Month: February 2019

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On the same day that The Academy officially confirmed there will be no single host for the Oscars this year, actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has come forward to say he was initially the Academy’s first choice to host the awards show. Writing on Twitter, The Rock said he wanted to make this year’s Oscars broadcast the “most fun and entertaining Oscars ever.”

However, The Rock’s busy filming schedule prevented him from being able to be the host. Specifically, he’s away filming the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel. “Academy and I were super bummed but maybe one day down the road,” The Rock said.

In December, The Academy announced comedian/actor and The Rock’s Jumanji co-star Kevin Hart would host the 91st Oscars. However, there was controversy around some of his old tweets, and this eventually culminated in Hart stepping down.

Instead of a single host, the Oscars will feature numerous presenters, including Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jennifer Lopez, Whoopi Goldberg, and Brie Larson, among others.

The Oscars air on ABC, and the network’s entertainment boss, Karey Burke, said at a Television Critics Association event this week that the show will start with a “very exciting opener.” As relayed by The Hollywood Reporter, she also confirmed that the goal is to keep the show to three hours, which is good news considering last year’s event was almost as long as Gone With The Wind.

The 91st Oscars take place Sunday, February 24. Black Panther and Bohemian Rhapsody are among the Best Picture nominees; you can see all the categories and nominees here.

The Simpsons, which is already one of the longest-running TV shows in history, is coming back for even more seasons. It was confirmed today that Fox renewed the show for Seasons 31 and 32.

This will take the show up to an unthinkable 713 episodes. According to Deadline, Fox also signed deals with the cast members for Seasons 31 and 32, though terms were not disclosed.

For its current 30th season, The Simpsons continues to be a ratings success. As of January 20, individual episodes were reaching an audience of 7.5 million viewers on average across all platforms. Fans might agree that the quality of the show has declined in recent years, but it’s clear the show and wider franchise remains wildly popular.

The Simpsons’ multi-decade run hasn’t been without issues and controversy. Comedian Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary, The Problem With Apu, explores Apu as a character and focuses on him as a stereotype. Series creator Matt Groening responded to the controversy by saying “people love to pretend they’re offended.”

Outside of the TV series, The Simpsons Movie was released in 2007 and there is talk about another one. There are also Simpsons theme park attractions and a multitude of merchandise like Duff beer.

In other news, Disney is buying many of 20th Century Fox’s assets, and that means the company will assume ownership of The Simpsons going forward.

For a long time now, Take-Two has teased an upcoming game from one of 2K’s “biggest and most beloved franchises,” and it may soon be time that we find out what it is. As part of its earnings report, Take-Two reaffirmed that this unannounced game remains on track to release during the company’s fiscal year 2020. More interestingly, Take-Two said 2K will have “more to share” on the game in the coming months.

During the call, an analyst asked about the game, and CEO Strauss Zelnick said the company expects the game to “stay on track” following its previous delay. He added that the company has “very high expectations” for the game, whatever it may be.

This unannounced game was previously scheduled to launch during fiscal year 2019, which runs April 2018 through March 2019. However, it was later delayed to fiscal year 2020, which covers April 2019 through March 2020, so that’s when you can expect this new sequel from 2K.

Take-Two CFO Lainie Goldstein said the company has modelled some marketing spend for the new game during the current fiscal year, so that suggests the title may be announced before April 2019.

Speculation has suggested that the game may be Borderlands 3, or whatever the next title in the series ends up being called. Regardless, a new Borderlands is known to be in development. Another possibility is the new BioShock game that is reportedly in development. Back in April 2018, Kotaku reported that a top-secret new BioShock game was in the works at a studio in Novato, California.

It’s also possible that the delayed game is something else entirely, though it is expected to be a sequel given that Take-Two said it is an instalment in one of its “biggest franchises.”

In other Take-Two news, the company recently opened a new 2K studio in Silicon Valley that’s headed up by Michael Condrey, who worked on Dead Space and multiple Call of Duty games.

Epic’s previously announced account merging system for Fortnite has gone live. Players who have multiple Fortnite accounts across platforms are now able to unify them–and all of their previously earned skins, V-Bucks, and other items–under one Epic Account.

The tool can be found on Epic’s website, but the actual process of merging accounts is fairly complex. First, you’ll need to designate one account as Primary and the other as Secondary; you can read how to do that here. One of the accounts must also have been used on PS4 and the other on Xbox One or Nintendo Switch before September 28, 2018.

After you’ve designated a Primary and Secondary account to merge together, your Secondary account will be disabled, and all of the cosmetics and V-Bucks it contained will be held for two weeks before finally being transferred over to your Primary account. You can read additional details about the process on Epic’s website.

Epic first announced its plans to let Fortnite players merge their console accounts together last September, after Sony finally allowed the PS4 version of the game to support cross-play with other consoles. The tool was originally scheduled to launch back in November, but Epic ultimately delayed it to early 2019 due to “ongoing technical concerns.”

“We want to make sure that this process is thoroughly tested and working properly before releasing it to those of you currently looking to transfer purchases from other accounts to your primary account,” the company said at the time.

The account merging system arrives just as Season 7 of Battle Royale is winding down. Ahead of Season 8, players have begun to experience earthquakes in the game during matches, suggesting some big world-changing event will happen before the new season kicks off. In the meantime, you can peruse our complete Season 7 challenges guide for tips on how to finish any remaining challenges you may have.