Why Taika Waititi is Playing IG-11 Instead of IG-88 in The Mandalorian

Star Wars fans have been scouring the Holonet for information on The Mandalorian ever since the live-action show was announced, looking for clues that might connect the new Disney+ series to the wider Star Wars galaxy.

So when creator Jon Favreau posted a photo of a familiar-looking droid during production on The Mandalorian, fans immediately assumed it was IG-88, the memorable assassin seen alongside Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back.

Continue reading…

PlayStation Now Gets Big Price Cut, Adds God of War, GTA 5 to Lineup

Today Sony revealed that its PlayStation Now subscription service got a big price cut, as well as new games including God of War, Grand Theft Auto 5, and more.

Starting today, PS Now’s US price will be $9.99 a month, $24.99 for three months, or $59.99 per year - that’s down from $19.99, $49.99, and $99.99 respectively before. You can find the full list of prices for other regions in its official blog post announcing the change.

On top of that, the most recent God of War (IGN’s 2018 Game of the Year), Grand Theft Auto 5, Infamous Second Son, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End are now available through the service until January 2, 2020. Because you can play PlayStation Now games streaming on your PC, that means the three PlayStation exclusives in that list no longer require a PS4 at all to play.

Continue reading…

Every Star Wars Reference in the MCU (So Far)

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is a noted fan of the galaxy far, far away, to the point where he may be taking the whole damn thing over before long. At the very least, word has it that Feige will be producing a Star Wars film of his own. Of course, the MCU has a history of call-outs to the Star Wars franchise...

From AT-AT takedowns to dismembered limbs and beyond, here’s every Star Wars reference in the MCU that we could find...

The Notebook (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Continue reading…

Kevin Smith Announces Clerks 3, Original Cast Returning

Kevin Smith has put Clerks 3 back in motion with original cast members Jason Mewes, Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson confirmed to return. Smith made the announcement on Instagram, saying he began writing the script on Monday night.

The post from Tuesday morning show a photo of Smith, Mewes and Anderson together – taken over the weekend at a signing event, and was accompanied by a caption of Smith announcing the conclusion to his Clerks series.

"We talked about making a movie together. It’ll be a movie that concludes a saga. It’ll be a movie about how you’re never too old to completely change your life. It’ll be a movie about how a decades-spanning friendship finally confronts the future. It’ll be a movie that brings us back to the beginning - a return to the cradle of civilization in the great state of #newjersey. It’ll be a movie that stars Jeff and @briancohalloran, with me and Jay in supporting roles. And it’ll be a movie called CLERKS III! To be great is to go on. To go on is to go far. To go far is to return. And we’re all gonna return to the scene of the crime!" Smith wrote.

Continue reading…

Satoru Iwata Wouldn’t Have Made Nintendo Mobile Games Cheaper – He Would Have Made Them Better

Satoru Iwata once spoke about his distaste for a very mobile-centric term, just as Nintendo got into the market. “I do not like to use the term ‘Free-to-play,'” he told Time. “I have come to realize that there is a degree of insincerity to consumers with this terminology, since so-called ‘Free-to-play’ should be referred to more accurately as ‘Free-to-start.'” It was an admirable stance, an attempt to be more transparent than most about what players were getting into.

Perhaps in deference to its late president, Nintendo still uses to ’free-to-start’ to describe its mobile games and, as we’ve mentioned elsewhere, those games haven’t really worked out. As those games have rolled out, each to less fanfare than the last, it’s become increasingly easy to connote anything Nintendo brands free-to-start as a lesser experience than the company’s usual creations. It’s also easy to attribute that to the business model. But I’m not sure that’s the root of the problem.

Continue reading…

Call of Duty: Mobile Is Now Live on iOS and Android

Call of Duty: Mobile is officially out on iOS and Android devices. However, some players are experiencing issues connecting to Call of Duty: Mobile servers.

Activision has been beta testing Call of Duty: Mobile since July 2019, but today marks the game’s wide release. Call of Duty: Mobile was developed by TiMi Games.

Call of Duty: Mobile is like a greatest hits of Call of Duty games. There are maps and weapons from across the Call of Duty franchise, including Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3, and Black Ops 2.

Continue reading…

The Best Board Games of 2019

Analogue gaming is a trend that just keeps growing. Some have suggested it's a rejection of all the screen time that keeps us locked into digital worlds. Others that it's a retreat from confusing modernity into a more comfortable past. The truth, though, is that modern board game design keeps delivering better and better games.

Turns out that 2019 is a bumper year for such quality, and it isn't over yet. Some publishers save their top releases for October and the world's biggest board game event, Spiel, in Germany. A few big titles are jostling for this year's limelight. Civilization builder Tapestry, from Stonemaier Games, is currently heading the hype train.

That's the future, though, so who knows how those games will pan out? Here are ten 2019 titles of proven excellence that you can enjoy right now.

Continue reading…

Quantum and Woody Return for New Valiant Comic Series

There are a lot of reasons to be looking forward to 2020, and you can now add the return of the World’s Worst Superhero Duo to the list. That’s right, in a few short months, Quantum & Woody will be back wreaking havoc on the Valiant Universe in a new series from writer Chris Hastings (The Unbelievable Gwenpool) and artist Ryan Browne (Curse Words).

Hastings and Browne’s artistic sensibilities are certainly in tune with the off-beat vibe of Quantum & Woody. Hastings’ series The Adventures of Dr. McNinja was a blend of deep, character driven adventure and utter insanity while Browne seems to continually pump out some of the strangest, most unsettling comics around, like his own God Hates Astronauts and the explosive Image Comics’ series Curse Words.

Continue reading…

Borderlands 3’s Ongoing Anniversary Event Now Has 100% Win Rate for Rare Chest Events

Update 3:

It’s the penultimate week for Borderlands 3’s 10th Anniversary Celebration. Not only will Gearbox be dropping the limited-time Bloody Harvest Halloween event later this week, but there will also be the “Mayhem on Twitch” event to celebrate the fourth week in Gearbox’s five-week celebration.

During this event, any player who enables Mayhem Mode will have an increased drop rate for Anointed Gear, along with extra XP for defeating enemies, and reduced values for various Mayhem Mode penalty modifiers.

Mayhem Mode is unlocked by finishing the main story for Borderlands 3, so these rewards will be locked to you if you haven’t finished the main campaign yet.

Continue reading…

Kerbal Space Program 2: The Science Secrets of the Reveal Trailer

The long-awaited sequel to Kerbal Space Program was the surprise announcement at Gamescom 2019! If you don’t know what Kerbal Space Program is, well… it’s part astrophysics simulator, part aerospace engineering crash course – with a heavy emphasis on the crash – and part trial-and-error rocket science that all boils down to you trying to build a space vessel that can shuttle these lil’ green cuties called Kerbals into space before bringing them home safely.

Now that Kerbal Space Program 2 has crested over the proverbial horizon, creative director at Star Theory, Nate Simpson, shared with us some of the secrets, hints, and teases baked into this cinematic announcement trailer, to give you a better idea of what to expect in the sequel. You can watch us unpack everything Simpson shared with us in the video at the top of the page!

Continue reading…