Wreck-It Ralph takes his wrecking ways online in Disney's new movie sequel, Ralph Breaks The Internet. In a fitting addition to that story, video game characters Ralph and Vanellope get a chance to do some damage to virtual reality in The Void's new tie-in VR experience, Ralph Breaks VR--and participants get to join them in the digital world of the internet that feels like a little more than a video game.
Ralph Breaks VR goes beyond what headset owners at home experience. The Void is a room-scale VR platform built on stages that incorporate real objects into its virtual worlds. That means when you step on a virtual tram and ride the information superhighway to the digital city that is the movie's version of the internet, you're enclosed by real walls that you can reach out and touch. In addition to wearing a VR headset and carrying the necessary tech to render its images in a backpack, participants also wear haptic vests that vibrate when something touches them, providing another level of interaction between your real body and the virtual experience. The Void's mix of real and virtual takes the idea of VR to a different level, and it's perfectly suited to the Wreck-It Ralph franchise.
Ralph Breaks VR starts with participants disguising themselves as Netizens, the colorful folks who live in the internet in the movie, each with a different bit of personality--such as a stuffy nerd or surfer dude. With your new identity in place, you head onto the real stage, which matches the images you see in the headset. So as you move through darkened rooms or cross walkways high above the city streets, you're walking through physical places that you can actually run into.
The four participants in Ralph Breaks VR meet up with Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), who take them on a guided tour of the internet, although it's mostly an experience of playing games with and against the other people in your group. Look at your virtual wrist in the experience and you'll see a watch displaying the names of everyone in the session, along with the points they accrue as they play, giving the whole thing a light air of competition.
The first stop is a TRON-like area of the web, called Dunderdome, that is dedicated to video games, where you play a version of arcade classic Space Invaders. But instead of running the game on a screen and battling extraterrestrials with a controller, participants find themselves at the ground level of the game, using a control panel to move around the tanks normally found at the bottom of a Space Invaders screen. Broken into teams of two, one player controls the tank's movement and fires its main gun, while the other controls air strikes and protects the tank from attackers.
Once the game of life-size Space Invaders is over, things take a turn--the software that protects the internet flags the humans as viruses and sets out to eradicate them, while Ralph and Vanellope work to try to get them to safety.
In practical terms, that means players are quickly moving from room to room as they try to find their way out. Before long, you find your way into the mobile game Pancake Milkshake from the movie. In the film, Ralph invades the game, which is about feeding pancakes to a bunny and milkshakes to a kitty, where he overstuffs the rabbit to the point of explosion. Ralph Breaks VR expands on the concept with the bunnies and kitties out for revenge as they whip their favorite treats back at the participants. Luckily, you can pick up a blaster that fires both foods, so you can return fire as you dodge incoming sweets. The scenario even gives an extra nod to the film by awarding you with more points if you zap the right food at its corresponding animal. With Ralph and Vanellope's help, participants fight their way out of the internet and back to safety.
Ralph seems like a unique fit for The Void's VR experiences. That's what both the Void team and ILMxLab, Lucasfilm's immersive experience company, thought as they began working on the project, which is part of a six-experience deal with Disney.
"[It was] serendipity, and it's such a great property, as far as how it fits into what The Void as a platform can do," said Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer at The Void. "There's something that I think is really fascinating about putting on this equipment and going into VR. You are stepping into a video game in a sense, and what story really encapsulates that? Wreck-It Ralph."
The experience is also full of Easter eggs for Ralph Breaks The Internet fans. The Void and ILMxLab worked closely with the movie's screenwriter, Pamela Ribon, who wrote the experience's story as well, to keep Ralph Breaks VR true to the movie on which it's based. The VR world is full of visual callbacks from the movie, such as the signs scattered throughout the internet cityscape. And Reilly and Silverman reprising their roles as Ralph and Vanellope deepens the experience even more.
VR technology is breeding a lot of interesting ideas like The Void, but is still developing its hardware to be less expensive. While it's not clear exactly where VR will go in the future, experiences like Ralph Breaks VR offer something that doesn't exist anywhere else. It's particularly fun if you're a big fan of the Ralph series, but you don't have to be: beaning cute animals with pancakes is a good time no matter who you are.
On the first Tuesday of each month, Sony makes a new set of games available for free to PlayStation Plus members. We've passed that milestone for December, which means the month's free PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games are now available. Add them to your library, and they'll be yours to download and play as long as you have an active PS Plus subscription. You can get all of the free games right here.
On PS4 this month, you can grab Soma, a game that's decidedly not filled with holiday spirit. In this atmospheric horror game, you're tasked with exploring a seemingly deserted underwater facility to discover what happened to the human and AI occupants. The other PS4 freebie is Onrush, an off-road online racing game that's more about takedowns and teamwork than about finishing first.
On PS3 this month, you can grab Steredenn: Classic, a pixelated space shooter that mixes retro-arcade action with procedurally generated levels and massive boss fights. The other PS3 freebie is SteinsGate, an anime-style visual novel about teenage scientists who discover a way to send messages to the past--which you can bet begin to affect the future.
This month's PS Vita games are the customs agent sim Papers, Please and the Metroidvania-style side-scroller Iconoclasts, the latter of which is also playable on PS4 thanks to Cross-Buy. Make sure to grab your free games by Tuesday, January 1, because that's when a new batch will come and take their place.
The Black Armory, Destiny 2's first expansion of the post-Forsaken era, goes live today, along with a new update to the game that patches in a few minor changes. Bungie outlined what the expansion entails last month--instead of focusing on a new story campaign, it's focusing on new locations and activities. That means a heap of new loot to get as players reignite three special Forges across the solar system, and a full new Raid on its way on December 7.
The big notable additions in The Black Armory, the Forges, sport a new horde mode-style activity that will include matchmaking and special rewards. The expansion brings five new Exotics, four of which Bungie has detailed so far, and new Pinnacle Weapons for players willing to put a lot of time and skill into Gambit, Strikes, and the Crucible. The Black Armory also increases the Power Level cap to 650, giving players a reason to jump back into the endgame grind--and with the Scourge of the Past Raid on its way on Friday, many players will want to be climbing that hill as quickly as they can.
The launch of The Black Armory accompanies Patch 2.1.1.1, which includes a host of small tweaks and balancing changes, as Bungie explained on its blog. It notably reduces Gambit's Heavy ammo boxes for Linear Fusion Rifles from five rounds to three, which should reduce the effectiveness of the many, many folks using The Queenbreaker in those matches.
Players below Power Level 550 will get some help catching up to endgame players with the new patch, as Destiny 2 will now drop Prime Engrams and their Powerful gear more frequently for players rushing to catch up. And Raiders in Scourge of the Past and Last Wish will now have the option of deleting their checkpoints in those activities if they want to restart them.
There are also a host of changes and issue fixes throughout Update 2.1.1.1. Check out the full patch notes below.
Sandbox
General
Chaos Reach
Tuned Chaos Reach's deactivation cost so that it consistently retains Super energy from deactivating early.
Previously, Chaos Reach allowed Players to save Super energy when deactivating the Super early by charging a flat Super energy cost upon deactivation (~65%). This meant that in order to save Super energy, you'd have to deactivate within the first second or so of the Super's duration.
With this change, Chaos Reach's deactivation will now always save you some Super energy. Deactivating the Super is no longer a flat energy cost but, rather, now works on a curve. The intention is to reward players for skillfully timing their deactivation.
