Category: Gamespot

With Destiny 2‘s release coming up next week, Bungie has now answered more key details about the launch and more. Starting off, Bungie confirmed when the game’s servers will go live: it’ll be a rolling midnight release across the world. In other words, you can start playing at 12 AM on September 6 in your country. In the US, this means the servers will unlock at midnight ET. While Destiny 2 won’t unlock until September 6, people on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One can begin pre-loading now.

Bungie also confirmed when Destiny 2’s first Nightfall Strikes, Raid, and Trials will launch. The Nightfall Strikes will be available right away, while the Raid kicks off at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST on September 13 (3 AM AET on September 14 in Australia). Trials will become available at the same time on September 15 (16 in Australia).

Bungie is intentionally not sharing any details on Destiny 2’s first Raid. “If you have witnessed the race to become the first to topple the final boss, you know we keep Raid info well under wraps,” Bungie said. “These are your moments to discover–your mysteries to solve. We’ve given you the when. You will soon discover the who, the what, and the where. Together, as a team, you might even discover the how.”

We also learned that Destiny 2’s Guided Games system won’t be available until September 12 at 10 AM PT. This will be rolled out as part of what Bungie is calling a “soft beta,” in that only some players can get in at the start. Guided Games is a new feature coming to Destiny 2 that will help solo players link up with Clans to tackle the most profound challenges in the game as a Fireteam.

“This will allow us to slowly ramp up players over the course of September (and allow Clan populations to grow) so that everyone has a great experience,” Bungie said. “During the Guided Games Beta period, we need your Clans to fully test the system at scale. All Clans will be able to guide solo players, so once you’ve mastered the Nightfall, Fireteam up and guide solo players to the highest heights.”

Here is a breakdown of when the Guided Games feature will begin:

• Nightfall Guided Games Beta: September 12th, 10AM PT
  • 30-50% of players will be given seeker access, depending on clan participation in Destiny 2 during the first week.
• Nightfall and Raid Guided Games: September 26th, 10AM PT
  • Target: 100% of players will be given seeker access.

Destiny 2 launches for Xbox One and PS4 on September 6, and PC October 24. The game’s launch trailer was just recently released–check out the Beastie Boys-infused video here.

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A new piece of information about the next Indiana Jones movie has come to light. Writer David Koepp said in a new interview that Shia LaBeouf’s character from 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Mutt Williams, is not going to be in the follow-up.

Koepp told Entertainment Weekly that while Harrison Ford is coming back to play Indiana Jones himself, LaBeouf’s character won’t be there. “Harrison plays Indiana Jones, that I can certainly say,” Koepp said. “And the Shia LaBeouf character is not in the film.”

Williams AKA Henry Jones III, is the son of Indiana Jones in the movie’s fiction. There had been some speculation that LaBeouf’s character might take over as the new lead when Ford eventually stopped playing the lead in Indiana Jones movies.

Koepp went on to say that he and director Steven Spielberg are “mostly happy” with the current draft for the new Indiana Jones movie. The film will follow “some precious artifact that they’re all looking for,” Koepp said, though no other details are available.

As for when the movie might start actual production, Koepp said that will be decided by Spielberg and Ford. Koepp said he hopes the new Indiana Jones is Spielberg’s next movie after The Post, which recently finished shooting, apparently.

LaBeouf criticised Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In 2010 Los Angeles Times interview, LaBeouf said, “I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished.” Speaking to Variety, LaBeouf said of Spielberg, “I grew up with this idea, if you got to Spielberg, that’s where it is. You get there, and you realize you’re not meeting the Spielberg you dream of. You’re meeting a different Spielberg, who is in a different stage in his career. He’s less a director than he is a f**king company.”

The fifth Indiana Jones movie hits theatres in July 2020.

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Iconic Italian gaming character Mario is not in fact a plumber, at least not currently. While he might have worked on pipes and drainage solutions at one point in time, he has since moved on to focus more on “everything cool,” according to Nintendo.

The newly updated Mario profile page on Nintendo’s Japanese website says Mario is no longer doing professional plumbing work. The page explains Mario thusly (via Kotaku):

“All around sporty, whether it’s tennis or baseball, soccer or car racing, [Mario] does everything cool. As a matter of fact, he also seems to have worked as a plumber a long time ago…”

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto previously referred to Mario in a 2010 USA Today interview as “basically a carpenter” in 1981’s Donkey Kong. In 1983’s Super Mario Bros., a lot of the action took place underground and among pipes, so “we decided he could be a plumber,” Miyamoto said.

So there you have it. Lest we forget that Mario also played a doctor, while he was a professional baseball player and golfer as well. It’s all the more impressive when you consider Mario is a man in his mid-twenties.

The next big Mario game is October’s Super Mario Odyssey, which is looking really good.

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The metal/rock band Mastodon have a long history with the HBO fantasy show Game of Thrones. Members of the group have appeared on it over the past few seasons, most recently in the Season 7 finale, and showrunner D.B. Weiss is a big fan of the group. Now guitarist/singer Brent Hinds has opened up a little on what it was like filming his scene as a member of the Wildlings clan for his first cameo, in 2015.

