a fourth one still to be announced. It also takes players to "mystery-shrouded continents far to the west of The Old World," spanning Ulthuan, Naggaroth, The Southlands, and Lustria. It's that last one that some fans believed the countdown site was teasing, leading them to believe the announcement would be for a new Warhammer game.
While still promising to offer the classic Total War style of gameplay, Sega and Creative Assembly claim Warhammer II features a "new style of narrative campaign." Each of the four races is competing to either save or destroy the Great Vortex over Ulthuan, and you'll have to rush to do so before anyone else can. This "struggle culminat[es] in a cataclysmic endgame."
The new campaign is said to offer hundreds of hours of gameplay. If you own both this game and its predecessor, a free update coming "shortly" after launch will provide Warhammer II with a combined campaign map that consists of the regions from both games. This will let you play through campaigns with any playable race you own.
Warhammer II does not yet have a specific release date, but it's due out sometime before the end of 2017. A third game is also expected in the future, as this series has been announced as a trilogy.
In disappointing but not surprising news, Mad Catz Interactive announced today that it has filed for bankruptcy.
Mad Catz Interactive is the parent company of video game accessory maker Mad Catz and audio company Tritton. It voluntarily filed for bankruptcy yesterday, March 30, with its directors and officers also resigning.
Its subsidiary Mad Catz, Inc.--which you know as the company responsible for producing controllers, keyboards, mice, and other video game accessories--has now ceased operations and filed for chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, which will see its assets liquidated. The fate of Tritton was not outlined in a press release announcing the news, but additional Mad Catz Interactive subsidiaries are expected to be liquidated.
Shortly thereafter, Harmonix announced that it would partner with competing accessory maker PDP for future Rock Band 4 hardware. Mad Catz CFO Karen McGinnis later said, "Although the overall Rock Band 4 program was incredibly disappointing for us, exiting the relationship with Harmonix at this time allows us to focus our efforts on the development and execution of our other exciting and profitable product launches."
In January, the low share price of Mad Catz put the company at risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. After the situation only got worse in the ensuing months and Mad Catz presented no viable proposal for turning things around, the delisting process began last week.
Mad Catz had formed a committee last year to explore ways of maximizing shareholder value, ultimately leading to today's news. It considered selling off assets, among other options, but the panel could not find a way to sufficiently resolve the company's financial situation.
Legendary ex-footballer Diego Maradona has said he's suing PES 2017 publisher Konami for using his likeness without his permission.
In a post on his official Facebook page, the ex-Argentina and Barcelona star--considered by many to be the greatest footballer ever--said he "heard yesterday that the Japanese company Konami uses my image for its game PES 2017."
"My lawyer Matias Morla will initiate the corresponding legal actions," the statement continues, before concluding, "I hope this is not another scam."
Maradona's image is used in PES 2017's myClub mode, in which players work to build a dream team of both current and ex-pros. GameSpot has contacted Konami for a statement.
As a footballer, Maradona was considered the player of his generation, with a professional career spanning 21 years from 1976 to 1997. He twice broke the world record transfer fee, won countless trophies, and was deemed FIFA's Player of the Century in 2000.
He later went on to manage his home country in the 2010 World Cup, though he could not guide a strong Argentina team past the quarter-finals.
In other PES 2017 news, Data Pack 3.0 was recently released, introducing visual enhancements for over 100 players, eight classic Borussia Dortmund kits, a bunch of new boot designs, additional pitch-side hoardings, and the new Adidas ball that will be used in the 2016/2017 Champions League final.
We enjoyed the alternative ball-kicking game here at GameSpot; critic Nathan Ditum awarded it an 8/10. For more, check out our full PES 2017 review.
First, the delay is only a week, according to Entertainment Weekly, which broke the story. The Sony movie is now scheduled to come out on August 4, with its original July 28 date now taken by another Sony film, The Emoji Movie.
Another detail is that a Sony representative told EW that it "will not move" the Dark Tower date again. The spokesperson said this latest shift was done to give The EmojiMovie, a film aimed at children,more time in theaters before school starts back up again. Additionally, the site reports that a trailer for The Dark Tower is coming very soon.
The Dark Tower stars Idris Elba as gunslinger Roland Deschain, while Matthew McConaughey is playing demonic sorcerer Walter Padick, aka The Man in Black. The movie is directed by Nikolaj Arcel, who previously helmed the Oscar-nominated A Royal Affair.