Fixed an issue where the overshield granted upon respawning in Crucible would not negate damage right away
Increased damage required to destroy Nightstalker Tethers prior to their activation
Fixed an issue where the Biotic Enhancements buff would apply too much of a damage multiplier when standing in a Well of Radiance
Armor/Weapons
Fixed an issue where Scavenger perks could be used to generate heavy ammo off of team mates who fell to self-inflicted misadventure
Fixed an issue where high impact scout rifles were not firing at 150 RPM
Fixed an issue where the impact stat bar for Fusion Rifles was not updating when upgrading a charge time masterwork for the weapon
Gwisin Vest
Fixed an issue where kills were not required to extend Super uptime
Fixed an issue where Super was not extended after 10 or more kills
Chromatic Fire
Fixed an issue where explosions were doing less damage than intended
Reduced the amount of ammo gained from the Machine Gun Scavenger perk to bring it in line with other Power weapon scavenger perks
Fixed an issue that caused the Black Armory weapons to sometimes roll two of the same perk
Duplicate perks have been replaced in each weapon's talent grid
Crucible
General
Fixed an issue that caused The Mountaintop to drop above appropriate power levels for players who do not own Forsaken, making it unequipped unless pulled from collections
Fixed an issue that caused Valor Ranks to display different values from what their rank actually was
This is strictly a visual fix, ranks have worked properly since Season of the Forge began
Gambit
General
Fixed an issue where the wrong team would sometimes be credited for killing the Ascendant Servitor Primeval
Reduced the amount of ammo that Linear Fusion Rifles receive from the Power Ammo crate in Gambit to from 5 to 3 rounds
Sleeper Simulant still only receives 2 rounds
Players who die with fewer than 2 rounds of special ammo will now always respawn with 2 rounds, to help alleviate special ammo starvation
Fixed an issue where players would be held in a loading screen if another player was inspecting items in inventory
Vanguard
General
Fixed an issue where Protheon, the Modular Mind grew three times larger than intended in Update 2.1.0
This strike has been reintroduced to Matchmaking, and can be launched once again from the Director
Raids
Leviathan & Raid Lairs
Removed "Normal Mode Completion" requirement for launching Prestige Modes for Leviathan, Eater of Worlds, and Spire of Stars
Last Wish
Fixed an issue where Destiny 2 would crash during the Morgeth fight
Clans
General
Fixed an issue where the "Hawthorne's Heroes" Clan Perk was not providing the proper rewards
Items & Economy
Collections
The "Hecuba-S" exotic Sparrow no longer requires Annual Pass ownership to reacquire from Collections
The "Mimesis Drive" Sparrow now properly requires Annual Pass ownership to reacquire from Collections
Shader reacquisition time reduced from 3 seconds to 1 second
General
Prime Engrams will now appear more frequently for players under 550 power, and provide larger power benefits when decrypted
Fixed an issue where the "Harbinger's Echo" sparrow was locked out for players who destroyed dragon eggs across multiple characters.
We are currently developing a fix for an upcoming patch to address players who have already destroyed all eggs prior to this update. Update 2.1.3 is tentatively planned for December 18. 2018
Seed of Light added to the drop table of the Blind Well Heroic
The "Lest Ye Be Judged" Trophy/Achievement can be completed by visiting Xur
Fixed an issue where the "Riddle Me This" Triumph was not unlocking properly
Fixed an issue where Amanda Holliday had an improper notification waypoint
Fixed an issue where Festival of the Lost armor could not be masterworked
Fixed an issue where items could not be masterworked if players did not have Enhancement Cores in inventory, even if the masterwork cost did not require cores
Fixed an issue where Amanda Holliday's inventory did not refresh at the proper times
UI
General
When selecting a Last Wish or Scourge of the Past on the Director, players can now delete their current checkpoint before launching the activity
Fixed an issue where the Vanguard node on the top-level Director was not displaying active challenges
Overwatch will be kicking off its annual "Winter Wonderland" event starting next week, and lasting throughout the month and into January. A short teaser video revealed the dates from December 11-January 2. The teaser also showed a portion of the Blizzard World map done up in holiday decorations.
Last year's Winder Wonderland event included a new boss fight Brawl called Mei's Yeti Hunt and the return of Mei's Snowball Offensive Brawl. The Yeti Hunt pitted teams of five (all Mei) against one Winston in his Yeti skin, for an asymmetrical multiplayer experience similar to games like Evolve or Friday the 13th. This year we may see another new Mei-based mode, along with the return of one or both of the previous ones.
The showpiece of any new Overwatch seasonal event are the new skins. Most of these annual events let you catch up on old skins you may have missed, as well as a host of new skins. Since last year's Winter Wonderland, Overwatch has added Brigitte, Wrecking Ball, and Ashe. Those three are particularly likely to get some fashionable new holiday duds, along with filling out holiday looks for the rest of the roster.
Alongside Ashe, Blizzard introduced a big under-the-hood overhaul for Overwatch. Its central mechanic for obtaining new cosmetics is under scrutiny now, though, as both the US and Australian governments are considering investigations into loot boxes.
2018 was a fantastic year for video games, a non-stop hit parade of amazing titles all over the scene--AAA blockbusters, indies, and everything in between. If you've got a Windows machine with the right hardware, you're already in a good position to experience the overwhelming majority of it. The PC has continued to be an outstanding place to play video games in 2018, and with some companies making interesting technological headway this year, it's also the place where the first steps to the next generation of games are already taking place.
The Walls Between Console And PC Continue To Fall
If you only have a PC, you might find yourself feeling left out when a major console release rolls around. That's certainly still the case with Sony and Nintendo, but Microsoft's Play Anywhere initiative, introduced in 2017, continued to see a small handful of Xbox One releases come to Windows 10 as well. The critical consensus was mixed on Sea Of Thieves and State of Decay 2, though both have seen continual content updates since launch. Forza Horizon continued to be a welcome asset though, so we're looking forward to seeing what Microsoft Game Studios has in store for 2019, especially with its current focus on acquiring major developers.
Meanwhile, Japanese third-party publishers like Capcom and Sega continued to recognize the value of their PC audiences, and we saw more traditionally console-only franchises make the transition to Steam. Ports and remasters of existing games like Yakuza 0, Devil May Cry, Shenmue I & II, and Katamari Damacy appeared, but we also got significant new releases like Valkyria Chronicles 4, and the mammoth Monster Hunter: World, and we also have Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2 Remake to look forward to. With the higher potential power of gaming PCs, multiplatform titles overall continue to perform better, too, and there were few instances of dodgy PC ports this year. At least, not to the extent of Nier: Automata in 2017.
There was one incredibly notable third-party game that didn't make its way to PC, however. Red Dead Redemption 2 released to near-universal acclaim in October, but Rockstar hasn't made any comments about the potential for a PC version just yet. The PC version of Rockstar's previous game, Grand Theft Auto V, was announced roughly a year after its initial release.
The Battle Royale For Battle Royale Intensifies
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds dominated PC gaming talk in 2017, capturing a lot of attention and spawning many imitators. But while PUBG hit its absolute peak popularity on PC in January of 2018, its player base diminished drastically throughout the year.
The obvious reason is likely Fortnite, which dominated the talk of 2018 to a much larger and more unprecedented scale than PUBG ever did--it's become a mainstream cultural phenomenon. But PUBG itself is also to blame. The game had numerous bugs, technical issues, matchmaking problems, and a general jankiness that never really went away.
PUBG's raw, early-access feel was endearing at first. When the concept felt new and exciting, it was easier to overlook its problems. But the charm started to wear off through 2018, especially since its competition was a more polished alternative. PUBG developer Bluehole eventually acknowledged that the game had numerous issues, launched Fix PUBG, a development roadmap that let everyone know that it is listening, they are working on it, and they want to be transparent about it. But that hasn't stopped its player base from shrinking.
Sure, the major consoles have their exclusive titles. But there's one genre that you absolutely need a PC to experience the best of: strategy and management games. Statistics, spreadsheets, intricate battle commands, economies, sewerage systems--these games keep you obsessing over the smallest decisions and keep you up all night.
2018 saw the release of some exceptional new strategy titles, like the phenomenal Into The Breach, the slow and deliberate Battletech, the perilously stressful Frostpunk and the frantic They Are BIllions. These games brought engaging new ideas to the already stalwart genre roster available on PC. We also got great new releases from familiar series--Thrones of Britannia represented a successful, smaller-scale experiment for the Total War series, Football Manager 2019 once again did its thing, and Two Point Hospital was a pitch-perfect spiritual successor to Bullfrog's classic Theme Hospital.
