Snapchat is frequently used by companies to promote their products, offering themed lenses that highlight the release of a new movie by turning your head into a Transformer or something of the sort. The Pokemon Company is the latest company to go this route, letting you turn yourself into the most iconic of Pokemon (no, not Mr. Mime).
Yes, you can turn your very own face (or that of unsuspecting loved ones) into a Pikachu'd version, complete with ears, nose, and red cheeks. Opening your mouth will cause Pikachu to appear and start hollering and firing electricity all over the screen. Naturally, we couldn't help but take a bunch of photos of ourselves.
The Pokemon Company didn't say how long the lens will be available, but you can check it out now if you have Snapchat installed on your phone with the latest update. It doesn't appear to be meant to promote any specific new release.
In honor of Game Of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5, we're giving away a Jon Snow Funko Pop! One (1) winner will be chosen after the giveaway closes on Friday, August 18th at 12:00PM PT.
Open to US residents only, void where prohibited. If you do not win this time, you'll be automatically entered in the next giveaway.
Call of Duty: WWII's multiplayer beta launches later this month, and we now have a better idea of what to expect from it.
The beta will feature the Pointe Du Hoc, Ardennes, and Gibraltar maps. Developer Sledgehammer notes there will be "at least three" multiplayer maps included, suggesting more could be added before the beta wraps up. Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Hardpoint will all be playable, as will War, the new mode that we think helps to make WWII feel fresh. Specifically, you'll be able to check out Operation Breakout, described as the "first War mode experience."
Beta testers will also have the opportunity to experience Divisions, which serve as the replacement for the Pick 10 customization system that Call of Duty games have been using for years. The Infantry, Expeditionary, Airborne, Armored, and Mountain Divisions will all be available; however, progression will be limited, allowing access to only a selection of weapons and other unlockables.
"This test of the Private Multiplayer Beta will feature an introduction to a portion of the player's soldier progression and the underlying foundation of Divisions, and we can't wait to hear your thoughts on it," Sledgehammer said. "The final design of this new feature will continue to be fine-tuned as development continues from now through launch."
You can see a preview of all of this in the new trailer above. In addition to sharing what will be in the beta, the company also noted what will not be in there--namely, Headquarters (the new social space), supply drops, and esports functionality.
Sledgehammer described the beta as "a critical test of our core gameplay, our game systems, as well as a stress test of our online infrastructure at scale." It also made a call for feedback to the beta, saying it will help to "finalize features, optimize gameplay balance, and refine the remaining development roadmap to launch."
Call of Duty: WWII's beta will be private and runs August 25-28 on PS4. A second private beta will follow September 1-4 on both PS4 and Xbox One. You can guarantee yourself access to the betas by pre-ordering the game, which launches on November 3. Participating will get you some rewards in the full game.
Another Legendary is on the way to Pokemon Go. Players will soon have the opportunity to catch Mewtwo, but doing so won't be quite as simple as with previous Legendaries.
Mewtwo was unlocked following its successful capture at a Pokemon Go Stadium event in Japan. It's now coming to the game around the world as part of a new feature called Exclusive Raid Battles. These will "periodically appear" at Gyms and play out like the Raids that are already available, except you'll now need an invitation in order to take part.
To get your hands on an invite, you'll need to have completed a Raid "recently" at the same location where the Exclusive Raid Battle is being held. It's unclear exactly how much time will elapse between the end of a standard Raid and the launch of an Exclusive, but developer Niantic says the victors will have "advance warning." This is meant to provide "ample time to coordinate with other trainers."
Mewtwo will launch through Exclusive Raids in the "coming weeks," but "other powerful Pokemon" may hatch from Raid Eggs in the near future, too, Niantic teased. There's no word yet on which ones they might be; the game has recently seen the debut of several Legendary birds, including Zapdos most recently. Players in Japan are also able to find the game's first Shiny Pokemon.
If you've yet to catch one or simply missed out on what you were looking for, all four Legendaries released so far--Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia--will be available again. They'll be catchable through Raid Battles from today through August 31.
Ongoing support for The Division continues, with the next big patch now just a day away. Ubisoft has announced the details of update 1.7, which overhauls existing systems and introduces a new activity type.
The new trailer above offers a brief overview of the update. Most significant are Global Events, which are limited-time events with special gameplay modifiers that pay out exclusive rewards. These events will begin "regularly" and provide the option "to activate additional modifiers for some missions and incursions, adding an extra layer of challenge that gives them a chance to yield more rewards." The first of these events begins just after the patch drops, running from August 15 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST until August 22. It will feature "new enemy behavior due to the severity of a virus outbreak."
Update 1.7 overhauls Feats and renames them as Commendations. These will now be tied into an integrated achievement system that gives players new tasks (and accompanying rewards).
New gear is also of course on the way, including reworked versions of existing gear sets called Classified gear sets. These offer better primary stat rolls, new recalibration options, and new five- and six-piece set bonuses. There will also be new face masks to help customize your look.
Survival mode has been improved and should allow players to reach higher scores. Rewards are also said to be better, and Ubisoft claims the "time investment is more on par with other activities."
Finally, there are encrypted caches, which hold a type of loot box with random customization items and emotes. These are opened with keys that can be found through regular gameplay or by purchasing them with real-world money.
Update 1.7 launches for free tomorrow, August 15. It's one of the two big updates due out during the game's second year on the market.
Unfortunately for European PlayStation players, PlayStation Plus is getting a price increase soon. However, before that happens, you can grab a 15-month subscription at the current price for 12 months in Europe.
