Today's Nindies Showcase highlighted many of the new and intriguing indie games on the way to Switch. Among them is Super Meat Boy Forever, the sequel to Team Meat's popular and super-difficult platformer.
Forever begins when Dr. Fetus kidnaps Meat Boy and Bandage Girl's baby, Nugget. As before, players will have to deftly navigate stages laden with buzzsaws and other deadly hazards, only this time levels get more difficult every time you clear them. In Team Meat's own words, "Each time you beat a level, it reconstructs into a harder version of itself (up to a point...we aren't gods). This is all carefully designed, we aren't like, throwing 50,000 saws at you and calling it 'hard.'"
Forever also boasts updated controls. This time, the control scheme consists of two buttons, allowing Meat Boy and Bandage Girl to jump, dive, slide, and even punch and kick enemies. Team Meat says the game will also contain six chapters, a new ranking system, and daily challenges.
Super Meat Boy Forever launches in 2018 and will arrive first on Switch. The game will also come to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam, with a mobile release following after.
Before Forever launches, Switch owners will have a chance to play through the original Super Meat Boy. Earlier this month, Team Meat teased the game would be coming to Switch by tweeting a photo of it running on Nintendo's new console. While the Switch port doesn't yet have a release date, Team Meat told a fan on Twitter today that it will "likely come to Switch this year."
Destiny 2 is not even out yet, but we're already getting information about its upcoming DLC. According to a report from Kotaku, the first DLC pack will add a patrol zone on Mercury, a social space, and a storyline centered around Osiris.
Details of the DLC pack, apparently called The Curse of Osiris, were leaked to Kotaku today. According to the report, the pack will focus on parts of Destiny's lore that have only been hinted at up until now. As the title of the expansion suggests, it has to do with Osiris, an exiled Warlock known for his zealous studies of the Darkness. Specifically, players will be tasked with saving Osiris from the Vex.
In the original Destiny, Osiris was only mentioned briefly. For example, in Destiny's lore, the Trials of Osiris competitive multiplayer mode served as a recruiting tool for the Disciples of Osiris, who would presumably seek out the most successful players for their cause. If you won enough in Trials of Osiris, you'd be granted access to the Lighthouse on Mercury to receive rewards.
Although the Lighthouse wasn't used for anything else in the first game, Destiny 2's DLC will apparently feature it much more prominently. It'll be used as a full-fledged social space. In addition, players will descend down to the surface of Mercury to embark on Patrol missions and quests. There's no word yet on if The Curse of Osiris will include a Raid, what it'll cost, or when it'll be released.
Bungie obviously hasn't said anything official about The Curse of Osiris yet, but game director Luke Smith recently teased something that could support the theory that the Vex will play a greater role in DLC. Fielding community questions, Smith stated, "The Vex don't play specifically a role in the conflict between the Red Legion, but while you're playing through Destiny 2 and while you're playing a bunch of the different content, we are pointing at places we are going to go next. Part of the fun of making and playing games is seeing that intention and knowing that it's all going somewhere."
Destiny 2 launches on September 6 for PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC release coming on October 24. An open beta for the PC version is happening now; here's how to get access.
The upcoming sequel Blade Runner 2049 picks up 30 years after Ridley Scott's 1982 classic Blade Runner. To promote the movie--and to fill in some of the gaps in the story--a trio of short prequel films are being released.
The first is titled 2036: Nexus Dawn, and is now online. It's directed by Scott's son Luke and provides us with some backstory about Niander Wallace, the sinister scientist played Jared Leto. Check it out below, with an introduction from 2049 director Denis Villeneuve:
In a recent interview with Slashfilm, Villeneuve revealed one of the main reasons that he decided to take on the remake. "I said to myself, 'They will do it. No matter what we think, the studio will move forward and will make it.' I don't know if I'll succeed, but I know I will give it all my love and all my skills," he said. "I will work so hard. I didn't want it to fall into the hands of someone that wouldn't. I was afraid to see a sequel to Blade Runner, but I said, at least if I do it, I will have some control over it. At least then I can blame only myself."
Villeneuve went on to explain that he hoped to match the original film in terms of tone and pacing. "There was a melancholia in the first movie, a nostalgic feeling of loneliness and existential doubt," he said. "A kind of inner paranoia about yourself that I wanted to keep alive in the second movie. I wanted to keep the film noir aesthetic alive, as well. That was very important.
"A certain kind of pacing, too. It's still made in the rhythms of [today's] movies, but I tried my best to keep that tension alive. Ridley told me that it touched him because I was able to extend that atmospheric quality that the first movie had."
Blade Runner 2049 also stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, and Robin Wright. It hits theaters on October 6, 2017.
Destiny 2's PC beta is now underway, and players can try out its first story mission, a Strike, and a couple of competitive multiplayer maps. Bungie just announced that PC players will also soon be able to access the game's new social space for a limited time.
