The month is half over, which means Xbox Live Gold subscribers can now download two more freebies. As usual, one is an Xbox One game, and the other is an Xbox 360 game you can play on Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility.
The new free Xbox One game is the Smite Gold Bundle, which will be available between now and July 15. Smite is a free-to-play game, but the Gold Bundle includes 20 additional gods, plus skins, announcer packs, and other extra content. Seeing as it normally sells for $100, that's a good deal for anyone interested in this MOBA-of-the-gods.
The Xbox 360 game Gold members can download for free is Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. Available until June 30, it's an action game that lets you play through Lego versions of all four Indiana Jones films. And if you haven't picked it up yet, you can still download the side-scrolling Xbox One game Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia, which is available until June 30.
Good news, PC gamers: for the first time ever, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has gone on sale on Steam. Between now and July 5, you can buy it for $20 / £18, which is 33% off the regular price of $30 / £27. The reason for the sale, PUBG Corp. says, is to celebrate the game hitting a new sales milestone.
All told, PUBG has sold 50 million copies worldwide on PC and Xbox One. If you include the free mobile version in the number count, there are now 400 million registered PUBG players around the globe, with an average of over 87 million people playing the game every day across all platforms.
In a press release, the publisher said, "We're going to keep working on new content and improvements for all versions of the game. We know there's still so much we can do to make PUBG a better game for our players."
So far, two maps are available in both the PC and Xbox One versions of PUBG. The PC version will get a third map, called Sanhok, on June 22. Microsoft announced at E3 2018 that a fourth map that features a snowy environment will be coming to the Xbox One version of the game sometime this winter; it will come to PC as well.
New week, new Netflix! The streaming service has a slew of new titles arriving, including a highly anticipated new season of a Marvel favorite. Of course, that's not the only Netflix original to be on the lookout for.
Naturally, the biggest new arrival of the week is the new season of Marvel's Luke Cage. The second season follows the titular superhero in the aftermath of Defenders, as he grapples with his fame, while also coming up against a new threat in Bushmaster. If that's not enough of a Marvel fix for you, the fifth season of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD also arrives on Netflix this week.
As for other originals, the competitive cooking show Cooking on High debuts this week. The unique spin on this particular food show is all of the recipes include cannabis as an ingredient. The original movie Brain on Fire also arrives on June 22, along with Season 2 of Heavy Rescue: 401. Lastly, don't forget to revisit Disney's Tarzan when it begins streaming on June 23.
With June in full swing, PlayStation Plus subscribers have another lineup of free games available to download throughout this month. There are some great titles this month, spread across PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. There's also a bonus game announced during E3, as Plus members can download Call of Duty: Black Ops III for free from now through July 11; everything else is available until July 3.
In terms of the standard lineup, PS4 players can download the excellent XCOM 2 for free. The strategy game has tons of fans and has gathered lots of critical acclaim over the years for its many tactical layers, fun high-stakes gameplay, and great character development. In GameSpot's XCOM 2 review, Mike Mahardy gave the game a 9/10, calling it a superb strategy game that results in deep and meaningful playthroughs.
The other PS4 title you can pick up for free this June is Trials Fusion. The motorcycle platform-racing game has you zooming your way through courses covered in obstacles and ramps--the goal is to beat out players from around the world in time trials. Another well-reviewed title, it scored 8/10 in GameSpot's Trials Fusion review, where Tom Mc Shea called it "a great game that not only tests your skill and patience, but keeps you laughing at the ridiculous scenarios."
PS3 players can play Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for free. The game blends the Ghost Recon series' realistic shooting action with futuristic tech. The other free game is the Complete Edition of Zombie Driver HD, an isometric action game where you'll drive around a car slaughtering zombies. If you're a PS Vita player, multiplayer action game Atomic Ninjas, and puzzle game Squares are free to download too.
A new update is on the way soon for the PC version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Patch #15 is scheduled to arrive this Friday, June 22, and will introduce an assortment of UI and sound improvements to the game, as well as the tropical map, Sanhok.
Following several weeks of testing on PUBG's Experimental Server, Sanhok will officially roll out for the live game with Patch 15. The map's most distinctive feature is its size; unlike Erangel or Miramar, Sanhok is 4km x 4km, making it one-fourth as large as PUBG's previous two maps. Despite its smaller scale, it still hosts 100 players, meaning matches are much quicker and more intense when contested on Sanhok.
Developer PUBG Corp. is also introducing the QBZ95, a new weapon slated to arrive alongside Sanhok in Patch 15. The QBZ95 is an AR that uses 5.56mm rounds. It holds 30 rounds per magazine, although PUBG Corp. notes that can be extended to 40 rounds. The QBZ95 can be found exclusively on the new tropical map, replacing the SCAR-L in Sanhok's item spawn pool.
In addition to the new map and item, Patch 15 introduces a slate of interface improvements to the game. In particular, PUBG Corp. has tweaked the UI of the Leaderboard, Replay function, and friends list. Many in-game UI elements, such as the inventory, map, and results screen, have likewise been visually improved, while the mini-map can now be expanded and dynamically zooms in or out depending on your movement speed.
Patch 15 also addresses a handful of bugs and other technical issues in the game. Among them, PUBG Corp. has removed some objects from Erangel and Miramar that previously obstructed movement, and an issue that would cause characters to occasionally get stuck in the aforementioned maps has also been fixed. The full list of changes are outlined in the patch notes on Steam.
Although the exact launch date of the Fallout 76 beta is still a mystery, we now know it will be coming to Xbox One first. On the Fallout FAQ page, the launch date for 76's beta is listed as unknown. Players are asked to stay tuned to Fallout's social accounts before being left with one final note: "the B.E.T.A. for Xbox One will begin first, followed by other platforms." Fallout 76 is scheduled to release November 14.
The beta is still scheduled to release on both PS4 and PC, but players on those two platforms will have to wait a little bit longer to play the game. Bethesda has supplied no clues as to how much earlier Xbox One players will get the beta, nor whether the Xbox One beta will end early or go on for as long as the betas on PS4 and PC.
Fallout 76 takes place centuries before Fallout 4, near the start of the Fallout timeline. This title brings a lot of new mechanics to the franchise, including nuclear missile strikes, and will be a multiplayer-focused, always online game instead of a single-player shooter. In order to balance these mechanics, Bethesda has implemented new systems to stop trolls from breaking the game.
The only way to play the Fallout 76 beta is by pre-ordering the game. Check out our handy-dandy pre-order guide so you can nab the edition that's best for you.
E-Line Media, the studio behind the Iñupiat-inspired platformer Never Alone, has unveiled its latest effort: Beyond Blue, a narrative-driven underwater exploration game developed in collaboration with scientists and the BBC. The game was formally announced during E3 2018 and is slated to launch for PC and consoles early next year.
Envisioned as a "thematic cousin" to BBC's Blue Planet II documentary series, Beyond Blue casts players in the role of Mirai, the leader of an underwater research team. Mirai can explore her surroundings either by swimming or manually controlling aquatic drones, which will gradually collect information that can allow her to venture further and discover different types of marine life.
In addition to its exploration elements, Beyond Blue places a heavy emphasis on resource management, which will affect how your adventure unfolds. According to E-Line, players will be forced to "make high-stakes decisions and prioritize which objectives can be successfully achieved during the crew's expedition." You can watch the announcement trailer for Beyond Blue below.
