Capcom teased a rather unique demo for the remake of Resident Evil 2 recently, and now it's available for you to try for yourself. You'll have to be careful not to burn too much time taking in the utterly gross sights and sounds, though, because it only lasts 30 minutes and then you can't play anymore. For the time being the demo is only available in Australia, at least on Xbox One, but if you just can't wait to play you can change your territory.
The "1-Shot" demo will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It has a hard time limit of just 30 minutes, and once that time expires, you can't play anymore. The demo takes you through a snippet of gameplay as Leon S. Kennedy, and if you finish quickly enough you can go through it again. If you fail, you can keep trying until your half-hour is up.
Finishing the demo will give you an exclusive new cinematic trailer. You can then watch the trailer as much as you'd like even if time has expired, but the demo will be off-limits. The demo will be available through January 31.
The full game will star both Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, just like the original. The main story remains the same, but Capcom is reimagining some parts of the experience to surprise players with new scares. It also sports a different camera perspective and a more modernized control scheme to go along with it.
Resident Evil 2 is set to come out on January 25, which means the demo will be available shortly after release for those who may be on the fence. It has already earned a mention among our most anticipated games of 2019. It looks faithful but not overly beholden to the original, though Capcom is paying homage to the old game with classic costumes. For more details, check out our pre-order guide.
Publisher Epic has pledged that, every two weeks throughout 2019, it will give away a new PC game to anyone with an Epic Games Store account. All you have to do is visit the store to collect it. The latest freebie is now available: What Remains of Edith Finch, an adventure game that has you play through a series of connected short stories about the doomed Finch family. You can download it for free between now and January 24--a good deal, considering it currently sells for $20 on Steam.
Named one of GameSpot's best games of 2017, What Remains of Edith Finch puts you in the shoes of the title character, the last living member of her family, as she explores the old Finch mansion and estate. Several generations have lived and died here, and as you explore, you play through the events that led to their untimely demises.
While that may sound bleak, the stories vary quite a bit in tone. In GameSpot's 9/10 What Remains of Edith Finch review, Justin Clark wrote, "It's not often that a game's plot slips past the bitterness of grief to finally get to the acceptance, but that's the triumph in What Remains of Edith Finch. Ultimately, if the game has any resemblance of a moral, it's that the bravest, most beautiful thing every one of us does is choose to keep going, despite knowing what's coming."
The previous free titles from the Epic Games Store were Subnautica and Super Meat Boy. Once Edith Finch goes back to regular price, the online store will give away The Jackbox Party Pack between January 25 and February 7.
In related news, Ubisoft has decided to abandon Steam in favor of the Epic Games Store to sell the upcoming shared-world shooter Tom Clancy's The Division 2. This is part of an ongoing battle between game distribution platforms that kicked off when Epic announced its game store would offer publishers more appealing financial terms than Steam. Other Epic Games Store exclusives include Hades and the remaining episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Discord has also announced a digital game store that will offer better terms than both Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Creative Assembly, the same developer behind Alien: Isolation, has further teased its brand-new IP. The tease came out in a very roundabout way, with Creative Assembly responding to a tweet by film director Neill Blomkamp that was probing Twitter in search of people who work for Epic Games.
A brand-new IP from Creative Assembly has long been known about--with the studio first mentioning it in a November 2017 tweet--but there still hasn't been confirmation for what it is. Rumors for the new IP first started in January 2017, when Player One reported new job listings for a lead technical artist, lead system designer, and senior meta game designer on Creative Assembly's Careers page mentioned the game.
The job listings described the new IP as "genre-defining" and said it would require a designer to create "weapons, movement, abilities, gadgets, health, and other underlying gameplay systems." It's unfortunately not much to go on, and Creative Assembly hasn't shared any more information beyond that. However, based on the studio's tweet about wanting to talking to Blomkamp about the game, it's possible the developer might be planning to reveal more information about this new IP soon.
We made the epic Alien: Isolation 😉 and would love to talk you about our new IP. Send us a DM!
In other Alien-related video game news, the story of Isolation's Amanda Ripley continues in a new mobile game titled Alien: Blackout. FoxNext Games, D3 Go, and Rival Games announced the upcoming mobile title, saying, "Outsmart the perfect hunter by making perilous choices. Players must rely on the damaged controls of the space station or risk sacrificing crew members to avoid deadly contact, permanently altering the outcome of the game."
First, Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster will release on April 16. This set contains remastered versions of both Final Fantasy X and its sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, which have been touched up with high definition visuals, some additional content, and other improvements. In our original Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD review, we called the collection "a meticulous refurbishment" and awarded it an 8/10.
Shortly after the X / X-2 HD Remaster arrives, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age will come to both Switch and Xbox One on April 30. This version of the classic PS2 RPG was first released on PS4 in 2017, with a Steam port following in 2018. It likewise features HD visuals and a host of gameplay improvements, including a revamped job system and the ability to increase the game's speed.
Beyond that, a number of other Final Fantasy games are in the pipeline for Switch and Xbox One, including Final Fantasy VII and IX. The GameCube spin-off Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles is also being released this year for Switch and PS4, although a release date has not yet been announced.
In other Final Fantasy news, Square Enix recently released the first part of Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood's big 4.5 patch, which added a new dungeon, story quests, and other content that sets the stage for the upcoming Shadowbringers expansion. The publisher also shared a new trailer for Final Fantasy XV's next DLC, Episode Ardyn, which is slated to launch this March.
The second season of the Marvel show The Punisher hits Netflix on January 18, and we can finally see some footage from the show. A full trailer for Season 2 has been released, and it looks every bit as dark, action-packed, and violent as Season 1.
The trailer reveals that the new season will focus on a teenage girl named Amy (Giorgia Whigham), who is in some serious trouble with some very bad people. Inevitably Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) deals with the situation in the only way he knows how--killing people in a variety of gruesome ways--and the trailer also features the return of villainous Billy Russo (aka Jigsaw, played by Ben Barnes). Check it out above.
While there is much anticipation for The Punisher Season 2, the future of the show is unclear. In recent months, three of Netflix's roster of Marvel shows have been cancelled. While the axing of Iron Fist and Luke Cage weren't necessarily surprising, the cancelation of Daredevil within a few weeks of the acclaimed Season 3 hitting the service suggested that Netflix is looking to drop all of its Marvel shows.
Disney is launching its own streaming platform, named Disney+, later this year and is developing several Marvel series for it. Netflix still officially has The Punisher and Jessica Jones as active shows, and Season 3 of the latter is expected later this year. However, it remains possible that both will be cancelled once these latest seasons have been released.
In terms of new Marvel shows, in November Disney confirmed that Tom Hiddleston will star in a Loki show for Disney+. In addition, it has been reported that a Falcon and Winter Soldier team-up series is in development, as well as a Scarlet Witch show.
A set of PS4-exclusive items for the Red Dead Online beta in Red Dead Redemption 2 are no longer exclusive. As part of a larger update, Rockstar unlocked the items for Xbox One players to enjoy.
In a note tucked away at the end of an update about larger changes, Rockstar mentioned that Xbox One players now have access to the Red Chestnut Arabian Horse, Alligator Skin Ranch Cutter Saddle, and the High Roller Double-Action Revolver. Those were announced with a 30 day exclusivity window on PS4, which has now expired. This is regular content available to everyone, rather than special edition content.
This came alongside an update that added the new battle royale mode Gun Rush. In it, you'll have to grab weapons and ammo fast while the play area shrinks, until there's only one player remaining. It's available for up to 32 players, and can be played as free-for-all or in a team.
Rockstar also announced that RDO will remain in beta for a few more months, as the developer adds more features and makes changes to "stabilize and refine" the experience. Some of those include daily missions and new story challenges, but most of the quality-of-life changes are coming to help police player interactions. The Law and Bounty system will be changed to "reduce the enticements for griefing" and the map will show players at shorter distances so you can't be tracked from afar. Plus it will somehow mark more aggressive players so you know who not to mess with.
Our initial impressions of Red Dead Online were less than glowing, ultimately concluding that it just didn't have enough to do. Rockstar did signal that this beta would be similar to Grand Theft Auto Online, though, and has continued iterating on that game for years. The roadmap ahead shows a lot on the horizon, so we can probably expect similar continued development.
Earlier this week, it was reported that this year's 91st Academy Awards will not have a host, following the exit of Kevin Hart in December. Producers will reportedly enlist the help of various A-list stars to introduce the segments across the night, and a new report states that these might include big-name stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy are looking to use as many MCU actors as possible for an Avengers reunion on the night. At the 2013 awards, the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, and Samuel L Jackson appeared on stage together. THR states that Academy wants to include even more Marvel stars this time, which will tie in with the upcoming release of Avengers: Endgame.
In addition, the Oscars is broadcast by ABC, which, like Marvel Studios, is owned by Disney. The Academy has not commented on this story, but THR sources states that "specific details are still being hammered out about how the actors who play the popular characters will be incorporated." The ceremony takes place on February 24.
