“Light the candle.” Get ready to party like you’ve never partied before! Paramount has revealed the second trailer for the comedy Office Christmas Party, about one totally nuts Christmas party that gets way out of hand (see the first trailer here). It’s about, as expected, one company’s holiday party that goes a little too far – if that title wasn’t blatant enough. T.J. Miller is the main instigator, with an ensemble cast including Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Vanessa Bayer, Jillian Bell, Jamie Chung, Rob Corddry, Abbey Lee, Kate McKinnon, Olivia Munn, Karan Soni and Matt Walsh. I’m not sure if this is going to be any good, but it’s going to be totally insane, that’s for sure. Maybe this is what we all need. Have fun. ›››
The download size is 19.99 GB. It features a few races and a scaled-back version of the game’s map. Also included is a sampling of the game’s Horizon Festival, among other things, according to VG247.
Microsoft also announced that Forza Horizon 3 had the “biggest launch” in the history of the racing series, though a specific unit sales number was not provided. More than five million people played a Forza game on either Xbox One and Windows 10 PC in September, Microsoft said.
PlayStation executive Shawn Layden appeared on the Live with YouTube Gaming show last night and discussed a number of subjects, including the reaction to controversial space game No Man’s Sky.
He said developer Hello Games had an “incredible vision” for what they wanted to make (via DualShockers). The executive added that No Man’s Sky, which features procedurally generated worlds, is something that had never been done in gaming. He also remarked that the team was very small (only six people developed the game) and had a “very huge ambition.”
“They’re still updating it. They’re trying to get it closer enough or closer to what their vision was,” he said. “I played a lot when it came out.”
“I think what we learned from that is that we don’t want to stifle ambition. We don’t want to stifle creativity,” he added. “We don’t want to put people into slots where they must execute against an action adventure path or a fighting path or a shooting path. Perhaps over time [No Man’s Sky] will reveal itself to be all it can be.”
Layden went on to praise Hello Games for their huge ambition for No Man’s Sky, while acknowledging that “sometimes you just don’t get all the way there at the first go.”
“Nobody in development wants to say that they can’t do a thing, right? No one wants to tell someone, ‘No I can’t do that for you,’” Layden said. “People are really trying. I think looking at the different industries I’ve had the privilege of working, the gaming industry is where everybody has the courage to say ‘yes.’ And they want to try to realize their ambitions. They want to try to make that vision. No one slinks away from a huge challenge. And sometimes you just don’t get all the way there at the first go.”
In September, The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority launched an investigation into No Man’s Sky after it received “several complaints” about the game’s potentially misleading advertising. After that, the No Man’s Sky subreddit was temporarily closed, after being described by its moderator as a “hate-filled wastehole.”
With Alien: Covenant due next year, Fox’s other big ’80s monster franchise is also set make a return. The Predator is scheduled for a 2018 release, co-written and directed by Iron Man 3‘s Shane Black. It has now been reported that X-Men: Apocalypse star Olivia Munn is under consideration to join the film’s cast.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Munn “is in negotiations” for the movie. She will join Narcos star Boyd Holbrook who was announced as the movie’s lead last month, replacing Benicio Del Toro. The site reports that Munn will play a scientist opposite Holbrook’s Special Forces commando.
THR has also hinted at the movie’s setting, stating that the battle against the battle against the titular alien will take place “in suburbia.” The movie is due to begin production in February.
In May, Black explained that getting the tone and cast right was vital. “I think the tone shifting is important,” he told Den of Geek. “This one is going to be very scary if I get it right, and hopefully also there’ll be some humour in it. The first one had humour in it, so you really got engaged with this group of guys.
“We’ll cast very carefully. We’ll get a group of people against the monster that I think you’re gonna enjoy spending time with.”
Black himself appeared in the original Predator, the 1987 smash starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by John McTiernan. To date there have been four further films in the series, including the direct sequel Predator 2, two Alien vs. Predator movies, and 2010’s Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators.
The Predator is set to be released on March 2, 2018.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Tripwire’s David Hensley said the power of the PS4 Pro has allowed the developer to “take Killing Floor 2’s visuals to the next level of fidelity.” On the subject of resolution, players who have a 4K TV will find that the game’s 1800p resolution has been upscaled to 2160p. “The extra resolution increases overall environment, weapon, and character detail beyond what is perceivable on a 1080p display,” Hensley said.
Additionally, environmental items like foliage “have a new level of definition,” while the game’s enemies, Zeds, should look better at medium-to-long range. Killing Floor 2 is of course a bloody, violent game, and the power of the PS4 Pro should push things forward in this regard as well.
“Killing Floor 2’s over-the-top gore system has never looked better with persistent blood reflecting the world and characters in high resolution,” Hensley explained.
As for the PS4 Pro’s extra memory, Killing Floor 2 uses this to unlock “ultra textures” that have a higher resolution than those for the standard PS4. “The ultra textures add extra surface detail to everything in the game including first-person weapons, arms, Zeds, and the levels themselves,” Hensley said.
