Hearthstone's next expansion, Knights of the Frozen Throne, launches at some point in August. It introduces another 135 cards to the game, a good chunk of which have already been revealed.
In the gallery below, you'll find every Knights of the Frozen Throne card that's been shown off so far. These include cards with a new keyword, Lifesteal, which heals players based on the damage that it does. There are also Legendary Hero cards, which replace your character with a modified Death Knight version when played; these come with a new ability and look.
In addition to new cards, Knights of the Frozen Throne includes new single-player content--something the most recent expansion, Journey to Un'Goro, did not. Earlier this year, Blizzard made changes to how new expansions and single-player Adventures are rolled out. Knights of the Frozen Throne's single-player component is different than those in the past, as it comes with a set of free missions, including a prologue, two wings of three boss fights each, and a final battle against the Lich King. Completing the prologue will net you a random Legendary Hero card, while finishing each wing will also get you a card from the expansion. If you make your way through everything, you'll also obtain a card pack.
A special, one-time pre-order offer is available for Knights of the Frozen Throne, allowing you to buy 50 card packs for $50. Doing so also gets you a special card back, pictured above along with some new artwork.
Dean Hall is best known for his work on the popular DayZ mod and game, but he's been working for a while now on a new title: Stationeers. Today, Hall announced that the space-station management game is scheduled to launch into Early Access this September.
In a post on Steam, Hall explained that the release window is dependent on ensuring that Stationeers is at a sufficient level of playability. Although Hall said that work on the game is coming along nicely, the developer still needs to eliminate some bugs before releasing it to the public.
"Our current plan is to release in September," he explained. "However, this date would be delayed if we do not think the game is ready. We will communicate this if it happens, and the reasons why. I just think we should be a little more public now about our expected targets, as it also helps internally put a little pressure on the team."
"We'll certainly delay the release until we have [a] solid complete game loop and very good stability," he continued. "We've achieved very good performance now with very smooth gameplay. We have some fairly nasty bugs remaining out of our refactoring, but we don't expect them to take too long."
Hall has received criticism in the past for extremely long Early Access periods for his games. DayZ, for example, originally launched in Early Access back in 2013, and it's still in Early Access now. In the Steam post about Stationeers' release window, Hall seemed to acknowledge this criticism while also defending the necessity of Early Access.
"One of the reasons we wanted to do Early Access with this game is so that it would evolve with the community through development," he stated. "Early Access is a great way to restrict the number of customers, yet still build a very focused community. It allows us to gauge the real interest in the game and scope it correctly without the danger of overscoping and bankrupting the studio.
"Above all else, I want this to be like we did Out of Ammo's EA but on a larger scale. I suppose I want to try and do Early Access 'right' based on what I've learned myself and from others."
In Stationeers, players attempt to manage a space station either solo or with other players. According to its Steam description, it has "fully functioning atmospherics, science, power, engineering, medical, and agricultural systems." Players are tasked with exploring space to find resources, mine asteroids, and create better stations.
The first image of Domino from the upcoming superhero sequel Deadpool 2 has been released. It shows the character, played by Atlanta star Zazie Beetz, recreating a familiar promotional shot from the first movie, but with Deadpool himself acting as a rug. Check it out below, as tweeted by star Ryan Reynolds:
Reynolds and Beetz will be be joined by Josh Brolin, playing Cable. Brolin has documented his transformation into the hulking mercenary on Instagram; in May, he revealed the exhausting workout regime that he underwent to get into shape, while this post showed him having make-up put on for the role.
In related news, it was announced in May that an adult animated Deadpool show is on the way. The currently untitled series will be overseen by Atlanta star and creator Donald Glover with his brother Stephen, who will both act as showrunners, producers, and writers. It is being developed for FXX, the sister channel to FX, and the 10-part first season will premiere next year.
There's been no shortage of crazy and incredible mods made for Grand Theft Auto V, but most of them stay within the bounds of San Andreas. At this point, though--years after the game's original release--a group of modders apparently decided that the city was feeling a little stale and wanted to expand. And so they created a mod that takes GTA V to the final frontier.