Tomorrow from 5 PM to 7 PM Pacific, the Farm will be open to players in the PC Beta. Come take in the scenery. The Vendors have the day off. pic.twitter.com/DsBj8Xh0hJ
There won't be much to do there, as it won't be populated with vendors yet. However, as you can see from the embedded video above, it's still a pretty beautiful spot and worth wandering around.
This November, the highly-anticipated miniseries Doomsday Clock will hit comic shops. Today, DC revealed the lenticular cover for the first issue, which features Watchmen's Rorschach, whose mask morphs into the logos for Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
The issue, as seen above, uses existing artwork from Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons. The cover is actually animated as you tilt the comic while looking at it. DC has produced lenticular covers for other landmark moments, like Rebirth and Futures End.
Doomsday Clock will combine the DC and Watchmen worlds for the first time, and it will take place one year in the future from current continuity. While DC is playing its cards close to its chest, writer Geoff Johns said readers will know what the book is about from the first page of the first issue. Obviously, by looking at the logo for the comic, it has something to do with Superman and a countdown to something dealing with the Man of Steel. We'll learn more about this story a few months from now.
You can the lenticular cover for Doomsday Clock #1 from comic shops on November 22.
Entry is open to US residents only. Giveaway ends on Friday, September 1 at 12:00 PM PT. Three (3) winners will be contacted via email.
Enter below (the additional entries are optional to increase your chances of winning):
About this game:
As a man or woman stranded naked, freezing and starving on the shores of a mysterious island called ARK, you must hunt, harvest resources, craft items, grow crops, research technologies, and build shelters to withstand the elements. Use your cunning and resources to kill or tame & breed the leviathan dinosaurs and other primeval creatures roaming the land, and team up with or prey on hundreds of other players to survive, dominate... and escape!
There's another Call of Duty: WWII beta test coming this weekend, and today we got a look at what's in store. This weekend, players can try out new maps and modes that weren't in the beta test that just wrapped up a couple of days ago.
On a PlayStation livestream, Sledgehammer's COO Michael Condrey and multiplayer system designer Greg Reisdorf revealed that the beta will include new content, including the cool-looking map Aachen. This map is medium-sized, set in a war-torn, Nazi-occupied town. You can see it in action in the video below.
In addition, Reisdorf and Condrey announced that this weekend's beta will have a higher level cap and new weapons. They specifically revealed the M1A1 Carbine, a three-shot, low-recoil weapon. There'll also be new scorestreaks and uniforms, as well as a new game mode.
Finally, Sledgehammer is implementing some gameplay tweaks based on feedback from the first beta weekend. Team Deathmatch will now have a kill cap of 100, while kills in Domination will grant players 100 points. The studio has also fixed some loading and hit marker issues. You can read about more of the changes in the works here.
This weekend's beta begins on Friday, September 1. Although last weekend's beta was exclusive to PS4, this one is available on both PS4 and Xbox One. You can get access by pre-ordering the game.
Nintendo unveiled a ton of new indie games during today's Nindies Summer Showcase presentation. One of the biggest surprises, however, was a new No More Heroes game by famed designer Suda51 and his studio, Grasshopper Manufacture.
Titled No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again, the game is a collaboration with other notable indie developers. Taking place seven years after the original No More Heroes, Travis Strikes Again sees the protagonist inhaled by a "phantom game console." He must beat all six of its games and their bosses in order to escape. You can watch the reveal trailer above.
We first learned about a possible new No More Heroes game this past January at Nintendo's big Switch unveiling presentation in Japan. During an infamous segment, Suda51 was invited on stage to talk about the console, though most of what he said was lost on English-speaking viewers as Nintendo's translator struggled to keep up with the eccentric designer. Later, YouTube user iYakku put together a transcript of the segment, which revealed that Suda51 mentioned a new game starring Travis Touchdown that would "become the singularity between indies and the Nintendo Switch."
With August drawing to a close, it's nearly time for the next batch of free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers to arrive. Sony today announced what titles will be offered in North America next month, and it includes another six spread across PS4, PS3, and Vita.
On PS4, Plus members get Strike Vector EX and Infamous: Second Son. The former is a first-person air combat game, while Second Son is the third game in the Infamous series, and the first released on PS4. It stars a new character and isn't to be confused with its spin-off, First Light, which was free through Plus back in January 2015. Additionally, from September 5 through November 7, PSVR owners will get Rigs for free.
Both of Vita's games, Hue and Sky Force Anniversary support PS4 Cross-Buy, getting players on that platform a total of five games in September. PS3 gets three games: Monster Jam Battlegrounds and Hustle Kings, as well as Sky Force Anniversary (which also features PS3 Cross-Buy).
As an added bonus on PS4, Plus members will be able to play Dead by Daylight for free from September 15-18. It will also be on sale for 30% from then until September 22. A free Neverwinter Plus pack will be available from September 16 through October 16.
Notably, this is the first month in a while that the PS Plus list for Europe differs from the one for North America; you can see Europe's free PS Plus games for September here.