The Dark Tower encompasses eight novels, which King published between 1982 and 2012. The books blend classic western themes with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
Independent developer Harmonix, known for Rock Band and Dance Central, has enacted a new round of layoffs. A spokesperson for the Boston-based studio confirmed to GI.biz that 17 jobs were cut amid a round of layoffs related to a restructuring based on the needs of the studio.
"Today we made the difficult decision to say goodbye to 17 talented people as we restructured to align with our current and anticipated development needs," reads a line from the statement. "These people all played a role in making Harmonix and its games what they are today and we are more than grateful for their contributions. We are working to ensure that they are taken care of as we make this change."
Harmonix recently shipped Rock Band VR and announced a brand-new card-based music game called DropMix that it's making with toy giant Hasbro. Additionally, Harmonix is working on another virtual reality game called SingSpace. The studio also continues to support Rock Band 4.
As GI.biz explains, Harmonix has cut jobs now in four of the past five years. One of the deeper rounds of layoffs came in 2014, when Harmonix eliminated 37 positions. As part of that round of cuts, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos stepped aside from his role as chief executive and transitioned to chief creative officer.
It's the last day of March, so now is your last chance to pick up some of the month's free Games With Gold titles before they return to their normal prices tomorrow, April 1. That's no April Fools' joke.
You have until the end of the day to pick up Layers of Fear (Xbox One) and Heavy Weapon (Xbox 360) for the low, low price of free, while Evolve will continue to be free until April 15.
Layers of Fear
On April 1, a new set of games will become free for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, including Ryse: Son of Rome on Xbox One and Darksiders for Xbox 360. Note that the Xbox 360 Games With Gold titles play on Xbox One with backwards compatibility, bolstering the lineup further if you have an Xbox One.
If you already own Far Cry 3 for Xbox 360, it should show up automatically in your Xbox One game library. If not, you can buy it right now on your console or through the Xbox Store link below.
Far Cry 3 was followed up by the aforementioned Blood Dragon and then Far Cry 4 in 2014. The latest game in the series is 2016's Far Cry Primal. No new entries in the series have been announced.
GameSpot's Far Cry 3 review scored the game a 9/10. "This is an ambitious and finely tuned adventure that gets better and better as you play," reviewer Kevin VanOrd said.
The Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, introduced in November 2015, lets you play Xbox 360 games on the new console. But what games are available? We've now rounded them all up--and we'll continue to update this post as new games are made available.
Gaming tour Intel Extreme Masters has announced the six professional teams that will compete in this May's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament in Sydney, Australia.
The teams are Renegades, Astralis, Optic Gaming, SK Gaming, Faze Clan, and North. Collectively, they have won more than $3.8 million from CSGO tournaments over the years, with Astralis ($1.4 million) leading the way, organizers said in a news release.
The IEM Masters Sydney serves as the kickoff for the 12th season of IEM's global circuit. Other stops this year are at venues in China, the US, South Korea, and Poland.
The Sydney event takes place May 6 and 7 at the Qudos Bank Arena. The prize pool is AUD $260,000, making it the largest professional gaming tournament ever in Australia.
The May 6 semifinals matches will be best-of-three, with the May 7 Grand Final operating in a best-of-five format. Group stage play takes place earlier in the week to determine who makes the cut.
There will actually be eight teams competing in the event, as qualifiers will be held on April 9 for local teams to earn a spot to challenge the pro teams. One winner each will emerge from Australia/New Zealand and China.
You can attend IEM Masters Sydney 2017 in person or watch online. Single-day tickets for Saturday go for AUD $59, with Sunday tickets for the Grand Final available for AUD $89. Two-day packages, meanwhile, start at AUD $119. You can order tickets here.
IEM Masters Sydney 2017 Teams (with career CSGO earnings in parenthesis):
A new update for Nintendo's celebrated RPG The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched today. Update 1.1.1 is out now, and the patch notes are just one line long.
As posted on Nintendo's website, the patch notes read, "Adjustments have been made to make for a more pleasant gaming experience."
That's all Nintendo had to say. However, people are reporting that the update improves the frame rate in different areas, which lines up with the "more pleasant gaming experience."
You need to download the new Breath of the Wild update to continue using the game's online features. If your system is hooked up to the internet, the update will apply automatically.
