As part of the most recent Destiny 2 server maintenance, Bungie has released the latest update for the shooter. As you might expect, given that it's dubbed "The one before Curse of Osiris," it's primarily concerned with resolving some lingering issues with the game, rather than introducing any new content or features.
Hotfix 1.0.7 is available now on Xbox One and PS4. It adds an announcement about the upcoming Curse of Osiris DLC expansion, fixes an issue that caused Faction Rally Tokens to be handed out through the clan perk Venture Capital, and resolves a crash during the Taken Blight Public Event. Additionally, it makes some improvements to the companion apps and website; the Progress section of the mobile apps now have Factions and Collections listed, while the help search should be better across the board.
Those playing on PC have also received an additional hotfix update, version 1.0.7.1. This addresses a problem that would cause players to receive the Buffalo error; that's hopefully something you should now see less often. Separately, Nvidia has released a new driver that is said to provide significant improvements for Destiny 2 performance.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be getting tons of new DLC in the next few months. Publisher Warner Bros. has announced a series of free content updates, with the first ones rolling out on November 21. These are all in addition to the four Shadow of War DLC expansions four expansions that have already been announced for this year and the next.
The free DLC includes new gameplay modes and tweaks to existing features, like a new difficulty level and photo mode. Here's the schedule and descriptions Warner Bros. shared:
Coming November 21
Endless Siege--Defend your fortresses against Sauron's forces as the Dark Lord tries to reclaim Mordor in the Endless Siege.
Rebellion--Crush the rebel Ologs and Uruks in your forces as they seek to undermine the Bright Lord.
Enhanced Photo Mode--Capture every battle and siege and apply new filters, frames, and textures with the Enhanced Photo Mode update.
Coming December 5
Online Fight Pits--Challenge another player's Orc follower, Overlord vs. Overlord, to a fight to the death in the arena to earn powerful rewards and upgrades.
Coming December 12
Brutal Difficulty--A new higher difficulty level even more challenging than Nemesis with no last chances.
Shadow of War's first paid expansion is also releasing on November 21. The Slaughter Tribe Nemesis Expansion is part of the game's $40 Expansion Pass, and introduces the new Slaughter tribe. They are a "gruesome" tribe of Orcs that are "capable of ambushing players at any point." The expansion also includes new missions, a new fortress with an Overlord throne room, monuments, outposts, and new Epic and Legendary Orcs.
There's also a release date for the following expansion. The Outlaw Tribe Nemesis Expansion is coming December 12 and will introduce the Outlaw Tribe, which is "home to the most rebellious warriors in Orc society."
The remaining two expansions are story campaigns that will launch in 2018, and you can read more about them here. The first three expansions are also available for purchase on their own for $15 each, with the final DLC expansion costing $20. Players who purchased the $100 Gold Edition of Middle-earth: Shadow of War will get the DLC packs for no additional cost.
Black Friday is almost here, and Sony UK has announced a pretty tasty deal for the PSVR Starter Pack plus either The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or Gran Turismo Sport on PS4. The company has temporarily reduced the RRP of the bundle to £250, which it says "offers a saving of over £100 from standard RRP."
The offer is notable as Skyrim VR isn't even out yet; it launches on November 17 and you can see it in action in some Skyrim VR gameplay. The Starter Pack, meanwhile, includes a PSVR headset plus the PlayStation Camera and the PSVR Worlds game collection, meaning you'll get to play minigames such as Ocean Descent and The London Heist. The offer is valid from November 17 until November 27 at 11:59 PM GMT.
PSVR is also on offer in the US at the moment--for more, check out all our PS4 Black Friday 2017 deals or our retailer-specific deal breakdowns through the links at the bottom of this article.
If you wanted to play Destiny 2 right now, you're out of luck for a few hours. Developer Bungie is taking the game offline to perform some Destiny 2 server maintenance on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and it will release a new hotfix update in the process. [Update: Server maintenance has begun, meaning you'll be unable to log in for a period of time. We'll report back when we know what's included in update 1.0.7 and when servers are back online. The update is available now (if you're on PC, you'll receive update 1.0.7.1), but you may need to manually trigger the download. Regardless, you won't be able to get back online until servers are brought back up. ]
Players will no longer be able to log in from 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET / 4 PM GMT on November 16 (that's 2 AM AEST on November 17 in Australia). An hour later, anyone still playing the game will be booted to the title screen. Bungie says the maintenance will end three hours after that--at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET / 8 PM GMT (6 AM on November 17 in Australia)--at which point hotfix 1.0.7 "is expected to be available to download and install on all platforms." However, be aware that previous Destiny 2 maintenance has sometimes gone on for longer than expected.
