When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, fans had much to celebrate, not least that a new series of movies in the blockbuster franchise was on the way. There was however one decision that many fans were less happy with--the decision that the Expanded Universe of spin-off novels, comic books, TV shows, and video games was no longer to be part of Star Wars canon. Now, Star Wars Story Group member Leland Chee has spoken about what he believes was one of the main reasons for this decision.
The Star Wars Story Group is a division of Lucasfilm dedicated to overseeing ongoing franchise storylines and maintaining continuity. Speaking to Syfy's Fandom Files podcast, Chee suggested a reason why the entire 30-year-old Expanded Universe was rebranded as Star Wars Legends, and no longer part of "official" franchise story chronology. It's down to the death of one central character--everyone's favorite Wookiee, Chewbacca.
"For me it came down to simply that we had killed Chewbacca in Legends--a big moon had fallen on him," he said, referencing the 1999 novel The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime, in which Chewie sacrifices himself to save Han. "Part of that [original decision] was Chewbacca, because he can't speak and just speaks in growls, he was a challenging character to write for in novels. Publishing had decided they needed to kill somebody, and it was Chewbacca."
"But if you have the opportunity to bring back Chewbacca into a live action film, you're not gonna deprive fans that," he added. "There's no way that I'd want to do an Episode VII that didn't have Chewbacca in it and have to explain that Chewbacca had a moon fall on his head. And if we were going to overturn a monumental decision like that, everything else was really just minor in comparison."
Chee subsequently clarified that this wasn't an official Lucasfilm statement on the decision to retire the Expanded Universe. "Chewbacca and the Legends decision is my personal rationalization," he tweeted. "The decision was made long before I joined the Story Group."
A new Fable game is in the works at Forza Horizon developer Playground Games, according to a new report. Eurogamer's sources say the new title will be a "story and character-focused open-world action RPG," as opposed to a spin-off such as the multiplayer-centric Fable Legends or motion-controlled Fable: The Journey.
Regarding the rumors, Fable co-creator Simon Carter told Eurogamer he has "slightly mixed feelings." He continued: "On the one hand it's great for the UK games industry, and very pleasing that Fable isn't dead; indeed, it will be lovely to play one as a punter without coming out in hives.
"On the other hand it is a little curious to get rid of the team that is uniquely expert in making Fable, and then try and make Fable. Fable is a weird game, and a tough one to deconstruct for a new team. That said, the team in question is very talented, and I'm sure they'll do a fantastic job."
Fable was created in 2004 by Peter Molyneux's company, Lionhead, and its sister company Big Blue Box. Each further game in the main series was made by Lionhead until Microsoft closed the developer down in 2016, canceling Fable Legends in the process. Fable has been dormant since, though Microsoft still retains the rights to the series and is therefore free to task other developers with making new entries. Eurogamer's report states Microsoft's desire to revive Fable was in part inspired by Sony's Horizon Zero Dawn and its critical and commercial success.
Playground's last game was 2016's Forza Horizon 3. The company has released a new Forza Horizon title every two years since 2012, and that pattern would suggest a fourth entry in the spin-off series would be due this year. A second team could allow for the development of both a new Forza Horizon title and a new Fable game concurrently, however as yet the company has not officially confirmed either title. The studio's founder, Ralph Fulton, has said Playground would not be abandoning racing games altogether.
"Our business with Forza over the last six, seven years has been great for us," he said in February 2017. "It remains the cornerstone of our business--we're not running away from racing, we still feel passionate about making new racing games and delivering new experiences for our players.
"Horizon 3 was a watershed game for us--it's certainly our best-reviewed game critically, it's our most commercially successful game as well. It's the first time we've experienced that commercial breakout hit phenomenon--the other games have been successful but not on the level of this one. We want to keep doing that. In a way, that game took six years to make. So we want to keep developing that skillset and pushing new boundaries."
2018's first big Fortnite update is scheduled to launch this week, Epic Games has announced. Among a number of other things, this patch makes some significant changes to the Battle Royale map, both adding new areas and changing the look of existing ones.