Having no single host is not totally uncharted territory for the Academy Awards. 30 years ago in 1989, the show had no host, instead opting to open with an 11-minute monologue in which actor Rob Lowe sings "Proud Mary" with Snow White. The last time the Oscars featured multiple hosts was in 2011, when James Franco and Anne Hathaway shared hosting duties.
Hart backed out of the hosting gig after people discovered years-old tweets where the comedian and actor made homophobic comments. According to Hart, the Academy gave him an ultimatum: apologize or step down as host. Hart initially said he wouldn't apologize, but he later did, saying he was sorry to the LGBTQ community for "my insensitive words from my past."
The most recent Academy Awards ceremony was watched by the lowest viewership in history, with only 26.5 million people tuning in. In an effort to get more people to watch, the Academy announced a "Popular Film" category, but it was scrapped in the wake of a backlash from critics and audiences.
Rockstar Games has detailed a new update for Red Dead Online, the multiplayer component of Red Dead Redemption 2, and it includes what is, for all intents and purposes, a battle royale mode. As detailed on Rockstar's website, Gun Rush is described as a gameplay mode that will "put your survival instincts to the test." Players are tasked with gathering weapons and ammunition while the play area shrinks.
Obviously, as the play area shrinks, participants will be pushed closer together and forced to take each other out, with one player ultimately emerging as the victorious sole survivor. Gun Rush is available for up to 32 players, and can be played in free-for-all and team variations.
The Rockstar website goes on to reveal that Red Dead Online will stay in beta form "for a few more months" as its developer has "many more new gameplay features to add across the board as well as further changes to improve, stabilize and refine the overall experience." You can read about some of the new additions on their way to Red Dead Online here.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was awarded GameSpot's Game of the Year for 2018. Writing about the game, senior reviews editor Kallie Plagge said, "It's hard to shake the kind of connection you develop with Red Dead Redemption 2's world and characters. It's a game that can try your patience, for sure, but it simply wouldn't be the same if it didn't. It's an unforgettable experience that challenges your expectations as often as it meets or exceeds them, and there's no question that it's our Game of the Year."
Rockstar Games, meanwhile, seems to already be looking to the future. New job listings for unannounced titles, which the company has described as "next-generation" projects, have appeared.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was released in October to much acclaim, with its multiplayer component, Red Dead Online, launching in late November. The online mode hasn't been received quite as warmly, though Rockstar did distinguish in advance that it was only a beta. That will remain the case for the foreseeable future, although the company has outlined some of the updates and new content that are on the way.
In a blog post announcing the launch of a new battle royale-style mode called Gun Rush, Rockstar stated, "Red Dead Online will stay in beta for a few more months yet as we have many more new gameplay features to add across the board as well as further changes to improve, stabilize and refine the overall experience."
You can read our impressions of Red Dead Online from just after its launch, but a common source of complaints is that there just isn't enough to do. Aside from Gun Rush, more content is on the way, including new races, Showdown modes, clothing, and emotes.
Rockstar has previously urged fans to share their feedback on the beta, and its roadmap includes changes that it says are being made in response to what fans have been saying. Daily challenges are being introduced "covering every aspect of the game, from sharpshooting to evading the law." But most of these adjustments are coming to mitigate unpleasant interactions with other players.
Law and Bounty systems are being altered to "reduce the enticements for griefing." If you commit a crime, you'll get a bounty; take too long to pay it off and bounty hunters from each state "will track the player forcing them to either pay up or escape." Additionally, the Parley system can be activated more quickly, and feuds can be triggered more easily so that you can have a proper framework for fighting other players, rather than the random chaos that can ensue. And finally, the map will show players only at shorter distances, so people can't track you down from afar. Rockstar also plans to have the map more clearly identify aggressive players.
Beyond all this, new A Land of Opportunities story missions are coming featuring both existing characters (Horley and Jessica LeClerk are mentioned by name) and new ones. Dynamic events will also be added to the world, though no specifics were shared.
It's clear Rockstar's plans for Red Dead Online are extensive. That should come as no surprise, given the sustained success of Grand Theft Auto V's GTA Online, which has been a tremendously consistent moneymaker for Rockstar and parent company Take Two since its launch in 2013.
Following a week of hints, Sega has released the puzzle game Catherine on PC. It's now available on Steam as "Catherine Classic" for $20 / £15 / €20. The PC release boasts some tweaks to take advantage of the hardware, and purchasing early nets you some extra goodies.
Those enhancements include 4K support, an unlocked framerate, customizable keyboard and mouse controls, and the option of using Japanese voiceover. If you purchase within the first two weeks of release, you'll also get desktop and mobile wallpapers, avatars, and soundtrack samples.
Catherine tells the story of a young man facing the choice of settling down with his longtime girlfriend, Katherine, when he's tempted by another woman named Catherine. It centers on adult themes like sexuality, commitment, and betrayal, and features several branching story paths. The puzzle gameplay takes place in the man's nightmares, where he has to climb his way to goals while avoiding obstacles.
This version is listed as the "Classic" version because an updated one is planned for release. Catherine Full Body is coming to PlayStation 4 and Vita in Japan on February 14, and a western release is said to be coming shortly afterward. Sega did not give any indication whether the new features and story content being added to Full Body will be available for PC.
As part of Fortnite Season 7, Week 6's challenges, you're going to have to go on a bit of a hunt. While not exactly a treasure hunt, completing the challenge will earn you some Battle Stars, which level up your Battle Pass and unlock cosmetics, and those are technically treasures. The specific thing you'll be hunting for are Chilly Gnomes. Here's where to find them.
You may remember a previous challenge where players were asked to seek out hungry gnomes, and this challenge plays out very similarly. The gnomes are pretty much what you imagine, little garden gnomes. To help you hone in on their locations, listen for the sound of shivering, which serves as an audio tell to let you know you're getting close.
Of course, if you want to speed the whole process up and get it done lickity-split, you can follow our guide below. We've scoured the island and put together a little list that'll direct you to the exact locations of the Chilly Gnomes. You can also watch the video above to see us complete the challenge, and follow our lead.
Fornite Chilly Gnome Locations
Southwest of Tilted Towers: Around grid reference C6 in the top left of the quadrant
West of Lucky Landing: Around grid reference E10, above the cliff
Lucky Landing: Around grid reference E10, above the "U" in "Lucky Landing"
Snobby Shores: Next to the Viking Ship amongst the icy rocks around grid reference B6
Polar Peak: Next to the campfire facing the tower around grid reference C8
Tilted Towers: In front of the RV just to the south of the area around grid reference D6
Shifty Shafts: Locate the giant tree nestled in the rocky outcropping and you'll find the gnome nearby too
Frosty Flights: To the south around grid reference B9. Find the crashed plane and drop through the hole nearby.
The rest of Week 6's challenges are fairly simple and generally focused on doing damage to enemies, visiting specific locations, or searching ammo boxes. Read our full Fortnite Season 7, Week 6 challenge list for more on those.
Still need more Battle Stars? If you have challenges from previous weeks left to do, we've got a comprehensive Fortnite Season 7 challenge guide that'll help you make light work of the hardest, most time consuming challenges of the season so far. That'll net you a few extra Battle Stars.
It's no secret that the latest Fallout game got off to a rocky start when it launched in November--just read our Fallout 76 review for an overview of its issues. But developer Bethesda has promised to make it up to players. One way the company is doing that is by giving a copy of the Fallout Classic Collection on PC to anyone who played the full version of Fallout 76 on any platform in 2018.
So whether you dropped into the apocalyptic wasteland on PS4, Xbox One, or PC, you're now eligible for free copies of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel on PC. The collection is currently selling for $20 on Steam, so that's not a bad freebie (provided you have a Windows PC capable of running the games).
To access the collection, you'll first have to download the Bethesda Launcher for PC. Then open it and sign into your Bethesda.net account. Head to the Games menu, and you'll find your freebies in your account, ready to be installed.
The first Fallout is a turn-based RPG developed by Interplay that launched in 1997. The sequel, made by Black Isle Studios, landed the following year. The franchise didn't see another release until 2001's Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, which was developed by Micro Forté. All three games were well received at the time of release; you can read GameSpot's reviews below.
Fallout 76 is in the process of getting its first patch of the new year. Rolling out on PC on January 10 at 9 AM ET (6 AM PT, 2 PM GMT) and next week on PS4 and Xbox One, the patch contains over "150 fixes." Bethesda said the update will "address many issues raised by the community as well as continue focus on improving performance and stability."
We're now in Week 6 of Fortnite Season 7, which means there's another batch of those oh-so-precious Battle Stars to unlock. The best way to do that is to complete challenges, which in turn will net you them and level up your Battle Pass, thus bringing you one step closer to unlocking new cosmetics.
[Update: Epic has confirmed reports of issues with a Hard-difficulty Week 6 challenge, which asks you to deal damage with different weapons in a single match. After launching an investigation into the issue, it has identified that the problem occurs only in modes where respawns are allowed. It plans to fix this in a future update, but if you're eager to complete the challenge now, you'll have to do so in a mode without respawns.]
