The LEGO Movie, released in 2014, was a runaway success at the time of its release, grossing close to half a billion dollars worldwide and spawning a film franchise that now includes two spinoffs: The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie. But beyond its jokes and bright animation, what makes the film endure is its deeper meta commentary about creativity and LEGOs themselves, about the joy of unstructured play, and the importance in breaking rules once you've mastered them.
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, due out early next year, is the first direct sequel to Emmet and Wyldstyle's adventure. If the trailers are any indication, this movie will be as funny and self-referential as the first one. Here's what we know about The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.
1. The release date is soon
The release date for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is February 8, 2019. This is right in the middle of "dump month," where studios typically release their smaller, weaker films, which they know won't be up for award contention.
In The LEGO Movie 2's case, however, this might be strategic. It will be competing against What Men Want--the gender-switched What Women Want remake--and Cold Pursuit, the latest Liam Neeson action flick. This near guarantees it a strong opening, especially with families and young kids.
2. The old gang is back together
Every major actor from the first film is in the sequel, including Chris Pratt as Emmet (and new character Rex Dangervest), Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, and Will Arnett as Batman.
Morgan Freeman, who played Vitruvius, has not been announced for the sequel, but there's good reason for that if you saw the first film.
Joining them will be Stephanie Beatriz, who voices antagonist Sweet Mayhem, and Tiffany Haddish, who voices antagonist Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi.
3. The old filmmakers are back too
The creative thrust behind the original LEGO Movie were Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote and directed the film. Prior to this, they wrote and directed the animated adaptation of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. They are infamous for getting fired from the Solo: A Star Wars Story project due to "creative differences" and being replaced with Ron Howard.
This freed them up to work again on The LEGO Movie 2; they are credited as co-writers. One of the producers on the first LEGO movie, Dan Lin, has returned for the sequel. And the director for The LEGO Batman Movie, Chris McKay, is a producer as well.
4. The script went through rewrites
Writing the script for The LEGO Movie 2 began in 2014, with Jared Stern (The Internship) and Michelle Morgan (Girl Most Likely). Afterwards, Lord and Miller, who wrote the first movie, wrote a first draft for the sequel. Raphael Bob-Waksburg (BoJack Horseman) did a rewrite of that. And after being fired from Star Wars and returning to The LEGO Movie, Lord and Miller did another rewrite to top it all off.
5. The massive toy lines are incoming
On the most cynical basic level, these LEGO movies are glorified, feature-length toy commercials. In fact, if you go to the official LEGO website, you can get a sneak peek at all the upcoming playsets, which will no doubt coincide with the movie's release. We have to admit, Rex's Rex-treme Offroader looks pretty dang cool.
6. Invasion of the DUPLOs
At the end of the first LEGO film, DUPLO bricks (the bigger, more toddler-friendly version of LEGO bricks) invade the world. It could have worked as a non-canon throwaway gag, but instead, The LEGO Movie 2 builds off it.
From the trailer, it seems that five years have passed since the end of the first movie. And because of the invasion, the characters now live in a post-apocalyptic Mad Max-inspired wasteland. Everything is decidedly NOT awesome, though Emmet still keeps his optimism.
7. A brief holiday respite
If you need a little something to tide you over until February, you should watch the short holiday special online, which doubles as a trailer for the upcoming film. In it, Emmet tries to spread some merry cheer as the world burns around him. Even in Apocalypseburg, some traditions never die.
8. How girls and boys play
According to the filmmakers, this new movie is going to deal with gender differences. How do boys play? How do girls play? And what assumptions do they make about each others' likes and dislikes? In an interview with Collider, producer Chris McKay had this to say:
"What's different and similar about gender, when a boy plays vs. how a girl plays? What kinds of stories are there?... I'm really excited about where the movie is gonna go because it's about these things that are actual notions that people have that might even be unconscious biases, where people don't even realize that that's the way they're looking at the world."
9. The Systar system?
The big twist of the first LEGO movie is that it's all a big game of pretend by a young boy; the Man Upstairs is his father, who wants his son to stop taking apart, mixing, and "ruining" his LEGO sets.
In the movie's trailer, Emmet and Wyldstyle travel to the Systar system (Systar? Sister? Get it?) This new film is probably going to be about the boy's sister, and how he learns to play with her rather than apart from her.
10. A dual point of view
According to McKay, this movie will have two perspectives: "Every one of our movies, so far, have been told from the point of view of one kid's imagination. The LEGO Movie 2 will be the first one told through two kids' imaginations--Finn [ the boy] and his sister. It's going to be really interesting juxtaposing those two different visions."
Expect to see a tearful reconciliation. And expect sales of LEGO's girl toy line, LEGO Friends, to shoot through the roof.
The first thing we see after the studio logos in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the "Approved by the comics code authority" stamp. This is not only a great Easter egg that comic book history buffs will understand, but also a subtle and great introduction to the kind of film you're about to see. You see, this is not just another movie about Spider-Man, or another movie about superheroes, but the closest we've ever come to a comic book truly coming to life. As GameSpot wrote in our review, this is "literally a comic book turned into a movie."