Destiny 2's weekly reset occurred, as always, on Tuesday this week. It marked the end of the latest Faction Rally event and kicked off Victory Week, which means there's a new Legendary weapon available for purchase. Bungie has also shifted the Flashpoint to Titan and rotated the selection of items available at Eververse. Most significantly, the weekly reset has introduced the next Nightfall Strike: Savathun's Song. For more, check out all the details on Destiny 2's weekly reset.
It's a packed week of releases for Nintendo Switch. A total of 15 games launch for the console this week, and they include some particularly noteworthy titles if you're looking for something new to play on Nintendo's console.
Arguably the biggest release this week is the Switch version of Skyrim, which launches tomorrow, November 17. On top of the base adventure, it includes all of Skyrim's DLC expansions: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn. The game also features new motion controls and is compatible with Legend of Zelda Amiibo, which can unlock signature items from the series like the Master Sword, Hylian Shield, and Link's Champion's Tunic. We acquired all of the items and captured footage of them in action.
Surprisingly, while Thursday is typically the busiest day of the week in terms of Eshop releases, only two titles arrive on the service today: the latest ACA Neo Geo game, Karnov's Revenge, and the retro-style RPG Antiquia Lost. The bulk of this week's releases launched on Tuesday, and they included some particularly notable ports like Rocket League, LA Noire, and Batman: The Telltale Series, as well as the charming Ittle Dew 2+ and Rime.
A handful of other titles are also slated to arrive in the Eshop alongside Skyrim on November 17. Rounding out this week's releases is the gravity-switching 2D platformer VVVVVV; the intense 2D shooter/action game Rive: Ultimate Edition; and the top-down shoot-'em-up Xenoraid, among others. You can find the full list of this week's releases below.
Whether successful or not, Rime is almost entirely focused on evoking emotional reactions. It's a shame, then, that when playing its Nintendo Switch port, I could only think about cold, hard numbers like frame rate and resolution.
As with the PS4 and Xbox One versions, the Nintendo Switch edition of Rime suffers from frame rate issues. It's much worse than those platforms, however. In some of its more open areas, Rime slows down dramatically, dragging you out of the ostensibly affecting story it's trying to tell and into the realm of that most exciting and touching subject: mathematics.
The problem is (mostly) lessened when you're indoors, but here frame dips are still common--and in any case, saying it's fine when you're inside is little consolation when Rime's main attractions lie outside the front door and in its colorful landscapes. Developer Tequila Works and publisher Grey Box have addressed some of the port's early criticism by saying, "Rime runs at 30 FPS in 720p throughout most of the game while docked. This is a considerable improvement from where the game was at earlier this year when we announced the first delay."
They continued: "With Rime being very open in many locations, it's incredibly difficult to get these level segments small enough to not cause a hiccup in performance. We were faced with the choice of adding loading screens throughout the stages, rebuilding the game completely to be more closed in (undermining the product vision in the process), or living with these small hiccups to preserve what the game was intended to be. We chose the latter."
Undocking the Switch can help smoothen out the frame rate a little, but playing Rime while on the go isn't ideal either: this drops the resolution down to levels of blur only seen when I try and use my iPhone after eating a pizza. The decrease in fidelity makes it hard to see what you're doing or where you're going, and distracts from the story Rime attempts to tell.
"When looking at the handheld mode, we had to make a choice between lowering the resolution, removing/replacing major parts of the level geometry, or having a bigger hit in performance," Grey Box and Tequila Works said of the game in undocked mode. "We decided to go for the former, because it allows us to maintain the integrity of the gameplay experience."
Of course, Rime's allure mostly lies in its aesthetic rather than in raw graphical power, and much of that natural beauty has survived the porting process. However, some textures appear rougher than on PS4 and Xbox One, and our nameless protagonist has grown a jagged edge or two.
