Star Trek: Bridge Crew gives you a cool way of experiencing the Star Trek universe: hop into a virtual ship with several friends, each of whom takes on a different role, and confront challenges and obstacles together. Up until now it required either a Vive, Rift, or PlayStation VR headset to play. But today, Ubisoft updated the game so that you can play it even if you don't own a VR headset.
Now, anyone who owns the game on PS4 or PC can check it out with just a controller or mouse and keyboard. In addition, players with VR headsets can join games with non-VR players. This will certainly make it a lot easier to fill out your crew, now that the barrier to entry is much lower. You can check out Ubisoft's developer commentary on the patch in the video below.
In addition to removing the VR requirement, this update also adds "enhanced Windows Mixed Reality support." Although it's unclear how the game will work on Mixed Reality headsets, Ubisoft promises that it will add "more options for players to explore uncharted space."
If you're interested in learning more about the game, check out our 6/10 review of the VR version of Star Trek: Bridge Crew. GameSpot critic Justin Clark wrote, "When the game is at its best, the spirit of cooperation between various asymmetrical elements is encouraging--even special. In every other regard, however, Bridge Crew is forgettable the second you pull out of VR."
Disclosure: GameSpot's parent company, CBS, owns the rights to Star Trek.
Following its recent sales, Valve has launched the next big seasonal promotion on Steam. Hundreds of PC games are now discounted through early January, offering an opportunity to expand your backlog and ensure you can fill every moment of free time you have coming up. Coinciding with this, the Steam Awards are officially live.
That's just a small sampling of what's on sale right now; you can see everything that's discounted here. Even if you're not interested in spending any money, there's still a reason to check out Steam, as you can now vote for the Steam Awards. These were nominated during a previous sale and are generally in unconventional categories, such as Mom's Spaghetti and Defies Description. A different category will be up for voting each day, and you'll receive a Steam Awards trading card each time you cast a vote. Winners will be announced on January 3.
Microsoft has announced this week's lineup of Xbox One and Xbox 360 deals for the United States. The list of offers is not all that extensive or impressive, though there are some good deals to be had depending on what you are looking for.
Moving to Xbox 360, Street Fighter IV is down to $14, while Super Street Fighter IV can be had for only $12. Additionally, Ultra Street Fighter IV is discounted to $7.50. A bunch of Transformers titles are on sale as well, including Transformers: War for Cybertron ($7.50), Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($25), Transformers: Fall of Cybertron ($10), and Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark ($14).
Go to Major Nelson's blog to see a full rundown of what's on sale this week across Xbox One and Xbox 360, with prices for specific regions and more.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been in theaters for a week now, and is already massive box office hit. But despite the the strong critical response, film has been met with a more mixed reaction from fans, with some objecting to narrative and character decisions made by writer/director Rian Johnson. It turns out that Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill also has a few issues with how his character is portrayed. Warning, big spoilers ahead!
In a new interview uploaded by Youtube channel Jar Jar Abrams, Hamill reveals that the Luke in The Last Jedi "is not my Luke Skywalker." Specifically, the actor states that the Luke from the classic Star Wars trilogy would never end up in the place that we find him in at the start of The Last Jedi; a broken, disillusioned man who has exiled himself to a remote planet to die and take the entire Jedi order with him.
"I said to Rian, 'Jedis don't give up.' I mean, even if [Luke] had a problem, he would maybe take a year to try and regroup. But if he made a mistake, he would try and right that wrong, so right there, we had a fundamental difference," Hamill said. "But it's not my story anymore, it's somebody else's story and Rian needed me to be a certain way to make the ending effective. That's the crux of my problem. Luke would never say that. I'm sorry."
Hamill went on to admit that this classic character was now in different hands, and the Luke that he still thinks of is the one that George Lucas created for his movies, "I'm talking about the George Lucas Star Wars, this is the next generation of Star Wars," he said. "I almost had to think of Luke as another character. Maybe he's 'Jake Skywalker.' He's not my Luke Skywalker. But I had to do what Rian wanted me to do because it serves the story well.
"Listen, I still haven't accepted it completely, but, it's only a movie. I hope people like it. I hope they don't get upset. I came to really believe that Rian was the exact man they needed for this job."
Hamill actually spoke about his disagreements with Johnson about the direction of the movie back in April. In an interview with ABC, he said that he "fundamentally disagreed with virtually everything" that would happen to Luke in the The Last Jedi.
Another controversial aspect of The Last Jedi is the truth about Rey's parents. Despite the number of fan theories that have built up ever since The Force Awakens was released, in the new movie we discover that her parents were no one of any note. This week, Johnson defended this decision, stating, "I can understand why that answer doesn't feel good. It's not supposed to feel good. It's supposed to be the hardest thing she could possibly hear in that moment."
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is now officially out on PC. With the 1.0 release comes a new desert map called Miramar, which was recently available to try out on the PUBG test servers. In the video above, we outline the new guns, vehicles, mechanics, and more that Miramar brings to the game, and how to best take advantage of the additions to get the coveted chicken dinner.
Miramar adds three new vehicles that aren't available on the island map: the minibus, the pickup truck, and the jetski. You'll probably use the pickup truck the most, as it's the most reliable vehicle on the map, and the jetski least, since there aren't any rivers running through Miramar. The bus is useful for squad games and provides a lot of cover, but it's painfully slow.
Of the new weapons, the sawed-off shotgun is the most exciting. It takes the spot of a sidearm rather than a primary weapon, meaning you can pack the power of a shotgun without sacrificing an assault rifle slot. The map also adds the R45, a .45 revolver that comes with a speed loader and is useful in a pinch at medium range. Finally, you can safely ignore the new Win94 rifle--it is incompatible with most weapon attachments and is horribly slow to reload.
The release of Miramar also marks the addition of vaulting to PUBG, which not only makes your life easier, but allows you to vault through windows. That allows you to quickly escape a building when you're pinned down or get the drop on an unsuspecting opponent.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds first hit Early Access nine months ago, and has become a major success since then. For details on everything new and improved in PUBG's 1.0 PC launch, you can read the full patch notes.
2017 was a big year for Star Wars--but these days, it's always a big year for Star Wars. Disney's been cranking out new material set in a galaxy far, far away since 2014, and it's not going to stop any time soon. Still, fans have been speculating about The Last Jedi ever since The Force Awakens ended on a massive cliffhanger two years ago. 2017 also saw the release of a major but controversial Star Wars video game, a number of new comic books and novels, and the start of Star Wars Rebels' final season. Did Disney and Lucasfilm deliver?
Yes and no. Here's how Star Wars fared in 2017.
The Most Divisive Star Wars Movie Ever Made
The Last Jedi shouldn't work at all. It subverts and dismantles the tropes that have defined Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back. It gleefully tears apart The Force Awakens' carefully constructed (but possibly empty) puzzle boxes, and leaves many of that film's plot threads dangling. It's full of slapstick comedy, even during otherwise serious scenes. It makes Star Wars' black-and-white morality system infinitely more complicated. It's unabashedly and proudly weird.
And yet, The Last Jedi also adds much-needed depth to The Force Awakens' new characters, especially Poe Dameron, elevating them beyond simple archetypes. It recontextualizes the original trilogy in unexpected ways. Director and writer Rian Johnson threw tradition out the window, making Star Wars truly unpredictable for the first time in years.
Critics and casual viewers seem to love The Last Jedi. Hardcore fan reception is mixed, and with good reason. The Last Jedi thumbs its nose at the past two years worth of fan theories and speculation, implying that none of it matters. More than one character in the Last Jedi says that it's time for the past to die, and the movie embraces that message wholeheartedly. Depending on your point of view, that's either thrilling or terrifying. Fans either want Star Wars to change, or they want it to stay the same. Right now, there doesn't seem to be much middle ground.
Traditionalists might find some solace in the upcoming Star Wars spin-offs. This summer, Lucasfilm fired directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller while they were shooting Solo, the Han Solo-centric feature film, and replaced them with Ron Howard. In September, Disney announced that Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow won't direct Episode IX as planned; The Force Awakens' J. J. Abrams will take his place.
As directors, Howard and Abrams are proven crowd-pleasers, but they're also safe and not exactly diverse choices. The Star Wars universe is big enough to accommodate all kinds of voices and stories, but the latest hiring decisions have raised concerns that Disney will stick to too closely to conventions. Of course, in November, Lucasfilm announced that Johnson is getting his own Star Wars trilogy sometime after Episode IX, focusing on brand new characters. Who knows? Maybe there's room for both the old and the new going forward.
