Nintendo has already announced the date and time of its E3 2019 Direct, but that isn't the only presentation fans have to look forward to next month. Ahead of the expo, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are also holding a special Pokemon-focused Direct presentation, which will showcase some new details about Pokemon Sword and Shield.
The Pokemon Direct is set for Wednesday, June 5, at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET / 2 PM BST. According to The Pokemon Company, the presentation will run for approximately 15 minutes and will reveal "new information" about the upcoming Nintendo Switch games. You'll be able to livestream it on Nintendo's website, YouTube, and Twitch channels. GameSpot will also have a stream up so you can tune in right here.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 27, 2019
This marks the first new information Nintendo and The Pokemon Company will discuss about Pokemon Sword and Shield since the games were officially unveiled this past February, during a special Pokemon Direct that took place on Pokemon Day. While that stream was fairly brief, it did give us our first look at the highly anticipated Pokemon games and revealed some important details, including the games' setting--the Galar region--and three new starter Pokemon. It also raised some questions.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are slated to launch exclusively for Switch in "late" 2019. Given their impending release, it was presumed Nintendo and The Pokemon Company would share more details about the games around E3 2019, which officially kicks off on June 11, after Nintendo's other Direct presentation concludes. Be sure to check out our roundup of what we know about Pokemon Sword and Shield, as well as what we want and expect from Pokemon Sword and Shield at E3.
Ahead of the Pokemon Direct, The Pokemon Company has also announced it is airing a Pokemon press conference tomorrow, May 28. That presentation is scheduled to begin at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET (2 AM BST on May 29) and will "cover a number of topics of interest to Pokemon fans."
Ahead of the release of Borderlands 3 in September, Gearbox Publishing boss John Vignocchi is heading out. The games industry veteran announced on Twitter that he's left Gearbox for his "dream job" somewhere else.
"Leaving the company was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make and I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for the love and support of everyone there," Vignocchi said on Twitter. "They understood and encouraged me to take this role as it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime gig."
Vignocchi said he had a great time working at Gearbox, where he served as executive producer for Gearbox Publishing for about a year. He specifically praised Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford and head of publishing Steve Gibson, saying they both know "how to bring out the passion and excellence of all the amazing [developers] that work there."
Vignocchi didn't say where he's going after Gearbox, but he noted that he is going on a "bit of a road trip," which suggests the new job is not close to Gearbox which is in Frisco, Texas.
Vignocchi joined Gearbox in October 2018 after a long run at Disney where he oversaw Disney Infinity and other products and projects. He spent less than a year at Gearbox before leaving. Pitchford said goodbye to Vignocchi in a post of his on on Twitter in which he wished Vignocchi well in his new job.
The writers and producers of Fox's iconic animated TV show The Simpsons are coming to E3 2019. They will appear on a June 11 E3 Coliseum panel where they will discuss ... well, we don't know. Given E3 is a video game convention, people are naturally assuming there will be a discussion about video games and potentially some news.
But don't get too excited just yet. A sequel to The Simpsons Hit & Run would be fantastic news, but there is no word yet on if there will be any game announcements during the panel. We don't even know who from The Simpsons team will be there.
Whatever the case, you can catch The Simpsons panel at E3 on June 11. Presumably it will be streamed live like the rest of the E3 Coliseum panels including the one where Netflix may announce video game adaptations of its shows. The E3 Coliseum is organized by games media veteran Geoff Keighley in coordination with the ESA, which owns and operates E3.
There haven't been any new Simpsons video games for console/PC in a while. The latest one was 2007's The Simpsons Game, in which the Simpsons family discovers they have been licensed for a video game. Electronic Arts, which owns the license for The Simpsons video games, released a mobile game called The Simpsons: Tapped Out in 2012 and it was, at least for a period of time, a big-time money-maker.
What that means is John Wick 3 needed just two weeks to surpass the amount of money that John Wick 2 made during its entire theatrical run ($171.5 million). To put that number in context even further, the first John Wick made $88 million worldwide over its lifetime. The franchise is getting more popular with every release, which probably explains why John Wick 4 was announced so early. In addition, there is a John Wick film spin-off in the works, while a TV show called The Continental is also in development.
The John Wick series stars The Matrix actor Keanu Reeves as an assassin with a price on his head. He mows down everyone in his path. The series also features Laurence Fishburn, Lance Reddick, and Ian McShane, while Chapter 3 added Halle Barry and Anjelica Huston. The movie was directed by Chad Stahelski, who also made John Wick 1 and 2.
The creator of John Wick and the film's writer, Derek Kolstad, is presumably involved with John Wick 4 in addition to his newly announced job as the writer of the Just Cause video game movie.
John Wick 4 is coming, but all we know so far is a release date: May 21, 2021. The ending to John Wick 3 certainly set up another story to be told. Here's to hoping that Reeves and Stahelski return for the fourth movie.
Travis Strikes Again, the No More Heroes spinoff that launched in January as an exclusive for Nintendo Switch, is headed to new platforms. The game is coming to PlayStation 4 and PC, game director Suda51 announced at the Momocon 2019 event in Atlanta this weekend.
