Month: July 2019

The Terminator: Dark Fate panel during San Diego Comic-Con 2019 opened with a surprise, apparently live call from producer James Cameron.

Cameron called in “from Pandora,” AKA the set of Avatar 2, 3, and 4, as he explained. “Everyone’s always whingeing about how long it’s taking to get Avatar done, so I figured I should stay here and work today,” Cameron explained. He didn’t share anything about the Avatar sequels themselves, saying it would take too long to explain what’s going on there, and that the technology is so cutting edge we wouldn’t understand it anyway.

More importantly, the panel debuted some exclusive Comic-Con footage of the movie, including an extended look at the highway chase scene that we previously glimpsed in the trailer, which you can watch above. During the scene, Mackenzie Davis’s “enhanced” human character protects Natalia Reyes’s character from the attacking Terminator played by Gabriel Luna. Luna’s villain splits into two separate Terminators, and Davis fights them both off until she’s finally cornered. Just in time, Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor arrives, laying into both Terminators with a variety of weaponry, including a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. As she drops a grenade onto one from above, she utters the famous line, “I’ll be back.”

The footage continued with a look at Connor’s conversation with Davis and Reyes afterward, in which she explains that she and her son, John, stopped Judgment Day from happening in 1991, and that she now hunts Terminators. The group visits Schwarzenegger’s character, the mysterious T-800, at his remote cabin, where he’s apparently posing as a human named Carl–a name Connor refuses to call him. She promises to kill him eventually, but in the meantime, they accept his help protecting Reyes’s character.

Earlier, during the panel’s opening, Cameron said his one stipulation to come on board as producer for Terminator: Dark Fate was that Arnold Schwarzenegger be involved, and that he was excited to come up with a new character for Arnold–the mysterious T-800. Cameron said he also had to convince Linda Hamilton to come back for the movie, as she was conflicted about returning. “Thankfully, she agreed, and we built the story around that,” Cameron said.

Cameron also casually dropped a bombshell: Edward Furlong, the actor who portrayed young John Connor in 1991’s T2, will reprise his role in Terminator: Judgment Day.

Director Tim Miller was the first to take the stage during the panel itself, and he confirmed Terminator: Dark Fate is rated R. “It’s because the fans kind of demanded it, in a way,” he said. “I had a whole other plan in case it didn’t go R–I had a backup plan. But the DNA of Terminator is an R-rated f***ing movie. So to not do it R feels disingenuous to the source material. So we knew that’s what the fans wanted, we knew that’s what we wanted to do, and even though it was up in the air, that was always my plan.

“I got so many takes of Linda [Hamilton] saying ‘f***,’ it’s amazing,” Miller laughed.

Miller also explained how the movie fits with the Terminator timeline, and how the franchise’s time travel works in his mind.

“I feel like time travel with multiple realities loses some stakes,” Miller said. “If you can change time and it could be anything, it could be multiple or alternate timelines, I feel like you lose a little bit of the dramatic stakes. So in the Terminator franchise, there is only one timeline.”

Miller referenced the end of Terminator 2, when Sarah Connor destroys Cyberdyne, saying Dark Fate will explore the consequences of that choice. “Sarah’s living with the consequences of that decision, and we see how it rolls out 20-some years later,” he said.

Linda Hamilton was next to take the stage, and she elaborated on her decision to return to the franchise. “It was the passage of time, and I was very intrigued by the characters seeing that time changes everything, what has happened, who she is now, and what has happened to make her who she is now, and there were so many more possibilities 27 years later, that I felt that there was just a world of richness that I could explore, and then rock it as a woman of a certain age,” the actress said.

After the rest of the cast took the stage, Arnold Schwarzenegger finally emerged. The iconic star said he “needed to come back.”

“I’m addicted to Terminator,” he said. “Terminator was the movie that really launched my action movie career…From that moment on, everything changed in my life.”

Terminator: Dark Fate hits theaters November 1, 2019.

Quentin Tarantino had been reportedly attached to a Star Trek movie for some time, but until recently he had not commented on the rumors that he might direct it. But with Tarantino now on the publicity circuit for this month’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the filmmaker has been specifically asked about this potential project.

Following recent comments about whether or not a Star Trek movie would count as his final film, Tarantino has now spoken to Deadline in more detail about fans could expect from it. In particular, he has taken exception to comments that Simon Pegg made about the film last year, when he told ComingSoon.net that it would not be “Pulp Fiction in Space.”