Battlefront II Crashes In Controversy
In the lead-up to Star Wars Battlefront II, Electronic Arts and DICE said all the right things. Star Wars Battlefront II has locations and characters from all three Star Wars eras. It has more (and better) maps than its predecessor. It's got a single-player campaign with a story. It has space battles. All of the game's downloadable content is free.
EA delivered on all of those promises, but with one big catch: in Star Wars Battlefront II, you upgrade your characters with cards collected from semi-randomized containers called loot boxes. You can buy those loot boxes with credits you earn by playing the game, but Battlefront II doesn't dole out in-game cash very quickly. As designed, it's easier to buy loot boxes with real-life money.
In essence, people who are willing to pay extra can get a big competitive advantage. Understandably, that was not a popular decision. In response to pressure from fans (and, reportedly, Disney itself), EA removed the ability to purchase loot boxes using real dollars, but that only fixed part of the problem. Earning credits is still a slow and tedious process, and the system heavily favors players who can afford to invest a bunch of time into the game.
The backlash spurred some governments to investigating whether loot boxes should be treated as a form of gambling. Thanks to Battlefront II, politicians have called for the gaming industry to self-regulate loot boxes, or abandon them entirely. Meanwhile, some players are attaching rubber bands to their controllers in order to level up instead of, y'know, actually playing the game.
That's a shame. There's a solid, if simple, shooter at Battlefront II's core, but the loot box controversy is going to be the game's enduring legacy. It's not clear whether relief for beleaguered gamers is on the way, either. In October, Electronic Arts shut down Visceral Games, effectively canceling Uncharted director Amy Hennig's mysterious, story-heavy Star Wars title. Technically, development on the title shifted to EA Vancouver, but EA's statements make it sound like it won't be the same game--if it comes out at all.
The Books Are For Side Stories
Disney and Lucasfilm released nine Star Wars novels in 2017, and the majority of them are pretty good. However, three years after Disney reset the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the pattern is clear. The big moments happen on-screen. Print expands the world and fleshes out the characters but doesn't really progress the plot.
This year, that meant readers got a lot of origin stories. If you want to know how Leia met The Last Jedi's Vice Admiral Holdo, or what the Rebel bunker on Crait was originally used for, Claudia Gray's Leia, Princess of Alderaan will fill you in. Timothy Zahn's Thrawn tells how the Grand Admiral rose to power before tormenting the cast of Star Wars Rebels. Rebel Rising explains what happened to Jyn Erso before she ended up in a prison cell in Rogue One, while Christie Golden's Battlefront II: Inferno Squad gives the video game's cast some much needed depth.
Those are all interesting stories, but none are essential. You can enjoy and understand The Last Jedi, Rebels, Rogue One, and Battlefront II without reading a word of prose. 2017's Star Wars novels are well-written and full of interesting trivia (except for Delilah S. Dawson's Phasma, which, like its title character, was a wasted opportunity), but they're not crucial to the Star Wars mythos. Treat them like excuses to spend more time with your favorite characters, and you'll have a much better reading experience.
A Period Of Transition at Marvel
Compared to past years, Marvel's Star Wars comics lost some momentum. Previously, the line kept the stories vital by taking advantage of comics' unlimited special effects budget to tell big stories (Luke and his team stealing a Star Destroyer, for example) and by treating small plot points like big revelations. We didn't really need to know what happened when Darth Vader learned that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star was his son, but Jason Aaron and John Cassaday made that moment a pivotal scene in Star Wars history.
By those standards, 2017 fell short. The Screaming Citadel arc, which teamed up Luke Skywalker with the rogue archeologist Doctor Aphra, pushed Star Wars even further toward its fantasy roots and never quite came together. Jason Aaron's last issues on the main Star Wars title ended his run with a whimper, not a bang.
But there were bright spots. Other than the Screaming Citadel issues, Doctor Aphra's ongoing series is full of thrilling, quirky crime/adventure stories that feel right at home in the Star Wars universe. Even better, they aren't governed by a predetermined endpoint. Since Doctor Aphra and her friends are new characters, anything might happen to them.
Not only that, but Doctor Aphra's writer and creator, Kieron Gillen, just took over scripting duties on the main title. The new Darth Vader series is off to a good start, and the various character-driven mini-series are optional but well-made. In 2017, Marvel's Star Wars line may not have been at its best, but honestly, that's an awfully high bar to clear.
Don't Forget About The Small Screen
Last spring, Star Wars Rebels wrapped up its third season on a couple of down notes. Darth Maul's quest for revenge against Obi-Wan Kenobi ended with a lightsaber duel that felt awfully rushed. The season three finale, "Zero Hour," concluded with our heroes defeated, their plans in disarray, and Grand Admiral Thrawn hot on their tails.
As Rebels' fourth and final season ramps up, however, the stakes are getting higher and higher. Season four kicked off with a resolution to the Mandalorian Civil War, saw the Ghost's crew finally meet up with the rest of the Rebel Alliance on Yavin IV, and is quickly moving toward Grand Admiral Thrawn's endgame. With both Ezra and Kanan Jarrus's fate in question--there aren't any Jedi wandering around in Rogue One or Episode IV, after all--Rebels is kicking into high gear, and should stay there until the series' finale.
But then what? The animated Forces of Destiny series, which focuses on Star Wars' heroines, is fun, but its short episodes are designed for YouTube, not television. Disney announced that a live action Star Wars show will be coming to its exclusive streaming service, which is set to launch in 2019, but without any further details it's hard to get too excited.
Other Matters, In Brief
Carrie Fisher passed away at the tail end of 2016, and fans mourned throughout 2017. Through Star Wars Celebration, Comic-Con, and the recent press tour, the entire year has been filled with moving tributes to Fisher. Whether it was meant to or not, The Last Jedi served as the perfect send-off to Star Wars' leading lady.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Disneyland and Disney World's answer to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, keeps sounding better and better. It's not scheduled to launch until 2019, but if Disney's Imagineers can pull off everything they're promising, fans are never going to want to leave (the immersive hotel/resort in construction at Disney World sounds great, too).
As always, Star Wars merchandise ran the gamut from great to terrible to incomprehensible. On one hand, the Jedi Challenges augmented reality headset is allegedly tons of fun, Fantasy Flight's board games continue to be great, and those black series action figures are pretty slick. On the other, is anyone going to buy a bag of lettuce just because Rey's face is on the package?
If there's a friendlier and more positive fan convention than Disney's semi-annual Star Wars Celebration, we sure haven't heard of it.
Verdict
In 2017, Star Wars became predictable. Disney and Lucasfilm have a formula--release a film every year, and then build comics, books, toys, and other tie-ins around that--but it's a formula that works, and it looks like they'll be sticking to it for a while. Star Wars doesn't have to be high art. It just has to be entertaining, and Battlefront II aside, it was.
Even The Last Jedi; love it or hate it, Episode VIII is going to keep Star Wars fans talking for years to come. For the people who liked it, The Last Jedi marks a turn away from tradition, making the Star Wars universe less predictable and more exciting. Those who didn't, meanwhile, will nevertheless spend their time dissecting the film's merits (or lack thereof) and guessing what everything will mean for the final entry in the sequel trilogy. After all, when it comes to Star Wars, speculation and debate are part of the fun.
The Good
The Bad
The Last Jedi pushed Star Wars into uncharted territory, making the series fresh again.
Star Wars Battlefront II was an epic misfire.
Star Wars Rebels' final season is shaping up to be one of its best.
The Last Jedi proved too different and experimental for some fans, and seems designed to frustrate people who wanted answers to The Force Awakens' mysteries.
Lucasfilm and Disney continue to recruit top-tier talent to produce comics and novels.
The spin-off media feels increasingly irrelevant to Star Wars' ongoing story.
With the upcoming theme parks, television shows, and Rian Johnson's new Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars' future looks awfully bright.
Loot boxes have arguably been the biggest controversy in gaming this year, especially with regards to the boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II. It seems that Apple has taken note of the backlash, as it's implemented more stringent regulations on loot box systems.
Apple updated its App Store requirements recently, adding a clause that forces developers to disclose loot box odds. Now, games with random rewards available for purchase must tell players the chances of getting each type of item in a loot box.
This is notable because the United States currently does not federally require disclosure of odds, although several countries in Asia do require it. Up until now, unless developers voluntarily gave the information, players have had no idea how likely they are to receive especially rare items in any one loot box.
Although this obviously doesn't regulate console games like Destiny 2 and Battlefront II, there are still several big-name mobile titles that will presumably fall under the requirement. Hearthstone, for example, may now have to show its card pack odds for Western audiences, something Blizzard already did for Chinese audiences earlier this year.
Loot boxes are almost certainly here to stay, but greater transparency is good, as it gives players a better idea of what they're spending money on. Hopefully this trend will continue and eventually apply to console games, as well.
