Yearly Archives: 2018
God of War New Game+ Release Date Announced, Details Revealed
God of War's New Game+ mode is coming out later this August, and it'll add a wealth of new features.
Per PlayStation Blog, New Game+ will be available on August 20 as a free patch update. However, in order to access the mode you'll need to complete the story on any difficulty.
With New Game+, which can be played on any difficulty, you'll be able to carry over all your progress including abilities, armours, talismans, enchantments, and resources.
Players can look forward to battling higher level enemies, with some even having unspecified "new tricks." There will also be a new rarity level of equipment to craft and upgrade, alongside the new "Skap Slag" resource to collect and use to further upgrade your gear.
Mega Evolutions Coming to Pokemon Let’s Go
It looks like the popular Mega Evolutions introduced in Pokemon X and Y are making their way to Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee!
This news comes from Pokemon fan site Serebii, which scanned pages from the latest issue of the Japanese gaming magazine CoroCoro. The scans show off Mega Evolutions for the final evolutions of all three first generation starter Pokemon: Mega Charizard (both the X and Y variants), Mega Blastoise and Mega Venusaur.
It appears that the way players will Mega Evolve their Pokemon is similar to past games. In the past, Pokemon needed to hold their respective Mega Stones in order for their Mega Evolution to occur. Only one Mega Evolution could happen for each trainer during any given battle. These Mega Evolutions significantly raised the Pokemon's stats, and often temporarily changed their typing.
What’s New in Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider sees Lara at the conclusion of her origin story with her fully embracing her role as the Tomb Raider and the solution to Trinity’s potentially devastating plans. This adventure takes her to South America in search of a solution to a catastrophe that she caused. With that adventure comes some big changes to what we’ve seen from Lara’s capabilities in the past two Tomb Raider games.
While Crystal Dynamics led development on Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider with support from Eidos Montreal, the roles flip for Shadow of the Tomb Raider with Eidos Montreal taking as the lead studio with support from Crystal Dynamics. We sat down with Daniel Chayer-Bisson, Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s game director who worked on the previous two Tomb Raiders, and other team members from Eidos Montreal to talk about some of the biggest gameplay changes you can expect to see to see in Lara’s next adventure.
Venom: Lethal Protector Novel Cover Revealed
With the Tom Hardy Venom movie coming this fall, the Spider-Man spin-off character is hotter than ever. And now Titan Books is releasing a novel adaptation of the comics story that the film is in part based on: Venom: Lethal Protector. The book was written by James R. Tuck, based on the comics by David Michelinie, Mark Bagley and Ron Lim.
We've got a first look at the cover of Titan's Venom: Lethal Protector novel right here:
Amiibo of All 5 Newly Announced Smash Bros. Ultimate Characters Coming
It looks like all five of the newly announced characters from this morning's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct will be receiving their own Amiibo.
Confirmed via Nintendo of Europe's official Twitter account, both the fighters that are built from the ground-up like Simon Belmont and King K. Rool will get their figures, as well as the three echo characters announced, Richter Belmont, Chrom and Dark Samus. No images for these Amiibo have been released.
Other Smash Bros. Ultimate characters are getting their own Amiibo as well, including Ridley, Wolf and the Inklings, which are all coming on December 7, alongside the game itself. There's no word on if the five new Amiibo are coming on the release date or not, simply that they're coming "in the future," but there are plenty of other Smash Bros. Ultimate Amiibo without release dates as well, like Pichu and Ice Climbers.
EA Using a ‘Moral Compass’ to Give Studios Loot Box Guidance
To say that Electronic Arts got itself in a little bit of hot water with its original plan for Star Wars: Battlefront 2 loot boxes would be one of the year's biggest understatements. Battlefront 2's loot box system had to be completely overhauled after an enormous fan backlash, while Electronic Arts' stock price took a hit and governments debated whether or not loot boxes were gambling.
But now Electronic Arts is claiming it's seen the error of its ways, and it supposedly wants to do right by fans without completely scrapping the idea of making money by selling loot boxes. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Executive Vice President of Strategic Growth Matt Bilbey explained how the world's second-largest game publisher has changed its approach.
Fortnite Matchmaking Will Stop Pairing Keyboard and Mouse Players with Gamepad Players
It's easy and comforting to blame losing in a PvP game on another player having an unfair advantage, and that might actually sometimes be the case in Fortnite. But that could soon come to an end, as Epic Games is looking into an improved matchmaking system that would no longer match keyboard and mouse (KB+M) players with gamepad players.
"We're actually working on some matchmaking tech, on the way, that'll pair you against folks based on your choice of peripherals," Epic Community Manager Nathan Mooney wrote on Reddit yesterday. "More info on this coming next week, but tl;dr if you're on KB+M you'll be against KB+M."
Disney’s Streaming Service Will Not Include Pre-2019 Star Wars Movies
Disney's streaming service won't include Star Wars movies released before 2019.
Per Variety, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that only Star Wars films released in 2019 and beyond will come to the video service.
“The marketing will make clear that it’s not going to be on there,” Iger said, speaking about pre-2019 Star Wars titles. “But Star Wars movies that come out in 2019 and later, you’ll find them there.”
This will exclude The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and the original Star Wars trilogy, among several other movies. Due to this lack of Star Wars content, Iger suggested the streaming platform could cost less than Netflix, according to Variety.
Power Rangers Movie Sequel in the Works
A sequel to the 2017 Power Rangers film is in development.
Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner revealed the news in an official statement, saying Hasbro will be working with a studio to develop the new movie. Further details, including when this sequel would be released, weren't provided.
Earlier this year, Hasbro acquired Power Rangers and other brands from Saban Brands for over $500 million. Along with a new film, Hasbro is also planning a variety of new Power Rangers entertainment products and licensed products.
ABC In Talks to Make Another Marvel Show
There might be a new Marvel series heading to ABC.
Per Deadline, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey revealed talks are currently ongoing with Marvel to develop a potential new show. However, beyond saying the project is exciting, Dungey did not provide any further details about what the series would entail.
“In terms of Marvel, we have some things that we are in discussions with them right now that we are in development,” Dungey said. “I’m very excited about it.”
Agents of SHIELD, ABC's sole Marvel series, is heading into its sixth season premiering in 2019. The new season will only run for 13 episodes, down from the regular 22-episode seasons. Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson) will be directing the Season 6 premiere.