Like the aforementioned Never Alone, which doubled as a sort of documentary on Alaska Native culture, Beyond Blue features footage from Blue Planet II. During the course of the game, players will be able to unlock Ocean Insight videos that provide more information about the creatures and moments they encounter in the title.
"Inspired by the way the Cultural Insight videos inside Never Alone brought resonance and context to a game infused with Alaska Native culture, we reached out to E-Line to explore the potential for a creative collaboration on Blue Planet II," said Bradley Crooks, Head of Digital Entertainment & Games at BBC Studios. "We think there's great synergy in the way E-Line make their games and our own approach to program making where we care passionately about the subject matter and want to help people better understand the world in which they live."
The Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, introduced in November 2015, lets you play original Xbox and Xbox 360 games on the current-gen console. But what games are available? We've rounded them all up--and we'll continue to update this post as new games are made available to the extensive list. More are added regularly, although new original Xbox games will be less common. [Updated June 19 with one more game.]
Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Lineup:
Xbox
New titles are bolded
Black
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
BloodRayne 2
Breakdown
Conker: Live & Reloaded
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Dead to Rights
Destroy All Humans
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Full Spectrum Warrior
Fuzion Frenzy
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Hunter: The Reckoning
Jade Empire
The King of Fighters Neowave
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
MX Unleashed
Ninja Gaiden Black
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory (Europe only)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Psychonauts
Red Faction II
Sid Meier's Pirates
SSX 3
Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars Battlefront II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Xbox 360
New titles are bolded
0 Day Attack on Earth
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
A Kingdom for Keflings
A World of Keflings
Aegis Wing
Age of Booty
Alan Wake
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Alice: Madness Returns
Alien Hominid HD
Altered Beast
Anomaly Warzone Earth
Arkanoid Live
Army of Two
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed III
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed Revelations
Assassin's Creed Rogue
Assault Heroes 2
Asteroids & Deluxe
AstroPop
Aqua
Axel & Pixel (not available for purchase)
Babel Rising
Band of Bugs
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts n Bolts
Banjo Tooie
Banjo Kazooie
Batman: Arkham Origins
Battlefield: Bad Company
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 1943 -- added May 24
BattleBlock Theater
Battlestations: Midway
Bayonetta
Beat'n Groovy
Bejeweled 2
Bejeweled 3
Bellator: MMA Onslaught
Beyond Good & Evil HD
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
BioShock
BioShock 2
BioShock Infinite
Bloodforge
Blood Knights
Blood of the Werewolf
BloodRayne: Betrayal
Blue Dragon
Bomberman Live: Battlefest
Boom Boom Rocket
Borderlands
Borderlands 2
Bound by Flame
Braid
Brain Challenge
Bullet Soul
Bullet Soul: Infinite Burst
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Burnout Paradise
Burnout Revenge -- added May 8
Cabela's Alaskan Adventures
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013
Cabela's Hunting Expeditions
Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 -- added June 19
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Juarez Gunslinger
Capcom Arcade Cabinet
Carcassonne
Cars: Mater-National Championship
Cars 2
Castle Crashers
Castlestorm
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Catherine
The Cave
Centipede & Millipede
Child of Light
Civilization: Revolution
Clannad
Commanders: Attack of the Genos
Comic Jumper
Comix Zone
Condemned
Contra
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Crackdown
Crazy Taxi
Crystal Quest
Crystal Defenders
Cyber Troopers Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram
The Darkness II
Dark Souls
Dark Void
Darksiders
Darksiders II
Daytona USA
de Blob 2
Dead Rising 2: Case West
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
Dead Space
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 3
Dead Space Ignition
Deadfall Adventures
Deadliest Warrior: Legends
Deadliest Warrior: The Game
Deadly Premonition
Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue
Defense Grid
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Dig Dug
Dirt 3
Dirt Showdown
Discs of Tron
Disney Bolt
Disney Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Divinity II
Domino Master
Doom
Doom II
Doom 3: BFG Edition
Doritos Crash Course
Double Dragon: Neon
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age II -- added May 3
Dragon's Lair
Driver: San Franciso
DuckTales Remastered
Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Dungeon Siege III
E4: Every Extend Extra Extreme
Earthworm Jim HD
Earth Defense Force 2017
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Encleverment Experiment
Escape Dead Island
F1 2014
Fable Anniversary
Fable II
Fable II Pub Games
Fable III
Faery: Legends of Avalon
Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 3
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
Feeding Frenzy
Feeding Frenzy 2
Fight Night Champion -- added May 15
Fighting Vipers
Final Fight: Double Impact
Flashback
Flock
Forza Horizon
Fret Nice
Frogger
Frogger 2
FunTown Mahjong
Galaga
Galaga Legions
Galaga Legions DX
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Gatling Gears
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 3
Gears of War: Judgment
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
Gin Rummy
Girl Fight
Goat Simulator
Golden Axe
Go! Go! Break Steady
Golf: Tee It Up
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- added June 7
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grid 2
Gripshift
Guardian Heroes
Gunstar Heroes
Guwange
Gyromancer
Gyruss
Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo 3
Halo 3: ODST Campaign Edition
Halo 4
Halo: Reach
Halo: Spartan Assault
Halo Wars
Hard Corps: Uprising
Hardwood Backgammon
Hardwood Hearts
Hardwood Spades
Harms Way
Haunted House
Heavy Weapon
Hexic 2
Hexic HD
Hitman: Absolution
Hitman: Blood Money
Hydro Thunder
I Am Alive
Ikaruga
Ilomilo
Injustice: Gods Among Us + disc-only Ultimate Edition
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos
Iron Brigade
Jeremy McGrath's Offroad
Jet Set Radio
Jetpac Refuelled
Jewel Quest
Joe Danger Special Edition
Joe Danger 2: The Movie
Joust
Joy Ride Turbo
Juju
Jurassic Park: The Game
Just Cause 2
Kameo
Kane & Lynch 2
Killer Is Dead
The King of Fighters '98
The King of Fighters 2002
KOF Sky Stage
Lazy Raiders
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Lego Batman
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Limbo
Lode Runner
Lost Odyssey
Lumines Live!
