With January halfway over, the Winter anime season is well underway. 2019 introduces a bunch of series to watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hidive, as well as several movie premieres to see in theaters. Below, you'll find our top five recommendations for the season, as well as a list of every other anime we know about that's coming out in the United States between January and March. Keep in mind, these recommendations have been made based on these series' first few episodes and--if available--corresponding source material.
On its first episode alone, The Promised Neverland is set to be one of the best series of the season. The anime brings to life one of the greatest Shonen Jump manga from the past few years and implements minor changes that up the tension of an already fairly pulse-pounding thriller. I really don't want to spoil anything about this show, as its suspenseful twists are best experienced without any prior knowledge. However, it's worth noting that the anime reworks the beginning of the manga's story for the better by implementing details from later narrative arcs to improve the portrayal and growth of its characters. Hopefully this decision to tweak important people continues throughout the season--the manga has a problematic portrayal of black women that definitely should be improved in some way--without too much being done to Emma, the best female protagonist that Shonen Jump has ever seen. As is, the show's animation already perfectly captures the abrupt shifts in the characters' state of mind, and the use of sound really hammers home those transitions.
Also this Winter, there's Mob Psycho 100 II, which is the second season to one of 2016's most popular anime. Made by the same folks behind One Punch Man, this series continues to deliver more hilarious misadventures of the young boy who's one of the world's most powerful espers as he tries to live a normal life. Seeing incredible, colorfully animated sequences in this second season isn't surprising. However, we didn't anticipate just how beautifully wholesome this season's plot is already shaping up to be. Catch up on Mob Psycho 100 if you haven't already, because this second season might turn out even better than the first.
Mob Psycho 100 is available on Crunchyroll and Funimation. However, the second season is only on Crunchyroll for now. The English dub is scheduled to arrive on Funimation at a later date.
Anyone who knows a story that's focused on a beloved pet can probably guess almost every plot point My Roommate is a Cat is going to explore. However, despite the cliche nature of the anime's story--a socially awkward man finds the push to open up to others after adopting and befriending a stray cat--the show is still compelling to watch. Through the anime, we see the same set of events through both the perspectives of a man and his feline friend, and it allows for moments of both hilarious misunderstanding and heartfelt connection between the two. They're both lost souls that learn to love again by being together. Yes, My Roommate is a Cat is super cheesy, but it's absolutely worth watching too.
My Roommate is a Cat is on Crunchyroll and an English dub is scheduled to premiere on Funimation on January 30.
In terms of action-focused series, consider checking out Dororo, a remake of the 50-year-old anime of the same name, which takes place in feudal Japan and is about a ronin outfitted with prosthetics after his eyes, nose, ears, tongue, skin, and limbs are all ripped out of his body by demons. This anime's first episode pulls you in with the unsettling origin of its antagonist, and it respects the viewer enough to lay the groundwork for its two protagonists without the use of clunky exposition. Despite being a rehash of a half-century-old story, this series breathes fresh life into its narrative with well-animated action sequences and adjustments to the backgrounds of certain characters. It's good that the anime is willing to change too. Progressive for its time, the Dororo manga handles its main characters--a man with severe physical disabilities and a boy who is assigned female at birth but aggressively identifies as male--rather poorly, so this new series should only use the original story's ending as a loose template. Based on what's been shown in this new anime so far, I'm optimistic Dororo will pull a Devilman Crybaby and modernize a classic series for the better.
Our final recommendation goes to Boogiepop and Others, which has nothing to do with the first Boogiepop anime and follows the original light novel instead. It's an excellent jumping in point for anyone who's missed out on the past 20 years of this critically acclaimed supernatural series. Don't let the first episode of this anime turn you off. Boogiepop leaps between multiple points of view to slowly deliver bits and pieces of its spooky narrative, so you'll need to watch at least the first two episodes to realize there's way more to this story than a high school girl with an androgynous-looking split personality, her boring boyfriend, and a cannibalistic serial killer.
Boogiepop and Others is on Crunchyroll and an English dub is scheduled to premiere on Funimation on January 18.
Even though neither made this list, I'd be remiss to not at least acknowledge both The Price of Smiles and The Magnificent Kotobuki. Unlike the other anime listed above, these two are original stories that aren't based on pre-existing literature or media. Neither has done anything yet to truly stand out, but they've both done enough to earn a "keep your eye on this" recommendation. In both series, I see the potential for something special--similar to 2018's A Place Further Than the Universe or 2017's Princess Principal.
The Price of Smiles is a Crunchyroll exclusive, while The Magnificent Kotobuki is exclusive to Hidive.
There's over three dozen anime releasing in the United States this season, and we've listed them below. We'll update this article if additional titles are announced.
Where To Watch Winter 2019 Anime (US)
Movies And Short Film Anthologies
Dragon Ball Super: Broly -- Select Theaters (premieres January 16)
When Halloween hit theaters in 2018, it reintroduced the world to one of the most beloved final girls of all time in Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). After surviving Michael Myers in the original Halloween film, the new sequel revisited the character 40 years later, after a lifetime of preparation for the eventual return of the masked killer.
The new Halloween film portrayed Laurie as a fierce warrior that was simply biding her time until Michael struck again, even if it drove a wedge between herself and her daughter. Survival was the thing that mattered to her above all else. However, in a deleted scene from the newly-released Halloween Blu-ray, fans are given an interesting and dark insight into Laurie's mind that is missing from the theatrical cut of the film.
The scene begins as an extended version of the shooting montage, which shows Laurie putting her skills with a gun to use during target practice. As she's cleaning and checking her guns after practice, though, there's a startling moment in which Laurie puts a single bullet into a revolver and holds it up to her head.
Laurie stands there for a moment, seemingly contemplating whether or not to pull the trigger when her doorbell rings. On the other end of the doorbell are the podcasters from the beginning of the movie, who have unknowingly saved her life.
