E3 2019 begins in just a few days, but even before that, Pokemon fans can look forward to some announcements. On Wednesday, June 5 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, Nintendo will be holding a special Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct that will contain "roughly 15 minutes of new information" about the Nintendo Switch games. The original Sword and Shield announcement showed off the three new starter Pokemon, the new Galar region, and a few other details, but there's still a lot left to learn. Here are our big predictions for the Pokemon Direct.
A Release Date
When Pokemon Sword and Shield were announced, they were given a late-2019 release window. That's fast approaching, so it stands to reason that the June 5 Direct will confirm the exact date. The most recent Pokemon games--Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee--all released in November, so I'll go ahead and predict a November 2019 release date.
More Pokemon, Including Legendaries
So far, the only new Pokemon we've seen for Gen 8 are the three starters: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. The Pokemon Direct will include a mix of run-of-the-mill Pokemon--think the Pidgey and Rattata of Galar--and Sword and Shield's legendary Pokemon, which would presumably be on the games' boxes. It would also be great to see the starters' evolved forms, but because they've already had their day in the sun, I think we'll have to wait to see those.
A New Battle Mechanic
The basic Pokemon formula has largely stayed the same over the years, but the series has been good about regularly introducing new battle mechanics to keep things interesting. X and Y had Mega Evolution, Sun and Moon had Z-Moves (and Battle Royals), and Sword and Shield will probably have something spicy to try out. There's even a circular red-and-blue symbol seen throughout the announcement trailer, including in the games' Japanese logos, that would seem to indicate a new mechanic--a crystal logo appeared in Sun and Moon's Japanese logos, representing Z-Crystals--but there's otherwise no indication of what it might be. I don't have a guess, either.
Story Details And Version Differences
Finally, I'm willing to bet the Pokemon Direct will include some story info. What's the deal with the Galar region? What sort of Team will you be up against, if any? The Pokemon Direct will have character intros and some basic details to lay out Sword and Shield's vibe. I'll go one step further and say that we'll also learn what some of the version differences are, whether it's a gameplay gimmick like Sun and Moon's day-night shift or simply what Pokemon you might find in each.
What's Left For E3?
It seems a bit premature holding a Sword and Shield Direct right before E3, right? What will be left? While it's unlikely Nintendo will reiterate much from the Pokemon Direct during its June 11 E3 presentation, that presentation will be followed by three days of Treehouse streams. In previous years, those streams have featured in-depth gameplay demos, sometimes with developer commentary; Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee got the spotlight last year. The Treehouse streams would be a great opportunity to expand upon what we learn during the June 5 Direct without having to spend precious time going over specifics.
What do you think we'll see during the Sword and Shield Direct? Let us know in the comments. Stay tuned for all the news, and come back after to see how right or wrong we were!
For being one of the X-Men's most notoriously complicated mutants, Jean's story actually has a relatively simple start. She's one of the original team members, introduced back in the very first issue back in 1963. She was the token girl on the otherwise all-male team back in the day, and the only mutant with telekinetic powers in the mix--the others, Iceman, Psyclops, Beast, and Angel all had largely physical powers. For years, this was as tricky as Jean got. She was known as Marvel Girl, and she could move things with her mind--no fuss, no frills.
Becoming The Phoenix
The simplicity didn't last, however. Over time, more of Jean's origin was revealed to be a somewhat insidious effort by Charles Xavier, who had clocked her as an up-and-coming telepath with potentially dangerous abilities. As she was enrolled in Xavier's Academy For Gifted Youngsters, Xavier placed special telepathic blocks in Jean's brain to limit her mutation to just telekinesis at first.
After a considerable amount of training and practice, her telepathic powers were eventually unlocked, allowing her to grow that particular skill as she participated in missions with the team--but eventually, Xavier's fears began to become realities. It started slowly at first: During a mission set in space, Jean was forced to sacrifice herself to save her teammates, but in doing so, sent a massive telepathic plea out into the universe itself--a plea that was answered by a cosmic power known as the Phoenix Force, the manifestation of the power of creation and life itself in the universe.
The Phoenix Force took up residence inside of Jean, saving her from the near-death experience. She emerged with a new look and codename: Phoenix.
For a few fleeting moments, it actually seemed as though that was all there was to it. Jean seemed mostly fine, despite the trauma, and her revival was mysterious but not completely unheard of in superhero comics. But after some time, the truth came to light--sort of. The Phoenix Force had actually taken over Jean's body and mind, creating a duplicate body to house her consciousness and the Force itself, along with Jean's memories, while Jean's real body was placed in a special stasis pod/cocoon to be healed.
Yeah. Look, X-Men stories are a lot of things, but simple ain't one of them.
Enter Dark Phoenix
So anyway, Phoenix Jean--who, for all intents and purposes, was Jean, or at least, completely believed herself to be Jean--eventually started to experience strange visions of a past life where she was known as Lady Grey, the nefarious Black Queen of a group of evildoers called the Hellfire Club. The story of Lady Grey was, in fact, a complete fabrication by a villain known as Mastermind, who was specifically working to undermine Jean's sanity. And that's exactly what he was able to do. As the visions increased in frequency and intensity, Jean eventually accepted them as reality and succumbed entirely to a new evil alter-ego: Dark Phoenix, the full, unbridled potential of the Phoenix Force unchecked and given horrifying, hedonistic purpose care of the false Hellfire Club memories.
Dark Phoenix promptly became the single most powerful and deadly psychic in the universe--and we mean that in the most literal and comic book-y way possible. After turning on her friends and team, Dark Phoenix opted to leave Earth, getting herself pinged on the radar of a handful of alien races and committing a handful of casual planetary genocides on the way--you know, like you do--which specifically got her noticed by the Shi'Ar Empire, who deemed her a greater threat to the galaxy than Galactus himself.
The conflict eventually escalated so dramatically that the Shi'Ar nearly enacted "Plan Omega," which would evolve destroying the entire solar system in an effort to destroy Dark Phoenix, but thankfully the X-Men were able to head things off before they went that far. After briefly regaining her sense of self and her human memories, Jean heroically sacrificed herself, forcing the Phoenix Force out of her body and saving the universe.
The cycle of death and rebirth
But things don't end there. Remember the original Jean Grey body that was left in a healing stasis? The disembodied Phoenix Force tried to possess that version of Jean--it doesn't work, but it does bring that Jean back into play, prompting her to wake up and begin a new life with no memory of any of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix events at all. Meanwhile, another, totally different duplicate Jean, a clone made by the villain Mr. Sinister, isn't so lucky. A portion of the Phoenix Force found a home in that body and creates another version of Jean altogether, known as Madelyne Pryor.
So to recap, there are three Jeans in the mix here: the original Jean who was stuck in a healing coma for the events of the Phoenix saga, the duplicate Jean who was the embodiment of the Phoenix Force who became Dark Phoenix and died, and the clone of Jean who became the second Phoenix Force host, Madelyne Pryor.
Remember what we said about X-Men comics not being simple? Yeah. We really meant it.
After the Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean's life never really went back to normal. She and her on-again-off-again flame Scott Summers were married for a while (though Scott also had a thing with Madelyne Pryor, too, which is a whole other can of worms) but their relationship eventually began to fail with a little help from the villain Apocalypse, who temporarily killed Scott and Emma Frost, with whom Scott engaged in a "psychic affair."
Sometime later, Jean was killed yet again--this time by a former teammate named Xorn (who was actually Magneto, don't worry about it)--only to be revived by the Phoenix Force all over again--sort of, at least. There are some alternate timeline shenanigans at play here that both do and do not negate her death. Ultimately, it was revealed that Jean bonded to the Phoenix Force to become a god-like entity known as the White Phoenix Of The Crown, and completely ascended to a higher plane of existence known as the White Hot Room, an extra-dimensional nexus that served as a sort of hub for the Phoenix Force and its hosts, rendering her somewhere between life and death. Though, as far as anyone was concerned on Earth, she was just the normal sort of dead.
