Month: February 2020

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues, actions are being taken in an effort to prevent it from spreading. In late January, Disney announced it was closing its Chinese parks–Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland–indefinitely. Now, Disney has taken its efforts one step further, closing Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. Additionally, Universal Studios Japan and Legoland Japan have also closed their doors temporarily.

At the moment, the Japanese parks are tentatively scheduled to stay closed until March 15, though that date could change depending on how the situation evolves. A date hasn’t been announced for the parks in China to tentatively re-open.

What remains to be seen is what impact, if any, the closure will have on the construction of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan. The new land is set to open this summer ahead of the Olympics in Tokyo. As it stands, there’s been some discussion about what impact the outbreak could have on the Olympics, though no cancellation or postponement plans have been announced.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Octane is such an adrenaline junkie. Granted, that’s his entire schtick–we’ve known this about the Apex Legends character since his introduction in Season 1: Wild Frontier. The dude blew off his own legs in order to gain the necessary boost of speed to beat the Gauntlet record after all. But the speed demon’s heirloom takes Octavio “Octane” Silva’s obsession with chasing the high to new extremes and acts as a reminder that the adrenaline junkie’s backstory is a sad one.

Coming to Apex Legends next week, during the System Override Collection event, Octane’s heirloom is a butterfly knife. This isn’t an ordinary blade though–the knife is filled with Stim, the drug that Octane uses to achieve his enhanced speed. And so Octane has customized the butterfly knife so that it can be used to both slash opponents and inject the drug into his own body.

While inspecting the heirloom, as seen in the video on the Apex Legends blog, Octane will dangerously twirl the butterfly knife around and then stab himself with its plunger to get the Stim into his system. He’ll stab himself just because. He doesn’t go on to use the drug to run faster either–Octane just celebrates the rush of the Stim coursing through his veins.

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Developer Illfonic is running a trial weekend for its upcoming asymmetrical multiplayer shooter, Predator: Hunting Grounds. The trial kicks off on March 27 and runs through March 29, and will be open to Epic Games Store players and PS Plus members on PlayStation 4. There’s also cross-play support.

The trial will be available to download on March 27 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET / 4 PM GMT. You’ll be able to play solo as the Predator, or team up online with three others as part of a human Fireteam.

Late last year, Illfonic revealed some details about the various Predator classes you’ll be able to play as in Hunting Grounds, including some of the deadly weapons you’ll wield as the galaxy’s premier killing machine. Now, the studio behind 2017’s Friday the 13th has shed some light on what it’s like to play as a gun-toting human.

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Back in January, developer Frictional Games–the studio behind horror titles Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA–began teasing its next game with an abstract ARG. The studio’s official website links to a page for “Next Frictional Game,” which previously displayed little more than a pulsating white object that has now evolved into a pulsating white fetus.

This was accompanied by two unlisted teaser videos uploaded to Frictional’s YouTube channel. Fans have combed through the two cryptic videos and compiled a list of all the possible ideas and theories they have on a Google Doc found on the Frictional Games Discord. Now, the studio has released another unlisted teaser simply titled “I am Tasi.” Like the first two videos, this one doesn’t show much beyond what appears to be a (possibly alien) desert landscape. The frantic character voiceover reiterates that “I am still Tasi,” which certainly lends itself to the physiological horror the studio is known for.

Frictional announced in 2017 that it was working on two new projects, so it’s likely this is related to the previous teaser videos or concerns a completely different project altogether. The studio previously used an ARG to market SOMA, with the end result being a 12-minute gameplay trailer. SOMA was already announced at that point, though, so this latest tease definitely more intriguing.

After promising the feature even before the game launched in November 2018, DICE has announced that tank customization is finally coming to Battlefield 5 as a free update for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on March 4.

As part of Battlefield 5’s upcoming 6.2 update–which also includes a big weapons balance adjustment and drops next week–tank customization allows you to deck out your armored-ballistic vehicle to your heart’s content. With both Company Coin or Battlefield Currency–Battlefield 5’s two in-game money options–you can make all sorts of changes from the tank’s chassis to its turret and everything in between.

DICE will be adding 37 customization items to purchase through your Company, with “the rest of them [rotating] through [the] Armory.” Like weapons or soldier skins, the rotating items will come in a variety of rarities. More customization pieces will get added in the future, with DICE saying that “salad tanks” (i.e. “a cool feature where the foliage changes color with the skin you apply”) may be coming sometime soon.

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A new Holiday Joy Fest in the Seliana Gathering Hub is taking place in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Live through March 12 and only on PC, the event includes new festive decor, new food platters, new armor and weapon pendants, and special event quests.

Each day you login, you’ll receive an event-exclusive Joyful ticket. It can be used in a variety of ways like crafting an Oolong Armor or a Lucky Crimson Tiger Pendant, and for your Palico, a Shishi-mai outfit. (You’ll need other materials as well, of course.) Players can also exchange the Joyful ticket for Melding ticket to the Elder Melder and try their luck at getting Armor Skill Decorations. Melding tickets can also be obtained by helping the Steamworks.

A rarer type of ticket, the VIP Joyful ticket, will also be available. You can come across them while helping Low Rank & High Rank hunters and during special event quests. To increase your chances of getting one, you’ll need to craft the standard Oolong Armor and wear it during the aforementioned activities.

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Netflix has announced that Killing Eve actor Kim Bodnia, will portray Vesemir in Season 2 of Netflix’s The Witcher.

“I am so thrilled to welcome Kim Bodnia to the cast of The Witcher,” series showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said. “I have admired his unique talents in shows like Killing Eve and The Bridge, and cannot wait for him to bring strength, tenacity, and warmth to the character of Vesemir, who is such an integral part of our upcoming season.”

To see Bodnia, and all of the other new and returning characters coming to The Witcher’s second season, check out the gallery below:

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Here’s how the streamer describes Vesemir in Season 2: “A charming relic of the witcher Golden Age, Vesemir is the oldest and most experienced witcher in our series, as well as a father figure to Geralt. As one of the survivors of The Massacre at Kaer Morhen, a haunting slaughter that nearly exterminated the Witchers, he is fiercely protective of the remaining few, who he sees as an endangered community who can find glory on ‘the Path’ to slaying monsters.”

Before Bodnia’s casting announcement, there was a social media frenzy about the possibility of iconic Star Wars actor Mark Hamill portraying the elder Witcher. Back in January 2020, IGN spoke to Hissrich about Hamill’s interest in the project and the fan reaction around it. “Mark has always been of interest to me and interest to the project,” Hissrich told IGN. “We have not contacted his agent yet because we’re not casting the role quite yet, but that being said, I am loving what’s happening on the internet. And I’m loving all of the fan reaction to it. Obviously, we’ve seen what a huge fanbase The Witcher has, and to add that to a Star Wars fanbase… it makes my mind explode a little bit.”

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Season 2 of The Witcher will premiere in 2021, but if you want to see Bodnia sooner than that, be sure to check him out in Killing Eve and the upcoming Netflix fantasy series, The Letter for the King. What do you think of the casting? Let us know in the comments below.

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David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.