Luxor 2
Mad Tracks
Mafia II
Magic: The Gathering 2012
Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
Mars: War Logs
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Matt Hazard: Blood, Bath, and Beyond
The Maw
Medal of Honor: Airborne
Meet the Robinsons
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 10
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug XX
Midnight Club: Los Angeles -- added June 7
Midway Arcade Origins
Might & Magic Clash of Heroes
Military Madness
Mirror's Edge
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Missile Command
Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
Monday Night Combat
Monkey Island: SE
Monkey Island 2: SE
Monopoly Deal
Moon Diver
Motocross Madness
Ms. Splosion Man
Ms Pac-Man
Mutant Blobs Attack
Mutant Storm Empire
Mutant Storm Reloaded
MX vs. ATV Reflex
N+
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
Neogeo Battle Coliseum
Nights Into Dreams
Of Orcs and Men
Omega Five
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Operation Flashpoint: Red River
The Orange Box
Outland
Pac-Man
Pac-Man C.E
Pac-Man CE DX+
Pac-Man Museum
Peggle
Peggle 2
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark Zero
Persona 4 Arena
Phantasy Star II
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds
Pinball FX
Planets Under Attack
Plants vs. Zombies
Poker Smash
Portal: Still Alive
Portal 2
Prince of Persia
Prey
Pure
Putty Squad
Puzzle Quest
Puzzle Quest 2
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
QIX++ Puzzlegeddon
Rage
Raiden IV
Raskulls
Rayman 3 HD
Rayman Legends
Rayman Origins
Red Dead Redemption
Red Faction: Armageddon
Red Faction: Battlegrounds
RoboBlitz
Rocket Knight
Rockstar's Table Tennis -- added June 7
R-Type Dimensions
Runner 2
Sacred 3
Sacred Citadel
Saints Row -- added May 29
Saints Row 2 -- added May 1
Saints Row: The Third
Saints Row IV
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell -- added May 29
Sam & Max: Beyond Time & Space
Sam & Max Save the World
Samurai Shodown II
Scarygirl
Scrap Metal
ScreamRide
Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World
Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage
Sega Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl
Shadow Assault/Tenchu
Shadow Complex
Shadowrun
Shadows of the Damned
Shank 2
Shinobi
Shred Nebula
Shotest Shogi
Silent Hill: Downpour
Skate 3
Skullgirls
Skydive
Slender: The Arrival
Small Arms
Sniper Elite V2
Soltrio Solitaire
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic CD
Sonic The Fighters
Sonic Generations
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II
Soulcalibur
Soulcalibur II
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Space Ark
Space Giraffe
Space Invaders Infinity Gene
Spec Ops: The Line
Spelunky
The Splatters
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Split/Second
Splosion Man
SSX
Stacking
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Steins; Gate 比翼恋理のだーりん (Japan only)
Steins; Gate (オリジナル版) (Japan only)
Steins; Gate 線形拘束のフェノグラム (Japan-only, requires game disc)
Strania
Street Fighter IV
Stuntman: Ignition
Super Contra
Super Meat Boy
Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
Supreme Commander 2
Syberia
Tecmo Bowl Throwback
Tekken 6
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Texas Hold 'Em
Ticket to Ride
TimeShift
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Torchlight
Tour de France 2009
Tour de France 2011
Toy Soldiers
Toy Soldiers Cold War
Toy Story 3
Toybox Turbos -- added May 29
Tower Bloxx Deluxe
Trials HD
Trine 2
Tron: Evolution
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
Unbound Saga
Undertow
Vanquish
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead: Season 2 - A Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
There's been little news on the Xbox One backwards compatibility front as of late, but with E3 in the rear-view mirror, it's time for something new. Microsoft has announced a new addition to the BC lineup, and it's a pretty big one in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Major Nelson confirmed the news on Twitter, saying the Xbox 360 shooter is now playable on Xbox One. It joins a growing list of classic Call of Duty games that are playable on the console, although curiously it doesn't complete the Modern Warfare trilogy. 2009's Modern Warfare 2 has not yet been added to the list, so if you're looking for a chronological playthrough, you'll have to continue to wait for that to happen.
If you already own Modern Warfare 3, you can simply pop in the disc or head to the Ready to Download section of the My Games and Apps area to download it. Alternatively, you can purchase a copy right from the Xbox Store. As it happens, Modern Warfare 3 is a part of this week's Deals With Gold lineup. It's 50% off for Xbox Live Gold members until June 25, letting you get it for $15 / £12. Meanwhile, its DLC packs are all 33% off.
Backwards compatibility is a notable feature for Xbox One, but with a seemingly endless array of new games to tout during its press conference, Microsoft didn't focus on it at E3. It features prominently last year, as the company announced plans to introduce support for a select number of original Xbox games. Following the initial debut of that last year, another batch were released this spring. You can check out everything that's playable on Xbox One in our full list of backwards compatibility games.
Quake Champions hasn't launched fully just yet, but that hasn't stopped publisher Bethesda from running a series of beta tests, as well as launching it on Steam in early access. However, that early access version costs $30 in the US, despite the final game being free-to-play. [Update: The free play period has been extended through June 25; anyone can freely play the game until then, and doing so will net you a free copy of the game that you can continue playing forever.]
Now, Bethesda has announced that the game is free from now until June 18, and it will remain free for you if you download it before that date and play a match through the Bethesda Launcher or Steam. Note that this gets you access to the game but not all of the titular Champions. If you want those, the Champions Pack is available for a discounted price of $19.79. It will return to $30 on June 21.
Announced last summer, Quake Champions is a class-based first-person shooter. It's in development for PC only, though developer Id Software has said a console release is not ruled out. Elsewhere in Bethesda's E3 2018 conference, the company announced new Prey and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus DLC. For more on what it shared, check out our roundup of all the Bethesda press conference news.
PS4 has been on the market for quite a few years now, and we've reached the point in its lifecycle where Sony is prepared to introduce a standardized line of budget-priced versions of games. Much as it did with its Greatest Hits/Essentials line in the past, Sony has announced a PS4 equivalent called PlayStation Hits.
Games in the PlayStation Hits line will receive specialized box art with a red strip along the top, and the case itself will be red, rather than the usual blue. There are some terrific games included, although the specifics vary by market. In the US, you'll find Bloodborne, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Yakuza 0, Doom, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience. You can find complete lists for US and Europe below, or head to the official website to see the lineups in the US, Canada, and Europe (where specific availability varies by country).
In the US, PlayStation Hits will be priced at $20; in Canada, $20 CAD; in the UK, £16; and in Europe, €20. These will be available at both retail and on the PlayStation Store, with the first going on sale in the US/Canada on June 28 and in the UK/Europe on July 18.
Sony says more games will be added to the Hits line in the future, although it didn't share how often it will do so or how it decides what to include. A special PlayStation Hits PS4 bundle will be released that comes with a 1 TB system and three of Sony's first-party PlayStation Hits titles, but it will only be available in certain European markets.
The very first look at Aquaman's arch enemy Black Manta has finally been revealed! DC is coming out with a standalone Aquaman movie in December, and the team has been very secretive about details involving the film, which makes this first look at the new character even more enticing.
All we really know about Black Manta at this point are the very basics about his character. Entertainment Weekly reports that he is a mercenary and a pirate by the name of David Kane, and he will be played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who you may recognize from The Greatest Showman. Director James Wan has only described him as, "part mercenary but full-time pirate who, in his suit, will look like some crazy alien from outer space." Check out the image below.
Despite being Aquaman's nemesis, Black Manta will not be the central villain in the film, perhaps suggesting plans for more Aquaman's standalone films. Instead, the big bad in this movie will be Orm played by Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring), who in the comics is Aquaman's half-brother. Clearly Black Manta will feature in the movie in some way, but all the director has said is that he is, "somehow factored into the story."
In the photo, Black Manta is working on his suit which allows him to shoot red plasma rays out of his eyes. It may be that the unfinished nature of the suit is part of the reason why he won't be the main antagonist, he hasn't reached the height of his villainous journey isn't quite ready to face Aquaman yet. Theorizing aside though, the long-awaited first image of the famous Black Manta looks pretty cool.
Additionally, EW revealed more images from the set, and above are just a few of them. For the first time, Aquafans catch a first glimpse of Vulko (from the back), Queen Atlanna, and Orm. Additionally, there are some more shots of Mera and Aquaman in costume as well. Vulko is played by Willem Dafoe and Atlanna by Nicole Kidman. In the comics, Vulko is the royal advisor to Aquaman and a leader in Atlantis' scientific community, and Atlanna is the birth mother of Arthur Curry AKA Aquaman.
Since 2013, Nintendo has opted against hosting a live press conference for E3. Instead, the company has presented prerecorded Directs or Digital Events. But that all might change in the coming years.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Charlie Scibetta, senior director of corporate communications at Nintendo, said, "We decide each year what to show in the booth based on the content we have." He continued, "It's really whatever we think is the best way to bring those games to life."
