Month: February 2020

In Maneater you play as a giant Shark and can terrorize the beachgoers, no longer do you have to be afraid to go in the water. In the opening minutes you meet Scaly Pete, the star of a reality show where he hunts sharks, including you. Maneater will release for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 22, and on Nintendo Switch at a later date.

We’re halfway through the first season of Star Trek: Picard with Episode 5, “Stardust City Rag,” and the series continues to reach back into the annals of Trek history to recall major characters from a variety of sources. With Seven of Nine’s appearance in Episode 4, “Absolute Candor,” Star Trek: Picard is now dipping into Star Trek: Voyager’s history, but folks from old episodes of The Next Generation like Bruce Maddox are still having a big influence as well. There’s a lot of Trek to pull ideas and stories from, and Picard continues to demonstrate that it remembers everything.

We’ve dug through Episode 5 to uncover all the references and Easter eggs the show has hidden, and there are a couple of serious deep cuts. Here’s a rundown of all the callbacks, references, Easter eggs and history hidden in the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard.

Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company.

Oh No, Icheb!

Episode 5 opens with an unfortunate situation for a former Borg drone. When Seven of Nine shows up to attempt a rescue, we learn the identity of the person on the operating table: Icheb. He played a major role in Seven’s life back during Star Trek: Voyager. In that series, the Voyager crew discovered a group of Borg children who had been cut off from the Collective and rescued them. Seven became their de facto leader and teacher, and while most of the kids eventually found permanent homes, Icheb stuck around on Voyager and returned to the Alpha Quadrant.

Seven and Icheb got very close during their time together, with Seven coming to consider Icheb as a son. Apparently, Icheb accomplished his goal of joining Starfleet before he met a tragic end some 13 years before the start of Picard.

We’ve Finally Found Bruce Maddox

Bruce Maddox has been an important figure in Star Trek: Picard so far, but up until now, the character has been missing. The cyberneticist appeared way back in The Next Generation episode “Measure of a Man,” where he argued in a Starfleet court that Data was Starfleet property, while Picard fought to have Data considered a person. Picard was successful in the case, but Maddox wound up striking up a friendship with Data while also studying him. We know that Maddox is responsible for creating Data’s daughters, Dahj and Soji, but not much else is known about how he created the two new androids.

Maddox has been in hiding for quite a while at this point, and now we know why: he’s being hunted by the Romulan Tal Shiar. That raises a question of how the Tal Shiar found out about the androids and Maddox in the first place–something we’ll likely find out before too much longer.

Try Some Tranya

When Bajayzel has her meeting with Maddox, she offers him a particular orange drink: Tranya. That particular beverage is a callback to Star Trek: The Original Series, which Captain Kirk and his crew tried when they encountered an alien government called the First Federation. Kirk tried the drink in “The Corbonite Maneuver,” where Balok, played by Clint Howard, insisted on everyone trying it.

Mr. Quark Vouches For Rios

Thanks to Raffi, Rios has a pretty decent pedigree when he heads to Stardust City to pose as a Facer. During the discussion of the deal Rios hopes to make to trade Seven of Nine for Bruce Maddox, Mr. Vup mentions that his references include a Mr. Quark of Ferenginar. Quark was a major character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine–he owned a bar on the station and was usually involved in whatever seedy enterprises took place there.

The Breen

The made-up deal Rios helped Quark strike was, apparently, with an alien race called the Breen. We’ve seen the Breen show up in a number of Star Trek series, but we don’t know very much about them. They’re a reclusive and warlike race that have faced off against the Federation a few times, and in Deep Space Nine, they allied with the Dominion against the Federation in an attempt to take over the Alpha Quadrant.

Seven’s Borg Implants

Harvesting the cybernetic implants of former Borg drones is apparently big business in the Star Trek universe these days–so much so that criminals are willing to abduct Starfleet officers like Icheb in order to get them. Seven is such a price for Bajayzel because she has still has a large majority of her implants, despite many being removed by the Voyager crew after she was freed from the Collective. Picard notes that this is because Seven was assimilated by the Borg as a child. Her parents were researchers who studied the Borg before they were eventually captured and assimilated, and Seven spent most of her life as a member of the Collective.

The Collapse Of The Neutral Zone

Back when the Romulan Star Empire was a major force in the galaxy, the region between its territory and the Federation was designated as the Neutral Zone, and both governments stayed out of that space and weren’t allowed to colonize there. Seven says that the Neutral Zone “collapsed” after the destruction of Romulus, suggesting that the area became a lawless region thanks to the power vacuum created by the absence of the Romulans and the Federation. The need to help the people who lived there gave rise to the Fenris Rangers, the vigilante group that Seven has been a part of for the last 14 years.

Annika

When Bajayzel reveals her past relationship with Seven, she repeatedly refers to her as “Annika.” That’s a reference to Seven’s human name: before she was assimilated by the Borg, Seven was Annika Hansen. Seven spent her time on Voyager, and apparently the years since, trying to reclaim some of her humanity, but she obviously still doesn’t go by her original name–although it seems she might have for a time, before the loss of Icheb.