Hinds and Mastodon members Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher also appeared in the episode as Wildlings. Hinds told Revolver that getting to see how Game of Thrones is made did not ruin the magic for him, though he acknowledged it was “pretty exhausting” filming all day. And his character didn’t even get killed, which would have made the shoot longer.

“It’s neat being behind the scenes, and seeing how all the smoke and mirrors goes down,” Hinds said. “But it didn’t ruin it for me. I love the show too much. We were just honored to be a part of it, you know?”

“I didn’t get to get killed, but Brann did,” Hinds added. “And when you get killed, you have to get killed from 57 different angles, from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. It’s pretty exhausting–to do one of the tiniest scenes in the whole entire bit took us a whole day.”

Hinds went on to say that Mastodon’s appearance on Game of Thrones “boosted our popularity a little bit.” But at the same time, people have approached him to say they enjoy Game of Thrones but not Mastodon. You take the good with the not-so-good.

Mastodon’s connection to Game of Thrones runs deeper than its members appearing on the show. The group also wrote an original song for the Game of Thrones mixtape, Catch the Throne Vol. 2.

In addition to the members of Mastodon, musicians Ed Sheeran and Sigur Ros have appeared on Game of Thrones. Coldplay drummer Will Champion and members of the band Bastille were also on the show.

Mastodon are currently on tour in support of their new album, Emperor Sand. That album only came out in June, but fans are getting new music soon, as the four-track EP Cold Dark Place comes out on September 22. You can stream the killer new track from it, “Toe to Toes,” right now on Spotify and elsewhere.

As for Game of Thrones, the show’s seventh season has come to an end, concluding with what might have been the most important episode ever. For lots more on the episode, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” check out GameSpot’s roundup of the 25 things you might have missed.

Season 8 will be the show’s last, but it sounds like we might get a prequel series after.

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The animated show Star Wars Rebels has proven to be a very welcome addition to the Star Wars universe, and the final season premieres next month. A new trailer for Rebels Season 4 has been released–check it out below:

There’s a lot in the trailer, but what’s most fascinating is the number of elements that tie the season into last year’s movie Rogue One. There’s references to Director Krennic and Stardust–the Death Star’s code name–plus an appearance from the movie’s iconic Death Troopers and Saw Gerrera, played by Forest Whittaker.

At Star Wars Celebration in April, Rebels creator Dave Filoni explained that it was his decision to end the show with Season 4. “I firmly believe that each generation needs to have their own piece of Star Wars,” he said. “I feel like this show, for a lot of kids growing up with it, is as much a part of Star Wars as any of the movies. I feel, creatively, that I can make this story about these characters the most meaningful that it can be by arcing it to where I need it to get to at the end of this season.”

Filoni also made reference to the fact the last animated Star Wars show he worked on, The Clone Wars, continued for six seasons, before getting abruptly cancelled in 2014. “I can say I know what it’s like when I don’t get to end a series,” he said. “What happens when you don’t end a series is you end up making t-shirts and you have to prolong, and it wasn’t as fun. But believe me, this show–by no means–represents an end to anything we’re doing in animation.”

Season 4 of Star Wars Rebels premieres on October 16, 2017.

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Recently, we learned that a new Joker origin movie is in the works with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese involved as a producer. Now, a new report has more exciting and interesting news about the film in the area of potential casting.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Oscar winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio is being eyed to play the Joker. No offer has been made to DiCaprio, so this is not a done deal by any stretch; THR also reports that Scorsese’s deal is not finalised.

It sounds like a longshot for DiCaprio to come aboard, but it’s an exciting prospect to think about regardless. “The chances of landing DiCaprio could be slim to none. But the attempt in itself sends a signal to talent that Warners wants to hire serious filmmakers to make serious films,” THR reported.

Scorsese and DiCaprio have worked together on many big-name movies including The Departed, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and The Wolf of Wall Street. The new Joker movie is to be directed by The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips.

Jared Leto played the Joker in Suicide Squad and will reprise the role in its sequel, as well as a spinoff movie, but he won’t play the role in the new origin film. Sources told THR that Leto made his unhappiness known to his CAA agents about the possibility of there being two Jokers.

The untitled Joker spinoff will be a “gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in the early ’80s Gotham City.” Interestingly, WB is reportedly setting up the film not as a DC movie but rather like one of Scorsese’s ’80s-set movies like Raging Bull or Taxi Driver.

Phillips is writing the script alongside 8 Mile‘s Scott Silver. No release date has been set, and overall it still sounds like very early days.

Would you like to see DiCaprio play the Joker? Let us know in the comments below!

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In its first week on sale Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle has finished at No.2 in the UK physical sales chart. Ubisoft’s turn-based game loses out to Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as Naughty Dog’s adventure game maintains its No.1 position following its debut last week. Below these, Codemasters’ F1 2017 drops one place to No.3, while Grand Theft Auto V and Crash Bandicoot’s N. Sane Trilogy continue to chart well in No.4 and No.5, respectively.

