Month: April 2018

As it’s been since launch, you don’t have to pen a penny to play Nintendo Switch games online. But that’s going to change in September when Nintendo rolls out a paid membership plan akin to PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold. We know how much it will cost (and it’s considerably less than PS Plus or Gold), but other details about the service are unknown.

That’s set to change soon. Nintendo announced today that it will reveal more details about the Switch’s online paid membership in “early May.” This information will be shared through Nintendo’s website, but that’s all Nintendo had to say on the matter for now.

Nintendo did say, however, that the online service “will provide consumers with a richness of online features that allow them to continuously enjoy Nintendo Switch.”

The Switch’s paid membership program was originally supposed to launch in late 2017 before Nintendo delayed it to 2018. If the previously announced prices stay the same, you can subscribe for 1 month ($4), 3 months ($8), and 12 months ($20). By comparison, Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus cost $60/year.

Earlier this year, Nintendo management said online services are an important way to help reach new players. “That is why we want to apply substantial resources to the online service, with the thinking that we will devote our energies to making this a for-pay service,” Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said at the time.

Kimishima is stepping down as Nintendo’s president in June.

Regarding how Nintendo plans to popularise the Switch’s online membership, Kimishima teased that Nintendo will offer “products” that gamers hopefully find appealing. “It is less about the mechanism and more a question of what kinds of products we can offer, and the spread of the service will depend on whether consumers want what we offer

Nintendo’s upcoming announcement about the Switch’s online service will be some big news, apparently. “We have some ideas about how to make Nintendo Switch Online appealing when it becomes a for-pay service, so I think our next announcement will be worth the wait,” Nintendo executive director Shinya Takahashi said.

By comparison, the paid memberships for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 offer things like free games every month and discounts, among other benefits.

In other Nintendo news, the company has announced the date and time of its E3 2018 briefing, while it’s also confirmed that the new Smash Bros. for Switch is playable on the show floor.

E3 2018’s briefing schedule continues to come into focus, as Nintendo today announced the date and time for its big show. Nintendo’s briefing, which will take the form of a pre-recorded video instead of a live broadcast, will air at 9 AM PT on June 12. That comes out to 12 PM in New York, 5 PM in London, and 2 AM the following morning in Sydney.

Nintendo did not provide any specifics or any teases about what will be in its E3 2018 briefing, but you can be pretty sure that the new Smash Bros. for Switch will play a big part. GameSpot will bring you the live broadcast to watch and ongoing coverage of the show with a live blog, news stories, and videos for all the major announcements.

Immediately after the briefing, Nintendo will kick off its annual Treehouse Live programming, which is three days of gameplay reveals, developer discussions, and more. The show will begin with Super Smash Bros. for Switch.

Overall, Nintendo said its E3 showing will focus more on games launching soon instead of titles coming after 2018. Still, that doesn’t mean the company won’t offer glimpses or teases of further-out projects, only that they may not be a focus.

In addition to Smash Bros., two other high-profile and much-anticipated Switch games on the way include a “core” Pokemon RPG and a new Metroid Prime.

The new Smash Bros. for Switch will be playable on the E3 2018 show floor, while Nintendo will also hold a competitive tournament for the fighting game (and Splatoon 2).

In other news, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has confirmed it is attending E3 this year, though this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll learn more about the upcoming sci-fi game.

With Nintendo now having announced the date and time for its E3 2018 briefing, we’re just waiting for Sony to announce the details for its show this year. If history is any indication, it’ll take place on the evening of Monday, June 11, following Ubisoft that afternoon.

E3 2018 Press Conference Schedule

Saturday, June 9

• Electronic Arts — 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET

Sunday, June 10

• Microsoft — 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET
• Bethesda — 6:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM ET

Monday, June 11

• Ubisoft — 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET
• Sony — evening (expected)

Tuesday, June 12

• Nintendo — 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET

Believe it or not, E3 2018 is almost here. The annual gaming extravaganza returns to Los Angeles in June for what is poised to be one of the biggest week’s all year for gaming news. Much of the news is expected to come from the various press conferences taking place during the week. Microsoft, Bethesda, and EA have already announced the date and time of their briefings, while we’re expecting Sony, Nintendo, Ubisoft, and others to follow soon.

EA kicks things off on Saturday, June 9, with its EA Play briefing, while Microsoft and Bethesda will follow on Sunday afternoon and evening, respectively. Ubisoft will follow Monday afternoon, with Sony’s presentation expected later that evening. Nintendo then keeps things moving with its briefing on the morning of June 12.

There will be a PC Gaming Show this year as well, while we hope that indie publisher Devolver returns this year because last year’s show was bananas.

Below you can see a rundown of the press conference times and dates that we know about. We will continue to update this post in the days and weeks ahead leading up to E3. The show itself runs June 12-14, and like last year, it’s open to the public–here’s how to get tickets.

In other news, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has confirmed it is attending E3 this year, though this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll learn more about the upcoming sci-fi game.

E3 2018 Press Conference Schedule

Saturday, June 9

• Electronic Arts — 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET

Sunday, June 10

• Microsoft — 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET
• Bethesda — 6:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM ET

Monday, June 11

• Ubisoft — 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET
• Sony — evening (expected)

Tuesday, June 12

• Nintendo — 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET

MoviePass, the membership service that offered daily theater visits for a too-good-to-be-true price, may be preparing to shift to a model that’s less generous. Gizmodo reports that in a recent interview, CEO Mitch Lowe seemed to indicate that the ticket-per-day plan may be a thing of the past.