There is no word on when Travis Strikes Again will launch on PS4 and PC, what differences there may be compared to the Switch edition, or if it'll also release on Xbox One. Developer Grasshopper Manufacture says it will announce more details in due course.
We just announced that Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes will be coming to PS4 and Steam! Stay tuned for more information!#Momocon2019pic.twitter.com/6mlDiTOrv8
Travis Strikes Again takes place seven years after the events of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. In a plot that is suitably absurd, Travis Touchdown finds himself stuck in a haunted game video console called the Death Drive Mk-II. Alongside Badman, Travis must fight his way out of the Death Drive's six different games hack-and-slash style.
The game offers co-operative play with one player as Travis and the other as Badman; there are also unique co-op special attacks to pull off. Check out GameSpot's Travis Strike Again video review in the embed above to see the game in action. GameSpot scored the game a 6/10 in our Travis Strikes Again review.
Looking ahead, Suda51 has said that there might be more No More Heroes news coming at E3 in June. The ending to Travis Strikes Again very strongly suggested that a new No More Heroes game was in development. Asked by Siliconera about the ending, Suda replied with a laugh, "I wonder what that was myself. It might be Travis messing around. [Laughs] I hope around E3 time I'll have something cool to announce."
Legendary actor Harrison Ford is set to play Indiana Jones yet again in fifth Indiana Jones movie scheduled for July 2021. But who will take over once Ford is ready to step away from the role?
No one, if Ford has his way. In an appearance on The Today Show, Ford was asked directly who he would like to see take over when he's done playing the archaeologist-adventurter.
He gave a wonderful response: "Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones, don't you get it? I'm Indiana Jones," Ford told host Craig Melvin with a laugh. "When I'm gone, he's gone. It's easy."
Actor Chris Pratt is reportedly one of the names in the mix to take over as Indiana Jones with a reboot of the franchise in the future. It appears Chris Pine might be in the running as well (or Ford mixed up his Chrises). He said in the interview, "This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. I'm sorry, man."
Actor Shia LaBeouf starred alongside Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and some thought LaBeouf was being groomed to take over as the main character. Ford shot down that suggestion, telling Time, "Shia can get his own hat. I earned that hat."
Indiana Jones 5, or whatever it's called, is being directed by Steven Spielberg, who helmed all the previous films, with Ford reprising his role as the iconic archaeologist. Jonathan Kasdan, the son of Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan, wrote the newest draft of the story. He replaced the previously announced writer, Jurassic Park's David Koepp.
Spielberg has said that Indiana Jones 5 will probably be Ford's final Indiana Jones film, though he expects the franchise to continue after that. Spielberg also said it is time for Indiana Jones the character to take "a different form," and this could be with a woman in the lead role. "We'd have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that," Spielberg said.
The Indiana Jones series premiered with 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was followed up by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Together, the movies have made more than $2 billion at the box office.
The latest North American weekend box office numbers are in, and Disney's newest live-action remake, Aladdin, won the weekend with $86.1 million. The figure is expected to grow to around $105 million when Monday's Memorial Day numbers come in.
Aladdin also opened in overseas markets this weekend, it made $121 million for the three-day period from international screens to push the movie's total global box office haul to $207.1 million after just one weekend.
Aladdin didn't get the strongest reviews from professional critics, but actual audiences loved it. The movie picked up a near-perfect A CinemaScore rating. CinemaScore is a poll of audiences who saw a movie, and it is not unusual for the average critic score to vary from what audiences thought of a film, and this also appears to be the case for Aladdin. A strong CinemaScore rating also suggests that Aladdin will continue to perform well in Week 2 and beyond because of positive word-of-mouth.
Aladdin stars Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine, with Will Smith playing the Genie.
With more than $200 million worldwide for its opening weekend, Aladdin is director Guy Ritchie's biggest start ever. His next closest was 2009's Sherlock Holmes ($62.3 million opening). Aladdin also represents Smith's second-biggest opening-weekend box office ever, only behind Suicide Squad.
As for the rest of the weekend box office, John Wick 3 made $24.4 million in the US and Canada over the first three days of the weekend; it's expected to climb to $30.5 million when Monday's numbers come in to finish No. 2 behind Aladdin. It's also notable that John Wick 3 has now made $181.5 million worldwide after just two weeks, which is ahead of the $171.5 million that John Wick 2 made across its entire theatrical run.
Avengers: Endgame made $16.8 million for the Friday-Sunday period to finish No. 3; that number expected to climb to $21.9 million for the holiday weekend in the US and Canada. Endgame has now made $2.67 billion worldwide, meaning it still trails Avatar ($2.78 billion) as the biggest movie in history.
Rounding out the top five movies at the US and Canadian box office this weekend were Pokemon: Detective Pikachu ($13.3 million) and the new James Gunn-produced superhero horror movie Brightburn ($7.5 million).
Hideo Kojima has posted a new teaser video for his mysterious upcoming project, Death Stranding. Released on Twitter, the video shows the outline of a hand and the words "Create the rope." Some eerie music plays in the background, while flashes of mysterious objects appear as well. A second tweet indicates more information will be provided on May 30.
