Battlefield 4 servers are filling up again ahead of Battlefield 2042's release. In this video we take a look at what made BF4 an excellent first-person shooter and why you should give it another shot.Deadline is reporting that Nico Parker (Disney's Dumbo) has been cast as Sarah Miller, Joel Miller's (Pedro Pascal) daughter in the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us. She joins Pascal, Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, and Bella Ramsey for the HBO TV series. Dandridge is the only cast member thus far to reprise their role from the game.
The series will be based on the critically-acclaimed video game series of the same name that's about a super virus that destroys civilization with Ramsey's Ellie is the only one that can save it. Parker's character has a relatively minor role in the game, but also the first character you play in it and sets the chain of events in motion for Joel and his brother Tommy's path.
Though the first game centers on Joel's point of view, with small bits for Ellie to play, the second game which came out in the summer of 2020, concentrated more on Ellie and her growing up in this bizarre new world. It received tremendous acclaim and even Game of the Year. Even here at Gamespot, we gave it an 8/10.
Continue Reading at GameSpotAmazon's series adapting the classic Geena Davis and Tom Hanks comedy A League of Their Own has cast Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) in its version of the Jimmy Dugan role. The casting news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
This new adaptation will be an hourlong, live-action series that will not 1:1 revisit the 1992 film. For example, Offerman--arguably pretty much everyone's favorite deadpan comic actor--will play Casey "Dove" Porter, the coach of the team at the center of the show. Dove was "thought to be the next Major League Baseball star, but blew his arm out after three years." Similar to the movie, which saw Hanks play a similarly fated Jimmy Dugan, Dove aims to make his comeback by coaching the all-female Rockford Peaches into winning the championship banner.
The series will star Abbi Jacobson (Broad City)--who co-created and will executive produce alongside Will Graham--Chanté Adams (Roxanne Roxanne), D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place), Gbemisola Ikumelo (Brain in Gear), Kelly McCormack (Letterkenny), Roberta Colindrez (Birdman), and Priscilla Delgado (Julieta). This new version promises to bring the familiar story to a new generation "with new characters and their own fresh, modern vision on a timeless story of big dreams, friendship, love, and, of course, baseball," according to co-head of TV for Amazon Studios Vernon Sanders.
Continue Reading at GameSpotBattlefield 2042 will feature some impressive tech, particularly to up the player count to 128. However, it seems the upcoming military first-person shooter may not have ray tracing support when it drops on PC this October.
In a press release, Nvidia announced that Battlefield 2042 will take advantage of the card manufacturer's DLSS and Reflex features found in its GeForce 20- and 30-series GPUs. Nvidia didn't mention ray tracing here.
In fact, Nvidia only mentions ray tracing when calling out Doom Eternal, which just received DLSS and ray tracing support via a new patch. We've reached out to EA for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
Continue Reading at GameSpotMicrosoft has released the latest Xbox system update to select members of its Xbox Insider program. The update doesn't make any significant changes but does fix a number of issues and updates the list of known issues.
The Xbox system update will be available for members of the Xbox Insiders program in the Alpha Ring today, fixing a number of small issues. The update fixes an issue where the Netflix app wouldn't launch for some users, some games wouldn't launch even after being reinstalled, and an issue where some consoles couldn't connect to the network.
Xbox also recently announced that the Xbox Cloud Streaming service is now available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in more regions across iOS devices, Windows 10 PCs, MacOS, and Android devices. The service is also now being powered by Xbox Series X technology, allowing for faster loading and higher quality game streaming.
Continue Reading at GameSpotMicrosoft has released the latest Xbox system update to select members of its Xbox Insider program. The update doesn't make any significant changes but does fix a number of issues and updates the list of known issues.
The Xbox system update will be available for members of the Xbox Insiders program in the Alpha Ring today, fixing a number of small issues. The update fixes an issue where the Netflix app wouldn't launch for some users, some games wouldn't launch even after being reinstalled, and an issue where some consoles couldn't connect to the network.
Xbox also recently announced that the Xbox Cloud Streaming service is now available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in more regions across iOS devices, Windows 10 PCs, MacOS, and Android devices. The service is also now being powered by Xbox Series X technology, allowing for faster loading and higher quality game streaming.
Continue Reading at GameSpotOne of the coolest parts about remasters and remakes of games is that the mod community is often revitalized, and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is no exception. Not content with the third-person perspective of the trilogy, one enterprising player has created a mod that converts the exploration sections of all three games into first-person.
Called First Person Mode on NexusMods, the mod was made by user "Jade" and specifically focuses on any section of the game that doesn't involve combat. That means that you can use this to go explore the Citadel or do anything that doesn't require Shepard to pull out a gun. It'll also revert to third-person perspective if you enter into a conversation, but the ability to take in the incredibly rich non-combat areas of the trilogy from Shepard's perspective is still fantastic.
In order to install it, you'll need a PC copy of Mass Effect Legendary Edition as well as the ME3Tweaks Mod Manager. Then you can install the First Person Mode mod from NexusMods and get exploring. From the looks of the images on the mod's page, it really changes the impact of the environments--not least because you won't have Shepard cluttering up the screen. You can see some of those images in the gallery above.
Continue Reading at GameSpotOne of the coolest parts about remasters and remakes of games is that the mod community is often revitalized, and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is no exception. Not content with the third-person perspective of the trilogy, one enterprising player has created a mod that converts the exploration sections of all three games into first-person.
Called First Person Mode on NexusMods, the mod was made by user "Jade" and specifically focuses on any section of the game that doesn't involve combat. That means that you can use this to go explore the Citadel or do anything that doesn't require Shepard to pull out a gun. It'll also revert to third-person perspective if you enter into a conversation, but the ability to take in the incredibly rich non-combat areas of the trilogy from Shepard's perspective is still fantastic.
