Month: January 2021

Microsoft’s decision to continue designing its controllers to be compatible with regular AA batteries, even into the latest generation, has been speculated on by gamers and journalists for a while now. But it looks as though we may finally know the reasoning, though it’s not as clear cut as it may appear.

According to an interview with Stealth Optional (originally caught by VGC), Duracell’s UK marketing manager Luke Anderson said that the decision is largely due to a marketing agreement between the two companies.

“There’s always been this partnership with Duracell and Xbox…it’s a constant agreement that Duracell and Microsoft have in place,” Anderson told Stealth Optional. “[The deal is] for OEM to supply the battery product for the Xbox consoles and also the controllers’ battery. So that [deal is] going to go on for a while… it’s been going on for a while and I think it needs to go for a while [more].”

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Zack Snyder has two movies on the way in 2021–his reworking of the much-maligned DC film Justice League and the zombie action movie Army of the Dead. The latter will hit Netflix later this year, and the first images have now been released.

The images come via Entertainment Weekly, and show the film’s ensemble cast, who play a group of mercenaries who team up to raid a casino in post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. In one, the group stands in the opening to what could be a bank vault, while the other focuses on stars Dave Bautista and Ella Purnell. Check one image out below, and the other at EW’s site.

Army of the Dead also stars Ana de la Reguera ( Eastbound & Down), Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead), Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy), and Tig Notaro (Star Trek Discovery). It’s directed and co-written by Snyder.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The wildly popular Monty Python Broadway musical Spamalot is becoming a movie. Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights after the project was originally obtained by Fox.

According to Deadline, the movie version stalled after Disney acquired Fox, with Paramount coming in to scoop up the film for an undisclosed sum. The screenplay for the Spamalot movie was written by none other than Monty Python member Eric Idle, featuring music by Idle and John DuPrez.

Casey Nicholaw, who choreographed the Broadway show, is attached to direct the movie. Nicholaw is a huge name on Broadway, as he also choreographed The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, The Prom, and Something Rotten.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

A slate of Final Fantasy games is still coming to Game Pass, though it may take longer than you were expecting. Though announced for the service in 2019, Microsoft has promised the remaining games will arrive “in 2021 and beyond.”

At X019, Microsoft touted ten Final Fantasy games coming to the Game Pass subscription service, but so far only four have materialized. That leaves Final Fantasy X and X-2, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, and the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy still to come. Microsoft assured those are still coming in a statement to True Achievements.

“As we announced at X019, we are excited to bring the Final Fantasy franchise to gamers with Xbox Game Pass,” a spokesperson said. “We have done so throughout 2020 and will continue to do so in 2021 and beyond. We look forward to announcing specific launch dates for more Final Fantasy titles in the future.”

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Hitman 3 is just a few days away from launching but developer IO Interactive has shared only a handful of snippets of the game running on PlayStation VR. That changed today, with a look at all three games in the trilogy from the perspective of Agent 47.

Available on PS4 and PS5 (albeit with the PS4 version of the game), all three entries in IO’s rebooted Hitman franchise will be playable with PSVR. The levels, objectives, and targets all remain the same, but this time you’re able to deliver your precise or ridiculous death dealing from a first-person perspective. Or just sip on an espresso and read the newspaper in Sapienza; it’s your sandbox to explore.

To get it working in VR, the game has been significantly changed graphically, which is evident in the footage above, but the alternative way to play should provide you with even more incentive to revisit levels from across the series. VR functionality is limited to PSVR for now, even though Hitman 3 is launching on PC too.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Lego Super Mario already had a massive launch last summer with the Starter Course and more than 10 expansion sets, but if you’re itching for more Mario Lego fun, a new wave of kits have arrived. Originally announced in November, the fresh lineup of Lego Super Mario products includes multiple new expansion sets and Power-Up Packs. The most interesting addition to the series is the Master Your Adventure Maker Set, a kit featuring a wide variety of pieces and obstacles to help you create bigger courses. We’ve rounded up the new Lego Super Mario products below, all of which are available to purchase at Amazon.

