Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is Niantic's latest AR mobile game, and similar to Pokemon Go it appears to be a hit out of the gate. One persistent complaint has been brought up by the community, though, and the developer is already addressing it with a change.
In a note on the Wizards Unite subreddit, Niantic says it is making changes to the Spell Energy mechanic. New players will get 50 Spell Energy from the start rather than 25, and you can score extra Spell Energy from Inns, Greenhouses, and Daily Assignments. Specifically on the last point, you'll get 10 Spell Energy from the "To Collect an Ingredient or Portmanteau" assignment, up from five.
Spell Energy behaves similarly to Poke Balls in Pokemon Go, as you gather them both at physical locations and they serve as the fuel for your basic interactions in the game. The name may be confusing to new players, as many mobile games use an "energy" mechanic to limit how much you can play. Spell Energy in Wizards Unite is a limited resource, but it isn't time-gated.
Last week, screenshots of a private Twitter exchange with Cyberpunk 2077 lead quest designer Paweł Sasko were posted to Reddit, which revealed further details about how romance would work in the upcoming game. We reached out to CD Projekt Red to confirm the details and, in the process, learned a bit more about the Deus Ex-like RPG.
"As for romances, throughout the game players will meet lots of characters with their own goals, motivations and needs," Sasko wrote in a statement to GameSpot. "Sometimes those goals align with what V is trying to achieve and, depending on the player's decisions, it may spark interest on the side of the NPC. Side characters won't fall for V in every scenario though. When something is not right, they may choose friendship over a romantic relationship. The sexual orientation of a given NPC also plays a role in such interactions. In The Witcher III, Geralt was a defined character who had a very clearly defined sexuality--in Cyberpunk, the choice of romantic partner is a part of freedom of play, that's why the game provides more options, going beyond heterosexual."
The earlier Twitter exchange did compare Cyberpunk 2077's romance to The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, but it didn't clarify just how similar. Now we know that in Cyberpunk 2077, much like The Witcher III, you can outright fail to attain a romantic connection with someone. However, unlike The Witcher III, not all romances are available to you. Sasko mentions that sexual orientation plays a role in whether a romance can be successful. That means some (or perhaps all) of the characters have a predetermined sexuality and gender, and won't mold themselves to fit whatever type of character you're roleplaying.
"Even in the world of Cyberpunk, relationships matter a lot," Sasko continues. "They are easier to have in some ways, and in the same time harder to cultivate. Players' choices define how many relationships V is going to have--but some preferences are impossible to change, almost how it is in real life. We believe that this is one of the key factors that makes characters feel genuine, natural, and real. We pay a great deal of attention to characters in the story, as they are the main pillars of the plot. And also because of that I should not say more about the topic, not to spoil anything for our players."
The Witcher III has a fairly humorous moment if you try to romance both Triss and Yennefer, ultimately punishing you for trying to be with both of them. In the same way, Sasko implies there are real consequences if V has many relationships. Though Sasko did not confirm, it seems like several NPCs will be okay with V being polyamorous (or having a fling or two on the side) while others will only enter into a romantic relationship with V if they stay faithful. We'll just have to wait and see.
Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release April 16, 2020 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
After a four-year hiatus, Saitama and Genos returned to being superheroes for fun in One Punch Man Season Two. Prolific anime video game publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment seeks to capitalize on the momentum, announcing a One Punch Man video game that is "coming soon" to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Developed by J-Stars Victory Vs and Jump Force creators Spike Chunsoft, One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is a 3D arena fighter set in the One Punch Man universe. The game features 3v3 battles with series characters like Fubuki, Genos, Mumen Rider, Speed-o'-Sound Sonic, and Saitama. A Hero Nobody Knows looks just like the anime, with all the over-the-top action expected of the titular character's exploits. Check out the announcement trailer below.
Herve Hoerdt, senior vice president of marketing at Bandai Namco's Europe branch, said A Hero Nobody Knows is a great way to jump into the eponymous anime, while "fans of the series can play as some of their favourite characters [in] exciting 3 vs. 3 battles." No definitive release date has been given.
Debuting in October 2015 in Japan and April 2016 in America, One Punch Man follows the unstimulated Saitama, a man so strong that he beats everything and everyone with a single punch. This unparalleled strength, not even matched by Season One big-baddie Lord Boros, leads the titular hero down an existential crisis, trapping him in a perpetual state of boredom. The series returned with a second season in April 2019.
The most recent season of the acclaimed animated show Rick & Morty premiered way back in October 2017, and it's been a long wait for fans to get news of when the series will return. Last month it was finally confirmed that Rick & Morty Season 4 will premiere in November, and now it has been announced that one of the new episodes will debut at the second Adult Swim Festival in the same month.
As reported by Deadline, the festival takes place in Los Angeles and runs from Friday, November 16 to Saturday, November 16. The episode won't have been screened on TV at that point. The festival is described by Adult Swim as a "one-of-a-kind, 360° fan experience," and will also feature a discussion with acclaimed animator Genndy Tartakovsky, panels, meet and greets, merchandise, and games.
Although Season 4 will arrive more than two years after Season 3, there is a lot more Rick & Morty on the way. In May 2018, it was revealed that Adult Swim renewed the show for no fewer than 70 more episodes. Previous seasons have run for just 10 episodes, but while we obviously won't get all of the new episodes in Season 4, the show's creators have confirmed that the wait time between future seasons will be reduced.
"I think we'll be able to move a little quicker," co-creator Justin Roiland told GameSpot last year. "We're not going to have these big, long gaps between seasons. We're going to just keep the machine going and schedule staggering vacations for people so we don't burn out. It's going to just be a perpetual production, which is exciting."
For more Rick & Morty coverage on GameSpot, check out our collection of in-depth Rick and Morty breakdowns.
Alongside a new content update for patch 9.30, Fortnite's new event--14 Days of Summer--is now live. Despite the name, it runs for a total of three weeks and, among other things, consists of new challenges being introduced each day for the first two weeks, for a total of 14. The first of these can now be completed, and it asks players to dance at different beach parties. Here's where to go and what to do to complete the challenge.
How To Complete Dance At Beach Parties Challenge
These beach parties are a new element you'll find scattered around the map. You'll need to dance at six total, and as the challenge states, they have to be different ones--you can't keep returning to the same spot across different matches. Luckily, you can do this across multiple matches, so you're free to knock out one per match if you so wish. Just be prepared to run into some potentially aggressive company from other people trying to complete this challenge.
The beach parties are fairly obvious once you happen upon them. Head to one of the areas, and you'll find lounge chairs, umbrellas, porta-potties, and balloons adorning the area. Once you're nearby, activate any of your emotes to register progress. You'll know you've done it when you get the pop-up notification tracking your progression on the challenge.
Where To Find Beach Party Locations
We've confirmed six different places where you can find a beach party--just enough to complete the challenge. Make sure to keep track of which ones you successfully visit to ensure you get to dance at them all. You'll find descriptions below and a map above.
northern part of H8, surrounding a small body of water
northeastern part of D4, at the northwest edge of Loot Lake
northwestern part of F2, near where Lazy Lagoon drops off the map
northwestern part of H9, near the water that feeds the nearby river
northwestern part of E6, along the river southeast of Neo Tilted
northwestern part of G6, in the southeastern part of Dusty Divot
Completing this challenge rewards you with a new dance emote titled Deep End, which has you doing Fortnite's take on the famous "C'mon and Swim" dance. It also gets you one step closer to earning the smoothie back bling, which you get for finishing all 14 challenges from 14 Days of Summer.
The moment PC gamers have been waiting for is finally here--Steam's 2019 Summer Sale is live with thousands of deals on games across every genre. The sale will run now through July 9, so you have about two weeks to claim anything that catches your eye.
This year, the theme is Grand Prix, and players can earn various rewards and even free games on their wishlist by participating, just as in previous years. To get started, Steam will ask you to pick a team, with the choices being Hare, Corgi, Cockatiel, Pig, and Tortoise. Choose wisely (but Corgi is obviously the right choice here). You'll be able to track each team's rankings on the Grand Prix page.