In order to install it, you'll need a PC copy of Mass Effect Legendary Edition as well as the ME3Tweaks Mod Manager. Then you can install the First Person Mode mod from NexusMods and get exploring. From the looks of the images on the mod's page, it really changes the impact of the environments--not least because you won't have Shepard cluttering up the screen. You can see some of those images in the gallery above.
Continue Reading at GameSpotA "very successful console [maker that] does not have Game Pass" charges indie devs $25,000 USD to get discounts and feature spots on the platform, according to Neon Doctrine co-founder Iain Garner.
Garner took to Twitter to air out his frustrations with "Platform X." Garner never identified the console maker but clarified that Game Pass doesn't exist on the manufacturer's platform, ruling out PC and Xbox consoles. Speculation has suggested the platform holder in question is Sony, and a subsequent tweet from Whitehorn Games CEO Matthew White laments the troubles his studio has encountered on this same platform. While not outright using Sony's name, White strongly suggests it's the PlayStation maker being referred to. White also notes that he used to work at "Platform X"; his LinkedIn profile shows him as having worked at PlayStation from August 2016-2017.
A Kotaku report, citing two sources, also corroborates that "Platform X" is Sony's PlayStation. Furthermore, some prominent indie developers specifically call Sony out by name as "Platform X."
Continue Reading at GameSpot
Loki Episode 4, "The Nexus Event" unveiled some devastating truths about the TVA and its members, both for us the audience and for the characters themselves. Last week, Sylvie dropped the bombshell that the agents of the TVA are actually just brainwashed variants and this week, we explored exactly what that meant.
Of course, that didn't happen until the whole Lamentis debacle was finally solved. If you remember from the final moments of last week's episode, we last left Loki and Sylvie staring their own imminent demise in the face as the planet collapsed around them. Thankfully, Mobius was able to swoop in and save them in time, but only because of a powerful and confusing spike of nexus energy.
This then sparked a chain of events that left the TVA crumbling, its agents in disarray, and the fabric of reality itself--well, you get the idea here. Things are not looking good for space and time, though maybe not in the way you'd might expect. Things aren't splintering off into a multiversal web (at least, not yet) but revelations are happening, and none of them are good.
Here are 8 important things to note in this episode, from Easter Eggs to references and nods to the MCU at large.
Loki has provided opportunities to revisit many places in history, but returning to Asgard (which is currently destroyed in the present day MCU) is a bit of a staple by now. This episode revisits the palace several times, but it's also where we kick things off.
We'll talk more about Kid Loki (the other one) in a second, but we're introduced to a version of the character here as well--kind of. It's not our Loki, it's Kid Sylvie. She's being arrested by Ravonna for "crimes against the sacred timeline." What kind of crimes? We can't be sure--and Ravonna refuses to elaborate. Based on the end of the episode, that could mean that Ravonna is simply a good soldier following bad orders, or something much more sinister.
Did you catch the wolf figurine in Kid Sylvie's playset? That's a model of Fenris, of course, who we saw in action during Thor Ragnarok. In that version of events, Fenris was a servant of Hela who she had to resurrect when she attempted to take the kingdom--but it's unclear if the same things transpired in Sylvie's version of history.
Here's a familiar face! Lady Sif hasn't been around in the MCU for quite some time--since Thor: The Dark World, specifically. She'll be back for Thor: Love And Thunder, however, so it's nice to see actor Jamie Alexander in costume again to jog our memories.
Mobius shouts out the TVA's history with "Kree, titans, and vampires." Kree we know from Captain Marvel, titans is a nod to our good friend Thanos who hails from the planet Titan, vampires, however, is a new one. Hey, remember Morbius? That's coming out. It's not technically part of the MCU, but there's that.
Alas, poor Mobius, he "died" as he lived--fondly remembering how cool jet skis are. Of course, Mobius's pruning doesn't necessarily mean that he's gone for good (after all, the mid-credits scene seems to confirm that being zapped out of existence isn't really death) so there's still a chance we'll actually get to see Owen Wilson jet ski'ing around in real time.
After the unsettling revelation that the Time-Keepers are, in fact, just a bunch of robots like the performers at the weirdest and most cosmic Chuck E. Cheese, Loki asks the obvious question: If the Keepers are just puppets, who made them? In the comics, there's actually an answer for this--a being called He Who Remains, a former director of an alternate timeline's version of the TVA, created the Time-Keepers in our reality. But in the comics, they weren't robots--so do with this information what you will.
Hopefully you didn't close your Disney+ app before the credits of this week's episode, because there is a mid-credits scene, and it's a critical one. Not only do we get absolute confirmation that Loki's pruning didn't kill him--at least not in the traditional sense--it also introduces some new and colorful characters.
The Lord of the Rings Online has introduced two new servers, and they have the best, most appropriate names. The new servers are called Shadowfax and Treebeard, while developer Standing Stone Games is also rolling out new difficulty options. All of this is exclusive to VIP subscribers, so free-to-play users need to upgrade to get started.
The Shadowfax server--named after the iconic Middle-earth horse who runs like the wind--lets you level faster by offering +50% XP, legendary item XP, and mount XP, as well as +20% virtue XP. The Treebeard server--named after the very slow and deliberate Ent--is a slower-paced offering featuring -60% reduced XP.
Smallville actor Allison Mack has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in the NXIVM cult, according to Reuters. Mack was facing a minimum sentence of 15 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
She was one of the highest ranking members of convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere's cult-like group, which recruited women as sex slaves. Last fall, Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison.
Her and Raniere's rulings make for a real-life coda to the HBO docuseries The Vow, which premiered in August 2020 and chronicles the emotional toll and trauma caused by self-improvement group NXIVM--which was a cover organization for a sex-slavery sorority that blackmailed, starved, and branded its members. In October, HBO renewed the series for Season 2, which was already expected to focus on Raniere's trial while continuing to look inside his inner circle and ongoing supporters.