She actually stayed dead for a while this time--kind of, at least. While Jean was technically dead for all intents and purposes, her consciousness still resided in the White Hot Room and would occasionally come into play in the form of psychic messages and manifestations (also through her various clones and time traveling pseudo-descendants like Hope Summers).
What about now?
That's how things stayed for some time until she was finally resurrected again, by way of uh--an egg. Get it? Because the Phoenix is a bird? She even briefly had her very own team of X-Men after her resurrection, who acted as a sort of top secret mutant black ops unit trying to "heal" the world of its anti-mutant sentiments.
Oh, and there were a couple of time-displaced versions of her running around too, including the child version of herself brought to the present alongside all her original X-Men teammates. Kid Jean even got her own solo series for a while, which is something the adult version of herself never managed to nail down.
So what does this say about Jean's turn as the Phoenix in the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix live action movie? We can guess based on trailers that we're going to see a pretty villainous turn for Jean on the big screen as is par for the course in the source material, but it's difficult to guess just how this particular incarnation of the Phoenix Force is actually going to work. It seems like a safe bet to expect a major self-sacrifice moment from Jean by the end of the movie, but with news that the ending has been reshot, where things will end up is really anyone's guess. It's pretty unlikely that we'll see big screen versions of any of Jean's clones, though, if only for the fact that this particular arm of the X-Men cinematic universe is likely coming to a close thanks to the Disney/Fox buy out. But hey, anything's possible.
Monster Hunter World's massive Iceborne expansion arrives on PS4 and Xbox One this September (with a PC release to follow). The DLC will make its playable debut at E3 2019, but ahead of the expo, Capcom has shared a new story trailer that sets the stage for the adventure and offers another look at some of the new monsters players will encounter.
Set after the events of Monster Hunter World's main story, Iceborne takes players to an entirely new arctic region called Hoarfrost Reach, which is home to a diverse array of new and returning monsters. After arriving at the region, the Research Commission establishes a new camp called Seliana, which will serve as your base of operations during your Iceborne adventures.
Along with the new elder dragon Velkana, Iceborne introduces an "extreme" variant of the Legiana known as the Shrieking Legian. It also brings a couple of older monsters back; we got a glimpse at the Nargacuga during Sony's latest State of Play broadcast, and the new trailer reveals the fearsome Tigrex is coming back as well. It appears some more fan-favorites will also return; the trailer ends with a fiery slash followed by Glavenus's distinctive roar, teasing it may likewise be coming back in Iceborne. You can watch the story trailer above.
Capcom says the upcoming Iceborne expansion "rivals the volume of the original release of Monster Hunter World." On top of all the new monsters, it adds a variety of new quests, gear and weapons to craft, and a new rank called Master Rank, which is similar to the G-Rank from previous games. Some of the game's existing gadgets are also getting new upgrades; the Slinger, for instance, is getting a new Clutch Claw function that allows players to freely grapple and mantle enemies.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne launches for PS4 and Xbox One on September 6. The expansion is also coming to PC later this winter, although no date has been specified yet. You'll need to own a copy of the base game in order to play Iceborne, but Capcom is releasing a new Master Edition that bundles both together for $60.
Star Trek continues to thrive on television, but the future of the long-running sci-fi series on the big screen is less clear. Although 2015's Star Trek Beyond was not as successful as previous films, Paramount was still moving forward with a fourth film in the current reboot series. However, it was cancelled earlier this year, and now Chris Hemsworth, who had been initially cast in the film, has spoken about his decision not to appear it.
Hemsworth made a small appearance in JJ Abram's first Star Trek reboot movie as George Kirk, and was set to reprise this role. His involvement was first announced back in 2016, but the Thor star has now told Variety that he ultimately turned the role down because he felt the script wasn't good enough. "I didn't feel like we landed on a reason to revisit that yet," he said. "I didn't want to be underwhelmed by what I was going to bring to the table."
Interestingly, it was previously reported that Hemsworth stepped down from Star Trek 4 due to contract issues. According to a story in The Hollywood Reporter, both Hemsworth and Chris Pine, who plays James Kirk, believed that Paramount was forcing them to take pay cuts for the fourth film. Either way, in January it was reported that director SJ Clarkson has stepped down and the movie was "shelved."
In related news, the rumours that Quentin Tarantino might make a Star Trek movie persist. In January 2018 it was reported that Tarantino had spoken to Abrams about a new story for a Trek movie, and last month the filmmaker stated that it was still "a very big possibility" that the movie could happen.
In terms of Star Trek on the small screen, the first teaser for the upcoming show Picard was released last week. As the title suggests, the series will focus on the iconic former Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard, with Patrick Stewart reprising his role from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It will premiere later this year.
Disclosure: CBS Interactive is the parent company of GameSpot.
The final content expansion of Destiny 2's current annual pass, Penumbra, drops today along with the Season of Opulence, which means the future of Bungie's live service shooter is currently unknown to players. Or at least, that was the case before dataminers started digging through the game's new patch, Update 2.5.0.1, and discovered what they say are details about Destiny 2's next expansion.
According to a post on Reddit, the next new content to come to Destiny 2 is called Shadowkeep, and it's due to drop this fall. The expansion will take players back to the moon, a Destiny 1 location that hasn't been included in Destiny 2 so far, where they'll fight new variations of the Hive. Here's the full description on the image Redditors say they pulled from the new update's files:
"The next chapter in the Destiny experience arrives this fall as terrifying shadows descend upon a forgotten moon. Return to the lunar surface. Journey deep into a mysterious enemy citadel. Become a slayer of nightmares."
Returning to the moon tracks with Destiny 2's story ever since Forsaken. In that expansion, the Hive attacked the Dreaming City and are responsible for a time loop that keeps the location locked in a three-week cycle--something players have ostensibly been trying to break since the expansion was released. The Hive have a major presence on the moon in Destiny 1, so returning to that location would make sense as part of wrapping up the Dreaming City story.
The question is, what exactly is Bungie's plan for Destiny 2 going forward? One assumes the developer still means to release a Destiny 3, as was the plan before its split with Activision. Holding that game until the release of a new console generation would also make sense. But does that mean Bungie means to launch a new annual pass that would carry the game into 2020? Or is there another, larger expansion on the way, more akin to Forsaken? And just how big will Shadowkeep end up being, anyway?
The leak might tell us what to expect, but it seems we'll still be waiting for Thursday's announcement from Bungie for the full details of Destiny 2's next chapter.
The Season of Opulence is here. As is usually the case with new content drops in Destiny 2, this one comes with an increase in the total Power level you can reach with your weapons and armor. The best way to climb to the new Power cap of 750 is with Powerful gear drops, and one route you can take to get them is the weekly Ascendant Challenge in the Dreaming City. As always, we've continued to rotate through the available Ascendant Challenges; the specifics of what you have to do are the same, but it's not immediately obvious where you need to go or what's going to happen inside. Below, you'll find a guide to help you out.
Before you try to tackle the Ascendant Challenge, the same requirements as always hold true; most notably, you need a Tincture of Queensfoil. This is a consumable item that you'll happen upon while playing in the Dreaming City, although you can also buy them. Using a Tincture gives you the Ascendance buff, which allows you to see a Taken portal. It's this portal you must go through to complete the Ascendant Challenge. Along with a Tincture, you have to grab the Ascendant Challenge bounty from Petra in the Dreaming City; it's through this that you actually get your Powerful gear.
For the current challenge, the portal is located in Rheasilvia. In the northeast corner, head inside a building and go straight as far as you can. Turn right, and then go left in the next area to reach Harbinger's Seclude. Go up a set of stairs and out the doorway on the right. Head straight through this area, through another doorway, and continue straight in the next zone. At the end of a bridge you'll see a statue covered in Taken Blight balls; look for hidden Ascendant platforms to appear in the big open area in front of the statue starting on the right side of the room that will take you to the top, or jump up the blights themselves to reach the portal on top of the statue's head. Check out the video above for a walkthrough. If you struggle to get up, take out your ghost and you'll see some invisible platforms just off the slide of the area that can help you get up.