If you're new to this, firstly, hello, how's it going? What have you been up to? Secondly, let's get you up to speed on how it all works. Challenge are split into two categories, with the first being available to any and all Fortnite players, while the second is exclusive to players that have spent V-Bucks to get the premium version of the pass. Naturally, you'll still be able to get a few Battle Stars by doing the free challenges, but if you really want to get those cosmetic unlocks faster, the premium pass is the way to go.
In the free section this week, players will need to search seven ammo boxes in different named locations (which you should be very used to doing now), hunt down seven Chilly Gnomes, and take out enemies in either Lucky Landing or Tilted Towers.
Meanwhile, in the paid Battle Pass section, first up is a multi-stage challenge that begins with you visiting Polar Peaks and Tilted Towers in a single match. With that done, you'll get two more locations to visit in the second stage, and then again in the third.
After that you'll need to get yourself the Ice Puck emote (unlocked at Tier 28 in the Battle Pass), find an icy surface, and use the emote to send that bad boy off into the distance. There's also another multi-stager that involves doing damage using SMGs and, after that's done, you'll find two further stages that task you with dishing out pain using specific weapons.
The final challenge in the paid Battle Pass category is another one that'll put your shooting chops to the test. It asks you to deal damage with five different weapons in a single match. Take a look at the full list of Fortnite Season 7, Week 6's challenges below.
Week 6 Challenges
Free
Search an ammo box in different named locations (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Search Chilly Gnomes (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Eliminate opponents in Lucky Landing or Tilted Towers (3) -- 10 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
Stage 1: Visit Polar Peak and Tilted Towers in a single match (2) -- 1 Battle Star
Slide an Ice Puck over 150m in a single throw (1) -- 5 Battle Stars
Stage 1: Deal damage with SMGs to opponents (200) -- 3 Battle Stars
Deal damage with different weapons in a single match (5) -- 10 Battle Stars
If you've got any outstanding challenges from previous weeks, take a look at our Fortnite Season 7 challenge guide, in which we keep track of all the weekly challenges and provide links to guides for the more difficult ones. Using that you'll be able to wrap up any remaining challenges from the season so far and get those Battle Stars.
Fallout 76's first big patch of the new year is coming sooner than expected. Bethesda announced today that the previously announced patch will begin its rollout tomorrow, January 10, instead of January 14 as announced previously. [Update: The new update is out now, and the full list of patch notes follow below. They should be mostly the same for the upcoming console release, and you can read on to find out everything it does.]
The patch will launch be released on January 10 at 9 AM ET for PC. It'll come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One "early next week," Bethesda said in a tweet. The Fallout 76 patch will feature "150 fixes," Bethesda said, and the patch notes will be released on January 10 alongside its release for PC.
On a high level, Bethesda said the update will "address many issues raised by the community as well as continue focus on improving performance and stability."
Specifically, the update will address problems with Challenges and quests. It will also contain fixes for perks and weapons; it'll also clear out some exploits that have been brought to Bethesda's attention.
Launching the update first on PC gives Bethesda the opportunity to "make further adjustments as needed before releasing the patch on consoles," Bethesda said.
In other news, Bethesda announced a nice thank-you gift to Fallout fans. Everyone who logged into the full version of Fallout 76 on any platform in 2018 is getting a free copy of the Fallout Classic Collection for PC. Full instructions on how to grab the game can be found here.
Fallout 76 January 10 Update Patch Notes
GENERAL
Power Armor: The Power Armor light has been made brighter.
Performance: Several improvements have been made to in-game performance.
Stability: The Fallout 76 game client and servers have received additional stability improvements.
BALANCE
Charging Barrels mod: Increased the Gatling Laser's damage bonus from the Charging Barrels mod.
Glowing Ones : Glowing Ones will no longer grant erroneous large amounts of XP. DevNote: Glowing Ones were granting Large Boss XP rewards, making them highly exploitable when combined with Nuke Zones.
Crafting: Lowered chance of Power Generators of spawning fusion cores.
Crafting: Set minimum component cost of workshop buildings requiring steel, wood or plastic to 2.
Bobby Pins: Reduced the weight value of Bobby Pins from 0.1 to 0.001.
SOCIAL
Teams: Players now receive a notification that "Players cannot form teams from within Vault 76" if an Invite is sent to a friend still in Vault 76.
SYSTEMS
PvP: Opening Player-owned, locked containers will now be considered a PVP action as expected.
BUG FIXES
STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE
[Xbox One] Performance: Blowing up the mainframe core stations will no longer cause a performance drop.
[PC] Infinite Load: Fixed an infinite load screen that could occur when attempting to join a server on PC.
Crash: Fixed a crash that can occur when opening the Pip-Boy.
Performance: Improved client performance when viewing a nuke explode.
Performance: Fixed an issue where reading a note would cause the background to freeze.
Performance: Increased performance in areas with a lot of scorched statues.
GENERAL
Systems: Fixed an issue where items could be duplicated.
[PC] Controls: Resetting controls to default no longer causes most Activate prompts to become unusable.
[PC] Controls: Fixed an issue when controls in the Settings menu aren't updated when connecting/disconnecting a gamepad controller.
Systems: Fixed an issue that allowed armor mods to reduce carry weight past intended values.
Systems: Rads will no longer completely be removed when by dying repeatedly.
Systems: Address an issue where players could load into geometry after fast travel.
Systems: Fixed an issue where bashing an enemy with the Railway Rifle or Crossbow would add the projectile to the enemy's inventory.
ART AND GRAPHICS
Animations: Lever-Action rifle now only reloads the correct number of ammo.
Effects: Consumed Berry Mentats now correctly show purple glowing auras around players and creatures.
C.A.M.P.S, WORKSHOPS, AND CRAFTING
Crafting: Level 25 armor and above now requires ballistic fiber to craft.
Repairing: Component quantities required to repair mid to high level armor and weapons have been reduced up to 20%. DevNote: - Repair costs scale with level, and there's room to reduce costs at higher levels.
Crafting: Ballistic Fiber becomes required for armor at level 25 instead of previously at level 20
Crafting: Updated Bulk Acid crafting recipe to require 15 Acid.
Crafting: Fixed an issue that prevented players with the correctly equipped perk cards from being able to craft Antibiotics and Disease Cure (Savage Divide).
Crafting: "Hardened Mass" will no longer be scrapped when "Scrap All Junk" is selected.
Repairing: Overall repair costs have been lowered for both weapons and armor.
Crafting: Ballistic Fiber also is now required for repairing armor at level 25 and above instead of previously at level 20.
Workshops: Fixed issues where enemies at some Workshop locations would spawn underground, making the Workshops unclaimable. Locations include: Charleston Landfill, Lakeside Cabins, and Sunshine Meadows.
Workshops: Fixed an issue where objects in Workshops would sometimes float in the air when the Workshop menu was closed.
Workshops: Destroying the hay feeder along with the fertilizer collector will no longer prevent them from being repaired.
C.A.M.P./Workshops: Placing Power Armor workbenches on foundation will no longer cause them to place on the floor/ceiling above. Note: There is a fix for this issue coming, but it was erroneously added to these notes.
C.A.M.P./Workshops: Fixed an issue that would cause a "not supported" error when attempting to place a tall or short post under a roof.
Blueprints: Fixed an issue with the cost of wires not being factored in when storing blueprints.
Crafting: Fixed an issue where certain objects aren't able to be scrapped through the stored tab.
Workshops: Fixed an issue where certain stored items obtained from claiming a Public Workshop can't be placed again.
Crafting: Fixed a visual issue with scrapping items in Crafting Menus.
Crafting: Fixed an issue where mods cost less steel than what's displayed in Crafting Menus.
Crafting: Fixed a display issue where incorrect number of Junk items can appear in Crafting Menus.
CHALLENGES
Daily Challenges: Fixed several daily challenges that were not being offered on some days. Dev Note: These include "Pick Wild Flowers", "Harvest Mutfruit Plants", and "Harvest Wild Plants and Fungi".
Daily Challenge: Fixed an issue that prevented some wild flowers from incrementing in the "Pick Wild Flowers" Daily Challenge.
Weekly Challenge: Fixed an issue that caused the weekly challenge "Complete Quests and Events in a Group while at Night" to work during the day and only recognize events. It will now look for quests and events that are completed at night.
Weekly Challenge: Edited the description of a Weekly Challenge to correctly reflect the direction.
Sub-Challenge: Fixed an issue that prevented certain photomode challenges from completing as expected.
Sub-Challenge: Fixed an issue that prevented certain Bobblehead challenges from completing as expected.
Sub-Challenge: Fixed an issue that caused a challenge to be marked as complete incorrectly.
Lifetime Challenges: Fixed an issue where some lifetime challenges would revert progress after logging out.
ENEMIES
Robots: Fixed an issue that would cause robots to respawn too frequently in Whitesprings.
Scorched: Fixed an issue where Wasteland Whisperer could affect Scorched. Dev Note: Wasteland Whisperer can no longer be used to pacify Scorched.
Scorched: Shooting a Scorched in the leg will no longer break their weapon causing them to not attack the player.
Scorched: Fixed an issue where Scorched may be using invisible weapons or not appearing to fire their weapon correctly.
Scorched: Fixed an issue that caused floating debris and disassembled guns to appear in Scorched hands when killed.