Continue Reading at GameSpotObsidian's Honey, I Shrunk The Kids simulator Grounded just received its biggest patch yet with the Shroom and Doom update, which includes new building items, the addition of pets, a completely reworked Broodmother boss battle, achievements, and more. Also, the ability to sit, which Obsidian swears has been a frequent request from the game's community.
As first revealed during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase as part of E3 2021, there looks to be plenty for players to sink their teeth into with the Shroom and Doom update. For starters, players will be able to harvest mushrooms in the environment, and using new items like the grinder and oven, turn them into various new building materials, such as mushroom bricks. New building items like curved doors, pillars, spiral staircases, and more give players even more options when it comes to crafting fortifications.
But that's just the "shroom" part of the update. The "doom" comes in the form of a completely reworked boss battle against a gigantic spider, the Broodmother. As Obsidian explains in a new blog post about the update, the Broodmother was previously in the game when it launched into Game Preview, but was eventually removed because it didn't meet the team's expectations on what a boss battle should be. Now, the Broodmother is back in a multi-phased fight, with Obsidian saying she is by far the most challenging creature in the backyard. Defeating the Broodmother will score players the ability to craft a special new item.
Continue Reading at GameSpotA "very successful console [maker that] does not have Game Pass" charges indie devs $25,000 USD to get discounts and feature spots on the platform, according to Neon Doctrine co-founder Iain Garner.
Garner took to Twitter to air out his frustrations with "Platform X." Garner never identified the console maker but clarified that Game Pass doesn't exist on the manufacturer's platform, ruling out PC and Xbox consoles. Speculation has suggested the platform holder in question is Sony, and a subsequent tweet from Whitehorn Games CEO Matthew White laments the troubles his studio has encountered on this same platform. While not outright using Sony's name, White strongly suggests it's the PlayStation maker being referred to. White also notes that he used to work at "Platform X"; his LinkedIn profile shows him as having worked at PlayStation from August 2016-2017.
A Kotaku report, citing two sources, also corroborates that "Platform X" is Sony's PlayStation. Furthermore, some prominent indie developers specifically call Sony out by name as "Platform X."
Continue Reading at GameSpotLoki Episode 4, "The Nexus Event" unveiled some devastating truths about the TVA and its members, both for us the audience and for the characters themselves. Last week, Sylvie dropped the bombshell that the agents of the TVA are actually just brainwashed variants and this week, we explored exactly what that meant.
Of course, that didn't happen until the whole Lamentis debacle was finally solved. If you remember from the final moments of last week's episode, we last left Loki and Sylvie staring their own imminent demise in the face as the planet collapsed around them. Thankfully, Mobius was able to swoop in and save them in time, but only because of a powerful and confusing spike of nexus energy.
This then sparked a chain of events that left the TVA crumbling, its agents in disarray, and the fabric of reality itself--well, you get the idea here. Things are not looking good for space and time, though maybe not in the way you'd might expect. Things aren't splintering off into a multiversal web (at least, not yet) but revelations are happening, and none of them are good.
Here are 8 important things to note in this episode, from Easter Eggs to references and nods to the MCU at large.
Loki has provided opportunities to revisit many places in history, but returning to Asgard (which is currently destroyed in the present day MCU) is a bit of a staple by now. This episode revisits the palace several times, but it's also where we kick things off.
We'll talk more about Kid Loki (the other one) in a second, but we're introduced to a version of the character here as well--kind of. It's not our Loki, it's Kid Sylvie. She's being arrested by Ravonna for "crimes against the sacred timeline." What kind of crimes? We can't be sure--and Ravonna refuses to elaborate. Based on the end of the episode, that could mean that Ravonna is simply a good soldier following bad orders, or something much more sinister.
Did you catch the wolf figurine in Kid Sylvie's playset? That's a model of Fenris, of course, who we saw in action during Thor Ragnarok. In that version of events, Fenris was a servant of Hela who she had to resurrect when she attempted to take the kingdom--but it's unclear if the same things transpired in Sylvie's version of history.
Here's a familiar face! Lady Sif hasn't been around in the MCU for quite some time--since Thor: The Dark World, specifically. She'll be back for Thor: Love And Thunder, however, so it's nice to see actor Jamie Alexander in costume again to jog our memories.
Mobius shouts out the TVA's history with "Kree, titans, and vampires." Kree we know from Captain Marvel, titans is a nod to our good friend Thanos who hails from the planet Titan, vampires, however, is a new one. Hey, remember Morbius? That's coming out. It's not technically part of the MCU, but there's that.
Alas, poor Mobius, he "died" as he lived--fondly remembering how cool jet skis are. Of course, Mobius's pruning doesn't necessarily mean that he's gone for good (after all, the mid-credits scene seems to confirm that being zapped out of existence isn't really death) so there's still a chance we'll actually get to see Owen Wilson jet ski'ing around in real time.
After the unsettling revelation that the Time-Keepers are, in fact, just a bunch of robots like the performers at the weirdest and most cosmic Chuck E. Cheese, Loki asks the obvious question: If the Keepers are just puppets, who made them? In the comics, there's actually an answer for this--a being called He Who Remains, a former director of an alternate timeline's version of the TVA, created the Time-Keepers in our reality. But in the comics, they weren't robots--so do with this information what you will.
Hopefully you didn't close your Disney+ app before the credits of this week's episode, because there is a mid-credits scene, and it's a critical one. Not only do we get absolute confirmation that Loki's pruning didn't kill him--at least not in the traditional sense--it also introduces some new and colorful characters.
The Lord of the Rings Online has introduced two new servers, and they have the best, most appropriate names. The new servers are called Shadowfax and Treebeard, while developer Standing Stone Games is also rolling out new difficulty options. All of this is exclusive to VIP subscribers, so free-to-play users need to upgrade to get started.