The new batch of freebies arrives next Tuesday, September 5. August's free PS Plus games remain available until then; if you haven't already, you can still claim them. There are some really fun games included, such as Just Cause 3 and Downwell.
Nintendo's Nindies Summer 2017 Showcase has just wrapped up, and as expected, it delivered a look at quite a few indie games for Switch. That included numerous announcements of upcoming games headed to the platform.
Other notable announcements included Super Meat Boy Forever, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, and Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (which will include all acts, including the as-of-yet unreleased fifth one). Below, you'll find a list of all the Switch games that were featured in the Showcase along with their release windows.
It's almost September, which means that PS Plus subscribers can expect a new batch of free games soon. Today, Sony revealed the crop of titles that European PS Plus members will be able to download starting next week for PS4, PS3, and Vita.
September is a particularly good month for subscribers, because it includes eight free games instead of the usual six. There's still the normal lineup of two games for each PlayStation console, but Sony is also giving away a couple of bonus games--Rigs for PSVR and That's You! for PS4, the latter of which has been available for free throughout July and August.
The rest of the lineup is headlined by open-world action game Infamous: Second Son on PS4. In addition, PS4 players can grab the fantastic RPG Child of Light. PS3 owners, meanwhile, can snag Truck Racer and Handball 16. Finally, We Are Doomed and the hilarious pigeon-dating sim Hatoful Boyfriend are free for Vita; both of these titles are cross-buy on PS4.
The next online presentation from Nintendo kicks off today. In just a few short hours, the company will broadcast another "Nindies Summer Showcase," and you can follow along with the presentation right here via the YouTube embed below.
The Nindies Summer Showcase begins at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST. Nintendo hasn't detailed what games will be featured today, but like the Nindies broadcast it aired earlier this year, the presentation will focus exclusively on indie titles arriving soon on Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo typically uses its Nindies Showcase presentations to reveal new indie titles for its consoles; February's Showcase, for instance, marked the debut of SteamWorld Dig 2 and the newest Bit.Trip game, Runner 3. Today's broadcast will likely reveal a number of new titles as well and provide some more information on indie games that have already been announced for the console.
Nintendo will be featuring indie games prominently at PAX West this weekend. Prior to the expo, the company will host a Nindies@Night event at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle that will give attendees a chance to try out some of Switch's upcoming indie titles. PAX showgoers will also be able to stop by a Nindie Arcade at the convention center.
PC gamers eager to dive into Wild West Online will soon get their first chance, as the game is about to hit closed alpha. Developer 612 Games is now offering pre-orders of the game on its website at a big discount that get you access to the game next month.
For US $40, you can buy the Pioneer version of the game, which gets you the full game once it's released, access to the closed alpha when it goes live on September 15, and access to the closed beta in the fall. The site says this normally goes for $60. You can also buy the Collector version for $60 (normally $90), which gets you all of the above plus early access to the beta and full game before it launches. The Collector version also comes with more in-game bonuses.
612 Games says the current discounts will only be around until the alpha starts, but there will still be smaller discounts on the game's packages after that point. The developer makes it clear that all players who buy at this point should be prepared to play the game in its early development stages and give lots of feedback. For those who want to wait for the beta, there's also a Townie version, which doesn't give you access to the alpha but gets you beta access and the full game for $20.
Wild West Online is an open-world action MMO that closely resembles the settings in Red Dead Redemption. Based on your decisions and actions, you become a lawman, outlaw, or pioneer exploring the Western Frontier. The game incorporates PvP combat and PvE game missions with world exploration, resource gathering, and treasure hunts.
The game was originally bound for Kickstarter and Steam Early Access, but secured enough funding from private investors to skip that step and go right into development. Its target launch is this December.
Following a last-minute delay, this week's release of Sonic Mania on PC brought with it some unpleasant news when players discovered it uses the much-maligned Denuvo DRM. Worse yet, the game could not be played offline, although that particular grievance has since been resolved by Sega.
After launching on Steam yesterday, players began reporting that Mania installs Denuvo on users' computers. The anti-tamper DRM has helped companies to prevent their games from being cracked--at least temporarily--in the past. However, it's also viewed by many as malware that impacts game performance. And much to fans' chagrin, its inclusion was not initially listed on Mania's Steam store page (although that has since been rectified).
As a result, the response has been extremely negative. Although Mania maintains a "Mostly Positive" user review average on Steam, all 10 reviews displayed on the main Steam store page--those voted by other users as the most helpful--are negative ones, citing the use of Denuvo. The inability to play Mania offline only served to make matters worse.
In response, Sega posted a message on Steam vowing to address the lack of a DRM notice and the online check. "Like you, we've noticed an error in the Steam store not mentioning the DRM for Sonic Mania," it said. "We're fixing that now. Sonic Mania is intended to be played offline and we're investigating reports on that. We're also investigating other issues like controller support; these are all PC specific things that Christian [Whitehead, Mania's project lead] and the team have been working on these last few weeks. Please bear with us while we collate and investigate problems that are being brought to our attention."