Mario + Rabbids isn’t the only new release, however. The week ending September 2 also saw the new PS4 version of Everybody’s Golf debut at No.6, and Yakuza Kiwami start at No.8, and between those Ark: Survival Evolved is finally out of early access and its long-awaited physical release manages a No.7 debut.

However, multiplayer zombie shooter Dead Alliance and the PS4 and Xbox One editions of Resident Evil: Revelations HD manage just No.39 and No.40 finishes, respectively, in their first week on sale.

The latest Uncharted adventure launched two weeks ago to critical acclaim. Our critic, Peter Brown, said the game “presents an opportunity to show the series from new perspectives,” and grows into a “more nuanced, clever experience, ranking among the best in the series.” Read more in our full Uncharted: Lost Legacy review.

Mario + Rabbids, meanwhile, came out last week, and was similarly praised by critics. Our reviewer, Edmond Tran, said the strategy title “exudes off-beat optimism that never dissolves” and is a “a consistent delight.” For more, check out our Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle review.

You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.

1. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
2. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
3. F1 2017
4. Grand Theft Auto V
5. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
6. Everybody’s Golf
7. Ark: Survival Evolved
8. Yakuza Kiwami
9. Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition
10. Forza Horizon 3

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2007 was a wonderful year for gaming. It brought games like Halo 3, BioShock, Assassin’s Creed, Portal, Rock Band, Crysis, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Super Mario Galaxy. Another game released that year that would go on to spawn a franchise was The Witcher. It’s now 10 years old (!!!), and to celebrate the milestone, developer CD Projekt Red put out a nice video that shows main character Geralt looking back on his memories as part of a birthday party where people are playing Gwent, of course.

How many franchise characters can you spot? Check out the video below.

The Witcher was followed up by The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011 and then The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in May 2015–it was GameSpot’s Game of the Year. CD Projekt Red released two expansions for it–Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine–and updates for the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro are coming.

But after that, it sounds like the franchise is taking a rest.

The Witcher 3 was the last game to star Geralt, but there could be more games in the series without him. The Witcher 3 was a critical and commercial success, so The Witcher 4 coming to market eventually seems likely,though it surely won’t happen soon. In December 2015, CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski said it would be unfair to fans of the series not to make a fourth game.

CD Projekt Red is currently working on the ambitious-sounding Cyberpunk 2077, in addition to ongoing support for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game.

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For a long time now, Microsoft has said the Xbox One will add support for keyboard and mouse…eventually. Now, Xbox director Mike Ybarra has confirmed that this is still coming, and in fact, we might hear about the first supported titles quite soon. Speaking at a PAX West panel this weekend, Ybarra said keyboard and mouse support is “definitely coming,” adding that he’s aware of the concerns people have about keyboard and mouse users having the upper hand against people using a controller.

“We have to be very smart in how we do that. We’ll leave it a lot up to developer choice,” Ybarra said (via WindowsCentral). “A lot of people tweet me and say, ‘You can’t do this because of fairness,’ and we understand that. We run two platforms; the Windows platform and the Xbox platform.”

When keyboard and mouse support is added to Xbox, Ybarra said Microsoft will “coach” developers about best practices. One example he provided is for a game to allow players to decide who they want to play against based on controller/keyboard and mouse setup.

“If you have a competitive game, people probably are going to want the choice to say I’ll play with other keyboard and mouse people or I’ll play only with controller people, or that I’ll play with any of those,” he said. “So you’ll see our first games supporting keyboard and mouse soon; I can’t announce what that is, but soon. And then based on developer interest, they’ll choose to do keyboard and mouse going forward, or not.”

Microsoft’s Gears of War 4 supports cross-play between Xbox One and PC, so the company is already testing the waters with controller versus keyboard and mouse setup. Xbox One players can choose whether or not they want to play with PC users.

Would you like to see keyboard and mouse support on Xbox One? Let us know in the comments below!

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Call of Duty: WWII‘s ongoing multiplayer beta has been updated again. Activision announced today that a new mode has been added, while the level cap has been raised to 35, up from 30. With the level cap increase, players can now unlock new weapons and equipment, along with the Flamethrower Scorestreak.

The new mode is Kill Confirmed, which requires players to pick up their fallen enemy’s dogtags to complete the kill.

There are other changes now available in the Call of Duty: WWII beta, based on feedback from the first weekend’s beta phase. For example, Team Deathmatch games now end at 100 points instead of 75, while Domination’s match limit is also now 100.

“We also reduced Molotovs to one per score streak, and raised the difficulty of the paratroopers,” Activision explained. “We’re monitoring game data and community feedback on these, to help inform our decision for the final game. In addition, we’ve adjusted the ADS out of sprint and those changes will roll into the MP Beta on Saturday.”

Activision said it is also aware of “several other issues,” one of which–Hitmarker paramaters–will be adjusted for launch in November. Additionally, Activision said it is considering making adjustments to “flinch” as well. Not only that, but the following controller layouts will be available at launch:

• Bumper Jumper
• Bumper Jumper Tactical
• Stick and Move
• Charlie
• One-Hand Gunslinger
• Scout
• N0M4D L3F7Y
• Brawler
• Beast

The Call of Duty: WWII beta is going on right now across PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It wraps up on September 4.

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