Grand Theft Space, as it's called, is an ambitious mod that aims to let you explore space and battle with aliens. It's still in development, but the trailer that the team released gives a glimpse of a mod that's already awesome. Check it out below.
You can see from the video that you'll be able to blast off into space in a shuttle, explore the solar system, careen around the moon in a buggy, and meet new NPCs. You can see a list of features that the mod team is working on here.
"The earth has been alone in this galaxy since the very moment it was formed, but far far away in another galaxy, there was intelligent life peering at the people of earth for a millennium," modder Sollaholla wrote. "This life was not the friendly life we would like to believe. The NASA research team have found remnants of alien spaceship parts scattered around the state of San Andreas. We never thought that these intelligent life-forms would ever reach our planet; but they're coming and they're not on our side. It's your mission to take out these alien scum before they reach earth."
There's no set official release date for the mod yet; the modders say that it'll launch "when we think it's ready," Sollaholla said.
If you're already in love with Rick and Morty, it won't surprise you to read this: It's not a dumb show. A dumb show, in its third season, might have been content to do just a dumb Mad Max tribute episode. Rick and Morty, of course, did something better.
Don't misinterpret this; Rick and Morty Season 3 episode 2, "Rickmancing the Stone," is absolutely a great Mad Max parody. It's just that, unsurprisingly, it does the smart show thing, and uses that joke to say something more.
The season 3 premiere--which, don't forget, aired earlier this year on April 1--established one very important plot point: that Beth and Jerry are getting a divorce. It's a long time coming, considering what happened when they tried couples counseling.
The show couldn't just leave it at that--Beth and Jerry are divorced, life goes on, cue hijinks. Back in Season 1, Rick and Morty might have briefly seemed like the kind of show where the world could end in one episode and everything would be back to normal in the next. But over the course of Seasons 1 and 2 it gradually became clear that Rick and Morty takes its continuity seriously. Just look at the way the show has regularly addressed the fact that the original Rick and Morty of the world in which our protagonists currently reside are buried in the backyard, a humdinger of a gag from Season 1 that seems to have scarred our Morty for life.
This show deals not just with a persistent narrative, but with emotional continuity as well. So of course it had to really deal with Beth and Jerry's divorce before we could move on.
The third season's second episode saw Rick, Morty, and Summer venture to an alternate world in which Mad Max-like gangs of mutant bandits roam the wastelands of a post-apocalyptic earth. They quickly dispatch the bandits' Immortan Joe-like leader and take up residence, all mainly to avoid Jerry, whose earnest fretting over divorce-related issues like "who gets custody" has begun to annoy everyone involved.
Summer is all too eager to get away. Morty is a little more sympathetic to his father's sad feelings, but he follows them through the portal nonetheless. Beth has nothing but disdain for her estranged husband. And Rick, as always, is actively rooting against him. But there's more to this episode than just getting away from Jerry. As "Rickmancing the Stone" continues, it becomes clear that the kids are using their time in the post-apocalyptic wasteland to work through their parents' divorce.
"Stop standing in the driveway talking about custody, and either tell her you want to stay married, or get on with your life!" Morty yells, as his enormous, roided-up arm punches a man's head clean off in the Blood Dome. "But whatever you do, stop being a baby, and act like a man!"
As Morty expresses his frustration, the wasteland allows Summer to embrace her newfound nihilism. Nothing matters to her anymore, so this mutant society's kill-or-be-killed rules suit her just fine. She throws herself in headlong by hooking up with Hemorrhage, making sure she'll never have to return to the real world (not accounting for Rick's interference, of course).
Morty isn't quite as committed, although he'd be fine spending weekends there, or visiting home once in a while to do a load of laundry, as he tells Rick.
Good things can't last, of course. Morty, who's grown unnaturally attached to his gigantic ghost arm, eventually faces that truth.
"Maybe the lesson we've learned is that, whether it's our parents' marriage, a glowing green rock, or an awesome giant arm, sooner or later we've got to let it go," he realizes, before Rick helps him finish off the guy his arm had been drowning in a bathtub.
Summer, a little closer to adulthood than her brother Morty, is meanwhile forced to view her parents' separation in a different light as her relationship with poor old Hemorrhage falls apart. (Well done there, Rick.)