Rime's comparisons to Zelda may have helped its public perception before and even after its PS4 / Xbox One release. But with this Switch port now complete and available worldwide this week, any such comparisons are no longer favorable for Rime. In a time and on a console where the big and beautiful Breath of the Wild exists and looks as good as it does, Rime's shortcomings are exposed more than ever.
Even if you're not a fan of DC Comics, chances are you've heard of Gotham City, or Metropolis. You might even have heard of Themyscira--the home of Wonder Woman and the Amazons--too. But names like "Apokolips" and "New Genesis" are probably still a bit vague on associations.
That's OK. In terms of idiosyncratic DC Universe iconography, a map of the Fourth World is a pretty far cry from the comforting black and yellow of the Bat Signal--at least for now.
The release of Justice League marks DC's first attempt at translating the bombast of the New Gods to the big screen. So what does that actually mean? What is the Fourth World, who are the New Gods, and why should you care?
In The Beginning
To call the Fourth World totally arcane wouldn't really be fair--what it lacks in franchise and branding power, it makes up in (admittedly kind of niche) critical acclaim. In the simplest possible terms, the Fourth World is the collective name for a saga created (and when I say "created" I mean created--written, drawn, edited, top to bottom) by the legendary Jack Kirby after he left Marvel for DC in the 70s. The story actually got its start, strangely enough, in an issue of an ongoing book called Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, but promptly spilled out into its own titles like New Gods, Mister Miracle, and Forever People.
All told, the whole Fourth World saga has 59 issues, hopscotching across multiple books to form an endless, cosmic, mythological spine for the DC Universe that's still looked at as a touchstone for heroes and villains even today.
The story of the Fourth World isn't all that complicated. The twin worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips were created when an ancient planet called Urgrund was torn in two by a war between its immortal citizens called--surprise--the Old Gods. The cataclysm on Urgrund was so terrible that it actually forced both new planets into a new corner of space and time--not a new universe, but a place outside the multiverse entirely, a literal fourth world populated by people who called themselves New Gods for reasons that are hopefully pretty obvious.
As you can probably guess by their rather on-the-nose names, Apokolips was an industrialized wasteland--Kirby's thinly veiled interpretation of hell--while New Genesis was a sparkling utopia--the equivalent of heaven. Apokolips was ruled by the tyrannical war monger Darkseid, while New Genesis was ruled by the cold-but-benevolent Highfather.
The war between the two planets was endless and all-consuming until an unconventional treaty was brokered. Darkseid and Highfather would swap sons--each giving an infant to their sworn enemy to be raised on the opposite planet as a sort of collateral. The son of Darkseid, Orion, would be doomed to forever feel like an outcast in the vain and superficial society of New Genesis, while the son of Highfather, Scott Free (aka Mister Miracle), would be subjected to untold tortures on Apokolips.
It worked--sort of. Nevermind that neither son had much say in the matter. Orion grew to adulthood on New Genesis while Scott scraped by in Apokolips, eventually finding love--a native of Apokolips named Big Barda--and escaping to Earth to be rid of his family tree all together. But eventually Darkseid's lust for power grew too intense for peace and he had his uncle (that's right, uncle, even immortal tyrant gods have to come from somewhere), the elite military general Steppenwolf, assassinate Highfather's wife to reignite the war, and then everything was off to the races once more with both New Genesis and Apokolips consumed by violence without end.
This sort of circular, unwinnable conflict defined much of the Fourth World. Everything from the dueling narratives of two prodigal sons to the nature of war and peace were on the table for exploration--big questions without real or concrete answers, remixed Bible stories that blended in with Star Trek and Lord of The Rings. The New Gods became DC's equivalent of a pantheon, a 70s sci-fi flavored answer to Marvel's super-heroic version of Norse mythology, but with no historical constraints or real world sources to consult.
Into The Future
Now, while the planets of the New Gods were technically isolated from Earth in their own area of space and time, Kirby also invented the technology in fiction to allow them to come and go from the stories of DC's other heroes. Nearly every New God had access to, or carried with them a "living" sentient personal computer called a Mother Box, which were able to (among other things) open and close "Boom Tubes"--point to point extradimensional transportation that would allow a person to travel from New Genesis to Earth, or Apokolips to Earth or--well, anywhere, really.
