Square Enix Cancels Game Tournaments in Wake of Death Threats
Square Enix has cancelled a series of Starwing Paradox tournaments in Japan after death threats were issued against the company’s staff.
An official Square Enix statement, reported on by Kotaku, explains that several death threats have been made against Starwing Paradox’s management team. Those threats have been reported to the police, but as a precautionary measure the tournaments - due to be held this weekend and next weekend in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, and Fukuoka - have been cancelled.
There have been several incidents in Japan recently involving death threats and violent behaviour. The most notable is the arson attack on Kyoto Animation, in which a number of staff were killed. A man was arrested earlier this month for threatening a repeat of that attack on Square Enix. Square were also sent death threats from a man who took issue over the company’s gacha games, which are akin to loot boxes.
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Karl Urban Unveils New Look at Billy Butcher in the Boys Season 2
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Boys.
Karl Urban has unveiled a behind-the-scenes look at The Boys Season 2, which has been teased as being "bigger and bloodier."
The actor, who plays Billy Butcher in the satirical superhero series, took to Instagram to share a blood-soaked photo on the set of the second season, offering fans a fresh look at his character, who appears to be getting all of his usual kicks.
"Totally Butcherd that one! Up to our old tricks. Shooting season 2 of The Boys (sic)," Urban wrote in the caption.
Need For Speed Heat Won’t Have Loot Boxes
The next game in the Need for Speed series won't include loot boxes, according to EA community lead Ben Walke.
Walke replied to a user on Reddit under the name F8RGE saying "There are no Lootboxes in NFS Heat and there won't be." When another user asked how EA planned on monetising the game, Walke replied, "We plan to have post launch paid-DLC in the form of car packs.
"Later this year we'll introduce a time-save pack, which will show all collectables on the map. That's it."
EA has historically used loot boxes in many of its games from Star Wars to Battlefield and even 2017's Need For Speed Payback. However, the boxes have frequently sparked backlash from players who liken the practice to gambling. Meanwhile, at a UK government enquiry into whether the games industry should be regulated, EA's VP of legal and government affairs termed loot boxes "surprise mechanics" similar to Kinder Egg toys.
Toy Story 4 Earns $1 Billion, Becomes Fifth Disney Film to Do so in 2019
Toy Story 4 has officially earned over $1 billion at the global box office, making it the fifth Disney film of 2019 to cross the milestone.
As reported by THR, this achievement has allowed Disney to beat its previous record of four films in one year to earn $1 billion globally, and Toy Story has also become the fourth Pixar film to reach this coveted amount alongside Incredibles 2, Finding Dory, and Toy Story 3.
Toy Story 4 grossed $421.8 million domestically and $579.9 million internationally for a grand total of $1.002 billion through Wednesday, August 14, reaching the billion mark 55 days after its theatrical release on June 21, 2019.
Amazon’s Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Day Causes Chaos in Los Angeles
In support of their Emmy-nominated comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon kicked off "Maisel Day" on August 15 in sunny Los Angeles by offering dozens of discounts around the city. The deals were part of a promotion allowing locals to experience the prices they would've paid for the same conveniences in 1959, the setting of the Rachel Brosnahan-led series. Some offerings included pastrami sandwiches for 99 cents at Canter's Deli, movie tickets for 51 cents, Drybar and Blushington beauty treatments between $2.00 and $3.00, and a night at the swanky Hollywood Roosevelt hotel for only $40.
But the best "Maisel Day" offering was the gasoline: The Chevron gas station on Cloverfield in Santa Monica was offering gas for 30 cents That's right, for $6.00 you could drive away with 20 gallons of gas! Apparently, this was so attractive to Los Angeles residents the police had to intervene. According to ABC7's anchor and reporter John Gregory, the police had to "suspend" sales at the gas station until they could get traffic under control.
Ewan McGregor Reportedly May Return for Obi-Wan Kenobi Series for Disney+
Ewan McGregor is reportedly in talks to return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a brand-new Disney+ series.
THR has reported that McGregor is "in negotiations to reprise the role in a Kenobi-centered series for Disney+," while Deadline has said the "actor is in talks about reprising his role as the heartfelt but headstrong Jedi Master known as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a yet-to-be-titled Disney+ series."
McGregor first played the role of Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1999's Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, and reprised his role in 2002's Star Wars - Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and 2005's Star Wars - Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. He also made a voice-only cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Minecraft Dungeons Has Me Interested in Minecraft Again
I used to love Minecraft – maybe even fair to say I lived in it for a short while. That’s not quite the case anymore. Minecraft is certainly still hugely popular (Business Insider reported it has 91 million players as of October 2018), but I know myself and many others have strayed away from the delightfully creative game. Mojang’s first in-house Minecraft spinoff, Minecraft Dungeons, will likely pull me back into the world of destructible blocks and charming mobs, but in an excitingly different way.
Minecraft Dungeons is an action-adventure dungeon crawler that doesn’t require its players to pick a class for their journey. Instead, your gear determines your abilities, which allows you to change your strategy on the fly. Minecraft Dungeons Executive Producer David Nisshagen said this was done to allow players to have some of the flexibility and freedom seen in Minecraft.
Madden NFL 20 is July 2019’s Best-Selling Game
Madden NFL 20 was July’s best-selling video game, marking the 20th consecutive year that a Madden NFL game became the best-selling game of its release month. Fire Emblem: Three Houses was the second best-selling game of July 2019, followed by Super Mario Maker 2.
Madden NFL 20 immediately became the eight-best-selling game of 2019 thanks to the massive popularity of the Madden NFL game franchise. Our Madden NFL 20 review said this year’s entry had some of the best moment-to-moment gameplay in the series. However, we found other areas like the Franchise mode to be a bit lacking this year.
Twitter’s Endless Jeopardy Bot Hosts a Nonsensical, Never-Ending Game
Endless Jeopardy is a Twitter bot that hosts a hilarious trivia game where everything is procedurally generated and the money doesn't matter.
Endless Jeopardy was created by Neil Cicierega, known for the irreverent Potter Puppet Pals in the early-mid '00s (Dumbledore!), the video game Monster Breeder, an album consisting of Smash Mouth mashups, and various other bizarre Twitter bots like Tim Allen Quotes. It is precisely as obnoxious as it sounds.