By Jordan Ramée on Feb 09, 2019 05:49 am
Activision has announced that it is offering a refund for any customers who purchased Guitar Hero Live after December 2017. You only qualify for a refund if you bought Guitar Hero Live in the US. There hasn't been a specific statement regarding why Activision is offering the refund, just a blog post detailing how you can secure one. To qualify for a refund, you must have purchased Guitar Hero Live between December 1, 2017 and January 1, 2019. Activision will need confirmation of the purchase, such as a receipt or credit card statement, as well. If you fit these qualifications, then submit a Claim Form before May 1, and you'll be refunded your money. You can still submit the form if you have no confirmation of purchase, but then your refund isn't guaranteed. Releasing in October 2015, Guitar Hero Live introduced a new mode to the music game franchise, called Guitar Hero TV. In this mode, you'd play songs from the first-person perspective of the band's lead guitarist. Hitting your notes perfectly would earn you cheers from the crowd, while messing up one too many times would cause them to boo you off the stage. It's also the majority of Guitar Hero Live. The base game features 23 songs, while Guitar Hero TV includes over 200. That all changed on December 1, 2018--perhaps, not so coincidentally, a year after the cut off date for Activision's refund--when Guitar Hero TV's servers shut down, removing almost every single song from the game. Although a bit of a shock, the move was not completely unforeseen. Prior, in April 2016, Guitar Hero Live developer FreeStyle had major layoffs in response to the game's underperformance in terms of sales. Additionally, in January 2017, Ubisoft acquired FreeStyle Games away from Activision, which kept Guitar Hero Live with the Call of Duty publisher without the game's developer. Activision's decision to refund the game now might be intended to head off any potential lawsuits. Guitar Hero Live is still available for numerous platforms, all of which are eligible for refund. The game is available for PS2, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and several mobile and handheld devices.
By Kevin Knezevic on Feb 09, 2019 04:10 am
Between the ongoing Lunar New Year and Shiny Meltan events, this week has certainly been a busy one for Pokemon Go players, and now yet another event is underway in the mobile game. This weekend only, Niantic is holding a special friendship event, which offers players extra bonuses for sending gifts and trading Pokemon. All weekend long, players' friendship levels will increase twice as quickly as normal. Moreover, the amount of Stardust you need in order to trade Pokemon with friends has been reduced by half, and the amount of Candy you'll receive for each trade is doubled. The friendship event runs from now until 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET on Monday, February 11. You can read more about it on the official Pokemon Go website. This is an especially good time to trade Pokemon in the game; not only has the Stardust requirement been reduced, but as part of the aforementioned Lunar New Year event, you have a much higher likelihood of receiving a Lucky Pokemon in trades. The Lunar New Year event is scheduled to run until February 13. Until then, Spoink and other Pokemon that correspond with the Chinese Zodiac, such as Electabuzz, Dratini, and Mareep, will appear much more frequently in the wild, and you'll have your first chance of encountering a Shiny Spoink. The Meltan event, meanwhile, is scheduled to end on March 4. Until then, you'll have a chance of finding a Shiny Meltan each time you open the Mystery Box. Additionally, the time you need to wait to open the Mystery Box again has been reduced by three days. Next week, Niantic is hosting this month's Community Day. The event takes place on Saturday, February 16 and features Swinub, a Ground/Ice Pokemon originally from Gold and Silver. On top of that, players will receive triple the normal amount of Stardust for catching Pokemon.
By Kevin Knezevic on Feb 09, 2019 03:00 am
Twitch Prime members have no shortage of freebies to claim this month. On top of February's batch of free games, which will be available through the end of the month, one more title is now up for grabs for Amazon Prime members: Square Enix's popular MMO, Final Fantasy XIV. From now until May 3, Twitch Prime users can download the Final Fantasy XIV: Starter Edition on PC at no charge. The Starter Edition includes the base game, which allows users to play up through level 50, as well as a free 30-day subscription to the game. As with other Twitch Prime games, Final Fantasy XIV: Starter Edition will be yours to keep forever, but you'll need to subscribe in order to continue playing once the free 30-day period ends. To claim your free copy, simply click on the crown-shaped Prime Loot icon on Twitch's website. You can find additional details on Square Enix's website. Square Enix recently confirmed that Final Fantasy XIV's next expansion, Shadowbringers, will launch for PS4 and PC on July 2. The expansion will introduce a load of new content to the game, including new dungeons, environments, and classes, including the Gunbreaker. The expansion will also allow players to play as a Viera, the rabbit-like race Final Fantasy XII's Fran belonged to. Twitch Prime is one of the benefits you receive with an Amazon Prime membership. In addition to Final Fantasy XIV: Starter Edition, Twitch Prime users can grab five other free titles for PC right now: Pikuniku, Dear Esther: Landmark Edition, Downwell, The Flame in the Flood, and Draknek & Co Puzzle Collection. All five will be free to download until February 28.
