A brand new season of Hearthstone is underway, and Blizzard is celebrating by giving away three free packs of cards from its latest expansion, Journey to Un'Goro, to each player.
New to the game, Adapt cards give creatures with Adapt the ability to gain helpful new abilities like Divine Shield or an extra attack. Similar to the Discover ability, you get your choice of three different upgrades and can pick one for your creature.
The Quest cards introduce a second new aspect to the gameplay. If you have a Quest card in your deck, you're guaranteed to draw one in your first hand. Complete the quest laid out on the card to get a big reward.
"Two sources in the financial industry told KrebsOnSecurity that they have received alerts from a credit card processor stating that Gamestop.com was likely compromised by intruders between mid-September 2016 and the first week of February 2017," wrote Krebs, saying he also received confirmation from the company. Krebs says GameStop sent him the following statement:
"GameStop recently received notification from a third party that it believed payment card data from cards used on the GameStop.com website was being offered for sale on a website. That day a leading security firm was engaged to investigate these claims. Gamestop has and will continue to work non-stop to address this report and take appropriate measures to eradicate any issue that may be identified."
GameSpot has reached out to GameStop for a statement, and we'll update you as soon as we know more.
Ghost in the Shell was one of March's highest profile movies, but it opened last weekend to disappointing box office results. It has now been reported that it could lose Paramount as much as $60 million.
According to Deadline, the movie had a total budget of $250 million, which includes the $110 million production cost and $140 million for worldwide publicity and advertising. The site projects the movie will make $200 million, taking $50 million in the US and the rest internationally.
However, Deadline's sources have suggested that the anime adaptation's production budget was in fact far higher than $110 million, possibly up to $180 million, meaning that Paramount's losses will be even larger.
As the site notes, a budget that size is normally the sort allocated to sequels and superhero movies, rather than adaptations of less famous foreign language properties. In addition, the controversy over the casting of Scarlett Johansson in a role that was Japanese in the source material caused a negative buzz which may have hurt its popularity.
Ghost in the Shell had a $18.8 million opening weekend in the US, and has to date made $62 million. Reviews of the movie were also mixed. GameSpot's reviewer Kallie Plagge said that 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."
There are no other details at this time about this new production, but if Kamiyama's previous work on Stand Alone Complex is any indication you can expect high-quality animation, lots of action, and of course a plot revolving around the political and social issues that make Ghost in the Shell such a compelling story.
"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," she said.
For more videos about Ghost in the Shell and how the Hollywood adaptation stacks up to the classic series, head over to GameSpot Universe.
A new Pokemon Go update is coming very soon, developer Niantic has announced. Android version 0.61.0 and iOS version 1.31.0 are "in the process of being updated," and the downloads should be available soon.
Included in the update is a new language setting--Traditional Chinese--along with various bug and text fixes. Lastly, the Pokemon collection screen's scroll bar has been changed, though precisely how is currently unclear.
A recent Water-type event introduced shiny Pokemon for the first time to Pokemon Go. Some fans were concerned the rare creatures would cease to be available after the event ended on March 29, but it seems shiny monsters are indeed still catchable.
Darksiders Warmastered Edition will launch for Wii U on May 23, publisher THQ Nordic has announced. The release date is confirmation the Wii U version has not been cancelled, as rumors had suggested.
Darksiders Warmastered Edition is an improved version of the 2010 action game. It runs at native 1080p on consoles and is also being released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, where it will run at 60 frames per second. The Wii U version, however, is limited to 30 frames per second.
Other features of the re-release include doubled texture resolutions, rendering improvements, better shadow quality, and post-processing effects. The Wii U version will retail for $19.99/£14.99.
The game's sequel, Darksiders II, was remastered and re-released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in October 2015. That version was developed by Gunfire Games, a studio reportedly staffed "almost entirely" of people who worked on the first Darksiders at original developer Vigil Games.
"Naturally (and extremely excitedly!), there will be a large-scale project based on Darksiders, but for now it is very important for us to take care of the existing games and make those available to a broader audience," the company said in a statement.
"Bringing Darksiders II to current gen was a logical step for us and the team at Gunfire Games know their trade inside-out, so we easily and quickly had lots of ideas that we wanted to realize for this specific edition."
As of yet a new Darksiders has not been announced, however.
