The first batch of 74,000 animals, to be shipped over 10 years, has reportedly arrived in Luanda.
Birds Of Prey Is Coming To Home Video Sooner
Movie giant Warner Bros. has announced that the Harley Quinn spin-off Birds of Prey will be released earlier than expected for home video in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Variety reports that the film will be released for home video on March 24. It will cost $20 USD to buy on a variety of stores, including Amazon and iTunes. A rental option will come in April.
This is a big change because Birds of Prey is still in theatres, and it’s happening in response to the coronavirus pandemic. With more and more people staying home instead of going out to a theatre–if they even can, considering hundreds of cinemas are closed–Warner Bros. is hoping to serve fans where they are: at home.
Trials of Mana Will Release A Demo This Week
The final trailer for the Trials of Mana remake has dropped ahead of the game’s launch on April 24. Square Enix will also release a demo for the game this week, as Gematsu picked up on from the game’s Japanese twitter account.
Trials of Mana was first released in 1995 as Seiken Densetsu 3, the third game in the long-running Mana series. It wasn’t available to Western markets until the 2019 release of the Collection of Mana for Switch, when it became known as Trials of Mana in English.
The new remake will rebuild the game from the ground up, with new graphics, art style and reworked gameplay. The free demo for Trials of Mana will release on March 18 for PS4, Switch, and PC on Steam, consisting of the first section of the game where players will get to choose their party members and experience a boss battle.
Xbox Series X: See How The Console Uses Ray Tracing To Dramatically Improve Graphics
Microsoft has recently shared a lot of details about the Xbox Series X. This includes a fresh look at how the console’s use of hardware accelerated DirectX ray tracing makes next-gen games look even better. Starting off with a definition: ray racing is essentially a technological framework that allows for improved lighting, shadows, and reflections. It also helps create more realistic-sounding audio. In short, it’s a way for developers to create “more physically accurate worlds,” according to Microsoft.
Microsoft says the Xbox Series X is the first-ever console to feature this kind of ray tracing, and it’s made possible thanks to the console’s custom GPU made in collaboration with AMD.
Will Tuttle of the Xbox Wire witnessed ray tracing on the Xbox Series X first-hand with Minecraft. Tuttle said the advancements that ray tracing offers were immediately obvious. “Shadows cast from objects soften or harden depending on how far away from the object you are, while lava gives off a warm orange glow that dissipates over distance and reflects off of minecart rails,” Tuttle said. “Even the moon casts its own rays, streaming down through cracks in the walls and reflecting off particles in the air.”
Avatar Sequels Filming Indefinitely Delayed Due to Coronavirus
Production on James Cameron’s Avatar sequels has been halted in New Zealand due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
Speaking to The New Zealand Herald, producer Jon Landau confirmed that the crew had postponed production ahead of a block of shoots in Wellington’s Stone Street Studios, scheduled for April, while Wellington-based VFX company Weta Digital continues to work on the sequels amid the current hiatus.
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“We’ve delayed it. We had plans to come down Friday night with a group of people and start back up and we made the decision to hold off and continue working here [Los Angeles], and come down there a little bit later than we’d planned,” Landau told the outlet. “We’re in the midst of a global crisis and this is not about the film industry. I think everybody needs to do now whatever we can do, as we say here, to flatten the [coronavirus] curve.”
Landau explained that he couldn’t give a timeframe for when filming in New Zealand would resume, but confirmed that he and Cameron would be reassessing the production schedule on a daily basis “because that’s how quickly things change.”
“We try and monitor all this and look at things and think about what is in the best interest of our crew. I call it our Avatar family. That is really paramount to us above anything,” he said, adding how it had now become a priority to get “as many minutes” of VFX work sent across to Weta Digital to enable the team to progress with their digital effects tasks while the main production is paused.
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Disney is expected to release a new Avatar movie every other year between December 2021 and December 2027, all of which will continue the story of Jake Sully, the Na’vi and the other heroes of Pandora.
While the Avatar sequels are put on hold and join a growing list of TV and movie productions on hiatus, there are a number of important things that you can do to help, and stay safe, during the Coronavirus pandemic.
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Here’s 12 Minutes Of Gameplay For Borderlands 3’s New DLC
Ahead of the March 26 release of Borderlands 3‘s newest campaign DLC Guns, Love, and Tentacles: The Marriage of Wainwright & Hammerlock, Gearbox has released a video showing off the first 12 minutes of gameplay. Despite the name, there are definitely far more guns than there are love or tentacles, but presumably those will come in time.