ITEMS
Weapons: Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause plasma weapons, flamers and flamer mods, and weapons with explosive bullet mods to not do damage to other players and creatures.
Armor: Fixed an issue that would cause players exiting power armor to sometimes appear stretched and unable to reenter power armor.
Armor: Addressed several issues that would prevent players from exiting power armor and at times cause the Pip-Boy to become unavailable.
Weapons: Fixed an issue that prevented the Gauss Rifle from being identified as a rifle. Now rifle-related perks can be applied to the Gauss Rifle.
Ammo Vending Machines: Fixed an issue where some Ammo Vending Machines were only selling repair components.
Weapons: Legendary Hunting Rifles will now drop as loot.
Weapons: Fixed an issue where the Walking Cane provided as many resources when scrapped as it costs to craft.
Armor: Fixed an issue where some Pocketed Chest Pieces were resetting players back to their base carry weight upon logging back into the game.
Armor: Fixed an issue where players can leave behind an unusable chassis after exiting Power Armor.
Magazine: Consuming Scouts' Life 6 magazine now correctly depletes food and water stats at a slower rate.
Weapons: M79 Grenade Launcher is now considered an explosive weapon in perks instead of being incorrectly considered a shotgun.
Fusion Cores: Fixed an issue where Fusion Core generators were producing cores at a slower rate than intended. They are now back to 8 cores/hr.
Magazine: Fixed the Backwoodsman 2 magazine to appropriately boost Tomahawk damage.
Mirelurk Eggs: Harvesting Mirelurk Eggs will not result in two separate eggs.
Weapons: Fixed an issue where several combat rifle automatic receiver mods were prevented from receiving automatic rifle perk bonuses.
Weapons: Fixed an issue where multiple weapons were able to be equipped at the same time.
Weapons: The Vampire weapon mod effect now works only when hitting living targets as intended.
Armor: Fixed an issue where Power Armor parts would display on top of previously equipped parts.
Weapons: Fixed an issue where bashing an enemy with certain weapons would add the projectile to the enemy's inventory.
Armor: Fusion Cores will no longer replenish to full charge upon joining another world.
QUESTS AND EVENTS
"Get the Supply Drop": "Get the Supply Drop" Event now will remove holotape once used with supply crate belonging to the player that requested the Supply Drop.
Quest: Daily Missile Silo quest rewards are now correctly obtainable only once per day.
"Line in the Sand": Fixed an issue with the quest, Line in the Sand where the Sonic Generator already being repaired prevented the player from completing the quest. The event will now progress to the next stage if the Sonic Generator is already repaired when the Event begins.
"Recruitment Blues": Fixed an issue with the objective, "find Junk Mail" that prevented players who switched worlds from completing the quest.
"Second Helpings": The following location map markers are now available after finishing "Second Helpings": Slocum's Joe, Gauley Mine, Morgantown Trainyard, and Morgantown Airport.
PERKS
All Night Long: All Night Long now decreases hunger and thirst growth at night.
Overdrive: Fixed an issue where Overdrive was not increasing critical chance % properly.
Quack Surgeon: Quack Surgeon no longer allows for reviving hostile players.
Strange in Numbers: Strange in Numbers effects now scale properly with multiple teammates (with and without mutations).
Refractor: Fixed an error where each rank of Refactor is doubling energy resistance instead of adding +20 as indicated on the Perk card description.
Fireproof: Fireproof now reduces explosion and flame attack damage by 15% per rank.
Happy Camper: Happy Camper now functions correctly whether the player is inside or outside of their C.A.M.P. when the perk conditions are refreshed.
Butcher's Bounty: Fixed an issue that allowed for the Butcher's Bounty perk to trigger again on an already-searched creature.
Homebody: The Homebody perk now works as intended when at a claimed Public Workshop.
Party Boy/Girl: Party Boy/Girl now effects active alcohol effects on the player.
PVP
Teams: Teamed players can no longer unfairly block an attacking player when that player attempts to overtake a workshop. Your teammate will enter PVP with the attacking player.
Turrets: Turrets at Workshops will now attack players the Workshop owner is engaged in PvP with.
SOCIAL
Systems: Blocking a player now also mutes their proximity chat.
Trade: Fixed an issue where players could view another player's inventory before they can respond to a trade invite.
Trade: We no longer let trades occur before the requested player has consented to trade.
Trade: Fixed an issue where the Stash transfer menu would appear empty after previously trading with another player.
Trade: Stimpaks with a price value set to zero will no longer prompt "use" in the Trade Menu instead of "accept".
Trade: Changed caps limit for player-to-player trades from 5000 to 25000.
SOUND
Chat: Fixed an issue where voice chat would not always function properly upon exiting the Atomic Shop.
Atomic Shop: Fixed an issue where some Atomic Shop content was missing sound effects.
Atomic Shop: "Waving Santa" sound effect will now only play when in "on" state.
USER INTERFACE
General: Players no longer will receive a pop-up for the Atomic Shop when Respawning for the first time.
[PC] Resolution: Perk Pack opening screen now extends to the edge on 21:9 monitors.
Atomic Shop: Players in the Atomic Shop when the Atomic Shop is taken offline will now be notified and taken back to the Main Menu.
[PC] FOV: Fixed an issue with scoped weapons zooming incorrectly when the default Field of View setting has been changed.
PvP: Fixed an issue where the PVP prompt would appear repeatedly while the same players engaged in combat with each other.
More details have come to light about the new Marvel show featuring Scarlet Witch and Vision. According to The Hollywood Reporter, one of the writers of the upcoming Captain Marvel movie, Jac Schaeffer, has been hired to write the new show for Disney.
Schaeffer will also serve as the showrunner for the program, which will air on Disney's new streaming network, Disney+. As rumoured, the actors who play Vision and Scarlet Witch in the Avengers movies, Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olson, are expected to reprise their roles for the new streaming show.
Schaeffer also wrote the screenplay for the Black Widow movie starring Scarlet Johansson. Her ties to Disney and Marvel run deeper still, as she also co-wrote the script for the Frozen short Olaf's Frozen Adventure.
Marvel is also working on new shows for Loki, and Tom Hiddleston is expect to come back for that one. Another show will be a joint adventure featuring Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).
The next big Marvel movie is Captain Marvel, which stars Brie Larson; it's due out in March. It'll be followed by the hugely anticipated Avengers: Endgame in April.
While a lot of the talk in gaming, including mobile gaming, today is focused understandably on Fortnite, it is not the biggest money-maker out there, it seems.
Sensor Tower reports that the Candy Crush series of mobile games collectively made more than $1.5 billion in revenue from microtransactions in 2018 across iOS and Android. That works out to a staggering $4.2 million USD spent per day on average.
Candy Crush Saga, the 2012 original game, made $945 million by itself, which is very impressive for a game that is more than six years old. Its $945 million accounted for 63 percent of the total $1.5 billion that people spent on Candy Crush mobile games in 2018.
Twenty-nine percent of spending, or around $443 million, came from Candy Crush Soda Saga. Candy Crush Jelly Saga brought in around $90 million in 2018, which was good for 6 percent of total franchise revenue during the year. The newest Candy Crush game, Candy Crush Friends Saga, made $3 million in 2018 following its October release.
The Candy Crush games collectively added more than 230 million new players in 2018, though a total download figure was not made available.
For comparison, Pokemon Go made around $800 million from its microtransactions in 2018 across iOS and Android, so Candy Crush Saga ($945 million) beats it. Fortnite's mobile edition made $455 million on iOS alone in 2018, but importantly, this figure only covers iOS; what's more, Fortnite's mobile edition only launched in March 2018.
Candy Crush is an Activision franchise, following the Call of Duty company's acquisition of developer King back in 2015 for a staggering $5.9 billion.
Blizzard has added a tribute to the late comics legend Stan Lee in World of Warcraft. A new NPC can be found wandering around sporting Lee's iconic mustache and aviator lenses, as long as you know where to look.
WowHead reports that the 8.1.5 patch in the Public Test Realm adds "Stanley," a thin man with grey-white hair and sunglasses, and saying "Excelsior!" So far he's only been spotted in Stormwind, sporting the colors and armor of the Alliance. But a little digging into the update pulled up two other Stanley character models: one in neutral colors without armor, and another wearing Horde gear.
This isn't the first time World of Warcraft has paid tribute to a celebrity. Blizzard similarly memorialized Robin Williams, himself an avid WoW player, after his death.
Stan Lee was an affable pitch man and the public face of Marvel comic books for years, known especially for his series of cameos in movies based on Marvel properties. He created or co-created many of Marvel's most well-known superheroes, including the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and Spider-Man, among many others. He's widely credited for helping to give superheroes realistic problems atop their super-powered antics.
He passed away in November 2018, leading to lovely tributes from celebrities and his comic book competition alike. True to his larger-than-life personality, he had also sold the rights to his life story to Fox. But rather than a standard biopic, the plan is reportedly to adapt it into a wild period action film in the style of Kingsman: The Secret Service.
The Xbox Game Pass catalog has added three more games, while four are leaving "soon." Most notable of the newcomers is acclaimed fighting game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which was not included on the previously announced schedule for the month.