The Shadowfax server--named after the iconic Middle-earth horse who runs like the wind--lets you level faster by offering +50% XP, legendary item XP, and mount XP, as well as +20% virtue XP. The Treebeard server--named after the very slow and deliberate Ent--is a slower-paced offering featuring -60% reduced XP.
Smallville actor Allison Mack has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in the NXIVM cult, according to Reuters. Mack was facing a minimum sentence of 15 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
She was one of the highest ranking members of convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere's cult-like group, which recruited women as sex slaves. Last fall, Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison.
Her and Raniere's rulings make for a real-life coda to the HBO docuseries The Vow, which premiered in August 2020 and chronicles the emotional toll and trauma caused by self-improvement group NXIVM--which was a cover organization for a sex-slavery sorority that blackmailed, starved, and branded its members. In October, HBO renewed the series for Season 2, which was already expected to focus on Raniere's trial while continuing to look inside his inner circle and ongoing supporters.
Continue Reading at GameSpotObsidian's Honey, I Shrunk The Kids simulator Grounded just received its biggest patch yet with the Shroom and Doom update, which includes new building items, the addition of pets, a completely reworked Broodmother boss battle, achievements, and more. Also, the ability to sit, which Obsidian swears has been a frequent request from the game's community.
As first revealed during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase as part of E3 2021, there looks to be plenty for players to sink their teeth into with the Shroom and Doom update. For starters, players will be able to harvest mushrooms in the environment, and using new items like the grinder and oven, turn them into various new building materials, such as mushroom bricks. New building items like curved doors, pillars, spiral staircases, and more give players even more options when it comes to crafting fortifications.
But that's just the "shroom" part of the update. The "doom" comes in the form of a completely reworked boss battle against a gigantic spider, the Broodmother. As Obsidian explains in a new blog post about the update, the Broodmother was previously in the game when it launched into Game Preview, but was eventually removed because it didn't meet the team's expectations on what a boss battle should be. Now, the Broodmother is back in a multi-phased fight, with Obsidian saying she is by far the most challenging creature in the backyard. Defeating the Broodmother will score players the ability to craft a special new item.
Continue Reading at GameSpotLord of the Rings and Lost star Dominic Monaghan will star in a new virtual reality game called Dark Threads. According to Deadline, it's a sci-fi drama that is "fully interactive."
The game comes from Cream Productions, a Canadian studio that is now venturing into VR after producing The Story of Late Night for CNN. A trailer can be seen here.
Dark Threads invites users to "embark on a fantastical journey of consciousness," according to Deadline's description. Monaghan is the player character, an inventor who came up with a plan to save the world, but of course, it doesn't work out so well.
Continue Reading at GameSpotDeveloper id Software seemingly has a new project in the works, as the Australian Classification Board has listed an M rating for some kind of "multi-platform computer game" to be published by ZeniMax Europe.
The listing was published on June 28 and has been rated M for "violence" and "online interactivity," suggesting it might be a gory multiplayer title. There are also mild instances of some mature "themes" and "language." While the project is categorized as a "multi-platform computer game," no other details are known. However, the listing states the version of the project is "original."
This is the second time the Australian Classification Board has listed an id Software game prior to its eventual announcement and release. Earlier this year, the ACB posted an M rating for "Project 2021A," which wound up becoming the PlayStation VR version of Doom 3 that launched in March 2021. It's worth noting that an M rating in Australia is much milder than the same rating in the US.
Continue Reading at GameSpotFortnite Week 4 will have demand you place missing person signs in Weeping Woods and Misty Meadows, but as is often the case, the island houses more of these collectibles than you'll need in order to complete the Legendary Quest and earn 30,000 XP. if you're looking for missing person sign locations, this guide will show you all eight spots to check. If you do it well enough, you'll only need to visit one spot though.
The challenge only requires you to find four of the eight total missing person sign locations, and with four n Weeping Woods, you could complete the whole challenge without leaving the campground. Look to place missing person signs in the following locations:
If instead your Battle Bus trajectory or other travels bring you to Misty Meadows, you can complete the challenge there instead, again finding four of the eight available missing person signs. Here's where to look for them inside Misty Meadows:
Continue Reading at GameSpot
Doom Eternal's next-generation patch is finally out for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC, bringing enhanced performance and ray tracing to the high-octane, demon-slaying shooter. The free update will give you three new gameplay modes on consoles, while players on PC can make use of certain features based on their hardware.
On the latest consoles, Doom Eternal can now be played with Balanced, Ray Tracing, and Performance presets. Balanced, despite its name, prioritizes visual fidelity, offering the highest dynamic resolution possible while still sustaining 60fps. Ray Tracing reduces the resolution but offers fully ray-traced reflections, which adds a new visual flair to the action. Performance reduces resolution even more for the game to reach 120fps.
All three modes are available for Xbox Series X and PS5, while only Balanced and Performance will be offered on Xbox Series S. Additionally, only Xbox consoles will feature Variable Rate Shading and Variable Refresh Rate support. Here's the specifics for each platform:
Continue Reading at GameSpotThe Liam Neeson movie Unknown is being developed into a TV show by TNT. As reported by Deadline, the series will be a sequel to the 2011 thriller.
The Unknown TV show will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who helmed the movie, with Neeson executive producing. The series will be written by Sean Finegan, who also wrote the Ethan Hawke-starring thriller Getaway. According to Deadline, the show will "pick up after the events of the film and follow a new lead character that is thrust into a mind-bending adventure full of twists and turns."
Unknown starred Neeson as a man who wakes up after a coma to discover that another man has stolen his identity and no one he previously knew seems to recognise him. It was the first movie collaboration between Collet-Serra and Neeson, and was followed by Non-Stop, Run All Night, and The Commuter.
Continue Reading at GameSpotDeveloper id Software seemingly has a new project in the works, as the Australian Classification Board has listed an M rating for some kind of "multi-platform computer game" to be published by ZeniMax Europe.