Into the Spider-Verse feels special in more ways than one. Not only is this the first time we see a major superhero of mixed-race on screen, and the first full-length animated superhero film to get a wide release in theaters since Batman: Mask of the Phantasm in 1993, but also the first film of its kind that truly feels like it's telling the story from the perspective of someone living inside of a comic book. The opening scene of the film, where Peter Parker recaps the story of his life, is one we are familiar with by this point, since we've seen the story being told over 17 years and 7 Spider-Man movies.
That opening scene feels fresh because it reflects how it would actually feel to live in a world where superheroes are real. Everyone in the MCU knows the real names of Iron Man and Captain America, but we don't really see how this affects their day-to-day lives or the world around them at a micro level. Sure, we saw those robbers wearing Avengers masks in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the X-Men comic in Logan was a cool Easter egg, but not until Into the Spider-Verse have we seen how superheroes being real affects the popular culture of the film's universe. Here we get not only a celebrity Spider-Man, but actual comics made out of his exploits--here called "True Life Tales"--Spider-Man cereal, even a Christmas album. Not only is this fun to see in a meta-storytelling way, but it also makes you feel like you are actually reading a comic book with a vibrant and lived-in universe.
It isn't only through worldbuilding that Into the Spider-Verse pulls you into the world of the film as if it's an actual comic book, but also the animation itself. From start to finish, any frame that you pause could look just like a comic book panel. Each frame has a CGI foundation in 3D that is then followed by an overlay of 2D hand-drawn art, giving the look of 2D art in a comic book page. In an age where every American animated film is following the Pixar mold of going for smooth and clean designs, this film instead goes for rougher? designs to simulate the look of hand drawings like you would have in a Spider-Man comic. The film even replicates retro comic details like the Ben-Day dots (the inexpensive mid-century printing method that used visible colored dots). Into the Spider-Verse uses the Ben-Day dots in the background of most scenes, to make the frame look like it was printed on a page.
Likewise, the movie uses onomatopoeia and kinetic typography to emphasize sound effects and emotions in the same way a comic book would. An early scene where Miles mixes up having spider powers with hitting puberty is enhanced by the use of kinetic typography and onomatopoeia sound effects, as well as thought bubbles, narration boxes, and even panels that split the screen. These are things familiar to anyone who has ever picked up a comic book, but to see it used in the film enhances the story--by allowing the filmmakers to emphasize and visualize sounds or showing you Miles' inner thinking--and further blends the comic-reading and film-viewing experience.
Into the Spider-Verse isn't the first film to do this. Ang Lee's Hulk also used panels to split the screen into different points of view 15 years ago, but it used it as a means to continuously wink at the audience to remind them that the film was based on a comic book, instead of as a meaningful part of the storytelling. Even worse, the film's tone and story were so serious that the use of panels took the audience right out of the film because it felt out of place. The last movie to attempt the comic book aesthetic in a major way was Scott Pilgrim vs The World back in 2010, which also used typography to visualize sound effects, as well as other visual nods to comic books and video games like health bars and hit-counters during fight scenes. In an interview for Animation World Network, Edgar Wright described the film as "a normal world of a normal young man filtered through his overactive imagination."
The hyper-stylization in Scott Pilgrim worked because it's the filter through which the story is told, which is exactly what Into the Spider-Verse does. The thought bubbles and "BOOM!" "WOOSH!" and "KAPOW!" sound effects are not only used as nods to the film's comic book roots, but as part of the very fabric of the storytelling. Just as Scott thinks he's in a video game, Miles knows he lives inside a comic book. A scene in which Peter B. Parker tells Miles his plan to sneak inside a secure lab is told through a series of panels, with the characters commenting on its comic book look and interacting with the panels. This doesn't feel like a break of the fourth-wall, though, because there is no layer separating the storytelling techniques and the story. When Miles asks, "why are my thoughts so loud?" while looking at the thought bubbles, it doesn't feel out of place, because on some level he's aware he is a comic book character, something the movie's overall aesthetic allows us as the audience to accept.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse truly embraces what it's like to read a comic book, by making its characters and the tone of the film feel like part of a comic book itself. Deadpool may have known he was in a movie, but this Spider-Man is in an actual comic book, looking up to the audience from the page. This film not only proves how versatile animation is as a medium, but how well the look and feel of a comic book translate into animation. Watching a scene in Avengers: Endgame suddenly be divided into panels would feel out of place, yet watching Miles Morales's thoughts appear as text boxes floating in the air feels right at home.
Over the next few days, we will reveal what we believe are the 10 best games of 2018, organized by release date. Then on December 19, we will reveal which of the nominees gets to take home the coveted title of GameSpot's Game of the Year. So be sure to come back then for the big announcement, and in the meantime, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2018 hub.
Tetris is time-tested, ubiquitous, and as a result, it's usually taken for granted. Developer Enhance Inc. is here to remind us all that Tetris is a game worthy of our appreciation in 2018, and more importantly, that it has plenty of untapped potential.
In simple terms, Tetris Effect is a rhythm-game tinged version of the classic puzzle game. You aren't forced to act in time with the music, but every time you flip a tetromino or complete a line, the game will produce a sound at the nearest-neighbor beat. So even though you aren't intentionally filling in the notes of a song, you do contribute to the music. With enough experience you may find yourself trying to play along, however, acting out and flipping puzzle pieces just to hear the rapid fire instrumentation and appreciate your mastery of the game's pacing and demands. This of course happens simultaneously as you race to clear lines, consequently harmonizing Tetris Effect's two halves.