This is Breath of the Wild's second update. The first came out on March 3 alongside the game, making the Nintendo eShop accessible from the title screen so people can buy the game's DLC pass. Additionally, the March 3 update also made tweaks to allow for a "more pleasant gaming experience."
Looking to see the new Ghost in the Shell movie starring Scarlett Johansson this weekend? Reviews for the film are now online, and we've rounded up a group of them to help you decide if the movie is worth your time and money.
The original Ghost in the Shell was one of the key anime films to break through to a western audience in the '90s. It was based on Masamune Shirow's manga, and was followed by three more movies, plus a number of video games.
Johansson plays the cyborg cop, Major, who is fighting against a number of people, including the main bad guy Kuze (Michael Pitt).
For a wider look at Ghost in the Shell's critical reaction, head to GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
Film:Ghost in the Shell
Release Date: March 30
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, and Michael Pitt.
Directed By: Rupert Sanders
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 107 minutes
GameSpot
"Even though Ghost in the Shell does things well--its stylized take on the original's sci-fi, its often well-choreographed action, its exciting pace--it doesn't accomplish the main thing it intends to. The movie not only doesn't answer or even truly explore the questions it raises, it also mishandles a story about identity by largely excluding the people it's about. That's a critical failure, and one that cannot be rectified by cool-looking geisha robots." -- Kallie Plagge [Full review]
IGN
"As an adaptation of an iconic and beloved source material, Ghost in the Shell understands what makes this franchise special and does a good job translating that to the big screen. It looks great and doesn't feel like it's just copying the anime and manga's aesthetic, instead capturing what makes them stand apart to begin with. The story stumbles in the third act and doesn't fully bring its talking points to a satisfying conclusion, but Ghost in the Shell's successes outshadow its problems." -- Terri Schwartz [Full review]
USA Today
"Despite the beautiful eye-popping world it creates, the sci-fi film Ghost in the Shell is a defective mess with lifeless characters, missed chances for thematic exploration, and a minefield of political incorrectness." -- Brian Truitt [Full review]
Variety
"Led by a resolute Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Sanders' pulse-quickening, formally stunning live-action take on the manga classic both honors and streamlines its source." -- Guy Lodge [Full review]
The Seattle Times
"The picture re-creates a number of key scenes from the anime version but introduces a new key plot element that diverges significantly from the original. Like the Major, it suffers from an identity crisis. This Ghost doesn't seem to quite know what it is or what it wants to be." -- Soren Andersen [Full review]
A a new video game inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise is on the way from Korean developer Joycity. Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War is described as an MMO that also has strategy elements.
It features characters, ships, and storylines that are based on those from the Disney film series. Some of the confirmed characters include the most famous ones: Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Captain Barbossa, and Elizabeth Swann.
You play as a pirate and can build a ship and train people to fight with you. Additionally, you can work together with other players to battle monsters in the high seas or square off against other human players in battles.
"We're confident that this mobile game will align with the quality and high entertainment value that fans have come to expect from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise," Joycity COO Hanseo Jo said in a statement.
You can pre-register for Tides of War right now. People who do that on Android will receive a gift of 2,000 Gold when they reach a certain level in the game.
Joycity did not announce a business model for Tides of War.
A new update for Ubisoft's swordfighting game For Honor landed today on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, re-introducing a map and adjusting the Steel income values, among other things.
First, the update adds the River Fort map, which was previously removed. Ubisoft said it will bring back the High Fort map "as soon as possible if everything goes well with River Fort."
As for the Steel changes, the currency system is adopting new rates. Here is a rundown of what's changing, as written by Ubisoft:
All matches Steel income are increased by 25%
Daily Orders Steel income are increased by 33%
Side Orders Steel income are increased by 50%
Community Orders Steel rewards are increased from 500-1000 to 2000 Steel
Today's For Honor update also adds new customization options for Heroes, including "Battlefield Chic" outfits for Knights, the "Death Ravens" costumes for Vikings, and "Death Blossoms" outfits for Samurai.
Finally, the new For Honor update adds a compensation package for all players related to the server outage that occurred on March 28. Everyone receives three-day Champion Status, while Ubisoft is also looking into Faction War rewards "and will correct the situation soon."
In a blog post, producer Stephane Cardin explained that Ubisoft still has "work to do" to improve For Honor's stability.