The company behind Steam, Half-Life, and Dota 2 among other things released its first new game in years during 2018, the trading-card game Artifact, based on the Dota 2 universe. It was designed by the legendary creator Richard Garfield (the person responsible for Magic: The Gathering and Netrunner), but its release was surrounded by heated discussion over its unique monetization model. While the base game costs $20USD, the only way to get new cards is to either buy more 12-card packs at $2USD each, or purchase them individually from other users on the Steam marketplace. This model mimics the real-world collectible card game market, but i seemed to irk players who are used to the more generous free-to-play model of its competitors. However, Artifact's defenders tout that the relative cost of achieving a full set of cards compared to other games is comparable, and in cases better given the ability to resell on the Steam marketplace.
In more positive and less contentious Valve news, the company this year acquired Campo Santo, the independent studio behind Firewatch and the upcoming In The Valley Of Gods, so expect to see another Valve published game in 2019.
Discovering Indies And Early Access Games Is Still Best On PC
Though Xbox began experimenting with early access games in 2017, the PC is still the best place to try out a large variety of the freshest new game ideas. Wading into the early access pool naturally has its own perils (we're talking about unfinished games, after all), but there are always games whose concepts are so enticing and executed so well that they demand your attention even before they're finished.
Significant early access darlings that gained popularity this year included the widely celebrated Dead Cells, which finally came out of early access in August, the deck-building roguelike Slay The Spire, space survival game Astroneer, the aforementioned RTS They Are Billions, Crytek's competitive western game Hunt: Showdown, among many others.
Elsewhere, Star Citizen is still in development, seven years later. The ever-growing spiritual successor to Wing Commander reached over $200 million dollars in crowdsourced funding in November of this year, and its scope continues to be almost incomprehensible. The 2013 phenomenon DayZ also reached its fifth year of Early Access, though we're not sure if anyone is still playing that.
On the indie front, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all been getting better in bringing indie games to their respective platforms, and other publishers like Devolver Digital are making sure their titles get released in as many places as possible. But, if you're interested in the independent scene, the PC is still the place to be. Certain high-profile 2018 titles are PC only, like the exceptional Return To Obra Dinn, and others, like Into The Breach, released on PC long before getting announced for any other platform. Additionally, PC-exclusive services like Itch.io are still the best place to check out smaller-scale experimental titles.
New Technology Is Here. The Future Is Here.
2018 was the year that GPU manufacturer Nvidia took its next big step and revealed the Geforce RTX 20 series of graphics cards at Gamescom, which can very comfortably run modern games at their highest detail levels in 4K resolutions and at 60fps. But even though the raw jump in performance might not seem that drastic on paper, and the cards themselves are expensive, the 20 series pushes GPU tech forward with the introduction of a couple of notable technologies that look to the future of graphics rendering.
The 20 series boasted a major advancement in the form of real-time ray tracing, essentially a superior and realistic-looking way to render lighting, shadows, and reflections, though only a limited number of games are currently able to actually utilize this technology (Battlefield V is the only one at the time of writing). The 20 series also uses a new form of antialiasing, called Deep Learning Super-Sampling (DLSS), which uses a form of artificial intelligence to perform better polygon rendering without the huge computational strain that it typically requires.
Elsewhere, Google unveiled a limited test of its cloud streaming service, Project Stream in October. The company teamed up with Ubisoft to let a selection of users play Assassin's Creed Odyssey through the service, which streams game through the Google Chrome browser, and by GameSpot's own accounts, this actually runs pretty damn well.
With rumors of new consoles on the horizon, these two disparate advancements in both local and remote computational technology give us some good ideas of what to expect. We know a number of major games companies are looking towards cloud streaming as an option (if they don't already have an active service), and we know that there's always been a bit of a hardware arms race between Sony and Microsoft concerning who gets to boast about having the better graphical quality. So, to see functioning examples of both kinds of advanced technologies this year on PC feels like we're already getting a taste of the next few years of gaming.
Other Matters, In Brief
Valve's annual Dota 2's tournament, The International, once again broke its own record of the largest prize pool in esports history. The final total was $25,532,177
Valve's Steam Link hardware was discontinued and run out at trivial prices during Black Friday. The company plans to continue its Steam Link technology as a software-only platform, utilizing existing smart device technology from other manufacturers.
It's unsurprising that the versatility and open nature of the Windows PC platform continues to make it the best place to play a large variety of games. Third party publishers are continuing to support their PC audiences, and it's the platform with the biggest variety of independent and early access games. Big console exclusives from Sony and Nintendo will continue the elude PC audiences, but Microsoft's Play Anywhere initiative continues to be a positive idea that will hopefully pay off with their recent studio acquisitions. Additionally, the PC still sees its fair share of platform exclusive games, especially in the strategy genre.
2018 was a great year for games, and because you can play the overwhelming majority of them on your computer, it was a great year for PC gaming.
The Good
The Bad
An increasing number of traditionally console-exclusive games make the transition
Some disappointing revivals of classic PC games
A strong year for PC-centric strategy games
Red Dead Redemption 2 hasn't been announced, yet
Variety of indies and early access games is still largest on PC
Nvidia paves the way for Ray Tracing support in the future
There's nothing scary about the familiar. Whether it's being lurched at by the shuffling zombies, set upon by mutated alligators, or stalked by skinless Lickers, in each subsequent play of Resident Evil 2 its frights are just a little less effective. This makes the challenge Capcom faces in remaking the game all the more tricky.
Resident Evil 2 is a beloved survival horror title and, if you're anything like us, you'll have walked the halls of Racoon City's Police Department enough times to call it home--albeit one overrun with gruesome creatures and an abundance of coloured herbs. Capcom is clearly mindful of this and, in reimagining the game for a modern audience, has made numerous smart changes that will keep returning veterans on their toes.
As a baseline, there is a level of familiarity in the broader layout of the environment that will stoke nostalgia from fans. But Capcom has also remixed item locations, enemy placement, and--most importantly--how it feels to be in RPD. We recently went hands-on with the game and found that there was a pervading sense of tension throughout. Zombies felt like they took more ammo to bring down, so the resource management that's so vital to Resident Evil was even more critical. Lickers seemed to wait in the shadows for opportune moments to strike, ensuring we never really felt at ease, and the close-up camera seemed to smother us, creating a sense of claustrophobia that we couldn't shake.
However, undoubtedly the most unnerving part of Resident Evil 2 Remake was the presence of the Tyrant, a seemingly unstoppable force of nature. This towering menace was always bearing down on us, following us throughout the police department in an attempt to corner and crush Claire Redfield. Even when we tried to put some space between us and the Tyrant, the distant stomp of his footsteps served as an ever present reminder that we were never really safe. In all honesty, it was quite overwhelming, and that's exactly what fans of Resident Evil and survival horror as a genre want from this remake.
In the video above, GameSpot's Resident Evil superfans Adam Mason and Tamoor Hussain talk through their experiences with the remake, discussing both the similarities to the original title and what Capcom has done to reinvent it. Our demo included sections where we were also able to play as Leon Kennedy and Ada Wong, in addition to Claire Redfield, and we discuss some of the differences in gameplay their sections provide.
Resident Evil 2 Remake is set for release on January 25 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Obsidian Entertainment, hot off the heels of being acquired by Microsoft, has announced when we'll see the first glimpse of its next project. The studio's homepage now shows a series of teaser images counting down to Thursday's Game Awards.
The images show retro-style advertisements from two fake sponsors: Spacer's Choice and Auntie Cleo's. Spacer's Choice attaches to a retro-futuristic gun, while Auntie Cleo's attaches to a collection of ointments and creams. The images don't tell us much about the project, but they do set a particular tone.
Each of the fake ads teases more news at The Game Awards, the awards event coming this Thursday hosted by Geoff Keighley. The show has been teasing ten new game announcements along with updates for existing games. And of course, it will offer lots of celebrity guests and presenters, and the awards themselves.