This is a nice gesture from Sony, which recently announced that the normal price of the service will be bumped up £10 / €10 to £50 / €60 per year. Right now, you can buy 15 months for just £40 / €50, meaning that you get three months free. The price hike goes into effect on August 31.
Sony stated that the increase is due to "various market conditions" and the new price "enabl[es] us to continue providing exceptional value to our members." Sony told GameSpot that "there is nothing to announce" at this time about a possible price increase in the US. PS Plus memberships increased in North America in September 2016, now costing $60 for 12 months and $25 for three months in the US.
The Defenders is the latest Marvel series, and it unites the four heroes of previous Netflix shows--Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. The final trailer has now been released--check it out below:
The show stars Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Mike Colter (Luke Cage), and Finn Jones (Iron Fist). They will be joined by a variety of characters from the individual Netflix shows, including Daredevil's Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Jessica Jones's Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss), and Luke Cage's Misty Knight, played by Simone Missick.
In a recent interview with the Independent, Cox spoke about his part in the team, an explained that there was no one "leader" of The Defenders. "These are four people with equally strong opinions who are forced together against their will to work together," he said. "Whether one person emerges as a leader from that group is yet to be seen. It's more interesting that it is an ensemble, and it is about each of them recognising what the others bring to the table and the group."
In related news, production is underway on more Marvel Netflix shows. Jessica Jones Season 2 is currently shooting, and it was reported last month that the second season of Luke Cage will feature some iconic Marvel villains.
Mewtwo isn't the only Legendary Pokemon on the way to Pokemon Go. Developer Niantic has announced that the game's previous four Legendaries--Lugia, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos--will also be returning throughout the rest of the month.
Beginning today, players will have another chance to add all four of the Legendary birds to their collections. As before, the Pokemon will appear at Gyms as Raid Battle bosses. Players will have to team up with other trainers to battle the powerful Pokemon; once defeated, players will have an opportunity to capture the Legendaries.
Niantic first introduced Legendary Pokemon to the popular game last month, following the Pokemon Go Fest event that took place in Chicago. Up until now, however, players had very brief windows of time to capture the Pokemon; the first two, Lugia and Articuno, were only available the week following Pokemon Go Fest, while the most recent Legendary, Zapdos, appeared from August 8-14. Players will now be able to encounter the four Pokemon in Raid Battles until August 31.
As for the game's newest Legendary, Mewtwo, players will begin encountering the powerful Psychic-type "soon," after it was successfully captured at a Pokemon Go Stadium event in Japan. Unlike the aforementioned Legendaries, however, Mewtwo will only be available in Exclusive Raid Battles--a new form of Raid Battles that require an invitation in order to participate. Pokemon Go's first Shiny Pokemon also started appearing in Japan recently, though there is currently no word on when Shiny Pokemon will be available in other parts of the world.
GOG has launched a new sale that's a bit different than usual, and it's also giving away a free game for a very limited time.
The freebie is Deadlight, the 2012 side-scroller developed by Rime and The Sexy Brutale studio Tequila Works. You specifically get the Director's Cut edition for free, which includes a new mode, improved controls, and enhanced visuals. It's free from now until August 16 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET / 2 PM BST; grab it here.
As for the sale, it's unusual in that you don't actually know what you're buying. Piñata Madness offers up $3/£2.39 "piñatas," which are essentially mystery boxes. After purchasing one, you open it to find a game that carries a regular price of anywhere from $6 to $45. These are all full games, and not DLC or other things of the sort.
Piñata Madness runs until August 21. More games will be introduced to the pool between now and then, and you'll have until August 28 to open any of your purchases. Unopened piñatas will be opened and the games included added to your library automatically.
Destiny 2 is coming in only a few short weeks, but we're still learning more about the game and how it differs from Destiny. In the new issue of Edge magazine, according to subscribers, Bungie revealed that there are big changes coming to high-level activities: certain endgame activities will restrict loadout customization, and Nightfall Strikes will now be timed.
Locking down players' loadouts is something that Destiny 1 never did. In any situation, players could modify their gear and weapons to best suit the activity they were playing. In Destiny 2, however, certain high-level activities will prevent you from changing your loadout and subclass. This change shifts pre-mission planning to how best to set up a single loadout for an entire mission.
The Nightfall timer is straightforward, but it will likely require a significant change in gameplay from how Nightfall Strikes were often completed in Destiny 1. These weekly Strikes feature much more challenging enemies and, if your entire team dies, you must completely restart the mission. Adding a timer will force players to be much more aggressive, likely making Nightfalls even more difficult.
When the Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli shut its doors for an indefinite hiatus in 2014, it seemed like it was the end of an era for the legendary studio. However, it has now been confirmed that Ghibli is to resume film production, and veteran director Hayao Miyazaki has started working on a new project.
According to Empire, Ghibli announced Miyazaki's involvement in a new movie in a press statement. It revealed that the production studio had been reopened via a small ceremony last month, with Miyazaki gathering the studio's main team together to discuss his ideas for the new project. It was reported earlier this year that Miyazaki was planning his return, and it is definitely now happening.
Empire also states that Ghibli has started recruiting new artists and production will begin later this year. There is no confirmation about what Miyazaki's next movie will be, but it is rumored that it could be Boro the Caterpillar. Boro is a project that the director starting developing many years ago and was originally envisaged as a short film.
