Category: games

Although “most” of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s post-release DLC will launch on all platforms at the same time, Sony’s exclusivity deal with Activision is continuing in some form. Activision has confirmed that PS4 players “will have an exciting Day 1 advantage” in Modern Warfare. That’s all Activision had to say on the matter, so fans can only guess for now what that may mean.

More details will be announced “soon,” Activision said.

Activision and Sony have had an exclusivity deal for Call of Duty for years now, with new content releasing first on PlayStation. That’s changing somewhat this year, as “most” of the game’s after-launch content will be available on all systems simultaneously as part of developer Infinity Ward’s intention to keep the playerbase connected. This is especially important now, apparently, because Modern Warfare supports cross-play between competing consoles and PC.

Here is Activision’s full statement on its partnership with Sony for Call of Duty content:

“Call of Duty is excited to continue its partnership with PlayStation, including last weekend’s PS4 debut of the Modern Warfare Open Beta as well as the recent PS4 exclusive 2v2 Alpha. But the best is yet to come. For the very first time in our partnership with PlayStation, PS4 players will have an exciting Day 1 advantage. More details on how Call of Duty will continue to support PlayStation as the best place to play Modern Warfare will be rolled out soon.”

Activision will test the cross-play functionality with the next Modern Warfare beta that begins this weekend. Modern Warfare launches on October 25 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Activision has confirmed that most of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s post-release content, including DLC maps, will be released on all platforms at the same time. That is a big deal for Call of Duty, as CharlieIntel reminds us, this will be the first time in more than a decade that neither PlayStation nor Xbox gets a head start on content releases.

In a statement, Activision said the developers have “worked to ensure that content will be released in a way that enables all players to continue to seamlessly play together.”

Activision said that “most” of Modern Warfare’s post-release DLC–which includes new maps, modes, and Spec-Ops missions–will “release simultaneously across all platforms.”

That’s all Activision had to say on the subject, but the company said it will share more details on Modern Warfare’s post-release DLC strategy in the weeks ahead.

In May, marketing material from Sony–not Activision–stated that new content for Modern Warfare would release first on PS4. The content was said to be exclusive to PS4 for seven days. This may still be true, as Activision said in its announcement this week that “PS4 players will have an exciting Day 1 advantage,” though this was not specified at all. Activision’s statement mentions that “most,” but not all of Modern Warfare’s post-release DLC will launch on all platforms together at the same time, which leaves some wiggle room to still put out some PlayStation-exclusive content.

In another huge change for Call of Duty, the game will support cross-play between competing systems. Activision will test the cross-play functionality with the next Modern Warfare beta that begins this weekend.

And in yet another massive update, Activision is releasing Modern Warfare’s DLC maps for free. This is also part of the company’s effort to keep the playerbase together, and it follows the free map DLC strategy already implemented in other major shooter series like Halo and Battlefield.

Call of Duty’s post-release DLC was initially released as a timed-exclusive for Xbox consoles before Sony swooped in and took it away. The companies pay Activision for the right to release content early on their systems to create a scenario where one platform or the other is seen as the place to play.

The new Modern Warfare launches on October 25 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Anthem is changing up how it releases future content. Developer BioWare has confirmed that it is ditching the previously announced “Acts” release schedule in favor of seasonal updates.

As described before Anthem’s release in February, BioWare planned for the game’s Acts to introduce new locations and features that roll out over time. The latest of these Acts culminated in the Cataclysm event that’s going on now. It’s coming to an end soon, and BioWare is now telling fans to expect seasonal updates in the future. BioWare’s Chad Robertson explained that BioWare is moving to this structure so that it can address some of the “core issues” people are experiencing.

“We hear your concerns on core issues in Anthem and are acting on it,” he said. “Those systems require a more thorough review and re-working versus quick fixes. We’ve got a team working on that now, and early results are promising. In order to address these long-range plans, we are moving away from the Acts structure for updates. Instead, we have additional seasonal updates planned for this year that we think players will enjoy.”

“These events will deliver challenges and chases similar to what you’ve seen, and are built around some fun themes we’re bringing to the game.”

Robertson said BioWare is making this disclosure as part of its effort to be more transparent and honest with fans about the work that’s required to “make Anthem better.”