Whatever announcement is coming, it will probably be exclusive to Xbox One and PC. Microsoft bought Obsidian as part of a larger ongoing effort to shore up its first-party production, so whatever it produces will now be owned by Microsoft. The studio has long specialized in RPGs--having made Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Pillars of Eternity--so whatever this retro-futurist space theme is, it's likely to fit into that genre.
Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, has announced its own marketplace to compete directly with Steam. The Epic Games Store will roll out soon for PC and Mac, with plans to expand to open platforms and Android in 2019. It's already detailing some developer-friendly moves.
The most significant part, for devs, is that they'll earn 88% of their revenue. According to the announcement there are no tiers to the profit-sharing: it's just an 88/12 split between developers and Epic for listing on their marketplace. This is the most striking challenge to Steam, which now takes 20-30% based on a tiered earning structure. If a developer is using the Unreal engine, Epic will cover the 5% engine royalty out of its own 12% cut. Though Epic is encouraging use of its own Unreal engine with profit incentives, it says games developed on any engine are welcome.
Purchasing a game on the Epic store will automatically subscribe players to the game's newsfeed for easy communication, and developers are in charge of their own game page on the news feed. It promises no store ads or cross-marketing on a game page, and no paid ads in the search results.
Epic is also encouraging developers to work with streamers and bloggers, letting them set a revenue share for referrals. Epic says it will cover the first 5% of creator revenue sharing for the first 24 months to help get the ball rolling.
The company promises more details to come at The Game Awards on Thursday.
Each Monday, Microsoft refreshes its weekly sale on digital Xbox One and 360 games on Xbox Live. This week's sale is up on the site, so let's take a look at some of the best games you can get for low prices. Note that some of the discounts are reserved for Xbox Live Gold members, while others are available to everyone.
There aren't a lot of big games on sale this week, but if you don't mind picking up racing games that aren't the latest in the series, you can save some serious cash. Need for Speed and Need for Speed Rivals are on sale for $5 each. A bundle containing Forza Horizon 3 and Forza Motorsport 6 is down to just $32--significantly less than if you wanted to pick up racers of a more recent vintage.
All episodes of the mystery adventure game The Council are on sale, but if you're in for a penny, why not go for the whole pound and grab the complete season for $20? And for those whose interests span both football and fantasy (the Tolkien kind), Blood Bowl 2 will be right up your alley; it's on sale for $5.
But not every game needs to last dozens of hours. It's always nice to have a few smaller games you can play for 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there. A number of those are on sale right now, including Clustertruck for $7.50, Coffin Dodgers for $4.80, and the king of them all, Peggle 2, which is on sale for just $2.40. Do yourself a favor and pick that one up if you don't have it.
You'll find more games on sale this week below, or you can view the whole list on Major Nelson's blog.
After a few teases, Niantic recently confirmed that PvP Trainer Battles are coming to Pokemon Go. Now, the developer has announced even more details about how Trainer Battles will work, who can participate, and more. We also went hands-on with a demo version of these battles, which currently don't have a firm release date--though they are set to arrive in Pokemon Go soon.
Functionally, Trainer Battles work similarly to Gym or Raid Battles in Pokemon Go. They are more or less real-time and require you to tap the screen to attack, which builds up a stronger "charge attack" that you can unleash for a ton of damage. There are a few differences, however. There's no dodging; instead, before your opponent uses a charge attack, you'll have the option to use a Protect shield to block it. You have a limited number of these per battle (we had two in the demo), so timing their use properly and considering the Pokemon in play adds a bit of strategy to the simple tapping system.
As previously announced, there are three "leagues" to help make Trainer Battles accessible to all levels of player. The Great league is capped at 1500 CP, the Ultra league caps at 2500, and the Master league has no CP limit. Before battling, you can set a battle party in each of the divisions. You're allowed three Pokemon per party, rather than the traditional six; Niantic representatives said that six-Pokemon battles dragged on far too long for an on-the-go game. Trainer Battles also have a current time limit of 240 seconds to avoid overlong matches. Note that while Legendary Pokemon are permitted, Ditto and Shedinja won't be allowed in Trainer Battles at launch.
You can battle either in-person or remotely, though long-distance battles have more limitations. You can only battle with faraway friends you've been friends with for a while--specifically, you have to be Ultra Friends or above in Pokemon Go. In person, you can battle anyone, even if you aren't friends in the game, just by scanning a QR code in a new battle menu. You also have the option of battling one of the three NPC team leaders for practice.
One of the best things about the new Trainer Battle system is that there's no reason not to do it. Both winner and loser get rewards, and each one has the same chance to get a particularly rare item: a Sinnoh Stone, which is used for evolving certain Gen 4 Pokemon. While there's no limit to the number of battles per day, you're limited to three rewards per day when battling real people and one reward per day from the NPC battles. On top of that, the game tracks wins but not losses, and you won't need any healing items post-battle like you do after Gym and Raid Battles, so there's really no downside to battling.
Finally, the update will introduce the ability to unlock a second charge attack on any Pokemon using Stardust and candy, though the exact resource cost hasn't been confirmed. The second attack can be used in any type of battle, and it affords you more flexibility with a Pokemon and the type matchups it's prepared for.
No release date for Pokemon Go's Trainer Battles has been announced, but a Niantic representative told GameSpot that the update "will begin to roll out to players worldwide later this month." While you wait, Niantic is bringing back six Legendaries for December's Field Research tasks, so it's a good time to stock up on strong Pokemon.
Apple has unveiled its editorial selections for the best apps of the year across its various devices, including game selections on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. They include some pretty well known names, particularly in the mobile space.
Apple's iPhone Game of the Year is Donut County, the wondrously weird game that riffs on the legacy of Katamari Damacy. Rather than grow an ever-larger ball of junk, though, you control a growing hole that swallows up everything around it. The iPad Game of the Year is Gorogoa, the image manipulation puzzler. On Mac, the award goes to The Gardens Between. Finally, the Apple TV Game of the Year is Alto's Odyssey.
The announcement also included chart data for the most popular games of the last year. The top free iPhone and iPad game alike was Fortnite. Other top contenders on iPhone included Helix Jump, Rise Up, PUBG Mobile, and Hole.io. Many of those ranked high in the free iPad chart as well, joined by others like Roblox.
The top paid game on iPhone was Heads Up!, the party game, followed by Minecraft and Plague Inc. Minecraft also ruled the roost on iPad, followed by Geometry Dash and The Game of Life. Check below for all the game charts.
Netflix has come out to confirm that the iconic TV show Friends will remain available to stream--in the United States at least--through the end of 2019. The confirmation comes after Friends fans noticed that the show's page on Netflix seemed to suggest it would leave the streaming service on January 1. Thankfully, that's not true.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Netflix confirmed Friends will remain available to stream in the US through the end of 2019.
The Holiday Armadillo has granted your wish: "Friends" will still be there for you in the US throughout 2019 pic.twitter.com/Yd0VqRzk3r
As THR reminds us, Friends is expected to leave Netflix and join rights-holder WarnerMedia's own streaming service sometime down the road. The untitled streaming platform is pegged to launch at the end of 2019.
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos told THR that Friends leaving Netflix soon was only "a rumour."
Friends made its digital streaming debut when it came to Netflix on January 1, 2015. The show streams exclusively on Netflix in the US, but in Australia, it streams through Stan and not Netflix. Re-runs still air in the US on TBS and other channels.
Critically acclaimed, Friends ran for 10 seasons from 1994 through 2004. Its May 2004 finale drew 52.5 million viewers in America, according to The New York Times. As of 2015, the show was bringing in $1 billion every year from syndication, with stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matthew Perry making $20 million a year from that based on their 2 percent share of syndication revenue, according to USA Today.
Cox told People this year that she'd love to do a Friends reboot, but it may never happen. Similarly, Anniston told InStyle that she fantasises about a Friends reboot in this new era of TV where "so many shows are being successfully rebooted."
The new Captain Marvel trailer released last night during Monday Night Football, and it offered up a variety of details regarding the MCU's first solo female hero film. Perhaps most notably, that included what would appear to be a major change to her comic book origin story.
