If you have a Nintendo Switch, you've probably noticed your Joy-Cons don't have traditional D-pads. Instead of the cross-shaped D-pad button found on other consoles, Joy-Cons made by Nintendo have four separate buttons. That's not always ideal, especially when you play games that require precise directional input, like 2D platformers and fighting games. The video game accessory maker Hori is here to help.
Hori is gearing up to release left Switch controllers that feature regular cross-shaped D-pads. Better yet, you can already pre-order these controllers now with officially licensed Zelda and Mario themes. The Zelda-themed one is black with gold etchings and the Mario one is maroon with red etchings. Each one costs $25 and will be released on September 18.
Before you click to pre-order, you'll want to know about some significant downsides for these accessories. They only replace the left-side Joy-Con, so you'll still need to have a right-side one to play games. They're also missing lots of the internal tech that comes in a standard Joy-Con made by Nintendo, including Bluetooth, HD rumble, a gyro-sensor, battery, and SL/SR buttons. As a result, these controllers can only be used when the Switch is in handheld mode--in other words, no TV play.
Lastly, at the time of this writing, these items on Amazon have the wrong images attached to them. That seems to be a simple mistake, seeing as all the other information on their pages refers to them being controllers. But just to be safe if you put in a pre-order, make a note to double-check that they're the correct product before they ship.
On the plus side, these controllers should make playing 2D games a more precise experience. And with all the incredible 2D games on the Switch, including the Mega Man X Legacy Collection, Celeste, Hollow Knight, and the upcoming NES classics that will be included with Nintendo Switch Online, a real D-pad could certainly come in handy.
Digimon Survive is an upcoming survival RPG developed in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the popular Digimon anime. The game presents an original adventure separate from the show, with characters designed by Uiti Ukumo and music composed by Tomoki Miyoshi--who's composed for video games like SoulCalibur V and I Am Setsuna.
Digimon Survive tells the story of four teenagers getting lost while on a camping trip and stumbling into a new world inhabited by Digital Monsters. Players control the leader of the group--Takuma Momozuka--who's partnered with Agumon. Each of Takuma's friends find Digimon partners of their own, and together the group works together to find a way for the teens to get back home again. Their adventure won't be easy though, as Digimon Survive's new trailer promises the game features darker themes of death and destruction--elements that haven't really been seen in Digimon since Digimon Tamers.
The new trailer showcases the two different styles of gameplay present in Digimon Survive. Parts of the game will play out as a visual novel, where the player determines what choices Takuma makes. How the characters' Digimon partners digivolve and the final ending of the game is dependent on what dialogue options and actions players choose. The rest of Digimon Survive is a turn-based strategy game. Players move their characters' team of Digimon across a battlefield to fight against enemy monsters, the ability to digivolve or warp digivolve and fight more powerful foes dependent on the characters' bonds with one another.
The last Digimon game, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory, is a role-playing game for PS4 and PS Vita. Hacker's Memory is a more traditional RPG, where players collect Digimon for turn-based battles. Although the mechanics are solid, the gameplay feels more in-line with the Pokemon anime--collection over connection--which goes against Digimon's themes of bonding with a chosen partner. Digimon Survive seems to be more in-line with what the Digimon anime is about.
Digimon Survive is launching for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Switch in 2019.
Avengers 4 may be dropping a little earlier than expected. An updated theater schedule suggests that Marvel might move the anticipated sequel up to sync up a simultaneous worldwide release. Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow.
The IMAX schedule (viaScreenRant) reports that the IMAX schedule claims Avengers 4 will release in April 2019. The film is currently slated for April in France, Germany, and the UK, but is set for May 3, 2019 in the United States and other territories. It's possible that IMAX is listing these European regions for the date, but it lists domestic U.S. release dates for all of the other films.
That would imply that Marvel is planning to move Avengers 4 up to match the European dates, so that it releases worldwide on the same date. This would be a repeat of the stunt Marvel pulled for Avengers: Infinity War, using a social media campaign to announce the change. The move helped avoid spoilers, which were a real threat given the monumental events of Infinity War. In that film, Thanos fulfilled his personal mission to wipe out half of the living things in the universe, including several of our heroes--Spider-Man, Groot, and Black Panther among them.
