Monthly Archives: June 2019
Gears 5’s Cosmetic Microtransactions Developed With User Feedback in Mind
After reviewing player feedback on Gears of War 4’s cosmetic microtransactions and card system, developer The Coalition made significant changes to the ways players earn and can buy rewards in Gears 5.
The Coalition told IGN that with Gears 5, players will know exactly what they're getting if they choose to purchase a cosmetic with real money.
"The only random kind of chance you have is that there's a type of content that we essentially give to the player for free just for playing," The Coalition's Studio Head Rod Fergusson said. "I like to sort of point to Forza horizons wheel spin as sort of an example of that, that when you play long enough you'll fill up a supply drop, and no matter what you're doing, whether you're playing Campaign, or you're playing Hoard or Versus or Escape, that's just contributing to Supply Drops. And then out of the blue, you'll hit a supply drop and then it'll give you some content and that will get pulled from a pool of content."
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Won’t Have Load Times
Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order won’t have load times, according to director Stig Asmussen.
In an interview with IGN at E3 2019, Asmussen confirmed that Jedi: Fallen Order will use the “Stinger Mantis,” the ship that protagonist Cal Kestis pilots, to essentially mask loading times and loading screens.
"So my kind of
to the team is, let's make the coolest air lock in video games,” Asmussen said, referring to the elevators in the Metroid series that similarly mask loading. “So Stinger Mantis, you get inside of it, and in real time, seamlessly leave the planet, jump into hyperspace, and land at the next planet and it happens relatively quickly. A lot faster than we originally planned.”
Xbox E3 2019 Conference Review
It says a great deal that it was Halo: Infinite, not Project Scarlett, which closed Xbox’s keynote this year. Microsoft, through the vocal cords of Phil Spencer, has been telling us for years that Xbox is now a games-first company, cognitively detaching itself from Xbox One’s botched all-in-one introduction. This keynote acted as much like a manifesto as an advertising sizzle reel, proudly boasting of its 60 games on show and blasting through them at breakneck pace (although, as some have rightly pointed out, not showing a great deal of actual gameplay in the process). And then we got the Scarlett-Halo one-two punch.
In a world with Stadia in it, it was an important point for Spencer to explain that, yes, this is a real, physical console and, yes, games are what it’s made for. Functionally, what we saw was based on the Xbox One X reveal template, a revolving cast of talking heads telling us impressive, vague things - like how it can display framerates faster than the human eye can perceive or how it can output a brand new colour. But tucked in there was the mention of hundreds of developers working on games for Scarlett, and here’s one now! Halo: Infinite is obviously a Very Big Deal, but it’s quite amazing to think that the next generation of Xbox would play second fiddle to it.
Halo Infinite Will Be Released for Xbox One
Microsoft has announced that Halo Infinite will be coming to Xbox One as well as its upcoming Project Scarlett next-generation console.
The news that Halo Infinite would be a launch title for the new Xbox console, Project Scarlett, next holiday season was the closing news of Microsoft's E3 briefing, but at the time it wasn't clear that the game is also planned to be released for the current-generation Xbox One. And, as with all Microsoft first party games, it will come to PC too.
The trailer for the game revealed that Master Chief will return, but offered little more than a glimpse at the story.
Everything We Know About The Xbox Series X
At The Game Awards 2019, the next-gen console finally earned its official name: The Xbox Series X. Initially revealed at the E3 2019 press conference as Project Scarlett, specifics about the console have been scarce. Microsoft has given us some concrete details to focus on, however, including its release window, a major launch title and more.
Xbox Series X Console Design and Images
At The Game Awards 2019, we were given our first look at Xbox Series X. Standing vertically in what looks to be a matte black finish, Microsoft's fourth-generation console features a power button with the signature Xbox insignia at the top that lights up white when pressed on. There's metal mesh across the top of the console that gets backlit with an Xbox green glow as well.
Dark Phoenix Could Lose Between $100-$120 Million
UPDATE: Dark Phoenix could reportedly stand to lose between $100-$120 million.
According to Deadline, that projected loss is "after ancillaries, off a combined production and
estimated cost of $350M+ (which includes reshoots)."
The site's film financial experts say Dark Phoenix's final global box office haul is projected to be between $300-$325 million, or $285 million at the very worst.
Our original report follows.
While there's still one more X-related movie, The New Mutants, left for release next year, the critically savaged Dark Phoenix ended the current X-Men film franchise with a weekend box office whimper, suffering the series' lowest-ever opening weekend with an estimated $33 million. It debuted in second place behind The Secret Life of Pets 2, which opened in first place with an estimated $47.1 million.
Game of Thrones: 11 Greatest Fight Scenes
Warning: Full Game of Thrones spoilers follow...
The final season of HBO's Game of Thrones was nothing if not action-packed, so with the series now over and the wars of Westeros currently settled to a simmer, we can look at some of the very best fight scenes from all eight seasons of the show.
Within the chaos of fire-breathing dragons and shrieking ice zombies that pour over enemies like a tidal wave, Game of Thrones delivered some truly excellent one-on-one duels, pitting ferocious fighter against wicked warrior.
Here's a sinister selection of swinging swords and stabbing knives, wielded by the best battlers on the series. Jon Snow, The Hound, Brienne, and many more - here's a look at the coolest clashes from the Song of Ice and Fire saga. At your disposal: The slideshow here or the full list below...
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Marvel’s Loki: First Look at Tom Hiddleston’s Disney+ Series
A new image has given us our first look at Marvel's Loki for Disney+ starring Tom Hiddleston, as its logo and concept art have been revealed.
As reported by Comicbook.com, the image was taken from the The Walt Disney Company Investor Day 2019 presentation back in April and features Marvel head Kevin Feige presenting this first look at this new series, which was not shown to the public until now.
God of War Fans May Have Found Another ‘Ragnarok Is Coming’ Tease
An eagle-eyed fan may have discovered another tease for a potential sequel or something new for God of War, as the first letter in each of a string of Tweets by game director Cory Barlog spell out the phrase "Ragnarok is Coming❤."
Discovered by u/Kayfriso on Reddit, Barlog's pinned tweet from April 21, 2019, appears to simply be a thread about reminiscing about the last six years of working on and releasing God of War for PlayStation 4. However, Kayfriso noticed a pattern.