Carol Danver's history has no shortage of complicated reboots and retcons, so the idea that she's getting yet another reboot isn't exactly surprising. Her comic book origins are complicated at best and have only recently been modified to be slightly more streamlined care of the recent The Life Of Captain Marvel mini series released this year. However, it seems the movie is going to be putting a completely new spin on things.
We learn in this trailer that Carol genuinely has no memory of her life as a human on Earth--she was "found" by the Kree empire, after some sort of accident, and "saved" by a procedure that looks suspiciously like a run-of-the-mill blood transfusion which, apparently, spliced her genes with Kree DNA. The process enabled her to "live longer, stronger," which would explain how and why she'll be blasting into the present (presumably) without having aged after being summoned to Earth by Nick Fury in the present day ahead of Avengers 4, while her solo movie takes place in the 90s.
The addition of amnesia is the real pivot point here. Through her various origins and comic book incarnations, Carol has never really lost sight of the fact that she was born a human--or at least, believed herself to be human. There have been some brief instances of brainwashing and some typical comic book flavored stakes involving memory loss and time travel, but nothing that would really necessitate her origin involve her not remembering Earth.
This change is likely heralding a larger and more mysterious plot point, pointing back to the still as-of-yet unknown role played by Jude Law, who fans long believed to be Mar-Vell before the trailers started dropping. It's looking more and more likely that Law's character is, in fact, not Mar-Vell, but a Kree villain named Yon-Rogg who has a history rubbing elbows with some of the more dubious branches of the Kree science departments. The Kree Empire's obsession with eugenics and hybridization has long since been an undercurrent of their characterization, often culminating in aborted attempts to genetically engineer stronger and more powerful offspring to strengthen their military prowess throughout the galaxy. Add to this the confirmed role of Gemma Chan, playing Kree science officer Minn-Erva, another character with a shady, genetics-obsessed past, and it seems more and more likely that a major turning point of Carol's MCU story is going to be the revelation that her "accident" and subsequent "rescue" by the Kree was really anything but.
Captain Marvel blasts into theaters everywhere on March 8, 2019.
While we're still months away from Marvel's next movie, Captain Marvel, the second trailer has arrived, and yes, she's still punching old women in the face. The character has a very confusing history, which has led to a few people to question who this character is. More specifically, some are not sure why she's a woman. To the average person who isn't well-versed in comic book lore, this can all be a little confusing. Don't worry, we'll get you up to date and explain it all as quickly as possible.
First are foremost, comic book continuity is confusing and full of plot holes and errors. Keeping track of what's gone down in stories for the past 80 years or so can be quite the task. However, Captain Marvel at Marvel Comics is a woman and has been for the past six years, and the character behind the mask--Carol Danvers--has been a part of the collective comic book universe for 50 years now. When Danvers took on the role of Captain Marvel, it made the character relevant again, which it hadn't been for 30 years or so.
So let's talk Captain Marvel. There are three main characters using this name. The first is DC Comics' Captain Marvel--who goes by the name Shazam now. He's actually a young boy named Billy Batson who becomes a superpowered adult when he yells "Shazam." He's the DC hero in the red suit with a giant yellow lightning bolt on his chest. Zachary Levi will be playing the character on the big screen on April 5, 2019.
Then, there's Marvel's first Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell. He was the captain of a Kree militia and a protector of the universe. Mar-Vell died in 1978 after inhaling poisonous gas and getting terminal cancer. He's been resurrected a few times, and still shows up every now and again but he hasn't been a heavy hitter for decades.
So that leaves us with Carol Danvers, the current Captain Marvel. Throughout the years, many people of various sexes and races--both alien and human--have fought under this mantle, but Danvers was the person that made this character relevant again. If you grew up in the '90s and watched the X-Men cartoon, you know who this character is. In the realm of X-Men: The Animated Series as well as comic book canon, Rogue got her super-strength and flight by sucking the life out of Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers. However, Danvers eventually recovered, and years later, after the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, she took on the mantle of Captain Marvel. Her backstory is wildly confusing, as is almost every cosmic character from Marvel's silver age. However, her origin is getting a little bit of a clean up in the new movie.
You can learn more about the character by checking out her history video above to see just how insane it is or wait until Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8, 2019.
Marvel has released a new trailer for Captain Marvel, and it does quite a few things. It sets up Carol Danvers' backstory, establishes the basic premise of the movie, and--most importantly--it also straightens out something that some viewers were no doubt confused about during the first trailer earlier this year.
That debut trailer for Captain Marvel featured a striking moment for those who don't know much of the Kree/Skrull backstory that serves as a major foundation for the upcoming movie: Captain Marvel punches an old lady in the face. That might have seemed inexplicable to some, though we felt safe in our assumption that the old woman was simply a Skrull in disguise.
The new trailer goes heavy on the exposition. Aside from some dialogue where Samuel L. Jackson explicitly lays out the absolute basics of the relationship between the Skrull and Kree, the trailer also wastes no time in sorting out that punching incident. Rather than cut away after the punch, we see the old woman is--surprise!--not an old woman at all. She's unfazed by the punch, and the two begin to fight.
This scene will presumably be more of a comedic beat in the final film than anything particularly meaningful. Elsewhere in the trailer, we do see some more significant aspects of the movie, including the fact that Marvel seems to be introducing a new origin story for Danvers. Based on what we see, she's unaware of the fact that she's actually human, and piecing that together will apparently be part of her arc during the movie.
Captain Marvel--which is set in the '90s--will also presumably set up why the character has gone unseen in all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to date. We know based on the post-credits Infinity War stinger that Nick Fury signals Captain Marvel after Thanos snaps his fingers, but we're not sure where she's been for the past few decades.
Captain Marvel's release date is set for March 8, with Avengers 4 set to follow on May 3.
As expected, a new trailer for Marvel's next big superhero movie, Captain Marvel, premiered during Monday Night Football last night on ESPN. This latest trailer provides the best look yet at the Brie Larson-starring movie and offers up new insight into the plot and what appears to be a new origin story for the character.
The trailer also shows off a better look at the Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, Jude Law as a Kree commander, and the two-eyed, digitally de-aged Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. We also see Annette Bening's character for the first time--she's a Kree. This trailer is heavy on exposition, as it also goes into the Skrull/Kree relationship, and finally explains that old lady-punching incident from the previous trailer. You can check out the full trailer in the embed above.
Captain Marvel is set to premiere in March 2019. The first Captain Marvel trailer came online in September, and just like we did that for one, we'll have a in-depth breakdown of this newest trailer covering all the big takeaways.
In addition to Larson, Law, Mendelsohn, and Jackson, the movie features Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, and Gemma Chan as Minn-Rrva. You can see a full breakdown of who's in the movie here.
Larson, who won the Best Actress Oscar for his role in Room, will play Captain Marvel again in 2019's untitled Avengers 4.
It's going to be a big week for Epic's battle royale game Fortnite. In addition to the launch of Season 7, Epic has an announcement teed up for The Game Awards--and it might involve the immediate release of some kind of in-game content.
Show organiser Geoff Keighley said there will be some kind of Fortnite announcement and a "world premiere" at The Game Awards on Thursday night. Epic's own Donald Mustard will be on hand at the event to drop the news, apparently.
Epic PR lead Nick Chester confirmed in his own tweet that the announcement lined up for The Game Awards is not related to Season 7. "I can't stress enough how much we have going on this week," Chester said.
I can't stress enough how much we have going on this week. Geoff isn't talking about Season 7 launch here. Tune in! https://t.co/K2gwZoizqa
— Nick "Unusual Spending" Chester (@nickchester) December 3, 2018
Keighley's cryptic teaser mentioned that Fortnite fans will want to "keep your game close," which sounds like a suggestion that something will happen in the game.
Avengers directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who are big fans of Fortnite, will be presenting an award at The Game Awards this week. However, it remains to be seen if the directors will have any news to share during the show.
