Month: August 2019

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming to PC, and now developer 343 Industries has shared some new insight on two hot-button issues: mods and anti-cheat.

In a blog post, 343 said it continues to be in “full support” of modding games within The Master Chief Collection on PC, but there are some important details to be aware of. First, all mods must conform to Microsoft’s terms of use. Also, players must have a legally purchased copy.

“We encourage the modding community to update the games the way you see fit to play with your friends. This is something the Halo community has done for a long time and as long as it follows the Xbox Content Usage rules there should be no reason to stop,” 343 explained.

Moving on to anti-cheat, 343 said it will make use of an “industry-leading anti-cheat solution” to lessen the impact of bad behavior for games played on dedicated servers. “We are doing this in order to allow modded content to be used by the community for other game modes they would like to customize,” 343 said. “Our goals are to protect players while also providing freedom to players who mod as long as it doesn’t negatively impact others. We will have a lot more to talk about on this in the future as development progresses.”

343 did not specifically mention the name of the anti-cheat software it will use likely because doing so would give cheaters a head start on devising ways to get around the system.

343 launched the first beta test, or “flight,” in the Halo parlance for Halo: Reach on PC in July. It was promptly illegally distributed, and Microsoft was swift to threaten bans.

In other news, 343 shared a series of videos of some of the silliest bugs they encountered in development; you can see these posted below.

The first trailer for the next movie from famed director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Insomnia, Dunkirk) has premiered, but there is a huge catch.

The trailer for the movie, Tenet, is currently exclusive to theatres where it is airing in front of the Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw. According to Variety and other sources, viewers were treated to a 40-second teaser, and the video might have been only shown in preview screenings for Hobbs & Shaw. It’s unclear when the video will be released online.

IGN has a full breakdown of what’s in the Tenet teaser. It begins showing off star John David Washington and a tagline, “It’s time for a new protagonist.” Another line says, “It’s time for a new kind of mission.” Officially, the movie is described as “an action epic in the world of international espionage.” IGN describes Tenet as potentially being something like “Inception with time travel.”

Tenet opens on July 17, 2020. The movie also stars Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Clemence Poesy, Kenneth Branagh, and frequent Nolan collaborator Michael Caine.

It’ll be Nolan’s first movie since 2017’s Dunkirk. Before that, Nolan directed Interstellar (2014), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight (2008), The Prestige (2006), Batman Begins (2005), Insomnia (2002), Memento (2000), and Following (1998). He has been nominated for five Academy Awards.

His brother Jonathan Nolan created the HBO show Westworld with his wife Lisa Joy.

The latest weekend box office numbers are in, and the Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham, opened to a massive number.

The action film took in $60.8 million during its US/Canada opening this weekend, which made it far and away the biggest movie of the weekend, according to box office numbers from Entertainment Weekly. Hobbs & Shaw made a further $120 million from its overseas opening to bring its global haul to $180 million after just one weekend. As it happens, $180 million is also the estimated production budget of Hobbs & Shaw.

At $60.8 million in North America, Hobbs & Shaw performed substantially lower than almost every other movie in the series, but that is to be expected given it is a spinoff. You can see the domestic opening-weekend figures for every Fast & Furious movie posted below via Box Office Mojo.

Hobbs & Shaw is directed by Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. The movie also features Idris Elba as the villain, alongside Helen Mirren, Eiza Gonzalez, and Eddie Marsan.

The entire Fast & Furious franchise has now made more than $5 billion in box office receipts worldwide since it premiered all the way back in 2009. Hobbs & Shaw is the ninth instalment.

GameSpot’s review of Hobbs & Shaw called it “wildly fun, but very dumb.”

Elsewhere, Disney’s The Lion King finished No. 2 with $38.2 million to push its domestic haul to $430.9 million. The movie has now made $764.9 million from international markets to push its global haul to $1.195 billion. Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, meanwhile, added $20 million this weekend in the US and Canada to push its total haul to $78.8 million; the movie opens later in August in other parts of the world.