By Steve Watts on Feb 09, 2019 02:50 am
With a few notable exceptions, posters for superhero movies tend to look of a certain type: a stern-looking hero, surrounded by explosions, maybe a villain head peering over the background. As if to respond to this trend, the latest posters for Captain Marvel put the focus much more closely on the hero herself, with bright pop art-inspired backgrounds and heavy contrast to make the colors stand out. The posters were shown off by Disney marketing head Asad Ayaz, who similarly got first dibs to debut the live-action Aladdin remake poster. This pair of posters shows Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, in both her Kree warrior helmet (complete with stylish mohawk) and the more recognizable superhero suit. This movie is a prequel of sorts, and will take place largely in the 1990s with a young Nick Fury. It aims to explain the origins of Captain Marvel, and where she's been all these years as the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and various other heroes have faced multiple world-ending threats without her.
This will all set the stage for Avengers: Endgame, in which we expect Captain Marvel to play a large part. In a post-credits sequence in Infinity War, Nick Fury put out an emergency distress call to Captain Marvel just before he faded away along with half the population. That implied that calling her in was something of a desperate last resort, so her standalone movie will go a long way to explaining why she's a one-woman cavalry. Endgame will mark the end of the ten-year culmination of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, which have all been leading toward the events of Infinity War and the genocidal supervillain Thanos. More movies are already scheduled to come afterwards, like Spider-Man: Far From Home, but the world of the MCU is likely to be changed in some large ways, and Captain Marvel may take more of a leading role. We just got our first look at the new suits that will be used in Avengers Endgame, and it's shaping up to be the longest MCU movie yet. Before that final payoff to the Thanos arc, though, we need to see what Danvers is up to. Her movie will release on March 8.
By Jordan Ramée on Feb 09, 2019 02:45 am
BioWare has released the launch trailer for Anthem, which is scheduled to come out for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on February 22. You can play the game on February 15, though, with EA or Origin Access. The launch trailer focuses on a team of four Freelancers suiting up for their next mission. Each Freelancer pilots one of the different Javelin exo-suits, and the trailer showcases the unique flight and combat mechanics of the four. You can watch it above. First up is Ranger, which is strong enough to take a hit, but dashes out of the way of additional enemy fire before detonating the combos of the other Javelins with its precise, multi-targeting Ultimate attack. Up next is Colossus, which is strong enough to tank attacks with its shield as it dives into the front lines. Interceptor, meanwhile, dodges out of the way of enemy fire, darting between attacks with flips and dashes, and supporting the Colossus and Ranger on the front lines. Storm takes up the rear on the offensive, flinging fire, lightning, and ice from a relatively safe distance. EA is expecting BioWare's newest game to sell as many as 6 million copies by March, with lifetime sales ending up being much higher. CFO Blake Jorgensen said EA is confident that Anthem will reach these numbers based on the popularity of the game's VIP and open demos, despite the major connectivity issues present in the former. Anthem could be a major risk for BioWare, as it's another game-as-a-service title that's launching in an industry where Fortnite is still popular, Apex Legends has taken the world by storm with 10 million unique users, and Ubisoft's The Division 2 is a month away from release. There's only so much time people can devote to these games, but BioWare seems confident it can maintain a playerbase with its planned endgame content. At launch, Anthem will include three extra difficulties that unlock at level 30, the game's current cap. You'll also be able to complete daily, weekly, and monthly challenges, and story expansions are scheduled to come to Anthem in the months following release.