The director's last film to date was The Wind Rises, which was released in 2013. In 2002 he won the Best Animated Feature Oscar for Spirited Away, and is also known for such anime classics as My Neighbor Tororo, Howl's Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke.
Although Ghibli ceased feature film production, it has continued to operate in other mediums. It produced last year's animated series Ronja, the Robber's Daughter for Amazon, which was directed by Miyazaki's son Goro. In addition, it co-financed the recent, acclaimed French animated film The Red Turtle.
August 3 update: The previously available Walmart pre-orders were ultimately canceled. Nintendo has since revealed that SNES Classic pre-orders should arrive in the US by the end of August. We don't yet know when they will go up for sale exactly, but you can check out the store listings at some major retailers through the links below.
Update: Those in the UK may have missed at least their first chance to pre-order from certain retailers, but Nintendo's online store has the SNES Classic available as of this writing.
Original Story: Nintendo announced the SNES Classic today. A miniature version of the classic Nintendo console, the $80 system that comes with 21 games and two controllers launches in the US in September. Given that last year's NES Classic sold out basically instantly everywhere it was sold, fans might be wondering how they can secure the SNES Classic right away.
US retailers are not yet widely accepting pre-orders, but in Australia, you can secure a pre-order right now through JB Hi Fi and EB Games. The console sells for $120 in Australia and it looks a little different than the North American edition.
In the US, Amazon has a page up for the SNES Classic, as does Best Buy, but you cannot actually pre-order the system there as of yet. We will update this post as more retailers open pre-orders for the SNES Classic. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
As with the NES Classic Edition, the SNES Classic features HDMI output and resembles the look of the system it's based on but in a smaller form factor. But unlike that system, it comes with two controllers in the box.
On the subject of supply, while Nintendo isn't sharing specific numbers, it did say it will deliver "significantly more" units than it did with the NES Classic Edition. That said, it only plans to ship the system between September and the end of 2017.
Sony has revealed the latest round of discounts on the PlayStation Store. This week marks the last chance to save on digital games as part of Sony's Totally Digital promotion, while PS4, PS3, and Vita players can find an assortment of Square Enix and Rockstar titles on sale for their respective platforms.
Those with a PS Plus subscription have a chance to save a little extra this week. Sony is offering additional discounts for PS Plus members on a number of titles, including some of Rockstar's classic releases. You can find the full list of eligible games here, but some of the more notable ones include:
This week's discounts are available until August 15. You can find the full list of deals on the PlayStation Store. August 15 is also the day Sony's Totally Digital sale concludes, so players looking to pick up any new digital games have a few days to save on some notable ones, including Overcooked: Gourmet Edition ($12), Enter the Gungeon ($10.49), Crypt of the Necrodancer ($4.49), and many others.
Microsoft has rolled out the next set of weekly deals on Xbox Live. Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb rounded these up on his blog, and we've collected some of the Xbox One and Xbox 360 deals below for you to see.
The newest instalment in the Conjuring franchise, Annabelle: Creation, opened in theatres this weekend and while it came in at No. 1 for the weekend, it came up short compared to its predecessors. It made $35 million for the Friday-Sunday period, which is the lowest opening for all four movies, behind Annabelle ($37.1 million), The Conjuring ($41.9 million), and The Conjuring 2 ($40.4 million).
Still, $35 million is a "strong start," according to Entertainment Weekly, which supplied all the numbers. Another thing to note is that Annabelle: Creation was produced on a $15 million budget.
Rounding out the top five movies at the US box office this weekend were Dunkirk ($11.4 million), The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature ($8.9 million), The Dark Tower ($7.9 million), and The Emoji Movie ($6.6 million).
GameSpot's review of Annabelle: Creation said it can't stand up to the past films but has a number of standout moments. "Annabelle: Creation doesn't quite stand on its own, particularly in its ending," reviewer Michael Rougeau said. "But thanks to solid performances from its adult and child actors, skillful directing, truly terrifying moments that go beyond cheap jump scares, and a self-awareness that many scary movies lack, it teeters at the peak of this ever-expanding world of connected horror, asking you only to jump with it down into the dark."
HBO has released the first trailer for the next Game of Thrones episode. There is no title or synopsis available for Season 7's penultimate season, but the teaser trailer shows that quite a lot of action and intrigue is on the way.
You can take a look at the spoiler-filled video below.
There are only seven episodes in this season of Game of Thrones, so it's coming to a close quickly. One further season is planned, but after that we could get prequels.
For lots more on Episode 5, "Eastwatch," check out GameSpot's coverage below. And be sure to check back soon for the latest GameSpot of Thrones episodes to watch us break down the biggest moments and talk about what they could mean.
One of the year's most-anticipated games, Star Wars: Battlefront II, is already looking to be a solid improvement over the enjoyable but at-times lacklustre original. In a new video released by PlayStation, DICE producer Craig McLeod spoke candidly about where, how, and why 2015's Battlefront ran into issues and how the sequel will improve on them.
In essence, the feedback from fans was that 2015's Battlefront lacked the depth that some were looking for. One piece of common feedback that DICE received from fans was, "We want more breadth," McLeod said in the video. So with the sequel, DICE and co-developers Motive and Criterion are hoping to give players more ways to spend time with Battlefront and enjoy it.
"A lot of people found that with the original Battlefront, after a few months of play, they lacked the long-term goals," he explained. "So these are the things that we are really trying to make sure we nail in this new game."