Epic has released the patch notes for update 2.2.0, which debuts on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on January 18. It includes the previously announced map overhaul showcased in the video below, which sees a number of areas added. These are primarily located on the western half of the map and include a new city area and a series of underground mines. Epic has also updated the various "biomes," as it calls them, so that the swamps, mountains, and so on have a more distinct look and feel to them.
The patch notes also outline a change that has already gone into effect: the removal of friendly fire. This is due at least in part to a desire to reduce frustration stemming from players who deliberately kill their teammates. Whether the change sticks around long-term remains to be seen, as Epic states, "This is exploratory and subject to change. We will be closely evaluating this and want your feedback!"
With this update installed, players will have less trouble reviving teammates when there are pickups nearby, as reviving now receives priority. The Scoped AR will no longer be found in supply drops, and the look of its scope has changed to be more modern and usable. A variety of visual improvements have been introduced; these include players interacting with grass and foliage when walking through it and the addition of water effects when you enter or leave a body of water. Load times are also said to be dramatically reduced on consoles, and voice chat will be available in the pre-game lobby.
Fortnite's Save the World mode also receives some attention in this patch, although that primarily comes in the form of bug fixes. However, Epic has made some changes to Commander XP so that even low-value items yield XP when crafted from the main menu.
Update 2.2.0's launch coincides with the end of Battle Royale's Winter event. However, Save the World's event has been extended until January 24. Additionally, Battle Royale players who purchase the Season 2 Battle Pass will gain five free tiers once Season 3 begins. Those eager to make progress during the current season can purchase ten tiers for the price of six for a limited time. You can check out the full patch notes on Epic's website.
Sony has rolled out a new selection of game deals in the PlayStation Store. As was the case last week, this week's batch of deals is very slim, with only a handful of discounts available on PS4, PS3, and Vita, but players may still find something worth picking up on their console of choice.
Space Hulk is also discounted on PS3, running for $14 on the older console. Vita owners, meanwhile, can also pick up Windjammers, Claire: Extended Cut, and Corridor Z--all of which support Cross-Buy with PS4--for their aforementioned prices. You can find the full list of this week's discounts on the PlayStation Store.
Nintendo held a surprise Nintendo Direct Mini just last week, during which it revealed a bunch of new games for its Switch console. But the company isn't finished yet: it's now teasing something else for Switch, with a full reveal scheduled for just a few hours' time, on Wednesday, January 17 at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 10 PM GMT (that's 9 AM AEST on January 18).
"Tune in to discover a new interactive experience for Nintendo Switch that's specifically crafted for kids and those who are kids at heart," read a post on Nintendo's website. Nothing else has been revealed about the new game so far, but it sounds as if it's to be a new family-centric title.
Xbox One's game subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, will add another batch of games in February. Starting next month, subscribers will be able to download and play eight more games, including one of Microsoft's biggest exclusives of 2017, Halo Wars 2.
Aside from being a platform exclusive, the real-time strategy game is a notable addition due to the recent launch of the Xbox One X. Halo Wars 2 is among the 100 games to receive an Xbox One X enhancement update so far. As such, Game Pass provides a relatively cheap way to take the improvements for a spin if you have an X.
On the Xbox 360 side, there's only a single new game for the month, though it is a good one: Fable Anniversary, a remastered version of original Xbox RPG Fable. It's playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility.
All eight of these games will be available to download on Game Pass on February 1. The Netflix-style service allows you to download (not stream) and play full games for as long as you're a subscriber. You can see everything that's playable in our list of all the Xbox Game Pass titles.
The success of 2016's Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them proved that movies set in the world of Harry Potter can succeed without the boy wizard. The sequel is titled Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and it hit theaters later this year. We're still waiting for a trailer, but in the meantime, Warner has released some new images.