The pair played Fortnite during downtime during of the editing process of Infinity War, they told EW this year. Joe Russo personally called Mustard to get a conversation going about about the Thanos limited-time mode that eventually came to Fortnite. More recently, Anthony Russo wore a Fortnite t-shirt during an Infinity War Q&A just last week, so their appreciation for Fortnite seemingly continues.
As for Fortnite Season 7, Epic recently released a new teaser that teases, "A bitter ice spreads," which follows previous rumours and reports about the seventh season having a wintry, cold theme. Season 7 begins on December 6, which is the same day as The Game Awards.
The Game Awards 2018 take place on December 6, starting at 8:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM PT. That works out to 1:30 AM GMT and 12:30 PM AET on December 7. There are more than 10 new game announcements on tap, one of which is the next RPG from the makers of Fallout: New Vegas. You'll be able to watch the show on GameSpot, while we'll have a rundown of all the big news as well.
In your daily scroll through the Netflix carousel, you've probably noticed a new Netflix-exclusive Christmas movie starring veteran actor Kurt Russell called The Christmas Chronicles. As it turns out, while the movie flew somewhat under the radar, the film has been extraordinary successful.
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said this week that the film generated 20 million views in its first week. According to Sarandos, that would work out to a $200 million opening if The Christmas Chronicles was released traditionally in theaters.
"If every one of those [20 million streams] was a movie ticket purchase, that's a $US 200 million opening week," he said, as reported by Business Insider. "Even movies that go on to $US1 billion don't typically do that in the first week."
According to Sarandos, The Christmas Chronicles is Russell's biggest opening ever for one of his movies. "Even in his successful career, he's never had that many people see one of his movies in the first week ever," he said. "That's a testimony to what we can bring to the market for storytellers today that we couldn't have ten years ago."
Importantly, it's unclear how many of the 20 million first-week streams for The Christmas Chronicles are repeats. But whatever the case, it is clear the movie has been popular, and while Sarandos is spinning the numbers in a way that makes Netflix look better, he's of course absolutely right that Netflix is shaking up the film world.
Russell, who has been acting for decades, recently appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which made $146.5 million over its first three days and $183 million in its first week, according to the report.
The Christmas Chronicles stars Russell as Santa, along with Judah Lewis and Darby Camp as the brother and sister who caused Santa's sleigh to crash. Together, they must all save Christmas.
The movie, which was released at the end of November, was directed by Clay Kaytis (The Angry Birds Movie) and produced by Harry Potter and Home Alone director Chris Columbus.
The new Twilight Zone TV anthology series has big shoes to fill. Rod Serling's original is regarded as one of the best shows of all time, and part of what made the program great was its excellent writing and performances.
The new version is assembling some excellent talent, too, with news today from THR that John Cho (Star Trek, Searching), Allison Tolman (Fargo, Castle Rock), and child actor Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder) have joined the cast that already includes Adam Scott, Kumail Nanjiani, and Sanaa Lathan in starring roles.
Cho, Tolman, and Tremblay will star in an episode called "The Wunderkind." No further details about the episode or the story were divulged. The new Twilight Zone officially entered production in October,
One of the best episodes of the original Twilight Zone featured a child actor as well. The episode "It's a Good Life" features a six-year-old boy who terrorises his community with his ability to read minds and manifest anything he wants.
The original Twilight Zone featured numerous actors who went on to become very famous, including William Shatner, Ed Wynn, Cloris Leachman, Don Rickles, and Robert Duvall, among many others.
The new Twilight Zone comes from the mind of Jordan Peele, who entered a new stratosphere and success after his acclaimed 2017 film Get Out, for which he won an Oscar. It's incredibly exciting to think about what Peele, who is narrating, may bring to the table with the new Twilight Zone. The show airs in 2019 on CBS All-Access.
The Halo TV series, which has been in the works for years now, may take even longer to finally get going. It was announced today that director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) has left the project due to a change in the production schedule.
"It's with great disappointment that changes to the production schedule of Halo prevent me from continuing in my role as a director on the series," Wyatt said in a statement (via THR). "My time on Halo has been a creatively rich and rewarding experience with a phenomenal team of people. I now join the legion of fans out there, excited to see the finished series and wishing everyone involved the very best."
The Halo TV show will air on Showtime, whose parent company, CBS, also owns GameSpot. Network president of programming Gary Levine said in his own statement that the Halo show is "evolving beautifully with rich characters, compelling stories, and powerful scripts."
The production demands for the Halo TV show are "enormous," Levine said. As such, Showtime needed to add more time to the production schedule, and this meant that Wyatt had to drop out. Showtime said previously that Halo is the network's "most ambitious series ever," and that's notable given Showtime is behind some massive productions such as Homeland, Shameless, Billions, and more recently the Jim Carrey show Kidding.
The Halo TV show will feature Master Chief in some capacity, but it remains to be seen if he is the lead, or what other characters might join him. Kyle Killen (Awake) will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.
The new Halo TV show, which doesn't have a name yet, follows 2012's series Halo: Forward Unto Dawn that starred Chronicles of Narnia actress Anna Popplewell.
A Halo movie was at one point in the works with Neil Blomkamp set to direct and Peter Jackson producing, but it never happened. It wasn't a totally sad story, however, as Blomkamp and Jackson created the acclaimed sci-fi film District 9 out of Halo's ashes.
As for the Halo video game franchise, the next instalment is Halo Infinite for Xbox One and PC. There is no word on when the game is coming out, and all we've seen so far is a trailer for the game's engine, not the game itself.
The latest chapter in the Great Fallout 76 Canvas Bag Fiasco Of 2018 has unfolded. Those who received a nylon bag instead of the promised canvas bag in the $200 Power Armor Edition will indeed receive a canvas bag, the publisher confirmed in a statement.
"We are finalizing manufacturing plans for replacement canvas bags for the Fallout 76: Power Armor Edition," the publisher said. Those who bought the special edition can submit a ticket here to request a canvas bag. Bethesda did not say when the bags will be ready, but you need to submit a ticket by January 31.
The controversy began when purchasers of the Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition noticed the bag delivered was nylon instead of canvas as advertised. One fan reached out to Bethesda support, and received a succinct reply that the company was "not planning on doing anything about it." The company subsequently apologized for that response, and blaming the change on "unavailability of materials."
Bethesda initially announced it would compensate purchasers with 500 Atoms for Fallout 76, but players quickly roasted Bethesda for this, as it only amounts to $5 worth of compensation.
The first instalment in Battlefield V's free DLC campaign will not make it out on schedule. Developer DICE said on Twitter ahead of its planned release that it found an unspecified "issue" with the first Tides of War content, Chapter 1: Overture, and as such, the release is being held back--it had been due out on December 4.
"Rather than create issues in the game, we're holding the update for the time being," DICE said. The studio added that it will report back with an update as soon as possible, but for now the developer said it does not anticipate "a long delay."
The new Panzerstorm map
Whereas previous Battlefield games charged money for extra content, Battlefield V is giving it away for free through the live service element known as Tides of War. Chapter 1: Overture adds a new map, Panzerstorm, which is set in 1940 Belgium. As its name suggests, it is a tank-focused map--and DICE says up to 17 tanks can duke it out at once on the map.
The Overture update also adds the fifth War Story single-player chapter, The Last Tiger. This missions sees you playing as a Nazi soldier who is fighting not only Allied forces but also "their own doubts about doubts about the ideology that led them to their now-inevitable defeat." You can see a brief tease for the campaign in the video below.
What's more, Overture introduces a new training mode called Practice Range, a tutorial mode of sorts that teaches you the basics of weapons and vehicles. Additionally, the update introduces new challenges that reward players with things like soldier outfits and weapon skins, while the game also adds cosmetic customisation options for tanks and other vehicles.
Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer mode, Red Dead Online, launched in late November as a beta--and Rockstar had said from the start that players should expect bugs and other oddities. Players have indeed discovered the experience to be less-than-optimal in some areas, one of which is the in-game economy. Players quickly found out that baked beans are more valuable than gold rings, based on Red Dead Online's economy--and that's probably not right.