"Our top priority right now is stabilizing the game experience," Cardine said. "Our top engineers have been working to address connectivity and matchmaking issues since launch. On top of that, we are working on balancing our Heroes, bringing back the maps we removed, and making sure our upcoming content is easily accessible. Those maps were the ones showing the highest rates of desync, and we want to re-introduce them progressively after our testing. Speaking of that, we are happy to bring back River Fort today and hopefully we will re-introduce High Fort as soon as possible.
Last year, it was revealed that BioShock designer Ken Levine was working on a new Twilight Zone interactive drama. Now, it looks like that project might be stalled. During an appearance at EGX Rezzed in London today, Levine said the project is "in flux" and that he's not 100 percent committed to it.
"Right now it's at the stage where I'm still deciding whether this is something that I want to be doing," Levine said, according to IGN.
Levine told Wired last year that he would write and direct the live-action Twilight Zone movie, which would have an "interactive" element, though we never found out what that would be.
Twlight Zone, created by Rod Serling, ran from 1959-1964, before being revived in the 1980s and then again in the early 2000s for short runs. A Twilight Zone movie was released in 1983.
This is not Levine's first non-game writing credit, as he was working on the script for a new Logan's Run movie at Warner Bros., but was eventually replaced.
Levine is working on the untitled game at his new studio, Ghost Story. "While we believe our new games will have strong appeal to fans of BioShock, our new focus allows us to craft experiences where the gameplay is as challenging as the stories," the developer said.
The Twilight Zone rights are owned by CBS, which is GameSpot's parent company.
More casting details about Disney's Lion King remake have come to light. Sources speaking to Variety said that singer Beyonce is the top choice of director Jon Favreau to voice Nala.
The "Single Ladies" singer has not yet committed to the role, sources said. Beyonce is pregnant with twins, which could limit her availability, the report said.
"But since it's a voice-acting role, sources say the studio and director will do whatever it takes to accommodate her schedule," Variety reported.
Beyonce is no stranger to Hollywood, of course. She voiced a character in the animated movie Epic and also starred alongside Mike Myers in the comedy Austin Powers in Goldmember.
In September 2016, when Favreau was announced as the director of the new Lion King, Disney said it was fast-tracking the film, though no premiere date has been announced yet.
The new Lion King has big shoes to fill, as the original made more than $968 million at the box office and won multiple Academy Awards, in addition to a pair of Grammy Awards for its soundtrack.
Disney and Favreau are also working on The Jungle Book 2, after last year's entry made $965.8 million worldwide. There are no release dates announced for The Lion King or The Jungle Book 2.
A new Power Rangers skin pack is available for Minecraft right now. The pack comes with skins for all the five main Power Rangers, as well as skins for Rita Repulsa, Bulk, and Skull.
The Power Rangers Pack is available now for Minecraft's console, Windows 10, and mobile versions. It's priced at $3, and is a very small download, coming in at just 10.09 MB.
Here's what one of the artists who worked on the Power Rangers skin pack had to say, "I had a blast creating Minecraft versions of these characters. I hope everyone who uses these skins has as much fun playing them as I did creating them."
The Power Rangers skin pack is just the latest for Minecraft. Others already available include those for The Simpsons, Star Wars, and Halo, among many others.
A new update for Horizon Zero Dawn has arrived. As outlined in this Reddit post, patch 1.12 adds one new feature in the form of 3D Audio support (if you have a 3D headset), while it also makes gameplay adjustments including performance improvements in "several areas" of the game.
Update 1.12 also fixes a lot of bugs that could lead to scenarios where players would not be able to progress further. For example, in the Cause of Concern mission, players were blocked from speaking with Nil to complete the quest if they took down Bandit Camps in a specific order.
The new Horizon Zero Dawn update also makes a number of general fixes, including one for an issue where players could exploit Hunting Ground trials for resources. The patch also clears out a problem where the sound of destructible trees was not playing as it should.
You can see the full patch notes below, but be aware that they contain references to story chapters, in case you're worried about spoilers.
Developer Guerrilla Games also reminded players that they can try reloading one of their saves if they encounter any issues. For issues that persist, Guerrilla recommends that you take screenshots of the location where the bug popped up and your location on the map, and then send to the studio.
Horizon Zero Dawn 1.12 Patch Notes:
NEW FEATURES
Added 3D Audio support for 3D headsets.
ADJUSTMENTS
Improved Pathfinding to Quest markers and custom waypoints when players are on a mount.