Seeing this small window into the mind of Laurie Strode is as haunting as it is sad. This is a woman whose entire life unraveled after the events of one night when she was a teenager, leading her to a life of survivalist preparation as she waited for the other shoe to drop. As determined as she was to be the one to stop Michael once and for all, it looks as though sometimes the weight of the world on her shoulders nearly became too much.
This is just one of the deleted scenes on the Halloween Blu-ray, which range from scary to silly. The release also features a few short featurettes with behind-the-scenes footage from the film, along with, of course, the movie itself. Halloween is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital now.
Epic Games has revealed the patch notes for Fortnite's latest update, v7.20. The patch is now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile, bringing back the recently teased glider redeploy mechanic, along with a new weapon and limited-time mode.
Glider redeploy was first tested in Season 6, allowing players to open their gliders again during a match and hang glide if they were at a high enough altitude. This time around, Epic has itemized the ability. Players will now be able to find new items confusingly called Gliders as loot, which add "charges" that allow them to redeploy their glider during a match a set number of times.
"The goal with the item is to provide mobility and utility, but in a form that can be balanced and iterated upon," Epic explained. "By implementing glider redeploy as an item we can iterate on multiple different levels (i.e. redeploy height, movement speed, drop chance, charge count), including inventory slot tension."
In addition to glider redeploy, Epic has introduced another new weapon to the game: the Scoped Revolver, a handgun that allows players to fire precision shots. The gun can be found as floor loot or in chests, supply drops, or vending machines. It comes in Epic and Legendary variants and uses medium ammo.
The developer has also kicked off a new LTM: One Shot. In this mode, players only have 50 health, and the only weapons and items available are snipers and bandages. Gravity has also been reduced, as has the Storm wait time for all phases of the match.
Rounding out the update is a number of bug fixes and gameplay adjustments. Most notably, Epic has made a couple of improvements to ziplines, making it easier to change directions while riding one. You can find the full patch notes for the Battle Royale changes below; the full patch notes for other modes are available on Epic's website.
Fortnite v7.20 Patch Notes
Limited-Time Mode: One Shot
Summary
There's low gravity and every player has 50 health. Snipers are the only weapon and Bandages the only healing item. Jump high and aim well!
Mode Details
Gravity is set lower than normal.
The Storm wait time has been greatly reduced in all phases of the game.
The only weapons in this mode are Hunting Rifles and Sniper Rifles.
Semi-auto Snipers and Bounce Pads have been removed from the Vault in this mode.
Players will spawn with 50 health and can only heal if they find Bandages.
Weapons + Items
Scoped Revolver
Available in Epic and Legendary variants.
Fires Medium Ammo.
42 / 44 damage per shot.
Available from floor loot, chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
Added Gliders, an item that grants Glider redeploy.
This item takes up an inventory slot and can be found from normal loot sources.
Gliders do not need to be selected to deploy. Activate them by pressing your jump button while in mid-air.
Rarity is Rare.
Gliders come with 10 charges.
Each deploy uses a charge. When all charges are used the item disappears.
Glider redeploy does not consume a charge when using a Launch Pad, Rifts-to-Go, or respawning in a Limited Time Mode.
Found from floor loot, chests, Vending Machines, and Supply Llamas.
Minigun adjustments
Added an overheating mechanic. Overheat occurs after approximately 6 seconds of continuous fire.
Reduced the wind-up time by 37%.
Updated the audio for the Minigun.
Rarity color adjustments
Balloons changed from Epic to Rare.
Stink Bomb changed from Epic to Rare.
Scoped AR decreased from Rare/Epic to Uncommon/Rare.
The following projectile-based weapons now have the same projectile trajectory as the Heavy Sniper Rifle:
Bolt Action Sniper Rifle
Suppressed Sniper Rifle
Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle
Hunting Rifle
Weapon first-shot accuracy now works with icy feet and while on ziplines.
The reticle center dot on Scoped Rifles has been reduced in size. This will mitigate situations where it appears you're on your target but still miss the shot.
Trap drop chance adjustments
Total drop chance of Traps from floor loot increased from 3.98% to 4.73%.
Cozy Campfire
Drop chance from floor loot increased from 0.26% to 0.73%.
Drop chance from Loot Llamas increased from 6.63% to 15.47%.
Launch Pad
Drop chance from floor loot increased from 0.53% to 0.98%.
Drop chance from Loot Llamas increased from 13.25% to 20.77%.
Mounted Turret
Drop chance from floor loot decreased from 0.8% to 0.73%.
Drop chance from Loot Llamas decreased from 20.42% to 15.47%.
Small shields max stack size has been decreased from 10 to 6.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug that could cause you to lose the ability to switch weapons if firing a Grappler while crashing a vehicle or interacting with an object during travel.
Fixed a bug where your ability to fire would be delayed after discarding a Grappler.
Removed the ability to ride or be pushed by a Grappler due to the ability for players to move fast enough to cause network issues.
Fixed Balloons not being popped by explosions.
Fixed issue causing odd dynamite size/scaling when picking it up and re-throwing.
When a player is eliminated by Down-But-Not-Out bleed-out damage, the elimination distance is calculated from the original down location rather than the distance when they are fully eliminated.
Fixed an issue that could cause Scoped Rifles to have full accuracy earlier than intended.
Fixed an issue where the center dot of the reticle while scoped did not line up with the center dot while unscoped.
Fixed dynamite re-throw ability from being canceled by changing weapons or being a vehicle passenger.
Players will no longer receive credit for a "No Scope" in the elimination feed if they use a scope to eliminate a player.
Gameplay
Zipline improvements
Added the ability to change direction via player movement input button. Just move in the direction you'd like to go while riding a zipline, no jumping required.
Rather than moving at max speed as soon as entering the zipline, players will now accelerate over time to reach that max speed.
Destruction effects have been turned back on while riding a zipline.
Players will destroy the nearby player buildings before attaching to the zipline so their path becomes clear
Added a third decimal place for mouse/controller sensitivity to allow for more granular values.
To help with situations where walls are built mostly underground, we've added functionality where an extra piece will be built for free on top of that piece.