The listing was published on June 28 and has been rated M for "violence" and "online interactivity," suggesting it might be a gory multiplayer title. There are also mild instances of some mature "themes" and "language." While the project is categorized as a "multi-platform computer game," no other details are known. However, the listing states the version of the project is "original."
This is the second time the Australian Classification Board has listed an id Software game prior to its eventual announcement and release. Earlier this year, the ACB posted an M rating for "Project 2021A," which wound up becoming the PlayStation VR version of Doom 3 that launched in March 2021. It's worth noting that an M rating in Australia is much milder than the same rating in the US.
Continue Reading at GameSpotFortnite Week 4 will have demand you place missing person signs in Weeping Woods and Misty Meadows, but as is often the case, the island houses more of these collectibles than you'll need in order to complete the Legendary Quest and earn 30,000 XP. if you're looking for missing person sign locations, this guide will show you all eight spots to check. If you do it well enough, you'll only need to visit one spot though.
The challenge only requires you to find four of the eight total missing person sign locations, and with four n Weeping Woods, you could complete the whole challenge without leaving the campground. Look to place missing person signs in the following locations:
If instead your Battle Bus trajectory or other travels bring you to Misty Meadows, you can complete the challenge there instead, again finding four of the eight available missing person signs. Here's where to look for them inside Misty Meadows:
Continue Reading at GameSpotA Mass Effect spin-off for the Nintendo DS that would have had players explore the galaxy as a space pirate was once in development at BioWare, according to a new interview with former longtime BioWare employee Mark Darrah.
"You would have a ship, you would be independent, more like a Han Solo character, not a Spectre," Darrah says in a new interview with MinnMax. "You would be flying around, picking up cargo, exploring. You could explore and sell that information back to the human Alliance."
The game would have taken place in a part of the Mass Effect galaxy that was less-fully explored and more of the Wild West, something that sounds similar to the idea of the Outer Rim in Star Wars. Darrah says the idea behind the game was inspired by PC classic Star Control, and would have been played from the first-person perspective and featured ship combat.
Continue Reading at GameSpotAfter being pushed out of 2020 due to the pandemic, Black Widow is almost here. The solo film starring Scarlet Johannson as Black Widow arrives July 8 in theaters. But you don't need to head to your local theater to watch the latest Marvel movie. Black Widow will also be streaming on Disney Plus with Premier Access starting July 9.
Black Widow is the fourth film to use the Premier Access program. In order to watch it, first you have to be a Disney Plus subscriber. Regular Disney Plus subscriptions cost $8 per month or $80 per year. Alternatively, you can opt for the Disney Bundle, which includes Hulu and ESPN Plus. On top of the standard subscription, you need to spend $30 to unlock Premier Access for Black Widow. Premier Access preorders for Black Widow are available now. Once you purchase Premier Access, you'll be able to watch Black Widow as many times as you want.
Continue Reading at GameSpotA Mass Effect spin-off for the Nintendo DS that would have had players explore the galaxy as a space pirate was once in development at BioWare, according to a new interview with former longtime BioWare employee Mark Darrah.
"You would have a ship, you would be independent, more like a Han Solo character, not a Spectre," Darrah says in a new interview with MinnMax. "You would be flying around, picking up cargo, exploring. You could explore and sell that information back to the human Alliance."
The game would have taken place in a part of the Mass Effect galaxy that was less-fully explored and more of the Wild West, something that sounds similar to the idea of the Outer Rim in Star Wars. Darrah says the idea behind the game was inspired by PC classic Star Control, and would have been played from the first-person perspective and featured ship combat.
Continue Reading at GameSpotRemedy, creator of Control and Alan Wake, has announced a new multiplayer-focused Control spin-off with the working title Project Condor, which is being developed for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. More interestingly, the game will be a spin-off of the studio's latest new IP, Control.
The game was announced in conjunction with a new publishing deal with 505 Games, the original publishers of Control in 2018. Remedy now considers Control a franchise, with this new multiplayer title the first in an exploration of stories outside of The Oldest House and that of Jesse. Control franchise director, Mikael Kasurinen, explains in a blog post that the world Remedy has created is ripe for more tales.
"Control is first and foremost a world, a place for multitudes of stories, events, and characters," explained Kasurinen. "A place where unexpected, strange, and extraordinary things occur. We kicked it off with Jesse’s entry into the Oldest House, but there is more to this world. Oh, so much more."
Continue Reading at GameSpotThe Ocean's series of heist movies could continue. Don Cheadle, who plays Basher in the Steven Soderbergh movies, said in an interview that Soderbergh himself floated the idea of making another entry in the series.
He told Entertainment Weekly that Ocean's 14, or whatever a sequel might be called, was discussed before star Bernie Mac passed away in 2008. After that, they decided against it. But now, Cheadle said Soderbergh has an idea for how to get the gang back together.
"We were talking about it, and then Bernie passed, and very quickly we were like, 'No, we don't want to do it,'" Cheadle said. "But I just did a movie with Steven [No Sudden Move] and he said, 'I think there may be a way to do it again. I'm thinking about it.' And it didn't go much further than that. But I don't know; I don't know who all would be in it. I imagine the main group of us would be in. It would be interesting to see."
Continue Reading at GameSpotTorn Banner Studios has made a splash with Chivalry 2, its latest medieval combat title. However, anyone that's played the game since it launched on June 8 knows that it has some problems. Thankfully, a majority of those issues are being fixed in the game's upcoming 2.0.1 patch, including party and performance issues.
It's always more fun to charge into battle with friends, but doing that in Chivalry 2 has been a challenge. Simply getting your friends into one party has been difficult, with some connection issues only being solved by restarting your console or PC. With the 2.0.1 patch, those issues should be a thing of the past, with players appearing online correctly and visual indicators being added to show that a player cannot be invited.
