Month: June 2018

Solo: A Star Wars Story tells the tale of famed space scoundrel Han Solo–and we mean the whole story. This movie covers how Han met Chewie, how he met Lando, how he won the Millennium Falcon, how he completed the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, where he got his iconic blaster, and even how he got his name. If that sounds like a lot of origin to cram into one movie, it’s because it is. But those aren’t the only Star Wars references in Solo–not by a long shot.

In fact, Solo doubtless features more Star Wars Easter eggs, references, inside jokes, and callbacks than we could possibly spot ourselves. There’s even one that Dryden Vos actor Paul Bettany was sworn to secrecy over–and we still have no idea what he’s referring to.

That said, we did our best. Here’s every Star Wars Easter egg and reference in Solo we’ve spotted so far. What’s your favorite? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below.

And don’t miss our other Solo coverage, including our history of the Millennium Falcon, where Solo takes place in the Star Wars timeline, whether C-3PO gets his usual cameo, and everything you need to know about the Star Wars card game sabacc. And since you’re not worried about spoilers, we even have a rundown of Solo’s most shocking cameo.

There’s plenty of exciting new games that we’re eager to see more of at E3 2018. With so many major companies bringing their best games to the show, there’s likely to be a fair amount of surprises in store. Despite the recent leaks, we’re hoping that this year’s show yields an assortment of notable announcements worth getting hyped up towards.

Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the biggest games we’re most looking forward to seeing. Many of these titles have been confirmed, but others are titles we’re guessing at based on the list of companies on the official E3 homepage.

The first potential look we’ll get at most of these games will be during the press conferences before E3 even begins. We’re hoping many of the games listed here are playable, but even if some only show up as a brief teaser, it’s still another chance to get a feel for what’s ahead. To make sure you’re up to date with the times as well as the location for our E3 livestreams, we have a hub rounding up all of that info as well.

Like previous shows, this year’s E3 will likely yield plenty of exciting announcements. While this feature contains only a selection of the games we’re most excited about, you can check out our other more comprehensive features covering all of the biggest PS4, Xbox One, and Switch games at E3 2018. But what games are you most excited to see at the show? Let us know in the comments below!

Microsoft has launched another set of games to be added to its all-you-can-eat Game Pass service on Xbox One, this time for June 2018. Those include a brand-new co-op dungeon crawler along with several other games joining the service.

The headliner of the bunch is Next Up Hero, a co-op dungeon crawler that has you gather loot and upgrade your skills. Every time you die you’ll leave behind an echo, which can be raised by the next hero to fight as an AI companion. It will come sometime in June, alongside its debut on the store for non-subscribers to purchase.

Before that, though, June 1 brought a rich bounty of new additions. That saw the additions of MotoGP 17, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, The Technomancer, Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut, and Disneyland Adventures. Those joined the growing list of Xbox Game Pass games. Game Pass gives unlimited access to a pretty large collection, for a subscription fee of $10 per month.

Microsoft has been adding a handful of new games to the service every month, often with a single headliner new release that’s added the same day as it becomes available to purchase for non-subscribers. Microsoft’s first-party Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 were both the big-ticket items of their respective months.

The Pokemon invasion of your Nintendo Switch has begun. The “free to start” RPG Pokemon Quest is already available, and a new core Pokemon game is heading our way in late 2019. But the lovable critters aren’t done with Switch yet. Coming November 16, 2018 are Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee, a pair of games designed for newcomers to the franchise and for players who got their start with the mobile game Pokemon Go.

Developed by Game Freak, the makers of the core Pokemon titles, these Let’s Go games share some DNA with Pokemon Go. Instead of battling the monsters to catch them, you’ll collect them by tossing Poke Balls at them. You can even transfer Pokemon from Go to Let’s Go via Bluetooth. We also know that the first 150 Pokemon as well as their Alolan forms from Sun and Moon would appear in the Let’s Go titles.

