Month: June 2018

The lineup of speakers for the E3 Coliseum event at E3 2018 has been revealed, and it contains some really big names. People speaking or presenting at the three-day event include Death Stranding director Hideo Kojima, The Last of Us: Part II director Neil Druckmann, Xbox boss Phil Spencer, Bethesda executive Todd Howard, Fortnite lead Donald Mustard, and EA Star Wars creative director Amy Hennig.

You can see the full descriptions for each panel here on the Coliseum website. One of the most high-profile panels is “The Making of Fallout 76,” which will see Howard discuss the development of Bethesda’s much-anticipated upcoming game. Additionally, Howard will answer questions from the audience. This takes place at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET on Tuesday, June 12.

Outside of gaming, the big-name guests include Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky, actor Jack Black (who will inevitably say he wants to work on another Brutal Legend), Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo, Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, and Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood. Kojima and Vogt-Roberts will appear on a panel together to presumably discuss the new Metal Gear Solid movie, which Vogt-Roberts is directing.

Games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Spider-Man, The Last of Us: Part II, and World of Warcraft (for some reason), and other games that get announced at E3 will also be part of the Coliseum event.

All E3 ticket-holders can get in to the talks and presentations on a first-come, first-served basis. The event is held at The Novo in LA Live, which is right next door to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Coliseum runs June 12-14, and it is produced in partnership with E3 organizer the ESA.

The majority of the panels will be streamed on Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, and YouTube. GameSpot will have a lot of exclusive programming as well on our own stages, so keep checking back for lots more on E3 2018 in the days ahead.

Last week it was revealed that production had started on Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the classic 1986 blockbuster Top Gun. Tom Cruise is back in the lead role as ace fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and it has now been reported that at least one other member of the original cast will be joining him. Yes, Iceman is back.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Val Kilmer will return as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. In the original movie, Kazansky was Maverick’s great rival, but ultimately became friends, with Iceman delivering the classic line, “You can be my wingman anytime.” We’ll find out if they’re still pals 30 years later when the movie is released in July next year.

Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously worked with Cruise on the 2014 sci-fi movie Oblivion. This won’t be the first time Kosinski has brought a popular ’80s movie property back to the big screen either; he also directed the Tron reboot Tron Legacy in 2010. No other casting news beyond Cruise and Kilmer has been revealed yet, but expect more names to be announced in the coming weeks.

In an interview with comingsoon.net last year, Kosinski spoke about what would set Top Gun: Maverick apart from the original movie. “The Navy is very different now than it was in 1986,” he explained. “Back then, they hadn’t been in any war for 15 or 20 years at that point. The tone of that movie and what those guys were doing was very different.

“Now, here in 2017, the Navy’s been at war for 20 years. It’s just a different world now, so you can’t remake the first movie. It has to adapt. That being said, I certainly want to recreate the experience of that movie, which gives you a front-seat into the world of Naval aviation and what it’s like to be in a fighter jet. The approach is going to be appropriate for the times we live in.”

Top Gun was released in May 1986. It went on become the highest grossing film of that year, earning $353 million worldwide from a budget of just $15 million. Top Gun: Maverick hits theaters on July 12, 2019.

In related news, Cruise can soon be seen in another of his iconic roles, as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible: Fallout. The movie releases next month–check out the latest trailer.

[UPDATE] Bethesda’s Pete Hines tweeted out a picture of the complete mural, which shows three Vault Boys. What does that mean? Some are speculating that Fallout 76 will have some form of online multiplayer, which reports have suggested is the case.

The original story is below.

A giant, three-panel Fallout 76 poster has been installed in Los Angeles just ahead of E3 2018. The mural, which apparently took multiple days to outfit, is located at the Figueroa Hotel in downtown Los Angeles very close to the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is one of the biggest and most recognisable locations for giant video game ads, which take over Los Angeles every year for E3.

It shows Vault Boy emerging from what appears to be Vault 76 with a smug look on his face and a strut in his step. He seems blissfully unaware of the irradiated horrors that lie before him.

A massive Spider-Man PS4 mural was already put up in Los Angeles for E3–see it here. We’re expecting to see many, many more giant video game posters in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center area soon, so keep checking back with GameSpot to see those.