Picard’s Humanity

Clearly, returning to life after being assimilated by the Borg is no easy feat. Seven has struggled with trying to find her humanity again since she escaped the Collective, and that’s something she shares with Picard, as we find in Episode 5. Picard was assimilated during The Next Generation before being saved by the crew of the Enterprise, but that experience has haunted him ever since. Picard’s personal struggle with what happened to him was the subject of several episodes of The Next Generation, with Picard even briefly considering resigning from Starfleet because of the trauma. It also was central to the story of Star Trek: First Contact, in which Picard dealt with a whole lot of anger and pain as he fought off the Borg capture of the Enterprise-E and the Borg Queen’s invasion of Earth.

Maddox, Jurati, and Soong’s Breakthroughs

After Maddox is rescued from Bajayzel, he has a conversation with Agnes about Dahj and Soji, the two human-like androids he managed to create. Only one other person has been able to create sentient androids before: Noonien Soong, the man who created Data. Maddox used his studies of Soong’s work and Data himself to create Dahj and Soji, and he credits Agnes with essential contribution to the breakthrough that helped him create the androids. Apparently, Agnes is not as excited about being a part of cybernetic history.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons marks the franchise’s debut on Nintendo Switch. Though the traditional game loop of accruing additional home and character cosmetics, forging friendships, and paying off your sizable debt to Tom Nook returns, New Horizons makes some welcome quality-of-life adjustments to the Animal Crossing formula.

Perhaps the most notable addition is an unlockable tool wheel. Much like a weapon wheel in shooters, the tool wheel makes it easier to quickly switch between all of the items in your inventory–such as the shovel, fishing rod, and axe. No more need to equip each specific tool when you want to use it!

New Horizons also has a Rescue Service, which you can call whenever you’re stuck or lost. For a cost, the service will help you get back home in a pinch.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The nine movies of the recently-named Skywalker Saga are coming home in one massive package at the end of next month, and you have two pretty excellent choices when it comes to completing your Star Wars numbered-episode movie collection in one fell swoop.

Preorder Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

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I’m not sure which versions of the original trilogy are on either one of these sets, but given the past, it’s most likely the specialized versions. I’m willing to look past that dumb Jabba scene shoehorned into the first movie, but personally I’d much rather have them as theatrical releases. Oh well, maybe someday. The massive amount of bonus features with both versions of this set might offset that for a lot of people.

Or you could watch the movies on Disney+. That’s fine, too.

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Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

 

A new Planet of the Apes movie is on the way from Maze Runner and Ruin director Wes Ball. At the time of its announcement, it wasn’t made clear if the film would be a continuation of the reboot series that begin in 2011, or a reboot of the entire franchise.

Ball has now himself confirmed on Twitter that “Caesar’s legacy will continue…” which seems to be a strong suggestion that this will be a follow-up to War for the Planet of the Apes instead of a reboot of the entire franchise. That being said, Ball’s brief statement does leave some wiggle room.

Ball’s comment came in response to a story that claimed the new movie would be a reboot that is not connected to the three films–Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes–that were made by 20th Century Fox.

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Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 2 has been revealed, and it’s Top Secret. No, not top secret as in we can’t tell you, but as in it’s all themed around spies and spec-ops missions.

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The cinematic trailer for the season features a variety of Fortnite characters engaging in spy behavior – hiding, wearing disguises, and definitely still making a mess in order to make it to the final circle. The music is distinctly Bond, which is well-timed considering No Time To Die releases in just a couple of months.

The Battle Pass trailer provides a little more detail on how Top Secret works: the pass unlocks a secret base and a set of agents, including Meowscles, Midas, Maya, and TNTina. Completing missions within matches of Fortnite will unlock variant skins for these battle pass agents – Ghost or Shadow versions – so you can customise your look with dark or light colours. The trailer also promises limited time operations that will “change the fate of the island.”

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Hinted at in the trailer, before being shown in the final battle pass poster, is a new Deadpool skin. It’s not clear yet how you’ll gain Deadpool, but as he’s part of the battle pass trailer it seems sensible to imagine that he’ll be a reward for battle pass holders.

Fortnite Season 2, Chapter 2 goes live today. Keep an eye out on IGN, as we’ll bring you news on what the update includes, as well as guides to help you learn your way around the new additions.

For its first four episodes, Star Trek: Picard was a pretty dark and dour affair. Unlike The Next Generation, the cheerier and often easier-going series it follows, Picard has been imagining a Star Trek galaxy where things are a little more lawless and people are a little less moral. That makes for an interesting deconstruction of a legendary Starfleet captain, but it also has meant that Picard has lacked some of the lighter moments that are also a big part of Star Trek. Episode 5, “Stardust City Rag,” corrects that issue to make for one of the more fun episodes the series has seen so far.

At the center of the episode is a fairly formulaic heist-type scenario, with Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew brokering a deal with criminals by pretending to be gangsters themselves. It’s a fairly worn idea, one that’s popped up on all sorts of TV shows, including Star Trek. But while the premise is played out, there’s a good reason these moments have become such a cliche: they push characters into unexpected situations and encourage them to do something other than brood. In “Stardust City Rag,” it seems like the cast is reveling in that opportunity, but nobody as much as Stewart himself.

Up to now, Picard’s plan has been to find Bruce Maddox, the cyberneticist who created Data’s daughters, in hopes of locating and rescuing Soji (Isa Briones). That takes him and his crew to a planet called Freecloud and its Star Trek equivalent of a seedier Las Vegas, Stardust City. A local criminal has Maddox, and in order to free him, the good guys are forced to pretend to be bad guys, with the help of the recently arrived Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). In order to pull off the plan, everyone has to dress up and play comically over-the-top crooks.

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