October is right around the corner, and the focus will be on the world of horror movies. And one such film, which arrives on October 25, is called Countdown.
The movie follows a nurse who downloads an app that tells you when you are going to die, only to find out she has three days to live. With others users dying mysteriously, she needs to figure out how to stop her impending doom. Check out the trailer above.
Why didn’t she read the user agreement? There are plenty of apps on the various mobile stores that do this very thing, except it’s a random algorithm and not a real prediction. Interestingly enough, this movie takes that simple premise down a dark path, and that first trailer gives the film a thriller feel while introducing some hideous beast with long, black fingers.
The horror movie stars Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Bateman, and Tichina Arnold, and is directed and written by Justin Dec. This is Dec’s first feature-length film.
Borderlands 3 follows in its predecessors’ footsteps by offering a nearly endless supply of guns to collect. The game lets you cash in special credits distributed from outside the game for loot, and the store Spencer’s Gifts is running a promotion that will let you bank some credits early.
From September 13-23, you can stop by a Spencer’s and pick up a free scratch-off card with a purchase. That scratch card will entitle you to 1500 VIP Diamond Club points, which you can use to claim in-game loot. To use the code you’ll need to have registered as a Vault Insider through the official site.
1500 points is enough to get 10 Gold Keys, which can be traded for random guns. Or you can save those points toward more expensive items like specific specialty weapons (4000 credits), or cosmetics like new skins and character heads (3000-4000 credits). Points won’t expire as long as the VIP program exists, so you can hold onto them for as long as it takes to find something you want.
“If you’ve never been a fan of the franchise, it’s unlikely Borderlands 3 does enough things differently to change your mind, as the game best excels at continuing what the series has always done: deliver a humorous tall tale of misfits looting and shooting their way to heroism,” wrote Jordan Ramee.
By now you might have heard that NHL 20, which is launching today on PS4 and Xbox One, features a battle royale mode. How does battle royale work in an ice hockey context? Not the way you’d expect. GameSpot recently caught up with EA Sports producer Sean Ramjagsingh, and he spoke to us about NHL 20’s battle royale mode, called Eliminator, and lots more.
Ramjagsingh was careful to point out that Eliminator is not a true battle royale experience like another EA game, Apex Legends, or Fortnite and PUBG. “We don’t drop a hundred hockey players on an island to spear each other,” he explained, though it’s exciting–or actually probably horrifying–to think about that.
In the battle royale mode, you can go it alone in Ones or team up with two others in Threes to try to survive four consecutive rounds in a bracket to win the tournament. Like the battle royale games it’s inspired by, it’s challenging and high-stakes, and it encourages you to keep coming back and improve your skills and eventually get crowned winner.
Like a real battle royale game, NHL 20’s version of it aims to capture the intensity and the fear of losing and having to start over. In that way, it’s highly replayable, and the time investment is never too long. Winning four matches to win the overall tournament takes about 20 minutes.
Ramjagsingh also spoke to us about NHL 20’s updated pond hockey mode, Ones, which this year features an offline mode for local couch play, as well as four new rinks and other welcome adjustments.
“It’s in the little details that create that different look and feel. The ice is really different when you don’t have a Zamboni clean it after every 20 minutes of play,” he said. “The lighting is completely natural, creating shadows you don’t see playing under indoor lights. And you’ll hear ambient sounds of wildlife and city life that were created specifically for each rink.”
Pond hockey was introduced to the NHL series with NHL 19, and while Ramjagsingh declined to share player-usage numbers, he said the mode overall surpassed his expectations.
“I assumed it’d be a casual mode that players would play just to get their feet wet in World of Chel. But what happened was that players found Ones super competitive and came back over and over again, often to fill the time between longer matches in EASHL,” he said.
You can read GameSpot’s full interview with Ramjagsingh below. NHL 20 is out now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
What’s new in pond hockey mode this year?
