Category: Gamespot

Star Wars: The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams has signed on to produce a World War II movie–but this won’t be a standard war movie. According to Variety, the movie, Overlord, follows two paratroopers who get stuck behind enemy lines during D-Day after their plane crashes.

They were on a mission to take out a German radio tower just outside of Normandy. When they finally get there, they discover that, in addition to squaring off against Nazi soldiers, they also face “supernatural forces” that the Nazis cooked up to get an edge on the battlefield.

Son of a Gun director Julius Avery is attached to the film to direct the movie. JJ Abrams and Billy Ray (Hunger Games, Captain Phillips) came up with the idea for the movie; Ray wrote the script and The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith did a “slight polish” to it. Not only is Abrams producing Overlord, but his Bad Robot studio is working on it.

Overlord, which doesn’t have anything to do with the video game franchise of the same name, was picked up by Paramount in 2007. According to Variety’s sources, actors are already being approach for the two lead roles, though no names were mentioned in the report.

Abrams is also working with Valve on Half-Life and Portal movies, while he’s making a game with Infinity Blade developer Chair Entertainment.

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Sales of the PlayStation 4 Pro are off to a solid start, apparently. Speaking today during Sony’s latest earnings briefing, CFO Kenichiro Yoshida discussed how sales are coming along. Yoshida said sales are meeting or “maybe” exceeding expectations.

“PS4 Pro is running as we had expected, as we assumed, but Pro maybe is doing more than we anticipated,” he said (via DualShockers). The executive reportedly added that PlayStation VR had an impact on PS4 Pro sales, with people apparently wanting to pick up the more-powerful PS4 to use PSVR.

Also during the call, Yoshida said PS4 Pro is selling better than the Slim model. “The sales of Pro are stronger than that of Slim, as we see it,” he said.

As for PSVR, Sony said sales of the virtual reality headset are “in line” with expectations. PlayStation executive Jim Ryan said Sony was expecting to sell “hundreds of thousands” of units at launch.

The $400 PSVR launched in October, with the $400 PS4 Pro going on sale in November. The new Slim model ($300) debuted in September. Earlier this week, Sony announced two new $500 PSVR bundles.

For more on Sony’s latest earnings report, check out GameSpot’s breakdown here.

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Curious about Rainbow Six Siege but not sure if you want to buy it? A free version of the team-based shooter is available from today on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

As announced previously, it comes with all the maps, modes, and characters in the full version. Additionally, the game is marked down 50 percent right now, meaning you can pick it up for $25 instead of $50 once the free weekend ends.

Here is a rundown of when the free version of Rainbow Six Siege will be available on each platform:

Rainbow Six Siege Free Weekend

• PC — From 1 PM ET, through 4 PM ET on February 5
• PS4 — From 1 PM ET, through 1 PM ET on February 6
• Xbox One — From 3:01 AM ET on February 2 through 2:59 AM ET on February 6

Console players need to have PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold to take part. The PC version is available on Uplay and Steam. You can see the system requirements here.

In other Rainbow Six Siege news, the game’s next free expansion, Operation Velvet Shell, comes out on February 7. It includes a new map, Coastline, as well as two new characters: Jackal and Mira.

According to Ubisoft, Rainbow Six Siege is “going stronger than ever” more than a year after it came out. The publisher claims the game has a “continually growing player base.”

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You might have noticed that a number of retailers recently dropped the price of The Last Guardian to $40, down from $60. This is not a temporary price cut, but instead a permanent one.

A Sony representative confirmed to Polygon that $40 is the new, official price point for the PS4 adventure game that features a young boy and a cat-dog-bird creature.

The $40 price is available basically everywhere the game is sold physically and digitally. Here are some places where you can buy it right now:

• Amazon
• PlayStation Store
• GameStop
• Best Buy

After years of development and fears that it might have been canceled, The Last Guardian finally arrived in December 2016. Director Fumito Ueda acknowledged the “twists and turns” of the game’s production and remarked that it “took longer than anyone expected.”

GameSpot’s The Last Guardian review scored it a 9/10.

“It isn’t clear whether or not The Last Guardian means to be frustrating at times–if it’s a concerted effort to test your patience for a lovable-yet-stubborn creature,” reviewer Peter Brown said. “Your affection for Trico and sympathy for both characters blossom nonetheless, culminating in an enrapturing series of revelations that cements your attachment to their personalities. Trico is the undeniable star of the show, exhibiting believable physicality and emotional range, but the boy is a valuable lesson in how to be patient and resilient when faced with unforeseen challenges.”

For more on the critical reaction to The Last Guardian, check out this roundup of reviews.