Whereas the first Battlefront only had characters and content from the original Star Wars movies (and later Rogue One), the sequel will have those, along with prequel and new-era. Key art for Battlefront II shows characters like Yoda, Rey, and Darth Maul. Not only that, but Battlefront II has a more in-depth progression system to encourage players to spend more time in the game and give them a reason to keep playing.
Another huge piece of Battlefront II is its single-player campaign. The first game didn't have one, but for the sequel, EA's Motive Studios is making a campaign that follows a new character named Iden Versio, a member of the Empire.
Overall, McLeod said the level of ambition that Battlefront II has is something he never thought would be possible in gaming.
"The ambition here that we've managed to achieve is something I never thought would be able to be realised when I worked in games," he said. "I am just incredibly proud of that."
Battlefront II has big shoes to fill, as the original shipped 14 million copies to become one of the best-selling Star Wars games in history.
A third Bad Boys movie, titled Bad Boys For Life, has been in the works at Sony for some time, but it doesn't seem to be getting any closer to the screen. In March, it lost director Joe Carnahan, and has now been removed entirely from the studio's release slate.
As reported by Deadline, the movie was originally set for a November 2018 release. However, even though it no longer appear's on Sony's schedule, the site notes that the movie has not been cancelled and that "the script is still being worked on". In addition, star Will Smith is still "interested" in the project.
The A-Team director Joe Carnahan was originally hired to direct, but he withdrew in March, citing "scheduling issues." At the time it was reported that Sony was actively looking for a new director, with three names under consideration.
It was Smith himself who first revealed that a third movie was in the works. Last year he spoke about meeting co-star Martin Lawrence for the first time in several years. "We just looked at each other," he said. "We hugged. In that moment, we knew we were making another Bad Boys. We're definitely doing another one."
The first Bad Boys was released in 1995, with the sequel following in 2003. Both movies were directed by Transformers' Michael Bay.
Sony is skipping Europe's biggest gaming event, Gamescom, this year, but it's still going to be showing off more of its games in the region. In lieu of the Cologne, Germany, convention, Sony is heading to France as part of Paris Games Week, and its big PlayStation conference will take place on October 30 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET / 4 PM GMT. That's 1 AM AEST on October 31 if you're in Australia.
The timing of the conference puts it just a few weeks before Sony's PlayStation Experience celebration in California, USA, where the platform holder typically holds another conference full of trailers and more announcements. That event runs from December 9 to December 10.
Although Sony has elected not to hold a conference at Gamescom, Microsoft has confirmed it will attend the show with a conference and playable Xbox One X consoles. Stay tuned to GameSpot for all the news, trailers, impressions, and more when we attend the show next week.
The company went on to say that Crash's success may pave the way for more classic games to make a comeback. "While there are no new announcements today, I think you can be confident there will be more activity like this in the future with more great IP," said Activision's CEO, Eric Hirshberg. "The other opportunity beyond remasters is to look at some of our classic IP and ask whether or not it can be reborn on a new platform, like what we're doing with Skylanders on mobile. Our IP library is an asset that, when done right, can be very powerful."
You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
Cliff Bleszinski's new game LawBreakers launched last week on PlayStation 4 and PC. The start is just the beginning, Bleszinski said in a new interview, teasing that more characters, maps, and modes are potentially coming down the road.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Bleszinski said, "We see this game as a marathon and not a sprint." There are nine characters in the game right now, but Bleszinski said a tenth is being tested right now and is already "fully playable."
Concerning new maps, Bleszinski said two new ones are "99 percent ready to go," and as for the new game-types, he said "I can't really talk about" those. There are also new skins coming in "a couple of months."
All of this is to say that LawBreakers having ongoing support after launch is just a sign of the times. "That's the world we live in--it's no longer fire and forget," Bleszinski said.
Also in the interview, the developer talked about the reviews for LawBreakers so far. On Steam, which he described as a "very harsh platform," the $30 LawBreakers has a "very positive" rating after more than 1,800 reviews.
"What we've found is that Steam is a very harsh platform, and if you go to Steam reviews for any game, you can't bullsh** Steam users, PC users," Bleszinski said. "I'm not saying you can bullshit console users, but Steam users are some of the most savvy gamers out there. If you go to our reviews they're 90 percent positive. We've created a community over the last three years of really loyal and dedicated fans who love the game and the studio."
GameSpot's LawBreakers review scored it an 8/10. "What counts is that its fresh anti-gravity mechanics transcends its first-glance novel appeal and creates limitless combat situations that will be new and inviting to many shooter fans," reviewer Miguel Concepcion said.
LawBreakers is available on PS4 and PC. An Xbox One version has not been ruled out.
With Gamescom set to kick off next week, Electronic Arts has now confirmed more of its plans for the show specifically about Star Wars: Battlefront II. Starting off, EA will air a new trailer and also show off a live demonstration of the Starfighter Assault mode. New for the sequel, this is a space dogfighting mode that goes beyond what was in the first.
Starfighter Assault is a multi-stage mode featuring ships and characters from the original trilogy of Star Wars movies. For this demo, teams will fight on the Fondor: Imperial Shipyard map. There will be fighters, bombers, and ships specific to unique heroes.
EA promises (via IGN) a better flying experience overall for Battlefront II. There will be "vastly improved starfighter combat, with superior controls, deeper customization, and role-based team play featuring an all new class-based system."
The gameplay reveal happens on August 21 at 5:30 PM BST, which is 9:30 AM PT / 12:30 PM ET / 2:30 AM AEST on August 22.
