Star Wars Episode 1 Racer Delayed Again

Star Wars: Episode 1 is memorable for a few key, standout reasons: Darth Maul, the podrace scene–end of list. But the podrace was immortalized in the classic game Episode 1 Racer that’s now being ported to PS4 and Nintendo Switch. That port has now been delayed indefinitely on both platforms.

In a tweet, publisher Aspyr announced that the port is being further delayed because of complications from the work-at-home requirements that are happening all across the industry due to coronavirus. This followed a previous delay for the PS4 version from May 12 to May 26. The new announcement didn’t attach a new release date for either platform.

In Episode 1, podracing is a deadly high-stakes sport enjoyed on the dusty planet of Tatooine and basically involves tethering two jet engines to a soapbox car. Despite sapping all dramatic tension by making the stakes so high that there’s no way Anakin could possibly lose the race, it was visually thrilling and a neat bit of world-building in the Star Wars universe.

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The Back To The Future Reunion Is Wildly Entertaining And For A Great Cause

Great Scott! Can you believe that Back to the Future is 35 years old this year? The sci-fi comedy classic debuted in 1985, and it’s one of the best films from that decade. Now, actor Josh Gad has put together another episode of Reunited Apart–a video conference call featuring actors, writers, and directors–and this time, it features the cast of Back to the Future.

On April 27, Gad debuted the first episode of the YouTube series featuring the cast of Goonies. On May 11, Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, director Robert Zemeckis, and more came together to talk to Gad about their experiences on the film and do some “table” reads of the scripts from the three films. Check it out below.

For any fan of the movie series, it’s just a lot of fun to see what these actors are up to and what they look like now. It will put a smile on any fan’s face. Gad’s new series is a fundraiser for Project Hope, which delivers masks and protective equipment to health workers on the front line of the pandemic.

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Legends Of Runeterra Review – Much Ado About Nautilus

Runeterra is the world of League of Legends, Riot’s MOBA that has arguably experienced a Golden Age of esports in the past few years. The MOBA has undergone various lore overhauls, but centralized all of its bits and pieces in 2016 to come up with a vision for Runeterra and its competing factions, as well as the backstories of the game’s champions. The latest step in fleshing out this world is Legends of Runeterra, Riot Games’ flagship contribution to the current online card game market–with DNA that’s a highly entertaining splice job between streamlined design sensibilities and touches that harken back to the original card game great, Magic: The Gathering.

The realm of Runeterra feels fully realized here, and part of that is how the game revolves around the various in-universe factions that are currently playable: Piltover & Zaun, Bilgewater, Demacia, Freljord, Ionia, Noxus, and the Shadow Isles. You’re not playing for rounds of ale at a tavern; this feels like a conflict of a uniquely larger scale because of the game’s insistence on you not embodying a hero but instead commanding them.

Each faction has these heroes, though they’re called champions. They’re souped-up cards representative of characters from League of Legends who are somewhere between Legendaries in Hearthstone and Planeswalkers in Magic: The Gathering–game-changing because they’re stronger than your average unit, but not game-breaking. The factions have their own unique playstyles that span the whole spectrum from aggro to control, spell-heavy to flood-dependent, and more. The champions themselves all buy into each faction’s playstyle fantasy, with flashy animations that depict their unique personalities and strengths.

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Playlist Update Adds Demolition Game Mode And More

Coming this week to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, developer Infinity Ward has revealed that the first-person shooter will get a playlist update that adds some new game modes on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Demolition, which was unveiled earlier this month, is now live in Modern Warfare. Seen in a variety of Call of Duty games, including Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2, Demolition tasks your team with either planting or defusing a bomb. While it shares a lot of DNA with Search and Destroy, Demolition differs in that you can respawn and bomb-defusing doesn’t end the round. This gives you multiple opportunities to complete the objective, unlike the one life you’re given in Search and Destory. The game mode is likely playable on a bunch of different maps, but Infinity Ward mentioned three in particular: Hackney Yard, Rust, and Shoot House.

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Also revealed earlier this month, 3v3 Gunfight Knives Only is now playable on all platforms. This game mode foregoes the firepower for a more barbaric approach to combat. You can only use knives in this mode, meaning you’ll have to throw, melee, and use Finishing Moves to win six rounds.

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Twilight Zone Season 2 Gets First Unsettling Trailer And Release Date

The CBS All Access original series The Twilight Zone is returning to the streaming service for a second season on June 25. And with that announcement comes trailer for the upcoming episodes.

While specifics about plot for the individual episodes of the anthology series haven’t been revealed, the trailer is unsettling–mainly because of that score. The Twilight Zone is a series focusing on the unimaginable, twisting ideas which many would consider “dreams” into “nightmares.” It was Black Mirror before Black Mirror, without the technological bend to every story. Check out the trailer below.

The latest season of the show will feature quite a few well-known stars, including Billy Porter, Morena Baccarin, Topher Grace, Tony Hale, Jurnee Smollett, Joel McHale, and Chris Meloni. Many of these stars were announced at the beginning of May, along with the episode titles for Season 2. More recently, photos from Season 2 were revealed, but they still don’t give much of an idea of what to expect, except Thomas Lennon is the host of some sort of variety show.

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Nintendo Has Already Tried To Shut Down The Super Mario 64 PC Port

Nintendo has never been shy about sending legal challenges to fan-projects based on their intellectual property, and the unofficial PC port of Super Mario 64 is no different. YouTube footage of the fan-engineered port first emerged last week, which showed off its support for widescreen resolutions and modern visual effects through external software like Reshade.