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It’s been known for some time that the upcoming Kong: Skull Island is set in the 1970s, during the era of the Vietnam War. The connections have been made even more obvious by the new IMAX poster, which cleverly homages the poster for the classic war movie Apocalypse Now. Check it out, with the original, in the gallery below.

In a recent interview with JoBlo, producer Alex Garcia spoke about the decision to set the movie during the Vietnam era. “One of the things we liked about that period is [that we were] coming out of the haze of another conflict–Vietnam,” he said. “You have a team of people brought together, some of whom are military–seemingly just for assistance through the survey, although we come to understand that there was some suspicion that there may be something [at Skull Island] that you would need a military force for. Unlike Godzilla, we meet Kong pretty quickly in our movie.”

In 2015, it was announced that the film would form part of an ongoing monster movie series. Following the success of 2014’s Godzilla, producers Legendary have teamed up with Warner to create a “shared cinematic franchise” that will also include Godzilla: King of Monsters and Godzilla Vs Kong in 2020.

Kong: Skull Island is released on March 10, 2017. It stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, John C Reilly, Corey Hawkins, and John Goodman.

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It is not a big surprise given EA’s previous comments, but the company has now officially acknowledged that Titanfall 2 did not sell up to the publisher’s expectation.

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said during an earnings call this week that the game sold fewer copies than the company anticipated. However, he did not share a specific unit sales number. Don’t expect the company to ever share this information, either, as EA is backing away from talking about unit sales.

CEO Andrew Wilson added that EA has a “great relationship” with developer Respawn. He added that EA anticipates that Titanfall 2 will sell for a long time, due in part to its high quality.

Also during the call, Wilson was asked for details about why Titanfall 2 underperformed. One analyst firm said the game’s October 28 release date–which was sandwiched between Battlefield 1 (October 21) and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (November 4)–would lead to “substantially disappointing” sales. Wilson said he underperformance might not be the right word for Titanfall 2. He pointed out that Battlefield 4 had a slow start but went on to sell millions of copies over time.

“So, the way we think about Titanfall, is that we have what is one of the best games of this year, and certainly one of the best games in this generation of consoles, in what is this year’s largest category,” Wilson said (via SeekingAlpha). “And we’ve got a development team who have unbelievable pedigree and a commitment to continue to support the community, and we expect to continue to grow that community through the coming fiscal year.”

EA remains “committed” to the Titanfall series, Wilson went on to say, and there are plans for more Titanfall 2 content this year. But, as Respawn founder Vince Zampella said last year, it still remains to be seen if Titanfall 3 will happen.

Last year, EA management suggested Titanfall 2 initial sales were not great, with the company saying it is taking a long-term approach to the game instead of focusing on first-day or first-week sales.

In other news, the Titanfall mobile game, Frontline, has been canceled.

For more on EA’s newest earnings report, check out the stories below:

• Star Wars, Mass Effect, Battlefield, NBA: Here’s Everything We Learned From EA’s Earnings Call
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 Has Single-Player Campaign, Content From Multiple Star Wars Eras
• BioWare Launching Its New Action Franchise By April 2018

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This story was updated and repromoted today, February 1.

Netflix has announced everything that’s coming to and leaving the popular streaming service for February 2017. Among the new arrivals for February 1 are Finding Dory, The Blair Witch Project, Twilight, Contact, and Babe. The first season of the new Netflix series The Santa Clarita Diet, in which Drew Barrymore plays a character who gets happier as she eats human flesh, debuts on February 3. Later in the month, Superbad (February 4), David Brent: Life on the Road (February 10), Milk (February 16), and Sausage Party (February 23) are set to arrive.

In terms of content that’s leaving in February, Black Hawk Down, Clerks, Sahara, The Machinist, There Will Be Blood, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape will all go away on February 1.

Below you can see roundups of everything coming to and leaving Netflix next month, as compiled by Entertainment Weekly. You can check out the February 2017 Hulu coming and going lists here.

Arriving on Netflix for February 2017

Available Feb. 1

• Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies, and Cyber Attacks
• Babe
• Babe: Pig in the City
• Balto
• Balto 2: Wolf Quest
• Balto 3: Wings of Change
• Contact
• Corpse Bride
• Finding Dory
• Eleven P.M.
• From This Day Forward: A Trans Love Story
• Gun Runners
• Hell-Bound Train
• Highly Strung
• Hot Biskits
• I Am Sun Mu
• Invincible
• Les beaux malaises: Seasons 1-4
• Magic Mike
• Masha’s Spooky Stories: Season 1
• Mother with a Gun
• Paris is Burning
• Project X
• Silver Streak
• The Blair Witch Project
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• The Five Heartbeats
• The Furchester Hotel: Seasons 1-2
• The Girl from Chicago
• The Longest Day
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Twilight
• Women in Gold