Going through the portal transports you to the Keep of Honed Edges in the Ascendant Plane. Platform your way across a series of rocks and you'll find an area with three knights who are immune to damage. Kill all of the other enemies and the barrier protecting a sword will go away, allowing you to pick up the relic.
At this point, more enemies spawn in and one knight will begin attacking you. Kill the knight, and the other two will join the fray along with additional enemies. Take them all out, and you'll again have to platform across a series of rocks, now with enemies to make things more challenging. There is debris moving through the area, and at least certain things you step on will disappear after a short period of time, so make sure not to linger. Make your way toward a platform with a large blue object on it to complete the challenge.
As in previous weeks, the chest you receive at the end of the Ascendant Challenge isn't anything special. But the bounty you get from Petra offers Powerful gear for completing it; this can help to boost your Power level, so ensuring you have the bounty is essential.
Meanwhile, the quest for Thorn should keep players busy for a bit. It also represents another step forward in one of the biggest, most interesting running stories in all of Destiny lore--check out our lore catch-up guide for everything you need to know about the famous gun, its famous wielder, and what's going on with the Drifter as the Season of the Drifter continues.
A new Jumanji video game is coming from Bandai Namco, based on the movie franchise with a new sequel coming this fall. Jumanji: The Video Game will hit PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on November 15.
The game follows the four heroes introduced in 2017's Jumanji movie: Dr. Smolder Bravestone, Ruby Roundhouse, Franklin "Mouse" Finbar, and Professor Shelly Oberon. Each one has their own special set of skills to contribute to the team. You'll be seeking the Jewels of Jumanji and fighting through creatures, traps, and marauders to find your way back home.
In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, four teenagers entered the world of a retro video game--as opposed to the board game concept of the original film. And each in-game avatar had their own special abilities, like martial arts expertise or zoology. A sequel is coming in December. A teaser released alongside the announcement doesn't show much, but does reveal characters in the likenesses of the actors who played them in the movie: Jack Black, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Karen Gillan, and Kevin Hart.
"Jumanji is a property we have been eager to work with for a long time," said Outright CEO Terry Malham, in the announcement. "Our specialty as a video game publisher is in producing high-quality interactive-entertainment for the whole family to enjoy and there is no brand more exciting for families right now than Jumanji."
The first clip from the Child's Play reboot is here. The upcoming movie features Mark Hamill as the voice of iconic killer doll Chucky, and it's set to hit theaters on June 21.
While the clip doesn't reveal Chucky himself, we do hear Hamill in full swing as the evil plaything. In this new version of Child's Play, Chucky is able to control household objects and here he torments his young owner Andy, who by this stage is clearly trying to stop the doll. Check it out above.
Child's Play stars Gabriel Bateman (Light's Out) as Andy and Aubrey Plaza (Legion) as his Mom, plus Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Brian Tyree Henry. It's directed by Lars Klevberg, who has also helmed the upcoming horror movie Polaroid. The second trailer for Child's Play was released in April, and you can also check out our ranking of every movie in the Child's Play series.
In an interview with Nightmarish Conjurings, Klevberg talked about Chucky's new abilities. "I think that every good horror movie connects to its generation," he said. "Right now, we all trust devices like Alexa to control all the electronics in our homes and to help organize our life. But what if that device took on a human form and could walk around? Then it would be something completely different and our film is just taking that concept to another level."
Confusingly for fans, there's also an unconnected Child's Play TV show being developed for SyFy, simply titled Chucky. It's produced by series creator Don Mancini, and follows on from the 2017 movie The Cult of Chucky.
The next expansion of Destiny 2, the Season of Opulence and its annual pass content drop, Penumbra, are finally here. Bungie hasn't just dropped new activities, new loot, and a new raid on players with the kickoff of the new season, though--it also has dropped a big patch to the game that reworks a bunch of weapons.
Update 2.5.0.1 brings all the new Season of Opulence content to the game, along with a host of changes, bug fixes, and most specifically, weapon "nerfs." Bungie first discussed weapon changes on its blog in May, kicking off an intense but brief backlash from players. That's mostly because the update weakens a lot of guns that have become essential to how lots of people play the game.
Probably the biggest standout is the change to Whisper of the Worm, a tough-to-get secret sniper rifle that's great for melting big-time enemies, such as raid bosses. The thing that made Whisper so great was a perk called White Nail, which gave the gun infinite ammo so long as you were landing precision hits. The new patch changes that, causing White Nail to draw ammo from your reserves rather than generating fresh ammo. Bungie increased the amount of Whisper ammo players can carry, but the result is that, eventually, Whisper runs out of bullets, which pretty much removes the element that made the gun so useful.
Other weapon nerfs affect Destiny 2's competitive multiplayer mode, the Crucible. Two major favorite weapons for competition, Luna's Howl and Not Forgotten (both of which are extremely tough for players to earn), have also been weakened. The guns' fire rates have been reduced, making them shoot more slowly, and their signature perk, Magnificent Howl, has been weakened as well. It used to be that landing two precision shots with the guns would increase their damage for a short time until your next kill or missed shot; going forward, Magnificent Howl will only increase the damage of one shot after landing two precision shots.
This is also the update that changes Exotic armor that generates Super energy. Several pieces of armor, when used correctly, can give players most or all of their Super energy back every time they use one of these powerful abilities. Bungie has said it didn't like that these effects made those pieces of armor basically must-use items for much of the game, so it's weakened pretty much all of them.
It's not all bad news, though. Bungie is strengthening Fusion Rifles pretty much across the board, with a few extra buffs going to Exotic fusions such as Merciless and Jotunn. Other Exotics, such as the Aeon Cult armor pieces, have been buffed as well, which should make them much more viable in different situations. In general, it looks like Bungie's goal is to decrease players' reliance on a particular set of weapons and armor, while making things a lot of people ignore more useful. We'll have to see if these changes actually accomplish those goals.
That's not all that's about to come to Destiny 2, though. On Thursday, June 6, Bungie is set to announce the "next chapter" for the game. Speculation has it that Thursday will see the announcement of new expansion content now that the current annual pass has come to an end.
Check out the full patch notes below.
Update 2.5.0.1 Notes
Season of Opulence Begins
Imperial Summons
All players who have completed Forsaken may acquire an Imperial Summons from Benedict 99-40 in the Tower. This quest grants Power Surge gear. Crown of Sorrow raid begins at 4 PM PDT.
No longer two-taps when paired with One-Eyed Mask's Vengeance perk if the victim has at least 4 resilience.
Memento Mori restored to 6 bullets, but bullets are now lost on stow.
Lord of Wolves
Release the Wolves perk can now be activated on special reload instead of on kill.
Normal burst damage decreased by 20%.
Release the Wolves non-precision damage decreased by 23%; precision damage decreased by 34%.
Sleeper Simulant
Reduced bounce damage against bosses, minibosses, and vehicles by 95%.
Reduced precision multiplier, but increased base damage by 66%.
This change results in precision shots dealing approximately the same damage as before, but you are punished less for landing non-precision shots.
Sturm and Drang
Storm and Stress max overcharge rounds increased to 99.
"Sturm Overcharge" buff text now displays the number of overcharge rounds.
Overcharge damage increased by 100% in PvE.
Fixed an issue where a 10% precision damage bonus remained on Sturm when it had used all its overcharge rounds.
Whisper of the Worm
White Nail perk now loads the magazine from reserves.
Increased ammo reserves to max 18 without armor perks.
Fixed an issue where White Nail would fail to activate under certain network conditions.
Luna's Howl/Not Forgotten
RPM changed to 150; damage was adjusted to match other 150 RPM (lightweight) Hand Cannons.
These weapons still retain the Precision sub-archetype benefits and firing animation.
Magnificent Howl has been reworked.
Rapidly landing two precision hits now increases damage and range on your next shot.
The damage increase affects only non-precision damage, but the bonus range is applied regardless.
Fixed an issue where Magnificent Howl would be slow to activate under certain network conditions.