During the sale, you'll have a Boost Meter that enables you to earn points, and every day you participate, you'll increase your Boost Meter's capacity by 100. You'll also boost your capacity by 100 for every $1 you spend in the sale. To earn points, you'll have to complete various Grand Prix Quests in your Steam games, with each point you earn pushing you closer toward your next Boost. Boosting increases your team's speed in the race, and every day throughout the Grand Prix, random members of the first, second, and third-place teams will get the top item on their Steam wishlist for free (so update that wishlist now if you plan to participate). You'll also earn Grand Prix tokens as you earn points, which can be redeemed for various freebies at the Pit Stop, including chat emoticons, profile backgrounds, and more. And because this is a competition, you can also earn and coordinate attacks to decrease other teams' Boost levels.
See a few of our picks from Steam's Summer Sale below, and of course, you can browse the full offering of deals at the Steam Store.
428: Shibuya Scramble -- $15
Ark: Survival Evolved -- $17.49
Assassin's Creed Odyssey -- $30
Astroneer -- $22.49
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe -- $12
BlazBlue: CrossTag Battle -- $22.49
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon -- $6
Civilization VI -- $15
Danganronpa 1/2/V3 bundle -- $32.97
Darkest Dungeon -- $7.49
Dead Cells -- $16.74
Devil May Cry 5 -- $39.59
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition -- $27
Hollow Knight -- $9
Katamari Damacy Reroll -- $18
Night in the Woods -- $12
Nioh -- $20
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire -- $25
Prey -- $15
Return of the Obra Dinn -- $18
Scythe - Digital Edition -- $8
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice -- $48
Shadow of the Tomb Raider -- $24
Slay the Spire -- $12.49
Slime Rancher -- $10
SoulCalibur VI -- $19.79
Stardew Valley -- $12
Two Point Hospital -- $17.49
Undertale -- $4
Valkyria Chronicles 4 -- $20.39
XCOM 2 -- $15
Zero Escape Trilogy -- $22.38
Steam's Summer Sale is just the beginning of a long summer of deals. You can also save on thousands of PC games at Fanatical right now as part of its Red Hot summer sale (many of them redeem on Steam, so you can compare prices). Amazon Prime Day 2019 is quickly approaching as well, as the digital store finally just announced its annual sitewide sale will run July 15 and 16. Check back with GameSpot and follow us on Twitter for all the latest info.
Destiny 2's Season of Opulence keeps adding new stuff to do, between running the new Crown of Sorrows Strike, chasing down the Exotic rocket launcher Truth, or trying out the new, Heroic version of Menagerie that just launched. There's also that new Power level cap of 750 to. hit As always, a new weekly Ascendant Challenge can help you do that.
As players have come to expect, the Ascendant Challenge starts out with acquiring the corresponding bounty from Petra in the Dreaming City. You'll also need a Tincture of Queensfoil, a consumable item you can earn by taking part in certain activities in the Dreaming City (or you can outright buy one). Once you have both the bounty and a Tincture, you'll head to a Lost Sector, Aphelion's Rest, which is located in The Strand, just beneath the area where Petra is sometimes found. Using a Tincture will grant you a buff, Ascendance, that allows you to see a Taken portal. This one is located partway through the Lost Sector, atop a hill--it's hard to miss if you've used your Tincture.
Jumping into the portal takes you to the Ascendant Plane's Ouroborea. There, you'll have to explore the area to find four different blights. Enter the dome and destroy its core; you'll know you've done it when it disappears and the text "a seal breaks" pops up in the bottom-left corner. Once you've dealt with all the blights, you'll go back toward the center to destroy crystals (whose protective shield has been temporarily dropped). Just beware the knights who will chase you around as you do this--your best bet is to keep moving in a circle, which should let you destroy the crystals without allowing the knights to get too close.
Although the chest is unlikely to have much in the way of worthwhile rewards, finishing the Ascendant Challenge also completes the bounty you picked up from Petra. That rewards you with a piece of Powerful gear that is highly desirable and can increase your level, making this all worth the trouble, provided you're capable of getting it done. With The Black Armory expansion in full swing, players are back to the gear grind to get to the new level cap of 650.
Although this Ascendant Challenge is not a new one, there is a lot happening in Destiny 2 right now. Niobe Labs means the fourth of The Black Armory's new Forges to unlock, as well as a new step in the Mystery Box Exotic quest we've been tracking since the expansion released last month.
There are actually five new Exotic weapons in The Black Armory to find, four of which we know about (and one of which we can take a guess at). There's also a lot more happening in January and beyond: Bungie laid out its content calendar for the rest of Year 2, which is pretty extensive.
In lieu of a formal press conference, EA spent its E3 EA Play presentation giving half-hour presentations on its upcoming slate of games. It kicked off with a deep dive into Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, and now Respawn has released the full 25-minute gameplay demonstration that footage was pulled from.
The footage was accompanied with a note from game director Stig Asmussen on the EA Blog. The letter goes into detail about the goals of the demo, which was to show off lightsaber gameplay. He also mentioned that the level design is non-linear akin to a Metroid, Castlevania, or Souls game. The non-linear design and planet hopping was clipped from the stage show, leading to some criticism over the demo not showing one core aspect of the game, but the full 25-minute demo shows it off in more detail.
"We're excited to enter the final stage of game development: shipping this game. There is no doubt a lot of work ahead of us, but I have a ton of confidence in our team. We've only shown a fraction of the game, and we're looking forward to sharing more in the coming months."
Remedy's Entertainment's Control is a noticeable change of pace from the studio's past work. Known for story-driven third-person shooters like Max Payne and Alan Wake, Control takes a more high-concept and nonlinear approach, reframing Remedy's particular storytelling chops into the framework of a Metroidvania-style game. On the surface, Control seems like the most unusual game to come from the studio. It actively moves away from the somewhat grounded settings from their past, channeling the principles of the new weird literary genre, blending aspects of avant-garde sci-fi and fantasy with a story that is intentionally challenging to unravel.
However, diving into Control and experiencing its bizarre story makes for a surprisingly alluring adventure. It intentionally keeps you in a state of confusion, but for good reason. This conceit of simultaneously unraveling Control's complex story while exploring a massive, interconnected, brutalist labyrinth at your leisure was an opportunity that was too good to pass up for Remedy. During E3 2019, we spent time playing the game ahead of its August 27 release and spoke with narrative designer Brooke Maggs and game director Mikael Kasurinen about the making of the game, and how it changed their approach to understanding storytelling in games.
For more on Remedy Entertainment's Control, check out our hands-on impressions of the game from E3 2019.
Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and readability.
What I found interesting about Control is that it's so different from other Remedy games. For one, the world design does away with the linear style and goes for the Metroidvania setup.
Mikael Kasurinen: Yeah, we really had to stop and think about how to actually construct this world. When you look at our past games, they were mostly very linear, cinematic experiences. You go from one point to another point and that's it, that's the only way you travel through the world. Now we have to think in a more three-dimensional sense. You can come from anywhere and go anywhere, and so there's a lot of layers and layers of exploration and quests on top of each other. So we can't think of the environment as a linear path anymore. All of that affected the way we handled level design and art, and also the metrics of the world itself. There were clearly things we had to let go of regarding storytelling [from past games] that we just simply couldn't do in this kind of environment anymore.
Brooke Maggs: Also, from a range of different perspectives, navigation is important and we needed to have the science of it all present and explained. For example, in the linear experience, you only go through the level once and then not go there again. From a storytelling point of view, we don't necessarily know if a player might have completed a certain side mission and therefore knows something about a character, for example. Therefore, we have to be careful about when this side mission opens up, what you might have uncovered about the world already, so as not to spoil it for the side mission, but also keep them interesting as well.
This game seems to be intentionally placing you in a state of confusion. There's a lot of strange stuff happening, and though Jesse tries to rationalize things, it's clear she's just as in the dark as we are. Was that intentional given how bizarre and unusual the story is?
Kasurinen: Absolutely. We do spend a lot of time making sure that the player can understand what's going on, and know what's at stake. It was important for us that we were kind of accepting the idea that we were doing this strange experience for Control. Let's just throw the player together with Jesse into the middle of that experience and just start to make things happen right away, and not worry too much if things might initially seem a bit strange and weird, and trust that people will go through it. And then, piece by piece, they will start to see a larger picture of what is going on. That's why it was important for us that Jesse is an outsider of this world when we start off, so she's there together with the player as they enter this world.