The Starfighter Assault mode on the Fondor: Imperial Shipyard map will be available in the Battlefront II beta, which starts in October. If you're not interested in flying, a boots-on-the-ground mode will also be playable on the Theed Galactic Assault map in the beta.
Gamescom 2017 runs August 22-26 in Cologne, Germany. It is one of the biggest gaming shows on Earth, regularly attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees, blowing E3 away in terms of attendance. You can learn more about the show here on its official website.
Gaming publisher giant Electronic Arts is bringing FIFA 18 to Nintendo Switch, but what about other titles? Worldwide Studios VP Patrick Soderlund said in a new interview that while he is personally excited about Nintendo and the Switch, it's too soon to say whether or not EA will release more of its games or build new ones for the hybrid console.
EA is taking a platform-agnostic approach, as many publishers do. If there is a business opportunity, EA will bring its games to any platform it seems, including Switch.
"We will appear on any platform where there are consumers, and players," he said. "We believe that we want to be a part of the Switch, and help Nintendo grow that installed base; that's why you'll see FIFA, which by the way is really good this year. It's a full-fledged FIFA game, for the first time to be honest, on a portable device."
Soderlund went on to mention that EA has to consider the amount of resources it puts into anything as part of running a business because "the numbers become a factor."
The executive teased that EA might be bringing other games beyond FIFA 18 to Switch, and if these titles are successful, more could come later.
"So for us it's about supporting the platform, building technology for the platform, testing it out with big things like FIFA--and maybe a couple of others, we'll see--and if they go well, I see no reason why we shouldn't have as much of our portfolio on that platform as possible. I hope we get there, that would be my personal ambition."
The organisers of PAX West have announced the keynote speaker for PAX West 2017, and it's the director of one of this year's biggest and most-anticipated games. Destiny 2 game director Luke Smith will give the opening "Storytime" talk to kick off the show on September 1.
We don't know exactly what he'll talk about, but given he is overseeing one of the year's biggest games, you can expect his talk to attract a lot of attention. We'll report back with more details on what he says. The Storytime talk is expected to be streamed live.
Smith is an industry veteran. He worked as a games journalist at 1UP.com before joining Bungie in 2007, the year that Halo 3 was released. He worked on Halo: Reach and Destiny 1 as lead designer for raids and then creative director on The Taken King.
Smith's keynote address on September 1 comes just days before Destiny 2 launches on September 6 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The PC edition comes out in October.
There will be a number of high-profile panels at PAX West, including CD Projekt Red's "Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of The Witcher." There will also be a Middle-earth: Shadow of War panel and one from Borderlands studio called "Inside Gearbox." You can see the full schedule of panels right here.
PAX West is completely sold out, but you can watch some panels on Twitch. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Bethesda, and Bandai Namco are attending the show.
The next round of PlayStation Network maintenance is coming up soon. Sony has announced that on August 15, Sony will perform maintenance that will affect PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita, along with PlayStation-related web services.
The maintenance is expected to take around 30 minutes. During that time, people who already have a PSN account can sign in, play games, and use "most" applications without issue. However, the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Video, and Account Management will be offline during the maintenance period.
Sony did not say specifically what this maintenance period is for, but it's not uncommon for Sony to conduct these types of updates.
"We apologise for any inconvenience," Sony said. "We strive to ensure that PlayStation Network services are available at all times, but occasionally we must take PlayStation Network offline to perform essential maintenance and implement feature enhancements. We are working hard to reduce the duration of each maintenance."
This round of maintenance arrives ahead of the much-anticipated PS4 5.0 update. Last week, the patch notes for this update leaked--you can find out more here. Sony has yet to confirm a release date for the patch, but we know some kind of beta is coming this month.
Last week's episode of Game of Thrones offered death, destruction, and a whole bunch of people lit on fire by a dragon. It was everything you could have ever wanted in an episode, and it was the shortest of the series. This week, things slow down a bit, but there's a moment that hearkens back to the first season of the series, involving Sansa and the Lannisters.
Warning: Spoilers are coming.
During "Eastwatch," Arya was keeping a close eye on Littlefinger, and she overheard a discussion about a message, which there was only one copy of. Littlefinger hid the message somewhere in his room, and when he left, Arya broke in and found it inside his mattress.
However, as Arya leaves the room, there is a shot of Littlefinger hiding in the background. He's playing Arya Stark like a fiddle. While the viewers don't get a really good glimpse at the note, we can see that it's signed by Sansa.
Take a look at a screenshot of the note for yourself below:
Here's what we could make out from the note from the screenshot above:
"...is dead, killed from wounds he took in a boar (attack?)...
...Joffrey and tried to steal his throne The Lannister...
...King's Landing and swear fealty to King Joffrey and...
Your faithfull sister, Sansa."
So what's the deal with the note? Back in Season 1, Sansa Stark was to be wed to Joffrey, and Ned Stark--Sansa's father--was Hand of the King to Joffrey's father, King Robert Baratheon. Long story short, the king died, Joffrey took over, and Ned was arrested.
At this point, Cersei Lannister, accompanied by Lord Varys, Littlefinger, and Grand Maester Pycelle, forced Sansa to write a letter to her brother and mother back at Winterfell to keep the peace. Robb Stark did eventually see this letter himself, but Maester Luwin told Robb that it was Cersei's words with Sansa's writing.