Most of the movie's main characters are featured, including the young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), the villainous Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), Vinda Rosier (Poppy Corby-Tuech), Tina (Katherine Waterston), and Jacob (Dan Fogler). Check them out below:
There has been some controversy about the casting of Depp, following allegations of domestic abuse made against the actor by his now-ex-wife Amber Heard. In December, director David Yates defended Depp's involvement. "There was one person who took a pop at him and claimed something," he said. "I can only tell you about the man I see every day: He's full of decency and kindness, and that's all I see. Whatever accusation was out there doesn't tally with the kind of human being I've been working with."
Last week, Daniel Radcliffe, who played Potter in the original movies, commented on the issue. "It's a very hard thing for me," he told Entertainment Weekly. "[But] I can see why people are frustrated with the response that they were given from that. I'm not saying anything that anybody hasn't already said--and this is a weird analogy to draw--[but] in the NFL, there are lots of players arrested for smoking weed and there is other people's behavior that goes way beyond that and it's tolerated because they're very famous players. I suppose the thing I was struck by was, we did have a guy who was reprimanded for weed on the [original Potter] film, essentially, so obviously what Johnny has been accused of is much greater than that."
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald releases on November 16, 2018 release, and, according to Potter creator JK Rowling, will be the second of five movies.
It's been a long wait, but the new Faction Rally event is now live in Destiny 2. This is particularly significant because it marks the first Faction Rally since Curse of Osiris's release in December, which kicked off Season 2 of the game. Because a new season is underway, there are a variety of new items, along with the existing gear, for players to now get their hands on.
Following the release of a new update, this Faction Rally is open to all players. However, certain new gear additions--including armor ornaments and some shaders, ghosts, sparrows, and ships--do require Curse of Osiris. If you don't have the DLC expansion, you can still participate, but you won't be able to use the new gear, all of which you can see in the gallery above. The event runs from now until the weekly reset on January 23.
Faction Rallies see players pledge their allegiance to one of three Factions: Dead Orbit, New Monarchy, or Future War Cult. By participating in the game's usual activities, you'll earn Faction Tokens, which can then be turned in for a rewards package (much like with the vendors you find in each of the game's locations). Those packages include exclusive, faction-specific armor, weapons, and shaders, but the armor ornaments are obtained differently. The ornament piece for each armor slot is obtained by fulfilling a specific objective, such as claiming five Faction rewards, securing a certain number of melee or grenade kills, participating in Lost Sectors or Public Events, and completing the Nightfall.
Rewards packages also serve another purpose: the Faction that collects the most during the week is deemed the winner. Aside from bragging rights, winning the event offers one other perk: The winning Faction will sell its unique Powerful weapon during Victory Week, which takes place during the week after the Faction Rally ends. Members of the Faction will be able to purchase the gun for 1,000 Glimmer, while those who pledged to others will have to pony up 50,000 to get their hands on it. Unlike previous Faction Rallies, all three groups are offering the same class of weapon, an auto rifle, though each Faction has its own distinct one that will potentially be sold.
A lot of uncertainty currently hangs over the DC movie universe--there are currently three movies scheduled for release, but many more in various stages of development. One of these is the standalone Flash movie, which will focus on the Flashpoint story from DC's comic books. The film has already lost two directors, but it has now been reported that replacements have been found.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are in talks to direct Flashpoint. Daley and Goldstein wrote the screenplay for Marvel's Spider-man: Homecoming, as well as the comedy hit Horrible Bosses. As directors they also helmed 2015's Vacation and the upcoming comedy thriller Game Night.
The title Flashpoint was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2017. It's a reference tothe 2011 Flash comic event that put Barry Allen, The Flash, in a very different universe than his own.
Speaking at the ACE Comic-Con, McFarlane explained that his movie would be very different from other recent R-rated comic book adaptations. "It's funny in Hollywood, if you say you want to do an R-rated movie, they go like 'Oh like Deadpool and like Logan?'" he said, via The Playlist. "For me, no. Deadpool, to me, was a PG-13 action movie. It just had some naked butts and a couple f-bombs. Other than that, I thought it was the same PG-13 formula.
"I'm talking R. I'm talking that there will not be a lot of fun, there will not be any stupid lines in it. I never like my hero to make a joke right when the jeopardy was at its highest. I felt that if my hero wasn't afraid right now, why should I be? I want my heroes to go 'S**t, what do I do now?'"
