Everything We Know About Game of Thrones: Season 6
Are you ready for Game of Thrones to premiere? We sure are, and to help prep everyone for the HBO fantasy drama's return, we decided to compile every bit of information we've learned about Season 6 in the past year.
From the many new cast members to what new filming locations could mean, from which familiar characters might be returning to what Game of Thrones is doing bigger and better than ever before, here's a quick refresher to prepare you for Sunday's Season 6 premiere.
Spoilers for Game of Thrones through Season 5 -- and potential spoilers for Season 6 -- continue below.
With some new faces in the mix, the list of Game of Thrones: Season 6 directors includes: Jeremy Podeswa, Daniel Sackheim, Jack Bender, Mark Mylod and Miguel Sapochnik. They are each directing two episodes, in the order listed.
Heads Up: Jar Jar Binks Could Be in Rogue One
Rogue One bridges the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, which opens the door for few weird things. Like, for instance…Jar Jar Binks.
Jar Jar Digitally Inserted into a Rogue One Still
I’m not saying I think he’ll be in the movie. But Jar-Jar is still pretty spry in the prequel trilogy. Rogue One takes place just 20 years after Revenge of the Sith. When Jyn Erso and her crew are stirring up trouble stealing the Death Star plans, Jar Jar is probably alive somewhere in the galaxy. Maybe even still serving in the Galactic Senate. It wasn’t dissolved until after the beginning of A New Hope.
Hearthstone Offers 13 Free Packs to Celebrate New Set Release
Hearthstone will give players up to 13 new Whispers of the Old Gods booster packs to players during its release event next week.
Announced on a Hearthstone livestream and noted by Reddit user AdamNW, there are several stages to earning the full complement of packs.
- Log into the game during the game's first week (starting April 26 in North America and April 27 in Europe, Asia and Australia) - 3 packs
Pamela Anderson Joins Baywatch Movie
After being offered a cameo and then playing coy, Pamela Anderson has officially joined the cast of Paramount Pictures' new Baywatch movie.
Dwayne Johnson announced Anderson's involvement in a post on Instagram, saying it's "a pleasure to welcome (as gorgeous as ever) Pamela Anderson to our Baywatch cast. We couldn't have made this movie without you."
Only Prime Members Can Buy Certain Games Directly from Amazon
Amazon has begun blocking those without Prime subscriptions from buying certain items directly from the retailer.
Reported by Videogamer, Prime membership is required to buy the likes of Grand Theft Auto V, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, FIFA 16 and other high-profile games, on both Amazon US and Amazon UK.
An example of the Prime-exclusive button on Amazon.com
New Blood and Wine Screenshots Show Off The Witcher 3’s New World
CD Projekt Red has revealed five new screenshots for the final piece of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt DLC, Blood and Wine. By god is it pretty.
As ever, it's worth reading the developer's screenshot titles for an extra hint of information - we've included them under each image below, but we've learned that the haughty queen-like figure is Toussaint's ruler Anna Henrietta, the restaurant scene is a location called Beauclair, and those horrible centipede enemies are called (ahem) Scolopendromorphs.
Blood and Wine will centre around a new location, Toussaint, which will rival "the size of
Plunder Mode Makes a Return to Uncharted 4 Multiplayer
Plunder has been announced as a multiplayer mode for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.
Plunder mode was in Uncharted 2 and 3, and is a variant on Capture the Flag where you can throw the object of interest, in this case an idol.
Changes from the mode found in the previous games include being able to traverse the environment with the idol. Also, instead of being 5 v 5, Plunder is now a 4 v 4 game type. Naughty Dog assures fans not to worry, as "the number of mechanics that have been introduced into our multiplayer’s moment-to-moment gameplay" makes up for it.
Persona 5 Countdown Could Lead to Release Date
Long-awaited Persona 5 news is coming in less than two weeks.
A countdown on the game’s official Japanese site is ticking away toward May 5th (05/05, appropriately enough) and is currently set to end at 5:30 AM PT / 8:30AM ET / 12:30PM GMT that day.
The countdown could mean we’ll finally learn Persona 5’s release date, following a delay to Summer 2016 during last year’s TGS. For now, Atlus hasn’t announced any additional details about the countdown, so we’ll have to wait until it ends to know for sure.
Persona 5 was originally announced for PlayStation 3 back in 2013 with a Winter 2014 release date. It was later announced for PS4 as well and confirmed to be headed to the West, but we’ve still never received an official date, though Atlus did announce that a Persona 5 anime special is also on the way.
Microsoft: Xbox Revenue Up, Hardware Sales Down
Microsoft has released its latest quarterly earnings report, revealing that revenue from its gaming division has increased, but hardware sales have fallen.
The report states the following statistics:
- Gaming revenue has risen 4%
- Xbox Live revenue has risen 22%
- Video games revenue has risen 9%
- Hardware revenue has fallen 26%
Microsoft puts the significant increase in Xbox Live revenue down to a growth in subscribers and sales, along with those sales being worth more per transaction (presumably because of the gradual shift to online store purchases).
Fresh Evidence Points to at Least One New Console in 2016
An AMD investor statement could signal at least one new console launch in 2016, and suggests the existence of three new consoles.
As reported by Gamesindustry.biz, AMD CEO Lisa Su announced three "design wins" for its console-focused Semi-Custom division that will begin to return income in the latter half of 2016. Su made clear that these wins were separate from "our current game console business".
However, Su also announced that at least one of these designs will not enter the manufacturing stage until 2017.
AMD's technology is used in all three major home consoles, and with rumours circulating about the Nintendo NX, "PS4.5" and new Xbox prototypes, it's possible that AMD has created new designs for each console developer.