Maggs: It's also an aspect of the "new weird" genre of fiction. It combines science fiction and fantasy elements, and with Control, we've grounded it in the modern world. So, with the Bureau of Control [the organization that Jesse works for], you're trying to understand these mysteries and then it's sort of questionable as to whether your theories are correct. The game is not intentionally confusing; it's intentionally mysterious and unsettling. So, the best way that we dealt with that is by having the main character not quite understand either, and therefore it's okay if the player doesn't completely know everything at that point.
I actually really appreciate how weird the game can get. Even though I felt somewhat lost during some points, I couldn't help but admire what was going in the story and all the different characters that were just rolling with it.
Kasurinen: A huge part of that is that we want to make a game where we trust the players--that they are ready to take the time to invest themselves into this world, participate, find out. If they're unsure about something, all the information is there; but you need to go and get it yourself. We want to avoid hand-holding. We want to avoid spoon-feeding, but we also want to make all of the info available to you. If you take the time, you can learn a lot.
Maggs: I think games--some at least--trust the player to make the connections. We're always trying to find a story that makes sense for us. If we pose the right elements in a game, players are always going to be like, "I'm trying to figure out what's going on. I'm trying to understand. I need to figure out where I'm going." All of those things are a positive sign of wanting to know, and I think that makes for good storytelling.
I could see some parallels with Alan Wake, in the sense that there's a lot of room for interpretation. Is the intent there to spur a similar kind of discourse online for Control?
Kasurinen: Absolutely. I love it when the community comes together on a game and tries to speculate to create theories of what actually happens, or they open up an aspect of the game that nobody even realizes. That's definitely a goal for us, that we want to create a mysterious, compelling world. There's a lot of things that are left for interpretation. We've thought it through and there's an internal logic present, but we've chosen a very explicit way in how to express it all to the player.
Maggs: Yeah--what to show, what to conceal, and what to reveal over time. We would love it if people would spend time trying to put together pieces of the lore in the world. We've got documents, we've got audio logs, we've got videos. We've thought through it a lot. Because it's a brand new IP, we've built it from the ground up from world design perspective, narrative perspective. We've put a lot of effort into thinking about what these forces are and what they're doing.
I feel the best way I would describe this game to someone--in terms of visuals and pacing--is if it were the movie Die Hard, but directed by David Lynch. This game has a dream-like cadence to it, and it's all set within this building that's always changing as the action keeps going.
Kasurinen: Well, regarding the visual style, we wanted to avoid cliches. Like this is not the average fantasy game that you've seen already a hundred times. We could easily go on and add a bunch of things, but we choose not to. We stuck to a minimalistic style for [for narrative and gameplay], but the elements that are there are strong. And with that you have the brutalist architecture--very specific style--and the lighting style, which gives a very graphic look to it. We layer on top of that the supernatural phenomena, and it's not something that is necessarily a thing in itself, but it's something that warps the reality around Jesse.
Maggs: That stark, brutalist look speaks to the bureaucracy of the building, but it provides a lot of grounding for the weird things as well. The architecture is very sharp. The lighting also communicates about the enemies, like the red lighting as well. The colors throughout the building are different per sector. So, all of that is very purposeful. We have very talented artists and visual directors and world director who put a lot of thought into guiding the visual style of control.
I especially like how present the main character is throughout the story, which is in keeping with the Remedy style of storytelling. Jesse's voice-over seems especially poignant as well, and there seems to be some interesting going on with the visual effects during her internal monologues.
Maggs: Yes, I'm glad you picked up on that. First of all, because Jesse, you know, lost her brother to a supernatural event in her past, she's been trying to figure this out for a long time. So she's become a very closed-off character. It can be hard to characterize and let the player in on the main character's internal feelings. This technique was really helpful for that as a narrative device, but let's say there's more to it than what we're revealing right now. There's a very clear purpose and intention for it.
Kasurinen: With every Remedy game, we explore different ways to tell stories. All the way back to Max Payne, we've got this narration in Alan Wake, and in Quantum Break as well. In this game, it's important for us that we have a way to hear Jesse's internalized thoughts as they are happening in the moment, because we want it to feel like the player is there with her, so it's not something that has already happened. That's also a very deliberate choice from us.
I brought up David Lynch earlier, but this really does have a lot of his style, as do other Remedy games. Could you speak a little bit about how his style, and also the new weird fiction, also ties into that?
Kasurinen: Well, new weird is all about humanity and encountering things that are beyond comprehension. The characters still try to figure it out, or they have another goal in their life that they're trying to achieve, and then this new setting around them is perplexing and strange. That felt like a great foundation for Control. That's the kind of world that we want to create. But as far as David Lynch goes, obviously we deal with things that's really hard to understand at times, but there's always a layer of familiarity. Like for Twin Peaks for instance, there's kind of a dream logic throughout. You can sense what is going on, but you're not 100% sure. There's a relatable layer to it, like interesting characters that you want to talk with, that you want to interact with them. So we wanted to have that same thing, like relatable characters and so on, but then there are strange phenomena around it.
There are other sources of inspiration as well, like the Southern Reach trilogy. The first book was called Annihilation, which was recently turned into a movie as well. The initial trilogy is fantastic, so that was a big inspiration for us. Then there are lots of others as well, like going back to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was the ending, where this protagonist encounters basically alien life, but it's a really perplexing, strange moment. Then there's obviously the film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky from the '70s, that was wonderful as well.
Control does a lot of new things for Remedy, but it still feels very much in that particular style. Is there anything about the game that sticks out to you the most as something special?
Kasurinen: What I'm personally excited about it that it's a new type of a game from Remedy. But our heritage is in there--all the things we've done in the last 20 years, going all the way back to Max Payne to Quantum Break. I think in a way, Control is a culmination point of all of these different things that we've done, and we haven't done this type of structure before. What I also like a lot from the storytelling perspective is that we have actors coming back from previous games, Max Payne's voice actor James McCaffery, Matthew Porretta who was the voice of Alan Wake, and then, of course, Courtney Hope, who was Beth Wilder in Quantum Break. So we have a lot of this kind of heritage and DNA that we've taken and used in this world, but we're applying it to this new type of direction. We did this in roughly three years, and something really clicked quite well with Control, so that's what I'm really proud of.
Maggs: I'm really proud of how our studio has pulled together a brand new IP that does a lot of new things. These conversation moments, side missions, the ability to go back through the world and explore--this is all new for Remedy and I'm really proud of all of it. I'm also proud that we've told a story with an active female protagonist. In fact, there are multiple important female characters in the world of Control, which I really love. It was one of the things that drew me to the project originally. I'm really proud of all of those things, really.
Every week, you can watch new movies on Netflix and other streaming services; however, the new content being released isn't new if it's not an original series. If you want to watch a new movie from the comfort of your own home, you have to buy them through a digital market or at a brick and motor store. This week, there are a few big releases you may want to check out for yourself.
While it's true we live in an age where everything gets remade, sometimes, those remakes are better than the original, and that's just the case for 2019's Pet Sematary. Based on the Stephen King book of the same name, the movie follows a family from Boston who moves to Maine, and they find a ancient cemetery in the woods. Said cemetery has some supernatural elements to it, and from there, horror. In the review of the movie, GameSpot's Rafael Motamayor said, "In an age where every film is getting a remake or a reboot, Pet Sematary might actually be better than the original. It's terrifying, twisted, heartbreaking, morbidly funny, and a hell of a fun time." You'll find a link to buy it digitally below. A physical release is still a few weeks away.
Additionally, Dumbo gets a physical release this week. It was a fine movie, but not something you need to rush out and grab. However, the special features on the home release are pretty solid. There are deleted scenes, a blooper reel, a "making of" featurette, and an Easter eggs feature as well, giving some great insight into all the planning of this movie.
Below, you'll find a highlighted lighted list of everything coming out this week.
