The Sea of Thieves Beta Has Me Equal Parts Concerned and Hopeful
Update: It appears that the "You're Too Early" issue isn't actually fixed. I currently don't recommend pre-ordering if your goal is to partake in the closed beta on PC, regardless of your retailer.
My preliminary hours with the Sea of Thieves closed beta were spent wrestling the Microsoft Store into submission and pondering question after question about the game’s progression, replayability, and the PC version. It wasn’t a pretty start, but the more time I spent with Sea of Thieves the more enamored I became with its emergent potential. Somewhere between stumbling onto a magical weeping chest that flooded my hold with tears, and my first successful player versus player piracy I realized that no matter how many hours Sea of Thieves proves capable of providing me at launch, it will be time well-spent.
The Sea of Thieves Beta Has Me Equal Parts Concerned and Hopeful
My preliminary hours with the Sea of Thieves closed beta were spent wrestling the Microsoft Store into submission and pondering question after question about the game’s progression, replayability, and the PC version. It wasn’t a pretty start, but the more time I spent with Sea of Thieves the more enamored I became with its emergent potential. Somewhere between stumbling onto a magical weeping chest that flooded my hold with tears, and my first successful player versus player piracy I realized that no matter how many hours Sea of Thieves proves capable of providing me at launch, it will be time well-spent.
Sea of Thieves has a lot going for it: a unique immersive setting, a surprisingly accessible learning curve, and possibly the best looking water of all time (which you can witness in glorious detail in the videos below.) But not even the dazzling glimmer of that perfect ocean can outshine the radiance of the game’s most outstanding quality: its impeccable multiplayer design, which coerces cooperation and inspires emergent gameplay. Nowhere is this more apparent than onboard your chosen vessel. Here, controlling your speed, navigating to your destination, and indeed staying afloat all necessitate communication and coordination between you and your crew. This reliance on your fellow pirate is enhanced by a nearly nonexistent HUD, which is blissfully free of waypoints or a minimap. All of these elements add up to a dynamic and thoroughly enjoyable multi-crew vessel experience, where no one is idle for long and no task feels like busy work.
Celeste Dev Gives Update on TowerFall Ascension Switch Port
Developer Matt Makes Games concurrently announced both its latest hit release Celeste as well as its previous great archery combat game TowerFall Ascension for the Nintendo Switch last year. And while it may have seemed a TowerFall port would likely be released first, it still has yet to be released — but don't worry, it's still on its way.
Speaking to IGN as part of a larger discussion about independent games on the Nintendo Switch, developer Matt Thorson explained that he always intended to release Celeste before porting over TowerFall.
Celeste Dev Gives Update on TowerFall Ascension Switch Port
Developer Matt Makes Games concurrently announced both its latest hit release Celeste as well as its previous great archery combat game TowerFall Ascension for the Nintendo Switch last year. And while it may have seemed a TowerFall port would likely be released first, it still has yet to be released — but don't worry, it's still on its way.
Speaking to IGN as part of a larger discussion about independent games on the Nintendo Switch, developer Matt Thorson explained that he always intended to release Celeste before porting over TowerFall.
Scott Snyder Takes Over Justice League Comic Series
The conclusion of DC Comics event Dark Nights: Metal will bring about some big changes for the Justice League comic line, IGN has learned from DC.
Following the events of Metal, which ends on March 14 with Issue #6, there will be a four-issue weekly miniseries that kicks off on May 9 called Justice League: No Justice co-written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson with art by Francis Manapul.
Upon concluding, ‘No Justice’ will set the stage for a family of Justice League comics starting in June, with the flagship title being written by Snyder and the others by Tynion, Williamson, and more. No artists have been revealed for any of these titles.
Metal, written by Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo, features the Justice League battling seven evil Batmans who are invading the DC Universe from the Dark Multiverse.
Scott Snyder Takes Over Justice League Comic Series
The conclusion of DC Comics event Dark Nights: Metal will bring about some big changes for the Justice League comic line, IGN has learned from DC.
Following the events of Metal, which ends on March 14 with Issue #6, there will be a four-issue weekly miniseries that kicks off on May 9 called Justice League: No Justice co-written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson with art by Francis Manapul.
Upon concluding, ‘No Justice’ will set the stage for a family of Justice League comics starting in June, with the flagship title being written by Snyder and the others by Tynion, Williamson, and more. No artists have been revealed for any of these titles.
Metal, written by Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo, features the Justice League battling seven evil Batmans who are invading the DC Universe from the Dark Multiverse.
Game of Thrones Star Reveals Which Month S8 Will Debut
Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams appears to have revealed when the eighth and final season of the show will premiere when it debuts in 2019.
In an interview with Metro, Williams, who plays Arya Stark in the hit HBO series, said Season 8 will finish filming at the end of this year and will premiere sometime in April 2019. "We wrap in December and we air our first episode in April," Williams said. "That's a four-month turnaround for these huge episodes."
Williams also briefly touched on the longer wait for this final season, as Game of Thrones will skip 2018 entirely. "There's a lot that goes into the final edit," Williams said. "You would not want to rush this season at all. We owe it to our audience and our fans to really do this final season to the best of our abilities."
Game of Thrones Star Reveals Which Month S8 Will Debut
Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams appears to have revealed when the eighth and final season of the show will premiere when it debuts in 2019.
In an interview with Metro, Williams, who plays Arya Stark in the hit HBO series, said Season 8 will finish filming at the end of this year and will premiere sometime in April 2019. "We wrap in December and we air our first episode in April," Williams said. "That's a four-month turnaround for these huge episodes."
Williams also briefly touched on the longer wait for this final season, as Game of Thrones will skip 2018 entirely. "There's a lot that goes into the final edit," Williams said. "You would not want to rush this season at all. We owe it to our audience and our fans to really do this final season to the best of our abilities."
Epic Will Shut Down Paragon in April
Epic Games is shutting down its free-to-play MOBA Paragon in April.
As detailed on a recent blog post, Epic will continue operating Paragon servers until April 26. Until then, matchmaking times and quality will continue to degrade throughout these few months as the player population decreases.
"After careful consideration, and many difficult internal debates, we feel there isn’t a clear path for us to grow Paragon into a MOBA that retains enough players to be sustainable," reads Epic's statement. "We didn’t execute well enough to deliver on the promise of Paragon. We have failed you -- despite the team’s incredibly hard work -- and we’re sorry."
Epic Will Shut Down Paragon in April
Epic Games is shutting down its free-to-play MOBA Paragon in April.
As detailed on a recent blog post, Epic will continue operating Paragon servers until April 26. Until then, matchmaking times and quality will continue to degrade throughout these few months as the player population decreases.
"After careful consideration, and many difficult internal debates, we feel there isn’t a clear path for us to grow Paragon into a MOBA that retains enough players to be sustainable," reads Epic's statement. "We didn’t execute well enough to deliver on the promise of Paragon. We have failed you -- despite the team’s incredibly hard work -- and we’re sorry."