Chivalry 2's performance will also be improved somewhat with the 2.0.1 patch, although mostly on Xbox Series S consoles. Once the patch is in place, the lightweight Xbox console will be able to run Chivalry 2 at 60fps, as intended. Some other issues related to player corpses and the Lionspire banner stag will also be addressed.
Continue Reading at GameSpotDeveloper DICE and publisher Electronic Arts have announced a new Microsoft partnership to make Xbox the official console of Battlefield 2042. This doesn't mean it's exclusive to Xbox, however.
To be specific, the Xbox Series S and Series X are the "official consoles of Battlefield 2042," according to a press release. All three said this was done to "ensure that the next entry in the Battlefield franchise is the best one yet." It's unclear exactly how DICE and EA will take advantage of Xbox Series X|S hardware or what this means for Battlefield 2042 players on other platforms.
DICE and EA announced four other partnerships in preparation for Battlefield 2042's October release: Nvidia (for the "ultimate PC experience"), Logitech (to "ensure players have Logitech integration"), Polaris (to "bring players the opportunity to operate authentic Polaris vehicles in Battlefield 2042"), and WD_BLACK (to ensure "gamers have the best possible gaming experience").
Continue Reading at GameSpotDark Souls: Nightfall, the upcoming ambitious mega-mod authored by a group of Souls modding luminaries, will release December 21. Described as a fan-made sequel to the original game, Dark Souls: Nightfall will be a mod for Dark Souls 1 that will feature a new world map and an entirely new story.
That group of modders includes Meowmaritus, who authored several Souls combat mods, and Grimrukh, the mind behind the popular Daughters of Ash mod. In the teaser trailer announcing the release date, we can see several big changes, including a large hole in what appears to be outside of the Northern Undead Asylum, as well as a massive cathedral in what looks like a changed Ash Lake.
Thanks to previous footage released by the modders, we know that that large hole leads to the Kiln of the First Flame, the final location in the original Dark Souls. According to pre-release materials, Nightfall will follow the alternate ending of the original Dark Souls, where the player character decides not to link the flame, thus leading into the age of dark. This is supposedly the age of man, but we'll see how that plays out in Nightfall.
Continue Reading at GameSpotIn Fortnite Week 4, you'll need to visit Farmer Steel's favorite places. As usual with these Legendary Quests, you won't likely know exactly where to go - Farmer Steel is just an acquaintance after all. But we've mapped out what Epic means when it says his "favorite places." Here's where you'll need to look for the apparently very hungry Farmer Steel.
If there's only one thing to know about Farmer Steel, it's that the man loves to eat. In Fortnite Week 4, his favorite places are defined as three separate restaurants scattered across Apollo. if you're a devoted player, simply naming these locations may be all you require to make your way to them, but we'll map them below in case you're a bit unsure. Farmer Steel's favorite places can be found:
We note the new name for Holly Hedges as that change is expected to come very soon, with the Week 4 challenges already referring to the place by its new name. You'll need to visit all three locations to complete this challenge, and given their distance apart, it's likely you'll need at least two rounds to visit them all, but that's okay.
Continue Reading at GameSpotAfter being pushed out of 2020 due to the pandemic, Black Widow is almost here. The solo film starring Scarlet Johannson as Black Widow arrives July 8 in theaters. But you don't need to head to your local theater to watch the latest Marvel movie. Black Widow will also be streaming on Disney Plus with Premier Access starting July 9.
Black Widow is the fourth film to use the Premier Access program. In order to watch it, first you have to be a Disney Plus subscriber. Regular Disney Plus subscriptions cost $8 per month or $80 per year. Alternatively, you can opt for the Disney Bundle, which includes Hulu and ESPN Plus. On top of the standard subscription, you need to spend $30 to unlock Premier Access for Black Widow. Premier Access preorders for Black Widow are available now. Once you purchase Premier Access, you'll be able to watch Black Widow as many times as you want.
Continue Reading at GameSpotRemedy, creator of Control and Alan Wake, has announced a new multiplayer-focused Control spin-off with the working title Project Condor, which is being developed for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. More interestingly, the game will be a spin-off of the studio's latest new IP, Control.
The game was announced in conjunction with a new publishing deal with 505 Games, the original publishers of Control in 2018. Remedy now considers Control a franchise, with this new multiplayer title the first in an exploration of stories outside of The Oldest House and that of Jesse. Control franchise director, Mikael Kasurinen, explains in a blog post that the world Remedy has created is ripe for more tales.
"Control is first and foremost a world, a place for multitudes of stories, events, and characters," explained Kasurinen. "A place where unexpected, strange, and extraordinary things occur. We kicked it off with Jesse’s entry into the Oldest House, but there is more to this world. Oh, so much more."
Continue Reading at GameSpotThe Ocean's series of heist movies could continue. Don Cheadle, who plays Basher in the Steven Soderbergh movies, said in an interview that Soderbergh himself floated the idea of making another entry in the series.
He told Entertainment Weekly that Ocean's 14, or whatever a sequel might be called, was discussed before star Bernie Mac passed away in 2008. After that, they decided against it. But now, Cheadle said Soderbergh has an idea for how to get the gang back together.
"We were talking about it, and then Bernie passed, and very quickly we were like, 'No, we don't want to do it,'" Cheadle said. "But I just did a movie with Steven [No Sudden Move] and he said, 'I think there may be a way to do it again. I'm thinking about it.' And it didn't go much further than that. But I don't know; I don't know who all would be in it. I imagine the main group of us would be in. It would be interesting to see."
Continue Reading at GameSpotTorn Banner Studios has made a splash with Chivalry 2, its latest medieval combat title. However, anyone that's played the game since it launched on June 8 knows that it has some problems. Thankfully, a majority of those issues are being fixed in the game's upcoming 2.0.1 patch, including party and performance issues.