This is the first time Arya is seeing the letter or even knows of its existence. She does not know the circumstances of why it was written, and Littlefinger planted it for Arya to find to plant seeds of doubt within her sister. While Arya is intelligent, the last time she was with her sister, Sansa was a bit of a brat and really wanted to marry Joffrey, so she may not see through this like Robb did.
It's obvious that Littlefinger wants Arya out of the picture, but does Arya know she's being played, and if not, how will she confront Sansa about this letter, if at all?
Game Of Thrones Season 7 is the season of fan service, as the show has passed the books and every episode so far has contained at least one major event or revelation. Game Of Thrones Season 7, Episode 5, "Eastwatch," was no exception, and the show just confirmed a major theory that fans have been speculating about for literally decades.
The revelation came during a deceptively inconspicuous scene between Sam and Gilly, before they bailed on Sam's training at the Citadel like high school drop-out thieves in the night. Gilly reveals to Sam that she's been reading the records of a High Septon Maynard--a character who's never come up in the books, by the way--and lets slip some information that Sam finds totally inconsequential: That Prince Rhaegar Targaryen apparently got his first marriage annulled and took the hand of another.
"Maynard says here that he issued an annulment for Prince Rhaegar and re-married him to someone else at the same time in a secret ceremony in Dorne," Gilly says, to utter indifference from good old Samwell Tarly.
Here's why that matters: It means that Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys's older brother, had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled and married Lyanna Stark. That means Jon isn't a bastard at all, but a true Targaryan. How's Jon Targaryen sound to y'all?
Game of Thrones previously established pretty clearly that Jon is Lyanna's son, not Ned Stark's. At the end of Season 6, Bran watched Lyanna, his aunt, hand a baby to his father, Ned. Fans who were paying attention easily picked up on the fact that Lyanna was (allegedly!) kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen, and that the baby is likely his.
Littlefinger told Sansa in season 6 that Rhaegar raped Lyanna, which fans were rightly skeptical of. And book readers have for years suspected that Rhaegar may have married the wolf girl in secret. We've combed through clues from the books and other sources, from interviews with author George R.R. Martin himself to passages from the official Westeros encyclopedia, The World of Ice and Fire. But it's always been just a theory.
In the show there have been countless clues hinting at Jon's real parentage, many subtle, others less so--like the fact Jon in this episode was able to pet Dany's biggest dragon, Drogon, like it's a docile puppy. But so far even the most dedicated decipherers have been unable to find concrete proof that Jon's not a bastard. Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 5 just changed that.
Fans are likely very happy now, in retrospect, that Shireen Baratheon taught Gilly the Wildling how to read.
One of Ubisoft's big reveals at E3 this summer was the pirate naval warfare game Skull & Bones. We played it at E3 and came away generally impressed. And on a recent trip to developer Ubisoft Singapore's studio we had the opportunity to speak with creative director Justin Farren, who worked on Gears of War and Madden before joining Ubisoft. He also produced Assassin's Creed Unity, Black Flag, and Syndicate in Singapore.
Our conversation covers a number of topics, including why Skull & Bones is a new IP instead of an Assassin's Creed game, the possibility of a Switch version, and how the game uses the power of the Xbox One X. Farren also told us there will be loot boxes, but the game will take steps to avoid a pay-to-win scenario. Additionally, we asked about the mysterious single-player mode, and Farren confirmed the game will offer ... something for fans in this department, though it's still unclear how this may work.
Our interview, condensed and edited for clarity, follows below. For lots more on Skull & Bones, be sure to check out all of our previous written and video content here.
Ubisoft paid for GameSpot's travel to and accomodation in Singapore.
GameSpot: After we finished playing that first match, we were a little in over our heads. What are you anticipating in terms of a learning curve?
Justin Farren: Well, our play test methodology is pretty comprehensive and what we try to do is make sure we understand where that level of autonomy comes. Does it come at five minutes, five hours, and to make sure that we engage players in a way that pulls them into PVP when they have the right skills and tools. What we see now is there is a certain type of fan that knows Black Flag, and it feels very familiar to them, so the mechanics come pretty quickly, and the depth of the customization, the different ship classes, the ship types emerges the longer you play.
What we anticipate is players, by the time they come into the disputed waters, which is what our PVP is, that they have an understanding of how to be, at least be autonomous, use their weapons, use their brace, and most importantly understand the wind. When you're using the wind, when you're using it well, it sometimes doesn't really jump out at you, but when you're against it, it's like, "Oh, crap. I'm in a bad position. How do I get out of it?" And then that will translate over time into being able to anticipate the wind. And one thing you see right now in the E3 build is it's a very simplified wind. We have a much, much more aggressive approach into how we're trying to bring the wind into becoming a fundamental pillar of our gameplay.
GameSpot: Are there gonna be even more extreme elements like typhoons or water spouts? Just like things that could completely destroy your ship?
"I want players to feel as if the ocean is a threat" -- Farren
Farren: Specific ingredients are gonna come, we're gonna share more about those, but the important thing to realize is that the ocean itself is something you're gonna have to master, and as a player, that means being able to overcome those things. You're only seeing right now one setting of our Beaufort, that's the wave and the wind reaction, so those things become more intense. We're able to throttle those and create different encounters for players. When I think about my vision for the ocean itself, I want players to feel as if the ocean is a threat.
So, when you watch movies, sailing movies or movies that are about the age of sailing or the golden age of piracy, they're not fighting always in those type of settings. That becomes the threat, that becomes the enemy, and being able to master the ocean is something that we want to present players with some scenarios. And of course they'll be able to fight in it, but mostly it's about that challenge of being able to survive the ocean itself.