Master Your Adventure Maker Set

$60

The Master Your Adventure Maker Set pairs well with the Starter Course and existing expansions. This 366-piece set comes with four characters and a wide variety of obstacles to help you make even more elaborate designs.

See at Amazon

Wiggler’s Poison Swamp Expansion Set

$40

A new expansion set featuring the iconic Super Mario enemy Wiggler, this kit is designed as a swamp. It comes with 374 pieces, including Goomba and Koopa Paratroopa.

See at Amazon

Chain Chomp Jungle Encounter Expansion Set

$20

Chain Chomp comes to Lego Super Mario in the Jungle Encounter expansion set, a small-scale kit featuring 160 pieces. It also comes with a Bramball enemy. This set isn’t a full course; it’s meant to be paired with other kits.

See at Amazon

Piranha Plant Puzzling Challenge Expansion Set

$30

The Piranha Plant Puzzling Challenge expansion set features 267 pieces, including a pair of Piranha Plants and Spiny. It has a rotating carousel, which is used to help Mario stomp on each of the baddies, as well as a trio of red-coin blocks.

See at Amazon

Tanooki Power-Up Pack

$10

You can dress Lego Mario in the Tanooki Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3 with this Power-Up Pack. Mario will earn additional coins when you spin him while wearing this suit.

See at Amazon

Penguin Power-Up Pack

$10

Mario’s Penguin Suit originated in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. With this Power-Up Pack, Mario nabs extra coins by sliding on his belly across the course.

See at Amazon

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Fall Guys is getting a handful of skins as part of a crossover with Doom next week. The demonic skins will be available in the game show battle royale for a limited time starting on January 12.

Mediatonic released a special trailer featuring a level that looks like it’s straight out of Doom Eternal. It showcased several new skins, including various monsters from the Doom games. The studio was supposed to showcase one skin during a stream with Bethesda on January 5 but had to reschedule.

Mediatonic has been teasing this crossover since early December. The studio posted a silhouette of an adorable little bean dressed in Doom Guy’s armor. Fans of both games quickly identified the skin and now we’ve got a look at some of the other skins coming with the crossover.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

A new streaming service for film and TV content has been announced, but this one is not like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or HBO Max. The new service is called Struum, and it aims to offer an avenue for people to stream shows and movies from various other streaming services without having to buy a subscription to each of them individually.

The service comes from industry veterans at Walt Disney Co. and Discovery Inc. Co-founder Paul Pastor told The Wall Street Journal that Struum would help shine a light on smaller-scale streaming services that have great content but people aren’t necessarily aware of.

Struum said it has already reached deals with almost three-dozen services–spanning more than 20,000 movies, shorts, and TV shows–but the company declined to mention any by name.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Capcom shared a wealth of new details on Monster Hunter Rise during today’s Digital Event, including some information on the game’s upcoming demo. The publisher had previously teased that the demo would be released sometime this month, and it confirmed during the stream that the demo will go live on the Switch eShop later today, January 7.

The demo will give fans their first taste of Rise’s two big new gameplay mechanics: the Palamute and the Wirebug. The former is a new type of canine companion that players can ride on and fight alongside during a hunt, while the latter functions like a grappling hook and lets players swing around the environment.

In terms of content, the demo will feature four missions: two training exercises that introduce you to the Wirebug and the new Wyvern Riding mechanic, and two proper hunts. The “beginner” hunt tasks you with slaying a Great Izuchi, one of the new monsters being introduced in Rise, while the “intermediate” hunt has you battling the returning Mizutsune.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

In October 2020, EA Sports announced that it would not release NBA Live 20 and instead focus on making a new basketball game for next-generation consoles.

Despite that announcement, it seems EA may still have something in store for NBA Live 20. The ESRB recently rated NBA Live 20 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but not next-gen consoles.

It’s curious that NBA Live 20, which was thought to be canceled, would receive a rating from the ESRB if EA did not plan to release it in some form. We have reached out to EA in an attempt to get more details on the situation. It is also possible this is some kind of clerical error on the ESRB’s behalf. Keep checking back for more.

Continue Reading at GameSpot