In an interview last year, McFarlane was asked how confident he was about his ability to direct the movie, which will be his debut. "I didn't used to draw comic books and I drew comic books and I won awards," he said, via Deadline. "I don't know how to read music and I have a Grammy Award. I'm spending my own money so who cares if it doesn't work out? It's a $10 million budget movie, and [a studio] would just get a 22-year-old punk director. I just want to be the old punk directing it."
The Spawn comic book was first published in 1992 and was massively popular, with the first issue selling 1.7 million copies. However, the 1997 film adaptation received a negative critical reception and underperformed commercially.
The variety of historical settings of Assassin's Creed games has always been one of the highlights of the series, as it's fascinating to explore a dynamic, living recreation of Victorian England or Ancient Egypt. Previously, however, if you simply wanted to explore the cities and environments of the games, you still had to put up with some combat and storyline.
Today, Ubisoft announced the release date and price for a new mode, called Discovery Tour, for Assassin's Creed Origins that allows players to learn more about Ancient Egypt without the pressure of questlines or combat. It's designed specifically as an educational experience, and it'll let you see the entire world at your own pace.
There are two main components to Discovery Tour. First, the mode opens up the entire world to free-roaming, and quests and combat are turned off. This way, players can simply wander through the cities, villages, and deserts to see what Ancient Egypt might have been like.
Secondly, Ubisoft will also add daily guided tours to the game to provide players with a way to gain specific knowledge of Egyptian society and history. These tours will be curated by historians and Egypt experts.
Discovery Tour will be available as a free update to anyone who owns Assassin's Creed Origins on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 20. In addition, it'll be available as a standalone download for $20 only on PC.
In other news, Ubisoft announced that the first piece of DLC is coming to Assassin's Creed Origins on January 23. Called The Hidden Ones, it adds a new region, storyline, weapons, and more. In addition, a new patch was released today that improves the behavior of tamed animals and allows you to sell back outfits, among other things.
By Anonymous on Jan 17, 2018 01:31 pm Survival is the name of the game in this spin off of the MGS series, here is a look at the story and multiplayer.
In Metal Gear Survive, you play a custom character who is the physical opposite of Metal Gear Solid 5's Venom Snake. This spin-off is an exercise in constant deprivation, where your stamina is limited and you have to seek out food and water, which you have to cook and purify respectively if you don't want to get sick. This is assuming you have the proper camping tools to being with, which you have to craft. There's also the matter of zombies infesting key mission areas, in a setting far away from what anyone would call "home". It's new territory for a Metal Gear game both literally and figuratively. And after a four-hour preview session with the single player story mode, plus one multiplayer session, we were left more curious than excited for the full game.
Almost every Metal Gear game has had some supernatural element, but Survive takes things to another level, or another dimension to be precise. Taking place after the events of The Phantom Pain, the soldiers of Mother Base--along with the base itself--find themselves transported through a wormhole into another reality. Tracking down your brothers in arms and finding a way back home is the main goal of the story.
Our demo started in Survive's third chapter, about an hour after the start of the story. Based on our initial missions, you can expect a lot of training-style goals and on-boarding. Collecting motherboards and learning how to gather water felt like chores rather than the more engaging objectives you typically find in a Metal Gear Solid game. At least there were a ton of zombies in key areas to keep us on our toes.
As you try to stay alive, you learn early on that you lack the diverse skills of the Metal Gear protagonists who've earned the codename Snake. Your stamina is grossly in short supply and you start off with only basic melee attacks. And if the the mission requires exploration into the map's foggy sections, you'll also have to manage your oxygen. It's a relief that normal walking speed is sufficient in getting away from zombies, provided you manage your stamina well. It remains to be seen if the undead can run later in the game.
These persistent demands on your well being feed into Metal Gear Survive's crafting component which, if this preview demo was any indication, plays a huge part in the overall experience. As with many other survival games with crafting, what you think you'll need to construct first might not be the most useful gear. And naturally, what you make will be limited by the ingredients you have, leaving you wondering what components should be saved and what should be used immediately.