CD Projekt Red, the developer of The Witcher series and the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077, has defended its decision to trademark the word "Cyberpunk."
The company received some criticicism last week after filing for the trademark in Europe late last year. "I hope they won't be able to push that trademark, it's kind of [an] uncool move," wrote one Reddit user. "We wouldn't be able to have [the] term 'Cyberpunk' used … without a fear of being sued." The application has since been approved by the European Union.
Now, CD Projekt Red has explained the move, claiming, "We want to protect our hard work and we don't plan on using the trademark offensively--it's a self-defence measure only.
"Cyberpunk 2077 … is a massive project and we've already invested a lot of hard work and resources into making it the best game we can," the developer continued. "We have to make sure we are the only entity that can use its exact name and naming scheme.
"Should we ever create a sequel, there's a possibility of someone telling us we can't name it, say, 'Cyberpunk 2078' or 'Cyberpunk 2.'
"The reason for our registration is to protect us from any unlawful actions of our competitors."
CD Projekt Red--which has also held a trademark for Cyberpunk in the US since 2012--went on to reassure fans that it is not trying to block people from using the word in other situations.
The company explained, "A trademark is not a copyright or patent--these are totally different rights and should not be confused. A registered trademark does not prohibit from using the word 'Cyberpunk' if it's not used in the course of business (e.g. branding, advertising etc.) … [and] it also does not give any exclusivity to set a game in a certain environment, or in a certain genre. Use of a protected word in a title may be prohibited only if it could confuse customers.
"If someone names their game: 'John Smith: Adventures Set in a Cyberpunk Dystopian Society' or '20 Short Video Games Set in Cyberpunk Worlds,' none of them should be treated as an infringement of our rights."
The Predator is the long-awaited next part of the long-running sci-fi action franchise, and it is currently in production. Director Shane Black has previously stated that the movie will be a sequel to the classic 1987 Predator--however, original star Arnold Schwarzenegger won't be in there. Now the Austrian superstar has revealed why he's not involved.
In an interview with Yahoo, Schwarzenegger explained that he had read the script--and wasn't impressed with what he was being offered. "They asked me, and I read it, and I didn't like it--whatever they offered," he said. "So I'm not going to do that, no. Except if there's a chance that they rewrite it, or make it a more significant role."
The Predator also stars Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu, Key & Peele), Sterling K. Brown (The People v. OJ Simpson), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), and 10-year-old Jacob Tremblay (Room). Black has released a couple of cast images over the past few weeks--check them out here and here.
One change to note is that Attack and Defence stats no longer apply when in Revenge mode. From now on, only Revenge Attack and Revenge Defence apply during this time.
Some game modes have also been tweaked, with Boosts no longer appearing at the start of Elimination rounds--you'll now have to wait for 20 seconds at the start of the game before they appear.
Click here to see the full list of patch notes on the For Honor blog.
For Honor's last patch arrived just a week ago, re-adding the River Fort map into the game after it was previously removed. Ubisoft has said it will bring back the High Fort map "as soon as possible if everything goes well with River Fort."
World of Tanks is a massively popular game that will stay that way for decades into the future, developers behind the game said during an interview in Taipei today. Mohamed Fadl, Head of Global Competitive Gaming at Wargaming, said during a roundtable interview attended by GameSpot that World of Tanks continues to stay fresh through its numerous updates.
"It competes with any game that is released this year, quality-wise, graphic-wise," he said. "Free-to-play games that are at this level, they never get old. Like a body, a heartbeat; every day, they pump fresh blood into the system."
Fadl added that World of Tanks staying popular for 10, 20, or 30 years into the future is an "easy" prediction to make.
This follows comments from Wargaming CEO Viktor Kislyi, who told Polygon recently that World of Tanks "can last forever," adding that, "We're making the game to be built like the pyramids, for centuries or millennia."
Going back to the roundtable interview, Fadl went on to say that it's a "completely new world" today with the rise of digital gaming as opposed to the idea years ago that a game would be released and that's where the updates end. "Everything is changing," Fadl said.
Also during the interview, Fadl and Wargaming APAC GM Jungwon Hahn discussed the role of betting in esports, which has been controversial among games like Counter-Strike: GO and, more recently, Rocket League.
"You're stupid to say betting is bad," Fadl started off. "It's a natural part of sports."