It's always more fun to charge into battle with friends, but doing that in Chivalry 2 has been a challenge. Simply getting your friends into one party has been difficult, with some connection issues only being solved by restarting your console or PC. With the 2.0.1 patch, those issues should be a thing of the past, with players appearing online correctly and visual indicators being added to show that a player cannot be invited.
Chivalry 2's performance will also be improved somewhat with the 2.0.1 patch, although mostly on Xbox Series S consoles. Once the patch is in place, the lightweight Xbox console will be able to run Chivalry 2 at 60fps, as intended. Some other issues related to player corpses and the Lionspire banner stag will also be addressed.
Continue Reading at GameSpotDeveloper DICE and publisher Electronic Arts have announced a new Microsoft partnership to make Xbox the official console of Battlefield 2042. This doesn't mean it's exclusive to Xbox, however.
To be specific, the Xbox Series S and Series X are the "official consoles of Battlefield 2042," according to a press release. All three said this was done to "ensure that the next entry in the Battlefield franchise is the best one yet." It's unclear exactly how DICE and EA will take advantage of Xbox Series X|S hardware or what this means for Battlefield 2042 players on other platforms.
DICE and EA announced four other partnerships in preparation for Battlefield 2042's October release: Nvidia (for the "ultimate PC experience"), Logitech (to "ensure players have Logitech integration"), Polaris (to "bring players the opportunity to operate authentic Polaris vehicles in Battlefield 2042"), and WD_BLACK (to ensure "gamers have the best possible gaming experience").
Continue Reading at GameSpotDark Souls: Nightfall, the upcoming ambitious mega-mod authored by a group of Souls modding luminaries, will release December 21. Described as a fan-made sequel to the original game, Dark Souls: Nightfall will be a mod for Dark Souls 1 that will feature a new world map and an entirely new story.
That group of modders includes Meowmaritus, who authored several Souls combat mods, and Grimrukh, the mind behind the popular Daughters of Ash mod. In the teaser trailer announcing the release date, we can see several big changes, including a large hole in what appears to be outside of the Northern Undead Asylum, as well as a massive cathedral in what looks like a changed Ash Lake.
Thanks to previous footage released by the modders, we know that that large hole leads to the Kiln of the First Flame, the final location in the original Dark Souls. According to pre-release materials, Nightfall will follow the alternate ending of the original Dark Souls, where the player character decides not to link the flame, thus leading into the age of dark. This is supposedly the age of man, but we'll see how that plays out in Nightfall.
Continue Reading at GameSpotIn Fortnite Week 4, you'll need to visit Farmer Steel's favorite places. As usual with these Legendary Quests, you won't likely know exactly where to go - Farmer Steel is just an acquaintance after all. But we've mapped out what Epic means when it says his "favorite places." Here's where you'll need to look for the apparently very hungry Farmer Steel.
If there's only one thing to know about Farmer Steel, it's that the man loves to eat. In Fortnite Week 4, his favorite places are defined as three separate restaurants scattered across Apollo. if you're a devoted player, simply naming these locations may be all you require to make your way to them, but we'll map them below in case you're a bit unsure. Farmer Steel's favorite places can be found:
We note the new name for Holly Hedges as that change is expected to come very soon, with the Week 4 challenges already referring to the place by its new name. You'll need to visit all three locations to complete this challenge, and given their distance apart, it's likely you'll need at least two rounds to visit them all, but that's okay.
Continue Reading at GameSpot
Xbox Cloud Gaming's open beta is officially live now. To mark the occasion, Microsoft has given Xbox Cloud Gaming a big hardware boost: its cloud streaming service will run on Xbox Series X hardware, meaning that the games should be able to achieve higher graphical quality and performance.
The Cloud Gaming beta is now widely available for use across iOS devices, Windows 10 PCs, MacOS computers, and Android devices. It's available to anyone who subscribes to Game Pass Ultimate. On Windows PCs, you can boot up Cloud Gaming through the Edge or Google Chrome browsers (other Chromium-based browsers appear to work too; I ran it through Brave). Users on iOS devices will have to go through their Safari browser as a result of Apple policies. In addition, it works on MacOS through Safari, Edge, and Chromium browsers.
Microsoft has also fully upgraded its behind-the-scenes tech so that Cloud Gaming now runs on Xbox Series X hardware, custom-built for game streaming. The company states that this will allow for faster loads and better performance. However, it is still capping game streams at 1080p and 60fps for the moment "to ensure the lowest latency, highest quality experience across the broadest set of devices," according to its press release.
Continue Reading at GameSpotXbox Cloud Gaming's open beta is officially live now. To mark the occasion, Microsoft has given Xbox Cloud Gaming a big hardware boost: its cloud streaming service will run on Xbox Series X hardware, meaning that the games should be able to achieve higher graphical quality and performance.
The Cloud Gaming beta is now widely available for use across iOS devices, Windows 10 PCs, MacOS computers, and Android devices. It's available to anyone who subscribes to Game Pass Ultimate. On Windows PCs, you can boot up Cloud Gaming through the Edge or Google Chrome browsers (other Chromium-based browsers appear to work too; I ran it through Brave). Users on iOS devices will have to go through their Safari browser as a result of Apple policies. In addition, it works on MacOS through Safari, Edge, and Chromium browsers.
Microsoft has also fully upgraded its behind-the-scenes tech so that Cloud Gaming now runs on Xbox Series X hardware, custom-built for game streaming. The company states that this will allow for faster loads and better performance. However, it is still capping game streams at 1080p and 60fps for the moment "to ensure the lowest latency, highest quality experience across the broadest set of devices," according to its press release.
Continue Reading at GameSpotFor the first time in the game's 14-year history, Valve's hero shooter Team Fortress 2 has managed to surpass 150,000 concurrent players on PC.