A separate post on Facebook claims that the inability to play offline was due to an unrelated bug, and not a choice with regards to the DRM. Sega Europe's Twitter account has since confirmed this has been fixed and offline play is now possible. However, there's no indication that the company intends to remove Denuvo, which, for many players, is the more pressing concern.
Today's patch marks the start of the Assassin's Festival, a limited-time in-game event that introduces new mini-games, items, and "gameplay elements" based on Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series. Among the items players can acquire during the festival are Medjay's Assassin's Robes; all four members of the party can wear them to resemble Assassins. Noctis can also get Master Assassin's Robes from the Dream Egg, which can be obtained from the Moogle Chocobo Carnival going on until the end of September.
Beyond the Assassin's Festival, the update also adds chapter select and bestiary functions to the game. The former is available after players complete the main quest, while the latter can be accessed from the game's main menu.
The Assassin's Festival runs until January 31, 2018. Square Enix hasn't announced if the event will return in the future or if PC players will have a chance to take part in it when Final Fantasy XV launches on computers early next year. You can find the full patch notes for today's update, taken from the Final Fantasy XV subreddit, below:
Final Fantasy XV Patch Notes
Version 1.4
Implementation of a chapter select (available after completion of the main game)
Addition of a bestiary (accessible from the Archives in the Main Menu)
Master Assassin's Robes for players with a Dream Egg (unlocks upon loading a save)
Opening of the Assassin's Festival (until January 31, 2018)
Announcement of winning snapshots from third photo contest (viewable at Mother of Pearl in Galdin Quay)
We can finally experience Destiny 2 on PC now that the beta is out in the wild. How well has the game been optimized for the new platform? Established fans of the franchise and those who wanted the first game to come to PC should be hyped up; Destiny 2 runs extremely well, even on modest system specs.
I'm running an Intel Core i5-3570K processor at stock clock speeds (3.4 GHz), MSI GeForce GTX 970 slightly overclocked (1140 MHz), and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM in dual-channel, which falls closely in line with what Bungie and Activision states as the recommended system specifications for Destiny 2. But what kind of performance can you actually get from these hardware specs? First, let's take a look at the our options in the graphics settings menu. Bungie didn't skimp out on the PC version:
Resolution
V-sync (30 FPS, 60 FPS, Off)
Field of View (55 to 105)
Anti-aliasing (FXAA, SMAA, MSAA)
Ambient Occlusion (HDAO, 3D)
Texture Anisotropy (Anisotropic Filtering, up to 16x)
Texture Quality
Shadow Quality
Depth of Field
Environmental Detail Distance
Character Detail Distance
Foliage Detail Distance
Foliage Shadow Distance
Light Shafts
Motion Blur
Wind Impulse
Render Resolution
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
Chromatic Aberration
Film Grain
Giving Us Options
As promised, we have the range of video settings that PC gamers expect. One of the key options is to disable V-sync for an uncapped framerate, so users of high refresh rate monitors should be delighted. There's also an option to lock framerate at 60 FPS, or even 30 FPS, but there really isn't any reason to do this.
One of the most important settings in shooters is field of view (FOV); essentially, the width of your viewing angle. The higher it is, the more you can see in your peripheral vision. A high FOV setting can give you a competitive advantage since you'll see more of what's happening at any given moment. I advise cranking that coveted FOV slider up somewhere between 95 and 105; I personally go with the max at 105.
As for ultrawide 21:9 monitor support, you can choose your proper resolution, and the FOV scales properly with the aspect ratio. With FOV maxed out at 105, you get the wider viewing angle with the extra screen space compared to 16:9 with the same FOV.
Visual Effects And Some Quick Metrics
As we dig into actual visual effects, we provide some rough performance metrics to at least give some context and an idea of what to expect.
To get rid of jaggies, we effectively have four anti-aliasing options:
Fast Approximate Anti-aliasing - FXAA
Subpixel Morphological Anti-aliasing - SMAA
Multi-sample Anti-aliasing - MSAA
Render Resolution - Supersampling/SSAA
FXAA tends to make the game look a little too blurry, so I'd suggest going for SMAA since strikes a nice balance between performance and quality. The better-looking MSAA was too taxing for my GTX 970. With all our settings cranked up in 1080p, the opening area showed a framerate around the high-60s to low-70s with SMAA. Using MSAA, the framerate dipped around the low- and mid-40s. It's not worth the 30 or-so FPS trade off with my modest system. Take note that this is still a beta, and Bungie said that MSAA is still being optimized.
All settings maxed out, including 200% supersampling! Not so great framerate, though.
Render resolution is synonymous with supersampling -- you force your machine to produce a higher resolution image and downscale it to fit your display's proper resolution. It's the most effective form of anti-aliasing, but it's also the most demanding. At 133% (essentially 1440p), the framerate dipped down to the mid-40s.