Knowing Nintendo doesn't have a preference for prerecorded shows, and simply chooses a format that's believed to be the best fit for each game, we can assume that Nintendo might return to live shows in the future. Recent Nintendo titles announced at E3, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, might have presented better as a Nintendo Direct, but that doesn't mean a future title might better benefit from a live presentation.
Later in the interview, Scibetta hinted that Nintendo might even try something completely different for future E3 conferences. "In the future, [Nintendo] might go back to a presentation. We might stick with video. We might do something completely different. But it'll all be based on what we have to show that year," he said.
In an interview with Dengeki Online, Octopath Traveler producer Masashi Takahashi said there is no planned DLC for the upcoming Switch title. "We haven't even thought of having DLC," Takahashi said, "The retail version is a complete game." Siliconera has the full interview translated into English.
Square Enix's Octopath Traveler is a turn-based RPG portrayed in a 2D pixelated aesthetic that's similar to what's seen in the developer's Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. Players begin as one of eight different adventurers before setting out on their journey. How the game begins is determined by which character the player starts as. Throughout Octopath Traveler's story, players encounter the seven other characters, each in the middle of their own journey, and can choose whether or not to recruit these characters and pursue their stories as well.
During the interview, Takahashi also said Octopath Traveler was always scheduled to launch on the Nintendo Switch, even though development of the game started well before anyone even knew of the console's existence. Square Enix and Nintendo's positive relationship, forged through the two companies' partnership on Bravely Default and its sequel, influenced Square Enix's decision to launch Octopath Traveler exclusively on Nintendo hardware.
Takahashi went on to deny the inclusion of any sort of New Game Plus mode, but added that Octopath Traveler's difficulty would evolve organically and make certain parts of the game harder based on player decisions. For example, it's possible to beat the entire campaign without recruiting a single character, but this limits the number of skills players will have access to when trying to interact with Octopath Traveler's world.
Takahashi also said that Octopath Traveler has a 50-60 hour story, but the game will take up to 100 hours for any completionists who want to tackle every side mission and optional dungeon.
Octopath Traveler is releasing for Nintendo Switch on July 13. During E3 2018, Square Enix announced a second demo for the game. You can play it right now.
According to Michel Ancel, director of Beyond Good and Evil 2, the first playable beta for the Ubisoft title won't launch until the end of 2019. Considering Ubisoft typically launches demos or betas for games several months prior to an official release, it's probably safe to say that Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently scheduled for no sooner than 2020.
The informal announcement came via an Instagram post. In a post of a screenshot of Beyond Good and Evil 2, Ancel responded to a user comment asking for clarification on the title's release date by saying, "We aim for a playable beta for the end of next year."
We were impressed by the gameplay in Beyond Good and Evil 2's E3 2018 demo, and were shocked to see Jade, the protagonist of the original game, show up in the final moments of Beyond Good and Evil 2's new cinematic trailer. Perhaps most unexpected of all was an announcement from Joseph Gordon Levitt, who's company is partnering with Ubisoft to promote a campaign where anyone can create content for Beyond Good and Evil 2.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is scheduled to launch on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Pixar is no stranger to success at the box office, with movies such as Toy Story 3 and Finding Dory among the most successful animated movies ever made. But even by the impressive standards elsewhere in the studio's catalogue, the record-smashing opening weekend for its latest movie, Incredibles 2, is an amazing result. [Update: Updated figures have come in slightly higher than the estimates cited below. According to Box Office Mojo, The Incredibles 2 made just under $182.7 million for the weekend.]
The film made a stunning $180 million over the weekend in US, which is the biggest ever opening for animated movie by some distance. The previous record-holder, Finding Dory, made $135 million in its first three days in 2016. In addition, that total gives Incredibles 2 the eighth biggest opening of all time and makes it the highest-ever weekend debut for a PG-rated title.
Incredibles 2 was helped by a lack of competition from other new movies this weekend. The only other new films to get a wide release were the R-rated comedy Tag, which debuted at No.4 with $14.6 million, and the Blaxploitation remake Superfly, which made $6.3 million and entered the chart at No.7.
The heist comedy reboot Ocean's 8 slipped down to No.2 in its second week on release, with a $19.5 million take, while Solo: A Star Wars Story dropped to No.4. The Star Wars spin-off has been something of a commercial disappointment compared to other recent movies in the long-running franchise, and has only made $192 million after four weeks in theaters. Elsewhere, the superhero sequelsDeadpool 2and Avengers: Infinity War continued their impressive runs at No.5 and No.8 respectively, while the acclaimed horror movie Hereditary is at No.6.
You can see the full Top 10 list for the June 15-17 US box office below, as compiled by Box Office Mojo.
The Westworld park is a bit of a mess in the HBO show right now, but starting this week you can prove that you could do better. A Westworld mobile game will be coming on Thursday, June 21, putting the park's controls and legion of murderous robots at your fingertips.
In Westworld Mobile, you play as a new Delos employee and manage the park, which mostly means seeing to its A.I. hosts. You'll be interacting with characters like Delores and Maeve, as well as other employees like Bernard. You can even match hosts with guests to let them explore their fantasies. In the context of the show, though, this is a pretty morally gray thing to do.
All of this is delivered with an art style that is disarmingly cute. Pre-registering through the official site will earn you some perks as soon as you begin, like access to Lawrence, a pack of coins and gems, a Basic Host Code pack, and a crafting pack.
While the park may hum with efficiency under your control, the version on the show has seen better days--both in terms of the fictional chaos, and the show's dodgy second season.
The success of 2015's sporting drama Creed not only revitalised the seemingly retired Rocky movie franchise, it also paved the way for director Ryan Coogler's Marvel blockbuster Black Panther. Inevitably Creed IIis on the way, and while Coogler isn't returning, star Michael B. Jordan is, alongside Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. The trailer for Creed II is expected this week, and ahead of that we have the first poster.
It's a simple and striking black-and-white poster, which shows Jordan as Adonis Creed, standing in front of a giant roman numeral 2. The caption reads "Know his name"--check it out below:
Creed II is directed by Steven Caple Jr., who previously made the acclaimed 2016 indie hit The Land. Stallone himself was originally set to direct--as well as co-write--the movie, but he ultimately stepped aside. In December, the action icon explained this decision, stating that it was important for the director to be "part of this generation like I was in mine, to make the story as relatable as possible."
While we don't yet know many plot details about Creed II, we know that Dolph Lundgen is set to reprise his role as Ivan Drago from 1985's Rocky IV. In that movie, Drago killed Creed's father Apollo in the ring, which Creed II co-writer Cheo Hodari Coker recently suggested would play a part in the new movie.
"It's about the legacies of sons haunted by their fathers," Coker said, via Movieweb. "Even though Drago is alive, his son is haunted by him because Drago is a broken man who's trying to rebuild himself through the son. Apollo Creed isn't broken but because Apollo died, Adonis Creed is still haunted by his father's death and how it defined him, what it is it means now to be a champion. He's aspiring to be a champion but also at the same time trying to figure out who it is he is."
Stallone won a Golden Globe for his performance as the aging Rocky in Creed and also received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The movie made $173.6 million at the worldwide box office. Creed II hits theaters on November 21.
A new sale on Xbox One and Xbox 360 games is live on the Microsoft Store. You can find the full details here, but we've sorted through and selected the highlights below. Note that some of the deals require you to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription, while others are available to everyone. The sale ends June 25, so don't wait too long to pull the trigger on any games you've had your eye on.