The barrier between the New Gods and the DC Universe at large became virtually nonexistent, and suddenly heroes like Superman and Batman were able to come face to face with literal immortal superhumans like Orion and Mister Miracle--or even the Lord of Apokolips himself, Darkseid.
This is how the New Gods really began to dig their heels into the DCU in a way that still matters today. Allowing someone like Darkseid, the immortal embodiment of all evil, to come and go from Earth essentially at will was a narrative booster shot for DC's shared universe like no other. Darkseid became the sort of "final boss" for DC's roster of superheroes; certain death, unstoppable destruction, something that even an all-but-invincible character like Superman couldn't face down on his own.
The same way Marvel has been teasing the arrival of their very own end-game villain, Thanos, in the MCU for years, all roads in the DCEU will eventually lead to Darkseid, and we've already seen the first hints. Justice League's Steppenwolf and his Parademons are remixed from their comic book origins, but the spine of the New Gods ideology is still there: The concept of Apokolips is, very much, a component of this world, as well as the idea of the advanced, alien Mother Box. It's probably best to start paying attention now while their cinematic incarnations are still in their infant stages than try to play catch up down the line.
After all, even when he's not immediately on the screen or on the page, the threat of Darkseid and the armies of Apokolips are a shadow looming large over the DC Universe. The presence of the New Gods may be a subtle one--they can even go completely unnoticed if you don't know what you're looking for--but the eventuality that New Genesis and Apokolips's unending, undying war will spill out into Earth and suddenly become the Justice League's problem is all but inevitable. It's one of the most fundamental building blocks of the DCU's shared universe--and it's already making it's way to theaters.
On whichever side of the Great DC Debate you fight, there's no denying that Justice League has a lot to prove. DC diehards who insist there's nothing wrong with the direction and tone of the DC Extended Universe up to this point might worry that the pivotal team-up has been "Disney-fied" or made into a comedy to appease critics and Marvel fans; others that the beloved Wonder Woman was the exception to the rule for the DCEU, rather than a fresh start. Fans on all sides have followed the various controversies surrounding Justice League's production, like Joss Whedon taking over director duties from Zack Snyder at the last minute, and simply wondered how it will all turn out.
Through all the setbacks, uncertainties, reshoots, shake-ups, and drama, it seemed unlikely that Justice League would wind up anything other than a complete mess. And yet, here we are: Justice League is a pretty good movie.
The plot is basic: Batman and Wonder Woman sense an incoming threat, an ancient alien invader named Steppenwolf. They determine their best course of action is to assemble a super-team comprising Cyborg, The Flash, and Aquaman in addition to the two of them. The League comes together in fits and starts, but by the end, every hero--yes, all of them, wink, wink--shows up to do his or her part in a climactic battle.
It's Superhero Movie Plot 101, but crucially, it's more or less coherent from beginning to end. It's also fun, with plenty of huge laughs and some terrific (although CG-heavy) action scenes. Yet overall, it retains that serious, Zack Snyder-ish tone that sets the DCEU apart from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Much of Justice League's thematic focus zeroes in on the hopelessness of a world that's suffered defeat after defeat, of which Superman's death in BvS is only the latest. For a variety of real world reasons, from the current state of politics to the seemingly endless tragic mass shootings, this is going to resonate with audiences right now.
It would be condescending and unfair to simply heap Justice League with praise for these accomplishments, when it actually suffers from many of the same flaws that have plagued both DC and Marvel's movies for years. Like Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, Justice League's Steppenwolf has about as much depth as a shallow pothole. He shows up in search of the "Mother Boxes" with the sole goal of destroying the world, serving as nothing more than the catalyst for the Justice League to form.
Also similarly to Thor, Justice League's CG is occasionally distracting, especially where Steppenwolf is concerned. In close-ups the villain's face can look like a video game character's, and not in a good way. In addition, the movie opens with a cute smartphone video of Superman from before the events of BvS--not unlike the opening of Spider-Man: Homecoming--during which you should try not to stare too hard at Henry Cavill's mouth, given they had to digitally remove his mustache during reshoots.