Fortnite recently received the 9.30 patch, and now the first 9.30 content update is live on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. As developer Epic's patch notes detail, this week's update not only marks the start of the 14 Days of Summer event, it also introduces yet another new gun to the game and makes some balance adjustments to a handful of existing weapons and items. Additionally, some vaulted weapons are now available again, including the Pump Shotgun.
Fortnite has received some unique weapons over the past few seasons, but this week's addition to the arsenal is a classic: the Revolver, which Epic describes as "simple, reliable, [and] powerful." It comes in Epic and Legendary variants and can be found as floor loot or in chests, vending machines, supply drops, or Loot Carriers.
To make room for the Revolver, Epic has vaulted a handful of older weapons, namely the Impulse Grenades, Rift-to-Go, Pirate Cannon, and rare Tactical Assault Rifle. The developer has also slightly reduced the availability of the Flint Knock Pistol and the Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle, while a few other weapons have gotten balance adjustments. The Drum Gun's fire rate was reduced from 9 to 8, while the Heavy Assault Rifle's damage was slightly increased. Supply Llamas have also been adjusted; there will now be five per match rather than three, and they now hold 350 of each material rather than 200.
Epic has also unvaulted a few weapons as part of the aforementioned 14 Days of Fortnite event. The uncommon and rare Pump Shotguns are now back, as are Shockwave Grenades and the Suppressed SMG. Epic has said it will unvault a different weapon for 24 hours every day of the 14 Days of Summer event. You can find the patch notes for Battle Royale mode below, while the full patch notes are available on Epic's website.
Epic is offering lots of other daily content during the 14 Days of Summer event. Players will have a new challenge to complete and reward to unlock every day, and there will be a new outfit and other items for purchase from Fortnite's in-game shop. (The first challenge asks you to dance at different beach parties.) Finally, a new limited-time mode will be featured every day, and they and include the John Wick crossover LTM, Wick's Bounty, as well as a handful of new modes like Splashdown Squads, which has players trying to eliminate each other with water balloons.
Available from Floor loot, Chests, Vending Machines, Supply Drops, and Loot Carriers.
Vaulted
Rare Tactical Assault Rifle
With the unvaulting of the Suppressed Submachine Gun, we wanted to make sure loot distribution in this class of item was well distributed.
Impulse Grenades
Rift-To-Go
Pirate Cannon
Unvaulted
Uncommon and Rare Pump Shotgun
Available in floor loot and Vending Machines
There's been a lot of feedback around the Tactical Shotgun and Combat Shotgun effectiveness, and so we're experimenting with a world where the Pump Shotgun joins the current shotgun lineup.
Shockwave Grenade
Suppressed SMG
We feel the Suppressed Submachine Gun can fill a complementary role to the Burst Submachine Gun as a viable alternative.
Common, Uncommon, and Rare Revolver
Tactical Shotgun
Availability from floor loot reduced from 8.19% to 5.4%
Headshot Multiplier increased from 2 to 2.25
Burst SMG
Availability adjustments
Availability from floor loot reduced from 5.03% to 3.1%
Availability from chests reduced from 18.66% to 10.32%
Balance adjustments
Base accuracy increased by 13.6%
Jumping accuracy penalty reduced from 15% to 5%
Sprinting accuracy penalty reduced from 30% to 20%
Base damage increased from 23/24/25 to 24/25/26
The Burst SMG was dropping a bit too frequently for the role it was intended to fill. Additionally, it was underperforming when compared to similar items.
SemiAuto Sniper Rifle
Availability from floor loot reduced from 0.65% to 0.44%
Availability from chests reduced from 5.1% to 3.4%
FlintKnock Pistol
Availability from floor loot reduced from 1.97% to 1.32%
Infantry Rifle
Increased the Epic and Legendary Infantry Rifle clip size from 8 to 10
Minigun
Increased player damage from 18/19 to 20/21
DrumGun
Reduced clip size from 50 to 40
Reduced fire rate from 9 to 8
Since the unvaulting, the Drum Gun has outperformed in unintended areas. This adjustment should help create more counterplay in combat.
Heavy Assault Rifle
Increased damage from 36/38/40 to 38/40/42
The Heavy Assault Rifle usage rates aren't quite where we'd like. This adjustment to Damage is intended to offset some of the downsides of the weapon.
Gameplay
Supply Llama
Increased the material count from 200 of each to 350 of each
Increased the total number of Llamas per match from 3 to 5
Bond 25 might have suffered a somewhat troubled production so far, but filming is well and truly underway. While we're yet to receive a proper trailer or even a final title, production company Eon has now released a behind-the-scenes video for the new film.
The teaser, which you can watch below, gives us a first glimpse at Daniel Craig's fifth (and likely final) adventure as James Bond. Alongside Craig in the trailer is director Cary Fukunaga, Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), and Lashana Lynch (Nomi).
Filming of Bond 25 hit a snag earlier in June when a controlled explosion went wrong on set, injuring one person. Craig also needed about two weeks of downtime to recover from an ankle injury and surgery sustained while filming in Jamaica. Despite that, the production team said at the time that the movie will not be delayed.
James Bond 25, or whatever it ends up being called, hits theatres in April 2020. In addition to Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Lea Seydoux will all reprise their roles for the 25th James Bond movie. Wright and Ben Whishaw also return, while Rami Malek has joined the movie as the villain.
Bond 25's story begins with Bond no longer on active service but instead enjoying himself in Jamaica. "His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help," reads a line from the film's official description. "The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."
The Toshiba Fire TV Edition integrates Amazon's Fire smart platform for apps and voice control functionality with Alexa. It has built-in ethernet and wi-fi connectivity and three HDMI ports, making it a great, self-contained media center for all your gaming and streaming needs. Although it doesn't go up to 4K resolution for the absolute latest in graphics, a 1080p 60Hz TV of this size for $180 is a steal.
Prime Day has quickly become one of the biggest shopping events of the year. This year's sale is the longest-running yet and will last a full 48 hours, up from 36 hours in 2018. In the meantime, we've got some general tips to help you get the most out of Prime Day; plus, check back during the sale for all the best gaming and entertainment deals.
The Wii U has been a dormant part of the Nintendo hardware lineup, in favor of the newer and much more successful Nintendo Switch. But it isn't entirely dead and gone yet, as the company still issues occasional firmware updates. Like one this week, in the year 2019.
The Nintendo Support site doesn't list the update yet, but Nintendo Everything reports that the firmware update brings the system up to version 5.5.4. The update doesn't mention what exactly it does, but it likely adds "improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience." That has been the trend for Wii U updates since the last major feature addition in 2014. The last system update came in September 2018.
It's unsurprising that Nintendo hasn't paid much attention to the Wii U since the Nintendo Switch launched. Two years into the Switch, the newer system has already almost tripled the hardware sales of the Wii U, and nearly doubled its software sales. Nintendo has made a habit of re-releasing overlooked Wii U games on the Nintendo Switch, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Third parties have moved on as well. Though curiously, the still-massive 100-million install base for the Wii means it still gets some attention where the Wii U doesn't. Ubisoft's Just Dance 2020, for example, is slated for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Wii.
Brace yourselves, gamers: The biggest shopping event of the summer is going down in just a few weeks. Amazon has officially announced the dates and times for Prime Day 2019, its annual sitewide sale akin to Black Friday. Prime Day 2019 will begin July 15 at 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET / 8 AM BST / 5 PM AET and run for exactly 48 hours, ending on July 17 at midnight PT. Last year's sale ran for 36 hours, so this year's Prime Day will be the longest-running yet. And that doesn't even account for all the pre-Prime Day deals that are likely to pop up between now and July 15.
First of all, to take advantage of Amazon Prime Day 2019, you'll have to be a Prime member. Amazon's annual premium membership comes with a one-month free trial; after that, it costs $119 a year (or $13 per month). If you're a currently enrolled student, you can take advantage of Prime Student, which has a six-month free trial and afterward costs only $59 a year (or $6.49 per month). Besides access to Prime Day deals, Prime membership has plenty of benefits year-round, including free two-day (or faster) shipping, unlimited Prime Video access, automatic Twitch Prime membership (which offers free monthly PC games and in-game loot), music streaming, and more. If you're not ready to commit to the full package, you can still sign up for a free one-month trial to participate in Prime Day--just make sure to cancel after.