By Chris E. Hayner on Feb 09, 2019 02:28 am
There are more massive changes afoot on The Walking Dead. After star Andrew Lincoln departed the series earlier in the season--along with co-star Lauren Cohan, who could still return--another character is saying goodbye. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Danai Gurira, who has played Michonne since Season 3, will depart during the 10th season. She has reportedly signed a deal for a "handful of episodes" that will air throughout Season 10--which was just ordered by AMC. THR also notes that it's likely Gurira will take part in the upcoming made-for-TV The Walking Dead movies that Lincoln will also star in. The move comes at an interesting time for the actress. In 2018, she made a splash in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. She's set to reprise her role as Okoye once again in Avengers: Endgame and--theoretically--in future MCU films. Given how busy Marvel Studios seems to keep its stars, also fitting in months of filming the zombie series could become difficult. As for what this means for The Walking Dead, the loss of Gurira is huge. She's one of the few main faces of the show left. In addition to Lincoln and Cohan, The Walking Dead has also lost Chandler Riggs (Carl) and Lennie James (Morgan) in recent seasons. Remaining of the main cast. It remains to be seen what will happen with Judith (Cailey Fleming) and RJ (Antony Azor), Michonne's children. While this is sad news for fans, it should be noted that there's still plenty of time left to enjoy Michonne on the show. The second half of The Walking Dead Season 9 premieres Sunday, February 10. If you haven't seen the trailer for the new episodes yet, you should definitely check it out.
By Rafael Motamayor on Feb 09, 2019 02:12 am
Netflix's new original film Velvet Buzzsaw premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and the art world thriller may be the last thing you would associate with superheroes. But back in the '90s, its writer/director Dan Gilroy made a name for himself rewriting troubled scripts for Hollywood. One of those scripts was Superman Lives, the proposed fifth live-action Superman movie that would have starred Nicolas Cage and been directed by Tim Burton. It was a dream project for Gilroy, but unfortunately the project was shut down right before filming was due to start, and it has since become one of the most legendary canceled movies ever (check out the documentary The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? For more crazy stories about the production). You may think this has nothing to do with Jake Gyllenhaal being haunted by a vengeful entity killing people through art exhibits, but according to Gilroy, it helped set him on the road that led to Netflix. "I worked for a year and a half on that movie and it fell apart," Gilroy told GameSpot during an interview at Sundance. "I felt like I'd wasted my time, so I decided I was going to do this job for myself from now on. I decided to include as many personal ideas as I could so if it happens again, I can at least feel that I've grown. Whether it's a big studio film or an indie film, I just write things with ideas or themes that are important to me, so it's easier to make peace with it happening again." Since the '90s, Gilroy has worked on both personal and big budget movies, from The Bourne Legacy and Kong: Skull Island to his directorial endeavors Nightcrawler, Roman J. Israel, Esq., and now Velvet Buzzsaw, which may be his most personal film yet--though not at first glance. This is a movie about a dark entity murdering various figures in the art world. At the center of it all stands Jake Gyllenhaal as Morf Vandewalt, an outlandish art critic who never stops critiquing and has the power to make or break an artist with one sentence. While some may interpret Gyllenhaal's over the top performance as mockery, Gilroy drew from his own experience to make sure the character was as serious as possible. "I was a critic for three years at Variety," Gilroy said. "I certainly wanted the character to be somebody who takes the job seriously and whose integrity is vital to the character." He goes the distance with that portrayal to even show the negative effects of working in criticism, and how it affects both the critic and the artist. There's a line in the film that Morf says: "Critique is so limiting and emotionally draining," which rang true to Gilroy. "I take criticism seriously as a form," explains Gilroy. "But there are instances where a negative review can hurt the artist. I wanted to explore that and how a negative review can affect the artist emotionally, and how that sense of responsibility can affect the critic. It was meant to underline Morf's position and power." Morf is certainly a powerful critic, so when he discovers some disturbing but intriguing paintings at a dead man's apartment, he immediately sets up a plan to sell them and get rich with a few other wacky characters. Greed takes over, until they start dropping like flies. Once the killings begin, one of the most important things a horror movie needs to do is let you know early on whether you should feel sad for the characters that are dying, or if you're meant to celebrate. Halloween? Good people being terrorized, Friday the 13th? Horrible people who deserve to die. Every horror movie has rules that it needs to follow, and Velvet Buzzsaw isn't the exception. Turns out, this was an early discussion, and by no means an easy one. "I remember thinking for about a week about this issue," said Gilroy. "And I eventually decided that there was no way these could be good people we feel bad for. I decided that they all deserved to die, which would make their deaths funny, which helped lean into the satire of it." Not everyone who dies in Velvet Buzzsaw seems to deserve it, and that's where the rules get tricky. A character who goes against the artist's wishes and sells their paintings? Sure, go ahead and get killed by sentient paint. But a guy who realizes their mistake and tries to stop the whole operation? Someone who never even tried to sell a painting, and barely saw one? That's where clear rules are needed, and Dan Gilroy did give this issue some thought. "We thought of it like The Ring or Final Destination," Gilroy explained. "We had a rule like traditional horror movies, where if you saw the video in The Ring, that's it. Or if you cheated death in Final Destination, it didn't matter what you did afterwards, you're just going to get killed. So for us if you see or profit from the art, no matter in what way, you're going to die." Velvet Buzzsaw is streaming on Netflix now.