This occurs when the wall piece is showing less than 30% above ground.
Gamepad Sensitivity
Building sensitivity change also applies to edit mode.
Editing will no longer interrupt gun fire and pickaxe swings.
Corn stalks will no longer block gunfire.
Editing a structure will now begin without waiting for a response from the server. This should cut down on ghost shots before editing and make it a smoother experience.
Confirming the edit will still require sending data to the server and be impacted by high ping or poor server performance.
Vehicle impact damage to a player will now respect shields instead of directly applying to player health.
When a plane explodes due to any reason, it will now deal damage to both passengers and pilots. This damage no longer ignores shields.
Infinite dab is even more infinite...Dab for 11 hours instead of 10 hours in the lobby.
Adjusted map art to more accurately represent player & marker positions.
Textures of props used in emotes are now pre-streamed so scorecard and other emotes that use props will have less chance of using a low-resolution texture.
X-4 Stormwing passengers now have the same Hold to Exit functionality as pilots.
Bug Fixes
Fixed instances of glider redeploy not deploying when exiting a Stormwing.
Fixed grenade throw animations not playing the follow-through when watching other players throw a grenade.
Fixed the preview length on many emotes in the lobby to hear the full music track.
Completing the "Play a match with a friend" Daily Challenge now correctly counts towards other quests that require completing daily challenges.
Fixed players not being able to destroy the Boombox from certain distances.
Fixed some issues with ziplines
Players will no longer be flung across the map or get in broken animation states.
A cooldown has been added to ensure jump spamming will not allow players with mild network issues to fall through the zipline collision.
The zipline magnet will no longer remain over players heads.
Players no longer fall when colliding with enemy structures.
Players no longer dismount ziplines at steep angles when under bad network conditions.
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes take 2 instances of impact damage from getting hit by the X-4 Stormwing.
Damage numbers when shooting Mounted Turrets now properly displays as vehicle damage instead of player damage.
Players who are emoting on the starter island will no longer continue emoting after jumping from the Battle Bus.
Gliders and Umbrellas will no longer appear sideways or misaligned when dropping from the Battle Bus.
Events
Tournament systems have been significantly updated to support upcoming features. We'll be operating a series of small scale test events as we test these updates with more players.
We will be testing in waves until we are confident in the new functionality. At that point, we will again begin running tournaments regularly for all players.
Older tournaments will be removed from the Events tab on Switch & mobile devices for the time being.
Data for those tournaments has been saved and will return to those platforms in a future release.
Players will be automatically removed the from match after 60 seconds of spectating after being eliminated.
Audio
Fixed shield damage sound playing when shooting or getting hit by teammates.
Gliders that have music can now play their music in the lobby for previewing.
Reduced the volume of the X-4 Stormwing.
Reduce the volume of the Boombox.
Added unique bouncing sound to Dynamite.
Bug Fixes
Fixed music cutting out on mobile/Switch platforms.
Fixed incorrect boost audio loop for Quad Crasher on mobile/Switch.
Fixed missing medium-distant Scoped AR gunshot sounds.
Fixed loud winter biome ambient audio on mobile/Switch.
UI
Updated the ammo icons in the inventory to look more realistic.
Building resources of spectated players are now visible.
Bug Fixes
Prevent pickup HUD interaction prompts from appearing while in a vehicle, since picking up is disabled while in a vehicle.
Fixed error displays when a friend request fails.
Prevented special preview actions (Play Again, Switch Model, Full Screen, etc…, shown when viewing a cosmetic item) from disappearing after opening and closing the chat window.
Fixed a red background showing up when the chat window is opened while doing a 'Full Screen' preview of a Loading Screen cosmetic.
Prevented unrelated loading screens from sometimes showing up instead of the selected Loading Screen while doing a 'Full Screen' preview.
Social
Battle Royale players can now accept party invites from players in Save The World and join games in progress.
Art + Animation
Both Lynx and Zenith now have custom idle poses in the lobby.
Bug Fixes
The size of the Red Knight shield and Raven Back Bling from the Frozen Bundle now matches their original versions.
Fixed a bug that was preventing the Deadfire Outfit from being reactive in game.
Improved quality of the Golf Clap emote on mobile and Switch.
Replay
Bug Fixes
Fixed a few replay loading issues that could cause a loading screen to appear when it was not necessary for one to be displayed.
Mobile
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug causing users to aim-down-sights when exiting vehicles.
Fixed turbo building while holding extra build buttons.
Fixed an issue where the Add Friend button for other party members in the Main Menu was not able to be clicked on mobile devices.
Added HUD button
This HUD button shows when you enter the in-game settings as a separate section to turn on/off certain HUD aspects.
We've had plenty of images from the upcoming third John Wick movie over the past year, but no footage as yet. The movie comes out in May so a trailer won't be far off, but ahead of that a stylish new poster has been released. The movie's official Twitter feed also confirms that the title is John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
The poster shows star Keanu Reeves standing in front of what seems to be the glass door to the Continental, the franchise's chain of hitman-friendly hotels. The word "excommunicado" is on the door--fans will recall that Wick is on the run after killing a rival on the supposedly neutral ground of the Continental in John Wick: Chapter 2. Check it out below.
— John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (@JohnWickMovie) January 15, 2019
The release date for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is May 17, 2019. Ian McShane and Lawrence Fishburne will reprise their roles from previous movies, and the new cast includes Asia Kate Dillon (Orange is the New Black), Mark Dacascos (Cradle 2 the Grave), Jason Mantzoukas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place), and Angelica Huston (Isle of Dogs).
The film is directed by Chad Stahelski, who helmed Chapter 2 and co-directed the first movie. When the movie was first announced, Stahelski spoke about his plans for Parabellum. "We want, not so much to go bigger on the third one, but to show you more of the intricacies of the world," he said. "I feel like there are all these different subtleties that I skipped over in Part 2, that I'd like to go back to [with Part 3] and show you the inner workings of different parts of New York."