Additionally, the PS4 Pro version of Killing Floor 2 has increased dynamic shadows, making them “crisper and higher resolution.” Hensley also noted that the game’s various visual improvements do not come with a compromise for frame rate. In fact, frame rate should be better on PS4 Pro.
Lastly, people playing Killing Floor 2 with a PS4 Pro on a 1080p will see some benefits as well. In that case, Killing Floor 2 is “super-sampled,” Hensley said, “resulting in much higher quality and smoother anti-aliasing.” He added that the frame rate boost is also apparent on a 1080p display.
Outside of the PS4 Pro news, Tripwire announced that an open beta for Killing Floor 2’s multiplayer will be available today, November 4, starting at 10 AM PT. The beta includes two multiplayer modes (Survival and Versus Survival), three maps (Burning Paris, Biotics Lab, Evac Point), nine perk classes, 14 characters, and one offline training mission. The full game comes out on November 18.
Not everyone was able to get their hands on a physical Xbox Onesie, as supply was very limited. But if you’re set on acquiring the item, you may be happy to learn that at least your Xbox Live avatar can wear the piece of clothing. Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb announced during his PAX Australia keynote address that Xbox Onesie avatar items are now available–and they’re completely free.
They are available in black and white, with configurations for male and female avatars. Click through the images in the gallery below to see them all, while download links follow below.
The oddball piece of clothing was announced by Xbox Australia in September. It sports enlarged pockets to fit an Xbox controller and a media remote. There is also an arm pouch for a mobile phone. The hood is super-big to give you enough space for a headset, while the onesie also features forearm grips “to prevent slipping.” You can even have your Gamertag custom-embroidered onto the onesie.
The movie adaptation of the classic comic series Sandman has hit another set-back. The film has been in development for some time, and now its writer has left the project.
Eric Heisserer wrote the recently-released sci-fi drama Arrival and joined Sandman in the spring. But as IO9 reports, Heisserer has now quit, and has said that he doesn’t believe the property will ultimately work as a movie.
“I had many conversations with Neil [Gaiman, Sandman‘s creator] on this, and I did a lot of work on the feature,” he told the site. “I came to the conclusion that the best version of this property exists as an HBO series or limited series, not as a feature film, not even as a trilogy.
“The structure of the feature film really doesn’t mesh with this. So I went back and said here’s the work that I’ve done. This isn’t where it should be. It needs to go to TV. So I talked myself out of a job!”
“I came to realize that the folks at New Line and I just don’t see eye to eye on what makes Sandman special, and what a film adaptation could/should be,” Gordon-Levitt said at the time. “So unfortunately, I decided to remove myself from the project. I wish nothing but the best for the team moving forward.”
Sandman is one of the titles published by DC’s Vertigo imprint. Last year parent company Warner made the decision to move the film development of Vertigo properties over to its subsidiary New Line Cinema.
At the time, co-producer David Goyer spoke to Collider about the decision to move the Vertigo titles to New Line. “I think that the Vertigo properties are a bit more quirky and off-center than kind of the mainstream superhero stuff at Warners,” he said. “But I understand the decision because we’re not having to fight for release dates with the Vertigo stuff like we would have been having to do over at Warner Bros.”
The original run of Sandman lasted for 75 issues, plus one special, between 1989 and 1996. Gaiman has returned to the title a number of times since, including a novella and a six-part prequel series. The comic has won over 26 prestigious Eisner Awards, and by the end of its run was DC’s most popular title, outselling the likes Batman and Superman.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare players that purchase the game from the Windows 10 app store will be cut off from the larger Call of Duty community. According to Activision’s support website, multiplayer servers for those versions of Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered won’t connect to outside services such as Steam.
One of the questions listed on a FAQ page asks “Can I play Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered for Windows 10 on Windows Store with my friends that are playing on another PC platform?”
“No, you can only play these titles with other users of Windows 10 on Windows Store,” the response reads.
This effectively cuts off Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered players that acquired the game from the Windows Store from a community that Activision has been cultivating since 2003.
GameSpot has contacted Microsoft to find out whether there are any plans to lift this restriction.
“By venturing beyond Earth–and not just to other planets, but to space itself–Call of Duty found a canvas to produce its best story in years,” he said. It reinforces the notion that a game’s narrative is only as good as its characters. Given the campaign’s accomplishments in space combat, it’s puzzling that no effort was made to replicate its zero-G sensations in Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer.
“Consequently, the well-crafted Zombies mode is a more attractive, time-consuming proposition for those looking to play with friends. While no Call of Duty game has matched the comprehensive excellence of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the exploits of Reyes and Ethan are at least as memorable and moving as any deeds from “Soap” MacTavish and John Price during from the series’ heyday.”
Anna Podedworna is a concept artist at CD Projekt Red, where she’s worked on projects like the new spin-off release of Gwent, the card game from The Witcher 3.
Ah, to be living in simpler times. If only a Nintendo handheld was enough to distract us from 2016’s Hellscape of an election (this is from a 1992 issue of GQ Magazine).