Avengers 4 will continue and likely conclude that cliffhanger story, so the risk of spoilers is once again very high. There have been plenty of theories about how Marvel will resolve the situation, especially given that some ostensibly deceased characters already have sequels in the works. Marvel is still playing some of its cards close to the vest, though, holding off Phase 4 details until after Avengers 4's release.
This move would also somewhat shorten the gap between the Captain Marvel film, scheduled for March 8, 2019, and Avengers 4. A post-credits scene in Infinity War showed Nick Fury calling for emergency assistance from the powerful superhero, so we expect to see the one film lead neatly into the other.
In recent weeks, there has been all kinds of controversy around the firing of director James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because of some old but explicit tweets. Many actors and industry people in general have since spoken out in favor of the director, but now, the entire central cast of Guardians of the Galaxy has signed a statement supporting James Gunn.
The statement does not explicitly call for the reinstatement of Gunn, nor does the letter express any kind of support for the jokes that were made, but rather speaks to Gunn's character and how liked and admired he is by the cast in general. The letter also talks about the court of public opinion, saying, "James is likely not the last good person to be put on trial." Chris Pratt and others have posted the letter to Twitter and Instagram, where Pratt said he would personally like to see Gunn reinstated.
Although I don't support James Gunn's inappropriate jokes from years ago, he is a good man. I'd personally love to see him reinstated as director of Volume 3. If you please, read the… https://t.co/FWBXkZilB7
Essentially, the letter communicates that even though Gunn made some poor choices in the past, that doesn't make him a bad person. They aren't necessarily asking for anything, but instead, they discuss the dangers of mob mentality, and express their hope that people will learn from this and be more careful what they post online.
Instead of signing the letter as the franchise's cast, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, and Michael Rooker, all signed their names to the statement as, "The Guardians of the Galaxy". Bautista and Rooker had already made their feelings known about the decision, but now it seems that the cast is showing solidarity on this issue.
Gunn directed the previous two Guardians films, both of which were very successful, and his firing has sparked a conversation questioning how fair the consequences can be when it comes to posting on social media.
The complete letter reads,
To our fans and friends:
We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. In that time, we've been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.
Being in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies has been a great honor in each of our lives. We cannot let this moment pass without expressing our love, support, and gratitude for James. We are not here to defend his jokes of many years ago but rather to share out experience having spent many years together on set making Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2. The character he has shown in the wake of his firing is consistent with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is from the heart, a heart we all know, trust, and love. In casting each of us to help him tell the story of misfits who find redemption, he changed our lives forever. We believe the theme of redemption has never been more relevant than now.
Each of us looks forward to working with our friend James again in the future. His story isn't over--not by a long shot.
There is little due process in the court of public opinion. James is likely not the last good person to be put on trial. Given the growing political divide in this country, it's safe to say instances like this will continue, although we hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponizing mob mentality.
It is our hope that what has transpired can serve as an example for all of us to realize the enormous responsibility we have to ourselves and to each other regarding the use of our written words when we etch them in the digital stone; that we as a society may learn from this experience and in the future will think twice before we decide what we want to express; and in so learning perhaps can harness this capability to help and heal instead of hurting each other. Thank you for taking this time to read our words.
The online retailer Newegg doesn't usually do traditional sales. Instead, it releases promo codes that can get you big discounts on some of the most popular video games around. Right now you can save 50% off select games by entering promo code EMCPWSP33 at checkout. The only drawbacks are that not all games are available for all platforms, and the deal ends July 31. Let's take a look at what games you can get for cheap.
Lots of relatively new games are available with this deal, including Sea of Thieves, Call of Duty: WWII, and Far Cry 5 for $30 apiece. That's as low as we've seen on any of them, so you're not likely to find them cheaper anytime soon.
Would it be nice if every game was on sale across all platforms? Most definitely. But when it comes to half-off games, we'll take what we can get. Just make sure you remember to enter that promo code at checkout.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is still a few months away, but Rockstar is already giving players a chance to earn certain items for it through another one of its games: Grand Theft Auto V. Last year, the developer announced a crossover mission in GTA Online that would unlock a weapon in the upcoming title, and it appears another similar tie-in has now been discovered in GTA 5's code.