The moving soundtrack encompasses a wide range of musical styles that may be unusual to your ears but are nonetheless infectious. The procession of one rhythm or orchestra to another is handcrafted to make you feel something different from level to level, and the push and pull of it all is unquestionably effective. Some stages help you relax and experience momentary bliss, while others drive you so hard and fast that you practically need to catch your breath before jumping into the next challenge.
Inspiring moments like these are great in isolation; when experienced for prolonged periods of time, playing stage after stage in the game's Journey mode, they accumulate into something greater. To succeed at Tetris Effects' later levels requires almost subconscious planning and execution, where thinking too hard may cause unintentional obsession with misleading opportunities. It sounds almost counterintuitive, the idea that you should think less to achieve more, but that's exactly what Tetris Effect is trying to draw out of you, and exactly why you should give yourself up to the feelings it tries to instill.
It's an unforgettable experience that marks a new chapter for one of the medium's most familiar and beloved properties, and when people talk about Tetris from now on, Tetris Effect will undoubtedly be used to reference the original game's timeless appeal.
We often think of VR games as means to travel to new worlds or embody fictional characters. Tetris Effect leverages the inherent immersion that comes from shutting yourself off from the outside world to induce synaesthesia, combining sight and sound into a seamless composite. Until you've experienced it for yourself, it's difficult to understand just how powerful this effect can be, but it's the secret sauce that makes you good at the game. All it takes to locate that mindset is a little persistence and an open mind. The more you can isolate your senses, the better, so you should absolutely play Tetris Effect with PSVR if you have the option.
Tetris Effect is unquestionably the prettiest version of Tetris there is and it uses that aspect of its personality to enhance the core draw of the puzzle game within, making it easier for you to find that unspeakable bond between mind and game. It's an unforgettable experience that marks a new chapter for one of the medium's most familiar and beloved properties, and when people talk about Tetris from now on, Tetris Effect will undoubtedly be used to reference the original game's timeless appeal.
Over the next few days, we will reveal what we believe are the 10 best games of 2018, organized by release date. Then on December 19, we will reveal which of the nominees gets to take home the coveted title of GameSpot's Game of the Year. So be sure to come back then for the big announcement, and in the meantime, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2018 hub.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a lot of things--methodical in its pacing, ambitious in nearly every department, overwhelming in its scope--but most of all, it is contradictory. Its open world presents you with any number of outlaw activities to take on, but its story is a series of largely linear missions where there is no freedom of choice. The world is expansive and seemingly never-ending, but getting from place to place is a slow, laborious process. But those contradictions work in tandem to develop Red Dead 2's narrative on a deeper level, and it's thanks to those opposing ideas that we gained such an intense connection to its characters and world.
Arthur Morgan's story is not unlike John Marston's story; in Red Dead Redemption, John was working to escape his old life of crime and find a better life for himself and his family. In the prequel, Arthur is torn between two versions of himself: the better man he wants to be and the flawed man he is. This is represented by an honor scale that shifts depending on your actions, like greeting passerby politely or looting an innocent corpse. But in practice, no matter how you're trying to play, you'll always find yourself doing something you didn't want to do. If you're trying to be honorable, you'll inevitably end up doing a homicide-required story mission that tanks your honor score. If you're aiming to be a true outlaw, you'll have to avoid donating to your camp--and miss out on important upgrades, including one that unlocks partial fast travel--if you don't want to gain honor points.
The feeling of inevitability is exacerbated by the tension only a prequel can bring: knowing how the story ultimately ends. Over 50 or so hours, you're forging relationships with people who you know won't make it to the events of Red Dead Redemption. Something hopeful becomes bittersweet, and in turn, sad events take on an optimistic light. There's something beautiful in knowing there's nothing you can do to save someone or avoid the tragic outcome--but that you have choices all the same. Your decisions might not change the ending much, but the give and take of trying and failing makes each step on your journey feel like your own.
It can be frustrating, in an open world game, to be forced into actions you didn't want to take. Red Dead 2 gives you a ton of choices but very few outcomes; there's often nothing you can do to change how a story mission ends. It can feel like you're fighting against the game, but that's why it's brilliant. Your weariness and your frustration are also Arthur's, and that gives you a greater understanding into the inner turmoil he experiences throughout the story. Those feelings draw you into him, his relationships, and his world, and that's a connection that's hard to shake when it's all over. Of everything about Red Dead Redemption 2, from its responsive, living world to its most meticulous details, that is its greatest achievement.
It's the holiday season, which makes it the perfect time for cozying up by the fireplace with some cocoa and watching streaming shows until you fall asleep and wake up wondering where you are. Netflix has tons of new options this week, particularly chock full of original films and shows.
As of December 16, you can watch The Theory of Everything and Springsteen on Broadway. Starting on December 18, Netflix will have the manga-inspired animated series Baki, the Ellen DeGeneres stand-up special Relatable, and part 5 of Terrace House: Opening New Doors. All are listed as Netflix Originals.
