The AHS spinoff American Horror Stories will give us 16 standalone episodes. Here is Part 2 of Ryan and Greg’s top theories on possible storylines for the new series!The next beta update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection introduces the first iteration of a custom game browser and brings back a Halo 3 map, amid other enhancements and bug fixes. But the news isn’t all rosy: another map has been delayed out of its planned Season 6 launch. According to 343, the update is expected to launch sometime this week, during which testers can put it through its paces.
The custom game browser will only be available within the Halo: Reach interface for now, though 343 plans to add it to more games in phases. The browser will let you create, browse, and report. Create lets you create a session that will run on a dedicated server, letting you toggle settings like the minimum player count, repeat game option, and map and mode selections. You’ll also be able to create your own playlists to cycle through different maps and game types. For now 343 is asking for feedback on playlist creation. If you don’t want to create your own, you can also browse custom sessions with search terms like name, game modes, maps, and player count. And you can report anyone you spot violating the code of conduct, up to five times per day. The update didn’t give word on when this will roll out to the full game.
The update will also reintroduce the Waterfall map to Halo 3 with performance and bug fixes. It will be coming to the full game as part of the season 6 update. The Edge map, on the other hand, has been determined to need “quite a few fundamental improvements” before it goes live, so it won’t be coming with Season 6 as planned.
After substantial delays related to the pandemic, Super Nintendo World in Japan is scheduled to open on March 18. The theme park is located inside Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.
The theme park features a Mario Kart ride, an AR ride where you fight Bowser Jr., and a variety of Mario-themed food, among numerous other attractions and experiences. The park was supposed to open in February but was delayed due to the pandemic.
The announcement statement from Nintendo (below) shows excited attendees jumping like Mario and wearing masks. Universal Studios Japan, like other theme parks around the world, is adopting a series of health and safety measures due to the pandemic such as mandatory masks and a limited capacity overall.
Watch Dogs: Legion PC players will have to be a little bit more patient before they explore London’s boroughs with friends, as the game’s online mode has been indefinitely delayed. Ubisoft revealed that certain GPUs were causing several game-crashing bugs, resulting in the delay.
“We’ve identified an issue in the PC version that can cause the game to crash for players with certain GPUs,” Ubisoft posted on Twitter. “The team is working on fixing the issue as quickly as possible, and in the meantime, we’ve made the decision to wait to launch the PC version until this is fixed. We will communicate the launch date as soon as possible.”
Ubisoft didn’t reveal which GPU was causing problems for the online mode or an exact timeframe for when the fix will be applied, but the multiplayer will still arrive on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5 on March 9.
Genshin Impact’s wintry Lantern Rite event has come to a close, and that means that the game’s development team is about to roll out their next event as part of the game’s upcoming 1.4 update. According to a post at the PlayStation Blog, the March 17 patch will add a new character to the game, and also introduce a spring-themed event in Mondstadt known as the Windblume Festival.
The Windblume Festival is described as a “cultural celebration of romance and passion,” perhaps similar to the real-world holiday of Valentine’s Day. Players can choose to spend time with the characters Barbara, Noelle, Bennett, and Chongyun, with each character having their own scenes and endings.
The event will also bring new minigames to Genshin Impact, including the archery-themed Bullseye Balloons, the gliding challenge Floral Freefall, and the bardic test Ballads of Breeze. Each minigame will support co-op play, and players will receive Festive Tour Tickets depending on their performance in each game that they can redeem for level-up materials. There’s also a randomized dungeon called the Peculiar Wonderland that’s designed to challenge players, and you can claim a new four-star bow called the Windblume Ode upon completing it.
With WandaVision over, the next MCU Disney+ original coming up is The Falcon and The Winter Soldier arriving to the streaming service on March 19. Four new character posters have been revealed, showcasing the stars of the series.
The set of images features Sam Wilson AKA Falcon (Anthony Mackie), former SHIELD agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), Bucky Barnes AKA The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), and Zemo (Daniel Brühl). Check out all of these images below.
Winter Soldier has a completely different look for the upcoming six-episode series. Zemo does as well after not being seen since the end of Captain America: Civil War. Hopefully, that purple mask isn’t glued to his head with Adhesive X–seriously, that’s a real thing from the comic books.
Another Monday has arrived, and that means we’re highlighting a new batch of great deals at major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. Mario Day isn’t until Wednesday, but you can already save on Nintendo Switch exclusives such as Super Mario Maker 2 and Luigi’s Mansion 3. PC gamers should definitely take a peek at Amazon’s Razer deals, which are available today only and feature the Razer Kraken Tournament edition headset, the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop, and much more. Make sure to check back tomorrow for more notable deals.
We highlighted Devil May Cry 5’s Special edition last week, but this week it happens to be on sale for an even better price. The enhanced edition with new modes and a new playable character is available for $30 on PS5 and Xbox Series X at GameStop and Amazon.
Ahead of Mario Day this Wednesday, some notable Nintendo Switch exclusives have been discounted to great prices at all major retailers. One of those games is Super Mario Maker 2, which is down to $39. Super Mario Maker 2 has a robust and intuitive course creator as well as a fun single-player campaign. Whether you want to try your hand at creating side-scrolling Mario levels or simply play the thousands of user creations, Super Mario Maker 2 is a blast.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is also on sale for $39. Once again, Luigi finds himself in a frightening situation after his friends go missing in a haunted hotel. Filled with clever puzzles and an abundance of charm, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a stellar adventure that’s well worth checking out.
