By Steve Watts on Jan 30, 2019 11:46 pm
Mortal Kombat 11 is packing all the gruesome spectacle fans have come to expect from the series, but this entry adds one more element: more extensive cosmetic options! Or kosmetic, as the case may be. At the gameplay debut event, director Ed Boon showed off some of the customization kustomization options. Each character has three pieces of gear that can be swapped in the menu, along with more general makeover options. Scorpion, for example, can swap his mask, katana, and spear, while other costume changes impact his overall appearance. Those aren't the only customization options, though. We've also seen tabs for "Abilities" and "AI Behavior." We've also seen a partial character roster, our first extended look at gameplay, a bunch of fatalities, and story details. A beta test is coming in March for PS4 and Xbox One. The full game is coming on April 23 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. NetherRealm will likely be debuting more skins as we get closer to release. The studio had its Mortal Kombat 11's first "Kombat Kast" stream scheduled for this week, but it was delayed due to dangerous weather in the studio's home city of Chicago. The new stream is scheduled for Tuesday, February 5, so we may see more characters and skins then. In the meantime, check out all of the ones we've spotted so far below.
By Chris E. Hayner on Jan 30, 2019 10:31 pm
If there's anything as exciting a the Super Bowl, it's definitely the commercials that air during the big game. Every year, companies spend insane amounts of money for their chance to shine in front of TV's largest audience, attempting to capture the attention of America with creative new commercials. Sometimes things go really well, whether it's the Budweiser frogs or a new trailer for whatever massive film released are on the horizon. Other times, though, commercials miss the mark. It's hard to forget the General Motors commercial in which a robot commits suicide after losing its job. Someone, somewhere thought that was a great idea and spent a bunch of money to bring it to life. With over 50 years of Super Bowl games to look back on, there are plenty of advertisements to revisit and GameSpot has done just that. We've gone through a long list of Super Bowls to find the absolute best and worst big game commercials of all time. Take a look at them and sound off in the comments with your favorite--or least favorite-- ad. Also make sure to check out our guide to alternative programming options if you don't feel like watching the big game this year or just want to skip Maroon 5's halftime show.
BEST: Peter Dinklage loves Doritos (2018)
Peter Dinklage can do it all, including perfectly lip synching a Busta Rhymes song to profess his love of Doritos. This particular commercial also included a Mountain Dew verse from Morgan Freeman--to Missy Elliott's Get Ur Freak On--to create the weirdest and best rap battle of all time.
WORST: GM robot commits suicide (2007)
Suicide isn't a funny joke, regardless of who's committing it. That's a lesson General Motors learned the hard way after its 2007 Super Bowl commercial featured a car-assembling robot hurling himself off a bridge after accidentally dropping a screw on the factory floor. Why did they think this was a good idea? Who knows, but the fact that it was all a dream the robot was having--again, this is a robot--didn't help matters.
BEST: The Budweiser frogs (1995)
Who doesn't remember the Budweiser frogs? They were the heart of what might be the most successful alcohol advertising campaign of all time. They were a meme before memes were a thing and they'll absolutely make a comeback one day.
WORST: Fred Astaire's Dirt Devil dance (1997)
Dirt Devil repurposing footage of Fred Astaire--who died in 1987--to sell vacuums is a truly strange move. Editing in actual Dirt Devil vacuums that weren't on the market when he filmed said footage is even more bizarre.
BEST: McDonald's Big Mac (1975)
Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. The Big Mac jingle took the world by storm in the '70s and McDonald's put people to the test to see if they remembered it. Most couldn't figure it out, but that didn't stop them from wanting one.
WORST: SalesGenie's Chinese pandas (2008)
SalesGenie doing an adorable animated commercial featuring pandas could have been great. Saddling them with stereotypical Chinese accents, though, was a truly bad choice made by the sales company. They quickly pulled the ads.
BEST: The Bud Bowl (1989)
The King of Beers sure knows how to Super Bowl. From the infamous frogs the the massive game of Pac Man, Budweiser and Bud Light almost always deliver the goods with their big game commercials. The Bud Bowl, however, is the company's crowning achievement. The idea is simple enough, an animated segment that shows bottles of beer racing each other for supremacy. Cheering on your personal favorite Bud brew, though, is sometimes as exciting as the game gets.
WORST: Matthew Broderick's Honda commercial (2012)
While there's nothing wrong with this Honda commercial that spoofs Ferris Bueller's Day Off on the surface, Broderick's history makes it an odd choice. In 1987, a year after Ferris Bueller hit theaters, the actor was involved in a car accident in Ireland that killed two people. He was eventually convicted of careless driving and paid a fine. Maybe he shouldn't be selling cars on TV.