Fusion Rifles (Non-Exotic)
Damage increased against PvE combatants:
High-impact increased by 30%.
Precision increased by 44%.
Adaptive increased by 44%.
Rapid-fire increased by 47%.
Exotic Fusion Rifles
Note: Changes to Exotic Fusion Rifles are due to archetype tweaks and not direct changes; most of these are minor.
Jötunn
Changes affect PvE damage only.
Impact damage increased by 10%.
Detonation damage reduced by 15%.
DOT damage increased by 10%.
This results in an overall 5% increase in total damage.
Merciless
Damage of first bullet at slowest charge time increased by 30%, which decreases as the weapon reaches its fastest charge time. Damage at the fastest charge time is unchanged.
Telesto
Impact damage increased by 49%.
Detonation increased by 3%.
This is an overall damage increase of 4%.
Submachine Guns
Minor adjustment to idle pose for SMG archetype to help set it apart from the rifle archetypes.
Updated firing animations to better reflect the shooting experience of an SMG.
Dev Commentary: These changes apply to hipfire only, and do not impact accuracy. The goal of this change was to enhance the feeling of shooting an SMG. We've added a random fire pose that will add variation and make the gun feel a little more unstable and lively in your hands. We've also added a progressive fire animation that will give your Guardian a feeling of gripping and controlling the more active weapon during sustained fire.
Swords
General
Ammo capacity increased to a max of 70.
Starting ammo increased by 10.
Black Talon
Ground and aerial projectile ammo cost increased from 3 to 4.
Adaptive Frame
Ground uppercut ammo cost increased from 3 to 4.
Aggressive Frame
Now lunge at target with their aerial light attack.
Light attack consolidated into a single damage event.
Slam attack consolidated into a single damage event.
Slam attack ammo cost increased from 3 to 4.
Lightweight Frame
Tuned damage output.
Ground light attack increased by 17%.
Aerial light attack decreased by 21%.
Ground dash attack increased by 87%.
Aerial dash attack increased by 78%.
No ammo aerial light attack decreased by 49%.
All other no-ammo attacks decreased by 15%.
Ground dash attack ammo cost increased from 2 to 3.
General
Fixed an issue where magazine-size indicators didn't display the proper arrows when changing magazine perks on the Breath of the Dragon and Trackless Waste SMGs.
Truesight's "weakened" enemy highlight or glowing will no longer appear to flicker erratically.
Armor
Super-Generating Exotic Armor
Skull of Dire Ahamkara, Orpheus Rigs, and Phoenix Protocol now grant Super energy back on diminishing returns, making it rarer to get a full Super back.
Shards of Galanor and Ursa Furiosa had their Super gain caps reduced to be in parity with other Super Exotic changes.
Adjusted amount of Spectral Blade Super restoration when defeating enemies with Gwisin Vest.
1 PvP kill = 11.1% → 8.3%
2 PvP kills = 19.1% → 12.5%
3 PvP kills = 20.8% → 14.2%
4 PvP kills = 21% → 15.8%
5 PvP kills = 21% → 16.7%
1 Dreg kill = 7% → 11.1%
2 Dreg kills = 17.7% → 14.3%
3 Dreg kills = 20% → 16.5%
4 Dreg kills = 20.9% → 16.9%
5 Dreg kills = 21% → 17.1%
Minor adjustments to the Heavy Ammo Finder perk.
Gemini Jester
Increased duration of disorient and no-radar effects by 0.5 seconds.
Aeon Gauntlets
Potency of energy given by Aeon Arms increased for all classes.
Titans now trigger Aeon Arms off of melee kills instead of barricade, and they receive melee energy.
Visual effects on Aeon Gauntlets altered for all classes to distinguish between a player whose energy is full or not.
Abilities
Fixed an issue where "Six-Shooter" refunds a bullet when destroying Titan barricades.
Fixed an issue where "Entropic Pull" melee and "Devour" melee were applying a physics impulse that pushed enemies away.
Fixed an issue where using Chaos Reach with Geomag Stabilizers could sometimes lead to weapons disappearing.
Fixed an issue where players could gain full grenade energy when canceling out of a Nova Warp Super.
Fixed an issue where Combination Blow's melee damage buff was buffing the Arc Staff Super in PvP environments.
Note: This was addressed for PvE in a previous update.
Moving between overlapping Wells of Radiance no longer lead to removing the buff earlier than expected.
Investment
Clans
Clan XP has been reset for Season 7 start.
A new weekly bonus bounty has been added for Season 7. This bounty is available at the max clan rank.
Emotes
The Luxurious Toast emote now allows players to sit for as long as they desire.
Cayde's Exotic Stash items have been added to Eververse's Bright Dust inventory for weeks 1–4.
Rewards UI/UX
The Pursuits inventory has been moved to the Director menu.
Players may now hold up to 63 pursuits at a given time.
Catalysts are now tracked on the Triumphs page.
Updated Taken and Fallen armor mods to follow the same naming convention.
All shader items have had their icons updated.
Fixed an issue where the action for applying shaders, ornaments, holograms, or using consumables was getting cancelled and not applying on the first attempt.
Note: There are still actions that will cancel the apply function, such as hitting the "Preview" button, exiting Inventory early, letting up on the "Apply" button too early, or completely moving the cursor off of the item being applied.Vendors
Benedict 99-40
Relocated to the Annex in the Tower.
The Gunsmith
Now offers three daily and two weekly weapon-focused bounties, rewarding Enhancement Cores, mod components, and mods.
Scrapper bounties will no longer drop when dismantling gear.
Existing scrapper bounties will remain in your inventory until expiration or completion.
Xûr
Now properly offers random rolls on Exotic armor after refusing to do so in Destiny 2 Update 2.2.1.
We've had a chat with him; if something like this happens again, he'll be in trouble.
Drifter/Vanguard
Weekly reward packages from the Allegiance quest have been retired with the conclusion of Season of the Drifter.
Fixed an issue where some players wouldn't see updated vendors and bounty lists after the weekly reset occurred.
General
The Sony-exclusive Hunter armor set "Red Moon Phantom Suit" should no longer appear in Collections for Xbox and PC players.
Fixed an issue where weapon engrams were incorrectly appearing as Masterworked in the loot stream if a player's inventory was full when walking over them.
Fixed an issue where Arbalest could not be acquired by players who do not own the Annual Pass.
Activities
Raids
Further addressed GUITAR errors that could occur in the Last Wish raid.
Crucible
Players can no longer win Crucible matches by getting kills after the timer has expired.
Fixes an issue where a player could hear the audio for a 20-kill streak but not receive the medal if the 20th kill happened after the match ended.
The Triumph "We Ran Out of Medals" (20-kill streak) will be rewarded if the final kills happen before the match timer ends.
Patrol
After activating the totem, killing the weekly wanted targets will now correctly complete the activity and bounty.
Heroic Adventures
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes load into a different Heroic Adventure on Mars than what was being displayed on the Totem.
Tower
Fixed issues with two Ghost scannables in the Tower
"The one about the Speaker's quarters..." was moved to outside his door along the walkway.
"The one about Banshee-44 and his old location..." was moved and placed on the ground in the corner.
Niobe Labs/Bergusia Forge
Fixed an issue where players on PC were experiencing crashes traversing Niobe Labs and Bergusia Forge spaces.
Commando/Zero Hour
Fixed bug where players could freeze the activity timer in Zero Hour mission.
Fixed bug where the Heroic version of Zero Hour would be available only on the first character to complete the activity on each account.
Misc.
Fallen mines are no longer impervious to being destroyed while on the ground.
Ubisoft is giving away another free game, but this time, it won't be quite as easy as just adding it to your Uplay account. The game in question is Rayman Origins, an excellent 2D platformer released in 2011, and to claim it for free, you'll need to tune into a 30-minute, Twitch-streamed live speedrun of Rayman 2, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
The Twitch stream is kicking off June 10 at 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET, just hours before Ubisoft's E3 2019 press conference. The previous speedrun record-holder for Rayman 2, Glackum, was just beaten by another speedrunner, so he'll attempt to set a new record time and reclaim his title live on Monday.