Pond hockey goes much wider this year. We have four gorgeous and memorable outdoor rinks. The Farm captures the nostalgia of the Canadian prairies and mid-western U.S. The Park is an urban oasis where kids anywhere might have dragged their skates and sticks to the local pond. The Canal brings to life the fantasy of playing hockey on the world’s largest skating rink. And The Peak elevates hockey to 20,000 feet above sea level.
Also, these outdoor rinks are available in more modes than before: Ones, EASHL 3v3/6v6, and now Threes. That last one looks absolutely incredible at night-time.
Specifically on the offline mode feature, can you talk about the decision to introduce offline play this year?
We knew that we’d have fans asking for a couch-play version this year. It was just too addictive for many players that it was an easy decision, but we wanted Ones Now to stand on its own offline. So we added a selection of NHL players, icons, and mascots to choose from. Each has its own style of AI to add variety to gameplay. We pulled together the four new outdoor rinks with the four from Carter Lake in NHL 19. And we added stat tracking per controller so you can easily track who has bragging rights, either for the current session for all-time. In short, it’s the ultimate party game for hockey fans.
Looking at the feedback from last year, what areas did you want to focus on for pond hockey across all facets like gameplay, presentation, etc.?
I think delivering a full-fleshed Ones Now mode was very important, so it could instantly appeal to casual and hardcore fans. Ones was a fast way to play to log lots of wins or to fill time between longer matches. But offline, it’s super-fast to play. There’s no waiting for matchmaking or syncing. And with preset characters to choose from, you don’t need to even create a custom players as you’d do in Ones in World of Chel.
One more key change was introducing a more compact format to Ones online. Playing for the Daily Ones Championship meant having to log literally hours on the top rink. And only one player could feel like the champ. In Ones Eliminator, we put you into a tournament quickly with 80 other players without sitting in a Dressing Room. Losing a game means starting over in a new tournament. Stringing together four wins in a row makes you a champ. These changes may sound really simple, but the result is a mode that’s actually easier to get in and harder to put down.
Pond hockey was brand-new in NHL 19. Apart from the Winter Classics, it was the first time the series had gone fully outdoors. How do you go about surprising and wowing people a second time?
I’m proud of how our artists captured the look and feel of playing outside on a cold winter’s day in NHL 19. But this year, each one of the new outdoor rinks has a very distinct vibe. For example, The Farm and its big sky and light snow make it awesome and quiet at the same time. And playing in the tree-cast shadows of The Canal turn a big city attraction into something that feels so natural. I’m sure our fans will be wowed, and will bring their own hockey memories and fantasies to these great venues.
The new locations look terrific and varied. What drew you to these locations specifically?
In recent years, EA Sports NHL has embraced the challenge of showing hockey in all of its forms. EASHL is the ultimate cooperative experience. Threes introduced over-the-top action and playing as mascots. Ones captured the freedom and creativity of outdoor pond hockey. We choose the new outdoor locations to bring new visual and emotional depth to this wide variety of game modes.
In creating the outdoor environments and replicating the pond hockey experience, what kind of research was involved?
Lots of photos, videos, and maps were involved. And the passion of an art team that re-iterated these rinks until everyone in the room was so proud of the results.
What kinds of things have you done with NHL 20 to replicate pond hockey culture?
It’s in the little details that create that different look and feel. The ice is really different when you don’t have a Zamboni clean it after every 20 minutes of play. The lighting is completely natural, creating shadows you don’t see playing under indoor lights. And you’ll hear ambient sounds of wildlife and city life that were created specifically for each rink.
How does progression work in Ones this year relative to last? And what kinds of things can you collect?
We split Ones into Ones Eliminator online and Ones Now couch play. In Ones Eliminator, you win your way through a four-round tournament. The further you get, the rarer the vanity items you can win. And in Ones Now, the more you play, the more choices you unlock. You’ll unlock more outdoor rinks, more NHL stars, more NHL icons (like Mario Lemieux), and more mascots (yes, Gritty is one of them).