As it turns out, that’s exactly what it will be if it happens. “I will say one thing about Star Trek that I’ve been waiting for someone to bring up,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll do it or not. I’ve got to figure it out, but Mark [L. Smith] wrote a really cool script. I like it a lot. There’s some things I need to work on but I really, really liked it. [But] I get annoyed at Simon Pegg. He doesn’t know anything about what’s going on and he keeps making all these comments as if he knows about stuff.

“One of the comments he said, he’s like ‘Well, look, it’s not going to be Pulp Fiction in space.’ Yes, it is! If I do it, that’s exactly what it’ll be. It’ll be Pulp Fiction in space. That Pulp Fiction-y aspect, when I read the script, I felt, I have never read a science fiction movie that has this s**t in it, ever. And they said, I know, that’s why we want to make it. It’s, at the very least, unique in that regard. But there is a gangster element to what we’re doing with the Star Trek thing that works out pretty good.”

Smith, who also wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning The Revenant, wrote the screenplay based on an original idea from Tarantino. Rumors that Tarantino had an idea for a new Star Trek movie first appeared in January 2018. It was reported that he had spoken to JJ Abrams, who directed the first two Star Trek reboot movies, about the possibility of directing it.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie, and releases on July 26. Check out the first trailer here.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is undergoing some big changes. There’s a backstory to the game now, for a start, and the same update, version 4.1, brings a visual revamp to the game’s first map, Erangel.

Developer PUBG Corp. says it has “improved the graphical quality of Erangel’s various areas and terrains across the board.” Those improvements range from various incidental textures and features around the island to specific landmarks, such as the mansion and the prison.

“We’ve updated existing terrain, signage, and buildings and have added a small number of buildings to some areas as well,” the developer states. “To better illustrate Erangel’s history, terrain elements have been added or revised. Trenches, blast marks, camo nets, and abandoned tanks have been added across different areas of the map.”

The visual revamp was already in testing, but those changes have been fine-tuned following player feedback. This version is still only on the test server for now, but will come to the live game soon. More map revamps will follow, PUBG Corp has confirmed, though a timeline for the game’s other maps to be modernized has not been shared.

The new Season 4 trailer, which you can see above, introduces the game’s new lore. The season is scheduled to begin July 24 and is a significant update for PUBG. It adds parkour movement mechanics and brand-new weapons, vehicles, and items. There’s a new battle pass to work through as well, and it contains challenges that can be tackled cooperatively with your squad.

Rainbow Six Siege developer Ubisoft is trialing some big Operator changes on the game’s PC test server. In short, shield Operators are being nerfed, while Nokk and Glazz have been buffed.

Shield characters–Recruit, Blitz, Fuze, and Montagne–will suffer from reduced accuracy when firing from the hip. In addition, melee attacks with ballistic shields will no longer kill enemies in one hit; instead, it will send them into the down-but-not-out (DBNO) state.

Another Operator facing ire from the community at present, Jackal, is being nerfed, too. If he detects you, you’ll be tracked for a total of 20 seconds (with your location refreshing four times in that period)–that’s down from the present scenario of five refreshes over 25 seconds.

For the final two nerfs, the disorientating effect of Echo’s sonic burst will see its duration reduced from 10 seconds to seven, while Maverick’s breaching torch will be louder.

In terms of buffs, Nokk’s ability will now last for the greater duration of 12 seconds, with a 12-second refresh to compensate. Glaz, meanwhile, will be slightly more effective on the move, as his vision penalty won’t be so harsh and takes longer to activate (six seconds, up from 2.5).

You can see the full patch notes below, via Ubisoft. Bear in mind these are only active on the test server for the time being and are subject to change before they come to the live servers. Those playing on console or on public PC servers might be interested in the latest full Rainbow Six Siege update.

Rainbow Six Siege Test Server Update

Balancing

Shield Hip-Fire

Ballistic Shield Hip-Fire

Echo

Glaz

• Reduced time it takes to trigger the vision penalty when moving or rotating, lowering the overall vision penalty when moving.

• Movement time before complete vision is lost is now 6 seconds (up from 2.5s).

• The speed at which the vision penalty is applied when rotating has also been slowed down.

Jackal

• Reduced the number of pings from a scan to 4 (down from 5).

• [Edit/Update for clarification] Tracking: Now 20 seconds ping every 4 seconds + ping duration (initial ping + 4 pings).

• [Further clarification]: Tracking time reduced by 5 seconds. This means that instead of 5 pings (+initial ping) over 25s, it is 4 pings (+initial ping) over 20s.

Maverick

Nokk

• Increased Nøkk’s ability duration to 12 seconds and increased the refill timer to 12 seconds.

• With the longer duration, and cooldown, you’ll be able to better leverage her ability.

Bug Fixes

• FIXED – Under certain circumstances, after emptying the magazine, weapons cannot be reloaded.