Another big hitter is ambient occlusion, which is a process of darkening surfaces that should be blocked by light sources, creating a sort of fake shadow that adds richness and depth to the scene. There are two options here: high-definition ambient occlusion (HDAO) and 3D. As for performance, with everything maxed out (including MSAA), the difference between HDAO and 3D was around 5 FPS in the same test scene. I'm unclear as to what exactly the "3D" settings is, but if I had to guess, it's something similar to the advanced VXAO. I saw a few more objects in the game world with better shadowing, but had to really look hard for it. I'd opt for the extra FPS using HDAO. When I turn off ambient occlusion altogether, I had 3-5 extra FPS but the overall image looked flatter.
Anisotropic filtering is labeled as texture anisotropy. This setting cleans up the quality of textures off in the distance, and surfaces that are seen at an oblique angle. It's one of more visually impactful effects that doesn't ask too much of your hardware. I'd suggest cranking this up to 16x since the hit in performance, if any, is negligible. It's like a free bump in visual quality.
1080p, highest quality, MSAA, 16x AF, 3D ambient occlusion in Destiny 2.
Many of the other settings are quite self-explanatory, such as texture and shadow quality, or the distance at which certain assets like character models and foliage keep their visual fidelity. Chromatic aberration and film grain don't really have a performance impact and are more about personal preference.
The Actual Experience
When it was all set and done, I settled with 1080p, SMAA, HDAO, 16x anisotropic filtering, and all quality settings to their highest. Through several hours in multiplayer matches, the game ran consistently above 60 FPS, bouncing between the mid-70s to mid-90s. Only in the most frantic moments did I notice the framerate dip to the high-50s, but even that's negligible.
You shouldn't expect to run the game at 4K at the recommended specs, but I gave it shot anyway. I turned off anti-aliasing, used HDAO, kept anisotropic filtering at 16x, set all quality settings to high, but shadows to medium. The results were between the mid-20s and 30s, which is undesirable given that it's disadvantage in a competitive PC game where everyone else is likely running upwards of 60 FPS. 4K resolution is reserved for those equipped with a GTX 1070 or RX Vega 56 graphics card at the very least, but you'd probably want a GTX 1080, 1080 Ti, or RX Vega 64 to do 4K comfortably.
Overall, the PC version of Destiny 2 is shaping up to be a great version of the game. It's stable and runs fast with high graphics settings, even on modest hardware. On top of that, Bungie leaves no stone unturned by giving us uncapped framerates, an FOV slider, and even a built-in FPS counter. Keep in mind that this is still a beta, options we see now could change by the time of final release, and future drivers and updates can alter performance metrics.
There's so much more I could talk about with graphics settings alone, so if you want a deeper dive into the options we talked about here, check out our explainer videos on PC graphics settings; anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, ambient occlusion, bloom and HDR--take your pick.
If you're eager to try out Destiny 2 on PC, be sure to hop on the public beta as soon as possible; it wraps up on August 31. While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are set to launch on September 6, PC gamers will have to wait until October 24 to get started.
Beginning October 9, players in the US can visit a participating GameStop store to pick up a free code for Marshadow, making this the only official way to obtain the Mythical Pokemon so far. The dual Fighting/Ghost-type monster will be level 50 and comes equipped with its own unique Z-Crystal, Marshadium Z, which lets it unleash the Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike Z-Move during battle. It also knows the following attacks:
Spectral Thief
Close Combat
Force Palm
Shadow Ball
Like previous distributions, players can get their Marshadow by selecting the Mystery Gift option from the games' menu and choosing to receive the Pokemon "via code/password." After entering the code you received from GameStop, you can pick your Pokemon up from the deliveryman waiting inside any Pokemon Center.
The Marshadow giveaway will run for a much shorter time frame than previous distributions, ending on October 23, so Sun and Moon players will not want to miss their opportunity to add the rare Pokemon to their teams. In the meantime, GameStop is still distributing codes for a battle-ready Salazzle until September 4.
PES 2018's release date isn't far away, but if you're eager to play the game ahead of its launch, its demo is available right now on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. It appears that unlike the full game, the demo--which weighs in at between 4 and 5 GB, depending on platform--is not available on PC.
Eleven teams are playable--including Barcelona, Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Brazil, Argentina, and Germany--across two stadiums: Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park and Barcelona's Camp Nou. Curiously, however, you cannot change your team's formation in the demo version.
The trial follows an open beta which was held in July. That only let you play online multiplayer matches however, while this demo version allows offline play for the first time.
PES 2018 launches for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC on September 12, around two weeks ahead of its main rival, FIFA 18, comes out worldwide. We played both titles at Gamescom last week, and you can see what we thought here.
Until Dawn proved to be popular when it launched for PS4 in 2015, and now we know when fans can play its PSVR prequel The Inpatient. In a new trailer, publisher Sony has announced The Inpatient's release date as November 21.
The new video also shows off a little more of the game's setting, Blackwood Sanatorium, and hints at its story. Take a look for yourself below.
First announced at E3 2017, The Inpatient is set 60 years before Until Dawn. However, developer Supermassive has stated you won't need to have completed Until Dawn to enjoy this prequel. "It's an entirely standalone title with a brand new story and cast of characters to meet," the company said in June.