Improved performance in several areas in the game.
Several improvements to the lightmap.
FIXES
Progression Fixes
Fixed an issue that some players might encounter in "The Point of the Spear" where players would be given an extra Carja Bow and Spear if Aloy died before talking to Rost.
Fixed an issue in "The Point of the Spear" which some players might encounter where the Sawtooth would no longer be present when players updated their game to Patch 1.10 during the 'Kill the Sawtooth' objective.
Fixed an issue in "Revenge of the Nora" where some players were able to bypass natural progression by entering the Metal Ring by jumping over the roots.
Fixed an issue in "The Sun Shall Fall" where finishing a weapon tutorial during the Glinthawk encounter and reloading would result in some players not being able to enter the gates and continue the quest.
Fixed an issue in "The Grave-Hoard" where completing a weapon tutorial during the Deathbringer encounter would prevent the Deathbringer from respawning when some players would reload the game.
Fixed an issue in "To Curse the Darkness" where certain players could climb the roots around the entrance of the cave and bypass natural progression of the quest.
Fixed an issue in "Deep Secrets of the Earth" where a few players were unable to enter the bunker after fast traveling during the animation of Aloy opening the vent.
Fixed an issue in "The Mountain That Fell" where some players were able to leave the boundaries of the world.
Fixed an issue in "Robbing the Rich" where certain players were not able to complete the quest when talking to Ravan.
Fixed an issue in "Fatal Inheritance" where Daradi would be missing after fast traveling away from the quest area, which resulted in some players not being able to complete the 'Return to Daradi' objective.
Fixed an issue in "A Moment's Peace" where for some players the quest objective would be updated to "Return to Vilgund" after completing the quest, even though players did not meet Vilgund yet.
Fixed an issue in "Collateral" where a few players wouldn't be able to complete the 'Talk to Olin and Enasha' objective because Enasha would not wait in the Farm.
Fixed an issue in "Cause for Concern" where completing Bandit Camps in a specific order would result in a few players not being able to interact with Nil to complete the quest.
Fixed an issue in Cauldron Xi where certain players were able to bypass natural progression of the quest by escaping the core chamber during the 'Defend the Core' objective.
Fixed an issue in the weapon tutorial for the War Bow, where using the Lodge War Bow would not tally towards any of the War Bow tutorials.
General Fixes
Fixed an issue where Patch 1.10 did not offer a retroactive solution for some players who encountered an issue with a Tallneck's datapoint that did not unlock when they had fast-traveled away while on top of the Tallneck instead of rappelling down. Players who encountered this, should revisit the Tallneck again and leave the area to unlock the datapoint.
Fixed an issue where some players would have the issue of wielded Heavy Weapons getting stuck on Aloy's arm when interacting with the elevator in Meridian.
Fixed an issue where for a few players the awareness icons and tags would become invisible when the game saves while a Watcher uses the FlashStun attack on Aloy.
Fixed an issue where some players would spawn in the mountains when fast-traveling to the center of Sunfall.
Fixed an issue where after completing "Revenge of the Nora", Varl would have a wrong dialogue.
Fixed an issue where a few players were able to call a mount during the fight with Helis in "The Face of Extinction".
Fixed an issue in "The Forgotten" where the prompt to interact with Olara was visible when Olara was not at that location.
Fixed an issue where the quest marker for "Underequipped" would disappear from the map when leaving the starting area of the quest.
Fixed an issue in "Death from the Skies" where the 'Kill the Stormbird' objective would not have a quest marker.
Fixed an issue where overridden bridges in Cauldron Rho would not be visible when some players were standing at a certain distance.
Fixed an issue where a few players were able to exploit Hunting Ground trials for resources.
Fixed an issue where for some the sound of destructible trees was not playing.
Fixed an issue with Pathfinder enabled for a custom waypoint when standing on the bridge of the Two Teeth Bandit Camp.
Fixed an issue where the soundtrack would start over during the Credits.
Fixed an issue where on some occasions Aloy would not place a trap when players wanted to.
Fixed an issue where on some occasions Aloy would grab her spear instead of placing a trap.
Fixed various LOD issues.
Fixed various issues of players getting stuck in geometry.
Fixed various issues of players accessing areas outside of the play area.
Crash Fixes
Fixed an issue in "The City of the Sun" where in some occasions the game would crash when Aloy and Erend arrive at Olin's house.
