Month: July 2018

Fortnite developer Epic has provided another update on the status of the delayed Playground mode. The limited-time game mode was originally scheduled to launch alongside Fortnite’s 4.5 update last week, but it appears there are still a few issues that need to be ironed out before it can be implemented in the live game.

In a post on Reddit, Epic explained that its work on the mode is progressing well, but there remain a few “data anomalies” that need to be resolved. “We have some system performance goals that we believe are required in order to relaunch the Playground LTM,” the developer wrote. “We’ve continued working towards these goals over the weekend and our most recent load tests look promising, but there are some anomalies in the data that we still need to understand.”

The developer also says that it needs to conduct further tests to ensure Playground mode is in a state that can be released. Specifically, Epic says it needs to test how the mode fares in certain scenarios, such as when server capacity has been exhausted, before it can be added to the rotation.

“It’s hard to know whether we’ll have to make any additional system changes in order to meet our test goals right now,” Epic wrote. “We won’t know that for sure until after we complete our current testing phase, which will be done in a few hours. Once this phase has completed we will know more about where we stand and be able to provide a status update. The team is hard at work and we’ll let you know when we have anything else that we can share.”

As previously mentioned, Epic intended to launch Playground mode alongside Fortnite’s 4.5 patch last Wednesday; however, shortly after the mode went live, it was pulled from the rotation due to technical issues, and it has remained unavailable since. According to Epic, the mode is now slated to launch sometime this week.

Unlike previous limited-time game modes in Fortnite, Playground mode is a “low-pressure environment” that acts much like a private server. Players can freely explore the map and devise strategies with their friends in Playground without having to worry about being eliminated by other players.

Season 5 of Fortnite: Battle Royale is scheduled to begin this month, on July 12. Ahead of the new season, players began noticing some ominous warning signs in the game, including a countdown clock that culminated in the launch of a rocket this past weekend. The launch resulted in a number of a mysterious cracks appearing in the sky over the island, with additional rifts opening up over the map in the days that followed.

PC and Xbox One owners have a chance to play Rocket League for free this weekend. Between Thursday, July 5 and Monday, July 9, you can download the game on Steam or Xbox One without paying a cent. The free version includes all game modes, playlists, features, and arenas. The one caveat is that Xbox One owners will need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play.

To encourage players to buy the game, Rocket League and select DLC will be available for 50% off on Steam and Xbox One starting this weekend and running through July 9. That brings the core game down to $10.

• Free Weekend Start Time: Thursday, July 5 at 10am PDT (1pm EDT, 7pm CEST)
• Free Weekend End Time: Monday, July 9 at 10am PDT (1pm EDT, 7pm CEST)

Rocket League is a team-based online competitive game that’s basically indoor soccer with cars. That might sound like it would be a clunky game to play, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll probably find that it’s surprisingly nuanced and highly competitive.

From GameSpot’s 9/10 Rocket League review: “The joy of Rocket League rests on the countless plans that are conceived and discarded every other second in any given match. Trying to predict where and how the ball will bounce next is a game within the game. Despite the use of cars, Rocket League emulates the emotional surges typical of The Beautiful Game, such as the rush of an unexpected fast break or a well-timed header into a goal. With Rocket League, the promising concept of combining two wonderful things–cars and soccer–is equally magnificent in execution.”

Last year the game came out on Nintendo Switch, where it remains very good. Rocket League developer Psyonix announced earlier this year that Rocket League had passed 40 million players.

While horror movies have never really gone out of style, their popularity has never been higher than it is right now. 2017 saw the release of the most successful horror movie of all time–the blockbuster Stephen King adaptation It–while the Oscar-winning satire Get Out was the year’s most profitable movie in terms of the budget to box office ratio.

This year has already had one massive horror hit in the shape of A Quiet Place, with a worldwide gross of $214 million to date, and a sequel is already in the works. In all, it’s a great time to be a horror fan, and there are plenty more terrifying treats to follow over the rest of 2018.

So from serial killers and demonics nuns to ghosts, ghouls, and witches, here’s a look at the must-see chillers heading our way over the next eight months…

Seven new characters are now available for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, playable on PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The most notable addition is Yang Xiao Long, who comes as a free download for all players, as she completes the Team RWBY roster alongside her teammates Ruby, Weiss, and Blake.