The Guru Team, which was responsible for uncovering the first tie-in mission in GTA Online before it was formally announced by Rockstar, have found a second Red Dead Redemption 2 weapon in the game through datamining: a stone hatchet (via PC Gamer). According to the group, the hatchet can be acquired through a treasure hunt, which involves traveling to five different locations on the map and either capturing or killing a target.
Once all five areas have been visited, players will travel to a sixth location, where they'll find a treasure chest containing the hatchet. They can then use the weapon to take on a series of special challenges, which will in turn unlock the stone hatchet in Red Dead Redemption 2 on either PS4 or Xbox One when completed.
Despite being in the game's code, the stone hatchet isn't currently live in GTA Online. Rockstar still hasn't formally announced the crossover mission, so it remains to be seen when players will be able to get their hands on the weapon. With Red Dead Redemption 2 slated to launch on October 26, however, it seems likely Rockstar will share details about the new tie-in quest soon.
The first RDR2-related mission in GTA Online was revealed last December. It tasks players with traveling to specific locations around Los Santos, with the reward being the golden Double-Action Revolver. Once the gun has been obtained, players can use it to participate in a Headshot challenge and unlock the Double-Action Revolver for use in Red Dead Redemption 2.
By Anonymous on Jul 30, 2018 11:28 pm We get an early look at the first 90 minutes of Shadows: Awakening an upcoming action RPG which has you controlling different characters as you fight your way through the world.
It's the 30th anniversary of the action classic Die Hard--which is the greatest Christmas movie of all time, no matter what Bruce Willis says--and to celebrate, Fox took journalists on a tour of the real life Nakatomi Plaza, AKA Fox Plaza. The building, located near the Fox Lot in Century City, California, was under construction during filming of Die Hard, and today it remains largely unchanged--which is super awesome for massive Die Hard fans like us.
Did you know that the location in which Hans's crew plants the bombs to blow the roof is actually a building exterior? How about the fact that the staircase that goes up to the roof in the film is actually the property's lowest point, underground, and practically across the street in terms of its actual relation to the tower itself? And what about that handrail the police's armored car took out during their assault on the plaza? It turns out it was never replaced, believe it or not.
Die Hard isn't just a great Christmas movie. It's also one of the best action movies ever made. The building itself is a large part of that--it feels like a realistic location, because it is one. Having a sense of geography and place is important in action movies, and being able to track where John McClane and Hans's goons are in relation to one another at any given point in the movie is crucial to why Die Hard is so enjoyable. Seeing the real interiors--and the exteriors on the roof--where it was shot enhances that enjoyment even further.
Fox capped the tour off with a special screening of the Die Hard 30th Anniversary Edition outside the building, complete with photo ops to take pictures of Sergeant Powell's cop car and Argyle's limo. The Die Hard 30th Anniversary Edition is available now on Blu-ray, 4K, and digitally.
They set up a Nakatomi sign outside the building.
These elevators look familiar.
Nakatomi Corp. is still listed in the building's directory, along with characters like "John McClane (guest)."
This small counter is a great place to grab a Crunch bar and have a shoot-out with the LAPD.
In the film there are five rails here; the police armored car takes out the middle one, and after filming it was never replaced, according to the tour guide.
Not the exact same truck as in the movie, but it'll do for hiding an ambulance in.
Argyle was waiting in the garage.
The ramp the thieves' truck descends into the garage.
This is the scene of the fight between John and Karl, in which Karl gets hanged from a chain.
In the movie this staircase leads shortly to the roof, but it's actually the lowest point in the whole property, underground.
Karl slides down this stairwell early in the movie.
These footprints have been here for 30 years--what's the cleaning crew been up to?
While it was first reported that Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln is leaving AMC's long-running zombie show back in May, his departure was only officially confirmed during last week's San Diego Comic-Con. Lincoln has now spoken further about his decision and revealed the reason why he is leaving the role of Rick Grimes after eight years.
In an interview for Entertainment Weekly Radio, Lincoln again confirmed he was leaving, although he was careful to specifically state it was from the main show, not necessarily the entire franchise, which also includes the video game and spin-off show Fear the Walking Dead. He then explained that his departure was simply down to the fact that his home is in the UK and he wants to spend more time with his family.