Fadl went on to say that while real-money betting can become problematic, it's only natural that it will happen in gaming. He said he can envision a future for World of Tanks where players bet virtual currency on matches, while real-money gambling may exist outside of what Wargaming can itself control.
He added that Wargaming must be "very careful" with how it approaches gambling, but it's something Wargaming may want to pursue because there is clearly demand for it.
"I believe betting down the road will be one of the major incomes for esports or streaming platforms," Fadl said.
The conversation with Fadl and Hahn was extended, in-depth, and lively. The pair also discussed things like paying professional World of Tanks players a base salary as Blizzard does for Overwatch. Fadl said this could be a way forward for World of Tanks, though more research needs to be done, he said. As for Hahn, he said he's not sure how long Blizzard can support paying Overwatch players a salary.
Here are some other takeaways from the discussion:
Asked about support for new platforms such as virtual reality and consoles, Wargaming is always doing R&D efforts, though they stopped short of confirming anything.
A major announcement about World of Tanks is coming up this weekend as part the Grand Finals in Taipei. Fadl suggested this may have something to do with Olympics-like national teams. We'll report back later this weekend with the latest.
One of the issues right now with World of Tanks competitive play, Fadl said, is that it's 7v7, while the regular game is 15v15. A future update to the game will address this.
PC currently dominates the pro gaming scene, but console and mobile will eventually reach critical mass for esports, Wargaming believes.
Although Uncharted 4 took home the top honor, Playdead's indie game Inside scored the most awards overall, bringing home four: Artistic Achievement, Game Design, Narrative, and Original Property.
Finally, prolific game designer Brenda Romero was presented with the Special Award in "recognition of her outstanding creative contribution to the industry and for her illustrious career in game design, her advocacy for the art and creative process behind game-making, and her commitment to encouraging the next generation of talent in the industry."
As announced by Bungie in its latest weekly blog post, the Iron Banner event starts Tuesday, April 11, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET and runs for a week, ending on April 18 at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET. The game mode for this latest Iron Banner event is Control, which involves capturing zones on a map.
As usual, people who compete in this Iron Banner can earn some rad-looking rewards. These include rifles and shotguns, as well as armor for Destiny's three classes. You can see all of the items in the image gallery above--click on the thumbnails to see the images in full size.
Also in Bungie's weekly blog post, the developer spoke very briefly about the upcoming Destiny 2 gameplay reveal on May 18.
"The gameplay premiere will be a memorable moment--the first time you see Guardians immersed in Destiny 2 action," Bungie said. "Our focus right now is on making sure that livestream will be awesome, so we'll hold fresh remarks about Destiny 2 until then."
Microsoft has teased the next Halo Wars 2 DLC. In its latest weekly blog post, developer 343 Industries said it will probably start talking about the game's next DLC leader character next week.
"We've got some pretty awesome new details about the game's next DLC leader that should be emerging next week, so grab a buddy and be ready!" the studio said.
In other Halo Wars 2 news, 343 Industries released a small new update for the game this week that fixes a crash scenario and other bugs, including one that was occured with the Kinsano update. The full patch notes follow below, as posted by the developer on its forums.
Crashes / Errors / Performance
Fixed an issue where campaign save files from previous versions/patches were crashing on load. The save files now load successfully.
Gameplay
Fixed an issue where watchtowers and motion sensors did not detect cloaked units
Fixed an issue where cloaking generators would stop cloaking after 15 seconds if the advanced cloaking leader power was fully unlocked/upgraded
Fixed an issue where Forge's warthog was not displaying aura VFX and his upgrades were not working.
Cosmetic
Updated text for Forge's "Rolling Economy" Leader Power to match balance changes made in the Kinsano update (removed text referring to reduced building cost)
The fourth installment in the "Shattered Alliances" video series for fighting game Injustice 2 has arrived. As with the previous three, this one is pretty impressive.
It dives into the game's story, specifically focusing on the nefarious Society, who are looking to take over after "the collapse of Superman's regime." Some of the members of The Society shown in the video include Bane, Cheetah, Catwoman, Captain Cold, Deadshot, Scarecrow, and the leader, Gorilla Grodd. Because Gorilla Grodd is featured so prominently, the comments section on the video's YouTube page of course contains Harambe jokes.