Following a beta earlier this month, Capcom will soon allow PlayStation 4 owners to sample the upcoming Monster Hunter: World once again. This time around, it's dumping the PlayStation Plus requirement of the first beta test, allowing everyone on PS4 to give the game a try.
World's second beta kicks off on December 22 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT (4 AM AET on December 23). It will run for a total of four days, ending at the same times on December 26 (or December 27, for those in some time zones). Although PS Plus is not required to download it, you'll presumably still need a subscription if you hope to try out the game's online multiplayer mode, although that is unconfirmed.
Capcom did not say if there would be any new content available in this second beta. Those who participated in the first test will be able to use the same client they already downloaded, so hopefully you haven't deleted it yet. Pre-loading for newcomers has already begun, giving you time to get it downloaded before the beta begins.
Unfortunately, there's still been no word about a beta for Xbox One players. The same is also true for PC, although that comes as less of a surprise given that version doesn't have a release date and won't launch at the same time as the console versions.
One of Destiny 2's major new features arrived recently as part of a post-Curse of Osiris update. Masterworks present what amounts to a new class of weapon, providing players with another thing to hunt down in their journeys. Unfortunately, the way they work can be a little confusing, and as is often the case with Destiny, it's not explained well in-game. Here's what you need to know about Masterworks and Masterwork Cores.
Masterworks are variants of Legendary weapons. They track your kills in either Crucible or PvE, provide Orbs when you secure multi-kills, and--most importantly--provide bonus stat perks. These affect a single attribute--such as reload speed, stability, impact, magazine size, or blast radius--and can be re-rolled if you would prefer a different buff.
You can obtain Masterworks like any other item; once you hit Power level 250, you'll have a chance for Legendary weapons to drop as Masterworks versions. The Raid and Trials of the Nine both offer a "very high chance" for their drops to be Masterworks, making them the most reliable way to obtain new ones. But you're also able to get them from vendors, Strikes, standard Crucible matches, and so on.
An alternative path involves forging a Masterwork yourself, although the cost for doing so is somewhat high. Any Legendary you own now has a new Masterwork Upgrade option on its Details screen. This will allow you to turn a standard Legendary into a Masterwork version; you can choose for a Vanguard or Crucible version, depending on what kills you want it to track. This process costs 25 Legendary Shards and 10 Masterworks Cores.
But how to get Masterwork Cores? That's where the drops become all-important: Unwanted Masterwork weapons can be dismantled, a process which yields Masterwork Cores. The number you'll obtain varies; in our experience, it tends to be 1-3 Cores per dismantle, meaning you may need to acquire quite a few weapons to complete this process.
Masterwork Cores also serve another purpose. As noted above, you can re-roll the stat bonus on your Masterwork weapon. This is called reworking a weapon, and it costs 25 Legendary Shards and three Masterworks Cores. There's no telling what bonus you'll get from reworking, so be sure that you're okay with ditching your current bonus before going through with the process.
Masterworks are expected to expand in the future in a number of ways. Bungie has already said it plans to introduce Masterwork versions for other types of gear in the game. It also plans to highlight the weapons' kill tracking in more ways, such as displaying the number on the Crucible kill screen. In the meantime, you can check out all of the Masterworks weapons we've found so far.
The first batch of December's Games with Gold titles returned to their normal price recently, but a couple of new titles are free right now for Xbox Live Gold members. In addition to the co-op action game Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide, which is available throughout the entire month, Gold members can now pick up a pair of free Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for a limited time.
These two games replace this month's earlier offerings, Telltale's Tales From the Borderlands and the rhythm game Child of Eden. Both of those titles returned to their regular price on December 15. Microsoft has yet to announce January's Games with Gold lineup, though those title will likely be revealed relatively soon.
A new selection of game discounts are now available in the US PlayStation Store. This marks the second week of Sony's big PSN holiday sale, and a load of new deals on many acclaimed PS4, PS3, and Vita games can be found in the digital store ahead of the holidays.
Many of these deals will only be available this week and end on December 26, while others will continue into January. You can find the full list of games that are on sale right now--as well as when their discounts will expire--on the PlayStation Store.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is now officially out on PC, and after a few issues that caused servers to crash, the game is playable again. The game launched overnight, after many hours of server maintenance that took the game offline. Fortunately, there's a free reward waiting for players when they log in.
For the next few weeks, players will receive a free in-game Winner Winner Chicken Dinner t-shirt, which will be dropped into your inventory after logging in. The 1.0 release comes with a few improvements to the game's stability and balance, as well. Developer Bluehole said previous adjustments had reduced stability issues, but it is expecting "progressive improvements" that should make the game more reliable in the near future.
Bluehole also said it's further strengthening cheat prevention measures in the game, after it already introduced improvements that saw a 66 percent drop in the number of players using cheats.
PUBG's 1.0 release brings many new game mechanics to the main game, including climbing and vaulting, which the game's creator says "will change the game severely." The new release also marks the debut of the new desert map called Miramar, which was recently available to try on PUBG's test servers. Players will find new types of obstacles, weapons, and vehicles in Miramar that will affect how you approach the game.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds first hit Early Access nine months ago, and has become a major success since then. The game launched on Xbox One earlier this month, available for $30 via the Xbox Game Preview program, and attracted more than 1 million players in its first 48 hours on the console. That version received its first patch earlier this week, which made "first pass" improvements to its visuals and performance and squashed a number of bugs. For details on everything new and improved in PUBG's 1.0 PC launch, you can read the full patch notes.
When you think about massive, open-world, systems-heavy games, there's a good chance Skyrim and Zelda: Breath of the Wild come to mind. In spite of six years between them, they share a lot in common: they're enormous RPGs with ambient activity everywhere, secrets to discover, and hidden areas to complete. As it turns out, this isn't a coincidence. The Breath of the Wild developer was, in fact, inspired partly by Skyrim.
We recently sat down with game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and producer Eiji Aonuma to discuss the genesis of Breath of the Wild and how the developer pulled off such a huge game. They explained that they didn't look to other titles for elements or features to pull from them. In fact, Fujibayashi doesn't actually play that many games at all.
"I don't actually myself play a lot of other games," Fujibayashi explained through a translator. "I obviously am well versed in them, I know what's happening in them. But this ending up in this kind of bigger open world really started from the prototype stage where, just kind of naturally by virtue of what we wanted to do in this game, we started to realize that we absolutely do need this bigger open world in order to make the kind of game that we wanted."
However, the studio did look to Skyrim to learn more about the challenges of making open-world games. Having never tackled anything at Breath of the Wild's scale before, the team needed data and material to research. According to Aonuma, Skyrim helped provide some of that data.
"In the past I've also actually said that I have played Skyrim, so it's not necessarily that I don't play games," Aonuma stated. "But we don't look at it from, 'Oh, what kind of things can we take from this game?' It's more of like, 'How can we prepare for this? What should we expect from games like this?'"
"And so we also think about how many people we might need, or how we can make it improved, or with the number of people," he continued. "We would collect data and then work and see what worked, what didn't."
In other words, it appears that even though Breath of the Wild doesn't owe its existence to Skyrim, the studio nonetheless researched Bethesda's game to help understand how to improve the open-world RPG formula. And, like Skyrim before it, it appears that Breath of the Wild is a new benchmark in the genre.
Breath of the Wild was recently given GameSpot's Game of the Year award for 2017. In our feature, critic Peter Brown explains, "Like the most meaningful and landmark games of the past, Breath of the Wild is a game that will be discussed and analyzed for years to come. Everyone agrees that 2017 was an amazing year for games, but none other than Breath of the Wild can be considered a milestone for the medium at large."
We're now well into December, and this month has brought with it a new batch of free games for PlayStation Plus members. A total of six more games are now available for download to Plus subscribers, including a total of as many as four on PlayStation 4 (or five if you're in Europe).
PS4's lineup is headlined by Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, a remastered version of the 2012 Zelda-esque action game. This version includes all of the original release's DLC along with a variety of technical improvements. It's free this month alongside Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends. A PSVR freebie from November, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, remains free throughout this month, and those in Europe can also pick up That's You for free. Additionally, thanks to Cross-Buy, Forma 8 is available on PS4 in addition to Vita.
The PS3 side features Xblaze: Lost Memories and Syberia Collection, the latter of which is a compilation of the two Syberia adventure games. In addition to the aforementioned Forma 8, Vita owners can download Wanted Corp for free.
All of these games are available now for PS Plus members on the PlayStation Store. They'll be free to download until Tuesday, January 2, when Sony will replace them with the next batch of freebies. Claiming these games allows you to play them as much as you want for as long as you have an active Plus membership.