The DLC will have players working with wedding planner Gaige to make sure the union of Sir Alistair Hammerlock and Wainwright Jakobs goes to plan despite the many dangers of ice planet Xylourgos.
Gearbox describes the expansion as a “cosmic horror rom-com”, and the few glimpses we get of The Lodge and its creepy bartender Mancubus are decidedly Lovecraftian. Players will also have the opportunity to explore the aptly named village of Cursehaven, and help the occultist townsfolk solve their eldritch problems.
Fast & Furious Crossroads Launch ‘Uncertain’ in Wake of F9 Film Delay
Slightly Mad Studios’ Fast & Furious Crossroads may not launch in May 2020 as originally planned, Codemasters has revealed in a note to investors, via GamesRadar.
Citing the fact that Universal Pictures has delayed the release of F9 until April 2021 (11 months later than originally scheduled), Codemasters has admitted “[t]iming for the launch of [Fast & Furious Crossroads] is now uncertain.”
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“Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe is working closely with our partners at Universal Games and Digital Platforms regarding the F9 film’s newly announced theatrical release date of April 2021,” continues the Codemasters statement. “While not directly tied to the film, news and updates pertaining to the Fast & Furious Crossroads game will be shared once they become available.”
“The development team at Slightly Mad Studios and Codemasters will continue to finalise the Game as planned.”
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Fast & Furious Crossroads was announced during The Game Awards in December 2019 by franchise stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, who will also be playing their Fast characters Dom and Letty in the game itself. The project was first hinted at back in 2017.
Fast & Furious Crossroads and Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios was acquired by Codemasters in November 2019.
While the spread of covid-19 has resulted in a huge number of release delays and stalled productions, more importantly there are number of things you can do to stay safe during this pandemic.
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Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.
Samsung Has Quietly Canceled Its Game Streaming Service
With a number of big-name companies–from Google to Nvidia to Microsoft–trying to corner the emerging game streaming market, it’s not surprising that some competitors are already dropping out of the race. Samsung has announced that its PlayGalaxy Link PC-to-mobile streaming service will shut down as of March 27.
The announcement was so quiet that, despite being made on February 26, it’s only been picked up by gaming and tech outlets in the last 24 hours.
The announcement doesn’t provide much detail on why PlayGalaxy Link is being discontinued. “After many difficult discussions, PlayGalaxy Link will be ended on 27 March 2020 due to internal policy changes,” it reads. Ending the service “will allow our Development organization to more effectively focus its resources and add value to the next release of new product.”
One Of The Biggest Gaming Shows In The World Is Still Going Forward Despite COVID-19 Concerns
The Game Developers Conference was postponed. E3 2020 was canceled. But Gamescom 2020 is still planning to go forward on schedule in August despite ongoing concerns around COVID-19 (coronavirus), organizers have confirmed.
The annual gaming show is held in Cologne, Germany every August. Just recently, the city of Cologne announced it was banning all major events with more than 1,000 participants, which would include Gamescom. This ban is scheduled to be lifted on April 10, so Gamescom is theoretically able to go forward.
The situation surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, which is now classified as a global pandemic, changes on a daily basis, so it presents a challenge for event-planners. For now at least, the organizers of Gamescom are stressing that preparations for Gamescom 2020 are “continuing as planned.” If the event is canceled, all tickets will be refunded.
Borderlands 3 Has A Limited Time Freebie If You Purchase On Steam
Borderlands 3 has made its way to Steam, six months after the game’s PC launch on the Epic Games Store. The game has arrived complete with a 50% discount, but that’s not the only incentive to pick it up right now–early adopters of the Steam version will also get some shiny free weapon skins.
The Gold Weapon Skins Pack is available now until April 1 through Steam. As long as you redeem the free DLC before then, you’ll get these skins to keep, and you’ll be able to apply a golden skin or trinket to every gun in the game.
This offer is only valid for a limited time, and you need to own the game to redeem the skins.
Attention Steam players: the Gold Weapon Skins Pack for #Borderlands3 is free now through April 1 — make sure to redeem it before then!
Get it here: https://t.co/9mnBdvqCca pic.twitter.com/xZD1d51Iu0— Borderlands 3 (@Borderlands) March 16, 2020
Borderlands 3 will receive its next major piece of paid DLC, Guns, Love, And Tentacles, on March 26. There’s a third DLC campaign expansion coming, too, and it will feature dinosaurs and outlaws.
Borderlands fans also have a movie to look forward to, which will be helmed by Hostel director Eli Roth. It does not have a release date set as of yet.