If you missed the first three parts of the Shattered Alliances series or want to watch them again, click through the video links below.
After being announced back in October 2016, Microsoft has now launched bitstream audio-passthrough, including Dolby Atmos, on Xbox One via the console's Blu-ray player.
Microsoft's Major Nelson made the announcement today, and also explained how you can take advantage of the new feature. First, you have to reboot your system. Then choose "Let me receiver decode audio" from the Blu-ray page. Here is what the page looks like:
Blu-ray Bitstream pass-through is now live on Xbox One consoles. Reboot & select ‘Let my receiver decode audio’ in Blu-ray settings page pic.twitter.com/SWsqaGA46n
As announced previously, bitstreaming and Atmos are available on Xbox One S and the launch model. The new audio options are available for gaming and video content alike.
The hugely successful crowdfunded PC space game Star Citizen remains in development, with a new video published today providing an update on how the game is progressing and more.
The video begins with senior leaders from the development teams in Austin, Texas, and at Turbulent speaking at length about what they achieved in the past month. Additionally, creator Chris Roberts and producer Eric Kieron Davis discuss Star Citizen's planetary outpost system. The whole video is a very deep dive into the nuts and bolts of the game; take a look:
The Call of Duty franchise is getting a new mobile adaptation from one of the world's most iconic mobile games studios. King, first famous for creating Candy Crush and now run by Call of Duty owner Activision Blizzard, is currently working on the new mobile game.
"Our challenge as a team is to create a Call of Duty experience on mobile that will strive to transform the best console experience fans know and love, while breaking new ground for mobile and redefining the genre," reads its recruiting website.
There are no specific details yet on how the game will work or what it will look like. All we can see are the many job postings for the Stockholm-based studio (including art director). It is, however, revealing some of its intention with the series.
"Our approach and ambition is to be fresh, social, and highly accessible, while providing a very authentic game experience. The team will prototype extensively, have the freedom to think outside the box, and be encouraged to stretch their expertise in ways to create surprising results," the site says.
"We're a lean pack of developers, designers, and artists, with a shared goal and shared understanding of what we're striving to build: a transformative and awesome Call of Duty experience on mobile that fans will want to play for years."
While King promises a "transformative" mobile experience for Call of Duty fans, it's far from the first mobile game in the series. There are several mobile COD games available right now; but if its success with Candy Crush is any indication, King's Call of Duty entry into the franchise is bound to stand out for the pack.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is getting a much-anticipated overhaul today: patch 1.05 has now gone live. It promises to fix many bugs and technical issues and create a better player experience through a number of "gameplay improvements."
One of the most noticeable improvements is a graphics upgrade to improve "the appearance of eyes for human and Asari characters." Already, side-by-side comparisons are rolling in online. The tweet below shows today's updated eyes on the left, and pre-patch graphics on the right.
The Mass Effect Andromeda patch changed the character eyes and man, it's like a whole new game. pic.twitter.com/I3NS9meG2h
Developer BioWare has also added the ability to skip the lengthy transition animations when travelling between planets in the galaxy map. It promises higher inventory limits as of today, better voice-over lip sync, tweaks to Ryder's movement when running in a zig zag motion, and fewer game crashes.
In multiplayer, BioWare has promised improved matchmaking and latency in this update. It's also rolling out the first of three new chapters centered around The Remnant Investigation, with promises of "new maps, characters, and weapons" to come over the next two months. Other improvements on the way, according to BioWare, include the following:
More options and variety in the character creator
Improvements to hair and general appearance for characters
Ongoing improvements to cinematic scenes and animations
Improvements to male romance options for Scott Ryder
Adjustments to conversations with Hainly Abrams
"We want to hear from you about your experiences, both what you love about the game and what you'd like to see changed," said BioWare's General Manager Aaryn Flynn on the company's website.
GameSpot's review of Andromeda gave it a 6/10, with reviewer Scott Butterworth saying the game "feels like a vision half-fulfilled." With this patch and many new improvements in the next two months, BioWare is promising to give players the Andromeda experience they expected.
"These upcoming patches will also address performance and stability issues, and we're looking at adding more cosmetic items to single player for free...We're listening, and we're committed to partnering with you as we continue to explore the Andromeda galaxy together," said Flynn.
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