Unlike most everyday sales, Prime Day includes a few different types of deals to be aware of before the event rolls around. Besides the Prime Day-exclusive deals that will be available during the entire 48 hours (or until they go out of stock), there will also be Early Access deals available in the days leading up to Prime Day to get people excited. These deals will most likely showcase Amazon devices such as the Echo Show and Fire TV Stick. Spotlight Deals will run for 24 hours, and Lightning Deals, which tend to be the best, are available for only a short time and have a limited stock--sometimes, they'll sell out within minutes. We'll keep you updated on the best Lightning Deals via GameSpot Deals on Twitter, so be sure to give that a follow and check back often during Prime Day.
Even though you can't see lines out the door and people shoving their way through crowds to fill their cart, Prime Day is as hectic as Black Friday, which can cause the site to crash and products to sell out faster than you can blink. While we can't predict how Amazon's servers will hold up during Prime Day 2019, we can make your shopping experience a bit easier by curating the best game and console deals so you're aware of all the options. We'll be covering the best PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC game and console deals, as well as discounts on VR hardware, tabletop games, Funko Pops, and more, right here at GameSpot. Whether you're shopping for yourself or getting in some early holiday shopping, Prime Day 2019 will be an excellent chance to grab anything that's been sitting on your wishlist.
New Zealand director Taiki Waititi is one of the most in-demand filmmakers currently working. Following the success of Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi has produced the TV spin-off from his vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows, directed the soon-to-be-released World War II satire Jojo Rabbit, and is also set to helm the long-awaited live-action movie version of Akira. It's now been reported that he's involved with a new animated Flash Gordon film.
According to Deadline, Waititi has been brought on board to "crack" a new version of Flash Gordon. The site states that Waititi won't necessarily direct or write the movie, but is involved in the early development stages. A new Flash Gordon movie has been in the works for several years, with both Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman) and Julius Avery (Overlord) attached a various stages.
Flash Gordon is an intergalactic adventurer who first appeared in comic strips in 1934. There were TV adaptations in 1954 and 2007, and a Hollywood movie in 1980. Although the film was a critical and commercial failure, it has since become a cult favorite.
Waititi was first announced as the director of Akira in 2017, and the movie was given an official release date last month. The adaptation will hit theaters on May 21, 2021. Waititi has previously explained that he won't be making a direct adaptation of the 1990 anime movie, but would instead be going back to original manga it was based on.
Cyberpunk 2077's April 16 release date is one of the biggest dates in many gamers' calendars, but for those eager for anything Cyberpunk, there's a new version of the game's tabletop prequel coming soon.
The series started as a tabletop RPG called Cyberpunk 2020, and that game is getting a new edition named Cyberpunk Red, whose Jumpstart Kit launches on August 1. A full version of Cyberpunk Red will launch at a later date, according to Polygon.
The series' creator, Mike Pondsmith, has been working on simplifying and consolidating the Cyberpunk lore. Given the video game doesn't launch until next year, Red will be the first opportunity for fans to get their hands on the updated Cyberpunk universe. As well as an updated lorebook, the starter set includes a set of custom dice, six customizable characters, four physical maps, and a new adventure scenario.
Speaking to Game Informer, Schafer said he was initially "very concerned" in regards to the impact an acquisition might have on Double Fine's "culture and identity." However, after speaking with Microsoft, he determined Double Fine would be able to retain its identity.
As you may have heard from the @Xbox E3 briefing moments ago, Double Fine is joining Xbox Game Studios! How did this come about? let's ask @timoflegend … pic.twitter.com/n6EACVo7OZ
"I was very concerned about our culture and identity," Schafer said. "They explained the new way they're doing these acquisitions with unplugged studios that are not integrated into Microsoft. They're left alone, they do their own thing and stay independent, but are well funded. It sounds like a good deal."
In the end, Schafer said it's a "perfect" deal for Double Fine. The studio will get to keep making its "inspired weird games" but now it won't have to worry about securing funds for its next project, Schafer said. Independent studios like Double Fine before the buyout are known to have multiple plates spinning between developing games and constantly seeking funds for what's next.
Also in the interview, Schafer said it will decide on a "case by case" basis if other teams inside Microsoft could potentially work on Double Fine IPs in the future.
Double Fine had operated as an independent studio since its founding in 2000. Some of its popular early games included Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Costume Quest, and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, all of which were published by different companies. In 2012, Double Fine kicked off a "Kickstarter revolution" of sorts with an adventure game that would go on to be known as Broken Age. The studio's next game is the post-apocalyptic rogue-like Rad, which is published by Bandai Namco and due for release in 2019. Psychonauts 2 will follow in 2020.
It remains to be seen what Double Fine will develop under its new ownership by Microsoft. Terms of the Microsoft acquisition were not disclosed.
Netflix has attracted yet another Hollywood star to make a movie for the streaming service. The company has announced that George Clooney, who has won two Oscars, will direct and star in a new Netflix movie. The untitled film is based on the novel Good Morning, Midnight that was written by Lily Brooks-Dalton. Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) wrote the screenplay for the film, which is in pre-production.
Clooney plays the character Augustine, "a lonely scientist in the Arctic," in the post-apocalyptic film that follows two parallel threads. Here is the full plot description:
"This post-apocalyptic tale follows the parallel stories of Augustine (Clooney), a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to make contact with the crew of the Aether spacecraft as they try to return home to Earth."
Production on the film is scheduled to begin in October. No release date has been set, and there is no word on who will star in the movie alongside Clooney.
"Having known and worked with George for over two decades, I can't think of anyone better to bring this amazing story to life," Netflix movie boss Scott Stuber said in a statement. "The book is powerful and moving, and Mark's adaptation is beautifully written. At its core, this is a story about human nature, and one that I know our global audiences will fall in love with, just like I did when I read it."
The untitled Good Morning, Midnight movie is being produced by Clooney's Smokehouse Pictures, which produced the Oscar winning movie Argo, as well as films like Good Night and Good Luck, Leatherheads, and The Men Who Stare at Goats.
Clooney also worked on and appeared in the Hulu series Catch-22, but the new Good Morning, Midnight movie is his first feature film for a streaming service.
Space Jam 2 is coming, and it appears filming is starting soon (if it hasn't already). Star LeBron James, who plays the lead, wrote on Twitter today to talk about how he's really very excited that the movie has finally come together.
"Man this really just hit me! I'm really shooting Space Jam 2!! This is so surreal and doesn't even make sense to me! Where I come from man and what I saw growing up this doesn't add up to me! I'm truly grateful and beyond blessed. This is CRAZINESS," he wrote.
Man this really just hit me! I'm really shooting Space Jam 2!! This is so surreal and doesn't even make sense to me! Where I come from man and what I saw growing up this doesn't add up to me! 🤦🏾♂️! I'm truly grateful and beyond blessed. This is CRAZINESS. 🏀 🐰 🎥 👑🙏🏾
Just recently, it was reported that Space Jam 2 will also feature Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson alongside WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike, and Chiney Ogwumike. "Several more" NBA and WNBA players will reportedly have roles in the film, but Steph Curry won't be among them.
Curry told The New York Times that he couldn't appear in the film due to scheduling conflicts. Some had speculated that Curry wasn't contractually able to appear in the film due to his sponsorship deal with Under Armour, while James is with Nike. But it appears it was instead a scheduling issue.
The 1996 original Space Jam featured the world's biggest basketball star at the time, Michael Jordan, in the lead role. The original film featured numerous famous basketball players of the time, with Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and others joining Jordan. They teamed up with Looney Tunes characters in a very high-stakes basketball game. Bill Murray was also in the movie.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is set to produce Space Jam 2, with Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness) on board to direct. The movie opens in July 2021.
The director of the original Space Jam, Joe Pytka, doesn't think a sequel is a good idea; he thinks it's "doomed."
Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has explained why Microsoft focused more on the games coming out in the closer future than those that could release further out.
Spencer told Kotaku that he was proud that 12 of the 14 first-party titles that Microsoft showed off at E3 were shipping in the next year. "We were really able to focus on what's coming now, which I think is awesome," he said. "And then I think about the studios: where was Initiative? Where was [Forza Motorsport studio] Turn 10? Where was Playground's second team?"