Then on December 21, a veritable smorgasboard of new options opens up. Some highlights include the documentary anthology 7 Days Out, the thriller Bird Box, and documentaries Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski and Tales by Light. Fans of anime have a few reasons to get excited too: the new series 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, Last Hope Part 2, and Sirius the Jaeger.
This is the last very busy week of the year, since Netflix's release docket is lighter over the holiday weeks of Christmas and New Year's. Plus, keep in mind that a few movies and series are leaving this week too--notably Moana, Food Inc., and Spotlight--so you should catch them while you can. Check out our full wrap-up of the month for more details, and read up on our recommendations if you need a little more direction.
12/18/18
Baki-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 5-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
12/21/18
3Below: Tales of Arcadia-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
7 Days Out-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Back With the Ex-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Bad Seeds-- NETFLIX FILM
Bird Box-- NETFLIX FILM
Derry Girls-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Diablero-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Greenleaf: Season 3
LAST HOPE: Part 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Perfume-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Sirius the Jaeger-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski -- NETFLIX FILM
Christmas is a time for friends, family, food, and gift-giving. But for us horror fans, it's also a time for monsters, mayhem, gore, and psychotic Santas armed with axes. The last few decades have a produced a number of delightfully twisted holiday horror flicks, all of which provide some much needed darkness in the festive season. Here's some of the best.
13. Jack Frost (1996)
Not to be confused with the sentimental Hollywood family fantasy of the same name from the following year, this Jack Frost is the tale of a killer snowman who terrorises the town of, er, Snowmonton. The movie features some of the least convincing fake snow ever committed to film, a scene where a victim is crucified on a Christmas tree, and an early appearance from American Pie star Shannon Elizabeth (who gets killed with a carrot). Jack Frost boasts a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 7%, and it's a deliciously awful load of festive nonsense best enjoyed after a few eggnogs.
12. Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
None of the Silent Night Deadly Night sequels are very good, but the second entry is worthy of a place on the list simply because it is so, so bad. The tiny budget didn't even provide director Lee Harry with enough to shoot a full movie, so much of the running time is given over to extensive "flashbacks". Nearly 50% of the entire movie is simply a repeat of scenes from the first film, to the extent that the end of credits includes the full casts of both. The new material is so incompetent that it's utterly fascinating to watch. And of course, the movie also provided the internet with one of the all-time great memes: "GARBAGE DAY!"
11. A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
Anthology movies are a big part of horror, so it's no surprise that we eventually got a Christmas one. Set on Christmas Eve and with a wraparound that features a hilarious William Shatner as an increasingly drunken DJ, it presents a trio of ghoulish seasonal stories. Unlike many anthologies, this one intercuts the stories throughout. There's the teenage trio who discover a nasty surprise when they visit the scene of an unsolved high school murder, a cop whose kid starts acting very strange on a Christmas Tree shopping trip, and a family who are hunted by something terrifying in the snow after their car breaks down. The mix of stories and the fact that three directors are involved means that A Christmas Horror Story is tonally pretty inconsistent, but it's also nicely gory with some good twists along the way.
10. Silent Night Bloody Night (1972)
The eerie Silent Night Bloody Night played briefly in drive-in theatres 1972, before disappearing into obscurity and falling into the public domain. In the early '80s it was resurrected for the cable TV horror marathon Movie Macabare and began to play annually as an antidote to traditional festival programming. It's a tale of small-town murder on Christmas Eve, with variable acting and a sometimes bafflingly complicated whodunnit plot, but plenty of chilly atmosphere.
9. Saint Nick (2010)
Originally titled Sint but released as Saint Nick in the US, this Dutch shocker comes from the twisted mind of Dick Maas, director of such cult gems as The Lift and Amsterdamned. It is based on the legend of Sinterklaas, who, like Santa, was adapted from the historical figure of Saint Nicholas. In Maas's darkly funny shocker, Sinterklaas is a ghostly figure who turns to murder whenever his annual celebration coincides with a full moon. Like Silent Night Deadly Night many years earlier, Saint Nick caused some controversy with concerned parents in the Netherlands, forcing Maas to go to court to defend the movie's poster campaign.
8. Home for The Holidays (1972)
This creepy made-for-TV movie from the early '70s combines an Agatha Christie-style mystery with a proto-slasher movie involving a pitchfork-wielding killer. Four sisters (including a young Sally Field and Arrested Development's Jessica Walters) gather in their estranged father's house over Christmas after he tells them he believes their stepmom is trying to poison him. Home for the Holidays was written by Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano and produced by '80s TV soap king Aaron Spelling. Surprisingly, considering it was an ABC Movie of the Week, it doesn't hold back on the unwholesome festive murder.
7. Christmas Evil (1980)
Despite the punny title and similar storyline, Christmas Evil predated Silent Night Deadly Night by four years. It's also a weirder, creepier movie that is less interested in gory shocks and focuses more on the fragile mental state of its main character, Harry. Poor Harry had an early Christmas ruined when he saw his dad, dressed as Santa, having some illicit fun with his mom. As an adult he works in a toy factory, and inevitably becomes convinced he is the real Father Christmas, who must "punish" the bad adults in his neighbourhood. An underrated movie, Christmas Evil has a compelling, sympathetic lead performance from Brandon Maggart (who is also the father of '90s singer-songwriter Fiona Apple!).