In addition to the free game downloads, PS Plus subscribers receive some other bonuses this month. Plus members got exclusive access to the Monster Hunter World beta, which ran from December 9-12 on PS4. They can also now get the PlayStation Plus Pack for free-to-play game Smite, which consists of various characters, skins, and voice packs.
With the arrival of the holidays comes a slew of new shows and movies on Netflix. It's a particularly busy month for the streamer, with many holiday specials joining the service, alongside several Netflix originals and a number of new library titles. With popular titles like V for Vendetta, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Black Mirror, and Disney's The Santa Clause trilogy arriving, December has been a busy month for streaming.
However, it's a Netflix original movie that you should be paying closest attention to. December 22 will see the premiere of Bright, starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. The fantasy crime movie is directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad) with a script by Max Landis (American Ultra). The film marks Smith's first time starring in a Netflix project and he's certainly picked an interesting one.
Bright is set in a world where humans and fantasy creatures coexist. Smith plays an LAPD officer who is partnered with an Orc (Edgerton) when they find a very powerful magic wand that has the potential to change the world. Other new entries include Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, a new season of The Ranch, and Dave Chappelle's latest stand-up comedy special. It's not all good news, though.
There are also many titles departing the service in December. Black Snake Moan, Practical Magic, and 11 seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are just a few of the movies and shows that will no longer be available after the end of 2017. So make sure you watch them while you still can.
You can take a look at the full list of what's coming and going on Netflix throughout December below. You can also see everything that's arrived in November.
Arriving on Netflix, December 2017
December 1
8 Mile
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
All Hail King Julien: Season 5 (Netflix Original)
A StoryBots Christmas (Netflix Original)
August Rush
Chef & My Fridge: 2017
Dark: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Diana: In Her Own Words
Dreamcatcher
DreamWorks Home: For the Holidays (Netflix Original)
Easy: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Exporting Raymond
Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story
Full Metal Jacket
Hitch
My Happy Family (Netflix Original)
Nacho Libre
Sahara
The Farthest - Voyager in Space
The Little Rascals
The Wackness
The Young Victoria
Tyson
V for Vendetta
TURN: Washington's Spies: Season 4
Voyeur (Netflix Original)
While You Were Sleeping
December 4
When Calls the Heart: Season 4
December 5
Craig Ferguson: Tickle Fight (Netflix Original)
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
December 6
Trolls Holiday Special
December 8
El Camino Christmas (Netflix Original)
The Crown: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
December 11
Catwoman
The Magicians: Season 2
December 12
Disney's The Santa Clause
Disney's The Santa Clause 2
Disney's The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Judd Apatow: The Return (Netflix Original)
December 14
41 Dogs in My Home
A&E: When Patients Attack
Ainsley Eats the Streets: Season 1
Halt and Catch Fire: Season 4
December 15
A Five Star Life
Christmas Inheritance (Netflix Original)
Discovering Bigfoot
El Señor de los Cielos: Season 5
Erased: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Freeway: Crack In The System
Neverlake
Pottersville
Reggie Yates Outside Man: Volume 2
The Haunting of Helena
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer
The Ranch: Part 4 (Netflix Original)
Trollhunters: Part 2 (Netflix Original)
Ultimate Beastmaster (Netflix Original)
Wormwood (Netflix Original)
December 18
Hello, My Twenties!: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
December 19
Miss Me This Christmas
Russell Howard: Recalibrate (Netflix Original)
The Indian Detective: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
You Can't Fight Christmas
December 20
La Casa de Papel: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
December 21
Peaky Blinders: Season 4 (Netflix Original)
December 22
72 Dangerous Animals: Latin America: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Bright (Netflix Original)
Dope: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Fuller House: Season 3, New Episodes (Netflix Original)
Rosario Tijeras: Season 1
The Toys That Made Us: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
December 23
Creep 2
Myths & Monsters: Season 1
December 25
Cable Girls: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Planet Earth II
December 26
Todd Barry: Spicy Honey (Netflix Original)
Travelers: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
All Hail King Julien: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
Beat Bugs: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
Larva: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
Pororo: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
Puffin Rock: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
Skylanders Academy: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
Trollhunters: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
True and The Rainbow Kingdom: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
Word Party: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018
December 27
Pusher
December 29
Bill Nye Saves the World: Season 2: Part 1 (Netflix Original)
Black Mirror: Season 4
Killer Legends
La Mante: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Shelter
The Climb (Netflix Original)
December 31
Dave Chappelle: Equanimity (Netflix Original)
Fun Mom Dinner
Leaving Netflix, December 2017
December 1
All I Want for Christmas
Bedazzled
Black Snake Moan
Compulsion
Cousin Bette
Hoffa
La Viuda Negra: Season 1
Picture Perfect
Practical Magic
Rebelde
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
Super Size Me
Terriers: Season 1
The Crucible
The Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus
The Man from Snowy River
Touch: Season 2
Toys
Two Girls and a Guy
Waking Life
Young Frankenstein
Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal: Seasons 1-2
December 5
Holes
December 9
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1-11
December 10
Lucky Number Slevin
Nightcrawler
The Rite
December 11
Dollhouse: Season 2
December 13
The Queen of Versailles
December 15
America's Funniest Home Video Kids: Holidazed
America's Funniest Home Videos Kids: Animals with Attitude: Season 1
America's Funniest Home Videos Kids: It's Tough Being a Kid: Season 1
America's Funniest Home Videos Kids: Playtime Ain't for Wimps: Season 1
America's Funniest Home Videos: New Collection D: Nincompoop Nation
Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself
December 19
Dance Academy: Series 1-3
December 20
Che: Parts 1 & 2
December 24
Amores Perros
December 25
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pokemon Go's second Christmas event is scheduled to begin very soon. Like last year's holiday event, it introduces new Pokemon to the popular mobile game, makes it easier to get your hands on Pokemon Eggs, and brings back a festive Pikachu for a limited time.
Beginning at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM GMT today, December 21, Ice-type Pokemon will appear more frequently in Pokemon Go, and players will have another chance to encounter a Santa hat Pikachu for the duration of the event. Like last year, it can evolve into a Santa hat Raichu, and this time players have a chance to hatch a Santa hat Pichu, as well. Niantic is also adding an additional 20 Ice- and Water-type Pokemon originally from Ruby and Sapphire to the game, including Milotic, Sharpedo, Wailord, Walrein, Relicanth, and more.
What's most interesting, however, is that Niantic also teased that another Legendary Pokemon from the Hoenn region may appear in Pokemon Go during the holiday event. In the promotional artwork the studio shared today, the Legendary Water-type Kyogre could be seen among the other new monsters being added to Pokemon Go. You can take a look at the image below.
While not outright confirmation that Kyogre will be available in Pokemon Go soon, it seems to be the next Legendary in line for the mobile game. Its counterpart from Pokemon Ruby, Groudon, is currently available and is thus far the only Gen 3 Legendary to appear in Pokemon Go. Players can still encounter Groudon in Raid Battles at Gyms until January 15, 2018.
In addition to the new Pokemon, players will have a chance to earn rare items during this year's holiday event. From December 22-25, you're guaranteed to receive an Egg Incubator the first time you visit a PokeStop and spin the Photo Disc on each of those days. A variety of holiday bundles are also on sale, each of which includes a new Star Piece item that increases the amount of Stardust you earn for a limited time. Pokemon Go's holiday event runs until January 4.
It's putting it lightly to say Marvel had a tumultuous 2017. With the comics end of the business seemingly hopscotching from controversy to controversy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe dug its heels into some vibrant, fresh new ground, making the sharp divide between the two divisions of the brand even more stark than they were before.
From major editorial and creative shake-ups to baffling promotional snafus, it's been a wild ride all around. Let's take a look back at how it all adds up.
The MCU Maintains Momentum
Marvel's film franchises had a spectacular year. They released three films this year: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and finally Thor: Ragnarok, all three of which netted themselves high scores on Rotten Tomatoes with Thor and Spider-Man sitting at 92% and Guardians coming in at 83%. Beyond the MCU proper, Sony released Logan to massive acclaim, providing a renewed sense of confidence and voice for the X-Men film universe after 2016's X-Men: Age of Apocalypse provoked a mixed response from fans and critics.
While Logan pushed the conversation about the future and place of R-rated superhero films at large, both Ragnarok and Homecoming signified the start of a major shift in the MCU's filmmaking ideology, breaking away from the formula of near invisible direction and lack of "personal" style that corralled the first two phases of the film franchises. Ragnarok especially got its fair share of accolades for director Taika Waititi's unique directorial voice.
Now, with both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War on the docket for next year, the MCU seems to only be getting better and more confident with age--and Marvel, understandably, seems to have no interest in pumping the brakes now. This year also saw the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, a new ride at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, the first MCU-themed ride in either of the America-based Disney parks.