The other six characters are divided evenly between two new character packs, which players must purchase. Character Pack 2 contains Aegis from Persona 4 Arena, Jubei from BlazBlue, and Carmine from Under Night In-Birth. Character Pack 3 includes Naoto from Persona 4 Arena, Hakumen from BlazBlue, and Vatista from Under Night In-Birth.

A new trailer offers a glimpse of the seven new fighters in action. Yang gets the most attention, showing off how she can use her signature weapon, Ember Celica, to perform quick, short ranged attacks.

Yang excels at juggling other fighters and preventing them from attacking, and can use Ember Celica to boost forward and close the distance between her and an opponent trying to escape. She can also fire off a blast while in midair to give her a diagonal range attack, the recoil of which fires her back and offers her an opportunity to create some breathing room. Yang is voiced in-game by the same actress who voices her in the RWBY anime: Barbara Dunkelman.

In our BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle review, Michael Higham gave the game a 9/10 and said, “Whether playing through the story mode alone or against hardened opponents online, Cross Tag Battle is an absolute joy with a surplus of possibilities within its wide roster and versatile fighting system. Even with all the ridiculousness of the overarching plot, I reveled in the charm of my favorite characters and embraced the many moments of fan service. It’s a masterful unification of styles and mechanics from four different universes that compels you to dig deeper and dedicate the time to getting the most out of the beloved members of this cast.”

If you’re feeling a little bombarded by all the choices on Netflix, we’re here to give you the lowdown on our favorite titles coming to the streaming giant in July. A ton of titles are rolling in on July 1, so we’ve narrowed it down to a few movies that we’re excited about.

First up is the Jurassic Park Franchise. All three of the original 1990’s Jurassic Park movies are coming to Netflix, so get your devices out and check out the OGs before you see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

The Boondock Saints with Willem Dafoe will also be arriving July 1, as well as Happy Gilmore, easily the best Adam Sandler movie on the site. Joining them will be Interview With A Vampire, and Menace II Society.

Moving into the current century, the futuristic love story Her featuring Joaquin Phoenix will be coming to Netflix on July 1, as well as the live action version of Scooby Doo which features some of our favorite stars from the early 2000’s like Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and Freddie Prinze Jr — fun fact, those two got married the same year that this movie came out.

Arriving July 6 is Juventus: Part B which follows the story of an Italian soccer team and last but not least, Gone Baby Gone will be added July 12.

If you’d like to know more details about our favorite titles coming to Netflix in July, check out Emily’s video above. If you’d like to see the entire list of titles coming Netflix in July, head over to our complete list.

It’s that time again; let’s check out what’s new to Netflix this week! A lot of titles are coming to Netflix this month but the first week of July is easily the biggest for incoming movies and shows. On July 1 alone, the Jurassic Park franchise, The Boondock Saints, Menace II Society, Happy Gilmore, Interview With A Vampire and a bunch more movies and shows were added.

July 6 is the big day for Netflix Originals with shows like First Team: Juventus and Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee coming back as well as a few movies like their adaptation of Jack London’s White Fang.

Some other notable additions throughout the week include Pandorum, Bo Burnham’s What, Get Smart with Steve Carell, Scream 4, and a new season of Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons.

For the full list of everything coming to Netflix this week, scroll down. If you’d like to find out about everything that’s coming to Netflix in July, check out our complete list.

Arriving To Netflix The First Week Of July

July 1

• Blue Bloods: Season 8
• Bo Burnham: what.
• Chocolat
• Deceived
• Finding Neverland
• Get Smart
• Happy Gilmore
• Hawaii Five-O: Season 8
• Interview with the Vampire
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Jurassic Park
• Jurassic Park III
• Madam Secretary: Season 4
• Menace II Society
• NCIS: Season 15
• Pandorum
• Penelope
• Queens of Comedy: Season 2
• Rica, Famosa, Latina: Seasons 1-4
• Scooby-Doo
• Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
• Spanglish
• Stealth
• Swordfish
• The Boondock Saints
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park
• The Princess Diaries
• The Voices
• Traitor
• Troy
• Van Helsing
• We Own the Night
• We the Marines
• What We Started

July 2

• Dance Academy: The Comeback
• Good Witch: Season 4
• Romina
• The Sinner: Season 1

July 3

• The Comedy Lineup– Netflix Original

July 5

• Blue Valentine

July 6

• Anne with an E: Season 2– Netflix Original
• Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: New 2018: Freshly Brewed– Netflix Original
• First Team: Juventus: Part B– Netflix Original
• Free Rein: Season 2– Netflix Original
• Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 2– Netflix Original
• Sacred Games– Netlfix Original
• Samantha!– Netflix Original
• Somebody Feed Phil: The Second Course– Netflix Original
• The Fosters: Season 5 New Episodes
• The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter– Netflix Original Film
• The Skin of The Wolf– Netflix Original Film
• White Fang– Netflix Original Film

July 7

There’s only a little over a month and a half left until the release of World of Warcraft’s forthcoming expansion, Battle for Azeroth. We’ve seen gameplay, collector’s editions, and more, but now it’s time for some nitty-gritty details on PvP and other new additions coming in the expansion.