If you’re looking for a fun party game to play with the whole family, Super Mario Party for Nintendo Switch is on sale for $39 at all major retailers this week. Super Mario Party includes several different competitive and cooperative multiplayer game modes.
Mario Tennis Aces rounds out the Mario Day game deals for Nintendo Switch. The tennis sim includes a zany campaign filled with challenges, boss battles, and dynamic courts, and there’s also local and online multiplayer.
PowerA is the most prolific third-party manufacturer of Nintendo Switch controllers, and right now you can save on one of the Super Mario designs. The Mario White edition is a wired controller featuring a picture of the Nintendo mascot on the right handle. It’s on sale for $17.82 at Amazon, which makes it a great option for those looking for cheap but solid controllers for multiplayer.
Best Buy’s current Deal of the Day drops a great all-purpose laptop to a really good price. Normally $750, the Lenovo IdeaPad S340 is on sale for $550 today only. The S340 is ideal for work or school and features a 15-inch touchscreen display, AMD Ryzen 7 3700U CPU, 12GB of RAM, and a 512GB solid-state drive.
Razer’s popular DeathAdder V2 gaming mouse is $20 off at Amazon today only. The DeathAdder is a wired mouse with eight programmable buttons, a 20K DPI optical sensor, and Chroma RGB lighting.
The Razer Kraken Tournament edition wired gaming headset is on sale for a fantastic price at Amazon today. Regularly priced at $100, the Kraken is discounted to just $55. It has THX 7.1 surround sound and a retractable noise-canceling mic. Best of all, the Kraken is a universal headset that’s compatible with all major consoles, PC, and mobile devices.
One of the best Razer keyboards on the market, the Razer Huntsman Tournament edition is a tenkeyless model focused on speed. It has linear optical switches and PBT keycaps for a fast, smooth feel. It also has Razer’s Chroma RGB lighting and fully programmable macros. The Razer Huntsman Tournament edition is on sale for $90 at Amazon today only, down from $130.
If you’re in the market for a gaming laptop, the Razer Blade is one of the most stylish and best-performing options around. The Razer Blade 15 is $300 off at Amazon today only, dropping the price to $1,200. It has a 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive.
As 2021 continues to zoom along and it’s nearing mid-March already, here in the United States thoughts are likely starting to turn to the two certainties in life–taxes and St. Patrick’s Day. Before either are directly at hand, there’s another full week of content on Netflix to kick back with. While there’s not exactly a ton of new entries into the streaming service’s catalog in the coming days before next week, open-minded viewers will be rewarded with some adventurous offerings.
On March 10, Dealer offers a different twist on the found footage genre. Dealer is a crime thriller about the “tensions [that] erupt when two filmmakers infiltrate an area ruled by gangs to shoot a music video for a rapper.” Set in the South of France, “each episode is an adrenaline rush,” with “Tony, a charismatic but unpredictable drug gang leader [who wants] to break into the rap music scene” at the series’s center. That the show is being presented as a found footage series tells you a few things about how things likely end for its other main characters.
On March 8, Bombay Begums is about five women across generations wrestling with “dreams, desires, and disappointments in modern Mumbai.” Based on reviews of the series so far, the show is full of “stellar performances” and “controlled writing” as it tackles contemporary issues from a wider and more cosmopolitan cultural lens.
Speaking on an Iron Lords Podcast episode about the Xbox Series X and S, Ronald was asked what game he was most looking forward to in the year ahead, to which he replied, “Not all games that are releasing this year have been announced.”
While not specifically referencing Xbox Games Studios games, the remark has sparked speculation about whether Ronald is referring to games coming from Microsoft’s owned studios – or even its soon-to-be owned studios, given its acquisition of Bethesda has taken major steps forward over the weekend. Ronald didn’t elaborate on the point.
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The 2021 Xbox lineup already has heavy hitters like Halo Infinite and Psychonauts 2 on the way but, clearly, Microsoft is planning to add more to the roster. Interestingly enough, Xbox Marketing boss Aaron Greenberg recently said at the start of the month that there was “nothing coming soon” with regards to major game announcement events, so perhaps don’t expect these mystery games to be revealed in the extremely near future.
In other Xbox news, Series X, S and Xbox One are getting an upgraded browser that can seemingly play Google Stadia games. The Biden administration is currently reviewing the supply chains that are causing shortages in supply for the Xbox Series X and S, as well as the PS5.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
To prepare for his memorable role as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series, actor Andy Serkis would go on very long walks on all fours. He shared this anecdote with The Guardian, and as you can imagine, he worried what people might think. So when he came across someone on an all-fours walk, Serkis pretended like he was looking for something.
“I used to walk on all fours off set when we were filming Lord of the Rings,” he said. “I spent a lot of time in preparation for that [as Gollum]; I would go off for walks on all fours for hours. I did occasionally come into contact with other people, so I just had to pretend I was looking for something. It’s fair to say that’s pretty method.”
Serkis was praised for his role as Gollum, and specifically for how it helped demonstrate the viability of a human actor portraying a creature with a mix of motion capture and CG. After The Lord of the Rings, Serkis would go on to play other CG characters like Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes movies, as well as Snoke from the Star Wars series. Serkis also played King Kong in Jackson’s movie of the same name, while he portrayed Baloo the bear in his own take on The Jungle Book called Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.