You play as a patient with amnesia being questioned by a mysterious man named Jefferson Bragg. "Over the course of the game you'll meet a variety of interesting patients and staff, each with their own motivations and agendas," reads a line from the game's description. "How you react to these characters and the choices you make will have profound and dramatic consequences for how the story unfolds."
Interestingly, NPCs will react if you speak out loud or make noises while playing the game, and you can see your character's entire body if you look down. Supermassive says this helps to create a more immersive experience.
European retailer CEX has suffered a security breach, with up to 2 million customers' details at risk. The company says the data includes "some personal information such as first name, surname, addresses, email address, and phone number," as well as "encrypted data from expired credit and debit cards up to 2009."
CEX says it is liaising with "the relevant authorities, including the police," regarding the hack, which was carried out by an "unauthorised third party." It's currently unclear precisely what data has been shared about specific customers, but the company is contacting up to 2 million people "as a precaution." It also notes that no valid financial information has been lost as it stopped storing customers' credit and debit card details in 2009.
The retailer claims no in-store customers should be affected, only online ones--and although passwords are not stored in plain text, customers are advised to create a new one as "a third party could still determine your original password and could attempt to use it across other, unrelated services." Finally, the company states that if you do not receive an email containing recommended next steps, then your account is safe.
CEX specializes in second-hand video games, entertainment, and technology products, and is now one of the biggest entertainment retailers in the UK and Europe. It also owns a limited number of stores in the US. For more, check out CEX's advice on the hack.
As part of a new Destiny 2 Q&A video, game director Luke Smith spent 20 minutes answering lots and lots of questions about the game that he received on Twitter.
Among other things, he confirms in the Wired video that there will be rewards for returning players; that is, people who played Destiny 1 and come back for Destiny 2. He also jokes about Destiny 1's infamous loot cave, talks about if the wizard actually came from the moon, and reveals the weapon from Destiny 1 that he'll miss the most for Destiny 2. Smith also touches on how Bungie designs characters that can be cosplayed and reveals if Cayde-6 can eat ramen. Further still, Smith talks about if Ghaul would be more likely to listen to prog rock band Rush or songs from Disney's Moana.
Additionally, he answers really, really specific gameplay questions, and if you're a hardcore Destiny fan, this is the video for you.
What's more, Smith talks about how the story in Destiny 2 will point at what's coming next, either through the game's expansions or potentially Destiny 3.
"The Vex don't play specifically a role in the conflict between the Red Legion but while you're playing through Destiny 2 and while you're playing a bunch of the different content, we are pointing at places we are going to go next," he said. "Part of the fun of making and playing games is seeing that intention and knowing that it's all going somewhere."
Destiny 2 launches on September 6 for PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC release to follow in October. An open beta for the PC edition is happening now--here's how to get in.
The new Robin Hood origin movie from Hunger Games studio Lionsgate won't be out on time. The company has announced that the origin film, which stars Kingsman's Taron Egerton as Robin Hood, is now opening on September 21, 2018, according to THR. Previously, it was scheduled to hit theaters on March 23. In moving to September 21, the Robin Hood movie now goes up against the the Jack Black-starring Goosebumps 2.
The Robin Hood origin movie also stars Jamie Foxx as Little John and Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlett. Eve Hewson plays Maid Marian.
Peaky Blinders director Otto Bathurst is behind the camera for the new Robin Hood movie, which is being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Being an origin story, the movie will apparently trace Robin Hood's life from his time in the Crusades and continuing on to when he returns to Nottingham Forest to find it taken over by greed and corruption.
The story of Robin Hood has been told numerous times in film. Most recently, Russell Crowe played the character for 2010's Ridley Scott-directed Robin Hood. Kevin Costner also played the character, for 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Cary Elwes played the character in Mel Brooks' 1993 comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
A new map is now available in Overwatch, at least for some players, and only on PC. Junkertown, which is set in Australia and is the home to Junkrat and Roadhog, is a new Escort map.
PC players can try the map right now on Overwatch's Public Test Region. You can find out how to join the PTR right here.
Here is the official description for Junkertown: "Constructed from the remains of a destroyed omnium, it's now the home to a band of lawless scavengers known as the Junkers, led by their cutthroat Queen. When they aren't pillaging the omnium's skeleton for anything of value, the Junkers blow off steam in the Scrapyard--a massive gladiatorial arena whose combatants fight for glory, riches...and to survive."
The big new update for Rainbow Six: Siege, 3.0/Blood Orchid, is out now on the game's testing server for PC. You can see the complete list of massive patch notes here, which cover things like a new map, more operators, and more. The patch isn't without its problems, however. Now, Ubisoft has listed off all the known issues that players may encounter in it. Bugs are of course to be expected, given that the whole idea of a testing server is the hammer out the rough spots in preparation for the full release.
