Month: July 2018

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Mayans MC, the Sons of Anarchy spinoff, is expected to contain a lot of strong language. This should be no surprise given it’s a show from Kurt Sutter. But now, Sutter has confirmed that the writing team has a “lot more freedom” in terms of language than Sons of Anarchy did.

As THR explains, this comes down to changes related to broadcast standards. He said at Comic-Con recently that he takes a “f**k inventory” after writing each Mayans episode, and in good news for fans of strong language, FX will allow the word “f**k.”

“I’m not quite sure where the shift has happened but there is a lot more freedom in terms of language and we will be able to say ‘f**k’ on FX,” he said. “I always do a f**k inventory at the end of every script and go, ‘Oh, that’s way too much.'”

While FX will allow the word “f**k” on Mayans MC, you probably shouldn’t expect to hear it every other word like it was Goodfellas. Still, Sutter said it’s freeing because with Sons of Anarchy, the writing team had to contend with writing scripts for “a world where that word didn’t exist.”

The first trailer for Mayans MC premiered at Comic-Con recently, showing off more of the gritty world and its new characters (watch it above). JD Pardo plays Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, a prospect in the Mayans M.C. biker gang that just got out of prison. Emilio Rivera’s character from Sons of Anarchy will also appear, though there won’t be many other crossovers, apparently.

“Right now there’s no intersecting stories that will interfere with that but Sons is a big world and there was a lot of peripheral players … so there will be those kind of intersections,” Sutter said during a Comic-Con panel.

The first season of Mayans is scheduled to premiere on FX on September 4 and will consist of 10 episodes. The show also stars Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica, Dexter), and the first two episodes are directed by Norberto Barba (Preacher).

Many more details about Family Guy Season 17 were announced at Comic-Con recently, including that it will feature a two-part episode about Donald Trump. In the Trump-mocking episode, Trump learns that Peter is great at selling fake news, so he hires him to be his new communications director. The entire Griffin family moves to Washington as part of this.

Things take a turn when Meg has an “unpleasant encounter” with Trump, according to EW. Peter gets ticked off, and he and Trump have an “epic battle.” According to IGN, this will be one of Family Guy’s trademark chicken fights, but with Trump stepping in for the chicken, apparently. “I won’t say who wins, you’ll have to tune in. It’s a giant chicken fight between the president and Peter all through Washington,” producer Rich Appel said.

The producers told EW that the Trump episode was written about a year ago. A lot has happened with the Trump presidency since then, but the episode will still feel timely, the producers say. “Although this episode was written almost a year ago, fortunately Trump has done nothing since then to embarrass himself or our nation,” the producers said, presumably joking.

In other Season 17 news, there will be another two-parter where Brian gets married. “It’s such a fun story with so many twists and turns that it ended up not being able to be told in one episode,” producer Steve Callaghan told IGN. Whether or not Brian stays married remains to be seen. Family Guy as a show often creates wild scenarios and completely reverses them by the time the episode has ended.

Another Season 17 episode will see Brian go to work at the brewery with new bosses played by Bryan Cranston and Niecy Nash. Other celebrities performing roles in Season 17 include Patrick Stewart, Sam Elliot, Mandy Moore, Sarah Paulson, Kyrie Irving, Johnny Weir, and Tara Lapinski.

You can see some select scenes from Family Guy Season 17 in the embedded video above, though it doesn’t appear to contain any references to the Trump episode.

While Family Guy hasn’t skewered President Trump before, another Fox show, The Simpsons, regularly goes after the POTUS.

New Releases is all over history in this episode. If you want a robot adventure set 100 years in the future, there’s Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2, and if you want something vaguely historical, The Banner Saga 3 is for you. Modern-day horror-action game Hello Neighbor comes to new consoles, while No Man’s Sky finally makes its Xbox One debut. And for platformer fans, Semblance is making history on Nintendo Switch.

Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2 — July 24

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

The X series is getting the same treatment as the original Mega Man games, complete with a museum full of concept art and retro commercials. If you’ve already mastered the originals, you can test your skills against two bosses at once in the new X Challenge Mode. Legacy Collection 1 and 2 are available together in one physical package, or as separate downloads. Legacy Collection 1 contains Mega Man X1 through X4, while Legacy Collection 2 contains X5 through X8.