6. Better Watch Out (2016)
The most recent movie on this list, this smart, subversive shocker can be found on the horror streaming service Shudder. The movie starts as a fairly standard home invasion horror, as a teenage babysitter and the 12-year-old boy she is looking after over the Christmas period are forced to deal with terrifying, masked, shotgun-carrying intruders. But a clever twist a third of the way in turns the movie on its head, and leads to a far more original, but equally tense next hour. Better Watch Out is marked by dark humour, strong performances, and a couple of satisfyingly gruesome kills. The holiday setting is more a backdrop than a major plot point, but it's a strong entry into the canon of Christmas horror movies.
5. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
While there have been many cinematic depictions of Santa over the years, there are none like the Father Christmas of this wacky Finnish fable. When a British drilling team blast a hole a mountain, Santa's icy home is uncovered, leading to a series of encounters with his "elves", and finally the big man himself. Rare Exports is an uproarious, fast-moving horror comedy that gets crazier as it continues, but still finds time for a happy ending.
4. Krampus (2014)
The Krampus is a demonic horned creature from Austrian folklore who punishes naughty kids at Christmas. He's also the perfect holiday horror villain. The aforementioned anthology film A Christmas Horror Story features a Krampus in one of its stories, but for the true Krampus experience, this recent seasonal gem is a must-see. Written and directed by Michael Dougherty, who will next helm the upcoming Godzilla sequel, it focuses on a young boy called Max who isn't experiencing the best Christmas. With his house full of unbearable relatives and a freak storm cutting off power to his town, Max is forced to do battle with a visiting Krampus. Dougherty takes a similar approach to his festive horror as Joe Dante did with Gremlins, delivering a movie that is gruesome and scary, but also funny and heartwarming.
3.Silent Night Deadly Night (1984)
While it's not the first Christmas slasher movie, Silent Night Deadly Night is the most notorious. It's the twisted tale of a troubled young man whose parents were murdered on Christmas Eve, and who suffered subsequent abuse in a Catholic orphanage. Donning a Santa suit, he picks up an axe and gets busy. The film opened to big box office but also countrywide protests from the Planet Teacher Association, who were dismayed at the depiction of Santa as a crazed killer. It was pulled from theatres after only six days, but this gruesomely entertaining classic has subsequently found an appreciative audience at home. It was followed by four sequels and a 2012 remake.
2. Black Christmas (1974)
Black Christmas is not only a classic of seasonal horror, it's also one of the key movies in setting the template for the slasher genre that was so popular in the following decade. A group of students are menaced at Christmas by a campus killer who torments them over a phone line. It's tense and scary, and features one of the earliest uses of the now-clichéd killer's POV shot. Director Bob Clark later made another holiday classic, the perennial family favorite A Christmas Story, which features a lot less hacking and slashing.
1. Gremlins (1984)
Commercially the most successful movie on this list, Gremlins is the perfect meeting of two different filmmaking sensibilities. On one hand we have producer Steven Spielberg's vision of a classic Christmas in an all-American small town, and on the other, director Joe Dante's anarchic, satirical demolition of the festive period and all its cloying conventions. The movie doesn't hold back on the murderous monster mayhem, but still packs plenty of heart. And Phoebe Cate's Santa Claus monologue remains one of the darkest, yet most hilarious scenes of the whole decade.
By Anonymous on Dec 17, 2018 08:55 pm Take a look at the final trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3 which gives us a first look at Stitch from Lilo and Stitch, a cooking-themed Ratatouille keyblade, conversations involving Organization XIII members, and a glimpse at Kairi wielding a keyblade.
Nintendo didn't invent the plug-and-play console, but it certainly popularized it. Introduced in 2016, the NES Classic is a miniature version of the retro console that comes with 30 fantastic games loaded onto it. It sold out fast and was all but impossible to find in stock for many months. The following year, Nintendo released the SNES Classic, which comes with 20 games and was also extremely popular. Unfortunately, Nintendo has announced it will soon cease production of the tiny consoles in the Americas.
But it's not too late. You can still get your hands on both consoles before they're gone for good. Read on to see where you can still find them in stock, along with accessories like additional controllers, wireless controllers, and carrying cases for taking them on the go.
In our NES Classic review, Peter Brown wrote, "The NES Classic is an affordable solution for playing NES games, and the fact that it outperforms existing Virtual Console efforts from a technical standpoint makes it the most attractive option to boot."
Its successor received similarly high marks. In our SNES Classic review, Michael Higham wrote, "To have this lineup of iconic games in one place, in an easy, accessible, and convenient fashion makes the SNES Classic worth seeking out. If Nintendo's looking to capitalize on 16-bit nostalgia, I'd say it did a damn fine job."
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said, "We've been clear that, at least from an Americas perspective, these products are going to be available through the holiday season and once they sell out, they're gone."
That means now is likely your last chance to pick up one of these classic consoles for its regular price. After that, the market will determine the value, and the market tends to price out-of-stock Nintendo items above the MSRP.
Konami has released a free-to-play version of PES 2019 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Named PES 2019 Lite, the downloadable title includes a limited selection of the full game's modes.
Exhibition matches and skill training are the offline offerings, with PES League--including 1v1 and co-op matches--and My Club available for those who wish to play online. Master League and Random Selection Mode are therefore the main exceptions from the full version.