One of the issues is that the smoke grenade will stop players from vaulting over windows, but only in some unspecified conditions. Additionally, the new Operator Ying's Blood Orchid headgear is missing a piece of its visor, while another one of the new operators, Lesion, can clip through the wall on the map Kafe.
Ubisoft said the testing phase for 3.0/Blood Orchid will run through 10 AM ET on Friday, September 1. The patch should launch sometime later for everyone on PC, as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Rainbow Six Siege 3.0/Blood Orchid Known Issues:
For the Scorpion EVO 3 A1, the muzzle flash is too far ahead of the weapon when a Flash Hider is equipped.
Players do not have sound if the drone is destroyed at the end of prep phase while trying to select a spawn point.
Smoke grenade prevents vaulting over windows under certain conditions.
The animation for Doc reloading leaves some objects floating.
Delay before being able to fire your weapon after switching from a gadget.
Drones are able to exploit a specific window on a map to jump into the walls.
On House, sound goes through between bathroom's floor and hall ceiling if not completely destroyed.
On Consulate, there is no audio occlusion on Lobby ceiling.
Ying's Blood Orchid headgear is missing its dark visor.
Lesion is able to clip through the map in a certain location on Kafe.
Rainbow Six Siege's next major expansion is coming quite soon for free. We already know about the new map and Operators, but the 3.0 update will also deliver a variety of other changes, additions, and improvements.
Blood Orchid caps off Operation Health, the series of updates intended to improve nagging issues with the game. Although Operation Health will be done after this, Ubisoft vowed to continue addressing problem areas. "In the future, we are still keeping the core pillars to focus on game optimization, top community issues reported by the community, and improving player experience. The groundwork in Operation Health will help us to continue to improve the game for the distant future."
Update 3.0 does make some significant Operation Health-related improvements. New servers are being implemented that "bring significant improvements to stability, connectivity, FPS, rubberbanding, and overall performance." Additionally, a new physics system will further mitigate rubberbanding, as well as teleporting.
Lighting has been improved so that it's easier to look from outside to inside or vice versa; until now, an exposure effect made it difficult to see much (the comparison images below show the difference). Skies have also been updated on all maps, resulting in a more dynamic look. Other visual changes include improved reflections, Operator models (for some characters), facial expressions, and textures. In the latter case, this is something that Ubisoft will work on for every map over the next year; for now, they've been made on Kafe Dostoyevsky.
The full list of changes is quite enormous--there are also new weapon skins, fixes for Hibana's gadget, a reduction in load times, adjustments to damage falloff, map rotations, and much more. You can read about all of this in detail in the full patch notes.
Update 3.0 launches on the PC version's Technical Test Server tomorrow, August 29, and can be pre-loaded now. That was originally scheduled to be the release date for the live version on all platforms, but Ubisoft recently announced that it's now slated for launch on September 5. When it's released, the map will be free to all players, while Year 2 season pass owners will get all three Operators. The characters will then be available for purchase with in-game currency by everyone else a week after launch.
In honor of Rick And Morty Season 3 Episode 6, we're giving away a Mr. Poopy Butthole Funko Pop! One (1) winner will be chosen after the giveaway closes on Sunday, September 3rd 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.
Marvel's bulletproof power man, Luke Cage, has been confirmed to be returning for a second season on Netflix in 2018. Today, Entertainment Weekly revealed a new image which features Luke Cage (played by Halo: Nightfall's Mike Colter) and more notably, NYPD detective Misty Knight (Simone Missick) equipped with a bionic arm.
Image credit: Entertainment Weekly
Those well-versed in the Marvel universe will recognise the bionic arm as Misty Knight's signature characteristic. In the comics, it's a tool designed by Stark Industries and possesses superhuman strength. It's also been known to have the ability to fire a variety of projectiles and even enslave other Marvel heroes.
At the end of Netflix's The Defenders, Misty Knight gets her right arm severed by Bakuto--a leader of evil organisation, The Hand--during one of the show's climactic battles. She finds herself in a hospital owned by Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist, who suggests that he'll arrange a replacement. Whether this Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Misty Knight will gain extraordinary powers through this arm is yet to be seen.
Game of Thrones Season 7 wrapped up earlier this week, and with it, one particular storyline came to an end with the death of a central character. There have been questions about the exact events that unfolded, and it appears a deleted scene is to blame for the gap in what we did--or did not, as the case may be--got to see.
Game of Thrones Season 7 spoilers follow.
Image credit: HBO
Bran ultimately played a role in Littlefinger's demise, apparently revealing to Sansa and Arya some or all of what the now-deceased character had been responsible for over the years. But this fact wasn't revealed until after the twist that Sansa had decided to finally deal with Littlefinger--and even then, we never specifically heard about the apparent off-screen conversation that took place between the Stark children. According to Bran actor Isaac Hempstead-Wright, such a scene was filmed, only to end up on the cutting room floor.
"There was a scene that we ended up getting rid of, I'm not sure why, where Sansa came to Bran's chambers and said, 'I need your help,'" Hempstead-Wright said in an interview IGN. "The way I understand it, Bran didn't know what was going on."