It's apparently not the last, however. Despite being (understandably) dominated by Star Wars announcements, this year's D23 Expo also dropped some teases about future Disney Parks projects relating to Marvel properties both in the US and abroad, confirming that a "Marvel Land" was in the works.
Small Screens Keep Up The Pace
While less universally acclaimed than their big screen cousins, Marvel's TV efforts had a decent showing this year. 2017 brought the next phase of the Netflix universe with the much-maligned Iron Fist and Defenders, but The Punisher picked up the pace. Meanwhile, Hulu entered the ring with Runaways, and Freeform debuted the first teaser for their Cloak & Dagger project set to premier in 2018.
The non-streaming TV projects, however, did not enjoy the same sort of energy. ABC's Inhumans fell flat almost immediately after its release, despite an ostentatious IMAX screening initiative. It completed its first season this year, but the current buzz is that it won't be receiving a second.
ABC's other Marvel project, Agents of Shield, entered its fifth season this year despite declining numbers and the looming threat of cancellation with the promise to shake up the status quo. However, its late-in-the-year start (episode one dropped on December 1st) makes it difficult to predict how successful it will be going forward.
In The Shadow of Secret Empire
Unfortunately, things begin careening downhill just about everywhere outside of theaters for Marvel this year. The comics inherited a storm cloud from 2016's much maligned Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, which revealed that Steve Rogers had been cosmically manipulated, an agent for the fictionalized Nazi organization Hydra his entire life. This reveal had the unfortunate timing of coming hot on the heels of a massive, unrelated, and unofficial social media hashtag effort--#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend,--which, needless to say, didn't prime many fans in a positive way for the fascist twist.
This year the reveal finally paid off, building into a line-wide crossover event called Secret Empire which nailed down the bulk of Marvel's publishing and promotional efforts between April and September--and surprising no one, considering the tone of the original twist reveal, critical response was incredibly polarizing. Social media became a battleground between those in favor and those against, with creators and industry pros often coming down on one side or the other in ways that only drew further lines in the sand.
Things got even more heated when Marvel announced a retailer promotional incentive where comic shops would be encouraged to stage "Hydra takeovers" of their stores by putting up Hydra-oriented branding. Some retailers were happy to participate in the viral campaign while others were adamantly opposed, citing Hydra's Nazi-flavored ethos being in poor taste given the political climate of the country.
Secret Empire came to a close in September, which meant, for better or for worse, it dominated nearly a full nine months of Marvel's year on the comics end--a big chunk of time for something that proved to be as brutally divisive as it was.
Promotional Confusion And Controversy
Secret Empire wasn't the only controversial move Marvel made this year with their comics. Things got a little strange starting with the announcement of Marvel Legacy, the newest line initiative supposed to be spiraling out of Secret Empire's finale. Announced via press release in April, Legacy seemed to many fans to be aping the DC Rebirth formula--a giant sized one-shot event book that would kickstart a new slate of ongoings.
In practice, that wasn't what happened. Legacy turned out to not be a line-wide reboot at all, but instead a line-wide renumbering of current ongoings to their cumulative totals (Captain America jumped to issue #635, and so on). Only a handful of books changed creative tracks at all, leaving fans and critics wondering just what Legacy's lasting effect on the disparate parts of the greater Marvel Universe would be.
Leading up to and following the release of Marvel Legacy #1 in September, a slate of new limited series and one-shots were added to the Legacy slate, as well as a new ongoing, Marvel Two-in-One, which set about to return the Fantastic Four to active duty after a nearly three year absence. Later still, a new X-Men ongoing was announced, X-Men: Red, bringing Legacy's ongoing slate up to an intimidating 55 books, set for a staggered roll out into 2018--meaning the question of just what Legacy will mean for the the Marvel Universe as a whole is still very much unanswered.
Meanwhile, Marvel suffered two major editorial and creative shake ups this year. The first was the departure of long-time exclusive writer Brian Michael Bendis, who announced in November that he would be leaving to work exclusively for competitor DC Comics for the first time in nearly twenty years. Almost immediately following Bendis' departure, it was announced that long time Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso had been let go from the company. His replacement came from within: Longtime talent scout C.B. Cebulski officially stepped into the role in the last week of November.
But the transition was anything but smooth. On Cebulski's first day in the new position, news broke that he had adopted and written comics at Marvel and Dark Horse under the false identity "Akira Yoshida" nearly a decade ago while also acting as a Marvel editor.
That was met with a mix of shock, offense, and support from both fans and comics pros, continuing Marvel's 2017 trend of starkly divisive news.
Other Matters, In Brief
Despite not fitting under the official MCU banner, the first trailer for New Mutants dropped this year to a generally positive reception.
Female Marvel employees launched a hashtag campaign, #MakeMineMilkshake, after editor Heather Antos was subjected to vicious online harassment following the posting of a selfie on Twitter. The campaign garnered both support and criticism from comics pros and fans, but had the net-positive effect of drumming up discussion about the comics industry's ongoing and systemic issue with gendered harassment.
At New York Comic Con, Marvel announced a promotional tie-in comic for military contractor Northrop Grumman, which garnered immediate backlash for what fans viewed as pro-military, pro-violence propaganda aimed at children. The tie-in comic and at-con "activation" for Northrop Grumman was canceled almost immediately following the outcry.
The Verdict
2017 was a rough year for Marvel. While the MCU tried its level best to pick up the slack, the comics side of the company seemed unable to keep itself from repeatedly stumbling, making the two halves of what ought to be a singular whole feel more disparate than ever before.
Regardless as to which side you came down on on any of Marvel's many 2017 controversies, the recurring motif was widespread polarization between fans and creators a like, something which fostered escalating and extreme reactions with very little middle ground to be found--not a very healthy or comfortable state for any part of pop culture to exist in long term.
With any luck, 2018 will bring some of the positive energy and momentum being experienced in the MCU over to the comics, but the all around gloomy shadow of 2017 is going to be a challenging one to escape from.
The Good
The Bad
Auteur focused films made the MCU fill fresh and vibrant despite its longevity.
Secret Empire set the tone for the year with divisive and polarizing takes from both fans and critics.
Logan brought new mainstream credence and respect to superhero movies as a genre.
Confusing and muddled promotional efforts with Northrop Grumman sent mixed messages.
Women at Marvel spearheaded an effort to bring harassment in the comics industry to the forefront of conversation.
Following its confusing announcement, Marvel Legacy has yet to provide any tangible change or rejuvenation to the line.
The long awaited return of the Fantastic Four was announced with Marvel Two-in-One.
Newly promoted Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski revealed that he had been writing under the assumed identity of Akira Yoshida, prompting more controversy still.
Legendary and 20-year Marvel exclusive creator Brian Michael Bendis jumped ship after signing exclusively with DC.
TV efforts, including Iron Fist and Defenders, fizzled, including a bombastic attempt at an IMAX debut for Inhumans.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has quickly become a big hit on Xbox One, attracting more than 1 million players in its first 48 hours on the console. The title is available for $30 via the Xbox Game Preview program, but those who are interested in picking it up may want to consider purchasing it from Newegg, as a new deal will net you an additional game for free.
For a very limited time, you can get a free copy of the critically acclaimed Titanfall 2 when you purchase PUBG on Newegg (via Wario64). The battle royale game costs its normal early access price of $30, making this an enticing deal as you can get another great shooter for no additional charge. However, the offer will only be available for a few more hours and expires later today, December 21, so you'd better act fast if you hope to take advantage of it.
PUBG made its Xbox One debut last week, on December 12. It recently received its first update on the console, which addressed a number of bugs and made "first pass" improvements to the game's visuals and performance. PUBG is also one of the many titles that are enhanced on Xbox One X. If you're interested in picking up the new console, you can get a free copy of PUBG with a new Xbox One X for a limited time through the holidays.
DC made no shortage of promises to fans last year. Between the growing anxiety swirling around the release of the Wonder Woman film after her polarizing character debut in 2015's Batman vs. Superman and the launch of their new Rebirth line of comics, 2017 was the year for them to put their money where their proverbial mouth is. The pressure was on in a major way, not only to deliver the first ever mainstream female-focused superhero movie, but maintain the intense workload, price point, and quality standard they'd set for themselves back in 2016.
The bar was set pretty high. Were they able to deliver? Let's take a look back at some of the peaks and valleys of 2017 for DC Entertainment.
Film Franchises Get (A Little) Hopeful
2017 was a watershed year for the DCEU in some ways and a sticking point in others. The film franchises have had a tumultuous road to follow with no shortage of slack to pick up since 2013's Man of Steel--a rough ride that only got rougher with 2015's critically panned Batman vs. Superman and 2016's even more critically panned Suicide Squad.