Alongside UMvC3, the open-world action game Just Cause 3 is also now available, as is the just-launched Aftercharge. Xbox Game Pass subscribers can download and play these games so long as their membership stays active and they remain part of the catalog.
It's not immediately clear precisely when these games will leave Xbox Game Pass apart from "soon." So if you're interested, you should download them now while you still can.
You can sign up for Xbox Game Pass for for $1 for the first month and pay $10 for each additional month. The program is currently only available for Xbox One, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer has big plans for the future and wants to see it come to "every device."
The Xbox Game Pass library contains more than 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles. More titles are added on a regular basis, and, sometimes, some games are removed.
During AMD's CES 2019 keynote, Xbox boss Phil Spencer went on stage to talk about the continued partnership between the two companies. Most notable is his mention of "future platforms" which teases AMD's technology will be used in the CPU for Microsoft's next console, much like Xbox One.
"As a company, we look at the opportunity in gaming and one of the things I want to say is when we think who our partners are, we think about great companies that do great work, but also do it in the right way," Spencer said. "As we look forward to future platforms that we're building and work that we're doing, the partnership and the innovations that we've seen in the past have led to what we've been able to do today, I think they're going to be critically important to our future endeavors. I'm really looking forward to showing those to people more in the future."
In December 2018, Microsoft insider Brad Sams reported that the next Xbox would release in 2020 and use AMD's next-generation GPU and a Zen 2 processor. Spencer's speech at CES is the closest we've come to a confirmation that any of that information is true.
Spencer has been dropping hints about the next Xbox since E3 2018, which many have taken as a sign that an announcement is coming soon. The Xbox boss has already confirmed that multiple consoles are in development, but there hasn't been an announcement detailing whether they're all for next-generation or if one is a final upgrade for Xbox One--like the One S and One X consoles. Even when they weren't expressly about new consoles, Xbox made moves in 2018 that hinted towards a promising future for the next generation, such as acquiring seven game developers.
Other announcements for AMD's new technology came out during the CES keynote, which can be found in the coverage done by GameSpot's sister site CNET. Most notable are AMD's new Radeon VII, which is the world's first 7nm gaming GPU and company's most powerful one to date, and third generation Ryzen CPU, which can outperform an Intel i9-9900K on a Cinebench multicore test.
We're giving away 100 free PC Steam codes for PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition to one hundred (100) lucky fans! (Scroll down to enter below).
PlanetSide: Arena is a new massive-scale multiplayer sci-fi shooter that brings the franchise's signature epic-scale, all-out FPS action to new massive arena game modes capable of supporting up to 1,000 players per match. PlanetSide Arena initially launches with three major game modes: Massive Clash, an epic 500-player Group vs. Group experience, along with Solo and Team Battle Royale modes. Anyone who pre-orders (or wins a key) will get access to the Closed Beta which is expected to start later this month.
This is not an instant win. No purchase necessary. Competition ends at 12:00 PM PT on January 22, 2019, in which 100 winners will be chosen at random and emailed a code for the full game (MSRP: $40).
Enter below:
PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition Giveaway Official Sweepstakes Rules
NO PURCHASE OR WIRELESS DEVICE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES WHO ARE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD OR AGE OF MAJORITY, WHICHEVER IS OLDER IN YOUR STATE OF RESIDENCE, AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. IF YOU ARE ACCESSING THIS SWEEPSTAKES VIA YOUR WIRELESS DEVICE, DATA RATES MAY APPLY.
Administrator, Sponsor & Prize Provider: GameSpot, a division of CBS Interactive, Inc. ("CBSI"), 235 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94105.Sweepstake Entities: CBSI and Sideqik, 590 Means St NW #260, Atlanta, GA 30318 (the sweepstakes platform provider).THIS SWEEPSTAKES IS NOT SPONSORED, ENDORSED OR ADMINISTERED BY FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOUTUBE OR INSTAGRAM.
1. Acceptance of Rules. By entering the PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition Giveaway (the "Sweepstakes") operated on the CBSI web site accessible at the domain "GameSpot.com" (the "CBSI Service"), you hereby accept and agree to these official rules (the "Official Rules") of this Sweepstakes and the decisions of the Administrator in connection with this Sweepstakes, whose decisions are final. No purchase, entry fee or use of wireless device is necessary to enter or win. If you are a wireless service subscriber and have a smartphone, tablet or other wireless device that allows you access to the Internet, you may also enter the Sweepstakes via any of those devices during the Promotion Period (as defined below). If you chose to access this Sweepstakes via any of those wireless devices, you may be charged data rates according to the Terms and Conditions of your Service Agreement with your wireless carrier.
2. Eligibility. This Sweepstakes is offered and open to persons who are: (a) legal residents of the United States; (b) at least 18 years old or age of majority, whichever is older in their state of residence, at the date of entry in this Sweepstakes. Employees, directors, and the immediate family members of the Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising and promotion agencies and legal and financial advisors are not eligible to participate in this Sweepstakes. For purpose of the foregoing, "immediate family" means parents, spouses, children, siblings or any members of the same households of such employees and directors. This Sweepstakes is void in all U.S. territories and possessions and where prohibited by law.
3. Entering the Sweepstakes: To enter the Sweepstakes, users need to go, during the Promotion Period, to the Sweepstakes page on the CBSI Service found at https://www.gamespot.com/articles/free-planetside-arena-legendary-edition-codes-give/1100-6464232/, sign up for the Sweepstakes via the application found on such page by providing your name and email address, selecting a gaming console category, agree to these Official Rules, and hit the "Submit" button to receive an entry into the Sweepstakes.
Participants may receive additional entries eleven (11) different ways.
Limit of one hundred and twelve (112) entries per person during the Promotion Period.
4. Promotion Period. The Sweepstakes begins on January 9, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. PT and ends at 12:00 p.m. PT on January 22, 2019 (the "Promotion Period").
5. Prize. The Sweepstakes will award one hundred (100) prizes ("Prize(s)"). Each Prize consists of one (1) PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition Game code for PC; Each Prize has an approximate retail value ("ARV") of Forty Dollars (US$40.00). The total ARV of all Prizes to be awarded is Four Thousand Dollars (US$4000.00).
6. Prize Restrictions. No assignment, transfer, conversion to cash or cash redemption or substitution of a Prize is permitted, except Administrator reserves the right to substitute a Prize with a prize of comparable or greater value, should a Prize or part of a Prize become unavailable. Prize is solely for personal use and may not be used in conjunction with any other promotion. All Prize details are at the sole discretion of the Sweepstakes Entities.
7. Odds/Drawings/Winner Notification. Odds of winning a Prize depends on the number of eligible entries received during the Promotion Period. On or about January 22, 2019, after the conclusion of the Promotion Period, the Prize drawings will be conducted at random by Administrator, whose decisions are final and binding in all respects. The potential Winners (the "Winners") will be notified by email. Potential Winners will be asked to provide their personal information, such as their name, physical address, date of birth and phone number in order to confirm eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. Administrator will select up to two (2) alternate Winners per Prize. If no contact has been made with the alternates after a reasonable effort has been made during three (3) business days from the first notification attempt to the last alternate, such Prize shall not be awarded.8. Prize Taxes. All federal, state, local and other tax liabilities arising from this Sweepstakes, including, without limitation, winning a Prize, will be the sole responsibility of each Winner.
9. Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release and Publicity Release. Winner may be required to complete, execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release, and where lawful, a Publicity Release (collectively, the "Release Forms"), as well as a W-9 tax within five (5) days of notification of winning. Failure to return Release Forms timely, or if Prize notification or a Prize is returned as non-deliverable, or if a Winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, may result in disqualification with an alternate Winner selected in accordance with these Official Rules.
10. Publicity Release Terms. Except where prohibited by law, a Winner's acceptance of a Prize constitutes permission for the Sweepstakes Entities to use Winner's name, photograph, likeness, statements, biographical information, voice, and address (city and state) worldwide and in all forms of media, in perpetuity, without further compensation.
11. Improper Conduct. Administrator, in its sole discretion, may disqualify any entrant from participation in or use of any or all portions of this Sweepstakes, and refuse to award a Prize, if a Winner engages in any conduct Administrator deems to be improper, unfair or otherwise adverse to the operation of the Sweepstakes or detrimental to other entrants of the Sweepstakes. Such improper conduct includes, without limitation, falsifying personal information required during entrant registration or Prize claim, violating any term or condition stated herein, accumulating entries through methods such as automated computer scripts or any other programming techniques, allowing others to use entrant's personal information for the purpose of accumulating entries, or intentionally trying to defraud, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise tamper with the computer programs in connection with this Sweepstakes. Winners agree that Administrator may void a Prize or any part of the Prize that a Winner may have won and/or require the return of a Prize or any part of a Prize that a Winner may have won as a result of such improper conduct. Winners further acknowledge that any forfeiture of a Prize and/or return of a Prize shall in no way prevent Administrator from pursuing other avenues of recourse, such as criminal or civil proceedings in connection with such conduct. WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS SWEEPSTAKES MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, EACH OF THE SWEEPSTAKES ENTITIES RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
12. Integrity of Sweepstakes. If, for any reason, the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned by reason of infection by computer virus, worms, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which Administrator, in its sole opinion believes could corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Sweepstakes, Administrator reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this Sweepstakes and select the Winners from entries received prior to the action taken or in such other manner as Administrator may deem fair and appropriate.