As you may have heard from the @Xbox E3 briefing moments ago, Double Fine is joining Xbox Game Studios! How did this come about? let's ask @timoflegend … pic.twitter.com/n6EACVo7OZ
Spencer said it felt "nice" to not have to show all of its first-party games at the show. He said teams like 343 Industries (Halo) and Turn 10 (Forza Motorsport) have been given "time" to come up with new games that really excite people.
"We gave them time--we did, what, four Halos in four years?--giving them an opportunity to really think and have a creative impact when they launch. Turn 10 is similar. I want to give them time to think through their plans," he said.
"I love what they do with Motorsport, but you've got to be able to listen to your studios when they need time and they want to focus on more things. And as you have more content, you're able to do that," Spencer added.
The executive went on to say that quality for first-party games is "very important." He acknowledged that in the past it "became more difficult" to align the first-party Xbox portfolio of games with release dates chosen years before release. Now that Microsoft owns more studios--it now has 15 owned studios--it's allowed the company to "create room for [Microsoft] to focus on quality."
"I feel good about what Rod [Fergusson]'s done [at Gears studio The Coalition], what Bonnie [Ross] has done [at Halo studio 343 Industries], what Alan [Hartman] has done with Turn 10, and what Helen [Chiang]'s been doing with Minecraft."
For Halo and Forza Motorsport, the wait is already longer than usual for a new release--and as Spencer says, that's by design. Halo Infinite's release in Holiday 2020 will be around 5 years after the release of Halo 5 in 2015, which is longer than the average interval between the previous mainline releases. Meanwhile, the Forza Motorsport series (not counting Horizon) has been released every two years since the first game in 2005. The latest instalment, Motorsport 7, was released in 2017.
The Minecraft movie has been in development for years already, and now it's reached another stage of production. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has hired Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures, Frozen 2) to write the newest script.
She's just the latest writer for the Minecraft movie. Aaron and Adam Nee (Band of Robbers) wrote an earlier draft, while Wonder Woman writer Jason Fuchs wrote the draft before that.
Schroeder earned an Oscar nomination for co-writing Hidden Figures. She also co-wrote the Winnie the Pooh movie Christopher Robin and the upcoming Frozen 2.
It's also been revolving door for the Minecraft movie when it comes to directors. Warner Bros. hired Stranger Things director Shawn Levy, but he dropped out. The company later brought on It's Always Sunny star Rob McElhenney to direct, but he left the project, too.
Peter Sollett (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist) is now attached to direct.
According to Minecraft developer Mojang, the Minecraft movie will focus on a teenage girl and her "unlikely group of adventurers." They must defeat the evil Ender Dragon and save Overworld. It's not clear, however, if any of these plot details have changed now that Schroeder has been hired to write a new draft.
"We want to make the movie--just as we make the game--for you," Mojang said. "We're inspired by countless things, but none as much as the incredible stuff our community creates in Minecraft every day."
The Minecraft movie is scheduled for release in theatres on March 4, 2022. There is no word yet on if it will be animation or live action, or a hybrid, nor do we know who may star in it. At one point, Steve Carell was apparently connected to the project, though it's unclear if that's still the case.
Legion Season 3 has now premiered on FX. The cerebral X-Men show's final season promises to draw the story of mutants David Haller and Sydney Barrett, and everyone else at Division 3 and beyond, to a close. Read on for our first feature from a visit to the show's set in Los Angeles, and check out our Legion Season 3 premiere review as well.
"We always knew that Legion is technically a villain character," Aubrey Plaza said. She was speaking to journalists on a phone call just ahead of Legion's Season 3 premiere. We had visited the FX show's set at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, we'd seen several of the third season's episodes, and one question hung over it all: Can David Haller be redeemed after what he did in Season 2?
"Up until now, we've sympathized with his character, and we've understood why he does the things that he does," Plaza continued. "I think that this season is a little bit more about kind of showing the David Haller in the comic books--the character that we've been waiting for, in a way."
A show's protagonist turning into its villain is nothing new in a post-Breaking Bad world. But David's turn in Legion Season 2 had the uniquely tragic air of a self-fulfilling prophecy; there are dozens of points throughout Legion's first two seasons where, had things gone differently, David may have never reached this point. Yet here's where we are at the start of Season 3: David is alienated from his friends, having sexually assaulted the woman he loves, and, we're led to believe, is going to destroy the world. Is it possible to come back from what he did and avoid that terrible fate?
"That's a good question," Dan Stevens, who plays David Haller, told journalists during the visit to Paramount Studios. "I mean, again, the nature of Legion, the character, is that he is both the hero [and the] anti-hero figure. And there's a sort of diabolical sense of mischief through the comic book storylines that you find with him. And that's what makes him such a treat to play, is that dichotomy. Whether I think he can be redeemed--or should be--is not really for me to say. I think he wants to--he wants to see if he can sort of unpick this unholy mess that he's created."
That's where Season 3's main new character, Switch (Lauren Tsai), comes in. She's a time traveling mutant who David recruits in the Season 3 premiere to help him undo the bad things he's done. "Which is one way of attacking the problem," Stevens said.
But given what show we're talking about, it won't be nearly that easy.
"Syd confronts him with this very sophisticated element, I think, of like, 'Yeah, you can go back and you can change all these things, but does that really change who you are as a person?'" Stevens continued.
In Season 2, David essentially slipped Syd (Rachel Keller) a psychic roofie, erasing her bad memories of him, and then had sex with her. She technically consented to the sex, but only because David had erased part of her mind--without his interference, she would never have consented. Therefore, she wasn't really capable of giving informed consent at all. David clearly didn't look at it that way--he still doesn't view himself as the villain--but to Syd, and to anyone looking at it objectively, what David did to her was rape.
"We're dealing with the truth of people, and what they're capable of doing," Rachel Keller told GameSpot during a one-on-one interview on the show's set. "What I've really enjoyed this year is that kind of self-reflection, and the full range of experience that someone goes through after something violating like that. There's anger and doubt and shame and regret," Keller said.
"If there's a love story in there for her, it's her own forgiveness, and taking the responsibility for where she's at," she continued. "That's the love story for her. I don't know what you're supposed to do with sick egotistical men. I'm not sure. It's a big question. I feel like we're asking it. Do they deserve to heal and forgive themselves? Maybe. I hope so. Yeah, we'll see. I don't know."
Some Superhero
Noah Hawley, Legion's creator, doesn't think David's actions can be so easily distilled.
"He has these abilities, but because he's at 20-odd years hearing voices and seeing things that he didn't know if they were real or not, he built a personality disorder around those abilities in a way that really hindered his ability to function," Hawley told journalists during the set visit. "He filters the world through his own sense of injustice, and he really felt like, as he said, 'I'm a good person. I deserve love.'"
Amahl Farouk, aka The Shadow King, emerging as the show's villain during Season 2 gave David a focal point for his growing hero complex, fueling his belief that he was the victim of the story and that he could do no wrong--even as Farouk influenced the rest of Division 3 against David.
"[He] bought himself time," Hawley explained. "He feels like deep down, she really loves him, she's just confused. So he uses his powers to make her forget, and then because he just feels like he loves her so much, he goes to her in the night and has sex with her, and just tries to feel that feeling that he's so desperate to feel. Of course, when she realizes what's happened, it's a huge betrayal, because he took away her consent."
Season 3 won't shy away from the consequences of that act, but it also won't paint these characters--people who we've grown to empathize with and understand--as caricatures of heroes and villains.
"It's not an accident that we told a sexual assault storyline in the show," Hawley said. "Telling the adult version of a comic book show involves dealing with complicated issues, and what I was interested in looking at is not 'Good vs. Evil' in capital letters, it's the things that we do to each other--the way that people are together--and that it turns out you can extrapolate out the larger evils of the world. That idea, that David would do something to Syd where he literally removed her consent and then had sex with her--in his mind, it was a romantic act. And obviously, an objective and rational person wouldn't see it that way, but part of it was to show the audience how ungrounded David was in reality--that he could still perceive that as a romantic act--as a clear sign of his mental illness."
"It's not an accident that we told a sexual assault storyline in the show."