A John Wick TV spin-off named The Continental was also announced by Starz last year, but there has been no further news about the status of this project.
Netflix has announced another price hike across its range of plans, marking the largest increase since the company's streaming service launched. Each plan is going up by one or two dollars, depending on the features.
The AP reports that the basic $8-per-month streaming plan will be raised to $9. The next tier, which offers streaming in higher quality and across more devices--which is the company's most popular tier--will increase from $11 to $13. The highest-tier plan, which offers 4K Ultra-HD will go from $14 to $16. These prices will roll out to existing subscribers over the next three months, and new subscribers will find them active immediately.
Netflix currently has 58 million US subscribers, and this is the first time a price hike will impact all of them at once. It has another 79 million subscribers outside of the US. The company is reportedly planning to funnel this new cash flow into even more investment in original shows and films, as well as to pay off the debts it has accrued while fighting off competing services.
"We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience," the company said in a statement.
At $13 for the most popular tier, Netflix is now matching the price for Amazon Prime, which also includes free shipping and other special deals from the retailer. This also makes it the slightly pricier option compared to the ad-free version of Hulu, at $12 per month. (The lowest Hulu tier includes ads at $8 per month.) Netflix still comes in under HBO's streaming price, which is $15 per month.
The added investment in more original programming may be necessary, as more and more companies prepare to launch their own streaming services. NBC just announced its plans for its own streaming service to launch in 2020, and Disney+ is expected to launch this year. That service has already outlined plans for shows featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters like Loki, The Mandalorian, and Cassian Andor.
Even with the impending suspense of Avengers: Endgame, which will presumably iron out the ramifications of Infinity War, we've gotten a trailer for the first-post Endgame MCU film. Marvel today released the first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is scheduled for a July release. The follow-up to Spider-Man: Homecoming stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker, plus Jake Gyllenhall as Mysterio, Zendaya as MJ, and Marisa Tomei as May Parker, all of which we get to see in this surprisingly lengthy "teaser trailer."
As the film's title suggests, the movie sees Peter and his friends heading to Europe for a vacation. But despite Peter's assertion that Europe doesn't need Spider-Man, that proves not to be case. Along the way, the teaser trailer shows he encounters Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), elemental monsters that could be Hydro Man and Molten Man, and Mysterio, who seems to have a more ambiguous role than usual. Check out the trailer above.
In addition to the version released in the US, a slightly different teaser trailer was released internationally. While the substance doesn't change--it's only the opening 30 seconds that's different--it does feature another funny gag. We've got a trailer breakdown that also includes Easter eggs if you're interested in dissecting everything the two trailers have to offer.
The movie is directed by Jon Watts, who also helmed Homecoming. Far From Home's release date is set for July 5, 2019. It's the third of three Marvel movies set for release in 2019, following March's Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame in the July. Some new footage from Captain Marvel was revealed in a "special look" trailer released last week, and this followed the December's second full trailer.
With BioWare's next big game, Anthem, almost here, the developer has shared even more details on what to expect from the game. Anthem is a multiplayer-focused title, and the good news for those who don't have anyone to play with is that there will be matchmaking support for "every activity" in the entire game.
Lead producer Ben Irving said on Twitter that "there is matchmaking for every activity in the game." Matchmaking is on by default, but players can opt out, Irving clarified. "We think it's more fun in a full group," Irving added.
A "VIP" demo for Anthem runs January 25-27, and you need to pre-order Anthem or be a subscriber of either EA Access or Origin Access to get in. Everyone can try Anthem through a demo that launches the following week, running February 1-3.
In big video game movie news today, Sony announced that Dan Trachtenberg had signed on to direct the upcoming Uncharted movie featuring Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake. It wasn't the only big news about the movie today, as Variety also reported that the script was re-written. The website reported that newcomers Jonathan Rosenberg and Mark Walker wrote the most recent script.
Like the director's chair, the script has changed hands a few times already. Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces, The A-Team) wrote a draft, before Agents of Shield writer Rafe Judkins put in a draft. Rosenberg and Walker are just the latest to pen a draft of a script for the film. There is no word on the specific plot points for their script, but Variety reports that the film will follow a young Drake who meets Victor Sullivan, or Sully as he's known in the games, for the first time. As such, it's not a story already told by any of the games.
Carnahan said his draft of the Uncharted movie script was praised by management at Sony, while Uncharted director Amy Hennig and Nathan Drake actor Nolan North apparently praised it as well. However, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann said no one at Naughty Dog had seen the script, and he wished Carnahan would stop implying that he had the studio's support.
As for the news about Trachtenberg joining the Uncharted movie as its director, Druckmann said he's stoked to see what Trachtenberg does with Uncharted.
I'm a big fan of Dan. Excited to see what he does with Nathan Drake. https://t.co/oqGgxgjLtQ
Trachtenberg is just the latest director that Sony has hired for the long-in-development Uncharted movie. At different periods of time, David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter), Neil Burger (Limitless), Seth Gordon (The King of Kong), and Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Stranger Things) were all attached to direct.
Production on the Uncharted movie could start in 2019, which would be good news considering it's been many, many years since the project was first announced. As of yet, there is no word on who else may star in the film, but if shooting does indeed start this year, all of those details and more should become available soon.
Trachtenberg directed 10 Cloverfield Lane, as well as a video game-themed episode of Black Mirror. He also directed a short film based on Valve's puzzle game Portal. In the embedded tweet above, you can see Trachtenberg praise Uncharted back in 2007, also saying at the time that he'd love to have the opportunity to make the movie. And back in February 2018, Trachtenberg and Druckmann appeared on stage together to talk about crafting narratives for video games, film, and television.
Mario Tennis Aces launched for Nintendo Switch last year, and it's steadily added new DLC characters over time. Now, data-miners have discovered references to a pair of new characters that could come to the whimsical tennis game some point in the future.