If you watch at least 30 minutes of the Rayman 2 speedrun, you'll receive a free copy of Rayman Origins on Uplay via Twitch Drops. Just make sure to link your Twitch account to Uplay, which allows you to earn various loot drops from Ubisoft on Twitch.
New to Rayman Origins? The game received an 8.5 in GameSpot's Rayman Origins Review for its charming 2D environments and challenging level design. "Whether you choose to approach this adventure by your lonesome or with three friends, the fact remains that this is a charming, gorgeous, and thoroughly entertaining 2D platforming experience," wrote critic Shaun McInnis. "Rayman Origins draws a lot from the past, but it does so while managing to feel fresh and full of life. This is one worthwhile journey no matter which era it's from."
Ubisoft's press conference will be livestreamed after the speedrun event, officially starting at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET. You can watch it on Twitch or YouTube, and we'll also be streaming it on GameSpot's various social media channels.
If you don't get a chance to go to the movies very often, then Tuesdays are probably pretty important for you, as that's when new movies are released at retailers and digital markets. This week, there is one huge digital release and quite a few 4K rereleases you'll want to get your hands on.
Today, you can pick up Jordan Peele's Us, which is available on most digital movie services. His follow-up to Get Out revolves around a family on a trip, where they come across horrific doppelgangers of themselves, terrifying them at every moment. In GameSpot's review of Us, Rafael Motamayor said, "There's no denying that Jordan Peele avoided the "sophomore slump" and has now cemented himself as one of the great contemporary horror minds. Us is not only a brilliant exploration of current-day America, but one hell of a prologue to Peele's The Twilight Zone reboot."
On the physical side of things, the Netflix sci-fi series Lost In Space gets a Blu-ray release for its first season; Season 7 of Cartoon Network's Venture Brothers see a physical release; and Season 1 of Jack Ryan gets the physical treatment as well.
However, you'll want to keep your eye on some rereleases hitting stores this week. All three Toy Story movies and the four Batman movies from the '80s/'90s are all getting the 4K treatment. You can watch all of your favorite moments of Woody and Buzz trying to find Andy or Joker dancing to a Prince soundtrack in glorious 4K. Prices for these 4K editions range from $25-$30.
Below, you'll find a highlighted list of this week's biggest digital and physical releases.
The huge success of the 2015 blockbuster Jurassic World and last year's sequel proved there was plenty of life left in the long-running dinosaur movie series. They will soon be joined by the new animated show Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.
The show is latest collaboration between Netflix and DreamWorks Animation, and it will hit the streaming service in 2020. The show will be set at the same time as the events of Jurassic World.
The official synopsis reads: "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous follows a group of six teenagers chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a new adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar. But when dinosaurs wreak havoc across the island, the campers are stranded. Unable to reach the outside world, they'll need to go from strangers to friends to family if they're going to survive."
Neither casting news nor a more specific release date have been announced yet. However, Netflix has released a short teaser for the new show--check out below:
Hold onto your butts - Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous is coming in 2020! The animated series, set at the same time as the 2015 film, follows a group of teens at a new adventure camp where absolutely nothing goes wrong. Just kidding: dinosaurs. pic.twitter.com/YXNGx6fKCJ
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous follows a variety of other successful Netflix/DreamWorks shows, such as Guillermo Del Toro's Trollhunters, Voltron: Legendary Defender, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
Netflix is increasingly moving into producing animated content. Earlier this week, an anime series based on the popular fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering was announced, which will be produced by Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo. In addition, it was previously reported that Netflix plans to launch its own animation studio, which will enable it to make projects in-house without having to outsource much of the technical work to existing animation companies.
What does Xbox smell like? You may soon be able to find out. Just ahead of E3 2019, Microsoft has partnered with Lynx to create a new fragrance called Lynx Xbox. The range includes body spray, deodorant, and shower gel, so really all of your bases are covered.
The official description is simply delightful:
"Lynx Xbox is a fresh scent of pulsing green citrus, featuring top notes of kaffir lime and winter lemon, aromatic herbal middle notes of mint and sage, and woody bottom notes of patchouli and clearwood. Containing a range of natural essential oils, the Xbox Lynx range comes with a sleek new look and features a body spray, deodorant, and shower gel."
Xbox ANZ boss Tania Chee said in a statement that users can spray or wash themselves with Xbox Lynx to "power up" before heading out the door in the morning.
Xbox Lynx will be available from July at grocery stores and pharmacies across Australia and New Zealand. There is no word yet on if it'll be released in other parts of the world.
Microsoft showed the first gameplay for Minecraft Earth at Apple's annual WWDC conference, and in the process announced a couple of new iOS-exclusive features for the upcoming AR game.
The people occlusion feature lets you walk through or around your own life-size 3D creations. You can also use a motion capture feature to map your actual gestures to triggers for pre-set animations from characters in the game.
A closed beta for Minecraft Earth is scheduled for this summer on iOS and Android. The full game will let you tap on treasure chests, blocks, and mobs, take part in Adventures with resources to collect, and progress in your career with experience points. You can also build structures on Build Plates, and connect them with physical locations so that other people can see your work.
Darius never actually came to the original console--it's a brand-new port, specifically for the Mega Drive / Genesis Mini. The original console's version of Tetris, meanwhile, is exceedingly rare, with only three physical copies available in the wild. Both games will be pre-installed on the new Mini console.
The Mega Drive Mini / Genesis Mini launches worldwide on September 19, costing $80 / £70 / AU $140. It's based on the Model 1 version of the original console, except approximately 55% smaller. The box contains the console, a power adapter, two replica three-button USB controllers, one USB to micro-USB power cable, and one HDMI lead.
The game ports that are on the Genesis Mini were handled by M2, a team that is well known for its work on emulation and re-releases. M2 previously worked on Sega Ages and Sega 3D Classics Collection.
Releasing Mini versions of classic consoles has become something of a trend recently. Nintendo led the way with the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, both of which were received well by critics and went on to be hot commercial items. Sony followed suit with the PlayStation Classic, which wasn't received as warmly.
Full Sega Mega Drive / Genesis Mini Games Lineup
Sonic the Hedgehog
Ecco the Dolphin
Castlevania: The New Generation
Space Harrier 2
Shining Force
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
ToeJam & Earl
Comix Zone
Altered Beast
Gunstar Heroes
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a much-loved spooky kids anthology book series, and the movie adaptation arrives in August. It's produced by Guillermo Del Toro, and a new trailer has been released.
The first trailer was released in March didn't really make it clear how the movie would be presenting the various stories from Schwartz's book. However, this latest promo reveals that it's all a single narrative. A bunch of kids visit an old house and find a spooky book, which is filled with terrifying stories that start coming true. It all looks like massive scary fun--check the trailer out above.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is directed by André Øvredal, who previously proved his genre credentials with The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Trollhunter. It stars Zoe Margaret Colletti (Annie), Michael Garza (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay), Gabriel Rush (Moonrise Kingdom), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), and Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black). It hits theaters on August 9.
In a recent interview with Vulture, Del Toro explained why the movie had a single narrative rather than making it a collection of stories. "[Anthology] is something I love, but they're always as bad as the worst story," he said. "[This is] a Young Adult movie about childhood around a time when things were changing forever, around 1968 and 1969. It's the end of childhood in many ways, a crucial time for America. We didn't retrofit the characters to the stories. We adapted the characters to the story."
The first volume of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark was published in 1981 and contained 29 stories. It was followed by a second volume in 1984, and a third in 1991.
Modern Warfare's cross-play system will work much like Fortnite's, according to a Forbes article endorsed by Infinity Ward producer Candice Capen. You'll therefore only be put into matches against players using the same control input method as you--meaning PC users won't be able to use the quicker keyboard and mouse combination to walk all over console players.
This does change slightly if you're a console user wanting to play with a PC-owning friend, however. In that situation, Infinity Ward has no choice but to mix the two communities, so you might find yourself having a slightly tricky match. But at least the option is there.