According to stats reported by SteamDB and the site's creator, Pavel Djundik, Team Fortress 2 amassed 151, 253 players on Friday, June 25. This is the all-time peak for Team Fortress 2, which originally launched in 2007. As of this writing, the game currently has a little under 120,000 players currently active, with a 24-hour peak of approximately 140,000 players.
It's possible that some players were bots, as Valve has been battling them for years. In a June 22 update for Team Fortress 2, Valve outlined tweaks to curb bot activity, particularly around name changing and player emulation. Still, according to Game Rant, players have reported that bots are once again causing trouble.
Continue Reading at GameSpotThe Fast and Furious cast has more than a few reasons to celebrate. One being they have the highest opening weekend since 2019, and of course, the recent announcement that Fast 10 parts one and two will start filming in the new year.
"I think what feels best is just the idea that people are returning to the theatrical experience, Diesel told Variety. "It feels good to say, 'cinema is back'."
"You can't fault another studio for wanting to stream a movie," Diesel continued. "But the ones like Universal are bold enough to say, 'Hey, we're going to support the theatrical release'. I take my hat off to them."
Continue Reading at GameSpotOne of the big surprises of E3 2021 was Microsoft's announcement of Forza Horizon 5. Ahead of that game's release, it appears that new development for Forza Horizon 4 is being wound down: there won't be any more new cars or features coming to it.
In Playground Games' Forza Monthly livestream for this month, the studio announced that it will no longer be adding vehicles or features to Forza Horizon 4 after several years of consistent live-game support for it. Due to most of the employees shifting their full attention over to Forza Horizon 5, seasonal updates will transition to feature remixed sets of past seasons' content.
"So starting with Series update 38, players who know the game well will start to see the return of content from Series 7 to 32," senior producer Tom Butcher explained. "Think of it a bit like a mix tape, featuring the return of some of your favorite content combined with recently added new features."
Continue Reading at GameSpotA Plague Tale: Innocence is getting free Xbox Series X|S and PS5 enhancements on July 6. The trailer for the upgrade revealed that it will enhance the game's visuals, playing in 4K resolution at 60fps. According to publisher Focus Home Interactive, the upgrade goes beyond visual enhancements--it takes advantage of current gen tech, including the PS5's DualSense controller.
"We can say that [A Plague Tale: Innocence] will feature faster load times, audio enhancement, DualSense features (i.e. haptic rumble sync with 3D sound and adaptive triggers), and cross progression," Focus Home Interactive PR strategist Julie Carneiro told GameSpot via email.
Given that A Plague Tale: Innocence sees you fleeing from, skirting around, and confronting huge waves of rats, I'm most curious (and terrified) to experience how developer Asobo Studio has used the DualSense's haptic rumble and 3D sound.
Continue Reading at GameSpotDwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Amazon Studios are teaming up for a new holiday movie that could incorporate some kind of new way to reach "multiple industries and businesses." The film is called Red One, and it's written by Fast and Furious writer Chris Morgan.
Amazon said in an announcement that Red One is a "globe-trotting, four-quadrant action-adventure comedy, imagining a whole new universe to explore within the holiday genre."
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Red One is "Santa-centric," even though Amazon's own announcement did not mention Santa Claus by name. No director has become attached to the movie at this stage.
Continue Reading at GameSpotThe final trailer for Fear Street Part 1: 1994 has been released. The first part of the three-movie adaptation of RL Stein's hugely popular young adult horror series hits Netflix this Friday, July 2.
While previous Fear Street trailers intercut scenes from all three films, this one focuses purely on the first instalment. The movie is set in Shadyside, an Ohio town that supposedly carries a centuries-old curse. The town's teenagers don't believe in these myths, but when a masked killer starts picking off their friends, they are forced to look into Shadyside's dark secrets.
The trailer suggests that the movie will be heavily influenced by '90s slashers such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and after so many '80s-set horror films and shows, it'll be fun to watch something inspired by the hugely successful scary movies of the following decade. Check it out below:
Continue Reading at GameSpotFor the first time in the game's 14-year history, Valve's hero shooter Team Fortress 2 has managed to surpass 150,000 concurrent players on PC.
According to stats reported by SteamDB and the site's creator, Pavel Djundik, Team Fortress 2 amassed 151, 253 players on Friday, June 25. This is the all-time peak for Team Fortress 2, which originally launched in 2007. As of this writing, the game currently has a little under 120,000 players currently active, with a 24-hour peak of approximately 140,000 players.
It's possible that some players were bots, as Valve has been battling them for years. In a June 22 update for Team Fortress 2, Valve outlined tweaks to curb bot activity, particularly around name changing and player emulation. Still, according to Game Rant, players have reported that bots are once again causing trouble.
Continue Reading at GameSpotBest Buy's newest Razer deal is live at an opportune time. Through July 4, you can pick up the Razer Basilisk wireless gaming mouse for $130 and get a $50 of Steam gift card for free with your purchase. Considering the Steam Summer Sale kicked off last week, you likely won't have a hard time finding some games to snag with the Steam credit.
The Razer Basilisk wireless gaming mouse normally goes for $170, so you're already saving $40 on the mouse. Overall, you're getting a savings of $90. Plus, if you buy games during the Steam Summer Sale, you'll get even more bang for your buck with the $50 Steam gift card. This is an all-around great deal.
The Razer Basilisk is one of the company's most versatile gaming mice. It features a whopping 11 programmable buttons and a scroll wheel that can be customized to offer the exact resistance you're looking for. The fully wireless setup uses Razer's HyperSpeed technology for ultra-low latency and has a 20K DPI optical sensor. It comes with Razer Chroma lighting zones that can be configured in Chroma Studio and synced with your other Razer peripherals. The Basilisk is graded to last for 70 million clicks and runs for up to 70 hours on a single charge. When not in use, you can place it on the included charging dock. The Basilisk is compatible with PC and Mac.
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