The mad and the mighty
All that aside, Justice League's real draw is the epic team-up of this handful of super-powered heroes. They all have their time in the spotlight, including a surprising number of smaller, character-to-character moments that help flesh each one out and establish them at concrete points in their personal arcs that can be picked up in later movies.
The Flash, for example, gets a couple of scenes with his dad, imprisoned early in Barry Allen's life for allegedly murdering Barry's mother. We get to see Cyborg wrestle with his newly minted body, struggling with his father's decision to rebuild him--but also interacting with other heroes, including Flash and Wonder Woman, in believable scenes that add layers to all involved. Bringing this many main characters together isn't easy no matter who's in the director's chair, especially when half of them are being introduced here for the first time. Amazingly, Justice League mostly pulls it off, even if a couple of plot points get glossed over too quickly.
Ben Affleck continues to do just fine as an older, more hardened Batman. He lacks the charm of previous Bruce Waynes like Michael Keaton and Christian Bale, but you could also blame that on this Batman's place in the story as an underpowered hero who's been outstripped by god-like colleagues and foes. He's also taken to subtly self-medicating with presumably very fine brown liquors--watch how much whiskey he pours himself in one scene after a tough fight--which is a chewy little detail for those paying attention.
Wonder Woman has the second largest presence of all the heroes, though her role was reportedly not expanded in this year's reshoots, counter to speculation that she'd be made more prominent thanks to her standalone movie's success. Gal Gadot's youthful, idealistic, positive character is a perfect counter to Batman, and it often seems like she's holding the team together--if not leading them outright. She glows, and her presence is much appreciated.
The three we haven't met before--Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg--hold up admirably thanks to some fantastic casting.
Jason Momoa may not be the Aquaman fans recognize from the comics, but he's one you'll want to get to know better. The hard-drinking, no-BS King of Atlantis is relatively early in his personal story arc, but the equal draughts of humorous pessimism and raw badassery Momoa brings to the screen should have everyone excited for his standalone film next year. At one point he rescues a drowning sailor, unloads him unceremoniously in the nearest pub, and downs a full bottle of whiskey on the unconscious man's tab. Yet later, Momoa shows off his comedic chops in a scene that may or may not involve Wonder Woman's confessional lasso.
Cyborg is the most dour of the bunch, which is saying something, for a team that also includes Batman. Granted, Victor Stone is also early in his arc, hooking up with the League shortly after being rebuilt as Cyborg. There's no faulting him for being less fun than the others, given his personal trauma and turmoil; the bigger problem is how his deliberately vaguely-defined powers allow Cyborg to serve as constant deus ex machina, hacking anything and everything that needs to be hacked.
Thankfully Ezra Miller keeps things light as The Flash. Miller has impeccable comedic timing, and although every characters gets a proportionate number of quips throughout Justice League, most of the big laughs come from him.
Hatchet vs. scalpel
Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad felt like giant compromises marred by meddling, half measures, and band-aids stuck on bleeding wounds. They were hatchet jobs. But while Justice League went through about as much production turmoil as either of those, the changes to it might have been made with a scalpel wielded by a skilled hand, cutting away only what was necessary to make it a stronger movie.
It's not trying to solve all the genre's problems--and it doesn't.
So the villain is uninteresting and the plot occasionally moves too quickly as Justice League juggles a half dozen main characters. These are small prices to pay. Like one of its many taglines, Justice League feels "all in"--a movie driven by a vision shared among its stars and filmmakers, that succeeds at the most important things it sets out to do.
Justice League is everything you want in a modern super team-up movie: a diverse crew of well-developed heroes coming together, butting heads, cracking jokes, and kicking butt. Despite the DCEU's sputtering start, Justice League coalesces in the end, and it works in many more ways than not. It's not trying to solve all the genre's problems--and it doesn't. But as a team-up movie and a fresh jumping-off point for the DCEU, Justice League is a 100-story leap in the right direction.
Having trouble finding a SNES Classic? Retailer Walmart has announced that the mini console will be in stock this week, November 15-17. Units will be available starting at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET each day, which means you have a total of three chances to purchase one. [Update: It's now Thursday, and you'll have another opportunity to grab a SNES Classic at the aforementioned today today. Yesterday's allotment went extremely quickly, so you'll need to act fast if you're interested.]