BEST: Bud Light's real-life Pac Man (2015)
This is the commercial that most of us wish we lived in. In 2015, Bud Light brought Pac Man to life with a massive game board that some unsuspecting beer drinker found himself running around in. It's a true marvel and we're still sad we didn't get our turn.
WORST: GoDaddy's weird nerd makeout (2013)
GoDaddy has always tried to be risque with their Super Bowl commercials, but 2013's ad that saw supermodel Bar Refaeli making out with some random geek was truly unsettling. We don't need to see any two people kissing that closely.
BEST: Apple's 1984 advertisement (1984)
Apple's commercial to introduce the Macintosh computer was weird, experimental, and, honestly, kind of creepy. But it made the exact kind of splash the company needed. After all, you are very possibly reading this on an Apple device.
WORST: Nationwide Insurance uses a dead child to make everyone sad (2015)
Nationwide really wants you to buy life insurance, but this ad featuring a child telling you all of the things he'll never get to do because he died "in an accident" does not make you want to do anything of the sort. If there's anything that's going to bum you out in the middle of an exciting Super Bowl game, it's the story of a dead kid.
BEST: Volkswagen takes on Star Wars with tiny Darth Vader (2011)
This kid has embraced the dark side of the Force and we love it. This commercial is the perfect mashup of two worlds, with the Imperial March playing while a young Darth Vader fan puts his powers to the test on his parents' car.
By Kevin Wong on Jan 30, 2019 10:26 pm
In the fourth episode of True Detective: Season 3, titled "The Hour and the Day," we didn't get a whole lot of forward progression. True Detective is a slow-burning show, and the writers used this episode to meander a bit. We see an extended clip of '80s Wayne and Amelia on a date; we later see their marriage disintegrating in the '90s timeline. There is a lot of Roland: his mutual fondness and respect for Wayne, and also his protectiveness of him. Roland goes hard on Tom when the grieving father calls Wayne the N-word in a drunken rant. And Roland is also the one who fights for Wayne to get back on the Purcell case in the '90s. Lastly, we get a promise of violence to come--appropriate because we've reached the midway point of the show, where the narrative climax ought to be. The lynch mob has followed Trash Man back to his home, and it looks like the gun-laden standoff will end in bloodshed. Here are our newest True Detective theories, via Reddit and our personal analysis, from Episode 4. If you liked this gallery, check out our True Detective theories for Episodes 1 and 2 and our theories for Episode 3.
1. The Shutter Island Theory
One current theory is that the entire "true crime" documentary that Elisa is directing is fake; she's pretending to film a documentary to get Wayne to talk to her. Maybe she's some sort of medical professional or psychiatrist, and these recording sessions are actually doctors' appointments or therapy sessions. That means the information Elisa is sharing about the case is in the public record; she's jogging his memory with little tidbits, helping him recover a past that he's forgotten. It also explains why Elisa and Wayne's son Henry occasionally exchange glances; they're roleplaying and checking in with each other.
2. The Officer Henry Theory
We learn definitively in Episode 4 that Wayne's son Henry is a police officer. And that's led some Redditors to speculate that Henry is carrying on his own investigation of the Purcell case, and that Elisa is also some sort of law enforcement agent; together, they're trying to pry forgotten memories and evidence from Wayne's brain, in hopes of turning up something new. Either that, or maybe Henry knows about something, possibly illegal, that his father has done. And by having Elisa interview his father, he hopes to learn the scope of it so he can cover his father's tracks.
3. Elisa and Henry Theory
This isn't a game changing theory--more a casual observation. When Wayne goes to visit Elisa in her hotel room, it looks like she's had romantic company; there are two wine glasses in her room, even though Elisa insists she is alone. Maybe Henry and Elisa are hooking up. It would add an impressive parallel to two timelines; Officer Wayne dated and eventually married a teacher who fancied herself a writer and investigator, and Officer Henry is involved with a woman who's pretending to be an investigator. It would also add a cruel irony to Wayne's request: that Elisa not tell Henry anything. He doesn't know that they're together, and they're both playing him. Lastly, there's a literary wink: their names. Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle are the main characters and central romance of "Pygmalion," a play about a linguistics professor who tries to pass a flower girl off as an upper crust lady. Again, it reinforces the theme of deceit and dual identities.