"What's driving David is not mustache-twirling, supervillain, destroy the world things--he's being driven by this very human desire to feel loved," Legion's creator continued. "In order to achieve that feeling, he's doing some things that are hard to root for, but I think what's interesting is to kind of challenge the audience to say, well, are you with him still?...I think the fact that this show is built around a love story, that there is this very human desire for love stories to work out, and I think that's part of what drives the story here, is to figure out: Is there any way for these two people, if not to be in a relationship together, than at least to get to the other side of what David has done to her?"
The Full Spectrum
Time travel may allow David to change the events of the past, but it won't let him change who he is on the inside. The character's extreme narcissism will be front and center this season; as Stevens put it, "Could David go back and prevent the holocaust? Sure, but he doesn't--you know, because he thinks he's got more important things to do."
"A lot of what Rachel and I talked about was that idea that if we were going to tell the sexual assault story, we were going to tell it," Hawley explained. "We were going to deal with it, we weren't just going to gloss it over. And because we have this time traveler, David births this idea: Maybe he just goes back and makes that not happen. He can go back in time and then not do that to her, and what she says is, 'Yeah, but then what would happen is you would still be the person who was capable of doing that. I just wouldn't know.'"
"Could David go back and prevent the holocaust? Sure, but he doesn't."
That's hard for David to understand, but not for Legion's other characters. Navid Negahban, who plays Amahl Farouk, told journalists that the former Shadow King actually cares deeply for David--in his own way. David carried Farouk around as a passenger in his head for most of his life, and Farouk identifies with David more than the other characters do. In Season 3, Farouk genuinely tries to save the world, but he also believes he can save David--whether or not David is capable of being saved.
"That's one of those questions that makes you think about what's good, what's bad, who's the villain, who's the hero?" Negahban said. "The Shadow King, even if you go back and look at his journey, in his mind, he has always been a hero."
Bill Irwin, who plays the male half of the being that comprises both Cary and Kerry Loudermilk, told GameSpot he believes that every actor has to "think of one's own character as good." Amber Midthunder, who plays Cary's female counterpart Kerry, said that's one of the central questions everyone in the show will ask themselves in Season 3. "Everybody has a different scale of what is right and wrong, and what crosses the line and what's forgivable," she said. "I think the thing about this year is that we're we're watching each character wade through [those questions]. I think as an audience, you're going to be wading through a sea of questions."
At the center of David's quest to redeem himself--or at least to undo some of the bad things he's done--is Switch, the time-traveling new character played by Lauren Tsai. "I think that's going to be a very fun thing for the viewers to experience, is this uncertainty of what is good and what is bad, and just how complex we all are," Tsai told GameSpot during a one-on-one interview on set. "You can understand. You can feel the human, the imperfection that lives within all of us, and the regret, and what comes of all of that."
Stevens said one of the big questions Season 3 will ask is one of the big questions of existence: nature vs. nurture. In other words, "how much you can attribute unspeakable acts to a disturbed childhood and how much is your own volition." Among many other things, Season 3 will introduce David's parents, Charles Xavier (Harry Lloyd) and Gabrielle Haller (Stephanie Corneliussen).
"That's a massive part of David's struggle, and by keeping it selfish and keeping it to that thing, we get to really examine somebody who's struggling with that question," Stevens described. "How much was it Farouk sitting at the helm of this thing wreaking havoc, and how much of it was inherited from his parents?"
Hawley said David's complex characterization is one of the things that drew him to Legion in the first place.
"It just seemed like a fascinating character to me to explore at the center of a show--someone who clearly has legitimate complaints," Hawley explained. "He does and did have a profound psychiatric issue. He was in a psychiatric hospital. He did try to kill himself. He did have addiction problems. He's not, at heart, it seems, a bad person--he's not malevolent toward others. He's just kind of a raw nerve, and we meet that guy in the first hour, and he falls in love, and we want that for him.
"We want there to be something positive for him, and he goes on this journey with [Syd] of self discovery, and part of that self discovery, for us, is to realize he's actually much more damaged than we thought he was. There's part of it for me that's about--it's always about empathy, it's always about challenging the audience on some level to care about people who aren't like them, and also maybe over the course of the story to realize that there are some people who can be saved, and there's some people who can't be saved--and to try to learn to tell the difference."
Which type of person David Haller is, we'll have to watch to find out.
The Pokemon series may have begun with only 151 monsters, but there are now more than 800 species of Pokemon to date, and that number will only grow with the impending release of Pokemon Sword and Shield for Switch later this year. The sheer variety of monsters in the series has birthed the adage "every Pokemon is someone's favorite," and that is precisely what one Reddit user set out to test.
Reddit user Mamamia1001 recently created a survey asking people to vote for their favorite Pokemon, with the intent of discovering whether the saying was actually true. More than 52,000 people participated in the survey, and out of all those responses, four Pokemon received zero votes: Silcoon, Gothita, Eelektrik, and Yungoos. Considering the sample size, that only four monsters didn't receive any votes certainly seems to lend some weight to the saying.
The survey also gave us a look at who the most popular Pokemon are, at least among those who responded to the survey. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gen 1 Pokemon dominated the top 10. Topping the list was Charizard, which received 1,107 votes. Following behind it was Gengar with 1,056 votes, while Arcanine rounded out the top three with 923 votes. You can take a look at the top 10 below, while the full results can be found here:
Charizard -- 1,107 votes
Gengar -- 1,056 votes
Arcanine -- 923 votes
Bulbasaur -- 710 votes
Blaziken -- 613 votes
Umbreon -- 607 votes
Lucario -- 604 votes
Gardevoir -- 585 votes
Eevee -- 581 votes
Dragonite -- 551 votes
The aforementioned adage has been in use a lot recently following the news that Sword and Shield won't feature every Pokemon. At E3 2019, series producer Junichi Masuda confirmed that players won't be able to transfer all of their old monsters from Pokemon Home to the Switch games--only those that are available in the Galar Pokedex, a decision that has lead to a public outcry from fans. It's possible that future games won't include all Pokemon as well.
Pokemon Sword and Shield launch for Nintendo Switch on November 15, while the Pokemon Home service will go live for Switch and smartphones in early 2020. We learned a lot more about the games back at E3, including how their new Dynamax battle mechanic works. You can read more about the titles in our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.
Director Josh Cooley (Inside Out, Up) revealed via Twitter that fans and moviegoers alike should "stay after the credits" for a possible surprise. "The story doesn't end until the very last frame," Cooley concluded, suggesting that something special awaits at the end of the toy's story.
An amazing crew/cast has been working very hard over the last 5 years to bring Toy Story 4 to the big screen tomorrow. We love these toys so much, you will feel it on the screen. OH, and stay after the credits. The story doesn't end until the VERY last frame. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/Ds1x31Nhxw
Debuting this past weekend on Friday, June 21, Toy Story 4 already has the best opening box office weekend of the Toy Story movies. 2010's Toy Story 3 sits at $110 million, trailing behind Toy Story 4's steadily-climbing $121 million. Toy Story 2 hovers around $57 million, while the first Toy Story amassed $29 million.
While Toy Story 3 ended "perfectly," Pixar revealed how it pulled together one more story for Andy's toys. With Bo-Peep established as a main character, producer Jonas Rivera found the relationship between Woody and Bo-Peep to be "so intriguing to us [at Pixar]." Cooley agreed, saying, "So that was our goal for this film: to make this [second] meeting [between Woody and Bo-Peep] so powerful, it would be deserving of Toy Story 4."
There are a lot of characteristics of magic at play in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, just like there are in the Wizarding World of the books and movies. One of them is the creation of potions, which can give you a serious edge in battles against wizards and magical creatures, speed your progress through the game, or help you capture the most difficult Foundables (we've got lots more Harry Potter: Wizards Unite coverage on that stuff, too). You'll get lots of potions as you play the game, but like any Hogwarts student, you can also brew your own.
Brewing potions is pretty simple at first--if you have the ingredients, you just push a button to start cooking. But there are actually a few nuances to the system that aren't immediately apparent. If you know what you're doing, you can make sure you get the right ingredients to make every kind of potion without having to rely too much on random chance. You can also brew your potions more quickly, with a little extra care.