The best deal here is probably on Diablo 3: Eternal Collection, which is on sale for $30 / £22. This bundle contains the game itself, plus the Reaper of Souls expansion and the Rise of the Necromancer pack. That's a lot of excellent content for a low price.
Loads of Telltale games are also on sale this week, including The Telltale Batman Bundle for $22 / £26. It contains both seasons of the company's Batman story. If you have a lot of Telltale games to catch up on, you may be interested in The Telltale Collection, which is currently available for $78 / £69. Most other Telltale games are on sale individually--including the Xbox 360 ones--so you can cherry-pick the ones you want. Just note that buying them in bundles saves you even more money.
If all the recent talk about The Division 2 has you intrigued, you can get all of the first game's expansions for cheap this week. The Division costs $50 / £40 (it's available elsewhere for cheaper, and is part of Game Pass), but the season pass is on sale for $16 / £12, and you can get the individual add-ons for 50% off.
Regular updates continue to change Fortnite, and the latest update, v4.4, adds the Stink Bomb item and more to Battle Royale. Server downtime has ended, meaning the patch is now available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile.
The Stink Bomb is a new throwable weapon; it "creates a stinky cloud that deals five damage every half-second within the cloud." It lasts for nine seconds in total, and can be found in Epic rarity only in chests, Vending Machines, and in floor loot.
In addition, a new limited-time mode has been added. Named Final Fight: Teams of 20, the mode sees five teams of 20 players each go to battle in a Final Fight variant of Battle Royale. This means the storm circle ceases closing in after its third shift. At this point, a countdown will begin, and the team with the most players remaining at the end of the timer will win.
For more from update 4.4, check out the full patch notes at the bottom of this article, via Epic Games. The patch will not fix a recent issue which meant a symbol resembling a swastika could inadvertently be seen in-game--that fix is coming next week. Update 4.4 is the game's first since the launch of Battle Royale on Nintendo Switch. That came shortly after it was confirmed during Nintendo's E3 press conference broadcast, though it had been leaked and rumored for quite some time.
Fortnite Update 4.4 Patch Notes
General
Bug Fixes
Fixed several issues with Discord integration and improved the information displayed when in a Battle Royale or Save the World game.
Battle Royale
General
Limited Time Mode - Final Fight: Teams Of 20
Summary
Survive the countdown! The Storm Circles give players more room to hunt down opponents. The final circle triggers a countdown timer; when the time is up, the team with the most players remaining wins. In this LTM, teams can tie for the Victory Royale!
Mode Details
Final Fight plays similar to standard Battle Royale, but instead of the Storm circles closing all the way, the Storm stops after the 3rd circle.
When the circles have finished closing in, the final countdown timer will begin.
The remaining teams will battle it out until the timer expires.
The team with the most players remaining at the end of the timer wins!
In the event of a tie, the two (or more) teams tied for the lead win the match.
Weapons And Items
Stink Bomb added.
Creates a stinky cloud that deals 5 damage every half-second within the cloud.
9-second duration.
Epic rarity.
Can be found from floor loot, chests, and Vending Machines.
Loot in stacks of 3 with a maximum stack of 5.
Increased the reload time of the Rocket Launcher based on rarity.
Rare from 2.3 seconds to 2.8.
Epic from 2.185 seconds to 2.66.
Legendary from 2.07 to 2.52.
The maximum number of unloaded Rocket Ammo that can be held has been changed to 12.
Bug Fixes
Enemy built structures are no longer lit up by the thermal scope.
Cozy Campfires are now lit by the thermal scope.
Gameplay
Bug Fixes
Back Bling no longer appears detached from players at a distance.
Fixed the two intersecting busses on the starting island.
Performance
Fixed performance issues on Switch related to frequently called time functions during gameplay (especially when skydiving).
Level streaming optimization to smooth out some hitches during skydiving on Switch.
Audio
Bug Fixes
The music for the Fresh emote has been re-added.
Fixed attenuation of Supply Drop opening sound so it doesn't sound like it's right next to players even if it's opened far away.
The Clinger explosion sound now plays properly if detonated directly next to you on iOS/Switch platforms.
UI
Added the "Net Debug Stats" HUD UI option for Xbox.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a crash that could happen after buying items in the Item Shop.
When using styleable outfits, your last saved version will always appear in the locker preview.
Save The World
Missions And Systems
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue which could block progression where the Chrome Husky would no longer spawn if the Magnets! quest was completed. Players who were blocked will now be unblocked with this fix.
Heroes
New Constructor Demolitionist: 8-Bit Demo added to the Event Store.
Available Wednesday, June 20 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET (June 21 at 1 AM BST / 10 AM AET)
Days Gone was conspicuous in its absence from Sony's E3 2018 press conference. Despite its no-show, it was playable behind closed doors at E3, and after our first hands-on opportunity with the game, we were left a little worried.
The first level in my play session was a stealth-focused fetch quest: sneak into an abandoned garage, steal an engine part, get out. The stealth gameplay was basic, containing nothing more complex than simply avoiding the zombies' gaze and remaining quiet. The AI, meanwhile, was easily fooled by simply running away--the zombies refused to investigate my last known location.
Far more enlightening was the second mission I played, which presented me with a mass grave within a more open valley locale. Festering inside the mass grave were hundreds and hundreds of zombies, ready to pounce the moment I revealed myself. This level, developer Sony Bend told me, was more about preparation: collect materials, craft traps and plant them around the grave near environmental hazards, then let hell break loose.
So away I went, collecting everything I could find in the area. Despite the crafting element to Days Gone, it contains no real form of inventory management--there's no limit to the amount you can carry and everything is simply stockpiled under your weapon wheel with no way to view your whole backpack. I therefore found myself with an aching thumb and a creaky square button by the end of the demo--and combining them to make molotovs and proximity mines. However, when the horde noticed my presence, these items dealt very little damage, perhaps only taking out a zombie or two from the many hundreds chasing me.
So, I turned to my guns. This level was later in the game's campaign, and so I was more heavily armed than in the first mission. My LMG seemed the perfect tool for the situation, and it was: zombies fell with ease. In fact, they fell too easily, and I got no sense of completion or satisfaction from killing them. Seriously, one hit anywhere in the body and they were down.
The game encourages you to use your environment--specifically, the handily-placed red barrels and myriad oil tankers that happen to fill the small valley--to harm the zombies. But there were no more complex or interesting objects in that environment, so to be pushed so heavy-handedly towards using it felt frustrating. For the purposes of the demo, I was trapped in the valley and surrounding hills, so escape was not an option. Every attempt at fighting the crowd--no matter how well prepared I was--ended with one eventuality: me running in circles with half the world's population of undead chasing me, endlessly, until I either finally got overwhelmed or I managed to sprint long enough to gradually pick my pursuers off.
My hope is that this was a bad demo, rather than a bad game; the meta-game of character progression--as well as most meaningful narrative content and the entirety of the open world--was not accessible in the version I played. There's also, of course, another eight months until release, so there's plenty of time for Bend to refine the game's core. However, on present viewing, Days Gone will need to improve a significant amount in that timeframe to become more than the relatively basic zombie shooter it currently appears to be.
Another week means another Fortnite update is on the way. Developer Epic Games has confirmed the latest patch, version 4.4, is slated for release quite soon. And while we don't have patch notes just yet, we do know what looks to be one of its headlining features. [Update: Patch 4.4 is now available and does indeed introduce the Stink Bomb item.]
