Elites are finding more ways to ensure that their children never run out of chances to fail.
How A World War Inspired The Lord Of The Rings – True Fiction
The Lord of the Rings may be a work of high fantasy, but did you know there was a devastating real event that tied our world to Middle-earth, the mythical land of Elves, Orcs, and Hobbits?
Watch True Fiction Episode 4: The World War That Created Lord Of The Rings
For the fourth episode of True Fiction, we’re delving into the creation of one of the most beloved fantasy universes of all time: Middle-earth. For many, reading the Hobbit or watching Lord of the Rings was their first entry into a fantasy world of Elves and Orcs, Dwarves and Ents, but not everyone knows the origins of it all are in a tragic real-world event.
J. R. R. Tolkien hasn’t overtly confirmed that Lord of the Rings is an allegory for the first world war, but the parallels are obvious. Not to mention, Tolkien’s own personal experiences very obviously have manifested in different ways within Middle-earth. We dig into all of this, and more, in the episode which you can watch below.
You can check out True Fiction on the GameSpot Universe YouTube channel, where new episodes will be released every Sunday. In previous episodes we explored the real-life inspirations between Twin Peaks, Godzilla, and Nightmare on Elm Street.
Daily Deals: LG 4K TV Savings, $30 Off Wireless Playstation Gold Headset, Ninja Turtles Arcade Cabinet Back In Stock
Welcome to IGN’s Daily Deals, your source for the best deals on the stuff you actually want to buy. You can also follow us at Twitter @igndeals. We bring you the best deals we’ve found today on video games, hardware, electronics, and a bunch of random stuff too. Updated 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Back in Stock: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade1Up Arcade Cabinet With Riser for $399.99
After a long hiatus, the TMNT arcade cabinet is back in stock. Not only do you get 4-player TMNT action, it also comes with a riser to make it a better fit for standing and defeating the Foot with your friends. Without the riser, Arcade1up cabinets are perfect for sitting and having a playthrough, but the riser really helps make it feel like an old-school arcade experience (just at 3/4 scale). You get the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle arcade game as well as the 1991 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time.
Hearthstone Player blitzchung Responds to Blizzard Reducing His Ban
Ng Wai “blitzchung” Chung, the Hearthstone player who was banned from professional play for one year by Blizzard, has released a roughly translated statement regarding Blizzard’s decision to reduce his ban and reinstate his prize winnings. Chung thanked his fans for their support over the last week, and expressed gratitude towards Blizzard for its decision to reduce his punishment.
“For tournament prizing, I quoted what Blizzard said on the official website, they mention that I played fair in the tournament and they believe I should receive my prizing,” Chung wrote. “This is the part I really appreciate. Blizzard also said they understand for some this is not about the prize, but perhaps for others it is disrespectful to even discuss it. People from Blizzard had explained this to me through a phone call and I really appreciate that and I accept their decision on this part.”
WWE: Becky Lynch Celebrates Her “Manniversary,” Looking Back at the Biggest Year of Her Career
While promoting WWE 2K20, as the game’s (first female) cover star, WWE RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch took some time to reflect on the past year, which has been the biggest of her career. After all, this week did mark her “Manniversary.”
That’s right, it was this time last year when Lynch started referring to herself as “The Man.” Since then, she’s flown off on a meteoric rise that saw her capture both the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championships as part of the first-ever female main event of WrestleMania.
Speaking to me, Lynch said “Wow, yes, it would have been around this time that I started it. Whoa. Either time is flying or, I don’t know, maybe it even feels shorter than a year. It’s been crazy. It’s been go go go go. So many things have happened that it’s sometimes hard to sit back and realize ‘Well, this has gone alright for itself.'”
Turkey-Syria offensive: Kurds reach deal with Syrian army
Syrian government forces will be deployed along Syria’s northern border to halt Turkey’s assault.
Is Bill Murray in Zombieland: Double Tap? Red Band Trailer Reveals the Answer
Premiering 10 years after the original, and also set 10 years later, Zombieland: Double Tap is already earning raves from those who’ve seen advance screenings. And star Emma Stone is already on board to keep making a new installment every decade.
Fans have been wondering, however, if Bill Murray will return in the sequel. As you recall, in the 2009 movie, Murray played a fictional version of himself, as a survivor of the zompocalypse, who took to wearing zombie makeup so he could safely walk the streets of Los Angeles. Of course, if you saw the film, you also remember how this tactic backfired on Murray big time.
Box Office: Joker Scores $55 Million Second Weekend
Breaking more October box office records, Todd Phillips’ Joker took in an estimated $55 million 3-day haul for its second weekend, breaking the previous 3-day second weekend record set by 2013’s Gravity, which took in $43.1 million back in 2013.
As Deadline reports, estimates had Joker pulling in about $10 million less. Right now, heading into its third weekend, the movie is just shy of cracking $200 million domestically. Joker pulled in an additional $125.7 million overseas.
As its global box office hits $500 million, Joker stands as Phillips’ second highest-grossing film after The Hangover 2. This will change in a week’s time, however.
Fortnite Event Seems To Be Causing PSN Problems [Update]
It appears PS4’s PSN service is currently experiencing some issues. Players across social media are reporting they aren’t able to access certain games and online features on PS4.
It’s currently unclear how widespread these issues are. GameSpot unsuccessfully tried to join a party on PS4, and many players on Twitter are reporting similar issues. However, we were able to log into both Apex Legends and Borderlands 3, so these issues don’t appear to be affecting all titles. Sony’s PSN status page claims “all services are up and running.” [Update: GameSpot has verified that PS4’s party feature is once again working. We’ll update this story with any further developments.]
The issues coincide with Fortnite’s big “The End” event, which saw a black hole swallow up everything in the game. Since the event, players have not been able to join any new games of Fortnite, but they are still able to log in and watch the mysterious black hole, although those on PS4 appear to be having a much harder time logging in due to these issues.
Developing…