13. Lost or Corrupted Entries. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, lost, late, incomplete, corrupted, stolen, misdirected, illegible or postage-due entries or mail, if applicable; or for any computer, telephone, cable, network, satellite, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, unauthorized human intervention, or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry or other information, or the failure to capture any such information. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by registration information submitted by end users or tampering, hacking or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Sweepstakes, and assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to the Sweepstakes.
14. Damaged Property. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, injury or damage to any entrants or to any other person's computer or property related to or resulting from participating in this Sweepstakes or downloading materials from this Sweepstakes.
15. Sweepstakes Errors. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with errors and/or ambiguity: (a) in the Sweepstakes; (b) in any related advertising or promotions of this Sweepstakes; and/or (c) in these Official Rules. In the event of any ambiguity(s) or error(s) in these Official Rules, Administrator reserves the right to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes or to correct any such ambiguity(s) or error(s) without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes.
16. Prizes and Winners. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you/entrant hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, the selection and announcement of the Winners, the distribution of the Prizes, the acceptance/possession and/or use/misuse of any part of a Prize and/or any injury or damage to any entrant's or third person's property related to or resulting from any part of a Prize or any part of this Sweepstakes.
17. Release and Indemnity. Each entrant in this Sweepstakes, including, without limitation, the Winners, hereby releases and agrees to hold harmless the Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents from any and all liability for any injuries, loss or damage of any kind to person, including death, and property, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a Prize, participation in this Sweepstakes and participation in any activity related to this Sweepstakes.
18. Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT WILL THE SWEEPSTAKES ENTITIES, THEIR PARENTS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES AND RELATED COMPANIES, THEIR ADVERTISING OR PROMOTION AGENCIES OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS, BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SWEEPSTAKES OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM THE SWEEPSTAKES. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.
19. Disclaimer of Warranties. THE SWEEPSTAKES AND PRIZES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
20. Identity Disputes. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be declared made by the Authorized Account Holder of the email address submitted at time of entry. For purposes of these Official Rules, "Authorized Account Holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address.
21. Binding Arbitration. The parties waive all rights to trial in any action or proceeding instituted in connection with these Official Rules and/or this Sweepstakes. Any controversy or claim, arising out of, or relating to, these Official Rules and/or this Sweepstakes shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in the State of New York, in the City of New York and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof.
22. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. This promotion is governed by U.S. law and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrant and Administrator in connection with this Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A., without giving effect to the conflict of laws rules thereof, and any matters or proceedings which are not subject to arbitration, as set forth in Section 21 of these Official Rules and/or for entering any judgment on an arbitration award, shall take place in the State of New York, in the City of New York.
23. Winner's List/Official Rules. For the name of the Winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope for receipt by January 31, 2019 to "Winner List, GameSpot PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition Giveaway" c/o GameSpot, a Division of CBS Interactive, Inc1401 W. Cypress Creek Road, Suite 200, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309. For Official Rules, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the above address marked "Official Rules: PlanetSide Arena: Legendary Edition Giveaway" for receipt by January 31, 2019. Residents of VT may omit postage on the self-addressed envelope. The names of the Winners may be posted, and the Official Rules will be posted on the CBSI Service (i.e. GameSpot.com).
Disney's new live-action Aladdin movie isn't the only film based on the classic folk story currently in the works. The Asylum, an independent movie studio that specialises in low-budget, straight-to-DVD, B-tier movies like Sharknado, Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train, and Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, is making an Aladdin parody movie.
The new Aladdin "mockbuster" was revealed by way of a casting call sheet discovered by SlashFilm that calls for actors to play Aladdin, Genie, and others. Jafar and Jasmine's name are nowhere to be seen, and that might be because his character is owned by Disney. You can probably expect these characters to show up under different names.
The rest of the Aladdin story and characters appear to be available for use in the parody movie because they exist in the public domain.
The Asylum's new Aladdin movie is expected to start shooting in Los Angeles this week. The studio is known to move quickly, and it would seemingly make sense to see the movie launch later this year, perhaps close to Disney's Aladdin to piggyback on the hype.
Star Trek: Discovery returns for a second season on CBS All Access on January 17. Before we jump into the new season, let's recap the most important plot points of Season 1. Here is everything you need to know for Season 2.
Star Trek: Discovery made its series premiere back in September 2017, with a weekly release of 15 episodes in its first season. Season 1 takes place about a decade before Star Trek: The Original Series, and focuses on the crew of the USS Discovery during a war between the Federation and the Klingons.
Michael Burnham
Season 1 follows Michael Burnham, who we first meet as First Officer of the USS Shenzhou. During an investigation of a damaged satellite, she finds an ancient vessel and is attacked by a Klingon, who she kills by accident. The Klingon soldier's death motivates his group's leader, T'Kuvma, to unite the Klingon houses against the Federation. Against her captain's wishes, Burnham fires on the Klingons first in hopes of preventing a war. She fails--T'Kuvma kills Captain Georgiou, and Burnham then kills T'Kuvma. Burnham is arrested for mutiny and stripped of rank.
During a prison transfer after six months, Burnham's shuttle has an emergency and is rescued by the USS Discovery. Captain Lorca, the ship's commander, asks Michael to work for him as a science specialist, helping Lt. Paul Stamets develop a new spore drive propulsion system that could help them win the war that she started. Burnham saves the tardigrade known as Ripper who is being tortured as a host for the spore drive. Burnham suggests a human host replacement, which ends up being Stamets, who injects himself with tardigrade DNA. It works, but takes a toll on him and isn't a permanent solution.
By the end of Season 1, Michael undergoes a full redemption arc, from mutineer to getting pardoned by the president of the Federation after an act of diplomacy ends the war with the Klingons. She is reinstated as a Commander in Starfleet, and she becomes the Chief Science Officer of the Discovery.
Also, Michael is Spock's foster sister, as Spock's parents Sarek and Amanda took her in and raised her on planet Vulcan after she was orphaned at a young age. Her relationship with Spock will come into play in Season 2.
Klingons
The Klingon species was redesigned and given more development in Season 1. We first meet the Klingon House of T'Kuvma, which possesses a ship with cloaking technology. T'Kuvma's goal was to fulfill an ancient prophecy through uniting the 24 Klingon houses. This was once achieved by the first Klingon emperor, Kahless.
T'Kuvma is killed by Michael Burnham, which makes him a martyr and unites the Klingon Empire against the Federation. Voq, T'Kuvma's torchbearer who was formerly an outcast, takes command of T'Kuvma's ship, the Sarcophagus, with warrior L'Rell. After the ship is stranded for months without a working drive and is running out of food, Kol of House of Kor arrives with supplies. Voq and L'Rell go to retrieve components to repair the drive, but return to find that the crew have made Kol their new leader.
L'Rell pretends to submit to Kol but is secretly loyal to Voq, who is left to die on the wreck of the Shenzhou. She coordinates a way for him to get help from the House of Mo' Kai. They put Voq through the worst surgery of all time so he can assume the identity of Lt. Ash Tyler, a captured human Starfleet officer. When the surgery is complete, Voq comes to believe he really is Ash Tyler. L'Rell places him on a prison ship with intentions to have him escape and return as a sleeper agent within Starfleet. He does, and becomes romantically involved with Michael Burnham. However his body can't handle both personalities, and L'Rell heals Ash by removing what was left of Voq's memories.
Later, Emperor Georgiou from the Mirror Universe is brought back with Burnham posing as the presumed-dead Captain Georgiou--she plants a bomb deep within Qo'noS, the capital of the Klingon Empire. Michael Burnham gets the detonator and gives it to L'Rell, telling her to use it to coerce the Klingon High Council into ending the war with the Federation and making L'Rell the new leader of the Empire.
Mirror Universe
In Episode 9, The Discovery makes one last spore drive jump to safety but arrives in the Mirror Universe. The jump renders Stamets unconscious and they are unable to jump again. This mirrorverse is ruled by the Terran Empire, led by Emperor Georgiou, the Mirror Universe version of Burnham's former commanding officer. They are a cutthroat, repressive government that rules by terror, quick to use torture as a form of discipline. They are opposed by a resistance made up of species including Vulcans and Klingons, with the mirror versions of Sarek and Voq among their leaders.
Burnham finds out that Captain Lorca of the Discovery is actually from the Mirror Universe, and has purposely been trying to get back to it. The mirror version of the Discovery has been hunting Lorca for the death of their captain: Michael Burnham. With his old crew, Lorca kills Georgiou's men and takes over, but Georgiou returns and kills him.
In the mirrorverse, Michael Burnham was raised by Georgiou, but mirror Burnham was conspiring against her own adoptive mother with Lorca. Emperor Georgiou helps Burnham to return to her universe and offers to sacrifice herself, but Burnham saves her and they are transported back to the prime universe together.