4. The Viet Cong Theory
Near the middle-end of the episode, old Wayne has a vision of Viet Cong and NVA soldiers--perhaps he killed these men during the war? But if you look carefully, there's another face in the crowd. He's looking down and he has long hair and what appears to be a gunshot wound. Redditors speculate that this might be the third teenager in the purple Volkswagen from Episode 1; perhaps deliberately, he's also the only teenager who we don't see interviewed by the police. Maybe he was tried and sentenced for Will's killing, hence Wayne's guilt? The other theory is that this is Woodard aka Trash Man. This would make a lot of sense; it seems like he's well on his way to dying at the end of Episode 4. Perhaps Wayne is the one who fires the kill shot?
5. Roland Limp Theory
We see Roland limping in a very pronounced manner in the '90s timeline. Perhaps the shootout at the end of Episode 4 is what caused this injury years prior. Or, he might have gotten shrapnel in his leg from a booby trap in Trash Man's yard. We'll find out soon--probably next week.
6. Lucy/Hoyt Theory
One theory that's gained steam is that Julie was taken by the chicken CEO's family; Hoyt lost his granddaughter, and Julie is taken to be a replacement for her. In this episode, we learn that Julie's mother, Lucy, might have been sleeping with her boss at the Sawhorse; she admits cheating on Tom multiple times. What if she slept with Hoyt as well, years prior? That would explain Hoyt's attachment to Julie. Possibly (and this is a bit far-fetched), Julie is his biological daughter. It would also explain Lucy's guilt, if she was complicit in the abduction. She wanted to give her daughter a better life; she didn't know that her son Will would end up dead as a result.
By Phil Hornshaw on Jan 30, 2019 06:46 am
High Noon
The Last Word was one of the coolest Exotic weapons in the first Destiny, and now it's finally returned in Destiny 2. It's a gun that has a storied history, with tons of in-game lore surrounding it that's some of the best writing in the Destiny canon. Completing the requirements to get the legendary dueling weapon, a quest called The Draw, isn't easy, though. It requires you to take out some Hive, spend a fair amount of time in the Crucible, and most of all, avoid getting yourself killed. While a lot of the requirements for The Last Word boil down to grinding and putting in the effort, there are some places where you can fast-track your progress if you know some tricks to maximize your time. Here are all the steps you need to complete The Draw and earn yourself The Last Word, with some tips to help it all go a bit faster.
Talk To The Drifter
The Draw starts with meeting the Drifter in the Tower, who gives you a Tainted Artifact. This is a weird Hive thing he says is tied to the seventh Book of Sorrow, which is sort of the Hive's Bible. Your job is to cleanse the artifact by killing a bunch of Hive creatures.
The Cleansing
You'll need to rack up a bunch of Hive kills using Solar weapons, plus kill three Hive bosses and gather 75 Hive Tablets, which are random drops from Hive enemies. The best way to do that is to head to Mars and take part in a few rounds of Escalation Protocol using Solar weapons. Getting the kills isn't tough and the tablets drop pretty regularly, but finding Hive bosses reliably is a little arduous in most cases. Escalation Protocol guarantees bosses at the end of each level, but you can also try public events and Lost Sectors on Titan, the Tangled Shore, and Mars to find bosses as well.
The Temptation
After you've dealt with the Hive, you'll need to feed the artifact Light in order to find out its true power. That means stomping around the Crucible, where you'll need to rack up kills against other players. The trouble with this step is that deaths drag you back a bit; trading kills with another player seems to result in very little or no progress, while managing killstreaks rewards you with quite a bit. Your best bet here is to jump into matches with a fireteam, since assists will count toward your progress. You can also try to brute force it with Mayhem, this week's Crucible featured game type. That's how we did it, and the matches go very quickly, although the chaos of Mayhem means you'll take a lot of deaths even as you rack up a lot of kills.
The Damnation
With the artifact charged, you'll find that it's calling to a Hive ritual located on Titan. Drop onto The Rig to find the banner that activates the mission, which will lead you to the Cargo Bay 3 Lost Sector. Inside, you'll find a mess of Hive, most of which respawn almost continually, so get ready for a pitched battle. You'll want to pack some powerful ranged weapons so you can hang back toward the entrance of the cargo bay while still picking off tough enemies, particularly Wizards. You want to focus your fire on any Wizards you might see. The first one you kill will draw out your real target: an Acolyte with an impenetrable shield. To lower the shield, you'll need to seek out two more Wizards, who tend to hang out in the back corners of the room. When they're both dead, the shield will drop, allowing you to damage the Acolyte. Once you cut its health to about a third, though, the shield will go back up and new enemies will spawn in, including two new Wizards. Repeat the process twice more to kill the Acolyte for good. You'll then discover a Guardian helmet that's been penetrated by a powerful bullet--which might be from the Weapons of Sorrow, the very guns you're trying to prevent the Hive from creating. Bring it back to the Drifter for the next step.