• FIXED – After joining in progress, any Yokai drones or hacked Mozzie drones outside will not display the jammed VFX to the player who joined midway.

• FIXED – Missing SFX for Clash when equipping her CCE Shield.

• FIXED – Sometimes placing Mira’s Mirror on a reinforced wall may not breach both sides of the wall.

• FIXED – Players can spawn peek the Docks.

• FIXED – Starting any situation after completing a Custom Online game will start a Thunt Lone Wolf on the same map and mode as the Custom Online game.

• FIXED – Players are unable to reconnect to a Ranked session via the dynamic Play button and remain in queue unless they relaunch.

Reverse Friendly Fire

• Continued chip damage to an individual from another teammate over several rounds will stack RFF points more quickly.

• Putting a teammate into DBNO will now activate RFF and system willr respond accordingly if teammate is revived or bleeds out.

Idle Kick Timer

Tim Willits, studio director of Doom, Rage, and Quake developer Id Software, has announced his intention to leave the company after 24 years.

“I’ve decided to leave Id Software after QuakeCon,” Willits said. “I’ve been extremely lucky to work with the best people in the industry on truly amazing games.

“After QuakeCon I will announce my future plans, where I am going, and what new exciting things I am doing. Stay tuned.”

Willits joined the studio when it was still in its infancy, in 1995, remaining after the studio was acquired by Bethesda parent company ZeniMax. He was one of the key minds behind the original Quake and continued to work extensively on that and Doom over the years, as well as serving as creative director on the first Rage. He later directed Quake Champions.

In his Twitter message, the industry veteran reassured fans his departure will not affect Id’s current lineup of games: “All of the games currently in development are in very good hands, my departure will not affect any planned releases. Id Software is packed full of amazing talent that will continue to develop (long into the future) some of the best shooters in the world.”

In a statement to GameSpot, Bethesda thanked Willits for his years of service: “We want to thank Tim for his amazing 24 years at id Software. He has been an invaluable member of the Id Software team, and the Bethesda family, through his incredible work on franchises like Quake, Rage, and Doom and a fan-favorite at QuakeCon for decades. All of us here at Bethesda wish Tim the best in his future endeavors.”

QuakeCon 2019 takes place later this month in Dallas, Texas. For the first time, it will be accompanied by a sister event in London.

It’s been a wild month for deals, from E3 deals to Steam Summer Sale and Amazon Prime Day. While many retailers launched their own sales to compete with Prime Day this week, digital game store Green Man Gaming has taken a refreshingly different approach, politely launching its own sale the day after Amazon’s blowout sale ended. If you’re a PC gamer, consider this Steam Summer Sale round two, as there are huge savings to be had between now and August 7, when the sale ends.

If you’re a longtime Green Man Gaming customer, you’ll notice this sale works a bit differently than their usual sales. All the discounted games have a tag–either Gold, Silver, or Bronze–which indicate the type of rewards you’ll get with your purchase. All the tagged games come with a 100% off voucher for a free game, but the offering of games to choose from varies by each tag level. For Gold and Silver-tagged games, the free rewards also include an Intel Starter Pack code that lets you select four free games out of 10 total, such as Star Trek Bridge Crew, Raw Data, Gas Guzzlers Extreme, and in-game content for Dreadnought.

Here’s a full breakdown of what each tag level will get you and an overview of some of the best deals available per category.

Gold

Resident Evil 2 – on sale for $39.59 / £29.69

Rewards

• 100% off voucher to use on Gold selection of games
• Intel Starter Pack bundle with four free games
• 15% off voucher for your next Sale purchase

Best deals

Silver

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection – on sale for $6 / £5

Rewards

• 100% off voucher to use on Silver selection of games
• Intel Starter Pack bundle with four free games
• 10% off voucher for your next Sale purchase

Best deals

Bronze

This War of Mine – on sale for $6

Rewards

Best deals

See all deals at Green Man Gaming

Pokemon Masters is on the way this summer, and the Pokemon Company has rolled out a fresh look at the game in action while we wait for our chance to try it for ourselves. The latest trailer shows more of the 3v3 Pokemon battles, support from other Trainers, and sync attacks with your Pokemon.

The release date is still listed as “Summer 2019.” It’s bound to come relatively soon, but no firm release date has been set. It’s coming to iOS and Android devices.

Pokemon Masters takes the familiar Pokemon battling throughout the series and changes it up by featuring sync pairs of renowned trainers and their Pokemon partners. As a result there are a lot of familiar faces littered throughout the trailers so far, and this one is no exception. Masters also takes place in a new region, the island of Pasio. A move gauge fills up over the course of battle, so the flow of combat is spent managing the various meters of trainers you have on your team.