Here's everything you need to know about potions, including how to get the right ingredients and all the Master Notes.
Ingredients: Find Them, Pick Them, Grow Them
Ingredients are the essential part of your potion-brewing process, obviously. There are lots of locations where you can find ingredients out in the world of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. First, you'll find plenty of ingredients spawning out on the map around you as you walk around playing the game, and you can just pick them up by tapping on them.
Using a Greenhouse presents a more reliable way of getting the specific ingredients you need. Tapping on any Greenhouse takes you inside, where you can interact with the building and get a random supply of ingredients (you also get a chance at some Spell Energy), more or less just like an Inn. You're presented with three potted plants in a Greenhouse, and pulling out one of the plants gives you some smattering of potion-brewing stuff. You won't know what you'll receive until you get it, which makes planning difficult.
If you need an ingredient in particular, you can use a Greenhouse to grow your own plants. You do that with Seeds and Water, which you'll also find spawning on the world map. Tap into the Greenhouse and flip to the tab in the bottom right corner of the screen. There, you can use your seeds and any water you've found to start growing something. You'll have to return when the seed is fully grown in order to claim your ingredients.
Stir It Up
Once you start a potion, you're stuck waiting for it to finish brewing--usually at least a couple of hours. You can speed up that timer, however, if you know the Half-Blood Prince-like secrets to master potion-brewing. There's a system of stirs and taps that, like in the Harry Potter movies and books, is not immediately apparent to the novice potion maker, even in the game.
When you brew a potion, tap the wooden spoon sticking out of the cauldron once the recipe has been started, when the liquid is swirling in place. You should get a closer, top-down view of the potion as it's cooking. This is when you can start your master brewing. In order to speed up the recipe, you'll need to try various touch gestures on the potion. These include things like a clockwise stir, a counter-clockwise stir, tapping on the potion, shaking your mobile device, and drawing vertical or horizontal lines.
You'll need to do all the gestures for the potion in order, but once you find the correct one, it'll be revealed in the Master Notes at the top of the screen. Brew the Master version of the potion correctly three times, and you'll get the Master Notes unlocked automatically, so you won't have to try to remember the gestures you used. Master Notes only speed up your brew times, so don't expect better version of your potions just because you're a Snape-level potions master. We've got the full list of Master Brewing notes below.
Use Potions For Everything
Potions are very useful in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The ones you'll use most often are probably the Healing Potions, which can keep you alive during battles and Wizarding Challenges in Fortresses, and the Exstimulo Potions, which make your spells more effective against Confoundables and in battles. But there are a bunch of other kinds of potions as well, which can increase your Focus in battle, raise your experience gains as you play, and help you keep Confoundables from fleeing when you try to catch them.
You can only carry 50 potions at the start of the game (you can buy more space with Gold if you like), and you'll quickly fill that up with potions you get from leveling up and completing Achievements and other objectives. Especially as you get further into the game, you'll face harder challenges that will require potions--but they're easy to come by, so don't save them up. Use them, and keep brewing more.
Master Brewing Notes
Here's a rundown of the Master Brewing notes for each potion recipe.
Valve's highly-anticipated annual sale will be here any day, but online game retailer Fanatical decided that PC gamers have waited long enough to start getting big deals on Steam games this summer. Fanatical's Red Hot Sale includes over 1,000 PC games on heavy discount, with an additional 10% across the board when you use the promo code FANATICAL10. The sale is set to run through the week.
Fanatical is also offering an exclusive deal for GameSpot's readers on the just-released Castlevania-like Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. First-time customers can use the promo code GAMESPOT25 for 15% off the already-discounted game, bringing it down to the lowest price we've seen anywhere at $26.85, down from the full retail price of $40. GameSpot's review of the Kickstarted throwback title is forthcoming, but impressions have generally been positive.
More than likely, you subscribe to some sort of streaming service, like Netflix. In fact, you probably have yourself signed up for more than one. Every week, services like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Shudder release new content for you to binge from the sanctity of your own home.
This is actually a pretty quiet week for releases. Most of Amazon's new releases come out on June 30, and next week is July, so expect a slew of new movies, TV shows, and more to hit next week. You'll have a lot to watch during your holiday weekend. Let's check out a couple of the highlights for this week.
True Grit heads to Amazon Prime Video on Saturday, June 29. The Coen brothers western follows a teenager whose father was murdered. She hires a U.S. Marshall to track down the killer. It's a great genre film and one of the few times where the remake is better than the original. If you don't have Prime and you want to watch the film, don't worry, as True Grit will be available on Hulu on Sunday, June 30.
The only other notable movie coming this week is 2018's The Spy Who Dumped Me. The action comedy stars Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon as best friends that become involved in a conspiracy when one of them discovers her ex-boyfriend is a spy.
Below, you'll find the full list for everything being released on Amazon, Hulu, and Shudder this week. If you want to look into the future, both Amazon and Hulu have revealed what's coming ahead for July.
Blizzard has announced some big changes slated for the next major Hearthstone update. The collectible card game will add two more cards to the Hall of Fame, which makes them ineligible for Standard mode play, and at the same time it will introduce a whopping 10 new cards.
In an update on the Hearthstone Blog, the team explained how it tries to define class identity, and outlined what it sees as the core strengths and weaknesses of each class. The studio has concluded that two Basic cards don't fit the theme of their classes' identities, and so they'll be retired into the Hall of Fame: the Rogue card Vanish and the Priest card Mind Blast. Both will still be playable in Wild mode.
Vanish is a spell that returns all minions to their owners' hands, but Blizzard feels the efficient board clear is counter to one of its intended weaknesses. Mind Blast allows Priests to do a lot of damage to their opponent in a pinch, especially with spell damage boosts, while Blizzard intends the class to be limited in its direct damage. Those two will be replaced by two new cards, Plaguebringer and Radiance.
In addition, Blizzard is introducing ten new cards to the Classic set, which will be obtainable through Classic packs or crafting. It says it wants to steadily introduce new Classic cards to maintain a "healthy amount of easily-obtainable cards" through Standard games, as it rotates some out into the Hall of Fame. The studio said these cards will be coming in the next major update, but didn't announce a date.
Hearthstone has traditionally introduced a handful of new expansions per year with only minor balance changes in-between. This season the game has been noticeably more active in filling the months between major expansions with other in-game events and changes. After the latest expansion launched in April, its single-player component began rolling out in May, and in June the game issued its first-ever batch of card buffs alongside a brand-new card. You can still claim that card for free by logging in by July 1.
Summer is officially here, and Fortnite is celebrating the start of the season with a two-week-long event called 14 Days of Summer. The event is now live on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices following the game's 9.30 content update, and it'll bring a load of new things to do and see in Fortnite's Battle Royale, Creative, and Save the World modes.
On the Battle Royale front, developer Epic will unvault one weapon for only 24 hours every day during the 14 Days of Summer event, giving you a chance to play around with some of the items that have been removed from the game. On top of that, there will be new challenges to complete and rewards to unlock each day of the event, as well as new outfits and other items to purchase from the in-game shop.
Finally, Battle Royale players will be able to jump into a new limited-time mode every day during 14 Days of Summer. Epic hasn't yet revealed the order these modes will arrive, but it has given fans an overview of all 14 LTMs on the Fortnite website, and they include the John Wick crossover, Wick's Bounty, as well as a handful of new modes, such as the summer-themed Splashdown Squads--in which players will try to eliminate opponents with a new water balloon item--and Storm Chasers Surfin' Squads.
In Save the World mode, meanwhile, players will be able to complete new quests every day during the 14 Days of Fortnite event. Clearing these quests will earn you Summer Tickets, and if you mange to complete all 14 before the event ends, you'll unlock a "new explosive weapon." Fortnite Creative will also feature a new island every day during the event.
There are still a few weeks left in Season 9 of Fortnite, but Epic has already announced it is making some changes for next season. Specifically, Fortnite's minimum requirements on PC will change beginning in Season 10. In the meantime, you still have a few weeks left to complete any remaining challenges from this season. If you need help, you can find tips and guides for all the trickier tasks in our complete Fortnite Season 9 challenges roundup.
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