We enjoyed Konami's sports sim here at GameSpot; critic Richard Wakeling awarded the game a 9/10 in our PES 2019 review. "For as long as EA continues to develop FIFA and hold a monopoly over official licences, PES will be the scrappy underdog just hoping for a surprise upset, even when it's fielding the likes of London Blue and PV White Red," he wrote. "The lack of licences for top-tier leagues remains a disheartening sticking point, but PES continues to make brilliant strides on the pitch, building on what was already an incredibly satisfying game of football to produce one of the greatest playing football games of all time. It might be lacking off the pitch, but put it on the field against the competition and a famous giant killing wouldn't be all that surprising."
PES's mobile version has been updated, meanwhile. What used to be PES 2018 Mobile is now PES 2019 Mobile, which includes local 1v1 matches as well as a mobile edition of My Club. PES 2019 Mobile is out now for iOS and Android.
Square Enix has released a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts III. The long-awaited sequel is set to launch in January so, according to the publisher, this will be its last trailer. The video touches on familiar themes from throughout the Kingdom Hearts franchise: stolen hearts, worlds, and destinies, and--of course--returning home.
From there we're given a showcase of all the iconic Disney characters and worlds that will be featured in the game. Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc. make an appearance, Tigger very excitedly reunites with Sora, and of course, King Mickey looks to be out and about on mysterious world-saving adventures. Naturally, given that Kingdom Hearts III wraps up Sora's story, there's an abundance of characters critical to the main narrative, most notably the members of Organization XIII and Xehanort. Check out the trailer above.
Kingdom Hearts III has leaked and versions of the game are out in the wild. Director Tetsuya Nomura responded to the leak with a statement encouraging people not to share spoilers, especially the "epilogue and secret movie."
"We want everyone to be able to equally experience the full game after its release, so we ask for your continued support on this matter," Nomura added. "We're sorry to see this caused concern amongst our fans who are excited for the release. We're one month out from the release. Let's enjoy the game together when it releases on January 29, 2019."
Kingdom Hearts III is the first core entry in the mainline series since Kingdom Hearts II was released in 2005. As previously mentioned, the game will wrap up Sora's arc, after numerous side-stories and spin-offs have thoroughly explored the universe as a whole. Square Enix and Disney has signed-up an all star cast of familiar voices for this entry. Kingdom Hearts III's release date has been confirmed as January 29 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is top of the UK sales chart once again as we reach the penultimate week before Christmas. The week ending December 15 saw Rockstar's open-world title sell more physical copies than any other game, despite heavy retailer discounts helping some big hitters to climb the chart.
FIFA 19 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 were two of those AAA titles to rise up the chart--EA's sports sim climbed one place to No.2 and Activision's shooter is up four places to No.3. Nintendo's Switch exclusive Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, meanwhile, is down three places to No.4 after a strong debut last week.
The Christmas No.1 will be confirmed in next week's chart, with Red Dead Redemption 2, Black Ops 4, and FIFA 19 all vying for top spot. Those three games were awarded, 9, 8, and 7/10 respectively in GameSpot's reviews; check out the full verdicts below.
You can read the full top 10 sales chart for this week below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
Street Fighter V recently released an update that introduces advertisements to the fighting game's loading screens, player models, and stages. While the advertisements can be toggled off, the introduction of ads in the first place went over just as well as you'd expect.
Now, Street Fighter executive producer Yoshinori Ono has responded. In a statement posted Sunday evening, Ono thanked fans for their feedback, adding that Capcom will continue to consider this feedback to think about how it may "improve" the sponsored content feature in the future. Advertisements in Street Fighter V seem like they are here to stay.
"We value and thank our community for providing feedback on the new sponsored content feature added to Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition this week," Ono said. "We will continue collecting everyone's feedback to consider how we can improve this new feature for players in the future."
Advertisements came to Street Fighter V in an update released on December 11. Some people immediately criticised the move, and made silly mock-up images of new skins for brands like McDonald's and Mtn Dew. Right now, the ads in Street Fighter V are for things like the Capcom Pro Tour series and extra content sales for the game. Players who view the ads earn extra Fight Money (the game's currency) from Ranked and Casual matches, but the sponsored content, as Capcom calls it, can be toggled off for those who don't want to see it.
In other Street Fighter V news, Capcom just today launched a new character, Kage, and introduced a big new balance patch. You can learn more in GameSpot's coverage here.
WWE's TLC PPV isn't one viewers get typically excited about. The TLC matches are a cool stipulation, but every single one of us knows it's all just a holding pattern for Royal Rumble, in order to build up Wrestlemania. However, on Sunday, December 16, WWE's 2018 TLC PPV was actually pretty fantastic, and the main event was amazing and exceptionally brutal.
The show took place in San Jose, California at the SAP Center, and the card was stacked with 12 matches over the course of the evening. Yes, that is a lot of matches for a non-major WWE PPV. There were plenty of titles on the line and plenty of foreign objects allowed in these matches. TLC is a bit of a crazy beast. Check out all the matches in the order they aired.