Throughout it all demented mutants scream that their blood is made of gasoline, dousing their faces with spraypaint and blowing themselves up on the backs of spiked cars. Hemorrhage wonders dreamily about the before-fore time, before the boom-boom, when he might have been a child. The Mad Max jokes are on point. But they're not the point. And with "Rickmancing the Stone," Rick and Morty proved once again that, in spite of itself, it's one of the most intelligent and emotionally rich shows on the air.
HBO is the latest high-profile entertainment company to have been targeted by hackers. It has been reported that "written material" for the network's hit fantasy show Game of Thrones is among the content that has been released online following a cyber attack.
According to Entertainment Weekly, hackers have obtained 1.5 terabytes of data from HBO. So far, an upcoming episode of the sports comedy Ballers and new anthology drama Room 104 have apparently been put online, as well as written material from next week's episode of Game of Thrones. The group responsible have claimed that more stolen material is to follow.
HBO did not comment specifically on the stolen items but did issue a statement: "HBO recently experienced a cyber incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information. We immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cybersecurity firms. Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold."
This followed an incident earlier this year, when a hacker claimed that he had stolen the latest season of the Netflix show Orange is the New Black, and was similarly demanding a payout from the streaming giant. The biggest studio hack to date was the infamous attack on Sony's servers in 2014, when over 100 terabytes of data was uploaded online.
Spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7 episode 3 below
The final scene of Game of Thrones Season 7 episode 3, "The Queen's Justice," saw the esteemed Diana Rigg, as Olenna "The Queen of Thorns" Tyrell, fire a quarrel of truth directly into Jaime Lannister's gut. But beyond being another epic Olenna own--demonstrating just how badass the Tyrell matriarch is, even in the face of her impending death--her admission that she was the one responsible for Joffrey's murder is more important than you might have realized.
The crux of it lies in one of the things the show did differently from the books. Toward the end of Season 4, Jaime helped his brother, Tyrion, escape his death sentence and flee King's Landing. They left one another as loving brothers, but Tyrion took a detour to murder their father, over which Jaime became understandably upset.
The act drove a blood-soaked wedge between them. Jaime risked everything to help Tyrion, and Tyrion repaid him by betraying their family and murdering Tywin. It's hard to see how they could ever bury that hatchet, especially now that Tyrion is serving as Hand for the Lannisters' greatest enemy yet.
But that escape played out differently in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. In the third novel, A Storm of Swords, Jaime helps Tyrion escape the Red Keep's dungeons, just as he did in the show. But they don't part amicably, because Jaime--knowing he may never see his little brother again--uses the opportunity to confess his guilt in a decades-old betrayal that scarred Tyrion for life.
The show actually alluded to this, all the way back in Season 1, episode 9, "Baelor." Tyrion told Shae, who he'd just recently met, about his first love, a woman named Tysha. Tyrion had married Tysha, a commoner, and when his father Tywin found out, he accused her of being an opportunistic whore and made Tyrion participate as she was raped over and over. It was a horrendous event that shaped Tyrion for the rest of his life--and not for the better.
In the book, Jaime confesses to Tyrion that Tysha actually wasn't a whore--that was a lie Tywin invented and Jaime reinforced. In return, Tyrion tells Jaime that he did, in fact, kill Joffrey (which, of course, he did not. But he was feeling a little vindictive). Then he wanders off and murders Tywin and Shae.
Here's why this matters: Olenna's confession that she poisoned King Joffrey absolves Tyrion in Jaime's eyes, at least of that particular crime. In the show, Jaime may never forgive his brother for murdering their father. The books, as usual, might be a different story.
It became clear long ago that the show is telling a different tale from the books, especially now that they've passed the source material and ventured entirely into unknown territory. That means that things that play out on the screen probably won't happen the exact same way if Martin ever gets around to releasing the final Song of Ice and Fire books. But the show's events might still reveal the shapes of things to come in the books, and this may be one of those times.