That footage has now been removed from the popular video-sharing site, and download links to the port have disappeared across the web. According to the site Torrent Freak, this is due to legal action from Wildwood Law Group LLC, a law firm that has represented Nintendo in similar situations. As first spotted by Torrent Freak, the filed DMCA complaint reads in part: “The copyrighted work is Nintendo’s Super Mario 64 video game, including the audio-visual work, software, and fictional character depictions covered by U.S. Copyright Reg. No. PA[REDACTED].”

While Nintendo has successfully removed the original video and its accompanying download, it will be far more difficult–if not impossible–to completely scrub the existence of the port from the internet. A simple YouTube search reveals dozens of videos that show off the PC port and its advanced graphical features. Similarly, while Nintendo issued a takedown notice for the acclaimed Metroid fan-game AM2R back in 2016, forcing the original developer to step aside, a development group of similarly-minded aficionados have continued to work on it.

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Seth MacFarlane Featured On Celebrity Variety Show To Raise Money For Pandemic Relief

Starting tonight at 7 PM ET, NBCUniversal will broadcast a daily variety show on its streaming service, Peacock, as well as for free via Facebook and YouTube. The At-Home Variety Show is set to be hosted by The Orville, Family Guy, and American Dad creator Seth MacFarlane and features an enormous line-up of actors, comedians, musicians, and athletes starring in short segments.

As reported by The Wrap, MacFarlane “will introduce each segment, which will generally be under 10 minutes and will feature performances from NBCU stars.” The At-Home Variety Show is, at least in part, meant to help raise money for charity. Peacock has announced its support for the United Way, Feeding America, and Americares and promises to help raise funds for three American non-profits selected, according to its website, for their ability to “[provide] critical services to essential workers and those communities most in need.”

The list of guests confirmed to appear on the show is huge. It includes Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Elizabeth Banks, Terry Crews, Jane Lynch, Craig Robinson, Ed Helms, Will Forte, Patton Oswalt, Kevin Hart, Jane Lynch, Christopher Meloni, Andy Cohen, Larry Wilmore, Glenn Howerton, Chelsea Handler, and many more.

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Zombie Game Sale: Save Big On The Walking Dead, Dying Light, And More On PC

PC games storefront GOG regularly hosts excellent weekly sales, and if you’re a fan of zombie games, this week’s sale is right up your alley. The Zombie Gogalypse sale features 57 zombie games for up to 90% off. Every season of Telltale’s wonderful narrative adventure series The Walking Dead is discounted 25% off. The sale runs through May 17, so you have about a week to make your picks.

The Walking Dead: Season 1, Season 2, and Michonne, and A New Frontier are down to $11.24 each, while 400 Days (a special episode for the first season) is $3.74. The Walking Dead: The Final Season, which artfully brings beloved protagonist Clementine’s journey to a close, is discounted to $15.

For a more action-oriented zombie experience, Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition is just $18, which is a 70% savings. The Enhanced Edition comes with the base game, The Following expansion, and several additional pieces of DLC. Rumors have circulated recently claiming that Techland’s Dying Light 2 is having development issues, but the studio countered by announcing that the much-anticipated sequel will still release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Now’s a great time to check out the original, which earned a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Dying Light review (The Following expansion earned an 8/10).

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Adds New Operator And Legendary Weapons Soon

Developer Infinity Ward has revealed what’s coming to both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One sometime this week. The first-person shooter will see a brand-new Operator, additional Legendary weapons, and more.

First up is the new Operator, Iskra. She an Urzikstani native with the Chimera Faction intent on immobilizing the Al-Qatala forces. Iskra is available as a store bundle and comes packaged with two new Legendary weapons, the “Savagery” helicopter vehicle skin, an Epic Finisher, and more. Infinity Ward said more information about Iskra and her Legendary weapons will arrive later this week.

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Also coming to Call of Duty this week is the “Twin Stars” bundle. The pack features two weapon blueprints, one handgun and one LMG, that “favor silent but deadly approaches to combat.” Both weapons are copper in color and gradually fade to black, perfect for blending in sandy locales like Aniyah Incursion and Rust.

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New ‘May Madness’ Sale Offers 1,600 PC Deals, Free Game When You Spend $10+

Somehow, it’s already May, and while the month is bringing longer days and warmer weather, it’s also bringing a slew of new digital game deals and free games, which is probably a bigger benefit for those who are still mostly stuck indoors. PC games storefront Fanatical is known for offering blowout sales with thousands of discounts–many of which are on Steam games–and it’s back with a new one for May. The May Madness Sale is live now at Fanatical and currently has over 1,600 deals on games as well as a free game offer.

The sale includes one of 2019’s best games, Control, a paranormal action-adventure game set inside a mysterious government building. Control is down to just $36 in the sale, a fantastic price for this weird and wonderful experience. If you’re in the mood to play Assassin’s Creed after seeing the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla reveal, you can snag great discounts on previous games like Odyssey ($18.59), Origins ($14.39), and Black Flag ($6.39). You can also grab Little Nightmares – Complete Edition for $7.19 before its sequel releases this year and Layers of Fear – Masterpiece Edition for $5.74 if you’re in the mood for some psychological horror.

If you’re interested in learning Japanese while you have some extra time on your hands these days, Fanatical also has a brand-new bundle that can help get you started. The Learn Japanese to Survive Complete Pack is available for just $3 (normally about $45) and includes the base game and DLC. This educational RPG has a 9/10 “Very Positive” rating on Steam, so it’s worth trying out if you have an interest in the subject.

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