But that's where the story begins to turn around. 2017 provided a surprise "rebirth" for the DCEU in the form of Wonder Woman, a film that dominated its opening month in the box office and garnered a massive amount of praise from both fans and critics alike, netting it a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Wonder Woman was a game changer and an impressive 180 from the tone and the mood of the DCEU's previous entries--but it wasn't exactly the magic bullet fans might have hoped for. Five months later, Justice League was released in theatres to a far less enthusiastic response. This makes sense, of course, considering Justice League had been in production long before Wonder Woman's release, but the team movie fizzled at the box office so intensely that fans began to question the future of the DCEU entirely.
At this point, it's anyone's guess as to whether or not Warner Bros. or DC Entertainment will take the right lessons from Justice League's failure or Wonder Woman's success, but, if nothing else, the future of the DCEU certainly looks busy, for better or worse.
DCTV Holds Steady
DC's fan favorite shared TV universe of CW shows Arrow, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash earned specific notoriety this year with the success of the two-night, four-part crossover event Crisis On Earth X which was praised for its energy and heart by both critics and fans. The victory was punctuated by the dismissal of executive producer Andrew Kreisberg amid allegations of sexual harassment from cast and crew, the second culling of a high-profile harasser from a DC office this year (the first being Superman group-editor Eddie Berganza over on the comics side of the company).
This year also saw the announcement of a slate of new TV projects set to premiere next year: Black Lightning on the CW, as well as a Titans live action show, a third season of the animated classic Young Justice, and an original Harley Quinn cartoon all coming to an as-yet unnamed direct-to-consumer service DC also announced this year.
Not all of DC's TV efforts enjoyed the same success, however. NBC's Powerless, a workplace comedy set in the DC Universe, fizzled after its premier and was canceled after one short season.
Rebirth Finishes Strong
When Rebirth, the latest "era" in DC Comics, kicked off in 2016, there was a justifiable amount of pessimism in the air. No one was really sure exactly what the "not a reboot, not a relaunch" banner the company seemed to be flying under really meant, and confidence in the twice-a-month shipping deadline for tentpole books like Batman and Superman was low.
A lot has changed since then. We're closing out the second and quote-unquote final year of Rebirth and that pessimism has all but vaporized. Despite its slightly rocky start, Rebirth has proved to be DC's secret weapon, a slow and steady march towards a more hopeful and exciting future that fans can actually look forward to.
To cap off the year, DC announced that the Rebirth branding on their books would be replaced by new cover dressing and logo work, thus signaling the "end" of Rebirth--but that doesn't mean the spirit of the initiative is going anywhere. As far as we can tell through ongoing books solicited into 2018, the fire started by Rebirth is still burning, and the rebranding is just the next phase of things for the DCU. Twice monthly books are maintaining their twice monthly status and only two books have been pegged for cancellation: Superwoman and Blue Beetle. The rest of the line is pushing well into double digits on their issue counts; numbers that would have been virtually unheard of back in the days of the New 52.
In other words? The comics side of DC Entertainment had a refreshingly solid 2017.
Getting Cutthroat with the Competition
2017 was a massive year for DC in the realm of really upping the competitive ante between themselves and eternal rival Marvel. In April, DC announced a new comics line initiative originally titled "Dark Matter," later expanded on and rebranded to "The New Age Of DC Heroes" that was designed to be an artist-driven collaboration to bring new and reinvented characters into the post-Rebirth DC Universe.
The New Age slate was--and continues to be--metered out, announced slowly and over time, but included some surprise returns to the DC creator stable, like former DC exclusive writer and artist Jeff Lemire, who had been working at Marvel for the past several years. More surprising yet, Lemire's New Age project was announced as The Terrifics, a four-person team made up of Mr. Terrific, Metamorpho, Plastic Man, and Phantom Girl--or, if you squint your eyes and tilt your head a little bit, a thinly veiled pastiche of Marvel's own long lost Fantastic Four, a team that's been out of publication over at Marvel since 2015. Shots fired.
Things only got more competitive from that point when long-time Marvel exclusive creator Brian Michael Bendis shockingly announced that he was switching teams and moving to work exclusively for DC this November. Bendis, having spent the last twenty years as one of Marvel's top tier creators, has yet to announce what projects he will be working on at DC, but leaves behind no less than four monthly ongoing books at Marvel in the transition.
Other Matters, In Brief
An as-yet unnamed direct-to-consumer digital platform was announced earlier in the year with the promise of original and classic content including comics, movies, and TV shows.
Comics superstar Grant Morrison announced he would be returning to DC to work on an event tie-in book called Batman: The Wild Hunt with Scott Snyder.
Long time Superman group editor Eddie Berganza was fired following an investigative piece on Buzzfeed detailing numerous sexual harassment accusations leveled at him over a period of close to ten years.
Controversy over the ethical implications of Watchmen's rights was re-ignited following the announcement of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Doomsday Clock, a follow-up to 2016's DC Universe: Rebirth #1 set to blend the DCU with the Watchmen universe once and for all.
The Verdict
Despite the low points of the DCEU and the occasional controversy, DC spent the majority of 2017 with a strong forward momentum and a clear vision for the future. The publisher's high spirits have been made tangible in their newfound aggression toward the competition and willingness to experiment with new properties and ideas.
It may have taken them a while to get there, and they may have fumbled more than a few times along the way, but the goodwill sown by 2016's Rebirth is starting to blossom across the board. There's still plenty of slack to be picked up; it will be awhile before the comics really find a balance between the "newness" of Rebirth and the size and scale of the classic continuity, and the DCEU will likely be dwarfed by the MCU's shared universe juggernaut for years to come, but if things keep going the way they're going, DC's future looks bright.
The Good
The Bad
Optimistic comics have set the stage for an optimistic fanbase.
The DCEU still feels like fragmented parts of a disjointed whole.
Creative shake-ups have been a net positive for both page and screen.
Controversies regarding employment of known harassers and the use of Watchmen rights have yet to be fully addressed
New lines, services, and projects kept things feeling fresh.
Rebirth's transition into the New Age of DC Heroes maintained the $2.99 price point and double shipping status of popular ongoing titles.
Wonder Woman's critical response and box office take were a major victory for female-led superhero films.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the latest game to receive enhancements on Xbox One X. Developer CD Projekt Red has deployed a new update for the critically acclaimed RPG, adding 4K support and other visual and performance improvements tailored for Microsoft's new console.
The update is available to install now for everyone who already owns a copy of Witcher 3. As CD Projekt Red previously detailed, the game now features two visual fidelity options: 4K Mode and Performance Mode. In the former, the game runs at 4K resolution (or supersampled for those without a 4K display) at 30 FPS. The latter, meanwhile, features dynamic resolution scaling from 1080p up to 4K while "targeting" 60 FPS.
Both 4K and Performance Modes also support HDR. To switch between the two, go into the Options menu and choose Display. From there, go into the Advanced settings section and you'll be able to toggle between 4K and Performance Modes. You can read more about today's update on Witcher 3's official website.
The Xbox One X patch for Witcher 3 is similar to the one CD Projekt Red rolled out earlier this year for PS4 Pro. That likewise added 4K support and made a "slight boost to performance." The studio says that an additional patch will be released for PS4 Pro "in the near future" to add HDR support and make "a number of technical tweaks improving the overall experience" on Sony's 4K console.
Destiny 2's Curse of Osiris expansion launched a couple weeks ago, and players have already delved deep into it and uncovered a lot of cool Easter eggs and mysteries. One of those mysteries involved the Lost Prophecy quests, and now we know what happens when you complete all of them: you get a sweet Exotic Ghost shell.
Once you complete all of Curse of Osiris's campaign missions, all of Mercury's normal Adventures, and one Heroic Adventure on Mercury, Brother Vance will give you a Lost Prophecy: Verse 1 item. Collecting enough items (for Verse 1, that's a Concentrated Radiolarian Culture, composed of ten Radiolarian Cultures) allows you to complete the quest, get a Tablet, and redeem that Tablet for a Legendary weapon from the Forge. You can get more info on how to unlock the Forge here, and you can see all the weapons in the gallery below (ordered by Verse number).
There are 10 different numbered Verses to complete, although you can't finish them all at once. Vance only offers three per week, with the selection changing on the weekly reset. There's also an additional eleventh Verse, which awards a powerful shotgun upon completion. It's unclear how exactly you get this quest, but it appears that you must complete Verse 10 at the very least. Vance does not give out Verse quests in order, and from our experience, it is not necessary to complete all ten before getting the shotgun quest. Some players suggest that you have to finish half of the Verses, including Verse 10, to get the quest.