"I have two young children, and I live in a different country, and they become less portable as they get older," he said. "It was that simple. It was time for me to come home."
Lincoln went on to talk about what it was like to film his final episodes in the upcoming Season 9. "Completing the show was like releasing air finally," he said. "And it was very satisfying the last two episodes in particular. But doing a [Comic-Con] panel and having to talk to [thousands of] people in Hall H and then have all my friends hug me at the end? The s*** got real, is the truth of the matter."
During the Walking Dead SDCC panel, Lincoln expressed his love for the show. "I love this show, it means everything to me," he said. "I love the people who make this show--I promise not to cry, I've done enough crying on screen--I am also deeply fond of the people who watch this show, you people. This has been the most extraordinary, amazing, and beautiful experience of my career made largely because of you guys."
The Walking Dead Season 9 premieres on October 31. Lincoln is only expected to star in a handful of episodes, as is co-star Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie. In March, it was reported that Cohan was holding out on signing the contract for Season 9 in order to improve her deal. Although she did ultimately sign on for the next season, Cohan will only appear in six episodes, as she is also filming the ABC drama Whiskey Cavalier.
By Anonymous on Jul 30, 2018 11:23 pm Nintendo Switch is getting a trio of great-looking Gamecube-style controllers for Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and EA is considering Fortnite-level crossplay for future games.
Fortnite has crossed an estimated 100 million downloads on mobile, according to third-party tracking firm Apptopia. If the figure is accurate, it would have passed the number after only five months on the market, and without an Android version to boost its numbers. By comparison, the firm predicts that PUBG will reach the figure after almost a year on the market.
The report also claims that Fortnite has cleared $160 million in purchase revenue, and players in May and June alone played for 2.7 billion hours. Keep in mind all of those figures are for the mobile version only. Fortnite has continued to rack up success on PC and consoles as well, so this is all gravy.
That's a strong showing, but the firm estimates that some other games have reached the 100 million milestone a little faster. Super Mario Run is said to have hit it after only 68 days, and Pokemon Go after 71. Fortnite took roughly twice as long, which the report chalks up to good marketing. Super Mario Run had a recognizable brand name on its side, and it teamed up with Apple for real estate on the App Store. But it also tapered off and didn't make what Nintendo expected.
Part of the appeal of Fortnite on mobile is its parity with the PC and console versions. With the notable exception of PS4, all of the versions play alongside each other, so mobile players don't have to settle for a second-tier experience. Fortnite is now well into its fifth season, with a new set of rewards to chase. You can check out where to find the birthday cakes to earn yourself some loot as long as you finish the challenges before August 7.
EA's Origin Access Premier is rolling out starting today, adding a higher tier to its subscription service. The upgraded version of Origin Access will give you unlimited access to new releases on PC, as well as early access five days before launch.
The basic tier gives access to the Vault of 100+ older EA and third-party games along with a 10% discount on purchases. Premier includes all that, along with new games once they launch like FIFA 19, Madden NFL 19, and Battlefield V. When EA teased the announcement, it also promised its big-budget shooter Anthem will be included when it launches next year. Notably, the upcoming games included with the subscription are the special editions: NHL 19 Hall of Fame, FIFA 19 Ultimate, Battlefield 5 Deluxe, and Anthem: Legion of Dawn Edition.
It costs $15 / £15 per month or $100 / £90 per year, as compared to the basic tier's $5 / £4 and $30 / £20 charges, respectively. Subscribing now gets you in before Madden drops on August 10, and altogether subscribing through the end of the year would get you EA's entire slate for just over the cost of one game. Of course, if you let the subscription lapse, the games go too.
This makes EA's own subscription service similar to the Xbox Game Pass, which offers a large backlog of older games along with all new first-party games from Microsoft as they release. That service similarly costs $10 per month.
Stranger Things Season 3 won't be out this year, Netflix has announced. Netflix programming boss Cindy Holland said at a Television Critics Association event that the hit sci-fi show won't return until 2019. The wait will be worth it, though, Holland said.
"It's a handcrafted show," Holland said, according to EW. "The Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy--they understand the stakes are high. They want to deliver something bigger and better than last year. I think it's going to be a fantastic season. It will be worth the wait."