TLC Match Card:
Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Cedric Alexander (Cruiserweight Championship) -- Kickoff Show
Elias vs. Bobby Lashley (Ladder Match) -- Kickoff Show
R-Truth & Carmella vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox (Finals of MMC Season 2)
The Bar (c) vs. The New Day vs. The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Championships)
Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin (TLC Match)
Natalya vs. Ruby Riott (Tables Match)
Finn Bálor vs. Drew McIntyre
Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton (Chairs Match)
Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nia Jax (Raw Women's Championship)
(The New) Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles (WWE Championship)
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Championship)
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (Triple Threat TLC Match For The Smackdown Women's Championship)
Before this PPV kicked off, I had no expectations. I thought it was going to be pretty awful, as there were 12 matches on the card, and Raw's side of things had little to no build-up to its matches. And I was wrong. The WWE PPV ended up being quite a bit of fun, even with the shorter matches and lack of strong stories. At times, the fights didn't feel like PPV matches, but it was all fine and dandy throughout the evening, as TLC is nothing more than a pit stop on the way to Royal Rumble anyway, which in itself is a pit stop on the way to Wrestlemania.
Like everyone on the internet, I have strong opinions about what happened during the WWE event, so I wrote down all my thoughts, ranked the matches and have presented them to you. Here's what I thought about all the matches during the evening at the WWE PPV, TLC. And just for fun, we're going to take a look back at our predictions to see how right or wrong we are about the show.
Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Cedric Alexander (Cruiserweight Championship) -- Kickoff Show
Winner: Buddy Murphy
Our Prediction: Buddy Murphy
Buddy Murphy's pants bug me. That's my first impression of this match. I know who these guys are, and I know they're going to put on a great match, but Murphy's trunks are weird. There is just a great amount of smoothness and flow to these competitors' work, something fans don't get to see too much on the main roster. Both men were great at building to a very exciting and intense third act of the match. Put them on the main roster please, along with Mustafi Ali.
8/10
Elias vs. Bobby Lashley (Ladder Match) -- Kickoff Show
Winner: Elias
Our Prediction: Elias
The stipulation for this match is so stupid. There is a guitar hanging above the ring, and if you grab it, you can use it on your opponent. Well, what about just using the ladder as a weapon? Last minute, the rules were changed to a setup where the winner is the first person to grab the guitar. God, this is so stupid. I love Elias, but this rivalry is killing him. He's such an interesting and dynamic performer, and he's been put in a story with Lashley, who is incredibly uncharismatic and not fun to watch. Sure, Lashley tossing a ladder at Elias was fun, but that's about it for this bout.
2/10
R-Truth & Carmella vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox (Finals of MMC Season 2)
Winner: R-Truth & Carmella
Our Prediction: R-Truth & Carmella
I really like the stipulation for this one, where the winners get the #30 spot at the next Royal Rumble. Way to make this tournament worthwhile, WWE. R-Truth and Carmella bring a ton of fun to this match, and the dance break with the Singh Brothers was a totally entertaining spot. Then R-Truth wore Alicia's hat. I am also into this moment of hijinks. For a match I didn't have high expectations for, this was a great way to kick off the show. Yeah, there were more gimmicky, comedy spots than wrestling, but there's nothing wrong with having a quick match like that to open up the show. R-Truth announcing they're going to WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut was the icing on the cake.
6/10
The Bar (c) vs. The New Day vs. The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Championships)
Winner: The Bar
Our Prediction: The Usos
I was extremely hyped for this match. These are the three best tag teams in the WWE main roster right now, and each team brings something very different to the table. For the most part, it lived up to the hype--aside from a couple of confusing moments of who was legal in the match. There were some fantastic spots where each team showed off what they were best at, and while I wasn't totally into the finish--mainly because The Bar won and I was hoping the titles would go back to The Usos--this is what tag team wrestling should strive to be like on the main roster in WWE.
7.5/10
Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin (TLC Match)
Winner: Braun Strowman
Our Prediction: Braun Strowman
Braun has a bum elbow because he had surgery on it this week, so he had some help in this match, since it's a TLC match, and there are no DQs. So Apollo Crews joined the match because… um…. Why not? It's not like Raw storylines have to make sense. Then Chad Gable and Bobby Roode showed up. Then Finn Balor showed up. Then referee Heath Slater removed his shirt and punched Corbin. Then Kurt Angle showed up. Everyone hates Corbin. Poor, poor Corbin. Sorry for the play-by-play, but this was treated more as a segment than an actual match. Even though Raw has been abysmal recently, this was a nice way to close off the Corbin as GM storyline.
6.5/10
Natalya vs. Ruby Riott (Tables Match)
Winner: Natalya
Our Prediction: Natalya
Ahh, the storyline which I constantly say is in poor taste. And while this match itself was pretty great, when it got to Riott rubbing Natalya's face on the table with the Jim Neidhart cutout on it, that was a bit much for my liking. It got a bit annoying with Natalya repeatedly saying things like "Don't mess with my family," and man, this match slowed to a crawl when Riott and Natalya were setting up tables. However, it was an alright match, once you ignored the fact you could hear all the spots getting called. And I loved seeing Natalya take out the Riott Squad, one by one. Additionally, this had a great finish with Riott getting powerbombed through a table, although the setup was a bit slow. While these two have been feuding for a bit, it's nice to see their PPV match felt like a PPV match and not just something else we'd see on Raw. It was very middle of the road, but I didn't expect much more than that.