Sullied Light
This is a big step. In order to stop the Hive weapons masters that are creating the Weapons of Sorrow, you'll need to sully your Light. That means obtaining a bunch of junk out in the world from a variety of places. First, you'll need 15 Etched Crystals, which are objects you'll get from heading into Lost Sectors and defeating the bosses you find there. You specifically want to focus on the Wanted escapees from the Prison of Elders--which means you shouldn't start clearing Lost Sectors in the Dreaming City, but rather head to the older locations to find the bosses you need. The bad news is, 15 crystals means 15 cleared Lost Sectors, even though it sometimes looks like two crystals drop from the same boss. The best approach we found is to go find Lost Sectors with Hive bosses, since that'll help you complete another step: Killing a bunch of Hive bad guys. You'll need 50 Worm Larvae to drop from Hive enemies, but the drops aren't guaranteed. They're pretty frequent, but only when you kill enemies with precision hits, so make sure you're landing headshots. We racked up the Larvae pretty quickly in Cargo Bay 3, and were able to rapidly leave the Lost Sector and then return to kill the boss over and over again and complete the step. While you're doing that, you'll also need to complete three Heroic versions of the Hive Ritual public event. These are only found in two places: on The Rig on Titan, right next to the spawn point, and on Mars in the Glacial Drift region, to the north. The Titan ones come up fairly infrequently, so you might have better luck camping out on Mars if you're waiting for the event, provided it's not delayed by Escalation Protocol instances. A better way to approach this one might be to check the Mars and Titan maps between Lost Sector runs and Crucible matches.
Back To The Crucible
Speaking of Crucible, the last part of this step will take you back to the competitive arena. You're not fighting for kills this time, but rather, specific medals: Blood for Blood and Best Served Cold. You earn those two medals when you either kill an enemy who just killed you, or kill an enemy that just killed a teammate. These aren't too terribly difficult to earn, but they will take time. Your best bet here depends on your playstyle: for speed, the constant deaths in the Mayhem playlist by you and your teammates will probably mean you'll get medals constantly. But if you want to earn some wins while doing this step, other playlists might be a better fit, especially if you can bring a fireteam of friends with you. In any event, try to stick close together with teammates so that kills you rack up will tend to count toward the medals. When you've completed all those steps, congratulations: You're through the worst of it. Head back to the Drifter to move on.
The Conversation
It's time to go claim your prize and defeat the Hive weapons master at the heart of the quest line. Head to the Tangled Shore's Jetsam of Saturn, then turn south into the ship into Hellrise Canyon to find the banner for the mission. The mission is pretty straightforward at first, except for one major caveat: the modifier Suppression. When it's active, your shields won't recharge as normal, instead requiring you to pick up Light from dead enemies to kickstart the recharge process. Keep that in mind and bring weapons that will let you stay back and do damage from afar to avoid getting surrounded and killed. You'll find your way barred near the start of the mission, with enemies spawning in the arena. Clear them out and keep an eye out for an ogre. When you kill it, it'll drop an ether-infected worm, much like the ones that come from knights in the Broodhold strike. Quickly take it to the wall before it explodes to open the way forward.
Dueling Enkaar
As you continue in the mission, you'll finally come up against Enkaar, the Hive weapons master the Drifter has been worried about this whole time. But you won't be able to just blast him as you would other bosses. Instead, dealing with Enkaar comes down to a good old-fashioned high noon duel. When you track down Enkaar, you'll come across a glowing pressure plate. Watch for it to charge on your screen--you'll see the word "Steady" until it fully charges, which will be replaced with "Draw!" when the time comes. As soon as that happens, hit the button prompted. The Last Word will appear, allowing you to grab it and bring it to bear against Enkaar and his Weapon of Sorrow, a prototypical version of the infamous Destiny 1 hand cannon Thorn. You don't want to shoot him, but instead, shoot the gun out of his hand when he raises it to take you down. You'll face Enkaar twice more before the end of the mission. Keep moving forward, clearing out enemies, until you find a second plate to stand on. When you do, two copies of Enkaar will spawn in front of you. You'll need to shoot both their guns, but be sure to do so in the order they appeared--that's also the order they'll draw. Be quick and fire from the hip, or Enkaar will kill you, and you'll have to start over again at the first plate. There's one more encounter with Enkaar to end the mission. Kill anything that gets in your way and continue forward until you hit the last plate, which is stationed over the bridge you cross during the Broodhold Strike. You'll face three Enkaars this time, but deal with them the same way: hip-firing at their guns in the order they appear. Stopping all three will destroy Enkaar, complete the mission, and finally earn you The Last Word.