Holland added that Season 3 will have more special effects than the previous two. This is part of the reason why Stranger Things won't be back until 2019. "It's a really exciting season, just takes a little more time," Holland explained.
Producer Shawn Levy recently revealed that Season 3 will be set in the summer of 1985, following the previous seasons which were set a year apart in '83 and '84 respectively. At least two new cast members are joining the show for Season 3, including Carey Elwes and Jake Busey. Busey will play Bruce, who is a "corrupt and sexist news reporter," while Elwes is Mayor Kline, a "slick and self-serving politician."
Season 3's story emphasis is expected to shift away from Will. "We're going to give Will a break," Levy said previously. "We're not going to put Will through hell for a third season in a row. He'll be dealing with stuff, but he won't be at rock bottom the way we forced the amazing Noah [Schnapp] to play."
The Pokemon series returned to theaters last year with a limited theatrical run of Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You, a retelling of Ash's first encounter with Pikachu and their journey to find the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh. The latest Pokemon film, known in Japan as Pokemon the Movie: Everyone's Story, will follow suit and receive a limited theatrical release as well.
Following its premiere in Japan, The Pokemon Company has announced it is again partnering with Fathom Events to distribute the 21st film in the series, now known as Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us, in international markets this fall. The movie will air in select theaters around the world on November 24, 26, and 28, with one final showing following on December 1.
The Power of Us is set in a town that lives in harmony with the wind. Each year, the townspeople hold a festival to celebrate the Legendary Pokemon Lugia, which saved the town from destruction some years ago. The film also marks the debut of Zeraora, a brand-new Mythical Pokemon revealed earlier this year for the series' most recent 3DS games, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
You can read the synopsis of the film, taken from the official Pokemon website, below:
"Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us tells the story of Ash and Pikachu as they journey to a small seaside town filled with a diverse set of characters, including a young athlete, a compulsive liar, a shy researcher, a bitter old woman, and a little girl with a big secret.
"Every year, the townspeople gather to celebrate the Legendary Pokemon Lugia, who brings the wind that saved the town from destruction many years ago. The festival is a time for celebration, with a Pokemon Catching Race and a ceremonial flame burning brightly to summon Lugia. But when a series of incidents threatens not just the festival, but all the people and Pokemon who call the town home, it's going to take more than just Ash and Pikachu to save the day. Will these people be able to put aside their differences and work together to rescue their town? Or will it all end in destruction?"
Additional details on showtimes and participating details will be announced at a later date. Tickets for The Power of Us will go on sale on the Fathom Events website beginning September 27.
Electronic Arts has commented on the ever-popular topic of cross-play, and it sounds like the company is enthusiastic about doing more in the space going forward. During a recent earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson was asked directly if Battlefield V or other EA games will feature cross-play functionality between systems. Wilson said cross-play is an "important part of our future development profile," though he stopped short of confirming anything.
Cross-play between consoles exists for some Xbox One and Nintendo Switch games such as Rocket League and Minecraft. However, Sony has yet to connect its PlayStation 4 with any competing consoles. Whatever the case, Wilson said he expects that in 3-5 years, a "great portion" of gaming will exist in the cloud, and will thus be technically capable of being played on any device you may own, though politics between platform-holders may complicate issues.
"We have a vision on a 3- to 5-year time horizon where a great portion of game experiences will exist in the cloud and be pushed to every device you own," Wilson said. "And the game experience you have won't be measured by local CPU or GPU, but will be measured by screen size and session time you have and will drive tremendous liquidity in a market.
On the more immediate horizon, Wilson teased that EA is looking at some of its "key franchises" for cross-play support.
"We're looking at key franchises in terms of how we should deliver cross-platform play ... in a similar way that Fortnite has, especially ... some of our titles have a broad and diverse player base," he said. "Households typically have one console, so the ability to bring PC to console and console to mobile into that play experience can bring families together, can bring friends together. And we think it's an important part of our future development profile, both in terms of mobile games that we have today moving up per se to console and PC, and console and PC games being playable in mobile. And I expect more from us on that front in the future."
We get an early look at the first 90 minutes of Shadows: Awakening an upcoming action RPG which has you controlling different characters as you fight your way through the world.
Nintendo Switch is getting a trio of great-looking Gamecube-style controllers for Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and EA is considering Fortnite-level crossplay for future games.
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