There is a limit of one per customer, and Walmart says supply is going to be "limited." It appears the units will be available on Walmart's website, though it remains to be seen if there will be units available in-store as well.
The Sims 4 launches for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on November 17, joined by a new pets expansion for the PC version. Ahead of its launch, we thought it would be a good chance to take a trip down memory lane and explore the origins of Will Wright's popular life simulation series.
Very few games can say they presented something truly original to medium like The Sims did, and even fewer can boast the kind of cultural significance it has. Released in 2000, The Sims allowed players to puppeteer the lives of virtual people, micromanaging every aspect of their existence with no real goal other than whatever they set for themselves.
For some, The Sims provided unparalleled escapism, letting them live out a fantasy life through in-game characters. For others it was an invitation to indulge their creative whims by crafting ideal homes and, of course, there's also those that indulged their sadistic side by toying with the lives of Sims in cruel but often amusing ways.
The sheer amount of gameplay opportunities The Sims provided--and continues to provide--makes it a series with broad appeal. But the game it is now was formed of numerous building blocks creator Will Wright experimented with in other titles. Wright, one of gaming's most celebrated luminaries, looked to the works of an MIT scientist, used 3D home design software as a jumping-off point, and even used his daughter for inspiration on the series that would define his career.
The story of The Sims is one of ingenuity, real outside-the-box thinking, and a fair bit of risk-taking. It's a story that we explore in-depth in the video above. As a self-confessed super fan, Lucy digs deep into the origins of the The Sims, going as far back as Wright's first game, Raid on Bungeling Bay, and then charts the evolution of his thinking and the resulting game design ideas that came along the way. Alongside this, she also discusses the cultural impact of The Sims as well as some of the stumbling blocks the series, its developer Maxis, and publisher EA faced. Check it out and give us your favourite Sims memories in the comments below.
Update: The official Twitter account for Marvel Heroes has shared a message from the development team announcing the shutdown. It states that servers will remain online through the end of the year, shutting down after December 31, 2017. Additionally, the ability to spend real-world money in-game will be removed "as soon as possible." It states, "Players will be able to play the game entirely for free once this sunset period commences. We will share the exact date things go completely free as soon as we can." The tweet also goes on to thank the community and employees for their support over the years. The original story follows.
Marvel Heroes, the free-to-play, Diablo-esque action game, is shutting down. Marvel announced the news today, revealing it has ended its business arrangement with developer Gazillion Entertainment.
In a statement shared with GameSpot, Marvel Entertainment stated, "We regret to inform our Marvel Heroes fans that we have ended our relationship with Gazillion Entertainment, and that the Marvel Heroes games will be shut down. We would like to sincerely thank the players who joined the Marvel Heroes community, and will provide any further updates as they become available." This presumably applies to the PC version of the game (first released in 2013) and the Omega versions fully released on PS4 and Xbox One earlier this year. We've followed up with the company to find out more about the timeline for the game's shutdown.
No further explanation was shared for the decision. Kotaku, which first reported the news, notes that updates and communications from Gazillion have been absent recently. A current and former employee told the site that some people were told to not come into work this week, so it appears this move has been brewing for some time.
As noted above, Marvel Heroes is an action-RPG in the mold of Diablo, but with a free-to-play business model. It features a wide variety of Marvel characters, with players able to obtain everyone from the Avengers to the Guardians of the Galaxy to Inhumans. We'll report back as we learn more about how Marvel is handling the shutdown.
The title of the sequel to the last year's hit Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them has been confirmed. The next Harry Potter spin-off will be titled Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and is set to hit theaters in November 2018.
The cast of the movie have also been revealed in a short teaser, which you can view above. As well returning stars Eddie Redmayne (as Newt Scamander), Katherine Waterston (Tina), Alison Sudol (Queenie), Dan Fogler (Jacob), and Ezra Miller (Credence), we have a first look at Jude Law will play the young Dumbledore.
Johnny Depp is pictured as the villainous Gellert Grindelwald, following his brief appearance at the end of the first movie. Other new characters who appear in the teaser include Newt's brother, Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner), his fiance Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz), and a currently unnamed character played by Claudia Kim. All we know is that she a "Maledictus," and she can transform into a wild beast.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is directed by David Yates, who helmed the last movie, as well as the final four Harry Potter movies. It's set for a November 16, 2018 release, and according to Potter creator JK Rowling, will be the second of five movies. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them made more than $814 million at the worldwide box office.