The Last Word
Getting The Last Word will also have completed two lore books associated with The Draw, one filled with letters written by the gun's last wielder, Shin Malphur, and the other composed of the Seventh Book of Sorrow, a Hive holy text. Your last stop after receiving the gun is to head back to the Drifter, who will admonish you for trusting Shin and taking his gun. For a little bit more about why, check out our lore catch-up guide for all the story stuff that led up to this mission. After you've spoken to the Drifter, it's all over and you're ready to take The Last Word out for a spin. It's a particularly great Crucible gun, thanks to its high power and fast firing rate--specifically when fired from the hip like a true gunslinger would. It's worth noting that the story of Shin Malphur and the Drifter isn't over. Shin famously used The Last Word to kill the fallen Guardian, Dredgen Yor, to end Yor's murderous reign of terror with his Weapon of Sorrow, Thorn. As Bungie teased, however, we haven't seen the last of Thorn; expect the gun, and another lengthy Exotic quest, to pop up in Destiny 2's next season starting in March.
By Mat Elfring on Jan 30, 2019 03:18 am
On Sunday, February 3, the NFL's NFC and AFC champions will face each other in the Super Bowl. Millions of people across the United States will be tuning in to see which American football team will reign supreme on CBS. Additionally, the halftime show for the evening will be a performance from Maroon 5. But what if you don't want to watch that halftime show? What if you don't want to watch the Super Bowl at all? Luckily, there is some counter-programming which may be up your alley. There was a time that networks planned counter-programming for the Super Bowl Halftime show, like when MTV hosted its Celebrity Deathmatch halftime specials. However, that's not so much the case anymore. Regardless, there are a few options to avoid having to see Maroon 5 play. Additionally, if football isn't your thing, there are a few networks hosting TV and movie marathons that might be up your alley. Below, you'll find some halftime show options and some non-football options to watch on Superbowl Sunday. Or you can figure out what is new to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video and avoid live TV altogether. We're kicking this off with three halftime show counter-programs.
WWE's Halftime Heat
Available on: WWE Network, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube Instead of watching Maroon 5 play during halftime, you could tune into WWE's programming and watch Halftime Heat, where Velveteen Dream, Ricochet, and Aleister Black will take on the team of Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, and Adam Cole. Before that happens, WWE will be hosting a marathon of the best NXT matches, which will start airing at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT at the aforementioned places.
Puppy Bowl
Available on: Animal Planet Can you believe this is the 15th year of the Puppy Bowl? For those who are unfamiliar, the Puppy Bowl is a whole slew of adorable dogs rolling around in a tiny stadium, playing with toys, and chasing each other around. And all of the pups in the event are available for adoption. This year's show kicks off at 3 PM ET / 12 PM PT.
Kitten Bowl
Available on: Hallmark Channel If the concept of Puppy Bowl excites you, but you're more of a cat person, then you'll probably want to tune into the Hallmark Channel for the Kitten Bowl. It's the same concept as the Puppy Bowl but with kittens. And much like The Puppy Bowl, all the cats in the event will be available for adoption. The Kitten Bowl kicks off at 2 PM
Dr. Pimple Popper Marathon
Available on: TLC Spend your afternoon and evening watching dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee pop people's pimples. Is it gross? I think so, but to each their own, right? This marathon kicks off at 5 PM ET / 2 PM PT and runs through the big game.
The Mummy Movie Marathon
Available on: A&E There is one movie marathon of note, and it's on A&E. Beginning at 6 PM ET / 3 PM PT are all the Mummy movies from the original trilogy, starting with The Mummy, followed by The Mummy Returns, and closing out with The Scorpion King.
Botched Marathon
Available on: E! Over on E!, you can watch people with failed plastic surgery jobs get all fixed up on Botched. And this will be one long marathon. Apparently, E!'s programming gave up and decided to run this marathon for more than 24 hours, starting at 5 AM ET / 2 AM PT on February 3, running all the way to 12 PM ET / 10 AM PT on February 4.
Ridiculousness Marathon
Available on: MTV Basically, the America's Funniest Home Videos for teenagers, Ridiculousness is a clip show which showcases videos of people falling, failing, and flipping. MTV is running a marathon of the series for the entirety of February 3.
Ancient Aliens Marathon
Available on: History Channel We're all well aware that everything we can't explain with Earth's history was obviously created by aliens. If you don't believe this, then you should probably watch the Ancient Aliens marathon to learn the real truth. This all starts at 1 PM ET / 11 AM PT on History Channel.
Cops Marathon
Available on: Paramount Network Finally, you can watch shirtless drunks from all over the United States get arrested by real police officers on Paramount Network, which starts at 9 AM ET / 6 AM PT and runs the entirety of the day.
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