Monthly Archives: February 2016
Destiny’s Crimson Days Update Available, Adds Broken Heart Buff
Destiny's Crimson Days event is here, and with it comes new bounties and rewards. The update also introduces Crimson Doubles—the limited time game mode—and a new quest from Lord Shaxx.
Image via Bungie
Crimson Doubles is a Fireteam 2v2 elimination mode, where Fireteams will have to win five rounds to earn victory. The mode will run from February 9 and end on February 16, when the Crimson Days event ends. Destiny's new game mode brings the "Broken Heart" buff, activated when a partner falls in battle. While the buff is activated, players "will be faster on the draw and much quicker to recover from any damage" taken. The Broken Heart buff will "last until you revive your fallen comrade, until the round ends, or until you fall in combat yourself." Players can find Crimson Doubles in the featured activities section in the Director.
Bonus XP Weekend Planned for Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars Battlefront will be running a double XP event over Valentine's Day weekend, starting February 12 and continuing through February 14.
Last week, the Star Wars Battlefront community was challenged to the game's second Community Mission, where players were asked to complete three million daily challenges. EA announced today that the community surpassed that goal, completing over four million challenges.
The double XP weekend is the reward, and it comes at the perfect time to "get your special someone a copy of Star Wars Battlefront, and lovingly help them reach level 50."
X-Force Movie Is Ryan Reynolds’ Next Priority
Now that Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds has realized his dream of becoming the smart-mouthed anti-hero for 20th Century Fox, his next priority is getting an X-Force film off the ground.
In an interview with FILMSTARTS about his new comic book film, Reynolds discussed the cinematic future for Deadpool and his hopes for an X-Force movie. "In the future, I think, if we're doing a bunch more Deadpool movies, we're gonna really explore the X-Men a lot," he said, adding, "And maybe X-Force. X-Force my priority. I really want to get that in."
We've been hearing rumblings about an X-Force film for a few years now, with series creator Rob Liefeld praising a screenplay penned by Kick-Ass 2 helmer Jeff Wadlow back in 2013. The following year, Liefeld said the film may have been shelved following 20th Century Fox's announcement of X-Men: Apocalypse.
Ready Player One Won’t Open Against Episode 8
It looks like someone has finally blinked, as Warner Bros. has moved the opening date of Ready Player One to March 30, 2018.
Originally set for release on December 15, 2017, the film was in a locked game of chicken with Star Wars: Episode VIII after Disney moved that sequel's opening date from May to December 15.
According to Variety, the Steven Spielberg-directed Ready Player One will now open in March, a prime spot for an opening weekend. The film will now open between the conclusion of the Winter Olympics and the kickoff of the World Cup, narrowly avoiding either event. There's also currently no other major film set to premiere March 30, so the film will face substantially less competition at the box office.
Deadpool Rides Red Rocket in Factory Entertainment’s New Statue
Factory Entertainment has announced its Deadpool Rocket Ride Premium Motion Statue, featuring the Merc with a Mouth riding atop his trusty red rocket.
Deadpool Rocket via Factory Entertainment
The figure stands 10 inches tall, and is equipped with an "integrated dynamic element" that lets it "gracefully
back and forth simulating a sky rocket in flight." Deadpool's Red Rocket is available for pre-order now, with a limited pre-order price of $180 USD. Promotional pricing ends March 9, when the figure's price will jump to $200 USD.
Overwatch Beta Goes Back Online With New Features
After a two month "extended break" period, the Overwatch beta has returned. Additions to Blizzard's team-based hero shooter include new modes, new maps, and a player progression system.
Overwatch's newest game mode, called Control, pits two teams against each other in best-of-three, round-based battles to capture objective areas, which change from round to round.
You can play Control mode on Overwatch's new maps, Lijang Tower, built around a bustling Chinese metropolis, and Nepal, which features a monastery rebuilt for use by omnic robots and humans alike.
A new Play vs. AI mode also lets you play, solo or with friends, against a team of AI-controlled opponents.
This New LG 4K TV Costs $8000
LG has a brand new TV that it wants people to buy, and its got a pretty high price tag.
If you tuned in to watch the Super Bowl over the weekend, you probably saw LG's 65-inch Signature OLED 4K Smart TV starring in a commercial alongside Liam Neeson. As reported by USA Today, that very TV is now available in select stores across the country, and anyone interested in owning one can pre-order it now. You just have to make sure you have the $8000 to spend on it.
Black Ops 3 Gets Black Market Update with Three New Guns
Call of Duty: Black Ops III's next Black Market update is introducing three new guns, two new melee weapons, and 18 new specialist themes.
The three new weapons are the MX Garand Assault Rifle, Marshal 18 Shotgun-Pistol, and NX Shadow Claw Crossbow. The MX Garand "looks vintage," but has a few "modern upgrades." Perfect for getting up-close, the Marshal 18 Shotgun-Pistol is "like a warm hug," while the Shadow Claw Crossbow is silent and very deadly.
Players can trade earned cryptokeys for supply drops, of which there are two options. Ten cryptokeys earns players a common supply drop, and 30 opens a rare one. Each supply drop grants a player three items of one of four rarities—common, rare, legendary, or epic. Players can also get supply drops using Call of Duty points, Black Ops' in-game currency that can be bought using real money.
Former Dragon Age Writer Joins Beamdog
Former BioWare writer David Gaider has announced today that he has joined Beamdog, as the company's new creative director.
During his time with BioWare, Gaider had writing credits on many titles, including Baldur's Gate 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Dragon Age series. The writer left BioWare after 17 years with them.
In an announcement on Beamdog's blog, the company states that Gaider was to be brought on as senior writer, but later upgraded the role to creative director.
Beamdog worked on the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, as well as Icewind Dale. The studio's current project is an expansion for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear.
New PCs Built With Oculus Rift in Mind
Today, Oculus introduced the first line of PCs from ASUS, Alienware, and Dell optimized for use with the Oculus Rift VR headset. You'll be able to pre-order these "Oculus Ready PCs" and newly announced Rift bundles on February 16 starting at 8 am PT / 11 am ET / 4 pm GMT from Best Buy, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store.
Bundles start at $1500 USD and begin shipping in April.
In addition to an Oculus Ready PC and the Rift headset, sensor, and remote, the Rift bundles also come with an Xbox One controller and two games: Lucky's Tale and EVE: Valkyrie Founder’s Pack.
The first Oculus Ready PCs come equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or better, 8 to 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, massive amounts of storage across SSDs, HDDs, or a combination of both, and the Intel i5-6400, with the exception of the Alienware Area 51 model, which is powered by the Intel i7-5820K.