The rift between Jaime and Tyrion in the show happened because Tyrion betrayed his brother and murdered their father. In the books, that rift opened a few crucial minutes earlier, when Jaime confessed that he'd allowed Tyrion's first wife to be viciously abused, then lied to Tyrion about it their entire lives. In light of the shock that must have caused Tyrion, the violent actions that followed are slightly more understandable than in the show, and Jaime might have more grounds to forgive him.
One longstanding question for book-readers has been: How can Jaime forgive Tyrion if he thinks Tyrion killed his son, Joffrey? The TV series may have just provided the answer.
In the show, Tyrion never lied to his brother about killing Joffrey, and Jaime never really believed that he had. Jaime's anger toward his brother stems not from that, but from the events that followed. So Olenna's confession, while shocking, won't fully absolve Tyrion in Jaime's mind.
Olenna's confession will surely matter on the show--hopefully it will finally catalyze a real rift between Jaime and Cersei, because their incest is getting seriously gross. But if this episode's final scene plays out in any similar way, shape, or form in the books, it will matter even more on the page than it did on the screen. In writing, Olenna's final act of spite will have a gleaming silver lining: Providing a body in which Jaime and Tyrion might be able to bury that hatchet after all.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced a number of new villains to the Star Wars universe, such as Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke, and General Hux. One character who didn't get much screen time was Captain Phasma, played by Gwendoline Christie (who portrays Brienne on Game of Thrones). Now Christie has hinted that fans can expect more from Phasma in the upcoming The Last Jedi.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Christie explained that Last Jedi director Rian Johnson allowed considerable collaboration in the development of the characters. "Rian invited me to read the script, have my thoughts and then to come and discuss it with him," she said. "I was really thrilled to have an opportunity of a forum where I could put my ideas forward and have some back and forth about where we felt things were and where we felt they can go.
"What I can tell you about the next Star Wars film is I think Rian does an exceptional job of going deeper, of going further, and really exploring what these relationships are."
In May, two new characters were revealed--DJ, played by Benicio Del Toro, and Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo. Director Rian Johnson also teased one of the movie's new locations, a "casino city" called Canto Bight.
"[It's a] Star Wars Monte Carlo–type environment, a little James Bond–ish, a little To Catch a Thief," he said. "It was an interesting challenge, portraying luxury and wealth in this universe. I was thinking, okay, let's go ultra-glamour. Let's create a playground, basically, for rich assholes."
The Last Jedi also stars Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, and Andy Serkis. It hits theaters on December 15, 2017.
Nintendo has announced a release date for Monster Hunter Stories, the next 3DS-exclusive installment in Capcom's long-running franchise. The game launches in the US on September 8.
Unlike other games in the Monster Hunter series, Stories is not a cooperative action game, but a turn-based RPG. The title features a much more colorful art style than previous installments and puts players in the role of a Monster Rider. Players will have to collect and hatch monster eggs and use each beast's unique abilities to navigate the world and battle enemies. The game also features armor and weapon crafting like a more traditional Monster Hunter title, as well as a variety of sidequests and a multiplayer battle mode.
Nintendo has also announced that a free demo of Monster Hunter Stories will soon be available to download from the 3DS Eshop. The demo arrives on the service on August 10. Players who choose to download it will be able to transfer their save data over to the full game when it releases. You can get a closer look at Stories' different art style and gameplay in the new trailer above.
By Anonymous on Jul 31, 2017 10:18 pm Join Lucy, Dave, and Tamoor as they discuss Littlefinger's leaning, Olenna's sassiest moments, and Cersei's lipstick in the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Beware spoilers!
Update: If you're intent on driving the Regalia in Forza Horzion 3, you'll want to be sure you qualify for it by the deadline. Asked if you'll be able to purchase the car as DLC or otherwise obtain it in the future, a Microsoft spokesperson told GameSpot, "We currently don't have plans to offer the Final Fantasy XV Regalia in Forza Horizon 3 as separate DLC in the future." That doesn't necessarily mean it will never be available again, but at this point there's no guarantee that it will be.
Original Story: Final Fantasy XV won't be the only game where you can drive the Regalia for much longer. Microsoft has revealed the car driven by Noctis and company is on its way to last year's excellent racing game, Forza Horizon 3.