The teaser is hard to make sense of, which is par for the course with Death Stranding. Check out the video for yourself in the embed below and let us know in the comments what you've spotted.
Death Stranding is Kojima's first new game since his split with Konami. Very little is known about the game, and that appears to be intentional, with Kojima weaving secrets into its new trailers and teasers like the one he released today.
The game features a number of celebrities, including The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus in the lead role, as well as Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, and Troy Baker.
Speaking to Metro, Reedus said he's never seen anything like what Kojima is doing with the game.
"The concept is so far out into the future. Instead of eliminating everyone around you, it's bringing everyone together," he explained. "It's a very positive video game, but scary and depressing at the same time. It's kind of a new movie. I've never seen anything like what we're doing."
No release date has been set as of yet for Death Stranding. The game was announced for PlayStation 4 and PC, and it'll be released on console through a partnership between Kojima's new studio, Kojima Productions, and Sony. A recent report said Death Stranding might also release on PS5.
The Overwatch League has lost its commissioner. Nate Nanzer, the OWL's first-ever commissioner who led the eSports organisation from the ground up, has left Blizzard.
He left Blizzard to join Epic Games where he will head up the developer's eSports and competitive gaming efforts for the massively popular battle royale game Fortnite. Needless to say, he is a huge get for Epic, as Nanzer was instrumental in the creation of the OWL.
In a Twitter thread, Nanzer said leaving Blizzard was the "toughest decision" of his entire life "because it means I won't get to work with the best staff, players, teams, owners, partners, and fans in eSports anymore." Nanzer said he is proud of what the OWL has achieved in its early days.
While he was the public face of the OWL, Nanzer stressed that the league's success wouldn't have been possible without the efforts of so many other people, and fans. "It isn't about me; it's never been. It's about all of you," Nanzer said.
He said he leaves Blizzard with the OWL "in great hands."
"I can't wait to see where the team takes the Overwatch League in 2020 -- and beyond. And I'll be cheering right there alongside you, every step of the way," he said.
Activision Blizzard hired former Fox Sports boss Pete Vlastelica to take over for Nanzer as the OWL's commissioner, according to ESPN.
As for Nanzer's new job at Epic, the company said it's "excited to welcome Nate to the Epic Games team, where he'll be working with us on competitive Fortnite."
The World Health Organization, the public health division of the United Nations, has officially added "gaming disorder" to its registry of officially recognized diseases. This happened over the weekend when the WHO officially adopted the 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11). All 194 members of the WHO voted unanimously to adopt the revision.
According to the WHO, "gaming disorder" is characterized by a "pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour" online or offline. The official description goes on to say that gaming disorders can include the following: "1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); 2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and 3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences."
People who are deemed to have the "gaming disorder" run the risk of "significant impairment" to their personal, family, social, education, and occupational lives, according to the WHO. The description goes on to say that "gaming disorder" can be a continuous condition or it can be episodic in nature. For it to be suggested that a person has "gaming disorder," they would display these behaviour patterns for a year or longer.
The "gaming disorder" disease will become officially recognized by the WHO on January 1, 2022. According to GI.biz, the WHO came to its conclusion based on consultations with experts from a variety of backgrounds.
"Just like avid sports fans and consumers of all forms of engaging entertainment, gamers are passionate and dedicated with their time," the ESA--which lobbies on behalf of the video game industry to protect its interests--said in a statement. "Having captivated gamers for more than four decades, more than 2 billion people around the world enjoy video games."
"The World Health Organization knows that common sense and objective research prove video games are not addictive. And, putting that official label on them recklessly trivializes real mental health issues like depression and social anxiety disorder, which deserve treatment and the full attention of the medical community," the statement continued.
At the time, the ESA said it strongly encouraged the WHO to reverse the action, but now that it has been officially adopted, it remains to be seen if there are any appeal possibilities.
It's not just the ESA that's hitting back at the WHO over this decision. A statement attributed to the global video game industry associations--including the ESA (USA), ESA Canada (Canada), IGEA (Australia and New Zealand), ISFE (Europe), K Games (South Korea), and UKIE (United Kingdom)--says the WHO reached its decision "without the consensus of the academic community." The consequences could be far reaching and might achieve the opposite of what the WHO is setting out to do, according to the statement.
"There is significant debate among medical and professionals about today's WHO action. We are concerned they reached their conclusion without the consensus of the academic community," reads a line from the statement. "The consequences of today's action could be far-reaching, unintended, and to the detriment of those in need of genuine help."
It continues: "We encourage and support healthy game play by providing information and tools, such as parental controls, that empower billions of people around the world to manage their play to ensure it remains enjoyable and enriching. As with all good things in life, moderation is key and that finding the right balance is an essential part of safe and sensible play."
Last week, before the WHO decision came down, Sony's CEO talked about how the video game industry needs to do more to promote healthy gaming. "We need to take it seriously and adopt countermeasures," he told reports (via Kyodo News).
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