Link, the hero of the Legend of Zelda franchise, might become a playable character in the future, the data-mine suggests. Also discovered were Dark Link and Champion's Tunic outfits that would presumably be able to be unlocked. It's also been reported that Baby Mario might be coming to Mario Tennis Aces, based on data apparently found in the game.
Datamine evidence suggests Link may become a playable character in #MarioTennisAces , with Dark Link and Champion's Tunic alts being provided through the Online Tournament (requiring 500 and 2000 points respectively to unlock them). pic.twitter.com/qx54WAWrQB
DO NOT think that Link is 100% coming to Mario Tennis Aces. In addition to not every Aces datamine being legitimate, Camelot does have a habit of putting things in and out of the files, as we've seen with extra stages. https://t.co/c6bAWpgFBs
However, as the MarioTennisClub Twitter fan account reminds everyone, data mined from the game's files might not necessarily be representative of what's actually coming to the game in the future. Sometimes content found in game files, especially for developer Camelot, is never released publicly.
If Nintendo is set to announce new content for Mario Tennis Aces, January might be a fitting time. After all, one of the biggest tennis tournaments of the year, the Australian Open, is taking place right now in Melbourne, so Nintendo may see that as an opportunity to piggyback on the elevated interest in tennis worldwide.
A number of DLC characters have already been released for Mario Tennis Aces, including Birdo, Shy Guy, Koopa Paratroopa, and Petey Piranha.
Mario Tennis Aces released in June 2018 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. In our review, author Justin Clark stated, "Off-beat stages and creative use of characters from the Marioverse ensure that you'll never lose sight of simply having fun, but don't let the adorable exterior trick you; Aces takes its unorthodox tennis very seriously."
The Sopranos, regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time, is coming back through a prequel movie, and now we've learned about two other actors who will star in it.
Variety reports that The Punisher actor Jon Bernthal and Oscar-nominated actress Vera Farmiga will have roles in the movie, though there is no word on what characters they'll play. Bernthal and Farmiga have appeared in mobster media before, with Bernal starring in the Frank Darabont TV show Mob City and Farmiga in Martin Scorsese's Boston mafia movie The Departed.
All we know so far about the Sopranos prequel movie, which is called The Many Saints of Newark, is that it's set in the 1960s during the Newark race riots. Sopranos TV show creator David Chase co-wrote the script with another Sopranos veteran, Lawrence Konner.
The film is being directed by Alan Taylor, who directed episodes of Game of Thrones and the Marvel movie Thor: The Dark World. Perhaps more relevant to this movie, he also directed episodes of The Sopranos.
Alessandro Nivola (Jurassic Park III) will play Dickie Moltisanti in The Many Saints of Newark, but, as mentioned, it's unclear who Bernthal and Farmiga will play. Dickie Moltisanti is the father of Christopher Moltisanti, who was played by Michael Imperioli in the TV series.
The Sopranos ran for 86 episodes, from 1999 to 2007. The late James Gandolfini starred as mob boss Tony Soprano, a role for which he earned multiple awards. Nivola told The Associated Press (watch the video above) that Tony Soprano will be in the new movie, but it's unclear who may play him. Whatever the case, the film will go into the history between Dickie Moltisanti and Tony Soprano. Filming begins in April.
After the big success of 2018's Mission Impossible: Fallout, director Christopher McQuarrie is signing on to write and direct two sequels, according to a new report. Not only that, but Variety's report claims the sequels will shoot back-to-back so they can be released sooner to capitalise on the hype surrounding the franchise right now.
According to the report, the first would premiere in summer 2021 with the next one following a year later. McQuarrie seemingly confirmed the news on Twitter.
Shooting back-to-back is not new for movies, as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were shot one after the other so they could be released in 2018 and 2019. All three of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies were shot in the manner, too.
Mission Impossible: Fallout, which starred a 56-year-old Tom Cruise, was a massive success commercially and critically. It made more than $791 million worldwide, which represented the biggest box office performance in the history of the Mission Impossible series. It was also well-received by critics, notching a franchise-best 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes; it was heralded as one of the best action movies of 2018.
The latest couch gag for The Simpsons was all about Thanos. The opening sequence of Season 30, Episode 12 that aired on Sunday saw Thanos from The Avengers movie series snap his fingers and turn Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Bart into dust.
Maggie is spared, and she cutely hops up onto the couch and sits peacefully next to Thanos, destroyer of worlds. We also see that the Soul Stone is actually Maggie's pacifier. The Simpsons family got unlucky here, as four of the five non-animal family members got snapped away when the world average is one in two. Here's the sequence:
Disney is buying most of Fox's assets, including The Simpsons, so there probably aren't any legal issues with Thanos popping up in Springfield.
We'll see Thanos next in Avengers: Endgame, which comes to theatres in April. It's expected to close out the current Avengers storyline, and the film should deliver some reveals and surprises given how Avengers: Infinity War wrapped up.
Now that it is officially 2019, speculation about Avengers: Endgame has started to ramp up considerably. The countdown to April is ticking down day by day and the Captain Marvel movie is just around the corner, so the clues are pouring in from all sides--including this interesting detail shared by Samuel L. Jackson as reported by Entertainment Tonight.
When asked about Carol's position within the MCU's power hierarchy, he said, "She's pretty much the strongest character -- in terms of someone with powers are able to do things -- in the Marvel universe. So, for Carol Danvers to be that person and for Brie to become that person, it's gonna be a dynamite thing. I mean, [the Avengers] are up against some really, really tough odds right now--we saw throughout Infinity War--so now we know that we need something that's as powerful as Thanos." We've known Carol's status as one of--if not the most--powerful heroes in the MCU for some time, but Jackson continued, adding this juicy fact. "And at some point, we'll find out how powerful she is and all the things that she's capable of. She's one of the few people in the Marvel universe that can time travel, so…"
Now that is very interesting. Over in the comics, there's no real precedent for Carol to have the ability to travel through time--at least, not without some sort of outside force--but time travel has certainly factored into her stories more than once. In fact, at the start of the now iconic Kelly Sue DeConnick run, from which the movie version takes direct inspiration, Carol was sent back in time to her own origin story via a temporal anomaly supercharged by her abilities. So, while she may not literally be able to focus and send herself through the timeline, the energy contained within her has shown that, under the right circumstances, it may have that capacity.