We found that crafting fences--which you can construct instantly, provided you have enough resources--are a huge help in corralling zombies for easy slaying with your starter staff. Depending on how to lure zombies in missions areas, you can reach your objectives without having to killing everyone, although it would be in your best interest to craft more efficient weapons like a machete or handgun. That's because vanquished zombies drop kuban, the currency you spend to level up. Given the wide and diverse skills you can unlock in the Survivor class--the first of four classes--there's the potential that your custom soldier can one day be as talented as Big Boss.
This character progression incentive paired with the appeal of the multiplayer mode is what Konami is hoping will keep players interested in the long run, especially since the story takes only 20 hours to complete. Our brief session with the four-player co-op online mode echoed the base defense aspects of Fortnite, while burdening us with the aforementioned stamina and skill limitations from the story mode. Moreover, we discovered that the zombies in the easiest difficulty are at level 10, whereas our team ranged from levels 2 to 4. We didn't last very long.
For as much as we're not yet convinced of the long term appeal of Metal Gear Survive, we have to give what we've seen so far credit for going all in on its demanding survival-centric gameplay. The level of resource gathering and crafting isn't unusual for an open world zombie game, but in the context of the Metal Gear franchise, it's the biggest design departure since Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It was also comforting to see this spin-off retain some degree of the series' sense of humor, particularly when you send animals through mini wormholes rather than the Fulton balloon system from The Phantom Pain.
Check out our other coverage from this hands-on preview session:
With just a month to go before its release, Konami has confirmed some major details about Metal Gear Survive, the first new entry in the series since series creator Hideo Kojima left the company. One of the biggest new pieces of information we learned during a recent preview session was that the game will require a constant internet connection to play, even for single-player. This is not totally unheard of in gaming, as Destiny 2 and other online-focused games require a persistent internet connection across all modes.
Konami said Metal Gear Survive requires a constant internet connection so the game can offer a "seamless" experience as players move between single-player and multiplayer. "Metal Gear Survive's online connectivity requirements were built to support a seamless integration between single player and co-op. This will also enable us to provide ongoing content post-launch."
Another detail we learned that Metal Gear Survive will have a microtransaction store where players can purchase virtual currency. Coins are available to purchase with real money (specific price points were not disclosed) or through standard gameplay, as is the case in many other AAA games. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain also offered a number of microtransactions, so this is nothing new for the series. You can check out the image above to see what's available to buy in Metal Gear Survive's store, including Boost Passes for various durations of time, but bear in mind that the game is not finished and as such, things could change.
In terms of length, Konami brand manager Jennifer Tsang told GameSpot that you can expect the game to take you 15-20 hours to play through the campaign. Of course, your mileage may vary, as everyone plays games differently. Also, the game has co-op and multiplayer so there are more reasons to come back and play more beyond the campaign.
Finally, Konami confirmed more details about Metal Gear Survive's upcoming beta. It will begin on January 18 and wrap up on January 22. For lots more on Metal Gear Survive, you can check out all of GameSpot's previous written and video coverage.
In Metal Gear Survive, the lost members of Mother Base will do whatever it takes to endure in a hostile alternate-dimension populated with dangerous zombie-like creatures and other enemy combatants. Focusing more on survival and resource-gathering as opposed to the series' familiar stealth-action gameplay, players will have to scrounge for supplies, craft new gear and equipment, and rescue other survivors across the lands.
While Survive retains much of the core mechanics found from Metal Gear Solid V, it goes about its core gameplay a bit differently, tasking players to strengthen their character and their base with the materials procured out in the field. In the early hours, you'll find yourself in the role of the Survivor, one of four unique classes in Metal Gear Survive. But as you advance in rank and acquire more resources, you'll unlock additional classes that open up new skills and upgrade the core attributes--strength, vitality, dexterity, and endurance--for your character. Below, you'll find a breakdown of the starting Survivor class--including the perks and bonuses that can be unlocked.
Survival is the name of the game in this spin off of the MGS series, here is a look at the story and multiplayer.
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