Your version of battle royale is a cool standout feature for Ones this year. Can you talk about why you wanted to get involved with the battle royale phenomenon and how it works in NHL 20?
I’d say we didn’t get involved in Battle Royale per se. We don’t drop a hundred hockey players on an island to spear each other. For Ones Eliminator, we included elements that make sense for an online hockey tournament: fast matchmaking, match intensity because of the fear of losing and having to start over, and being able to be a champion within about 20 minutes. Our Ones daily tournament took, well, a day to be crowned champion. I’d say 20 minutes is a lot more accessible! (Note that we still have the daily championship for those dedicated enough to win the most Eliminators in a single day!)
Are there any player numbers or datapoints you can provide that speak to the popularity of Ones within the NHL package?
We don’t share usage numbers with the public. But what I can say is that Ones surpassed my expectations. I assumed it’d be a casual mode that players would play just to get their feet wet in World of Chel. But what happened was that players found Ones super competitive and came back over and over again, often to fill the time between longer matches in EASHL.
The NHL video game package altogether has multiple elements that are all quite different; the standard sim game, Franchise, Ultimate Team, Threes, and Ones. What are some of the challenges of making the overall experience feel cohesive with so many disparate elements?
I think it’s the second-to-second re-creation of hockey moments that runs through every mode. In NHL 19, we revamped shooting and hitting to great acclaim. In NHL 20, we revamped just about everything else you do at speed on the ice: passing, pick-ups, and one-timers. While we added better control and animation coverage that is more realistic, it’s also made gameplay more fun no matter which mode or game style you choose. EASHL and Ultimate Team fans benefit from more scoring chances. Threes players get even more end-to-end rushes. In Ones you have even more control to show off your individual skills. So it’s really our increasingly polished gameplay that ties the whole package together.
Do you see Ones as an experiment that you tried with ’19 and are honing for 20, or rather as part and parcel with the overall NHL game package these days and going forward?
I think Ones and also Threes showed that fans want more variations that broaden the skills and strategies you need to win. Having no rules or penalties in Ones is really fun when you also don’t have teammates or zones. Also having a sudden death overtime in which the third place skater can come back to win is really exciting. Moneypuck in Threes makes absolutely every goal meaningful. I think we will continue to search for new variations that leap ahead of real-life hockey, without sacrificing the authentic NHL experience when you want exactly that.
Anything more to share about Ones in NHL 20?
Check out the skills and styles specific to each skater in Ones Now. And give us feedback on who your favorites are and who you’d like to see in future updates.
With its new commentary team and updated presentation package, NHL 20 represents the franchise’s biggest shakeup in years–and they’re mostly positive changes. Combined with excellent controls, fluid gameplay, numerous fun and engaging different modes to play, a fine attention to detail and appreciation for hockey culture, NHL 20 is a step forward that is generally excellent.
Big Changes
The biggest change for NHL 20 is its broadcast package. It is almost completely different this year, and the changes–which span commentary, UI, and graphics–are mostly positive but not always for the better. Commentators Mike “Doc” Emerick and Eddie Olczyk are out, while nearly the entirety of the NBC Sports Network license package, including live-action sequences, are gone, too. It’s a jarring change, as Emerick and Olczyk have been the voice of EA’s NHL games since NHL 15.
The new commentators are Canadian sports radio personality James Cybulski and former player and current rinkside analyst Ray Ferarro. They do a mostly adept job at calling plays with style, flair, and personality, and their back-and-forth banter succeeds at capturing the essence of hockey culture with hockey IQ and knack. Some commentary lines are repeated too often, however, and Cybulski in particular sounds at times like he is hamming it up and acting like every game is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Outside of the new commentary team, NHL 20’s updated broadcast presentation includes more colorful and dynamic graphics that display important information in more eye-catching ways. In addition to brighter colors and sharper fonts, NHL 20 introduces more dramatic, slow-motion highlights of goal scores, as well as Overwatch-style “Play of the Period” and “Play of the Game” highlights. These moments do a good job at breaking down key plays, and, with their unique angles and close-ups, provide nice moments to sit back and revel in your achievements.