In a post on Twitter, Epic confirmed that server downtime will begin for Fortnite at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM BST / 6 PM AET on Tuesday, June 19. An exact schedule for servers to return hasn't been announced, but whenever they are back online, update 4.4 will be available for download. This is described in-game as a "content update," so you can expect it to do more than just fix bugs.
Fortnite: Battle Royale's in-game New Updates screen teases an item called the Stink Bomb that's coming soon. It looks to be a new type of grenade that "explodes into a cloud on impact and slowly damage anyone inside." Just how lethal it will be is unclear, but given Epic's usual time table for adding items listed in the New Updates area, you can expect to begin playing with this on Tuesday.
One other element of the patch could be a fix for shopping carts, which have had to be disabled more than once recently due to a bug. These were added to the game not long ago and serve as Fortnite's first vehicle. They can be operated on your own, but the most fun use for them sees one player push while another rides inside, where they can fire their weapon.
As noted in the New Updates image above, Sniper Shootout v3, one of the current limited-time modes in Battle Royale, ends soon. That could mean that patch 4.4 will roll out another mode to mix up the usual set of playlists. 50v50 v3 is also currently available.
Update 4.4 is the game's first since the launch of Battle Royale on Nintendo Switch. That came shortly after it was confirmed during Nintendo's E3 press conference broadcast, though it had been leaked and rumored for quite some time.
If you haven't been following the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2 closely--from its rumored existence through to its official reveal at E3 2017 and its presence at Ubisoft's press conference during E3 2018--it's possible your current feelings towards it carry some confusion. With a strong emphasis on community involvement with the Space Monkey and Hitrecord initiatives and only brief glimpses at very early tech demos, the question at the forefront of your mind is likely: what kind of game is Beyond Good & Evil 2, exactly?
Well, we now have some idea. In a behind-closed-doors presentation at E3 2018, key developers from Ubisoft Montpellier showed us a live demo of the game, playing in co-op, and it was surprising how many of the game's systems were present and how much there was to see.
The demo began in an underground temple, where we were introduced to the combat system. Every character in Beyond Good & Evil 2 will be equipped with a melee weapon (in this case, swords), a gun, an energy shield, and a jetpack, and each one of these tools can be modified with Augments. We saw examples of a pushback ability and a dome that could be fired to slow down anyone within it. Damage boosting and healing Augments were also mentioned.
You also have a high-tech spyglass that can be used to survey your environment and get information on world objects and enemies, in what could be a nod to the camera mechanics in the original game. Planning encounters by using the spyglass was stressed as something that was particularly important because enemies have access to the same equipment, augments, and abilities as the player, which creates the danger of not necessarily knowing what you might be up against at first glance.
We watched our co-op duo explore and sneak around the temple separately before coming together to assault a squad of security guards, defending a group of scientists performing experiments on live monkey hybrids. After some quick surveillance, the pair engaged using a variety of gunplay and melee attacks. The melee mechanics in this early demo didn't seem to have the impact you see in other third-person games, but a variety of different combat maneuvers were shown, including using slowdown domes to isolate enemies, precision shooting, using the jetpack to maneuver around the battlefield to achieve better flanking positions, and using pushback-augmented weapons to break shields.
When the dust had settled, one of the players scanned the monkey still alive on an operating table, learning a bit about its backstory in the process. It was mentioned that characters like this would be recruitable for your space pirate crew. You'd also hypothetically have the opportunity to break out prisoners from a police station and recruit them, among other options. However, what you'll be able to actually do with your crew was not discussed.
The co-op players then left the underground temple and boarded their vehicles--one in a single-pilot space fighter, one on a flying motorcycle. They flew out into Ganesha City, an incredibly large urban hub filled with Indian architecture and neon lights--a mash of old and new, rich and poor, and populated with flying vehicles and NPCs. The players went their separate ways, and the motorcycle rider eventually got off and flew around on her jetpack, giving us a tour of the city by scanning buildings to discover their purpose--shops, police stations, a bank. The other player eventually got into a scrap with local police, engaging in a dogfight against multiple ships, and the original motorcycle rider hopped into her own starfighter and joined in.
But before engaging, they took a moment to show off starfighter customization. In a menu, they swapped out individual modules of their ship's makeup (like cabins, wings, and engines), as well as weapons and cosmetic finishes. Cosmetic ship customization will be one of the avenues where the community can submit custom art to be used within the game through Hitrecord, along with billboard spots on structures. They'll also be able to contribute music to the in-world radio programs.
Dogfighting looked like an arcade-style experience, with the space fighters we saw having access to two weapons: in this case, a machine gun and lock-on missiles. These weapons, we were told, can be modified via the same kind of augments as regular weapons. We saw the two players perform barrel-rolls and loops to juke and destroy police ships high in the sky, so high that you could make out the curvature of the planet.
And then, they did something I wasn't entirely expecting them to do. The players pointed their planes upwards and hit their hyperspeed. Looking behind them, we saw the city and its population getting smaller and smaller as they continued into the stratosphere. We looked over the horizon and saw other cities in the distance. They flew so high that we could see entire continent masses, Ganesha City now a dot on the map, and eventually reached another vehicle: A mothership owned by one of the players, a kind of giant, space battleship. One of the players left her starfighter and used her jetpack to fly around, protected by a clear spacesuit that materialized over her body like the one seen in the E3 2018 trailer.
This was all seamless, and my mind immediately went to compare it to No Man's Sky; that is, if No Man's Sky's planets were filled with dense, populated cities with complex interiors. They brought up the map screen and noted it was simply a real-time rendering of the existing game world from a fixed camera angle, and as they zoomed in and out of the continent we were directly above, we could see icons pop up representing additional cities, quests, points of interest, and undiscovered mysteries across the huge land masses.
As they zoomed out and rotated the globe, they pointed out an enormous geoglyph of a monkey burned into a nearby continent, mentioning that uncovering these mysteries would be a significant part of the game. We also panned over to take a look at the other half of the planet--a meteor-ravaged wasteland which is a significant part of the game's world narrative, involving hybrid beings and slave labor.
But then, they kept zooming out. The screen changed from the view of the continent to a view of the planet. From a view of the planet to a view including neighboring planets, and it didn't stop. We zoomed out to see the entire subsystem, and they eventually stopped when the map screen had a view of the entire local solar system, filled with planets, their moons, and presumably, all the game content that comes with that. The players hopped back in their starfighters, flew off into the infinite space, and the demo ended.
When asked what progression might look like--what you actually do in Beyond Good & Evil 2--the developers seemed to have a clear idea. It's naturally a very non-linear experience, and you can likely make some good assumptions by looking at Ubisoft's current direction with their open-world games. Ubisoft Montpellier said one of the major goals is to create a strong throughline to explore and discover more about the game's story. The cinematic trailers we've seen so far follow the journey of a space crew (featuring Pey'j from the original game, as well as a younger version of Jade as their adversary), searching for a place at the ends of the universe called the Moksha Gate. Beyond Good & Evil 2 will see you creating your own customizable character, building up your own crew, and going on an adventure to try and reach it.
The Ubisoft team also explained that there would be plenty of opportunities for those that just want to fly around the galaxy and be the best space pirate. You'll be able to take on a number of side activities that make you stronger, which might not necessarily be in service of the main narrative at all. Finally, the developers mentioned that one of their priorities was to create a fun co-op experience, as well as give the player complete freedom, so you would feel like a true pirate in a world created to be your oyster.