This month, MoviePass began offering a membership that limited new subscribers to four movies per month, while packing in a three-month trial of iHeartRadio All Access, for $10. Lowe told The Hollywood Reporter he didn’t know if the old, unlimited plan would return, and that the company is always trying new things. “Every time we try a new promotion, we never put a deadline on it,” he said.

The previous membership model would allow one movie viewing per day for $10, which could be as many as 31 in a given month. Such a generous offer always seemed unsustainable, and the company has been bleeding money and losing stock value as it struggled to find its footing.

Lowe pointed out that 88% of MoviePass subscribers used it to watch two movies or less per month, which is still a fine value in most areas. This new model, which limits movie viewings to a more reasonable amount while rotating other membership perks, could be the roadmap for the company going forward.

Avengers: Infinity War is finally here. The arrival of “destiny” as promised by Thanos, after ten long years of waiting and 18 movies, the moment we’ve been waiting for has come. It brought with it a whole bunch of questions, most importantly: what do we do now? With the movie’s post-credits scene, that becomes just a tiny bit more clear.

The end of Infinity War is very literally an end–the actual, genuine annihilation of half the universe at the hands of Thanos, armed with a fully powered Infinity Gauntlet. Not exactly the feel good, heroic, triumphant superhero vibe of Avengers past. Thanos has won, and from where we’re sitting, it looks like his victory is absolute.

But all hope isn’t lost. Though Infinity War deviates from Marvel’s post-credits formula slightly by including only one stinger, rather than what’s become the customary two, the movie’s final moments give us the briefest glimpse of what’s on the horizon.

Here’s the scene: Nick Fury and Maria Hill speed through a New York City that is slowly descending into chaos. As Fury notes that something big is happening in Wakanda, he tells Hill to get in touch with someone named Klein, likely this guy from Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron–which may point to more progress in Fury’s somewhat forgotten efforts to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D in the wake of its official Hydra-fueled destruction.

But the effects of Thanos’s finger-snap are reverberating across the galaxy and, one by one, people are disappearing at random. This means literally anyone–pilots, drivers, pedestrians–vanishing into thin air, no matter what they may have been in the middle of. So naturally, as more and more people crumble, helicopters are crashing, cars are veering off the road–you get the idea. The world is not in a great place, and Fury and Hill are left trying to puzzle through what’s happening.

Unfortunately, even their time is limited. As they scramble out of their car, Hill begins to crumble and abruptly vanishes, leaving Fury on his own. He pulls out a device–something that looks almost like a beeper–and dials out just as he himself begins to disintegrate.

This guy might turn out important?

As Fury blows away in the wind, the device he was holding clatters to the ground and we’re left staring at what we can only assume is the transmission of a distress signal. Though there is no text on the screen to give an official destination, a logo soon appears–the blue, red and gold emblem associated with none other than Captain Marvel.

We’ve known for some time that a Captain Marvel movie is coming–set photos of Brie Larson in costume have been filtering in since filming kicked off–but her role in the still unnamed Avengers 4 remains shrouded in mystery, just like the rest of the film. We do know, however, that her solo movie will be released in March of next year (two months prior to the next Avengers, due in May) and be set in the ’90s, which leaves her in an interesting position considering Infinity War‘s very present day ending.

Just how long has Fury known about Captain Marvel? Where has she been all this time? Is the distress signal actually going to Carol Danvers or is it going to someone like, say, her mentor Captain Mar-Vell instead?

Perhaps more importantly: what exactly can Captain Marvel do in the face of a fully powered Infinity Gauntlet?

Carol Danvers traditionally gets her powers from her Kree heritage, making her similar to what we might expect from an Asgardian in the MCU, with a few twists. In the books she has enhanced durability, strength and speed, as well as the ability to fly and shoot energy projectiles from her hands. She also has an abundance of military and tactical training both on Earth and with the Kree army, making her a formidable force both in the heat of battle and in any war room–so it’s not that she’s incapable, by any means.

But all the training and superpowers in the universe seem dwarfed by the force of the Infinity Stones, even with the Infinity Gauntlet in the damaged state that the movie leaves it in, so it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to show up on Earth without some sort of back up and expect to make a difference. Luckily, there are a few other cosmic Marvel heroes who have been alluded to in the past who just might be able to lend a hand. We saw the Nova Corps in Guardians of the Galaxy, which paves the way for Nova to get involved, especially if Thanos destroyed the entire Corps when he nabbed the Power Stone from them, which would fit with Nova’s origin in the comics. And don’t forget Adam Warlock, who was referenced in the Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 post-credits scene.

While you’re here, Read our spoiler-free Infinity War review, find out the best order to catch up on the MCU if you haven’t already.

Another PS4 update is available right now, but don’t expect it to do a whole lot. According to Sony’s official patch notes, update 5.53-01 “improves system performance.”

This follows update 5.53, which was released recently and similarly didn’t do much–except disclose more about the console’s data collection practices in the European Union. Before that, the most recent big PS4 update was version 5.50, which included new organizational options, additional parental controls, and a supersampling option on 2K or lower TVs for PS4 Pro.

The update brought the ability to monitor children’s playtime and block them from playing during certain hours of the day. It also added a Library app in the PlayStation Plus section to easily find all the downloads you’ve accumulated during your membership, a PSVR icon, and notification customizations.

In other PlayStation news, the free PS Plus games for May 2018 were announced just recently. They are Beyond: Two Souls and Rayman Legends on PS4, Eat Them and Risen 3: Titan Lords on PS3, and Furmins and King Oddball for PS Vita. If you haven’t already done so, it’s not too late to still claim April’s free PS Plus games. Those include Mad Max and Trackmania Turbo on PS4. Adding them to your library will allow you to continue playing for as long as you’re a Plus member. They’ll be available to grab until Tuesday, May 1, when this new slate of games will replace it.