“We also want to ensure we’re backing up our words with a great game you can play,” Robertson said. “So I don’t have any news today to share about the long-term changes we are bringing to Anthem. What I can say is that we will continue to engage with you, our community, through PTS when we can show you what is coming.”

Anthem is the 5th best-selling game of 2019 so far in the United States, according to NPD. It only trails The Division 2, Madden NFL 20, Kingdom Hearts III, and Mortal Kombat 11.

Presumably in a bid to get more people playing it, EA added Anthem to the free game catalog on EA Access and Origin Access earlier this month. The game’s lead producer, Ben Irving, left the team in August. Upon his exit, he said he believed Anthem has a bright future ahead of it.

We’ve rounded up the best 8K TVs on the bleeding edge of resolution and picture quality.

Whether you have a dinky Ultrabook or a 20 pound gaming laptop, these are the best laptop backpacks designed to carry your tech.

Google has announced a new Stadia bundle, now available at the G-Store, which will replace the previously announced and available Google Stadia Founders Edition.

Google confirmed to IGN that, as of today, September 18, the Stadia Founders Edition, which included the exclusive Night Blue Stadia controller, is now largely sold out. It is available in very limited supply in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the U.K., but is otherwise completely sold out in Europe.

Continue reading…

Reboots and revivals are very popular today in Hollywood, and now it appears another iconic film is in the running for a comeback. Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra said in a new interview that the iconic 1987 fantasy comedy The Princess Bride has come up in talks for a reboot.

He told Variety that “very famous people” have come to him to pursue the idea of a Princess Bride reboot. However, the executive declined to say who these people are, stating only that they “want to redo Princess Bride.”

The quote came as part of a profile of Norman Lear, who produced The Princess Bride, among numerous other film and TV projects such as Stand By Me, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Maude. Vinciquerra went on to say that Lear’s work is in high demand for reboots.

“We have so many people coming to us saying, ‘We want to remake this show or that show,'” Vinciquerra said. “Some people want to do animated versions of some of the sitcoms. Not a month goes by when we don’t have an idea coming from some very big name wanting to do things with Norman.”

The Princess Bride stars Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, and Wallace Shawn. Billy Crystal, Fred Savage, Peter Falk, and Andre the Giant also starred in the movie that was directed by Rob Reiner. The movie was nominated for Best Music, Original Song for “Storybook Love” by Willy DeVille.

Elwes, who plays Westley in The Princess Bride, spoke out against the idea of a Princess Bride reboot. Jamie Lee Curtis, who is married to The Six Fingered Man actor Christopher Guest, also said it’s a bad idea to reboot the movie.

Savage, who played a child who had the Princess Bride story read to him by Falk, reprised his character hilariously as a grown-up in Once Upon A Deadpool.

Remember way back in 2014 when people discovered a loot cave in the original Destiny? It was this magical place where you could take advantage of the game’s systems to quickly acquire a surplus of rare loot. Well, Borderlands 3 kind of has one of those.

In this case, players discovered a way to exploit the level design for one of Borderlands 3’s areas to get an enemy to respawn over and over again to increase the drop rate for random legendary weapons. The farming method was first discovered by Reddit user Nordor222.

First off, to fully take advantage of this exploit, you’ll need to beat Borderlands 3’s campaign and unlock its endgame content. In the endgame, you unlock Mayhem Mode, which allows you to crank the difficulty of Borderlands 3 in a variety of ways. Mayhem Mode also increases your chances of getting a legendary loot drop though, so push it up to Mayhem Level 3 at the Sanctuary III console.

Once that’s done, fly to Eden-6 and fast travel to the Jakob’s Estate. Head to the location that’s marked on the image below. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see a group of bandits. Among them should be a purple-tinged loot tink. He’ll have a pretty hefty shield–one amplified by Mayhem Mode–so bring out your strongest shock weapon to take the tink down. Maybe grab an incendiary weapon too, both to deal with the tink once its shield is gone as well as the group of bandits that spawn in to protect him.

This tink already gives you pretty good loot, but with the bonuses provided by Mayhem Level 3, he’ll spit out a few purple and yellow items as you take him down. If you defeat him, you can open his backpack, which will typically spew out a few pieces of legendary loot and some phenomenal very rare items. Once you’ve grabbed all you can carry, warp back to the Jakob’s Estate fast travel point, quit to the main menu, reload the game, and head back to the tink’s spawn location. He’ll be back and carrying a brand-new set of legendary items for you to loot. Just repeat the process for as many times as you please.