Both this and cross-play should go a long way to helping keep the Call of Duty player base together, without limiting them to only playing with people on the same platform and who own the same maps that they do. In general, there should be a whole lot more people to play against. It may also make the Call of Duty esports scene a little more welcoming, as players will be able to compete on their preferred platforms.
One thing that is not changing is that it will have timed exclusive content on PS4. We don't know all the details at this point, but like last year's Black Ops 4, the window will be only seven days, which is much shorter than the 30-day window CoD's exclusivity used to be.
Sony might not be attending this year's E3, but it still has plenty going on to share with players around the world. After recently offering a fresh look at Death Stranding, the company has now detailed some upcoming changes to the PS4's party system, and it sounds intriguing. Here's what to expect from the forthcoming system update.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, social media director Sid Shuman revealed Sony is currently testing enhanced chat audio quality, improved network connectivity, and the ability to create and participate in parties of up to 16 people, up from the current limit of eight.
The new features are part of the next PS4 update preview program, which gives beta access to select users for new updates. North American players will be able to test a couple of extra features, too: the PS4 Second Screen mobile app will allow you to enter text which will then be spoken aloud to other party members. Additionally, the app can transcribe the incoming chat audio from your friends. Sony says these app-focused updates are available to US- and Canada-based users only for the time being, and only in English.
Sign-ups for the upcoming beta update are now live in North America and are coming "soon" in Europe. Note, however, that if you participate in the preview program, you'll only be able to join parties that contain other members of the program. If you are successfully selected for the beta, however, Sony will allow you to share your access code with 20 friends, meaning you can all test the update together.
A Halo TV show is on the way with Orange is the New Black actor Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, and Microsoft has bold ambitions for it. 343 Industries transmedia boss Kiki Wolfkill said recently that the Halo show is aiming to be similar to Game of Thrones in some ways.
"It's hard to find an analog. We talk about Game of Thrones a lot in terms of scope and scale and complexity of relationships," she said in the latest episode of The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook podcast with Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price.
Wolfkill pointed out that, like Game of Thrones, the Halo series is steeped in politics.
"A lot of the background of Halo is this sort of political drama. It's something that [is touched on] really lightly in the games and you see more of in some of the other mediums," she said. "Some of that [Game of Thrones-style] complexity is interesting."
Unlike Game of Thrones, however, the Halo TV show will not feature incest. "No incest planned at all for this show, I'll say that. If you're looking for that, you won't find it here," Wolfkill said.
Wolfkill went on to say that she was personally impressed with the first seasons of Game of Thrones that followed the narrative of the books closely. When there was a shift from the writing in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, this change felt deserved and you can understand why changes were made, Wolfkill said.
This is something 343 aspires to with the Halo show.
Wolfkill also spoke about how she gets bothered when people say it's impossible to make a video game translate to a good TV show or movie. Just because it hasn't been done before, or rarely, that doesn't mean it cannot be done, she said.
"It's not because you can't, it's because it's a really hard challenge, and everyone is still trying to figure it out," she said. "There isn't something inherent in the format of video games that makes it impossible to adapt; it's just a hard challenge. Literally day to day we are making decisions on what can change, what shouldn't change, what we can we bend."
Another hugely important part of making the Halo TV show shine is 343 humbling itself and recognizing that the team at Showtime knows more about TV than 343 does.
"We are putting a lot of our trust in our TV partners. You have to be humble and recognize the expertise you're bringing is different from the expertise that they have," she said. "And you have to be able to take that leap of faith and trust that the things they want and are lobbying for and need are the right things. That's probably the hardest part; that leap of faith."
343 has been working with Showtime for 5 years already. It hasn't been all fun. The experience has "really been a struggle at times," Wolfkill said, referring to 343 and Showtime coming to terms on contracts, as well as key talent dropping out.
When the Halo TV show is finally released, no matter how it's received, Wolfkill said she and her team will be proud about going about it in the right way. She also believes no matter what the Halo TV show will have moved the medium forward in some way.
For his part, Price chimed in to say part of the reason many video game movies and TV shows have been mediocre or worse is because people from gaming assume they know how to make a good TV show or movie.
The Netflix drama Dead to Me starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini is coming back for a second season. The dark comedy/drama's second season is on the way but the network did not announce a premiere date or any other details about Season 2 apart from that it will continue the storylines of Jen (Applegate) and Judy (Cardellini).
The show was created by Liz Feldman, and she's returning as well to continue to be its showrunner and executive producer.
Dead to Me Season 1 premiered on May 3, so the renewal order came after just one month.
Dead to Me is produced by GameSpot parent company CBS Corp.'s CBS Television division. Gary Sanchez Productions and Gloria Sanchez Productions are executive producing with Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Christie Smith.
Daniel Craig is playing James Bond for a fifth and presumably final time with 2020's James Bond 25, but who will take over once Craig says goodbye?
A number of names have been mentioned, one of which is Thor actor Chris Hemsworth. Speaking to Variety, Hemsworth said he's open to the idea of playing the super-spy in a future movie. He also likes another actor for the role: Idris Elba.
"My vote would be Idris [Elba]," he said. "I think he'd give it a different sort of swagger, too, and each time someone new comes into the role, I think you've got to offer up something different."
In 2016, Elba said he thought he was "too old" to play James Bond, also stating that no one from the production team had approached him. But in 2018, Training Day director Antoine Fuqua said he spoke with Bond series producer Barbara Broccoli about the possibility of a non-white actor playing 007. Broccoli told him that "it is time" for a more progressive casting decision, and that it "will happen eventually." Fuqua also said Elba was a frontrunner for the role. "Idris could do it if he was in shape," Fuqua said. "You need a guy with physically strong presence. Idris has that."
Other actors besides Hemsworth and Elba whose names have come up in the discussion about playing Bond after Craig include Tom Hiddleston and Richard Madden.
In addition to Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Lea Seydoux will all reprise their roles for the 25th James Bond movie. Jeffrey Wright and Ben Whishaw also return.
Actors new to the series for Bond 25 include Rami Malek, Billy Magnussen, Ana De Armas, David Dencik, Lashana Lynch, and Dali Benssalah. Malek will seemingly play the film's villain, as he said he's looking forward to make sure "Bond does not have an easy ride."
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 lin efrom the 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."
Sarah Schachner will return to the Call of Duty series to do the music for this year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot. Schachner said on Twitter that she "couldn't be more thankful" to work on the game, and contribute again to the Call of Duty series.
Schachner also did the music for Infinity Ward's 2016 game Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Outside of the Call of Duty series, she also scored Assassin's Creed Origins and Anthem. She's also contributed to huge movies like Iron Man 3 and The Expendables 2.
Well I guess it's public now...I'm scoring Modern Warfare and couldn't be more thankful to get to work with Infinity Ward again on such an amazing project. It's def been hard to keep this one secret 😄 #CallofDutyModernWarfarepic.twitter.com/nJvVJ3A0AS
It's not a continuation of the Modern Warfare trilogy but rather a reboot of sorts of the 2007 game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Captain Price is back as a main character, with some of the storylines involving Russia and the Middle East.
"The world we live in right now is more complex than the world was in 2007, or 2009, or even 2011," narrative director Taylor Kurosaki said. "Even now the world that we live in, the battlefield is less defined than it's ever been, and because it's less defined and because enemies no longer really wear uniforms a lot of the time, that means that civilian collateral damage is a greater part of the equation more so now than it's ever been."
"So what does that mean? It means we're creating circumstances where, as storytellers, we are taking these characters, and we are putting them into complex situations with a lot of pressure on them, and how they respond to that pressure reveals their true nature."
In other news, it's been confirmed that the new Modern Warfare supports cross-play and that it will not have a season pass. For lots more, check out the story linked below.
Disney has released a new TV spot for The Lion King, and this one for the first trailer showcases Beyonce's character, Nala. The spot is called "Come Home," and it covers the sequence in the movie where Nala convinces Simba (Donald Glover) to return home to save Pride Rock.