Part of this updated broadcast package is a new location for the score clock, which is the only major misstep. It’s now at the bottom of the screen compared to the top-left in last year’s game–and it cannot be moved in the Settings. The new score clock location opens up more space on the screen for action, but I found it positively difficult to quickly and easily see the important information like time left in the game, penalty minutes, and other datapoints while simultaneously keeping my eyes on the action. It’s a baffling choice, especially considering many of NHL 20’s various other modes keep the score clock where it was. This inconsistency worsens the experience, as you have to train your eyes in multiple ways depending on which mode you’re playing.
Authentic Hockey
NHL 20 succeeds the most with excellent, tight controls that give you the freedom to execute basically any hockey move you can think of. There are also changes to animations and skating mechanics that make the game appear more lifelike. Building off what was already the franchise’s best foot forward with NHL 19, this year’s entry feels faster and more fluid with better animations that more realistically depict important transitional moments like catching a pass and getting intro stride at a quicker pace. Overall, the on-ice gameplay feels faster and more true to the real NHL experience.
There are new shot animations as well, which are contextual in nature and better represent what a shot might look like from a particular part of the ice and depending on angles, power, speed, specific player attributes, and more. In NHL 19, your player would oftentimes still complete the shot animation even if the puck never got to them, which looked very strange, but that rarely happens this year. NHL 20 also introduces “Signature Shots” for a number of the league’s best players; one of these is P.K. Subban’s booming slapshot and Alex Ovechkin’s electric one-timer. It’s a treat to see player-specific animations in NHL 20, and it’s yet another part of the way NHL 20 faithfully represents the real NHL experience. Additionally, goalie AI appears to be smarter this year, with netminders giving up fewer soft rebounds and making generally smarter decisions during important scenarios.
NHL 20’s in-game attention to detail and careful consideration of the sport is astounding. Players look and react as you’d expect them to on a TV broadcast, down to the way players subtly peek back toward their teammates during a face-off to the sharp crackle of skates gliding over outdoor pond ice. On the outdoor rinks, the crimson red glow of sunset over the pond is something to behold. On the ice, the physics system is so realistically presented that I found myself wincing after big open-ice hits.
Unfortunately, NHL 20 doesn’t do much in the area of improving player models. In fact, the character models for players, referees, and the crowd appear largely unchanged from last year. When the replay camera zooms in on fans on the glass, you might be wondering what kind of time vacuum the NHL series exists in for people to never age or look at all different from year to year.
Dirty Dangles
The NHL series is known for its tight, precise controls, and this level of excellence continues with NHL 20. No matter what control setup you’re using, the controls allow for a complete command of your player with astounding simplicity and a lot of depth at the same time. Puck possession and clever play-making are paramount in NHL 20, and the controls never fail to provide you with many different options to keep the puck, get around defenders, make the extra pass, and light the lamp. You have the freedom to play with as much creativity as you want. The game also features a slick and smart on-ice trainer that reacts to how you’re playing and provides dynamic feedback that, for the most part, helps you improve your game.
There is such a level of fine precision with the controls that you can determine the specific angle of a poke-check or toe-drag the puck at just the right time to open space up to make a shot on goal. In essence, the controller’s analog sticks feel like an extension of your on-ice stick. The excellent baseline controls stand out even more once you move on to trying out more more advanced techniques. It takes time and practice to learn the dirtiest dangles the game has to offer, but it’s deeply rewarding to perform spins and dekes that together combine to give you ample opportunities to play with style and pizzazz.
In addition to the standard hockey simulation, NHL 20 has an abundance of arcade-style modes. The pond hockey mode, Ones–which sees three players on a small, outdoor rink competing against each other–introduces four new locations, including a rink set on a secluded farm and another inspired by the Rideau Canal in Canada. These new locations, in addition to weather effects like snow coming down during games, make Ones an even more authentic and holistically representative depiction of the outdoor hockey experience.