At the E3 PC Gaming Show this year, developer Harebrained Schemes revealed that upcoming strategy game BattleTech will feature an open-ended mercenary campaign mode in addition to single-player and multiplayer skirmishes. The team recently visited the GameSpot office to show off the campaign mode, which you can check out in the video above.
Like previous games in the series, you play as a mercenary in the year 3025. You command a crew and a group of MechWarriors, and you take on contracts for money and fight alongside them. The above video shows just the battle portion, but a large part of your job in BattleTech is to manage and upgrade your mechs--all while staying profitable. See more of the sim mode in the images below.
The game may look overwhelming, but learning how to fight is actually pretty intuitive. This mission is centered around two objectives, one of which has a turret generator that needs to be destroyed as soon as possible. Mech positioning is a critical part of success, since where you're facing and standing affects buffs and other combat benefits in addition to who can fire at you.
BattleTech is a strategy game set in the existing universe of the same name. You can learn more about the story, mechs, and everything else on the game's Kickstarter page.
With Black Friday 2017 right around the corner, we've gotten a look at the deals many retailers will offer this year. That includes a wide variety for Sony's PlayStation 4--and virtually none for its older platforms, PS3 and Vita. We've rounded up all of the deals for those with a PS4 (or those looking to purchase one) below, and we'll continue to update this as Black Friday draws nearer and we learn about more.
On the console side, things are very simple (at least at this point). Rather than bundling the system with a variety of games, you'll be able to pick up the standard, 1 TB PS4 Slim for about $200 at a number of retailers. (Walmart will offer it for $199, just because it can.) The best option might be at Kohl's, which is giving away $15 Kohl's Cash with every $50 you spend. It will also be selling the PS4 for $200, letting you earn $60 in what are effectively limited-time gift cards; this Kohl's Cash has to be used between November 26 and December 6.
Unfortunately, those looking to pick up Sony's 4K-capable console, the PS4 Pro, may be out of luck; there's been no advertised deals for the system as of yet. Barring any as-of-yet unrevealed offers, that would leave it at its current $400 price (or $450 for the special-edition Destiny 2 and Star Wars Battlefront II models).
DualShock 4 controllers will see a pretty standard $20 price cut, dropping them down to $40 at many stores; that includes special colors which can only be had at Best Buy (Red Crystal) and Walmart (Blue Crystal).PlayStation VR will also be on sale--it will go as low as $200 at Target, but that only gets you the headset itself, and not the required camera (which you might already own). Elsewhere, you'll find the GT Sport PSVR bundle for $300 and the Skyrim PSVR bundle for $350. Various headsets will be discounted, and Target will take $10 off a PlayStation Plus membership--but possibly only for the $60, 12-month subscription.
In terms of games, there are a ton on sale, with specific pricing varying by retailer. Walmart frequently has the best prices, but that's not true in all cases, so you'll want to plan ahead if you're hoping to maximize your savings. These discounts include many recent releases: at their cheapest, you'll be able to get Call of Duty: WWII for $40 (Best Buy), Assassin's Creed Origins for $35 (Best Buy/Target), Destiny 2 for $30 (Best Buy/Target), NBA 2K18 for $29 (Walmart), Need for Speed Payback for $35 (Best Buy/Target), and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus for $25 (Best Buy). Some of the year's biggest PS4 exclusives also see discounts, such as Persona 5 for $29 (Walmart), Horizon: Zero Dawn for $19 (Walmart), and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for $29 (Walmart).
Below, you'll find our comprehensive list of PS4 deals. As noted above, we'll update this as we get the word on more deals from retailers. We don't yet know what to expect from Amazon, for instance, or the PlayStation Store Black Friday sale that begins on November 17 for PS Plus members (and November 21 for everyone else). Those are sure to bring even more deals, while others may be unlisted for the time being, so check back with us in the lead up to Black Friday. For more, check out retailer-specific deals breakdowns through the links below.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has made its way to the Nintendo Switch so Erick and Kallie check it out.
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