5/10
Finn Bálor vs. Drew McIntyre
Winner: Finn Balor
Our Prediction: Drew McIntyre
Hey! A regular match at TLC! Nice! What's so confusing to me about this match was that it isn't a continuation of McIntyre/Ziggler. Yes, Ziggler was involved in the match and helped Balor get the win, but Balor shouldn't have been McIntyre's opponent for this PPV. Frankly, this felt like just another Monday Night Raw match. It was fine for both of these competitors. I really enjoy them both, but the big fight feel simply wasn't there.
6/10
Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton (Chairs Match)
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Our Prediction: Rey Mysterio
You know what this match didn't have enough of, right outside of the ring? Empty chairs. Just kidding. It had a ton. This is the eighth match of the evening, and it feels like it's been on all day. Well, at least this match had two veterans who know how to put on a good show. The Mysterio sliding spot onto Orton--who was outside of the ring--was fantastic. I also had a good chuckle when Mysterio jumped off the top rope and Orton just threw a chair at him. I am a monster. The ending came a bit out of nowhere, but sometimes, we need non-traditional finishes to throw the audience off a bit. Strangely enough, this match was a lot better than I expected and the most fun one of the evening, up to that point.
8/10
Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nia Jax (Raw Women's Championship)
Winner: Ronda Rousey
Our Prediction: Ronda Rousey
Rousey continues to impress me, and that's coming from someone who dismissed her time and time again like an ignorant idiot. She's taking bumps well and doing some innovative stuff, like when she was about to be suplexed but somehow turned it into a choke on Jax. We got to see her do a crossbody from the top rope onto Jax outside the ring. That was pretty awesome. The weak spot here is Jax, as her character turns face or heel more than Big Show at this point, so who Jax is has become muddled. However, the David vs. Goliath story is one the works pretty well for this scenario. I loved seeing Rousey climb on Jax to lock in submission holds. If you would have told me back in March that I'd be a huge fan of Rousey's in-ring work, I would have called you a liar then had to eat my own words.
We then got a backstage segment of Becky Lynch attacking Nia Jax, and it was the best.
8.5/10
(The New) Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles (WWE Championship)
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Our Prediction: Daniel Bryan
Going into this match, I knew it was going to be great. You have to expect that two of the best performers in the company are going to put on an amazing match. Bryan has really changed up his moveset since his heel turn, and I love his ruthlessness now. There were so many counters and reversals during the match, and there was some great technical wrestling during the event. Man, I could have watched these two battle each other for another 30 minutes. What a great fight.
9/10
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Championship)
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Our Prediction: Dean Ambrose
Commentary for this match was bad and weird, and made me want to mute my TV. The audience had lost a bit of steam on this one, as Styles/Bryan was a barn burner. It affected me as well. There was the whole thing with the audience turning on Ambrose and Rollins, chanting "This is boring," which is a bummer. I enjoyed the finish, but this was a rough one to get through. There's nothing really to say about this. It was a letdown, and it should have been the best match from Raw's roster.
4/10
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (Triple Threat TLC Match For The Smackdown Women's Championship)
Winner: Asuka
Our Prediction: Becky Lynch
This was awesome. Lynch and Flair's match at Evolution was the best WWE bout of the year, without question, and this triple threat TLC match lived up to the hype, and it finally elevated Asuka back into the main event spotlight, where she should have been the past year. This was incredibly brutal and one of the most intense matches of the year. While I was really pulling for Becky Lynch to retain her title, the finish worked exceptionally well, even though some folks were not into Rousey interfering. For me, it helped fuel the feud between the two, which will probably all come to a head at Wrestlemania. This match could not have been put together any better. Well, maybe if WWE turned down the ring mics, so we couldn't hear all the spots being called. This truly was worth the main event spot on the show.
One of the most anticipated games of 2019, Kingdom Hearts III, isn't due out until the end of January, but it has already leaked in some capacity. Game director Tetsuya Nomura responded to the unfortunate news, saying in a statement that he urges people to not share any spoiler-y videos. Specifically, Nomura said he hopes players don't spoil the "epilogue and secret movie," as these represent the game's "biggest spoilers" overall, though he didn't say why.
"We want everyone to be able to equally experience the full game after its release, so we ask for your continued support on this matter," Nomura said.
Regarding the leak, Nomura said he and the team are aware of a "small portion" of the game emerging online ahead of time. He also stated that Square Enix knows "how this has all happened," though he didn't share any specifics.
"We're sorry to see this caused concern amongst our fans who are excited for the release," he said. "We're one month out from the release. Let's enjoy the game together when it releases on January 29, 2019."
According to Eurogamer, Kingdom Hearts III's title screen and other elements have emerged online. Leaks are nothing new in gaming, but this one comes six weeks out from launch, which makes it notable. Fans hoping to go into the experience with fresh eyes should be careful on social media sites and elsewhere between now and launch.
Kingdom Hearts III is the first new numbered entry since Kingdom Hearts 2 in 2005, so it has been quite a long time, indeed. Fans have been waiting a long time to see this story resolve, and Square Enix and Disney have put the requisite work in to make it a treat for fans--including pulling familiar voices from its various Disney movies.
The game launches on January 29 for playStation 4 and Xbox One.
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