Rockstar has now acknowledged the problems with Red Dead Online's economy, stating on Twitter that it is working on getting the economy in a better place "to ensure all activities are appropriately rewarding and fun." The studio needs more time to work on balancing to get this right, it said.
Outside of the in-game economy, Rockstar is also planning to address some of the "persistent bugs" related to players getting kicked out of sessions.
"The game has been developed so that we will be able to quickly make any adjustments like these," Rockstar said. The first updates for Red Dead Online are expected to launch at the end of the week at the soonest, with more updates coming next week.
You can send feedback about Red Dead Online directly to Rockstar here. There is no word on how long the game will remain in beta form, but keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
Red Dead Online features new story missions set before the events of the single-player campaign that can be played solo or with others. It also features a variety of co-op and PvP modes, including Red Dead's own battle royale mode.
Rockstar says to expect "lots more updates to the Red Dead Online beta in the coming weeks and months." It hasn't shared much about what to expect in terms of future updates to the game, though Grand Theft Auto V's extensive array of free GTA Online expansions suggests there's plenty in store.
A future update for Red Dead Online will add the ability to purchase the in-game currency gold with real money. Gold can also be earned by playing, and it's used to buy certain weapons and other items, as well as a shortcut to lower your Honor level.
[Update] Service has been restored. [Original Story] PlayStation Network services are currently offline, which means online gaming, shopping, and communication is currently unavailable on the PS4. The PlayStation Network service status page states account management, gaming and social, PlayStation Now; Vue; Video; Store; and Music are all inaccessible.
"You may have some difficulty launching games, applications, or online features," a message on the site reads. "Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, and we thank you for your patience."
Based on messages directed at the various PlayStation support accounts on Twitter, it looks like the outage is widespread, with users both in the US and Europe reporting issues with connectivity. Sony has not provided a timeframe for when it expects services to be up and running again. The actual cause of the issue has also not been detailed.
With any luck, the problems won't be severe and the service should be up and running again soon. Of course, outage at this time of the year immediately sparks memories of 2011, when PlayStation Network was severely compromised by hackers. In that situation, services were not restored for a significant length of time.
Downtime is fairly common with online network services, however, so as mentioned previously in most cases issues are resolved fairly quickly.
To celebrate 100 episodes, The Flash is doing something it's been very fond of over five seasons. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is going back in time--again--and will hopefully not screw up the timeline--again. In a trailer for the momentous episode, "What's Past is Prologue," it's revealed that Barry will be revisiting the biggest villains from the show's past, and he's not doing it alone. This time, his speedster daughter Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) is along for the ride.
The Flash isn't simply relying on old faces for its 100th episode, though. Instead, as Tom Cavanagh--who directs the installment--told GameSpot at the 100th episode red carpet event, "What's Past is Prologue" is more about the show's future than anything else.
"I do have to say I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that [the fans] figured into it in a massive way because you can you know, you want to have a certain celebration on the screen," he said. "You do not want to be indulgent. You also don't want to do a greatest hits episode because in some ways it's almost too easy."
So instead of letting the show's past be the star, every element Barry sees once more helps to push forward a multitude of current plots, from the battle against Cicada (Chris Klein) to his relationship with Nora. "The idea that the writers had to have Norah and Barry Allen go... back in time to get a few things that they need to defeat the current villain, I thought it was genius," Cavanagh admitted.
And in the end, it's true to how he and the rest of those involved view the show as; a comic book come to life. "The thing that got us to 100 was trying to do a comic book every time out," he explained. "You know, we succeed and we fail but we're always trying. And to not do that for the 100th felt wrong."
The 100th episode of The Flash airs Tuesday, December 4 on The CW. After that, the "Elseworlds" crossover, which sees The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl meet up with Batwoman (Ruby Rose) for the first time kicks off on Sunday, December 8. Make sure to check out our photos and teasers for the "Elseworlds" event.
Calling all Xbox One owners who either don't have Gold subscriptions or have let them lapse. If you're a Fortnite fan who wouldn't mind having three months of Xbox Live Gold, here's a fantastic deal that's available right now. You can get a three-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold, plus 1,000 V-Bucks in Fortnite, for just $10 / £6. The only catch is that the deal is only open to new subscribers, or anyone who canceled their Gold membership prior to October 1, 2018. You can take advantage of the deal on Xbox.com.
Assuming you're eligible, this deal can save you a heap of money. Normally, a three-month Gold subscription costs $25 on its own, and 1,000 V-Bucks costs $10. But instead of dropping $35 on this collection of digital goodies, you only have to pay $10.
The deal is even better in the UK, where it will only set you back £6, because 1,000 V-Bucks normally runs £7. That means you get the Fortnite cash and the Gold subscription for less than the V-Bucks would regularly cost on their own.
Now is a particularly great time to get those V-Bucks as well, because Fortnite Season 7 starts on December 6. Assuming the pricing stays the same, buying Season 7's Battle Pass--which comes with in-game seasonal items and unlocks new challenges each week--will cost 950 V-Bucks. That will leave you with 50 V-Bucks to spend on in-game outfits, emotes, or other cosmetics.
As for Xbox Live Gold, not only does the service let you take your paid games online, but it also gets you free Xbox One and Xbox 360 games each month. This is a fantastic deal, so consider taking advantage if you're eligible.
The Game Awards will kick off on Thursday evening, promising loads of accolades for the year's best alongside new game reveals and other announcements. If you want to watch live, you can tune in right here on GameSpot starting at 8:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM PT / 1:30 AM GMT (Friday) / 12:30 PM AET (Friday).
This year's Game of the Year nominees are Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Celeste, God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, Monster Hunter World, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Three of those--God of War, Spider-Man, and Red Dead--are also up for Best Game Direction. God of War and Red Dead are generally regarded as the frontrunners, given that they both lead for number of nominees at eight apiece. Other notable categories include Best Ongoing Game, Games for Impact, and a variety of Esports categories. You can see everything in the full list of awards and nominees.
Sharing the spotlight with the awards will be a slate of game announcements. Host Geoff Keighley has already announced that we can expect ten new game announcements along with several updates on current games. Obsidian has teased that we'll see whatever it has in store at the show too. We can also expect celebrity guests, such as Avengers 4 directors the Russo brothers.
Ubisoft has announced the next update for Ghost Recon Wildlands, titled Special Operations 3. The update launches on all platforms on December 11 and mostly introduces new PvP features.
Special Operations 3 includes a new PvE mission and in-game rewards, including two PvP classes inspired by the theme of the update's mission. Ubisoft has not announced what the theme of this mission might be, but previous ones have included characters from other Tom Clancy games like Rainbow Six Siege and Splinter Cell. The update also adds two new PvP multiplayer maps.
The mission, in-game rewards, and maps will be available for all players starting December 11. Both new PvP classes will only be available for Year 2 Pass owners on December 11, and will only unlock for other players one week later.
A new Photo Mode is also included in Special Operations 3. The mode will allow players to capture any in-game moment, as well as edit pictures with effects and filters. Special Operations 3 also implements community feedback into Wildlands' in-game store. Over 90 new items will be added, and changes will be made to the game's Prestige Economy. Ubisoft has announced it will release more information on what those changes might be "soon."
In our Ghost Recon Wildlands review, Miguel Concepcion gave the game a 7/10, writing, "As only the second open world game in the Clancyverse, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a middlingly safe tactical shooter and a slightly wasted opportunity given the ambitious scope of its seemingly boundless map. While its main strength is its mission diversity, it doesn't take long to lose the motivation after reaching El Sueno's doorstep. Even with a foursome of highly trained friends, Wildlands eventually reveals its diminishing returns. The feeling of positive immediacy and dopamine hits begin to wane sooner than you expected from a game with such a large and diverse world."
Ghost Recon Wildlands is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is just around the corner, and although it's bringing some fresh faces to the forefront with Miles Morales and his friends, it's also drawing on some pretty familiar comic book history. Or more accurately, you could call it recent history--Miles himself is less a decade old in terms of publication, so don't be too hard on yourself if you're not familiar with all of his background. There's been a lot of it in not a lot of time.