"Simba, you have to take your place as king. We need you. Come home."
In addition to teasing out some of the drama when Simba returns home, the new trailer briefly teases the playful and silly comedic duo of Timon and Pumbaa, who are voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen respectively.
The Lion King opens in theatres on July 19. It is directed by Jon Favreau with a script from Jeff Nathanson, who previously wrote the Steven Spielberg movie Catch Me If You Can starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
James Earl Jones returns in The Lion King as Mufasa, while Chiwetel Ejiofor voices Scar.
Next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft are on the way, and Bethesda boss Todd Howard has apparently seen them. That's no surprise given both of Bethesda's big upcoming games, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI, are expected to launch on the new consoles. Howard has now offered some high-level thoughts on what to expect.
Speaking to IGN, Howard said, "They're all ... [pause] ... How to not break NDAs? They are doing the right things."
Throughout the entire interview, Howard spoke slowly and carefully as he seemed to run through his head what is public knowledge about the consoles and what hasn't been revealed yet.
Whatever the case, Howard said he is "absolutely" confident about the direction the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft are headed.
"One of the big benefits of my position is I get to see stuff really early. I was one of the first people ever to see the Switch; that was one of the best hardware demos I have ever seen," Howard said. "The things [Sony and Microsoft are] doing are, in my mind--no one is screwing up at the starting line which some people have done before."
Pressed for more details, Howard mentioned the vastly improved loading times on the PlayStation 5 that system architect Mark Cenry previously revealed (see the faster load times here). Overall, Howard said both Sony and Microsoft are "focused on the right things." Whatever those things are, they are suited to the kinds of games that Bethesda is making.
"Everybody is focused on the right things, and in particular, it helps the kind of games that we make tremendously," he said. "Everybody has learned their lessons in some good ways and some hard ways. And they are very very thoughtful about their audience and the developers. My view of it is it's going to be awesome across the board. Not just the systems but the business models."
In regards to business models, Howard said the video game industry is finally growing and evolving and adapting to provide consumers with a variety of choices.
"Gaming is finally reaching the point that linear entertainment is," Howard said. "Movies, television, all that, where you're going to have games that are big tentpoles that people can buy for $60. That's kind of like going to the theater. You're going to have games you can play on a subscription service, you're going to have ones you can download on your phone, you're going to have ones you can play and they're maybe ad-supported. I think that's really, really healthy for the industry; obviously the players who want to consume it, but [also] the developers who say 'I just want to make an adventure game for this budget.' There's an audience for that. My worry before was hey, will all of that go away?"
Howard further backed up his point by mentioning that traditional linear TV was generally overrun with lousy reality TV shows before streaming networks like Netflix and others came along and demonstrated that there could be a much bigger diversity in terms of the breadth and depth of content. Basically, something for everyone exists today in TVs and movies, and the same is now, finally, happening for games, Howard said.
As mentioned, Sony has already started talking about the PlayStation 5, while Microsoft is expected to formally announce one or two next-generation Xbox consoles during its own E3 2019 briefing.
"Watch Dogs Legion is set in a near-future, dystopian version of London. It's a post-Brexit world in which society, politics, and technology have changed and altered London's fortunes," it says.
The product description then gets a little odd and potentially suspect. It states, "London makes total sense for WD," which is a kind of phrasing we wouldn't expect from a major publisher. Additionally, the product description spells the world surveillance as "surveillce."
Something might be off with the product description, but the London setting had been rumored for many months already, while Kotaku's Jason Schreier reported today that Watch Dogs Legion is indeed the title of the game and London is its setting.
Perhaps the most interesting part of Watch Dogs Legion is who the main character is: anyone. The product description states, "Play as anyone, Every individual you meet in the open world, has a full set of animations, voice over, character traits and visuals that are generated & guided by gameplay systems."
Kotaku reports that it's also heard this about Watch Dogs 3, and that some parts of the game will play out different based on the civilian you choose to play. The system underpinning this is apparently very ambitious, so much so that it's led to at least one delay.
The first Watch Dogs was set in Chicago, with Watch Dogs 2 moving to San Francisco.
Watch Dogs Legion is not the first Ubisoft game to leak before E3 this year. Recently, a roller derby game called Roller Champions is also reportedly set for a reveal at Ubisoft's show.
Watch Dogs Legion and Roller Champions could be two of Ubisoft's three unannounced games scheduled to release between January and March 2020. Ubisoft didn't confirm any details for what the three games are, other than all three would be full-priced releases and all be different genres (a specific phrase used was "unique experiences").
There is no word yet as to when specifically Watch Dogs Legion will release or what platforms it'll be on. A spokesperson for Ubisoft told GameSpot that the company does not comment on rumors.
Since Pokemon Go held its first Legendary Lunch Hour back in March, developer Niantic has experimented with hosting hour-long Raid events at different times of the day, and now more are on the way this month. The developer has announced it is holding a Legendary Raid Hour each week in June, giving players more chances to participate in Raid Battles and catch Legendary Pokemon.
The Legendary Raid Hour will take place every Wednesday this month from 6-7 PM local time. During that time, five-star Raids featuring the game's current Legendary Pokemon will occur more often than usual. Niantic recently announced it will bring three Legendaries back over the next few weeks, and you'll have extra chances to catch two of these thanks to the Legendary Raid Hours.
The Psychic-type Cresselia is the current Legendary Pokemon; it'll be available until June 18. From June 18-27, the Water-type Kyogre will return to Raids, and from June 27 to July 10, its counterpart Groudon will make an encore appearance. This time around, players will also have a chance to encounter Shiny versions of each Legendary Pokemon when they return to Raids. You can read more details on the Pokemon Go website.
Shortly after this month's first Legendary Raid Hour, Niantic will be holding Pokemon Go's next Community Day on Saturday, June 8. The featured Pokemon this month will be Slakoth, the adorable sloth from Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. If you can evolve it into its final form, Slaking, up to an hour after the Community Day ends, it'll learn an event-exclusive move. On top of that, Eggs will hatch at a quarter of their usual distance during this month's Community Day.
The Pokemon Go Adventure Week event is also returning soon. From June 4-11, more Rock Pokemon such as Geodude, Rhyhorn, Omanyte, and Aron will spawn in the wild, and Rock-types like Onix will appear as Raid bosses. Players will also have a chance of finding Shiny versions of Onix, Lileep, and Anorith, as well as earning extra Candy and XP during the event.
The season is finally over. PSG are champions (again), Juventus are champions (again), and Liverpool fans are crying (again, although for a much better reason this year). While there's more to look forward to in the world's biggest sport this summer--the Women's World Cup and UEFA Nations League are bound to be summer highlights--many football fans now have one major day marked in their diary: the release date of FIFA 20.
FIFA 20's release date hasn't actually been revealed yet--the game hasn't even technically been announced--but it's a safe bet it will follow series tradition and fall toward the end of September. With that disclaimer out the way, let's take a look at everything we do know about the world's biggest soccer game, as well as what we'd like to see from FIFA at E3 2019.
What We Know So Far
Even though this year's game hasn't been revealed, developer EA has already shared some of FIFA 20's gameplay improvements. Top of the list is AI defending, with a larger emphasis and incentive placed on manual defending, as opposed to letting the computer defend for you. One of the ways EA plans to do this is by increasing the likelihood a manual tackle will propel the ball to a teammate. Automatic defending will see its overall efficacy reduced and reaction times slowed.
Shooting is also being revamped, with attackers given greater accuracy during easy shooting scenarios, such as being clean through against the 'keeper. Goalkeepers' reaction times will be reduced in these situations to resolve the sometimes "superhuman" reactions players complained of. Additionally, the timing window for green timed shots is being reduced to two frames for all shots, and they'll also be "slightly less precise." EA did, however, reassure players that green timed shots will "still be more accurate than non-timed shots."