When asked about the game's development progress, Ubisoft spoke about how when building this kind of all-encompassing, open-world, and systemic game, you need to build entire layers of foundational mechanics, and need to iterate on almost all of them at the same time, lest they begin to affect one another in negative, game-breaking ways. As such, all mechanical components of Beyond Good & Evil 2 are roughly at the same development level, they said.
The demo of Beyond Good & Evil 2 was impressive on a technical level despite being an incredibly early build--visually, it was certainly a lot plainer than the brief but more detailed snippets of gameplay we saw at Ubisoft's E3 2018 press conference. But it was surprising to witness working co-op play, the ability to explore a seamless universe with no visible loading, as well as functioning combat and vehicle mechanics. It was certainly much, much more than we were expecting to see, and we're now feeling much more positive about the prospects of what Beyond Good & Evil 2 could be.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 currently has no announced release date.
In honor of the end of GOG.com's Big Summer Sale, we're giving away 500 PCgame codesfree from their catalog. The PC game codes will be a mystery code, redeemable on GOG's platform, and are DRM-free. (Scroll down to enter below.)
In Incredibles 2, Mr. Incredible is still incredible, Elastigirl remains fantastic, and Edna owns every scene she's in. But if there's one fresh breakout star from Pixar's Incredibles sequel, it's not one of the new villains or heroes conceived for this film. It's Jack-Jack.
The youngest member of the Incredibles crew stole the show this time around. With more of a starring role in Incredibles 2, Jack-Jack the baby showed everyone his true nature: He's "a Swiss Army Knife" of superpowers, as writer and director Brad Bird puts it. And because he's, well, a baby, Jack-Jack uses what little control he has over his awesome powers in the most hilarious ways.
But how did Jack-Jack wind up this way? The baby's mutating powers were a punch line in the original, a side joke that didn't have much effect on the main story until the very end. But as GameSpot learned from Pixar recently, making the baby a Jack-Jack of all trades--and making him a main star--was always in the cards.
Long before Bird wrote and directed the original Incredibles at Pixar, he visited a comic book store to brainstorm powers for the heroic family he was envisioning. When he realized every power had been done to death, he instead drew from societal expectations of various family roles; the dad would be strong, and the mom would be able to be pulled in all directions.
"Babies are unknown," Bird explained during a recent press conference at Pixar headquarters in Northern California. "Maybe they have no powers, maybe they have all powers. We don't know. So that's what Jack-Jack was. He was seemingly the first normal one in the family, and then at the end of Incredibles you find out that he's a wild card and he's sort of a Swiss Army Knife of powers. And that, to me, reminds me of the way babies can grasp languages really easily and adopt them easily."
For the original movie, Pixar animator Tony Fucile followed his son Eli around with a microphone for an hour and got enough audio to use for the entire film. It's been a decade and a half since then, so following Eli Fucile around with a microphone wouldn't have had the same results--as Fucile revealed when he showed us a photo of his son during the trip to Pixar, Eli is a teenager now (obviously). But surprisingly, they were able to continue drawing from that original hour of audio for Jack-Jack's voice in Incredibles 2.
Tony Fucile at Pixar HQ
That's even more impressive when you consider all of Jack-Jack's new powers. In Incredibles 2, the baby is able to generate fire, transform into a demonic monster, become malleable like silly putty, spawn multiple clones of himself, shoot lasers from his eyes, escape into an alternate dimension, levitate, alter his facial features to resemble other people, pass through solid objects, grow to a massive size, and more. Bird said even when they tried to put limits on giving Jack-Jack more and more powers, they just couldn't resist.
"I didn't put a lot of limits on [the story team] initially, so they started doing everything. And I think that we started to go 'Alright, we've got to settle down a little bit toward act 3. We don't want to have any new powers in act 3,'" Bird said. But that would go out the window when they'd think of yet another cool or funny way a new power could manifest and surprise or delight the audience.
"We told ourselves to stay strictly on our diet, and we kind of broke it a couple of times," he continued. "We tried to pepper in realism in terms of what people think, how they react to having powers--he's presented as a baby, so what interests him is what interests a baby. He never understands what's going on and can anticipate the villain's move, or whatever. It's more like 'That's shiny! I like that! This makes me angry!' You know? 'I want to go there!' It's those kind of emotions. And then you build the superpowers around that."
Jack-Jack's powers, like the rest of the movie, look better than ever, as well. Jason Johnston, who works in the effects department at Pixar, gave a demonstration at the studio's HQ that showed the process of designing the baby's pyrokinetic powers. The artists and animators went through countless iterations on just the fire power, testing out every variable imaginable. Should Jack-Jack appear to be on fire, or be generating fire from his skin? Should his skin, hair, or eyes change color when his fire power is active, should his body become grey like ash, or should he look the same? The final effects that the team lands on for any specific situation are the results of months of debates, tests, and iterations.
"Even though we knew that some may not work, it's good to see them," Johnston said--especially with how much Pixar's animation technology has changed and improved since the original Incredibles came out in 2004. "We used the opportunity to go in and try to keep everything rooted in the look of the original film, but definitely bring everything into the modern technology visual realm. We could put so much more detail and flourishy kind of things...Our skills and the technology and rendering time and everything has gotten so much better."
One thing that isn't new: Jack-Jack's amazingly hilarious fight with the raccoon. That scene was originally designed for the first Incredibles movie by Pixar artist Teddy Newton, Bird said during another recent press conference. The original idea involved Jack-Jack confronting a gang of raccoons in a fight that would eventually take them to the bottom of the pool.
"It went a lot darker, believe it or not," Bird said. But the catalyst of seeing the robber on TV and then conflating it with the raccoon in the backyard was there from the beginning. "I loved that," Bird continued. "It was so visual and clear, and it was such an off-the-wall idea, that that was one of the things that I couldn't wait to do if we got another Incredibles going."
Bird said at the recent press conference that Jack-Jack's powers were an "unexploded bomb" he always knew he'd want to set off in the sequel.
"We don't have enough time to discuss the ideas that didn't make it into this movie," he said at Pixar HQ. "The two ideas that were in my head as the first movie was ending...is a role switch between Bob and Helen, and showing Jack-Jack's powers, and exploring them, and making Jack-Jack a main character rather than a side character."
If you're having trouble getting online with your PS4 or other PSN-connected device, it's not just you. Problems are plaguing several areas of the service, making it difficult to play games online, among other things. [Update: The status page now shows all services as working again. We'll report back if that changes.]
Although Sony has not yet published a statement on its Twitter support account, the PSN status page does confirm that all areas of PSN are being impacted. Sign-ins appear are listed as being unaffected, but creating accounts or editing your profile may both prove problematic. Worse, the Gaming and Social area of PSN is encountering problems. That could mean you're unable to open your games or get online to play them (which is obviously a major issue for online-only games like Fortnite).
"Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, and we thank you for your patience," a message reads on the status site. No further details are offered regarding what's causing the problems or how soon they might be resolved. We'll report back with any further information as it's shared.
While PS4 is certainly Sony's biggest platform these days, these issues extend both to its other gaming systems--PS3 and Vita--and to other services. That includes TV streaming service PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Music, and PlayStation Now.
WWE's global expansion just took a major step forward. Appearing at WWE's UK Title Tournament taping on Monday, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events, and Creative Triple H announced the United Kingdom was getting its own NXT brand, with taping for the new show beginning in July. The news comes on the heels of another major announcement from the company, which revealed current WWE Champion AJ Styles would be featured as the cover star of its next video game, WWE 2K19.