Fallout 76 is a brand-new entry in Bethesda’s exceedingly popular franchise. Announced last week, Fallout 76 is still largely a mystery, as all we’ve seen of it so far is a teaser trailer that set the mood but did not reveal what kind of game it is. We’ll learn more about the game during Bethesda’s E3 2018 briefing very soon, but for now, here’s a rundown of everything we know about it so far.

Rainbow Six Siege‘s Operation Para Bellum has begun, with a new update available for download that includes a new map, Villa, for all and two new defender operators, Alibi and Maestro, that are exclusive to season pass holders for a week. The DLC marks the launch of Siege’s second season of their third year, and is one of the game’s largest updates to date.

Both operators are members of the Italian G.I.S. and will automatically unlock for any players who have Siege’s Year 3 pass. Alibi’s Prisma ability allows her to create a holographic copy of herself in an idle position. When deployed outside, the attacking team will receive a false “Defender Outside” warning. Regardless of where the hologram is deployed, Alibi is immediately alerted when her double is attacked, and the attacker is briefly marked for the entire defending team to see.

Maestro’s Evil Eye is a remote-controlled turret that can see through smoke and fire laser beams. The turret acts as a bulletproof camera upon deployment. However, once Maestro chooses to open fire, the turret’s core is exposed and attacking operators are able to destroy it.

Villa is Siege’s 20th map, and the newest edition to Ranked play (replacing Tower). Ubisoft describes the map as the Italian home to a “dangerous crime family known for their smuggling activities.” Team Rainbow is raiding the villa as the family is in retreat.

Operation Para Bellum comes with a few other changes. In Custom games, players will now be able to utilize the Pick & Ban system. Ubisoft describes this new feature as “an extra layer of strategy between teams, as each side tries to counter their opponents’ picks during the banning phase.” The latest patch also adds deployable bullet proof cameras, a new animation for destroying the diffuser on Bomb, adjustments to both dropshotting and operators’ speed, new observation tool management, buffs for the operator Echo and map Clubhouse, and a new Discovery playlist.

Hitman 2 is official; publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment revealed the game during a pre-E3 stream on its site. We’ve learned a few details about the game. It will be a direct sequel to Hitman, but unlike the previous title, which featured regular updates to its story via live content, Hitman 2’s story will be revealed all at once on the day of launch (though there will still be some additional DLC, like new locations, released over time). Check out the reveal trailer below.

Hitman 2 will feature “hyper-detailed sandboxes full of living, breathing environments.” During the reveal stream, its developers hinted that interacting with environments and objects would play a bigger role and “everything in the environment can be deadly.” It features multiple international locations, but it will highlight Miami and an in-progress motorsport race that form a key part of the game’s story.

For the first time, this Hitman game will be a direct follow up to the previous one. The story will delve deeper into Agent 47’s past, and get closer to Agent 47 and Diana’s story than before. You embark on a mission to hunt the Shadow Client and unravel his militia for good, but after revelations about Agent 47, “nothing will ever be the same.”

Hitman 2 will also bring co-op to the game. Sniper Assassin mode allows you to jump into the Hitman series with another player and work together to take down targets. The mode can also be played by a single player and is available now for those who pre-order the standard, Silver, Gold, or Collector’s editions of Hitman 2. Get a look at Sniper Assassin mode in action in this video.

The game releases on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 13 (Gold and Collector’s editions get you into the game on November 9). Standard, Silver, and Gold editions of the game are available for pre-order now, with the Collection’s Edition coming soon. For more of the latest news and updates, follow GameSpot’s full E3 2018 coverage.

Marvel has released new character posters for Ant-Man and the Wasp a month ahead of its release date, and they are as cool as they are revealing. This is the first time we’ve gotten a good look at Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne–the original Wasp–people seem to be pretty hyped at the idea of the Oscar-nominated actor in this role.

Pfeiffer looks pretty hardcore in the poster where she gives the viewer some serious side-eye. Other notable cast members who got a poster include Paul Rudd (obviously) as Ant-Man, Lost’s Evangeline Lilly as the new Wasp, Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Bill Foster/Goliath, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is said to be centered around Scott Lang balancing home-life and hero-life as he is approached by Dr. Pym and the Wasp for a mysterious new mission. Taking place in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War, Lang is beginning to come into his own as a superhero, but you know what they say about great power.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is set to be released July 6.