Lots of work is being done on making passing and shooting more realistic, EA says, especially when it comes to difficult strikes. Volleys will be more variable and less accurate, for example, while 180° and first-time passes will result in "slower/weaker balls." To compensate, easy situation passes will now be more accurate. Two new passing options will also be introduced: the driven pass-and-go (which will replace the current manual pass button combo) and the dinked pass, which will cease to be an automatic, contextual pass variant and instead be user-controlled only.
What's Confirmed For E3?
EA has confirmed an E3 livestream discussing FIFA 20 will air on June 8 at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET / 7 PM BST (that's 4 AM AET on June 9). The stream, which is part of EA Play, will be hosted by esports commentator Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez. EA says it will demonstrate some of the gameplay improvements mentioned above, "as well as some other surprises we're excited to talk about."
What We Hope To See At E3
FIFA 19 felt great, and the addition of the officially licensed Champions League made for a slicker product. However, career mode was left sorely lacking. No major new features were added to the mode, with very few changes at all from the year prior. With that in mind, we'd love career mode to see a radical overhaul. Give us a proper scouting system, stadium developments, opposition reports, and a way to actually converse with players outside of contract negotiations. Talking of which, the option to pay for new players in installments is long overdue.
Elsewhere, the Ultimate Team community is gasping for more on what FIFA 20 will have in store for FUT, and from a selfish point of view, I'd love to see the English National League introduced. The license for England's fifth tier would surely come relatively cheaply, and its addition would add another layer of authenticity to an already very lifelike ecosystem.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has now opened at California's Disneyland, letting fans of the franchise visit a new planet where the resistance and the First Order are battling for control. Still, while Galaxy's Edge is firmly planted in the latest trilogy of Star Wars films, care has been taken by the creative minds behind the land to create as unique an experience as possible for everyone who crosses its threshold.
According to Carrie Beck, vice president of the Lucasfilm story group, the crafting of that experience goes back to when the company first started developing Galaxy's Edge. "When we got to work at thinking about what was the type of place we wanted to go visit, or what the types of experiences were that we wanted to have participating in Star Wars, we thought a lot about how all of us as fans--how all of us as people who admire Star Wars--how we might want to interact with the Galaxy," she explained while on a panel during a media preview event. "You may want to see yourself as a Smuggler or a Scoundrel. You may want to see yourself as a Jedi, Sith, a Stormtrooper. You can find yourself being drawn to the dark side of the Force."
In helping visitors find their own stories within Galaxy's Edge, the team realized the most integral piece of storytelling was the land itself. Galaxy's Edge is set on the outer rim planet of Batuu, consisting of a forest where the Resistance is camped out, and Black Spire Outpost, a settlement that is being invaded by the First Order.
"[Batuu is] a place of some light routes that ships used to come and go," Beck said. "But it's been largely forgotten until we arrive here at the park and we get to discover it at the same time as the First Order and the Resistance are having their conflict here in the land, the day of our visit."
And as this conflict unfolds, you should expect to come into contact with both sides of the fight. You may be asked to help out the Resistance in spreading messages or grilled for information by Stormtroopers. What you share--or don't--is up to you. But the key to it all is you aren't viewed as an outsider during your visit.
"I think what's really exciting is just to be able to have them react to you as if you're actually in Star Wars," Beck continued. "I think, one of the things that's so wonderful about the films themselves, is that they feel so real, right? And I think that there was always this dream, this wish to be able to be part of that story. And so, being here and being able to interact and to sort of bring that fantasy to the next level is very exciting."
And as the story unfolds, visitors will see how Batuu connects to the larger canon of Star Wars. Already, there's a Marvel comic book about Batuu and Black Spire Outpost. What's more, the planet has been mentioned previously in the novel Thrawn: Alliances and is the focus of the upcoming canonical novel Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire. Black Spire Outpost was also referenced in the film Solo: A Star Wars Story.
"There have been adventures that we have crafted that take place or take [the] opportunity to locate here, in Batuu and Black Spire," Beck said. "And I think that's one of the great opportunities with a place that is fully new, is it allows the opportunity to layer in all of that narrative and give you that sense of discovery."
And thanks to the setting of Galaxy's Edge, that sense of discovery can continue for years as the land is built to evolve. "We picked a spot that has yet to [be discovered] in the Star Wars galaxy," Black Spire Outpost project manager Brent Nikolin told GameSpot. "There's some references made in Solo and other places, but I think starting from a place that is nowhere but still uniquely Star Wars, you walk in here, you know it's Star Wars, right? But it's not a place that we've ever been before. [It] allows you some flexibility down the road to do different things."
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is open at Disneyland now. It opens at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort on August 29.
Fortnite's Week 4 challenges of Season 9 are now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch, and mobile, which means players on all platforms have another chance to rack up Battle Stars and unlock more of this season's new skins and other cosmetic rewards. That also means you can now complete another one of Season 9's Utopia challenges if you manage to finish all seven tasks from a given week, and your reward for doing so will lead to another secret Fortbyte.
Just as in previous seasons, completing a Utopia challenge will unlock a special loading screen, which will serve as your key to finding a free item hidden somewhere around the game's map. In the past, this item would be either a Battle Star (which levels your Battle Pass up by one tier) or a Banner (which could be used as a profile icon) depending on how many weekly sets of challenges you completed. Battle Stars are still up for grabs in Season 9, but this time, Epic has replaced the Banners with the aforementioned Fortbytes, which are new collectible to find throughout the season.
There are 100 Fortbytes in total to collect, many of which are tied to their own challenges. Each one looks like a computer chip and unlocks a portion of a larger picture. However, the clue to finding a handful of these Fortbytes lies with the loading screens you unlock by completing Utopia challenges. That's the case for Fortbyte #91. Contrary to what you may expect, the clue isn't hidden within the loading screen itself, but rather its description, which reads, "Sandstorm and Scimitar race to the Keyboard King ATM and the winner always gets paid."
As the description suggests, Fortbyte #91 is found in the ATM by Keyboard King, one of the stores located in Paradise Palms. Make your way to the area and smash the ATM in question to reveal the hidden Fortbyte. If you need help finding it, we've marked its exact location on the map below. You can also watch where we go to find the Fortbyte in the video at the top of this guide.
While secret Battle Stars will only appear once you've completed their corresponding Utopia challenge, this Fortbyte is available to everyone who has purchased a Season 9 Battle Pass. If you fall into that category, you simply head to the right area and collected it even if you haven't completed Week 4's Utopia challenge and unlocked the aforementioned loading screen. If you do need help completing this season's challenges, however, you can find tips and guides in our complete Fortnite Season 9 challenges roundup.
Epic recently rolled out Fortnite's 9.10 content update, which introduced another new weapon to the game: the Burst SMG, which comes in common, uncommon, and rare varieties. To make room for it, however, the developer vaulted the Suppressed Submachine Gun. That isn't the only thing of note to happen in Fortnite recently; players have also discovered a mysterious giant eyeball encased in ice beneath Polar Peak. It's unclear what this means, but many are speculating it could lead to some kind of community event.
Ahead of Destiny 2's Season of Opulence scheduled to go live Tuesday, June 4 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, Bungie has announced the newest raid coming to the looter-shooter.
Titled Crown of Sorrow, the new six-player raid has Guardians investigating an infested Leviathan in search of riches beyond the Light's wildest imagination. Emperor Calus beckons you and any other willing Guardians to enter a new activity called the Menagerie, where you'll "carve your way through ever-changing paths and enemies" on the hunt for secret vaults. You can check out the official trailer below.
The new Season of Opulence is the final piece of DLC in Destiny 2's Annual Pass. The DLC will introduce new weapons--like Pinnacle weapons, "high-powered, specially designed guns you can only get by completing arduous tasks in specific activities"--and items like the Chalice of Opulence, which sounds like a new introduction to the game's mechanics. While Season of Opulence may mark the end for Destiny 2's Annual Pass, Bungie took to Twitter to tease a livestream for Thursday, June 6 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET to discuss "the next chapter of Destiny 2."
Season of Opulence is available to owners of the Destiny 2 Annual Pass, which retails for $35 USD / $28 GBP / $50 AUD on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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