Ones is lots of fun with its stripped-down, back-to-basics recreation of outdoor hockey with fast-paced play and lots of goals. Outside of the new locations, the biggest change for Ones is the introduction of offline play for couch co-op, and this is a very welcome addition after last year’s game left it out in a head-scratching move.
The Threes mode, meanwhile, remains NHL’s flashiest and wackiest mode with completely unhinged commentary, mascots lacing it up, lots of goals, and big hits. It’s the mode I found myself coming back to the most due in part to its quick games relative to the standard simulation mode and constant progression rewards in every game played.
The social hub, World of Chel, returns with NHL 20 with some noteworthy updates. The biggest introduction is the “Eliminator” mode, which is NHL’s spin on battle royale. You can go it alone in Ones or team up with two others in Threes to try to survive four consecutive rounds in a bracket to win the tournament. It’s a thrilling, incredibly challenging, high-stakes challenge that, like the battle royale games it’s inspired by, encourage you to keep coming back and improve your skills.
There is a robust character-creator and you earn XP for everything you do across all of World of Chel’s modes. It’s rewarding to invest in your character and know that, whatever mode in World of Chel you’re playing, you’re working towards growing your character with meaningful advancements like new player traits, in addition to nice extras like cosmetic gear. New for World of Chel with NHL 20 are weekly challenges that track your performance and reward you with cosmetics around a particular theme. For example, the launch-week theme is NHL 94, so you can earn all kinds of themed cosmetics like jerseys and other gear. I anticipate coming back regularly.
Elsewhere in NHL 20, the career-minded Be A Pro remains a satisfying and rewarding ride to take as you start your character from the ground floor and build them into a superstar, though there are no noteworthy updates to speak of this year. Franchise, meanwhile, features a new system that gives you multiple team coaches who have influence on the direction of your team today and in the future. The system, which also includes a light conversation mechanic where you can gauge the morale and interest of your coaches, adds a further level of strategy to the already robust Franchise mode that helps you feel like you’re really the GM of a pro team. Franchise also introduces a trade-finder system that makes it less laborious to find and make trades.
Ultimate Team returns as well, and its noteworthy addition is the introduction of Squad Battles. These function the same way they do in Madden and FIFA where you go up against HUT squads created by other players or, after launch, sports stars and celebrities. Hockey Ultimate Team is all about grinding to collect new cards, and it remains a fun experience to build a fantasy team comprised of legends and current stars alike, and compete against others.
NHL 20 successfully captures the ice hockey experience from the ponds to big games under the bright lights, with a fine attention to detail and simple yet deep controls that are best-in-class. Once you get over the shock of Eddie and Doc being out of the game, the new commentary team do an adept job of providing informative and playful banter, while the game’s multitude of varied modes each have their own distinct feel and appeal that go a long way to make NHL 20 an excellent representation of hockey culture across the board.
Monster Hunter World‘s big new expansion, Iceborne, is already big commercial success. Capcom has announced that the add-on shipped 2.5 million copies following its release on September 6.
This counts copies sold digitally on PS4 and Xbox One, as well as units of the game’s Master Edition shipped to retailers and sold digitally. The PC version of Iceborne is slated to launch in January 2020.
Monster Hunter World the base game has shipped 13.1 million copies as of June 30, which makes it the most successful game in Capcom’s history. It’s well ahead of the next biggest game, Resident Evil 5, which has shipped 7.5 million copies, according to Capcom’s public sales data. The entire Monster Hunter series, meanwhile, has passed 58 million copies shipped to date.
Iceborne is a $40 USD expansion that adds all manner of new things to Monster Hunter World, including more story content and monsters to defeat. For more, check out our Iceborne tips guide.