Where We Left Off
At the end of Season 1, the Federation-Klingon war ends and L'Rell becomes the new leader of the Klingon empire. The crew of the Discovery become heroes in the eyes of the Federation. Ash Tyler says goodbye to Burnham, and decides to join L'Rell on her journey. In the final moments of the first season, the Discovery sets course for Vulcan but receives a distress call from the USS Enterprise. From the trailer for season 2, we know that Captain Christopher Pike of the USS Enterprise will be taking command of the USS Discovery.
If you want to know what we thought about Season 1, go check out our spoiler review video above. And if you're still confused about the mirrorverse, we explain the history of Star Trek's Mirror Universe and the Terran Empire in this video. What are your hopes for Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know in the comments below. Also, come back to GameSpot for our upcoming breakdowns of the first episodes of Star Trek: Discovery Season 2!
M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie, Glass, hits theatres soon, and ahead of its release, reviews have started to appear online. The film is getting a mixed reaction from critics.
GameSpot's Michael Rougeau said in his Glass review that it has elements that fans will enjoy, but overall, the movie focuses too much on "all the wrong things."
"Like most of Shyamalan's movies, Glass is well directed and scored, and there are moments of brilliance and tension throughout," Rougeau wrote. "But when the twist is literally that the climax won't actually be as exciting as you've been led to believe, it's impossible not to feel disappointed."
Glass brings together characters from Shyamalan's previous movies, Unbreakable and Split. It was confirmed at the end of Split that it's set in the same universe as Unbreakable.
You can see a rundown of Glass reviews below, while more information on the film's critical reception can be found on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
Glass
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
Written By: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy
Release Date: January 18 (United States)
GameSpot
"Glass isn't the movie it should have been. There are hints of it early on, before the film takes a left turn and spends the rest of its stay focusing on all the wrong things. Like most of Shyamalan's movies, Glass is well directed and scored, and there are moments of brilliance and tension throughout. But when the twist is literally that the climax won't actually be as exciting as you've been led to believe, it's impossible not to feel disappointed." -- Michael Rougeau [Full review]
ScreenCrush
M. Night Shyamalan is a gifted artist, but like most of the characters in the Glass series, he seems to have multiple identities, both good and bad, and you never know which one is going to show up. In the case of Glass, it's the latter. When Unbreakable came out, it felt truly revolutionary. Given the visual and intellectual sophistication in the superhero movies Hollywood now churns out at a regular clip, Glass just doesn't cut it." -- Matt Singer [Full review]
The Hollywood Reporter
"Is Glass the least satisfying chapter of an often enjoyable, conceptually intriguing trilogy? Or is it an attempt to launch a broader Shyamalaniverse, in which ordinary men and women throughout Philadelphia and its suburbs will discover their own inspiring abilities? Marketplace realities make the latter more likely. Here's hoping the former is the case." -- John DeFore [Full review]
Variety
"It's good to see Shyamalan back (to a degree) in form, to the extent that he's recovered his basic mojo as a yarn spinner. But Glass occupies us without haunting us; it's more busy than it is stirring or exciting." -- Owen Gleiberman [Full review]
The Wrap
"If Unbreakable and Split are some of the strongest works in Shyamalan's filmography, Glass holds a place somewhere in the middle between those and the titles that turned off so many moviegoers. But don't count out Shyamalan just yet. There is enough experimentation--such as the stirring POV shots during the fight scenes--that shows a director still pushing his craft to bring his viewers something new. He's not done surprising us." -- Monica Castillo [Full review]
After he was ousted from Disney/Pixar in the wake of sexual harassment allegations, former animation chief John Lasseter has found a new job. The disgraced filmmaker has been named head of Skydance Animation, which is an offshoot of Skydance Media, the production company responsible for movies like Mission Impossible: Fallout and the upcoming Terminator and Top Gun sequels.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lasseter will report directly to Skydance Media CEO David Ellison, who defended the choice in a memo to his employees. "John has acknowledged and apologized for his mistakes and, during the past year away from the workplace, has endeavored to address and reform them," it reads.
Those mistakes, which Lasseter referred to as "missteps" when he first took a leave of absence from Disney and Pixar in November 2017, included allegations of "grabbing, kissing, [and] making comments about physical attributes" toward employees, amounting to what was called a "toxic" and "sexist" culture for female employees.
In a statement, Lasseter said, "I'm grateful to David and the Skydance team and know that I have been entrusted with an enormous responsibility. It is a distinct privilege that I will relish. I have spent the last year away from the industry in deep reflection, learning how my actions unintentionally made colleagues uncomfortable, which I deeply regret and apologize for. It has been humbling, but I believe it will make me a better leader."
The hiring was quickly met with criticism from the Time's Up organization, which has been a vocal opponent of ongoing sexual misconduct issues in Hollywood. As reported by THR, the group said, "Skydance Media's decision to hire John Lasseter as head of animation endorses and perpetuates a broken system that allows powerful men to act without consequence. At a moment when we should be uplifting the many talented voices who are consistently underrepresented, Skydance Media is providing another position of power, prominence, and privilege to a man who has repeatedly been accused of sexual harassment in the workplace."
In his role as the head of Skydance Animation, Lasseter arrives before the company has released a single film. The division launched in 2017 and two films currently in the works, including a co-production with Paramount, called Luck. Neither film has a release date.
As rumoured, it appears this year's 91st Academy Awards will not have a host. Variety reports that the annual awards show will forgo a host this year after comedian and actor Kevin Hart dropped out in the wake of controversial statements he had previously made on Twitter.
According to Variety, the Oscars producers will enlist "A-listers" to introduce the show's segments throughout the evening. The site reports that "one marquee name" will begin the broadcast with a monologue that roasts President Trump.
Having no single host is not totally uncharted territory for the Academy Awards. 30 years ago in 1989, the show had no host, instead opting to open with an 11-minute monologue in which actor Rob Lowe sings "Proud Mary" with Snow White. It is truly a sight to behold.
So what's going to happen this year? Variety claims that the show will feature a number of "starry skits" and also focus on the music-focused movies of 2018 like A Star Is Born (Lady Gaga), Black Panther (Kendrick Lamar), and Dumplin (Dolly Parton).
The last time the Oscars featured multiple hosts was in 2011, when James Franco and Anne Hathaway shared hosting duties.
The report also mentions that producers for this year's Oscars broadcast are considering ways to "trim" the show, which sounds like good news. The new format minimises the emcee's role, the report said, which might work to the benefit of having no host.
The 91st Academy Awards take place on February 24, so the organisers seem to be scrambling to get things together in the final weeks before the event.
Hart backed out of the hosting gig after people discovered years-old tweets where the comedian and actor made homophobic comments. According to Hart, the Academy gave him an ultimatum: apologize or step down as host. Hart initially said he wouldn't apologize, but he later did, saying he was sorry to the LGBTQ community for "my insensitive words from my past."
Hart appeared on Ellen Degeneres' show recently, and Degeneres voiced her emphatic support for Hart to come back as the host of this year's Oscars. However, Hart said in that interview and subsequent ones that he would not take on the job of Oscars host.
The most recent Academy Awards ceremony saw the viewership lowest in history, with only 26.5 million people tuning in. Presumably in an effort to get more people to watch, the Academy announced a "Popular Film" category, but it was scrapped in the wake of some amount of public backlash.
During the NES era, Capcom was renowned for its video game adaptations of some of Disney's most beloved cartoons, such as DuckTales, TaleSpin, and Darkwing Duck. These would be collected and released for modern consoles as the Disney Afternoon Collection, but beyond that and 2013's DuckTales Remastered, the company hasn't released any follow-ups to its classic Disney games in decades--although we've now gotten a glimpse at a game that could have been.
As Darkwing Duck writer Aaron Sparrow revealed on Twitter (via Game Informer), Sonic Mania developer Headcannon pitched a new Darkwing Duck game to Capcom in 2018. According to Sparrow, the prospective title was envisioned as a spiritual successor to the classic NES game and would have featured Steelbeak, Taurus Bulba, and the Fearsome Five as villains, with voice work by "as many [members] of the original cast as possible."
While Capcom would ultimately pass on the pitch, Headcannon has shared a video of the short demo it put together for the game on YouTube. As you can see, it would have featured SNES-like visuals and similar gameplay to the original title, with a few new skills in Darkwing's repertoire, such as the ability to fire a grappling hook and swing across chasms using his Gas Gun. You can watch the demo below.
Despite never being greenlit, players can play the demo level that Headcannon created on PC. You can download it for free from the studio's website, although it remains unfinished.
The Disney Afternoon Collection launched for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2017. GameSpot awarded it a 7/10 in our review, calling it "a refined time capsule that covers a very specific chapter in gaming history."
It looks like the fourth entry in the new Star Trek series has hit an intergalactic roadbump. Deadline reports that SJ Clarkson, who was announced as the franchise's first female director, is no longer involved with the project, and the film isf "shelved."
Clarkson is keeping busy without Star Trek, however, as she's directing the new Game of Thrones spin-off for HBO. Clarkson also directed episodes of Orange is the New Black and Jessica Jones.