We have a lot more information about these games in our article Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu And Eevee: Everything We Know So Far, so check that out to satisfy your curiosity. But if you’re ready to lock in your pre-order for one (or both) of these games, you’ll probably want to know where to find them, how much they’ll cost, and what–if any–extra goodies you can expect to come with them. We have you covered below.

Pre-Order Bonus

Currently, there’s only one pre-order bonus available for Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, and it’s retailer-specific. If you buy the game from Pokemon Center (while supplies last), you’ll get a plush keychain featuring the corresponding Pokemon.

Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu!

Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee!

Last month saw the release of two major franchise blockbusters for two very distinct cinematic universes: Deadpool 2 over in the Fox/Marvel X-Men corner of the world, and Solo, the latest entry in the Star Wars juggernaut. On paper, they couldn’t seem like more distinct films–a gritty, ultra violent superhero comedy versus a family friendly sci-fi action adventure. But beneath the tough outer shells of their genre conventions, they share one troubling similarity: They both rely on one of the most boring tropes in Hollywood.

Here’s the problem: All the hilarious, heroic antics in the worlds of both Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) in their respective films are spurred on by a laundry list of dead or in-peril girlfriends and wives. In Deadpool 2, we have Vanessa’s (Morena Baccarin) murder and the death of Cable’s (Josh Brolin) wife and daughter. In Solo, it was the death of Val (Thandie Newton) to motivate the “one last job” mindset of Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and the left-to-the-wolves status of Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) to give Han his forward momentum. In both movies, female characters are killed or shoved off-screen for the sake of male characters’ stories. All other problems aside, it makes for some of the most boring and overused narrative beats in pop culture.

It’s not just that Solo and Deadpool 2 utilized the trope almost back-to-back–that’s just unfortunate timing for them. Murdering or otherwise shelving female characters to catalyze a male character into action has become so common in fiction that there’s actually a shorthand for it. As far back as the ’90s, the term “fridging” has been used to describe the trope in a movement started by comic book writer Gail Simone. She was inspired by a specific incident in DC Comics’ Green Lantern #54 where new hero Kyle Rayner is shocked into committing to being a superhero in earnest when he finds his then girlfriend, Alex DeWitt, has been brutally murdered and literally stuffed into a refrigerator.

The story prompted Simone and others to begin compiling a list of similar instances they called “women in refrigerators”–female characters being brutalized, murdered, or otherwise removed from the story to motivate male heroism. They found a troubling (and incredibly easy to spot) pattern.

Now, as anyone will tell you, tropes become tropes for a reason. Loved ones in danger is a powerful motivator, and it’s one that has proven to work time and time again. The problem is that it’s so common, we can have two major blockbusters in the same month recycle it without missing a beat. It’s become a crutch for big name action heroes on any side of the spectrum, from lovable rogues like Han Solo to wisecracking anti-heroes like Wade Wilson, and even side characters like Cable and Tobias Beckett. And it keeps happening over, and over, and over again.

To borrow a line from Deadpool himself: It’s just lazy writing.

The issue gets even more stark when you consider the sheer volume of major franchise films cranked out these days, and the level of self awareness they have to maintain to keep from instantaneously fading into the background. With shared universe extravaganzas pouring out of Hollywood, the pressure for each story to be unique, memorable, and ample set-up for sequels has never been higher. But that sustainability won’t come if each new film just copies the same tired tropes.

Worse yet, it seems impossible for either film to not have some surface level knowledge that they were taking a nosedive into the cliche. As Deadpool 2‘s opening credits roll immediately after Vanessa’s murder, the fourth-wall breaking text displays rejoiners like “Can you believe they just did that?” and “Did that just happen?”

It did, and we absolutely can–namely because we’ve seen it happen a million times before. Throw a dart at any male superhero’s history and you’d be hard pressed not to find this exact story repeated–maybe multiple times over. In fact, it happens in X-Men: Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool’s own favorite punchline, with the murder of Logan’s girlfriend Kayla.