In GameSpot’s 9/10 Iceborne review, Ginny Woo said, “Iceborne is a confident step into the future of the franchise, and it’s hard not to think about what might come next.”
The new Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix is set for a huge opening weekend at the box office. A box office projection reported by Deadline claims the comic book movie is expected to make around $90 million for its opening weekend to set a new record for best October opening in movie history for the United States and Canada.
If it reaches that much money, Joker would surpass the previous domestic October record-holder, Venom, which made $80.2 million over its first weekend. A second tracking service said Joker was lining up to make $82 million over its opening weekend in the Americas. Deadline also reports that it heard earlier in the week, “from those close to Joker,” that the film was tracking towards an opening in the range of $65 million to $80 million.
Joker was produced on a relatively low budget of a reported $55 million (before marketing spend), so given these estimates (which don’t even include any international predictions), it seems like that the movie will be a big success commercially no matter where in the range it lands. That could spell a change for DC movies going forward, as director Todd Phillips spoke at the Toronto International Film Festival that he originally pitched Joker as a movie that exists inside a new label of standalone films. If Joker is a commercial success, you can imagine Warner Bros. looking to make more, though nothing is confirmed at this stage.
“The original idea when I went to Warners was not just about one movie but a label, a side-label to DC where you can do these kind of character study, low-rent, low-budget movies where you get a filmmaker to come in and do some deep dive into a character,” Phillips said.
Joker’s release on October 3 is still a few weeks off, so box office estimates could change. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
GameSpot’s Joker review scored the comic book movie a 10/10. “It might make you uncomfortable, and it will no doubt stay with you long after the curtains close; great movies often do,” reviewer Michael Rougeau said.
It looks like Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, may feature some of our favourite Marvel cartoons from the ’90s.
According to Variety the service has soft launched in the Netherlands to test the platform. The test launch doesn’t include the full line up of titles, including the highly anticipated Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian, but what early users are seeing are some great old school cartoons.
For newer shows coming to the service, have a look at some of the Highlights from Marvel Studios’ reveals at the Disney+ panel during D23 Expo 2019 in this video.
The NPD Group released its report for August 2019 US video game industry sales, providing a look at the health of the business in the states across consoles, games, and accessories.
Total spending on video game software in August 2019 dropped 22 percent to $257 million compared to August 2018, making it the worst software performance in an August month since August 1998 ($234 million). However, year-to-date dollar sales of video games in the US jumped 1 percent to $3.1 billion, with Nintendo Switch attributing to the uptick in sales.
Madden NFL 20 was August 2019’s best-seller, holding on the No. 1 position for a second straight month. Overall, Madden NFL 20 is the third best-selling game of 2019 so far, only behind Kingdom Hearts III and Mortal Kombat 11.
Also notable for August 2019 was that Minecraft was the No. 2 best-seller for August 2019, and that represents the highest the game has ever charted on NPD’s US sales charts.
One of August 2019’s new releases, Age of Wonders: Planetfall, debuted at No. 15, and its first-month sales were higher than any other title’s in the franchise’s history. Another noteworthy takeaway from the report is that five of the 10 top-selling games in August 2019 were Nintendo Switch exclusives.
You can see the full Top 20 best-sellers chart below.
Moving to hardware, total spending on consoles dropped 22 percent compared to August 2018 to $167 million. Spending on a year-to-date basis fell 21 percent to $1.6 billion. The Nintendo Switch was August 2019’s best-selling console, and it’s the best-selling system in 2019 altogether. PS4 and Xbox One console sales declined in August 2019 and the full year in 2019 so far, with the Switch standing as the only home console system that is seeing improved sales.
This all makes sense given the Switch is relatively new compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, which are both coming up on their sixth anniversaries, with next-generation systems expected in Holiday 2020.
Total spending on video games in the US for August 2019–across games, consoles, and accessories–reached $666 million, which is down 18 percent compared to August 2018. On a year-to-date basis, spending across all segments combined is down 6 percent to $7 billion.