One of those background elements revolves around a new version of a familiar Spider-Man baddie, a man called The Prowler, who was completely reimagined for Miles' universe and is subsequently being brought to life for Into The Spider-Verse. He may not be the most famous villain making an animated big screen debut, but he's probably going to be one of the most painful challenges Miles has to face for the movie, and it's all thanks to one simple fact: If the movie keeps his backstory the same as the comics, Prowler will turn out to actually be Miles' uncle, Aaron Davis.
To really understand what that means, you'll have to wrap your head around the basic concept of the "Spider-Verse" as a whole. Miles exists in a reality that is actually separate from the traditional Spider-Man story--Miles' world, the Ultimate Universe, has its own Peter Parker, who is still Spider-Man, and it's still populated with heroes and villains with names you'd know. But there are some major differences, too. It's essentially an alternate reality where only some things are changed. Back on the standard Spider-Man Earth--the one we know from the comics, generally called Earth 616 for the sake of clarity--Prowler is essentially a d-list villain who has had a couple of incarnations, none of them all that impactful.
Ultimate Prowler is a different situation, however, and a whole lot more relevant to the situation at hand. Aaron Davis actually had a direct hand in Miles' spider-empowerment in the comics. A petty thief and cat burglar, Aaron had attempted to steal a case of experimental tech from an Oscorp lab, but in doing so, unknowingly spirited one of the genetically modified spiders Norman Osborn had been working with (in an attempt to replicate the Spider-Man phenomena) out of the building. Miles, not realizing what his uncle had just done, visited Aaron's apartment only to be bit by the spider and, well, you know how that particular story goes. Miles and Peter aren't that different when it comes to how they actually got their powers.
Prior to the spider-incident, Miles and Aaron had been pretty close, much to the dismay of Miles' father, Jefferson, who used to run with the same less-than-reputable crews as his brother before going straight and becoming a cop. However, with the Oscorp job officially botched and Aaron now on the run--not to mention the complications built into Miles' new dual identity as the new Spider-Man--things began to get pretty rocky. Aaron went on the run, Miles came into his superheroic own, and Jefferson forbade Miles to spend time with his uncle should he ever come back.
He did come back, of course, and things began to go even more down hill. Aside from the obvious conflicts between Prowler, a costumed villain, and Spider-Man, a superhero, there was also the matter of Aaron slowly piecing together just what had happened with his nephew and, eventually, learning his secret. The knowledge put him at a crossroads, not wanting to hurt his nephew, but seeing the opportunity it presented for things like blackmail. Afterall, the life of a supervillain gets considerably easier when they're able to keep the local heroes off their back.
Prowler's career blackmailing his own nephew came to a tragic conclusion after a showdown between he and Miles resulted in the fatal malfunction of his gear--or, at least, the sort of fatal malfunction of his gear. Despite "dying" in the Ultimate Universe, Aaron Davis was mysteriously resurrected following the massive multiverse-wide event known as Secret Wars, which transplanted Miles from his home Earth to Earth-616. Somewhere in the chaos, Aaron was returned to life and brought to Earth-616 as well, where he co-opted the Iron Spider identity and began working for the Sinister Six.
So what does this mean for Into The Spider-Verse? Well, it's a little complicated. We know from our sneak peak at NYCC that Aaron and Miles are going to have a relationship at the start of things that is pretty similar to their comics counterparts. Miles sees Aaron as a cool mentor figure, despite his dad's reservations. Miles' origin story is slightly modified for the movie, however, so Aaron's attempted robbery of Oscorp isn't how Miles ends up getting spider-bitten.
That said, it would seem like Aaron is still an active criminal in the Spider-Verse universe. In the Venom post-credits scene, we saw Prowler--or at least, a version of Prowler--pursuing Miles (and an unconscious alternate dimension Peter Parker.) The interesting thing to observe here is that Miles is not actually disguised for this chase, so if the Prowler hunting him and Peter down actually is his Uncle Aaron, he may already be aware of Miles' secret identity at this point in the movie.
(It's worth noting, as an aside, that Aaron Davis was also portrayed in Spider-Man: Homecoming, albeit as more of a cameo. He was played by Donald Glover and Tom Holland's Peter Parker confronted him in a parking garage.)
The other possibility here, given the multiversal shenanigans in play for all of Into The Spider-Verse, is that there are actually two different versions of Aaron Davis in play--the one Miles knows and loves, and a considerably crueler one from another dimension, working for Kingpin. Either way, Miles is probably going to get a very rude awakening about his favorite uncle when and if that purple mask comes off.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hits theaters December 14. Read our full review to find out what we thought.
A month after Red Dead Redemption 2 first released, its online multiplayer portion is now in beta. Red Dead Online borrows from both GTA Online as well as the multiplayer portions of the original Red Dead Redemption and incorporates RDR 2's massive open world, with all its fine details and mechanics. But Red Dead Online lacks what made that vast, slow, meticulous world work, and as a result it leaves the weakest parts of it painfully exposed.
Red Dead Redemption 2--the single-player experience--is not concerned with your priorities. There are plenty of side distractions, and a few details will change here and there depending on your honor, but there are some missions you just can't roleplay--you're locked into one playstyle or one outcome. That can be frustrating in the moment, but it's also a brilliant narrative device, one that gives you deeper insight into Arthur and his own struggle between what he wants to be and what he is. The fight against the game's guiding hand is what gives the story its impact; you have to be a little tired of Red Dead Redemption 2 to fully appreciate what it's trying to do narratively.
All that is to say Red Dead Redemption 2 is not what I'd call "fun." In single-player, that's a good thing. But in Red Dead Online, the things that don't always feel good to play--the need to eat and sleep, the limited fast travel options, the often clumsy gunplay--have nothing to anchor them. There's a small amount of story content at the moment, but nothing so engaging and personal as to give you a purpose in this world. The purpose, it seems, is either to kill or be killed, and frequently, though there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to kill another player except to create chaos.
Currently, it's difficult to achieve anything or get anywhere without being killed, disconnected from the server, or both. But even when you do get to play the game, it feels dated. Your character is understandably silent, and NPCs even acknowledge it, commenting often on your reticence. But the disconnect between your character and the rest of the world is pronounced. A solo mission given by Red Dead Redemption's Bonnie MacFarlane, for example, involves a brief cutscene to give context, and then you're tasked with the chore of locating and returning a cart of hers. When you return with the cart, there's nothing--no cutscene, no acknowledgment from Bonnie at all. Just a pop-up with your slim reward.
Competitive multiplayer fares a little better. The snappy auto-aim is useful and gives some modes a looser, more fun feel, despite the clumsy gunplay, and getting headshots still takes skill. But movement is also clumsy, and it drags down the head-to-head modes. Accidentally ambling over rocks or struggling to mantle over a wall during a gunfight grinds everything to a halt, and the frustration is hard to shake.
Red Dead Redemption 2 as a whole is a lonely game filled with things to do. In single-player, riding alone through the plains and looking up at an enormous, open sky is powerful. In Red Dead Online, your emotional connection to the world and its inhabitants is missing entirely. There's also a lack of content in general--you can wrap up the story missions in a number of hours, and after that, you're left mainly to scrounge for money and wander aimlessly. In its current form, there's nothing about Red Dead Online that makes me want to keep playing. It just makes me want to go back to Arthur's story.
As much as I like Red Dead Redemption 2, I would be more compelled to play Red Dead Online if it shedded the single-player's more belabored mechanics and opted for a faster, looser approach to the Wild West. The multiplayer experience would be better as a Western playground in earnest, rather than the blend of slow, solitary activities with potentially fun multiplayer chaos that it currently is. If GTA Online is any indication, there's a lot of potential for Rockstar to iterate upon and expand Red Dead Online, both in the amount of content available and the nature of that content. But for now, I'll stick with Arthur and the gang.
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