Meanwhile, the next major installments in the series, Pokemon Sword and Shield, are set to come this fall. Nintendo is even putting out a special color scheme for the new Nintendo Switch Lite to accompany it.

While many popular TV shows rarely leave it more than a year between seasons, Adult Swim’s hugely popular animated series Rick & Morty has, so far, appeared less frequently. There was an 18-month wait between between Seasons 2 and 3, and the build-up to Season 4 has been even longer–more than two years will have passed by the time it arrives in November. Now Rick & Morty creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland have spoken about the upcoming season and assured fans that they’ll never have to wait that long for another season again.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Harmon and Roiland alluded to the protracted contract negotiations that delayed Season 4 but ultimately led to a deal ensuring another 70 episodes of Rick & Morty.

“I think it’s safe to say without fear of being wrong that the gap between Seasons 3 and 4 will be the longest and last time that it’s ever so long that it’s ridiculous,” Harmon said. “I don’t know how fast we can do it, but I know it will never be this long again. There were so many things that had to be settled before we even started Season 4, and it’s really safe to say we’re literally writing Season 5 while finishing Season 4 just to force ourselves to commit to a certain schedule.”

The pair confirmed that Season 4 will consist of 10 episodes, and while they were reluctant to reveal many details, they did hint at what fans can expect. “Without giving anything away, we have serialized stuff we check in on now and then that’s sprinkled over the top of strong episodic episodes,” Roiland said. “To fans of the show, they’re going to want to watch them in order. [And] I would definitely say watch all of Season 3 before Season 4.”

Rick & Morty will feature at San Diego Comic-Con, which is currently underway. The Rick & Morty panel takes place on Friday, July 19 at 1 PM PT, at the Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront. In the EW interview, Harmon teased the panel. “Justin is going to kick me under the desk here, but I’ve been pushing to show at Comic-Con an animatic for an episode that we aborted in the early stages,” he revealed. “We could fix it, but fixing it would take as long as doing a new episode.”

Roiland also spoke about the biggest incident of the show’s last SDCC appearance, in 2017: the McDonald’s Szechuan sauce controversy. The fast food giant released a limited edition version of the sauce, that was last sold in the 1990s and was referenced in a Season 3 episode of Rick & Morty. Unfortunately demand was so high that many fans were unable to get hold of it. “Aside from it being a weird bit of a bummer for everybody, it was also an insane thing we never predicted,” Roiland said. “That joke in our show would have caused giant multibillion dollar corporation to bring back a sauce they used to serve in the late ’90s.”

Although a specific premiere date for Rick & Morty Season 4 has not been announced yet, eager fans can check out one of the new episodes ahead of its TV screening at the Adult Swim Festival. It takes place in Los Angeles and runs from Friday, November 15 to Saturday, November 16, and is described by Adult Swim as a “one-of-a-kind, 360° fan experience.”

For more information about all the panels and events taking place at SDCC, check out GameSpot’s guide to schedules, panels, and news.

EA has revealed Plants Vs. Zombies 3, the third mainline entry in its garden-based tower defense series. What’s more, there’s a free-to-play pre-alpha version playable right now.

“At PopCap, we’ve been working on PvZ for years and want to bring our beloved plants and zombies to current players and the next generation of players everywhere,” the developer said. “We’re hard at work testing out a lot of fun things that we want your feedback on, and hope you will come on this journey with us!”

Details on the game’s new features are scant at present. The most noticeable change, judging by the screenshots you can see above, is that the series appears to have switched from a landscape orientation to portrait. Otherwise, things look largely familiar, with old friendly plant faces getting in on the action.

The pre-alpha is a limited release–meaning not everyone who downloads will actually get to play–on Android only. If you can’t get access, PopCap says to try again another day as it will be opening up the pre-alpha in phases. At present, it appears the game’s Google Play listing is only accessible in the US.

A final release date, meanwhile, has not yet been announced; PopCap says it wants “to make sure we have everything ready and in tip-top shape for you to enjoy, so we’ll let you know when we have a worldwide release date.”

EA had previously listed a new Plants Vs. Zombies game for release in the final quarter of 2019. However, that game was listed as a shooter, so it’s unclear if PvZ 3 is that same game launching this year given this appears to be a tower defense game.

The original Plants Vs. Zombies launched on PC in 2009, before later coming to mobile, Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS, and PS Vita. The game’s success attracted EA, which acquired developer PopCap in 2011. A number of sequels and spin-offs have since launched, including Plants Vs Zombies 2 and the Garden Warfare series.