First announced earlier today at ChinaJoy 2017, the massive E3-esque show taking place in China this weekend, Microsoft shared the news with a look at the car in action. It features a 7.2-liter supercharged V12 with a maximum of 536 horsepower. Check it out in the trailer above.
You'll be able to get your hands on the car for free by having played Forza Horizon 3 (on Xbox One or PC) or Final Fantasy XV (on Xbox One) by August 1. Forza players will receive it through the in-game message system, while Final Fantasy XV players will get an Xbox Live message with a code that can be redeemed for the car.
It's unclear if you'll be able to purchase the car as DLC or obtain it through other means. Microsoft previously offered Halo's Warthog as a drivable vehicle in Horizon 3 for free if you had played certain Halo games, but it also later offered it through an in-game event.
Microsoft does have another upcoming game--Forza Motorsport 7--that it could have potentially brought the Regalia to, but Horizon 3's less serious style of racing seems like the better fit for a crossover like this. That game launches on October 3.
Horizon 3 could have marked the first time you'd be able to take the Regalia off-road. However, a Final Fantasy XV update earlier this year finally afforded players the freedom to drive the car without rails, rather than being restricted to roads only. The RPG will also soon support multiplayer.
Nintendo has announced the official release date for the latest version of Yo-kai Watch 2, called Psychic Specters. The 3DS game has been a long time coming (it originally debuted in Japan in 2014) and Nintendo had previously said it was due out this fall. Now we know it will hit stores on September 29 and cost $40.
Psychic Specters will allow players to "hop on the Hexpress to a new resort area," called Gera-Gera, which is one of the new locations you can explore. There are also 12 new quests, including one that delves into the origins of the mysterious Darknyan, and the ability to befriend 15 Wicked Yo-kai. The game comes with an expanded version of the Yo-kai Watch Blasters local co-op mode, with new bosses to defeat. Check out the new teaser trailer below.
Like the previous versions of Yo-kai Watch 2, Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls, you get the original core game plus extras. Psychic Specters includes all the Yo-kai from Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls, but if you already own these games you can transfer your save data to the new version and gain access to bonus dungeons, bosses, and exclusive Yo-kai. It's unclear what extras having saves from both versions gets you (if anything).
For more on Yo-kai Watch 2, check out our updated review featuring details about the two previously expanded versions.
The July update for Final Fantasy XV is now live. This month's patch adds the long awaited set of Power Rangers-like combat suits to the game and gives players another chance to participate in a limited-time in-game event.
Starting today, players will finally be able to get their hands on the Magitek Exosuits, a special set of armor for Noctis and his friends. Donning the Exosuits makes the party invincible for a full 30 minutes, though the suits can only be used once per day. The Magitek Exosuits were originally intended to be released as part of the game's paid DLC Booster Pack this past February; however, Square Enix delayed the costumes due to their similarities to the ones worn by the Power Rangers in the recent reboot film. To make up for the delay, the publisher is offering the armor for free to all players. The Magitek Exosuits were also redesigned to further differentiate them from the Power Rangers; you can see a comparison of the old and new designs below.
New vs. Old Magitek Exosuit designs
In addition to the Magitek Exosuits, this month's update adds a new Cross Chain system to the game, as well as an additional quest to undertake. The biggest feature from the update, however, is the return of the Moogle Chocobo Carnival. This limited-time event originally ran back in February and features special carnival-themed games, items, and quests to experience. As before, however, players will need to have either the Holiday Pack or Holiday Pack+ DLC installed to participate in the event. The former pack is free to all players, while the latter is only available to those who purchased the game's Season Pass. Square Enix says the Moogle Chocobo Carnival will run until "late September."
August is just hours away, meaning time is running out to claim the PlayStation Plus games for July. Today marks the last chance for Plus subscribers to add six games to their library for free.
You can grab the free Plus games through the PlayStation Store links below. The PlayStation Store updates tomorrow, August 1, with August's new Plus freebies, including Just Cause 3 and Downwell.
Join Lucy, Dave, and Tamoor as they discuss Littlefinger's leaning, Olenna's sassiest moments, and Cersei's lipstick in the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Beware spoilers!
Time to hunt for some Chicken Dinners in Playerunknown's Battleground.
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