Fixed an issue where the game would crash when some players fast-travelled during one of Aloy's animations in the bunker she fell into when she was a child.
The Lord Saladin and his wolves figure ($20) is officially licensed and is made by Bigshot Toyworks. It's made of PVC and Saladin stands 4 inches tall. The wolves look particularly menacing.
"The Witcher was designed as a trilogy and a trilogy cannot have a fourth part, can it?" an executive said during a Q&A session that followed the results briefing. "We like this world a lot. We invested 15 years of our lives in it and a lot of money. So, we'll think about [making a fourth Witcher game]."
Another CD Projekt Red boss, Marcin Iwinski, said previously that the Witcher series "deserves some rest," while the team shifts to Cyberpunk 2077. "The past 10 years the team has been working on swords and castles and medieval Slavic monsters. So I think it's time for some guns, androids, and some ammo," Iwinski said.
The Polish developer did not provide a specific unit sales breakdown by title. Whatever the case, this figure is up from the 20 million number that CD Projekt Red disclosed a year ago this month.
During a Q&A session as part of the briefing, CD Projekt Red management offered an update on Cyberpunk 2077, saying development progress is "quite advanced" at this stage. Management said the game is very ambitious and stressed that the developer will not rush the game to market.
Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to launch sometime in the 2017-2021 window. Don't expect to see more of it until CD Projekt Red can prepare an impressive showcase for it.
"Right now it's the end of talking about Cyberpunk until we can go out there and show stuff and say, 'Hey, here it is,' because that's how we do games," CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwinski said earlier. "There is too much talking about what it possibly could be, and how big, and...
"When we show it, we should show it and explain it. So I'm going to have people not read anything about Cyberpunk probably for the next... time, whatever the time will be."
The game is set in a dystopian future and is being made in partnership with Cyberpunk RPG designer Mike Pondsmith. Platforms have not been announced, but PS4, Xbox One, and PC seem likely.
In terms of financial specifics, CD Projekt Red's revenue and profit for 2016 dropped year-over-year. You can watch the CD Projekt Red earnings briefing above (it's translated from Polish to English), while you can read the full written report here.
Following the official reveal of Destiny 2 today, retailer GameStop announced that people who preorder through the store will receive a Cayde-6 figurine. Cayde-6 is the returning character voiced by Nathan Fillion who appeared in the first Destiny 2 teaser, sitting at a bar while the world crumbled around him.
People who preorder in-store will receive their figurines right away when they put their money down. Those who preorder online will have to wait until the game is released.
Destiny 2 is coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as PC. A beta for the game is coming up this summer, and people who preorder will get to play it early.
The first gameplay trailer for Destiny 2 will be shown during a livestream event scheduled for May 18. For now, you can watch the game's CGI trailer right here.
Drawing from the original manga, the 1995 anime film, and the 2002 series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Ghost in the Shell takes steps toward adapting its source material for a more modern age. Its version of a robotic future-Japan is stunning, and its simultaneously beautiful yet gritty art and action capture the original's tone. But Ghost in the Shell asks a lot of interesting questions that it neglects to answer in equally interesting ways, and its near-total omission of Japanese voices and identities in a story about identity is a failure too great to ignore.
Like the original, Ghost in the Shell presents a near-future Japan where cybernetic enhancements are commonplace--almost everyone has a bit of robot in them, from the ability to communicate telepathically to livers built for heavy drinking. But the Major (played by Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind: a human brain transplanted into a fully robotic body. She inhabits a shell, and somewhere underneath a fog that obscures her memories, there is a "ghost" of the person she was before.
In one of the earliest and most captivating scenes in the movie, the Major scopes out a planned attack on a meeting between an executive of the Hanka Corporation, which manufactures cybernetics and is responsible for the Major's body, and a foreign leader. The meeting takes place in a somewhat traditional-looking teahouse, but the geisha serving the men are fully robotic. The juxtaposition is hauntingly beautiful; when the attack begins, the geisha change forms to something much less humanoid, and the illusion is shattered.
The scene--which was shown in the trailers--is Ghost in the Shell at its strongest, as it succinctly sets the stage for how technology has shaped its world. The Major enters and easily defeats the threats with a body built for combat, but she pauses just before shooting a geisha-bot, which begs for its life. But, of course, its life is a fabrication, its sentience only imagined, which makes its vulnerability staggering.