August 2-4 Domestic Box Office

via Entertainment Weekly

1. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw — $60.8 million
2. The Lion King — $38.2 million
3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — $20 million
4. Spider-Man: Far From Home — $7.8 million
5. Toy Story 4 — $7.2 million
6. Yesterday — $2.4 million
7. The Farewell — $2.4 million
8. Crawl — $2.2 million
9. Aladdin — $2 million
10. Annabelle Comes Home — $875,000

Fast & Furious Franchise Opening-Weekend Box Office (Domestic Only)

1. Furious 7 (2015) — $147.2 million
2. The Fate of the Furious (2016) — $98.8 million
3. Fast & Furious 6 (2013) — $97.4 million
4. Fast Five (2011) — $86.2 million
5. Fast & Furious (2009) — $70.95 million
6. Hobbs & Shaw (2019) — $60.8 million
7. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) — $50.4 million
8. The Fast and the Furious (2001) — $40 million
9. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) — $23.9 million

August is full of video games, and this week is a good chance to play some games you might have missed the first time around, including the Guacamelee One-Two Punch Collection, the arcade-y Damsel, and a Nintendo Switch port of Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition. There’s also a big helping of sci-fi strategy with Age of Wonders: Planetfall and mech mayhem with Metal Wolf Chaos XD.

Guacamelee One-Two Punch Collection — August 6

Available on: PS4, Switch

If you missed out on Guacamelee 1 or 2, now’s your chance to play both wrestling Metroidvanias in one package. The luchador Juan can explore different corners of Mexico, using his wrestling moves to take down bad guys and solve puzzles. Pick up the physical edition, and you’ll get a poster and soundtrack download.

More Coverage:

Age of Wonders: Planetfall — August 6

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Planetfall is the fifth entry in Paradox’s Age of Wonders 4X series, and this one is wrapped in a new sci-fi setting. You can choose from six different factions as you undergo those four X’s: exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination. Each faction has its own strengths and weaknesses too, leading to deeper strategies.

More Coverage:

Metal Wolf Chaos XD — August 6

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

From Software, known nowadays for the Dark Souls series, put out the original Metal Wolf Chaos in 2004. It’s a mech-based action game where the President of the United States suits up to take on a rebellious Vice President in his own mech. Yes, really. This HD version of the game looks better, supports 4K resolution, and features improved controls.

More Coverage:

Damsel — August 7

Available on: Xbox One, Switch

Damsel is an arcade action game where your mission is to take down a corporation of of evil vampires. Damsel herself wields a shotgun and special powers, which you can use to fight monsters and rescue hostages. The game has been out on PC for some time, but this week you can revisit it on new platforms.

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition — August 8

Available on: Switch

Complete Edition includes Pillars of Eternity and all its DLC, and the critically acclaimed RPG is coming to Switch this week. Combat can be played in real time, or you can pause the action to take a more tactical approach. Thanks to the Switch’s portability, you could start an encounter at home and resume the battle wherever you happen to be later in the day.

More Coverage:

August has many more games on the horizon, and New Releases will dive into another batch next week. If you’re looking for more Nintendo Switch ports, Friday the 13th: The Game is making its way to the handheld console, and Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is launching too.

SNK has announced that King of Fighters XV is in development. The surprise announcement was made at EVO 2019, the fighting game tournament that sees players from across the world compete to be crowned the best in a variety of games.

The announcement was just a logo of the game, along with the confirmation that the sequel was in the works. No further details on when the game would be released or what platforms it will be available for were revealed. A logo is all we’ve got, but for fans of the long-running fighting game franchise, it will no doubt be exciting.

It’s been around three years since the last King of Fighters was released. When King of Fighters XIV arrived in 2016, GameSpot awarded it an 8/10. “With plenty of opportunities available online or off, KOF 14 is a well-executed addition to the revered fighting series,” said Matt Espineli in his KOF 14 review.

“Those disappointed in its new visuals may be unwilling to give it a chance, but if you remain steadfast in parsing through the multiple layers of its mechanics, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most accessible, satisfying entries in the series to date.”