By Jordan Ramée on Feb 09, 2019 01:47 am
Ubisoft has announced that New Game Plus is coming to Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The mode is scheduled to release before the end of February, but an exact date hasn't been revealed yet. The announcement was made via a tweet on Assassin's Creed's Twitter account. The tweet is fairly vague, so any information on how New Game Plus might work--such as whether you'll be able to restart as the protagonist you didn't play as or whether you'll keep all your ship lieutenants you recruited through story missions--has not been revealed. However, another follow-up tweet revealed that more information about New Game Plus will be coming next week. Next month, the remastered edition of Assassin's Creed III launches for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 29. The game includes a remastered version of Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD as well, and includes all the DLC for both--such as the three-part Tyranny of King Washington expansion. Both titles will feature 4K HDR support, and on PC, Xbox One X, and PS4 Pro, the games will play with "higher resolution textures, a new graphics engine, and several other graphical enhancements." You can buy this collection standalone, but it also comes included in the season pass for Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The third and final episode of the first major story expansion for Assassin's Creed Odyssey, titled The First Blade, is also scheduled to release in the coming months. The First Blade continued Kassandra/Alexios' story, telling of how they met Darius, the first known individual to wield the Assassin's iconic hidden blade. The second episode of The First Blade, called Shadow Heritage, drew controversy when it ended with Kassandra/Alexios forced into a heterosexual relationship with Darius' child. In our Assassin's Creed Odyssey review, Alessandro Fillari gave the game an 8/10, writing, "While its large-scale campaign--clocking in at over 50 hours--can occasionally be tiresome, and some features don't quite make the impact they should, Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting."
By Steve Watts on Feb 09, 2019 01:29 am
The 61 Annual Grammy Awards will air live on Sunday, February 10 on CBS. But what if you want to watch through one of your gaming consoles? Whether you've cut the cord or you just want to watch in between gaming rounds, you can watch the award show right from your dashboard. Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have the CBS All Access app, which will be streaming the Grammy Awards live. A CBS All Access subscription costs $6 per month, or $10 for the commercial-free option. If you'd just like to check out the service and use it to watch the Grammys, you can sign up for a one-week free trial to gain access to the award show along with all of the other content. Keep in mind that charges will start automatically once the free trial ends, unless you manually cancel. If you'd rather watch on Nintendo Switch, you'll need the Hulu app instead. CBS isn't carried in the standard Hulu line-up, but it is carried with the highest-tier Live TV package--ordinarily priced at $45 per month. Like CBS All Access, though, you can sign up for a free trial to test the service and watch the Grammys. Charges will apply automatically after the free trial ends. The Grammy Awards will be hosted by Alicia Keys, no stranger to the awards with fifteen Grammys herself. She'll be the first woman to host the event in more than a decade. The show will also include musical performances by Camila Cabello with Ricky Martin, Arturo Sandoval, Young Thug and J Balvin, Dolly Parton, and more. The show will begin at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET. The Grammys will air air on CBS, the parent company of GameSpot.
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