This is just the latest setback for Star Trek 4, as it was previously reported that Chris Pine--who played the iconic Captain Kirk--had dropped out after contract negotiations broke down. Chris Hemsworth, who played Kirk's father, also reportedly couldn't come to terms on a contract.
Back in August, it was reported that the new Star Trek movie was a "priority" at Paramount, with deals expected to close for the other cast members, including Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, and John Cho. Actor Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the new films, died in June 2016 in a car accident.
The fourth Star Trek was being written by JD Payne and Patrick McKay, and while the film now may never happen, the pair are writing Amazon's ambitious Lord of the Rings TV show. Star Trek 4's story, which has never been revealed, was producer JJ Abrams' favourite in the history of the franchise.
What happens next with the new Star Trek film remains to be seen, but whatever the case, it seems like it won't be coming anytime soon.
The new, untitled fourth Star Trek movie was expected to be followed by another Star Trek film from Quentin Tarantino. However, it remains to be seen if that's ever going to happen.
Pokemon Go's latest Legendary, Heatran, made its debut in Raid Battles last month immediately following Cresselia's departure, but it won't be around for much longer. The Lava Dome Pokemon is scheduled to leave the mobile game on January 15, making this your last opportunity to catch one if you haven't yet.
As is the case with most other Legendaries in Go, to catch Heatran, you'll first need to travel to a Gym that's hosting a Heatran Raid, then team up with other players in-person to battle it. If you manage to successfully defeat the Legendary, you'll earn a handful of Premier Balls along with an opportunity to catch it.
Heatran is unique among all Legendaries thanks to its typing. The Lava Dome Pokemon is a Fire- and Steel-type, giving it a resistance to Dragon and Psychic attacks. However, this combination also makes it susceptible to Fighting- and especially Ground-type moves, so you'll want to bring along Pokemon such as Rhyperior and Groudon to battle it. Water Pokemon such as Swampert and Kyogre will also be very effective.
Heatran is the third Gen 4 Legendary to appear in Pokemon Go thus far, following Giratina (which arrived as part of Pokemon Go's most recent Halloween event) and the aforementioned Cresselia. Niantic hasn't announced what the game's next Legendary will be, although a new one typically arrives as the previous leaves, so we presumably won't have to wait long to find out.
In addition to Heatran, several older Legendaries are available in Pokemon Go once again through January's Field Research. You'll be able to encounter one of eight Legendaries--Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Ho-Oh, or Lugia--each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough through the end of February.
Pokemon Go's ongoing Adventure Sync Hatchathon is also scheduled to wrap up on January 15. Through the end of the event, you'll be able to receive twice the normal amount of Stardust and Candy for each Pokemon Egg you hatch, and you'll have a higher likelihood of receiving 5 and 10 km Eggs by spinning the Photo Disc at PokeStops and Gyms.
In the year 2000, when M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable hit theaters, comic book movies were barely a thing. Unbreakable was the young director's follow-up to the sensational Sixth Sense, and going in, it wasn't clear what the movie was. That it turned out to be a low key superhero movie with a villain obsessed with comic books made it, in retrospect, way ahead of its time. Glass has the opposite problem: It's overtly a comic book movie, but one for people who have never read a comic book. It feels hopelessly behind the times.
Glass is the follow-up to 2016's Split, itself a surprise Unbreakable sequel, which wasn't revealed until the extremely meta signature Shyamalan twist of Bruce Willis appearing in the movie's final scene. Two decades ago, Unbreakable followed Willis's David Dunn as he slowly discovered his own incredible strength and invulnerability, with plenty of encouragement from Samuel L. Jackson's fragile but maniacally intelligent Elijah Price, AKA Mr. Glass. Split introduced a third super-powered individual, James McAvoy's Kevin Wendell Crumb, or "The Horde," a collection of split personalities who actually change the character's physical state and abilities as they vie for control of his body.
Glass brings the whole thing together: After an exciting opening act of Dunn, who the internet has dubbed "The Overseer," hunting The Horde before he kills more girls, all three main characters wind up in a very comic booky asylum. They're overseen by Sarah Paulson's new character, Dr. Ellie Staple, who's designed special cells with the two newcomers in mind: David's can fill with water, which renders him weak, and Kevin's is equipped with bright strobe lights that force a personality change. Elijah, on the other hand, has been there for some time, heavily sedated 24/7. The setting makes for some wonderful tension throughout the movie, and it feels appropriately oppressive.
But that's basically it. Almost the entire runtime is spent at this single location, as Dr. Staple works to convince all three that their powers are the imagined results of childhood traumas and frontal lobe injuries. This drama is well-acted (especially by McAvoy, who once again plays about a dozen distinct characters) and often deftly written, but it drags on way too long. Somewhere in the middle, you're liable to experience a sinking feeling that this is going to be the whole movie, and you're right.
Besides that, there's another problem with this structure: As the audience, we've seen the evidence. We don't need convincing. We know that Shyamalan isn't about to undo two movies' worth of build-up, so we wind up waiting most of Glass for the other shoe to drop. And when it finally does, it's wildly anti-climactic, as the audience falls victim to one of Mr. Glass's misdirects: The movie very deliberately leads us to believe the final showdown is going to be much more exciting than it actually is. What a twist?
Glass is weirdly self-conscious about being a superhero movie inspired by comic books. The three main characters' bit players come along with them, including Dunn's son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark, the same actor from Unbreakable), Elijah's mother (Charlayne Woodard, also from Unbreakable), and Split's Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), who originally bonded with some of The Horde's personalities while being held hostage by others. They spend their time in the B-plot "discovering" things about comic books that everybody already knows. Each page they turn corresponds with some non-revelation about the bare bones basic structure of comic book stories, like the fact that a character's parents are usually important to their origin story. We honestly didn't need multiple scenes of wide-eyed page-flipping to figure that out, but we got it nonetheless.
Shyamalan takes some liberties with comic book culture in general, particularly in the script, which sometimes verges on terrible. "Have you ever been to a comics convention?" an exasperated Dr. Staple asks the assembled side characters as she attempts to convince them they're all delusional. One especially irksome quirk has multiple characters, but especially Mr. Glass, constantly explaining the structure of events as they unfold, just in case the audience forgets for one second that this is playing out like a very basic comic book. "This is the part where they would draw you looking surprised," or "Now the main characters have assembled!"
It's grating, and it feels like Shyamalan understands comic books only on a theoretical level, grasping their basic structures and what makes them appealing, but having never actually read any himself. He has characters refer multiple times to "limited edition comic books, where the hero and the villain have a showdown," which makes no sense on multiple levels. His staged comic book shop has two sections in the back labeled "Heroes" and "Villains," and if you don't realize what an organizational nightmare that would be, well, maybe the rest of this won't bother you either.
But even if that's the case, Glass isn't the movie it should have been. There are hints of it early on, before the film takes a left turn and spends the rest of its stay focusing on all the wrong things. Like most of Shyamalan's movies, Glass is well directed and scored, and there are moments of brilliance and tension throughout. But when the twist is literally that the climax won't actually be as exciting as you've been led to believe, it's impossible not to feel disappointed.
The Good
The Bad
Solid performances, especially McAvoy
Some terrible dialogue
Fun to follow up with these characters after so much time
Dragging pace
Plenty of tension
Deliberately anti-climactic twist
Feels outdated
A comic book movie for people who don't read comic books
Although the popular Star Wars Rebels finished last year, fans of the franchise's animated output still have much to look forward to. A new season of the much-loved Clones Wars is being made for Disney's new streaming service, Disney+, and ahead of that, we have the return of Star Wars Resistance this month. A new trailer for the second half of Season 1 has now been released.
Resistance is set before the movie The Force Awakens, and focuses on a young pilot named Kaz, who is recruited by the Resistance to take on a top-secret mission to infiltrate the First Order. This new trailer reveals that the upcoming episodes will contain various links to The Force Awakens, with a reference to Starkiller Base and appearances from General Leia, Poe Dameron, General Hux, and shots of Kylo Ren's shuttle. Check it out below:
Star Wars Resistance returns to the Disney Channel on January 13. The studio has also confirmed that the show will return for a second season.
Resistance was created by Dave Filoni, who oversaw both Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. When it was first announced last year, Filoni spoke about his inspirations. "The idea for [the show] came out of my interest in World War II aircraft and fighter pilots," he said. "My grandfather was a pilot and my uncle flew and restored planes, so that's been a big influence on me. There's a long history of high-speed racing in Star Wars, and I think we've captured that sense of excitement in an anime-inspired style, which is something the entire team has been wanting to do for a long time."
As for The Clone Wars, Season 7 will premiere on Disney+, and will also be overseen by Filoni. The show seemingly ended with a short sixth season on Netflix in 2014, with many of the storylines incomplete.
Filoni will also direct an episode of The Mandalorian, the live-action Star Wars show that is currently in production and is also set to premiere on Disney+. The show is being produced by Jungle Book director Jon Favreau, and other directors include Thor Ragnarok's Taika Waititi and Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard. None of these shows have a release date, but Disney+ is expected to launch later this year.
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