Keep in mind, Gearbox may already know about this exploit and they could be working on a fix for it right now. When players discovered the loot cave in the original Destiny, Bungie shut that down in days. Given how this exploit essentially removes the need to do any of Borderlands 3’s endgame content, we imagine Gearbox will want to remove it at some point before the raid boss is added. So act now if you want to take advantage. Just think, what you see below could be yours.

Just as suspected, Amazon’s upcoming big-budget Lord of the Rings TV show will seemingly film in New Zealand. The show’s Twitter account posted a tweet that pretty much confirms it.

The tweet simply posted the New Zealand flag, which has sent fans into a tizzy about the show being filmed in the same country as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

In June, the New Zealand Herald reported that a “huge” part of the Lord of the Rings TV show will film in New Zealand; Queenstown and Auckland were called out as potential filming locations.

It was previously rumored that the Amazon Lord of the Rings TV show may film in Scotland. It’s still possible the production will shoot in other locations outside of New Zealand.

While New Zealand is a beautiful country filled with incredible scenery that has inspired some of the Lord of the Rings’ most iconic scenes, the country’s association with the franchise hasn’t been entirely smooth.

Warner Bros., the film giant behind The Lord of the Rings, made headlines in 2010 when it reportedly had a back-and-forth with the New Zealand government to ensure friendlier terms for the movie studio. As Fodors reminds us, the “Hobbit Law,” as it became known, focused on how film crews were considered independent contractors, and thus their ability to collectively bargain and enjoy protections and benefits came into question. The new government that took power in 2017 sought to adjust the legislation to be more worker-friendly, but it remains to be seen if anything has changed.

Whatever the case, Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said he’s optimistic about the law being changed. “We’re looking to restore a lot of workers’ rights that have been diminished over the last nine years, and that is a priority for us,” he said, as reported by Fodors. “It’s something that we want to have the legislation at least introduced within the first 100 days of government.”

For what it’s worth, this time frame has come and gone with no apparent change to the law.

The new Lord of the Rings show is set in the Second Age, which is a 3,441-year period that covered major events like the forging of the Rings of Power, including the One Ring; the War of Sauron, the beginning of the Ringwraiths, and when Numenor the island sank into the ocean. Also, it was during the Second Age that the Elven city of Rivendell was developed and the great battle where men, elves, and dwarves fought together for the first time against Sauron. A popular rumor was that the show would focus on a young Aragorn, but that may not happen.

JD Payne and Patrick McKay are writing Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show. They have no TV writing credits to their name, but neither did David Benioff and D.B. Weiss when they made the massively popular Game of Thrones series. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show recently brought on Game of Thrones series producer Bryan Cogman, who was known as the “third head of the dragon” for Game of Thrones, along with Weiss and Benioff.

There is no word yet on when the Lord of the Rings show will premiere, but we’re beginning to find out who will star in it. Black Mirror actor Will Poulter and Markella Kavenagh are in talks to play the lead roles, according to reports.

Behind the camera, Amazon has assembled an all-star team of writers and producers. The writers room for the untitled Lord of the Rings show includes Gennifer Hutchinson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul), Helen Shang (Hannibal), Justin Dohle (Stranger Things), Bryan Cogman (Game of Thrones), and Stephany Folsom (Toy Story 4).

J.A. Bayona, the director of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is directing episodes one and two of the Lord of the Rings show.

Kate Hawley is the costume designer; she previously worked on Edge of Tomorrow and Suicide Squad. Rick Heinrichs, who won an Oscar for Sleepy Hollow and also worked on The Last Jedi, is the production designer; Jason Smith, who worked on The Revenant, Super 8, and The Avengers is the visual effects supervisor. Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey is also working on the new Amazon show, as is Lord of the Rings movie trilogy illustrator and concept artist John Howe.

The Amazon show also has numerous producers, including people who have worked on Westworld, Boardwalk Empire, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and The Departed.

In other news, a new Lord of the Rings video game focused on Gollum is in development at Daedalic Entertainment, while a AAA online Lord of the Rings game is also on the way.

Jesse finally comes face-to-face with God, while The Grail tracks down Tulip and Cassidy. Ryan shares his favorite easter eggs from Preacher Season 4 Episode 8 “Fear of the Lord.”