Ghost in the Shell is and always has been a story about identity, both individually and societally. The movie arrives at its central question--what it means to be human--almost immediately, as the Hanka scientist who made the Major's shell explains to her that it's our actions, not our memories, that define us. But the Major is clearly unconvinced, and the movie very rapidly narrows in scope to focus on the Major's identity specifically.
That alone isn't a bad thing. As an adaptation, Ghost in the Shell takes liberties with its source material, and in places it works. We get to see how Batou (Pilou Asbaek) loses his eyes and watch his adjustment to his iconic robotic ones. But the shuffling of the story's order also dampens the impact of key scenes. The encounter with the garbageman who falsely believes he has a wife and daughter, for example, happens so late into the movie that the revelation that he's been hacked and given false memories isn't a revelation at all. The movie is already firmly about the Major at this point, so the fact that his reality isn't really reality isn't that meaningful.
Unfortunately, the truth about the Major's reality also lacks meaning--for worse reasons.
[Warning: Spoilers ahead.]
It's impossible to have a story about identity while ignoring and erasing the identities at its core. This became a well-known issue after the cast was announced; Johansson plays an altered version of the Major named Mira Killian, rather than the original Japanese Motoko Kusanagi. Many argued that Johansson's casting in particular was whitewashing, taking an Asian role away from an Asian actor, which is also reflected in the largely non-Japanese main cast. But the reveal toward the end of the movie absolutely cements the race problem with this adaptation of Ghost in the Shell.
As it turns out, the background the Hanka scientists had given to "Mira"--that her parents were killed in a terrorist attack and she was saved by robotics--was fake. The ghost at her core is actually that of a Japanese anti-technology rebel named Motoko Kusanagi, one of many runaways who were captured for the purpose of Hanka's experiments. So, in addition to a starring role not going to a Japanese actor, the character herself was transformed from Japanese to white--and Ghost in the Shell neglects to address how race affects her in any way. In a movie about a person searching for her identity and humanity.
The Major reunites with her mother--who is Japanese and has an accent--in a jarring scene at Kusanagi's grave that culminates in a relatively emotionless hug. We learn next to nothing about the underground network of rebels--which is the most interesting part of the entire movie--except what her mother briefly tells her. And despite understanding Japanese, the Major inexplicably speaks English to her mother, further robbing the scene of whatever impact it could have had.
The only person in the main cast who actually speaks Japanese is Aramaki (played by Takeshi Kitano), the head of the task force Section 9 and essentially the Major's boss. Kitano does an excellent job with the character and plays the wise-but-badass boss brilliantly, allowing him to shine among otherwise lackluster character development. But being the only prominent character who ever speaks Japanese clashes with the overwhelmingly Japanese setting: a city peppered with silent women in traditional Japanese clothing and holographic koi fish swimming around buildings, but populated in the foreground by English-speaking Westerners.
It's impossible to have a story about identity while ignoring and erasing the identities at its core.
Even though Ghost in the Shell does things well--its stylized take on the original's sci-fi, its often well-choreographed action, its exciting pace--it doesn't accomplish the main thing it intends to. The movie not only doesn't answer or even truly explore the questions it raises, it also mishandles a story about identity by largely excluding the people it's about. That's a critical failure, and one that cannot be rectified by cool-looking geisha robots.
Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Oculus VR and one of the most prominent faces in the virtual reality business, is leaving Oculus and parent company Facebook.
Oculus confirmed the news with GameSpot today, saying in a statement, "Palmer will be dearly missed. Palmer's legacy extends far beyond Oculus. His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and build an industry. We're thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best."
The news was first reported by UploadVR, which said that tomorrow, March 31, will be Luckey's final day with the company.
It's currently unknown what prompted the move or whose decision it was.
More recently, Bethesda parent company ZeniMax media was awarded $500 million as part of a lawsuit alleging that virtual reality technology it owns was stolen and used to develop the Oculus Rift. During the years-long process, ZeniMax specifically targeted Luckey, claiming that he "lacked the training, expertise, resources, or know-how to create commercially viable VR technology, his computer programming skills were rudimentary, and he relied on ZeniMax's computer program code and games to demonstrate the prototype Rift."
At this point, we don't yet know what Luckey plans to do next. His more public-facing role at Oculus had been reduced over time, particularly since last fall.