We first saw Battle for Azeroth teased in November of last year. The world has been plunged into a war between the Alliance and Horde, and we also know that the expansion will add several new continents and increase the level cap to 120. But that’s not all that’s being refreshed. PvP talents are seeing some change, and there are three new additions to sink your teeth into: War Mode, bounties, and the Dueler’s Guild.

The WoW blog details all of these features. This time around, PvP talents might be a little different than what you’re used to. In Legion, talents are earned through playing in PvP and earning honor levels–but this puts newcomers at a disadvantage. In Battle for Azeroth, talents will become available as you level. Instead of rows to choose from, you’ll have groups of talents to choose from, and by level 110, all talents will be available to choose from.

Stemming off from that is a whole new way to get into PvP: War Mode. Gone are boundaries like server rule-sets. Any player can play in any realm and opt-in and opt-out when they please.

“With War Mode, we wanted to solve the problem of some players feeling ‘locked’ into one play style or another by their realm choice,” the blog reads. “They might have picked a PvE realm purely because their friends were there, even though they were interested in open world PvP. Conversely, they could have chosen a PvP realm to start, but later decided it wasn’t for them anymore. War Mode provides a way for both styles of gameplay to co-exist for every player–and with the way realm sharding works now, we felt this was the right opportunity to let players choose.”

There are several perks to opting in, namely experience bonuses when leveling. At max level, War Mode also offers gold, resources, and artifact power bonuses. You can jump in at level 20 by visiting Orgrimmar or Stormwind.

Within War Mode is another feature: bounties. Since War Mode is a PvP mode, you can gain infamy by killing other players–kill enough without dying and you’ll earn the rank of assassin, and a 15 percent increase to health and damage. But there’s a danger to this too. Assassin-ranked players are more likely to be spotted on maps for other players to kill and earn bounties from, as well as conquest points.

The new Boralus or Zuldazar areas have outdoor arenas, perfect for the new Dueler’s Guild. Like the Brawler’s Guild, you’ll face off in 1v1 matches with rival players. Once you lose, you’re out, but keep winning and you’ll get some achievements and a chance at the Contender title.

Battle for Azeroth launches on PC August 14. Pre-order it now and get a one-character level boost to 110.

During Microsoft’s E3 2018 press conference, players got their first look at Bandai Namco’s Jump Force, an upcoming arena brawler that pits multiple characters from different Shonen Jump anime and manga against one another. Bandai Namco has now announced that Bleach‘s Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, and Sosuke Aizen will be showing up in Jump Force as playable characters.

Dragon Ball‘s Goku and Frieza, One Piece‘s Luffy and Zoro, Naruto‘s Naruto and Sasuke, and Death Note‘s Light and Ryuk were seen in cinematic and gameplay trailers for Jump Force at E3, although both Light and Ryuk were later confirmed to be story exclusive characters and not playable. The inclusion of Ichigo, Rukia, and Aizen brings the current roster of fighters up to nine. The Bleach characters announcement also included screenshots of a new Hong Kong map.

In Bleach, both Ichigo and Rukia are Soul Reapers, supernaturally powered exorcists who handle the extermination of hungering lost souls known as Hollows. Aizen is the main antagonist of Bleach and is revealed to be responsible for many of the situations Ichigo and Rukia need to fight their way out of throughout the series.

Jump Force is a three-on-three tag action game with a central theme of heroes uniting together to oppose a larger threat. In an interview with ComicBook.com, game producer Koji Nakajima said that Jump Force would feature a story of a unique situation woven together by Death Note‘s Light and Ryuk. Unfortunately that’s all we know for now, but we’ll probably hear more closer to 2019.

Jump Force is being made in celebration of 50 years of Shonen Jump manga and anime. The game is scheduled to release in 2019 on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.