However, there is also the lack of clarity regarding Carol's MCU origin that must be considered. Her comics counterpart can get away with a lot, considering the bulk of her abilities boil down to the extremely comic book-y handwave of a sci-fi machine exploding and messing with her DNA--or, at least it did, until her origin story was revised yet again late last year. The MCU version seems to be taking yet another angle on the situation, giving Carol a healthy dose of amnesia and stripping away the ambiguously magical explosion in favor of something a little more medical. If that's the case, it wouldn't be too far a reach to look at the MCU's version of things with a bit more "realism" anchoring things--making the whole time travel angle a bit of a head scratcher.
It's certainly possible that Jackson simply misspoke in the interview, or was deliberately planting false information to lead speculators astray. However, giving Carol the ability to time travel would certainly explain why Fury thought to page her at the end of Infinity War in the first place. After all, it's one thing for Carol to be the most physically powerful hero in the universe, but punching things and shooting energy blasts can only do so much when half of said universe has been disintegrated.
The other logical explanation, assuming that Jackson wasn't trying to lead fans on a wild goose chase, is that Carol somehow comes into possession of the Time Stone--which may or may not be a bit of a stretch, considering its own set of wildly undefined rules and laws. Is it possible that, somehow, during the events of Infinity War, Doctor Strange sent a copy of the Time Stone back to the 1990s for Carol to find? Or, was the Time Stone in the hands of the Kree Empire at one point or another during Carol's tenure with them? Maybe Ronan the Accuser's quest for Thanos started way before Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 1 and the Time Stone has been in play for much longer than we'd all originally thought.
We've only got three more months to speculate before Captain Marvel officially hits theaters--so fold up those tinfoil hats and start guessing.
In Red Dead Redemption 2's world, the Pinkerton Detective Agency, a team of detectives hunting down Arthur Morgan and the rest of the Van der Linde gang, is the main antagonist organisation. Now, the real-life Pinkerton company is taking action against Rockstar Games over the way in which Red Dead Redemption 2 uses its name. For its part, Take-Two is claiming fair use with respect to the Pinkerton name.
Court documents discovered by The Blast reveal that Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations--the real detective agency founded in 1850--has issued a cease and desist letter to Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive in December.
Pinkerton Consulting said Rockstar had a "clear affection" for Pinkerton by using the name in Red Dead Redemption 2. However, the consulting company took issue with its use in the title because it might have led people to believe the real Pinkerton was involved in the game's development. Pinkerton is demanding that Take-Two pay an unspecified lump sum fee or a share of royalties in the future.
On the other side, Take-Two says in response that its the use of Pinkertons in Red Dead Redemption 2 is protected under the First Amendment in the United States. "Put simply, [Pinkerton] cannot use trademark law to own the past and prevent creators from including historical references to Pinkerton agents in depictions of the American West," Take-Two said.
Take-Two fully acknowledges borrowing the Pinkerton name for Red Dead Redemption 2, but says it does is just one of the "myriad of ways that Red Dead 2 accurately portrays the historical Nineteenth Century American landscape."
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was a real group that played a major role in American law enforcement in the Wild West in the late 1800s. The US government hired Pinkerton agents to track down people like Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid. Take-Two also reminded Pinkerton that Red Dead Redemption 2 was not the first piece of new media to reference Pinkerton, as the movie The Long Riders, the TV show Deadwood, and the Elton John song "Ballad of a Well-Known Gun" all reference Pinkertons. In the 2013 game BioShock Infinite, the protagonist is a former Pinkerton agent.
Take-Two also points out that the Pinkertons, while a central part of Red Dead Redemption 2's story, only appear in 10 of the game's 106 missions. "The inclusion of Pinkertons in the Red Dead 2 story is neither excessive not exceptional," Take-Two argues.
"Creative works about the American West are permitted as a matter of law to include such real historical events, figures, and businesses," the company goes on to say. "Particularly where there is no likelihood that consumers will be confused about the source of the creative work, trademark owners should not be permitted to use trademark law to harass authors, chill speech, and diminish the historical tenor of works like Red Dead 2. Historical fiction--television, movies, plays, books, and games--would suffer greatly if trademark claims like [Pinkerton's] could even possibly succeed."
Additionally, Take-Two pointed out that Red Dead Redemption 2 uses Pinkerton's original name, Pinkerton Detective Agency, and not the company's current name, Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations Inc." Further still, Take-Two mentioned that Red Dead Redemption 2 uses Pinkerton's historical badge, not the current one.
Take-Two said Pinkerton filed its complaint in part because it was trying to profit from Red Dead Redemption 2's enormous success. Indeed, the game is a huge hit; by Take-Two's latest count, it had shipped 17 million copies.
Take-Two requests that a judge knock down Pinkerton's request and deny a trial by jury. What's more, the video game company wants Pinkerton to pay Take-Two's legal fees and other expenses related to this case.
Approached for comment, Take-Two told GameSpot, "As a practice, we do not comment on legal matters." A representative for Pinkerton could not be reached at press time.
When it comes to the Royal Rumble PPV, the card for the WWE event is changing, since we're still a few weeks out. Most recently, Braun Strowman was taken out of the picture for the Universal Championship and replaced with Finn Balor, a former champ who had to vacate the belt because of injury.
WWE's yearly event, the Royal Rumble, is almost here. It has one of the most interesting matches of the year, where 30 participants enter the ring, one by one, and have to eliminate each other until there is only one superstar left standing. The winner of the event gets to challenge their brand's champion at Wrestlemania, so the stakes are high.
This year's Royal Rumble is coming to PPV and the WWE Network live on Sunday, January 27 at 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT, with a Kickoff Show starting two hours prior. Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona will host the event, and you can still pick up tickets if you're interested. Single tickets are going for as cheap as $36 as of this writing, but the prices will fluctuate as we get closer to the event.