Bran apparently didn't intervene until Sansa came to him. In Hempstead-Wright's mind--and that of some fan theories--this is because Bran's powers as the Three-Eyed Raven allowed him to know where things were ultimately headed. "I don't think he would have let that happen and he wouldn't have sat there while Arya got killed by Sansa, because Bran would have known that wasn't the way things had to go," he said. "He would have known, 'I need to be here to reveal what the truth is.'"
Although he was not certain, Hempstead-Wright believes the deleted scene would have been included in the season finale, Episode 7. He also was unsure what motivated the scene's removal.
It's possible that showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss hoped to maintain suspense until the twist was revealed--something that wouldn't have been possible if we saw Sansa chatting with Bran about Littlefinger's guilt beforehand. Of course, if you were paying close attention, you may have noticed that Arya already had the Valyrian steel dagger back in her possession, which serves as a clue that something was up.
It also could be that Benioff and Weiss decided to go in a different direction regarding how Sansa is set on this path. They may have hoped to to keep the exact motivation behind her decision ambiguous--or to at least leave open the possibility that Sansa realized the truth before speaking with Bran. Whatever the case, this should make for an interesting Blu-ray extra, provided it can make the cut for that.
Just as the game's quality flies in the face of that first reaction, if you assume a game is easy just because it stars Mario and Rabbids, you're dead wrong. Mario + Rabbids is a tough game, and you'll need to plan ahead to ensure you bring the right party members, upgrade the best skills, and buy the correct weapons. We have plenty of tips to help you succeed, and we've rounded up all of our guides so far for you below.
Here are some essential tips to increase your chances of success in this Mario and Rabbids crossover. [9 Tips to Get You Started]
Characters
Here's an introduction to each of Mario + Rabbids' characters, when you'll find them, and the situations in which they're best used. [Mario + Rabbids Characters Explained]
Enemies
Using the right strategy for the job is the name of the game in Mario + Rabbids. Luckily, all you need is knowledge to take on the worst the corrupted Rabbids have to throw at you. Here's every enemy in Mario + Rabbids, plus the info you need to come out of any battle victorious. [Mario + Rabbids How To Defeat Each Enemy]
Not everyone is happy with Overwatch's reporting and punishment systems for bad behaviour, and now Blizzard has responded. Game director Jeff Kaplan commented in forum post titled "Report system is a failure" that he agrees that there is room for improvement. He added that beefing up the reporting and punishment system in Overwatch is one of Blizzard's "prime focuses" currently.
A developer update video on the topic was recorded last week and it will go out "very soon," Kaplan said. But in the meantime, he outlined some of his points in the forum post. Blizzard has short, medium, and long-term plans for improving the system, and Kaplan admitted that the developer has not done a great job at keeping fans in the loop.
The first phase of the steps Blizzard is taking is to suspending more accounts and increasing their length.
"In the short term we are re-evaluating every punishment and are in the process of converting silences over to suspensions. We're also increasing the length of suspensions. Pretty soon, we hope for silences to go away all together and only have suspensions and bans for punishments (with a few exceptions like forced BattleTag changes for naming violations)," Kaplan said.
Another short-term goal is to introduce an email notification system that informs you when someone you've reported has action taken against them. Kaplan also mentioned that Blizzard recently banned "a number of accounts" from Competitive Season 5 due to boosting. These players will loss all of their Season 5 rewards for their behaviour.
As for medium-term goals, Kaplan said repeat Competitive offenders are going to be "completely" banned. "If you've been banned for more than X seasons, we will ban you from ever playing competitive again," he said.
For Overwatch Competitive Season 6, Blizzard will get "way more aggressive" when it comes to action being taken against people using boosting/throwing to get an advantage.
"We have some very smart people who are getting very good at detecting this behaviour and we are actively building systems (and punishments) around SR abuse," Kaplan explained. "Also in the medium term, we have a new series of punishments we're going to try that escalates much more quickly ... Basically, extreme offenders will 'strike out' of the game much quicker. As part of these increasing punishments, we're looking to make it so that offenders get blocked from Competitive play much sooner--more details on this as we get closer."
Finally, Blizzard's long-term goals for Overwatch as it relates to the game's reporting system is to actively encourage and reward good behaviour.
"It really bums us out to spend so much time punishing people for being bad sports. We like making cool, fun game systems--that's what we do for a living," Kaplan said. "But because people seem to lack self-control or because people like to abuse anonymity and free speech we're put in a position of spending a tremendous amount of our time and resources policing the community. We will do this as it is our responsibility but we'd like to spend more time rewarding good players rather than having to focus on poor sportsmanship and unacceptable bad behaviour so much. Like it or not, this is an 'us, the OW community problem' and not just an 'OW team problem.' For better or for worse, we're in this together."
Kaplan ended his candid and frank post by pledging that Blizzard is "working hard" on these changes, capping off his comments with a poignant stinger--"I hope you all do too."
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