Finally, when all is said and done and when you complete all eleven Verses, a special emblem and really cool Exotic Ghost shell will drop. The shell has a nice selection of Mercury-focused perks, as well. Check it out:
In 2015, Dontnod Entertainment's Life Is Strange made quite an impact with its endearing, and heartfelt story. Focusing on the slice-of-life moments of young Max Caulfield in her ordinary small town, it cleverly weaved in a time-travel mechanic to allow players to control the fates of the many characters in Arcadia Bay--for better or worse. However, the core of its story focused on the emotional connection between Max and fellow outsider Chloe, who shared several heartfelt moments together while contending with the reality of their tragic and less-than-ordinary circumstances.
With season 2 still a ways out--featuring a brand-new storyline and characters--fans have been enjoying the prequel Before The Storm, developed by Deck Nine Games. As a companion piece to the first story, it shifts things over to a younger Chloe (voiced by Rhianna DeVries), and how her emotional journey three years priors to season 1 led to the character many have grown to love. In addition to seeing how she gets her iconic blue hair, owners of the Before The Storm deluxe edition will get to experience the bonus episode Farewell next year, which will tie-up the story for Max and Chloe.
Prior to the launch of Before The Storm's episode 3, co-game director Chris Floyd and actress Ashly Burch--who was the voice for Chloe in season 1 and served a story consultant for the prequel--spoke with GameSpot about their work on the game. During our talk, we learned how Chloe evolved between both games, and how they hope to live up to their fans' expectations as they put the capper on the main story.
A lot of fans hold these characters dear to them, which likely made it challenging to try and revisit them for the game. Can you talk about how the change in perspective made things different this time around?
Ashly Burch: Well, it's interesting to see Chloe in this context, you never really got to see a sense of her relationship with Rachel, apart from the fact that Chloe cared a lot about her. So I think the first Life is Strange is a lot about Chloe's story told through Max's eyes. They share a story, but it's about their emotional arc through that game. But in this game, the story is about Rachel and her storyline. I think the thing that that makes it so satisfying is that even though you're playing Chloe, you're really learning about this character that's almost mythic from the first game. And you're playing her story, and the revelations about Rachel, and the story you're following is about Rachel. It was really smart decision on [Deck Nine's] part.
Chris Floyd: It was really a thing we discovered early on in the story and analyzing the original game. In many ways, the protagonist is a lens to see the rest of the story, and so that makes that main relationship--in the character of Chloe in the first game, and Rachel in Before The Storm--the focus of the story you're telling. So yeah, by the time we got to the third episode, we really put a lot into this question of Rachel's identity. She supposedly had the perfect life, was successful with everything, but she still had some-earth shattering problems. And Chloe was the right person at the right time to help her out.
It must have been daunting for Deck Nine to pick up after Dontnod for this prequel. Can you talk about what interested you about this project, and how the development went?
CF: Well, it was a great privilege to be asked to make another Life Is Strange game, and it was a lot of pressure. We were huge fans of the original game, we recognized what was so amazing about its story and how it told it. Visually it's really fascinating, and just about everything that Dontnod did was not only a high bar, but was also a kind of unique vision. So for us to be the next Dontnod for this game, and try to do what they did, it was really a lot of pressure. And what we did was every step of the way, we just asked ourselves: are we living up to those standards? Does it feel like Life is Strange? Are we being true to these characters that people love? That was kind of our north star.
I'm really proud of the work Hannah and I did on the first game, and it was like we went on a journey with those characters.
What's it like being able close out your time with Before The Storm and for the bonus episode?
AB: It's so great to be able to play the character again [In the Farewell bonus episode]. It's Hannah and I saying goodbye to these characters, to playing these characters, and saying goodbye to the fans of the series. I don't know of any plans to keep these characters going forward, so it feels like a nice bookend to the previous game.
For newcomers, which game should they play first?
AB: I'm not sure, that's an interesting question. They're both designed to be stand-alone--I'm sure the first game wasn't expecting prequels or sequels. But I am curious to see how people would react if it was played sequentially.
CF: We tried to design it so that people would come to our game first, we didn't spoil anything from the original game, and tried to make it a self-contained story so that it can easily roll into the next one. But most players on Before The Storm are familiar with the game, and they're playing it because they're fans of it. I have spoken with other journalists who haven't played the original game and started with this one, so I am curious to see how their experience with the prequel will color everything they see in the first Life Is Strange.
We often hear a lot about how passionate fans are about Life Is Strange, and how they saw a bit themselves in the game. And it's certainly one of the rare games that focuses on a particular generation and age group that usually don't have much focus in games. Was there anything about these characters that stuck out for you?
AB: What connected me to [Chloe] was that she has so much anger, and it comes from a place of feeling unsafe and unloved. She used to have a person that she could rely on for that, and that's gone. So not only is she feeling lost in the way that teens often feel, but she's experienced real loss at such a young age. Trying to process that without letting it consume you kind of created who Chloe is--so she's rebellious and cavelier with her safety and others. Any teen can probably relate to that, the feeling of being stuck and not having anyone understand you, but I also think there's another layer of kids that age that relate a bit uncomfortably close to Chloe, and I think that gives a viewpoint into that that can people feel seen. And especially, in games, that's not type of characters you see.
CF: I think we hear a lot from fans as well about this as well. They'd point to a character like Chloe and say "Oh that's me when I was a teenager." Or "I sorta wish I was like Chloe when I was a teenager." When it comes to portraying the lives of teenagers, it can be tricky, but we have a really diverse and amazing group of writers--some of whom were teenagers not too long ago--so they can relate and draw upon their experiences. So our hope is that the experiences of these characters can resonate with everyone who plays the game, recalling memories of being teenagers. Because those are always experiences we carry with us for a long time.
Though we still have the Farewell episode coming out next year, this is pretty much the end of the line for these characters and their stories. Can you talk about certain things that made you feel proud while working on a game like this?
CF: For my part, the thing I'm most proud is the collaboration with really talent people. I'm just really proud of the team we assembled, and then we came into this game with--rightfully so--a lot of skeptical eyes on us. Understandably so. And to see the fanbase out there cares about this series as much as we do, that they really resonated with what we created, and we seemed to have lived up to that. When I think of the The Tempest scene on the stage, which ties together a lot of our more ambitious ideas and writing, to not only have this Shakespeare scene take place in our game--without alienating people--and to even write our own Shakespearean dialog in this improvised section, the costumes, and so many other things. I think of it as one of the highlights for the series.
AB: Definitely working on Chloe in the first season asked a lot of me, and it's the first time I felt like I connected with a character, emotionally, to that degree. I'm really proud of the work Hannah and I did on the first game, and it was like we went on a journey with those characters. The first season was an emotional journey, as many people who played it knows, and Life Is Strange is something that just does things so differently. You know, telling stories that don't often get told, and I feel like they were responsible about how they told those kinds of stories. It's really amazing to be a part of something that was so emotionally effective and meaningful for people, and it's just so different from other types of games on this level. There's some wonderful indie games out there, but you don't usually see it with a level of polish or a bigger team. It's a testament to how far spread it is. There are people that want that kind of thing.
[UPDATE] Bryan Wiedey of PastaPadre reports that the new patch also makes Michael Jordan's tongue look better. Here you go:
Because I know everyone has been anxiously awaiting the fix to Michael Jordan's tongue in NBA 2K18, it was taken care of with the patch that just went out for the game. pic.twitter.com/IZGlnFkl3R
A new patch is out now for NBA 2K18 and let's be honest, one of the changes is more important than the others. The patch notes, posted on Facebook, show that Los Angeles Lakers star Lonzo Ball's hairstyle has now been updated to match with his new hairdo.
It's been a long time coming, as Ball cut his hair back in November. He told ESPN of the haircut, "Just time to restart," noting that he also got a dramatic haircut while playing at UCLA. Ball started this NBA season struggling somewhat but he insists that his new haircut is unrelated to those problems.
"Nah, it's just a haircut, man," Ball said.
The rest of the patch notes for the update, which is out now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, follow below. They also include things like bux fixes and other optimizations across the game. It's coming to PC and Switch later.
NBA 2K18 December 20 Patch Notes:
Updated custom t-shirt kiosk coming!
Portland and San Antonio's courts have been updated to properly match their real-world counterparts.
Lonzo Ball's hairstyle has been updated to match his new look.
Fixed a bug where the number of timeouts left indication on the scorebug was resetting between quarters.
The correct amount of VC should now be displayed at the end of Ante-Up games.
Fixed a hang that could occur when finishing a MyTEAM game with Spanish commentary enabled.