While it's still a couple weeks away, there are currently eight matches on the card, and there could be a few more added, two of which should be on the Kickoff Show. There is plenty to be excited about for this year's PPV. Aside from both the men's and women's rumble matches, which are the most fun thing WWE produces every year, Becky Lynch gets a rematch for the Smackdown Women's Championship against Asuka. That should be a spectacular match, and on Raw, things have been heating up between Sasha Banks and Ronda Rousey, and fans seem pretty excited about the championship match.
Below, you'll find the Royal Rumble match card and every confirmed entrant for both the men and women's Royal Rumble matches.
Royal Rumble Match Card:
Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami (Cruiserweight Championship)
The Bar (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon (Smackdown Tag Team Championship)
Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch (Smackdown Women's Championship)
Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks (Raw Women's Championship)
Women's Royal Rumble
Men's Royal Rumble
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles (WWE Championship)
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor (Universal Championship)
Confirmed Rumble Participants: Men
John Cena
Dean Ambrose
Seth Rollins
Samoa Joe
Finn Bálor
Drew McIntyre
Kofi Kingston
Big E
Xavier Woods
Apollo Crews
Baron Corbin
Elias
Jinder Mahal
Jeff Hardy
Bobby Lashley
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Rey Mysterio
Mustafa Ali
R-Truth (No. 30 Spot)
Confirmed Rumble Participants: Women
Natalya
Bayley
Sasha Banks
Ember Moon
Ruby Riott
Sarah Logan
Liv Morgan
Alicia Fox
Mandy Rose
Sonya Deville
Zelina Vega
Carmella (No. 30 spot)
Make sure to come back to GameSpot on Sunday, January 27 for live coverage of the event and a review of the PPV to follow.
Pokemon Go's Adventure Sync Hatchathon may be coming to an end soon, but a new event is set to kick off immediately afterward. Beginning January 15, Niantic will hold a two-week-long celebration of the Hoenn region, featuring a ton of Pokemon originally from Ruby and Sapphire.
Throughout the event, Gen 3 Pokemon such as Numel, Zigzagoon, and Taillow will spawn much more frequently in the wild. On top of that, players will have a chance to encounter Shiny forms of Zigzagoon and Taillow, while any Shroomish that evolve into Breloom during the event will know the Grass-type attack Grass Knot.
Raid Battles will also feature Gen 3 Pokemon, including the Legendaries Groudon and Kyogre. Gen 3 Pokemon will be much more likely to hatch from 7 km Eggs during the event as well. There will also be new Field Research tasks themed around Gen 3 Pokemon.
Rounding out the celebration, Niantic will offer new avatar items based on Team Aqua and Team Magma--the villainous teams from Ruby and Sapphire--in the game's Style Shop. The Hoenn event is scheduled to end on January 29. You can read more details on the Pokemon Go website.
On top of the Hoenn celebration, Niantic is hosting a new Limited Research event this Saturday, January 19. Much like a Community Day, it will only run in each region for three hours. During this time, players will be able to get special Limited Research tasks from PokeStops, each of which ends with an encounter with Feebas.
Valve has announced its plans for Steam in 2019 and beyond. The PC game store isn't ready to reveal the exact details behind each upcoming change, but it has announced enough to give us a basic idea of what to expect in the future.
The biggest planned change seems to be for game discoverability on the Steam Store. "We're working on a new recommendation engine powered by machine-learning, that can match players to games based on their individual tastes," Steam revealed in a blog post. The post went on to add that discovery algorithms would only be a part of the new process for recommending games to players. New "broadcasting and curating features" are under development as well.
Steam also announced plans for upgrading its events system, so that players would be able to more easily discover "interesting activities" associated to the games they play, such as tournaments or streams. Expansions and changes to both Steam Library and Steam TV are in the works as well.
In terms of brand-new content, Steam is planning on shipping Steam Chat, a mobile app that will allow you to "share your favorite GIFs with your friends while on the go." Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's Trusted Matchmaking is also being expanded to all other games with the new Steam Trust. Steam has revealed plans for opening "hundreds of thousands" of PC cafes around the world too, and the PC store is partnering with Perfect World to help bring Steam to China.
Super Bowl LIII is coming up soon, and now CBS--which is GameSpot's parent company--has announced some of the technological advancements it is planning to broadcast this year's big game.
Perhaps the most exciting advancement is the use of "augmented reality graphics." In a first for a live sporting event broadcast, Super Bowl LIII will have camera operators working with a "live, wireless handheld camera" that will show augmented reality graphics, as well as "up-close camera tracking" on the field.
This promises to deliver new perspectives and angles, as well as field-level views.
In total, CBS will use 115 different camera for the Super Bowl LIII broadcast, including 14 dedicated to virtual graphics. This includes four featuring augmented reality, one of which is the "SkyCam" that flies overhead. The other 10 are being deployed to support "trackable first-down-line technology."
The Super Bowl LIII broadcast on CBS will also make use of multiple 8K camera that promise a better look a pivotal plays. There will also be 16 4K cameras and nine Sony 4800 cameras placed around the stadium to provide even more unique camera angles. These cameras are also capable of "super slow-motion," while they can also zoom in with only minimal affect on resolution, which could come in handy for close calls.
What's more, CBS is putting more than 25 camera on each endzone, including 14 inside the endzone pylons on each side of the field for a total of 28.
In other Super Bowl LIII news, it was recently confirmed that Maroon 5 will headline the halftime show, with Big Boi and Travis Scott also set to appearing as supporting acts.
Super Bowl LIII takes place on Sunday, February 3, from Atlanta, Georgia. You can watch the game on TV or stream it through CBSSports.com.
Like clockwork, Epic has another update lined up for its hit battle royale game, Fortnite. The developer confirmed that this week's 7.20 patch is set to arrive on all platforms--PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices--on Tuesday, January 15, and it's bringing back a controversial gameplay element from Season 6: redeployable gliders. [Update: The downtime is now complete, and Fortnite's 7.20 patch has gone live across all platforms.]