Available Feb. 2

• American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson
• Frequency: Season 1

Available Feb. 3

• Daniel Sosa: Sosafado
• Imperial Dreams
• Santa Clarita Diet

Available Feb. 4

• Superbad

Available Feb. 5

• Elvira I Will Give You My Life but I’m Using It
• Los herederos

Available Feb. 6

• Girls Lost
• Me, Myself, and Her

Available Feb. 7

• Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy Valentine’s Day Special

Available Feb. 8

• Tiempos Felices
• Girl Asleep

Available Feb. 10

• Abstract: The Art of Design
• David Brent: Life on the Road

Available Feb. 11

• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Season 2
• Stronger Than The World

Available Feb. 12

• Clouds of Sils Maria

Available Feb. 13

• Code: Debugging the Gender Gap
• Magicians: Life in the Impossible

Available Feb. 14

• Girlfriend’s Day
• Katherine Ryan: In Trouble
• King Kobra
• Project Mc²: Part 4
• White Nights

Available Feb. 15

• Aram, Aram
• Before I Go to Sleep
• Fire Song
• Available Feb. 16
• Milk
• Sundown

Available Feb. 17

• Chef’s Table: Season 3
• DreamWorks Dragons: Race to the Edge
• Kill Ratio
• The Seven Deadly Sins: Season 2

Available Feb. 19

• Girl Meets World: Season 3
• Growing Up Wild
• Tini: El Gran Cambio De Violetta
• When Calls the Heart: Season 3

Available Feb. 23

• Sausage Party

Available Feb. 24

• I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore
• Legend Quest: Season 1
• Ultimate Beastmaster
• Ultimate Beastmaster Mexico
• VeggieTales in the City: Season 1

Available Feb. 26

• Night Will Fall

Available Feb. 27

• Brazilian Western

Available Feb. 28

• Be Here Now

Leaving Netflix in February 2017

Leaving Feb. 1

• A.C.O.D.
• An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky
• An Inconvenient Truth
• Ashby
• Black Hawk Down
• Bratz: Babyz: The Movie
• Bratz: Super Babyz
• Charlotte’s Web 2: Wilbur’s Great Adventure
• Clerks
• Elizabeth
• Extract
• Failure to Launch
• Frida
• Girls Just Want to Have Fun
• Jackass 2.5
• Lalaloopsy Girls: Welcome to L.A.L.A. Prep School
• Last Holiday
• Mission Impossible: III
• Sahara
• Save the Last Dance
• Serving Sara
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• The Kite Runner
• The Machinist
• The Original Latin Kings of Comedy
• There Will be Blood
• Trainspotting
• What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

Leaving Feb. 7

• Justin Bieber’s Believe

Leaving Feb. 12

• Grounded for Life: Seasons 1-5

Leaving Feb. 13

• Scary Movie 5
• The Nut Job

Leaving Feb. 15

• Brothers in War
• Chris Porter: Ugly and Angry
• Closure
• Exile Nation: The Plastic People
• Jack Frost
• I Am Not a Hipster
• Plastic Parade: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
• Prince of Broadway
• Stephanie in the Water
• The Man on Her Mind
• Unlikely Animal Friends: Season 2

Leaving Feb. 16

• Santa Claws
• Somewhere

Leaving Feb. 17

• Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year

Leaving Feb. 19

Problem Child: Leslie Jones

Leaving Feb. 28

• Clueless

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Developer DICE is moving on from Star Wars: Battlefront to focus on the sequel, the studio said in a blog post this week. This is to be expected, given that game is coming out later this year–and it sounds pretty ambitious. It will feature content from multiple Star Wars eras and include a single-player campaign, among other new additions.

Also in the blog post, DICE confirmed there is “no future Skirmish content” planned for Battlefront. Released in July 2016, Skirmish lets you play the Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron modes offline, by yourself or with a friend via local split-screen. The rest of the sides are filled out with bots.

What this means is there won’t be Skirmish content available for Battlefront’s other modes and the maps they are associated with. That’s kind of a bummer, though people who want to play offline and in split-screen can still do so through the co-op missions, which can be a lot of fun.

Regarding Battlefront 2, or whatever EA decides to call the sequel, DICE said, “We look forward to sharing more with you later this year and thank you for being such a tremendous support of our work in a galaxy far, far away.”

The Battlefront sequel is due out this holiday, presumably for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. During an earnings call last night, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the game is even “bigger” than the 2015 original, featuring more locations and hero characters. It is being made by DICE, Motive Studios, and Criterion. We’ll report back with more details on Battlefront 2 as they become available.

The original Battlefront was a big hit, though some people lamented that it did not offer a very deep experience. It shipped 14 million copies.

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