MyPLAYER theme song will now play during the starting lineups when one is set.
Fixed an issue where players 96 overall or higher would hang when the opposing team quits out of an active Pro-Am Team Arena game.
When you lose a walk-on game, you will now be returned to the front of the walk-on building rather than at the starting spawn point in the Neighborhood.
Defensive settings panel for OTFC will now function for AI players in Pro-Am games.
Fixed an issue in MyGM/MyLEAGUE where a trade that sent Two-Way players to a team whose roster is full can result in one or more of those players disappearing from the league.
In a year-end press release celebrating its achievements this year, Activision said Call of Duty: WWII and Destiny 2 are the No. 1 and No. 2 games of 2017 in North America based on revenue. Activision added that Call of Duty has now been the top-selling gaming series based on revenue for eight of the past nine years worldwide, and nine straight years in North America. Additionally, Call of Duty: WWII is the the "biggest console digital launch" in Activision Publishing's history.
As for Destiny 2, it's also Activision Publishing's biggest PC release ever based on units sold. Additionally, Activision confirmed that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is the top-selling remaster collection in PS4 history.
"Call of Duty: WWII is the #1 top grossing console game of the year in North America, and Destiny 2 is #2," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said. "That means Call of Duty has been the #1 top grossing console gaming franchise in North America for a staggering nine years in a row, and worldwide eight out of the last nine years. Thank you to our players for your incredible passion and engagement. And thank you to our talented, committed teams all across the globe that make incredible results like this happen."
For more on the games mentioned here, check out GameSpot's reviews below:
Cuphead, the gorgeous, very difficult indie platformer from StudioMDHR, has reached a new sales milestone. It's now sold 2 million copies across PC and Xbox One, the studio announced in a blog post today. This is up from 1 million sales after its first two weeks following the game's long-awaited launch at the end of September.
In its blog post, StudioMDHR said it could have never imagined Cuphead would do so well. "Even in our wildest dreams, we never thought our crazy little characters would be embraced by this many fans from around the world and we are continuously humbled by your support," the developer said.
StudioMDHR did not provide a sales breakdown by platform, so we don't know the mix between Xbox One and PC. Cuphead was developed and published by StudioMDHR with support from Microsoft, which is why it is exclusive to PC and Xbox One. The game will never, ever come to PS4.
There is no word as of yet if Cuphead will get a sequel or any follow-on content, but given the game has been a commercial hit, we would expect something to follow.
Outside of the special edition version of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, no Nintendo Switch games have been released in steelbook cases thus far into the system's life. However, if you've yet to pick up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, you'll be able to get a fancy steelbook case for the mascot racer for a very limited time from Best Buy.
Through the holidays, the electronics retailer is holding a special promotion that will net you a very nice-looking steelbook case when you purchase Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The game retails for its standard price of $60, and you'll receive the case as a free bonus. The steelbook comes in red and features an image of Mario holding a trophy on one side and the Mushroom Cup logo on the other. You can check out a picture of it below.
The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe steelbook case is available exclusively at Best Buy. The retailer says that quantities are limited, so if you're interested in adding one to your collection, you should do so soon. You can get the case when you purchase the game online on Best Buy's website.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an enhanced port of the mascot racing game, which was originally released on Wii U in 2014. Along with all of the original game's DLC courses and vehicles, it features several new characters and a completely revamped Battle mode. GameSpot awarded it a 9/10 in our Mario Kart 8 Deluxe review. We also thought it was one of the best reissued games of 2017.
Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.
Even 26 years after its release, Terminator 2: Judgment Day remains one of the best action movies of all time--and one of the best sci-fi films, as well. That's thanks in no small part to Linda Hamilton, who reprised her role as Sarah Connor from the first Terminator movie.
The portrayal of Sarah was a dramatic change from what was seen in the original movie and that's thanks, in large part, to Hamilton herself. Now, for the first time, fans of the franchise are able to get an inside look at the transformation Hamilton and the character went through, thanks to a new documentary about the film. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is getting a 4K release, complete with this documentary that's loaded with new cast and crew interviews.
In an exclusive clip, which you can see above, director James Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzenegger get in-depth about the evolution of Sarah Connor. For Cameron, the changes started before he even wrote the script. "I called Linda. She didn't want to be the little waitress that she played the first time," he remembers. "She said, 'I want to be crazy.'"
That idea from the actress sparked the idea for the direction of the film, while Hamilton herself started her preparations to take on this new version of a character she knew all too well. "She not only changed her attitude, but she changed her look," Schwarzenegger says. "It was not like you had five years to get ready for this. It was a few months."
Interestingly, it's revealed that those intense few months began only two weeks after she gave birth to a child. That didn't slow Hamilton down though, as she trained on weapons with a former Israeli special forces soldier and worked to change her physical appearance. "I come from the physical fitness world where you reshape and resculpt your body," Schwarzenegger recalls. "But what I saw there was extraordinary."
The new quest is dubbed A Gift from the Gods, and players who complete it will be able to wield a set of Legendary weapons from Square Enix's RPG, including the Legendary shield Ziedrich and the Legendary sword, the Ultima Blade. The most notable reward, however, is a new Legendary mount called Kweh, which looks like a disturbing cross between a Chocobo and a camel. You can watch it galloping across the dunes of Egypt in the new trailer below.
The bizarre collaboration between Assassin's Creed and Final Fantasy XV began back in August with the start of the Assassin's Festival, a limited-time in-game event in Square Enix's game that was themed around the Assassin's Creed series. The Assassin's Festival featured mini-games, gameplay elements, and items based on Ubisoft's series, including Master Assassin's Robes for protagonist Noctis. The event is still going on until January 31, 2018.
In addition to the Final Fantasy XV crossover items, this month's Assassin's Creed Origins update introduces a new "Nightmare" difficulty level; in this mode, enemies will be "more resilient to damages and more dangerous." Additionally, the update adds an optional enemy-scaling feature and the Horde mode-style Here Comes a New Challenger quest.
Pokemon Go will soon get an update to its AR mode. Called AR+, the enhanced version uses Apple's ARKit augmented reality technology and will include special new features and exclusive bonuses.
Like Pokemon Go's existing AR mode, AR+ will be available when catching Pokemon and adds depth perception and scaling improvements. Pokemon will appear closer to their canonical size--so a Snorlax will appear much larger in the real-world environment than, say, an Oddish. On top of that, Pokemon will appear in more fixed locations, meaning you can move closer to, away from, and around them as if they were occupying a specific space nearby.
If you opt to use AR+, you'll also see gameplay benefits. Pokemon have awareness, meaning quick movement can startle them and cause them to flee. If you manage to get close enough without spooking it, you'll get the "expert handler" bonus, which nets you extra XP and stardust upon catching the Pokemon.
AR+ is compatible with the iPhone 6s and above, fifth generation iPads, and all iPad Pro models. It won't replace the regular AR mode and will instead be a separate option.
The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
It's been a week since the debut of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In that time, fans, whether they loved or hated the movie, have been unable to stop discussing some of the movie's major plot revelations, including finding out who Rey's (Daisy Ridley) parents are.
In a scene with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Rey admits that her parents were "nobody." They were junk traders who sold her off for alcohol money, Kylo adds. Given that many fans spent the last two years theorizing that she was related to a character integral to the Star Wars universe, perhaps even Luke Skywalker himself, this was a bit of a rude awakening. Some even posited the idea that this particular reveal was a misdirection in terms of her actual parents.
However, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson says that is not the case. Speaking to Collider, Johnson says, "That's what Kylo sees and that's what he tells her and I think he's not lying in that moment. That's what he saw and she seems to believe it when she hears it."
Still, the director admits that things could change in Episode IX, which he isn't writing or directing. However, in his mind, Rey's parents truly were nobody, even if fans are having a hard time accepting it. "I can understand why that answer doesn't feel good. It's not supposed to feel good," he says. "It's supposed to be the hardest thing she could possibly hear in that moment."
As Johnson explains it, giving Rey parents central to Star Wars would have been a bit of wish fulfillment that's just too easy of a solution. "I can understand why Rey would desperately want that and why us, we as an audience, do too," he says. "But we're not here to give Rey an easy time, we're here to put her on the hard path so that she has to...because that's the path of a hero."
Of course, it also helps Kylo in his quest to manipulate Rey into joining his cause. "Kylo is going to use the fact that you don't have that to stand on to try and get you to lean on him in this moment," Johnson says. "And you're going to have to find the strength within yourself to define yourself in this world."
So while some fans may still be unhappy about the identities of Rey's parents, Johnson clearly didn't make the decision lightly. And in the end, it may opening up far more possibilities for Rey in Episode IX than having her be yet another Skywalker blood relative could offer.
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