GameSpot: I felt like at those moments when you can board the other ship, those are some of the most thrilling and intense moments. Did you consider or prototype having the boarding sequences happen from a first-person perspective?
Farren: The biggest thing to think about when you think about boarding is we're in multiplayer setting, so there's nine other ships that you have to account for, and we want boarding to be something that's very intense and visceral. If you think about other games where they have quick-time events, we didn't want that. We wanted it to be skill-based. We wanted it to be about positioning, creating weakness. It's still early to think about where we're gonna take it, but it has to work in a multiplayer setting.
You have only a couple minutes within that mode, average Black Flag is about a minute and 30 on boarding, so that type of boarding definitely doesn't work for our game, but over time we'll evolve exactly what we want all of our activities and engagements with the player, where he feels as if he's going directly head to head with the crew.
We want to make them feel real, believable, and be skill-based, and work within a multiplayer setting.
GameSpot: Right. I was just thinking of in a, potentially a one v. one situation where there won't be all those other things to consider.
Farren: Who knows. In multiplayer, we need to make sure that works in multiplayer where it's fair, resolves quickly, and gets the player back into the action.
GameSpot: Kind of going back to the beginning, when we saw Skull and Bones announced at E3, one of the first things, first connections people made was to World of Warships or another game similar like that. The interesting thing about that game is that it's free to play. Did you consider other business models for Skull & Bones?
GameSpot: Not since I joined. We have a commitment at the studio to really develop triple-A content and quality. If you look at Assassin's Creed as a franchise, I was producer on Unity, Black Flag, and Syndicate, and we had the highest-rated content on those games. So, our commitment is to deliver high-quality content for players, and we want to translate that and our expertise in creating naval gameplay into something that has high value.
We definitely have taken more of a service-based approach so that when you pay for this game, you have a commitment from us to develop content, new gameplay, modes, new content for the player to earn, and then of course, new regions to explore, and those things will unfold as the game launches and provide service over time. But it's not a, we don't want to create pay to win, we don't want to create something where players have to pay to compete. Our PVP is completely horizontal in a way that gives players a chance to develop their skills and compete against other players. So, yeah, those models, I mean, I play World of Tanks. I play Armored Warfare.
I play other free to play, and there is an appeal for me for that type of game, but I think the quality we can deliver, and we've delivered on Assassin's Creed and Ghost Recon Phantoms, that's what we want to deliver to fans so that they have that assurance that the game that they're making is not a shoddy product, that it's something that really has value that they can invest in for a long, long time.
GameSpot: I'm curious on your take on the balance between listening to what the community wants versus what you know is good game design.
Farren: So, data is interesting. If you think about the quantifiable data and the qualitative data, there's lots. Some of it is anecdotal. Some of it is my opinion. Some of it I can look on, people will say, "I want to be able to do all these other things," and "Why don't you do exactly what this other game is doing?" And I look and I say, "Well, I have the data from what you did in Black Flag. I know what you did, and I know what you liked and what you didn't because of how you rate it and score it, and I want to give you more of what you liked."
So, fans, especially The Keepers [a group of fans that Ubisoft met with to get feedback on Skull & Bones before it was announced], who are very, very invested in the game community, their input is hugely important. We don't dismiss it and like you saw in the video, it's very true. We take it to heart. But the ideas themselves, we all have great ideas. So, what we want to do is translate their feedback into something that's actionable and then iterate on it if it makes sense, and then present it back to the community internally and externally, and validate it, and be willing to throw away bad ideas. Be willing to throw away ideas that we think were great but just don't work. And that process is ongoing.
There are things in our game that we're working on now that are directly, that you'll see over time, that are a direct result of our first workshop with The Keepers and I hope that they take pride in that when they think back to what we did in our workshop here in Singapore and go, "Wow, that feature is because of something I said, something I wrote on a white board." And John and the broadcast room said that we engage the community. Every single day I'm on the forums, on YouTube, ... on Reddit, and I directly answer questions and messages, and it's a long time until we launch. We launch fall of 2018, but my commitment is that every week I'm gonna at least have five direct engagements until there's the need for more.
So, people should engage. People should be passionate about it, but they should also understand that we're carrying forward a vision that's a collective vision for millions of people and millions of fans, and we want to give them, collectively, the best pirating experience that focuses on piracy.
GameSpot: Skull and Bones has its roots in Assassin's Creed, but you decided not to make it an Assassin's Creed game, but its own game, its own brand new universe. I'm wondering if you could just talk a little bit more about why it had less of the Assassin's Creed DNA and more of its own.
Farren: Well, I think, I was closing producer on Black Flag, and when we were starting to close the project, the team who's working on the game now, or at the time, was really experimental and trying new things and one of the first things they did is take the naval toy of Black Flag and put two people in there. And it was magic. There was something really cool about being able to sail and see your friend next to you, oh, and then there's an enemy right over there. We said, "This could be something by itself."
"Assassin's Creed is a very specific fantasy about being an assassin, about being in a crowd, and that's not the game we wanted to make" -- Farren
So, that was really the catalyst for exploring that aspect of it. When it comes to the type of experience you have with Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed is a very specific fantasy about being an assassin, about being in a crowd, and that's not the game we wanted to make. We wanted to make something that really leveraged the power of those huge, massive ships. You'll notice that we have a lot of what we call "ship porn", where we really focused on the details and intricacies of the ship and we bring the ship to life and make it a character of its own, and that's something we wanted to do.