As for Oculus, former CEO Brendan Iribe stepped away from that role in December to focus on leading a group focused on PC virtual reality. In January, the company named Hugo Barra, a former executive at Chinese electronics company Xiaomi, as its new VP of virtual reality.
The upcoming PS4-exclusive Wipeout Omega Collection arrives on June 6 in the US and June 7 in Europe, Sony announced today.
Omega Collection was first announced last year and is a collection of content from Wipeout HD, Fury, and 2048. It features all of the tracks and ships from those games with enhanced visuals, running at 1080P on PS4 or a dynamic 4K resolution on PS4 Pro. HDR support has been implemented, and both the PS4 and PS4 Pro versions are "targeting" 60 FPS.
The new trailer above offers a look at some of the classic tracks running on PS4. The accompanying description boasts, "Compared to the original games, textures are now clear when viewed up close: you can even read some of the small text on the ships for the first time."
Sound effects have been "fully remastered," and the soundtracks consists of 28 licensed songs from the likes of The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, and Swedish House Mafia.
Omega Collection features nine different modes, including Wipeout HD's Zone, Tournament, Speed Lap, Time Trial, and Single Race; Fury's Zone Battle, Eliminator, and Detonator; and 2048's Career mode. You can also play two-player split-screen or with up to eight players online.
Physical and digital editions of Omega Collection will be available for $40. Preorders for the latter are now live on the PlayStation Store and come with the dynamic theme pictured above.
After a great deal of anticipation, Bungie has finally announced Destiny 2. With so much information floating around about the game, we've compiled everything you need to know about it. Below you can find all of our relevant features and videos about the game, as well as general information about what to expect.
Although we've known that a sequel to Destiny was in the works, it wasn't until this week that it was officially announced. The game launches on September 8; a PC version is confirmed to arrive alongside the expected Xbox One and PS4 versions.
The Reveal Trailer
While the reveal trailer doesn't show any gameplay, it does shed light on what Destiny 2 will be about. The premise is as such: The City has fallen under the control of Ghaul, the commander of a brutal force known as the Red Legion. With humanity pushed out of its last safe haven, it's up to you and other players to work together to eliminate this threat and reclaim what was lost.
Destiny 2 FAQ
When does the game come out?
The game launches on September 8 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
When is Bungie showing off gameplay footage?
Gameplay will be revealed as part of a livestream scheduled on May 18.
The game will have a season pass called the Expansion Pass that includes two expansions, each offering brand new story missions, cooperative activities, competitive multiplayer, and an assortment of new weapons, armor, and gear.
Will my progress from the first game transfer to the sequel?
Unfortunately, Destiny 1 power, possessions, and Eververse-related items and currency will not transfer over. However, your character's appearance will not be abandoned in the sequel.
There will be several different special editions. A Digital Deluxe Edition comes with a Legendary sword, emote, and Cabal-themed emblem. The Limited Edition comes with the game, a steelbook case, the Expansion Pass, and various physical and digital bonuses. The Collector's Edition comes with all of that plus additional physical bonuses, including a messenger bag/backpack combo and a solar-powered USB charger. You can see a full list of LE and CE contents below.
Limited Edition
Destiny 2 base game
Destiny 2 Expansion Pass
Limited Edition steelbook case
Cabal-themed Collector's Box, containing:
Booklet with secrets into the Cabal Empire
Cabal Schematic
Collectible Postcard Images
Cabal Military Pawns
Premium digital content:
Legendary Sword
Legendary player emote
Cabal Empire-themed emblem
Collector's Edition
Destiny 2 base game
Destiny 2 Expansion Pass: Get access to both Expansion I and Expansion II, offering brand new story missions, cooperative activities, competitive multiplayer, and a wealth of new weapons, armor, and gear.
Destiny 2 Frontier Bag
Customizable bag that can be worn as a backpack or messenger bag
15" Laptop/Tablet Sleeve with protective pocket slip
Frontier Kit, featuring:
Solar panel USB charger with built-in light
Paracord
Solar blanket
Limited Edition steelbook case
Booklet with secrets into the Cabal Empire
Cabal Schematic
Collectible Postcard Images
Cabal Military Pawns
Premium digital content:
Legendary Sword
Legendary player emote
Cabal Empire-themed emblem
Our Impressions So Far
What We Want in Destiny 2--Hot off the heels of Destiny 2's announcement, we discuss what changes we'd like to see in Bungie's anticipated sequel.
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