Further Reading:

No Man’s Sky — July 24

Available on: Xbox One

You might be surprised to see No Man’s Sky featured in 2018, but it’s about time Xbox One owners got to zen out with the space exploration game themselves. This port comes packaged with the Foundation, Pathfinder, and Atlas Rises expansions, plus the Next update, which launches the same day on PS4 and PC too. With that, you’ll be able to able to crew up and explore with your buddies or random players online.

Further Reading:

Semblance — July 24

Available on: PC, Switch

Semblance’s developer calls its game the first “true” platformer, because you’ll need to actually move and adjust platforms to clear the courses and solve puzzles. You can deform your little clay-like character to get around too. Perhaps most impressive, however, is that Semblance is the first South African video game to appear on a Nintendo console.

Further Reading:

The Banner Saga 3 — July 24 (US ) / July 26 (UK)

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

The Banner Saga 3 concludes the trilogy by adding some wrinkles to the strategic combat. New enemy types require you to drain both their health and willpower before they’ll fall, and taking them out lets you unleash a powerful chain lightning attack. This can all happen during the new, large-scale wave-based battles too. That’s on top of the series’ trademark tough decisions you’ll make as you move from camp to camp.

Further Reading:

Hello Neighbor — July 27

Available on: PS4, Switch, iOS, Android

In case you missed the original PC or Xbox One releases, here’s the elevator pitch: you’ve just moved into a new house, and a creepy neighbor seems to be up to no good. Cue the stealth-horror gameplay of you snooping around his house, trying not to get caught. Now you can find your way down to the dark basement on new platforms.

Further Reading:

Filming on Riverdale Season 3 may have only begun a week ago, but the cast and crew of The CW’s Archie Comics adaptation did not come to San Diego Comic-Con empty-handed. The show’s panel started with a sizzle reel that recounted the highs and lows of Season 2, from Archie joining the mob to Cheryl coming out of the closet.

At the end of the clip, though, the first footage of the new show was revealed. In it, Betty leaves her house to find her mother and sister Polly partaking in some bizarre kind of ritual in the front yard, as they hold Polly’s twin babies high next to a fire. Those who tuned into Season 2 probably realize this is connected to the farm, the cult Polly has fallen in with. As it turns out, this cult is going to play a big role in Season 3, as Polly brings Alice even deeper into the group. That’s also when viewers will meet the farm’s enigmatic leader, who has yet to be cast, Edgar Evernever.

According to showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the storyline involving the farm has been planned since Season 1. However, the popularity of Netflix’s Wild, Wild Country, along with the charges brought against former Smallville star Allison Mack regarding her role in what has been described as a cult, can’t help but inform the topic as the show explores it.

Those weren’t the only things teased during the panel. Additionally, star Camila Mendes hinted at tough times ahead for her character Veronica and Archie. Given Archie is facing murder charges thanks to her dad, that seems to be a given.

Beyond that, Lili Reinhart teased that Betty will come into her own as the new queen of the Serpents after Jughead took over as leader of the motorcycle club. “At the beginning of the season, you’ll see her own that title,” Reinhart said.

Some new faces will also arrive in Riverdale. Penelope Ann Miller (The Artist) will take on the role of Ms. Wright, the district attorney prosecuting Archie. Also, fans will finally meet Jughead’s family, as his mom and little sister Jellybean will finally return to the small town in episode eight or nine.

Riverdale returns on Wednesday, October 10, at 8 PM ET on The CW.

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The EA Access library of free games on Xbox One continues to grow. The 2010 action game Dante’s Inferno is now in “The Vault” of freebies, as EA calls it.

Developed by the now-shuttered Visceral Games, Dante’s Inferno follows the trials of Dante, who fights through the nine circles of Hell to save Beatrice from the devil. The game got middling review scores, but if you’re an EA Access member who was curious, now is your chance to check it out at no extra cost.

Publisher Electronic Arts put a lot of marketing muscle behind Dante’s Inferno. The company produced an elaborate blasphemous fake game called “Mass: We Pray” to drum up interest, while EA also hired people to act as outraged Christians protesting the game at E3 2009. What’s more, EA paid millions to promote the with a Super Bowl commercial in 2010.

Because social media is Very Important, the EA account tweeted to EA Access with a joke about Hell and the like. Check out the thread below.

Dante’s Inferno is only available EA Access for Xbox One; it is not included in the Origin Access Vault of freebies on PC. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of all the EA/Origin Access titles here. Last week, EA added The Sims 4 to EA Access.