People loved the Jackdaw. We wanted people to have their own version of the Jackdaw and for people to really develop a relationship with that ship and invest in its customization and everything that comes with it.
GameSpot: Something else that we've been talking about this week, and some of the feedback that's been around the game since you announced, was around single player or narrative Some people are gonna gravitate toward more single player. So, is that something you're gonna be offering players?
Farren: Well, I mean, on a personal level, my favorite game of the last generation was Last of Us. I love story and narrative. As a gamer now, things that really resonate with me that we see the community responding to is the shared narrative, the narrative where people can broadcast or stream what they're doing and it's a unique experience to that player. So, we wanted to take that approach. Like, how do you create a systemic world where every single player's experience is different and also tie it to a world narrative where you meet historical pirates, historically inspired characters, and that you have a narrative where you develop a bond with your crew and interesting characters along the way, taking out kingpins, all those things are part of our narrative, but we didn't want it to be separate, that you just consumed and never looked back.
"We wanted to create a system that let us tell our narrative month after month, year after year, and then throw in the story elements to it" -- Farren
We wanted to create a system that let us tell our narrative month after month, year after year, and then throw in the story elements to it. So, if you're a PVP player, you should still feel like you beat the campaign. If you're a PVE player, or like me, I plan on sailing with my daughter a lot, I want us to be able to go through the story and become kingpins together, and be able to tell the same world narrative through the game ones that we build.
It's different. There's not a lot of games that do this, but we really think that this is where people really want to experience narrative on a personal level, where they can effectively change the world. People always say, "It's a living, breathing world." Well, we really take that to heart. We want to create a world that actually reacts to the things that you do in it.
GameSpot: So, just to clarify, it's not a completely separate mode, it's woven together-
Farren: Yeah. It's woven into it, so the story itself will be woven in to everything you do, from the time that you build your relationships with your crew until the time that you take down your first kingpin, building up your hideout, all of those things are woven into the modes that you play.
GameSpot: And if you don't want PVP, that would be something ...
Farren: I certainly hope that people will try to do our PVP, because we think it's pretty compelling and it's not a different, like Call of Duty when you play campaign and you go online, [and you get something very different]. I worked on Gears for a while and the players who play Gears multiplayer, they are different some times than the players who really invest in campaign. We want to bring those experiences closer together. For it to be a, you know, a one off campaign that's consumed, would be a shame.
GameSpot: Now, another big trend coming out this year and by the time you guys are out next year is the Xbox One X, and I saw some dev kits in here, so pretty sure you guys have it. So, just curious to know what your thoughts are on that console and the power of that relative to what else is out there.
Farren: Well, you know, I'm ... there's not too much I can say about any specific console, but I will say that we're targeting PC, Xbox One, Xbox X, PS4, PS4 Pro, and every bit of the technical team is focused on making sure that we maximize the strengths of the consoles that we're targeting. So, when you read about whether there's more memory, or rendering, those are the things we're leveraging.
We're also leveraging first-party integration on broadcasting streaming, so that we can bring that experience to lots of different content providers, content creators, too. So, the platforms themselves, our approach is fairly agnostic, and make sure if you own a particular platform that you feel like you're getting the best Skull & Bones experience possible.
GameSpot: Nintendo Switch is a big, popular platform these days. Did you consider bringing the game to that platform? Have you done any experiments?
Farren: Well, I mean, our world is pretty rich in terms of the world that we're bringing to life. We haven't really talked too much about the Switch, but if that becomes a reality, then we would maximize the strengths of the Switch.
GameSpot: Everyone's talking about loot boxes today. Are there gonna be loot boxes?
Farren: Loot boxes? You mean like in the general market?
GameSpot: Yeah, well, just thinking about how an Overwatch game has loot, is there gonna be a system like that?
Farren: So, our economy emulates the real economy of the Indian Ocean, so things that are important to the people who are shipping goods, the merchants, ... the empires, those things are important to you. There's nothing more pirate-y than the treasure chest.
GameSpot: Right. It fits very well.
Farren: So, what I don't want to players to feel it is, that it's some abstraction from the fantasy. It should feel like the things that you're hunting, using your spyglass to see the things that are on board, should directly relate to the things that you need. But you know, there's nothing more pirate-y than the treasure chest.
GameSpot: And you had talked before about how you didn't want Skull and Bones to feel like a pay to win experience.
Farren: Yeah, no.
GameSpot: But presumably there will be, as many triple-A games from Ubisoft and others, micro-transactions in the form of, if you wanted to buy things.
Farren: It's early for that. What we want to do is make sure if players want things, that we provide content for them if they want and that they don't feel like it's gated off because they didn't pay for it. So, we want to have live events, we want to have seasonal events, seasons where you're able to compete against other players to try to get to the top of the ladder and the top of the food chain. Those things will give you opportunity to get those customization elements, those cosmetics, vanity items that will allow you to personalize your experience.
So, if somebody sees your ship, they should know you're a badass, or that you're really invested in cosmetics. Or that you've got all the figureheads that represent you being in the right place at the right time to take down the right enemy. That's super important to me. I play racing games, and when I see someone's car that's tricked out, I'm like, "How'd he get that?"
That's what I want. I've spent hundreds of dollars on Overwatch, and I can't see it. I'm only doing it so that other people see what I spend or what I buy, and that's crazy, but it's, lots of people are like that, and I'm one of them."
Skull & Bones launches in Fall 2018 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
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