It’s a two-for-the-price-of-one deal as Cable, too, is allowed to name drop his daughter, but his wife remains simply an ambiguous concept without so much as a name, a grisly reminder of just why he must press forward, join up with the X-Force, and generally look like an extremely cool cyborg superhero for the duration of the movie. It’s more of the same in a franchise that advertises itself as the antidote for all those tired, conventional superhero stories.

Solo seems to care even less about its overt trope. It literally maneuvers Beckett’s entire arc to center around the fact that he lost his woman, who, prior to her death, was given only enough space on screen to establish herself as Beckett’s soulmate. In her generous ten minutes of screen time, Val is allowed to explain that she and Beckett both get by in the world by not trusting or caring about anyone besides one another. They even have plans to retire together, when Beckett will finally learn to pick up a hobby other than lying and thieving. It would be sweet, touching even, had she lived long enough to do anything other than make room for Han to join the crew.

At the end of the day, there are some questions that must be asked. Was there no other way to tell these stories? Is there no other possible motivator for heroism? Here’s hoping the answer is “no” or we might be in for an extremely boring cinematic future–and, in the golden age of the franchise blockbuster, it’s really time to start doing better.

Every time you turn around, it seems like GameStop is running a new weekly sale. This week’s set of deals is full of many games that always seem to be on sale, as well as a bunch of Nintendo Switch games that get discounts more rarely. So if you could use a new Switch game to energize your downtime, now might be the time to take the plunge. Without further ado, here are the highlights from this week’s GameStop sale.

Let’s start with the deals for Nintendo Switch owners. For starters, you can get an additional dock set on sale for $50. That comes in handy if you want to use your device on multiple TVs without carting the dock around. As for software, you can get the delightful turn-based strategy game Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle for $30, the colorful platformer Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition for $20, or the dancing game Just Dance 2018 for $35. You can find more Switch deals below.

PS4 and Xbox One owners can grab Overwatch for $30, just in time for the game’s anniversary event that’s going on now. The crime epic Yakuza 0 is down to $30, and a whole mess of Lego games is on sale for between $20 and $30.

Now for some miscellaneous deals this week at GameStop. If you pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, you’ll get access to the beta. If you buy an Xbox One X, you’ll get a free copy of NBA 2K18 (though the game is also on sale this week for $30). You can pop into your local GameStop to get a free legendary Shiny Zygarde in Pokemon Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. There’s also a PC download sale that gets you up to 75% off select games from Activision, EA, WB, 2K, and Rockstar.

PS4 and Xbox One

Nintendo Switch

Listen up, deal hunters. Now that the week is in full swing, let’s take a moment to appraise the deals that have gone live this week and see what kinds of savings we can find. No matter what your platform of choice is, you can find deals on games for it. Read on to learn about all the best sales going on right now, along with highlights for some of the biggest savings.

Multiplatform

Best Buy is running its weekly video game sale that can save you money on consoles, accessories, and games. GameStop also has a bunch of deals this week, with discounts on a surprising number of Nintendo Switch titles (see below) and digital PC games.

Also this week, a couple of freshly announced games went up for pre-order. Here’s everything you need to know to pre-order Fallout 76 and Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee.

Xbox One

The Xbox Store has a number of digital games on sale this week, with highlights like the following. For even more Xbox One and backward-compatible Xbox 360 games, click here.

PS4

Sony announced it will put on a sale between June 8-18. You can already pre-order the special limited-time PS4 the company is releasing to go along with the sale. You don’t have to wait to save money at this week’s PlayStation Store sale, but you will need a PS Plus membership to take advantage of these deals. If you’re a subscriber, check out the games on sale, because some of them are available for terrific prices.

Nintendo Switch

Finally, Nintendo doesn’t often put Switch games on sale, but this week Best Buy is doing us a favor and doing it anyway. You can find a number of Switch games on sale at the big blue retailer, including the following.