NXT UK will showcase wrestling's top talent in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with three championship titles being up for grabs. In addition to the WWE UK title, currently held by Pete Dunne, the UK Tag Team Championship and UK Women's Championship will also be featured on the new series.
"The UK has an amazing talent base and incredibly passionate fans that are deserving of their own showcase," Triple H says in a statement. "This is the next step in our ongoing strategy to create localized content and further develop our brand globally."
At this point, a roster of potential talent for the new series is not known, though it's very likely that reigning WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne will play a major role. Tickets for the first eight tapings of NXT UK go on sale June 29. You can find out more information through WWE's website.
It will be interesting to see what this offshoot of NXT means for future WWE global brands. Perhaps eventually there will be multiple NXT brands that represent various parts of the world.
Nintendo's upcoming Super Smash Bros. game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch, was finally revealed during the company's E3 2018 Direct presentation. As the company began to rattle off the roster of playable characters, there was one thing that slowly became increasingly clear: Everyone is here.
Every single character who has ever appeared in a Super Smash Bros. game--from the original 12 characters featured in the Nintendo 64 title, all the way up to the latest DLC characters made and released for Super Smash Bros. on Wii U--will be included as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
This, of course, includes characters who originate from non-Nintendo series, like Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series and Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, as well as characters that have only appeared once before, like Young Link, Pichu, and Star Wolf.
All characters will undergo some mechanical changes and balances--some significant, some minor. For example, Link's bombs can now be remotely detonated. Generally speaking, all Final Smash moves will have more immediate effects--those who previously had long-lasting transformations like Bowser and Little Mac will have harder hitting versions, but they won't last as long. Some characters will have cosmetic adjustments--the Wii Sports Trainer will have a new face, for whatever reason.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will also feature two new characters: Inking Girl (or Boy) from the Splatoon series and Ridley, the archenemy of Samus Aran from the Metroid series. While the new game's roster will not include everyone from the outset--Nintendo teased the starting lineup may be as small as that of original N64 game--Nintendo is hoping to reward players by unlocking characters frequently, giving them a feeling of constant progression.
Here's a list of all the confirmed characters, in alphabetical order:
Bayonetta
Bowser
Bowser Jr.
Captain Falcon
Charizard
Cloud
Corrin
Dark Pit
Diddy Kong
Donkey Kong
Dr. Mario
Duck Hunt
Falco
Fox
Ganondorf
Greninja
Ice Climbers
Ike
Inkling
Ivysaur
Jigglypuff
King Dedede
Kirby
Link
Little Mac
Lucario
Lucas
Lucina
Luigi
Mario
Marth
Mega Man
Meta Knight
Mewtwo
Mii Brawler
Mii Gunner
Mii Swordfighter
Mr. Game & Watch
Ness
Olimar
Pac-Man
Palutena
Peach
Pichu
Pikachu
Pit
Pokemon Trailer
Ridley
R.O.B.
Robin
Rosalina & Luma
Roy
Ryu
Samus
Sheik
Shulk
Snake
Sonic
Squirrel
Toon Link
Villager
Wario
Wii Fit Trainer
Wolf
Yoshi
Young Link
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be released on December 7, 2018. It will also support GameCube controllers and every previous Super Smash Bros. Amiibo.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is coming this year, and like Assassin's Creed Origins, you won't be starving for choice. Ubisoft has announced six different special editions, in addition to the standard version, for a total of seven different ways to buy the game.
Those versions ascend progressively in terms of both price and extra goodies. The $80 Deluxe Edition includes digital content like currency boosts and gear packs. For $110 you can get the Gold Edition, which gives you a season pass and early access. But for another ten, at $120, you can get all the content from both the Deluxe and Gold versions in the "Ultimate Edition."
With a name like "Ultimate" you might think that's the top-tier, but there are still three more. A GameStop-exclusive Kassandra Edition includes all of that plus a statue of Kassandra for $150. And finally, the Collector's Edition comes in two flavors: Spartan and Pantheon. Both include all of the prior content, a 64-page artbook, a lithograph by Hugo Puzzuoli, a map, and a select soundtrack. But the Spartan version includes a Spartan statue, while the Pantheon version includes both Spartan and Athenian statues to create a diorama. Those are available exclusively through Ubisoft for $160 and $220, respectively.
On top of that, each of the statues is for sale individually, and you can get other bonuses for pre-ordering through various retailers. Check out our pre-order guide to help you sort through all the details.
It's all enough to make your head spin, but apparently it worked out well enough for Origins to repeat the pricing plan. Like Origins too, there's one super-expensive bit of collector's merch: a massive limited edition statue of Alexios standing on the head of Medusa, for the low low price of $750.
Locomotion is one of the most critical areas to nail in a Spider-Man game. Swinging between the skyscrapers of New York, feeling that rush of inertia as the webslinger hurtles through the air at dizzying speeds, is one of the core tenets of the Spidey experience. And from the brief hands-on we had at E3 2018 with the new Spider-Man game that's coming exclusively on the PlayStation 4, it seems like developer Insomniac Games has nailed that swinging feeling.
During our demo, we were able to freely roam around the open environment of New York city, traversing the world and getting into the occasional scuffle to get a feel for how Spidey moves in this new game. And I was immediately struck by how easy it was to keep moving as the ol' webhead. Swinging between buildings was as easy as holding down the R2 button, while tapping X would give Spidey a speed boost for even quicker traversal. And while this game does require buildings or other objects for Spidey's webs to attach to (so no off-screen magical walls that Spidey's webs will always somehow find), finding yourself in an area with no buildings (such as a park) doesn't mean you'll have to run on foot. The R2 button in this case acts as the "Go" button, with Spidey automatically webbing to a distant object and propelling forward, which makes sure he never really slows down if you don't want him to. But if you did want to stop and get your bearings, tapping both shoulder buttons will make Spider-Man find the closest street light, flagpole, or other perch to temporarily park and view his surroundings.
Combat, too, seems similarly intuitive. Primarily, Spidey has an attack button, one for web attacks, and a dodge, which when used in conjunction with the hero's spider sense going off (signified by the white halo appearing around Spidey's head), allows for all of the balletic moves Sony has been showing off in earlier trailers for the game. Taking on a few bad guys was no sweat--while swinging through New York I stumbled across some jewel thieves breaking into a store, and it was easy to make quick work of them.
Things got a little tougher when I took on some of the Kingpin's goons at the top of a building site. These guys packed more serious hardware, including sniper rifles and rocket launchers, and I was forced to continually move and dodge in order to stay alive. Combat is spiced up with the inclusion of environmental objects that Spidey can use as makeshift weapons--by pressing L1 and R1, Spidey would web an object (such as doors or manhole covers) and swing them around to clear enemies.
Before finishing my brief time with the game, I stumbled across a bank where Spidey baddie Shocker was robbing the vault. This boss battle took place indoors, and I needed to web sling huge chunks of debris to throw at Shocker (because of their weight, Spidey needed to throw several webs at the throwable object, which meant timing was key to make sure Shocker didn't throw a concussive wave at Spidey while he was still webbing). Unfortunately, while I didn't manage to get past Shocker in this demo, it did give me a great sense of how boss fights would feel in this game. That, plus the impressive feeling of inertia and the fluid nature of combat, has me in high hopes that Insomniac's take on Spider-Man may be one the best game experiences we've had with the webslinger. We'll know for sure soon enough, with Spider-Man set for release on September 7 this year.
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