Downtime for the update is scheduled to begin at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET / 10 AM GMT. Epic hasn't estimated how long this downtime will last, but once servers are back up, redeployable gliders will return to Battle Royale mode--although this time they'll function a little differently than before.
When Epic first tested the redeploy mechanic last fall, players were able to open up their glider again and hang glide during a match if they were at least three stories in the air. This time around, however, the Glider Redeploy will be itemized, meaning it'll take up a slot in your inventory and can be found as loot in chests, vending machines, and supply llamas.
"The goal with the item is to provide mobility and utility, but in a form that can be balanced and iterated upon," Epic explained on its website. "By implementing glider redeploy as an item we can iterate on multiple different levels (i.e. redeploy height, movement speed, drop chance, charge count), including inventory slot tension."
Soon after the 7.20 update arrives, Epic will roll out another set of weekly challenges. In the meantime, you can find tips on how to complete all of the tasks available thus far in our Season 7 challenges guide.
Capcom has announced that the remake of Resident Evil 2 will see the return of both The 4th Survivor and The Tofu Survivor bonus modes. Both come included in the game at launch, but you'll need to unlock them.
The 4th Survivor mode allows you to play as Umbrella Security Service special Agent HUNK, the fourth person to survive the events of Raccoon City, in a standalone canon story. Meanwhile, The Tofu Survivor puts you in control of a person-sized piece of tofu. This story, unfortunately, is not canon. It is, however, much harder to complete, as the piece of tofu can only carry and use a combat knife, two green herbs, and one blue herb.
Survive Raccoon City as the Grim Reaper and… a block of tofu? Unlockable bonus modes make their return in Resident Evil 2 with The 4th Survivor and The Tofu Survivor, included with #RE2 at launch on January 25! pic.twitter.com/NR75CQlECX
Both modes existed in the original 1998 Resident Evil 2, but Capcom has not announced if you'll unlock them in the remake via the same method used in the original game. Previously, you unlocked The 4th Survivor by completing both of Leon and Claire's scenarios with an A rank. For The Tofu Survivor, you just had to get six A ranks, but they needed to be achieved consecutively and in under two and a half hours.
If you want to try the new Resident Evil 2 before buying it, there's a "1-Shot" demo now available. The demo only lasts 30 minutes, whether you beat it or not. So don't take too much time being horrified by the disgusting sights and sounds. The demo will expire on January 31, a few days after the launch of the game.
The remake of Resident Evil 2 is one of our most anticipated games of 2019. Capcom's reimagining of the original game follows the same story beats, but additional elements have been added to surprise players with new scares. A modernized control scheme has been implemented as well, allowing players who are unfamiliar with the original game to more easily pick up this remake.
Resident Evil 2 launches on January 25 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. You can pre-order the game now.
Rocket League is now the second PS4 game to support cross-play with other consoles. Developer Psyonix announced that its hit vehicular soccer game has joined Sony's cross-play beta program, allowing players on PS4 to be matched up with those on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
According to Psyonix, cross-play will be enabled on PS4 by default, although players will be able to opt in or out of it by going to the Options menu and checking the Cross-Platform Play box in the Gameplay tab. When on, it will allow PS4 users to be randomly matched up with or against players on other platforms in Casual, Competitive, and Extra Modes.
Additionally, Psyonix says that it will implement a cross-platform party system in an upcoming update. More details about that will be shared "soon," but the feature will allow players to "partner up with friends on any platform with the push of a few buttons."
While Rocket League has already supported cross-play between PS4 and PC, Psyonix has long wanted to allow the feature with other consoles. Back in 2016, the developer said it had already figured out how to implement cross-play between PS4 and Xbox One, and all that needed to be done was work out an arrangement between platforms.
"The only thing we have to do now is sort of find out where we stand politically with everyone, and then it's full steam ahead to finish the solution that we've already started," Psyonix vice president Jeremy Dunham said at the time. "Technologically everything works, we've got it figured out, just a little bit of time to get everything up and running. Right now, excitement is the best way to put it. We just want to get in there and make it happen."
After years of preventing cross-network multiplayer between PS4 and other consoles, Sony loosened its rigid stance on the issue somewhat last September when it finally allowed cross-play in Fortnite. While Epic's battle royale game was the sole title to support the feature at the time, it was a welcome sign that Sony was reconsidering its controversial policy, saying it had "identified a path towards supporting cross-platform features for select third-party content."
"We recognize that PS4 players have been eagerly awaiting an update, and we appreciate the community's continued patience as we have navigated through this issue to find a solution," John Kodera, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said. "We see the beta as an opportunity to conduct thorough testing that ensures cross-platform play is best on PlayStation, while being mindful about the user experience from both a technical and social perspective."
10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg has been tapped to helm the Sony Pictures adaptation of Uncharted, Variety reports. This comes following reports late last year that the film adaptation had lost director Shawn Levy due to scheduling conflicts with another game adaptation, Free Guy.
Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Far From Home, Avengers: Infinity War) is still set to star as a young Nathan Drake, and will detail his first encounter with his thieving mentor, "Sully" Sullivan. The production date hasn't been nailed down, however, as Sony is organizing it around Holland's press tour for Spider-Man: Far From Home. It hopes to start production this year.
Trachtenberg gained notoriety for 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane, a thriller filled with mostly human drama that tied tangentially into the universe created by the cult horror film Cloverfield. It was the first such experiment with using the franchise name for spin-off stories, a strategy that didn't work out as well with last year's The Cloverfield Paradox. He is also known for having shot his own fan film for Portal, and for having directed an episode of Black Mirror.
The Uncharted project has gone through several iterations and false starts, and at one point it was set to star Mark Wahlberg in the lead role. This latest script starring Holland was penned by Jonathan Rosenberg and Mark Walker.
No comments:
Post a Comment