Halo Infinite is due to launch on Xbox Series X, S, PC, and Xbox One in 2021, but so far we haven’t seen anything from the game’s multiplayer. We know that it will be free to play and run at 120FPS, but so far 343 Industries has not shown footage or revealed any of the modes we can expect. However, we’ve now had a glimpse at an armor render from the upcoming game.
In the latest Halo Waypoint update, 343 Industries has revealed a new render for an armor coating in Halo Infinite. This is the Mark VII Mjolnir armor, and while it could change before release, this is how it looks right now at this stage of development.
In its current form, it looks like a brand-new suit–perhaps the final version will feature some scuffs. Here’s a first look at one of the Spartans you’re probably going to kill (or be killed by) at some point online.
We’ve seen concept art for some new character designs for Infinite, but this is the first proper render of a multiplayer character we’ve seen.
Halo Infinite was originally expected to release this holiday as a launch title for the Xbox Series X, but, due in part to complications related to COVID-19 and working from home, Microsoft shifted the release date to 2021. Despite what you might have read on the internet, Halo Infinite is not abandoning Xbox One or getting delayed again to 2022.
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Throughout The Boys Season 1, Black Noir remained one of the most mysterious characters on the show. Now that Season 2 has concluded with a shocking and satisfying finale, we can say definitively that Noir remains an enigma. Besides a few tidbits and a small reveal, we learned basically nothing about him throughout the latest eight episodes. Of course, as Nathan Mitchell, the actor behind the black mask, told us recently, that’s entirely by design.
The Boys fans who have read the comics on which the series is based know that Noir has a massive role in the original story. But Amazon’s adaptation has so far played fast and loose with the source material, and certain hints in Season 2–like the partial reveal of Noir’s face during his fight with Starlight and Queen Maeve in Episode 7–seem like pretty definitive proof that Noir’s backstory will be different in the show. But Mitchell wouldn’t help us rule out any possibilities.
“I am aware of the [comics storyline],” the actor told us, deftly avoiding making any further comment on various fan theories (if you want to know more about Noir’s role in the comics, check out our explainer here–but be warned of potential spoilers).
“As far as Black Noir’s future, you know, I think it’s best to just leave all of that up to speculation. I think there are certain things you can infer from the reveal, and you see what you see. I’m looking forward to going down this path, that we can keep surprising the audience,” he said.
“I’m gonna let everybody have fun with their thoughts and their theories,” he continued. “I think that’s the best way to go. Like you said, it’s an adaptation, you know, it’s a remix, in a lot of different ways. And I think the fun thing about Noir is that he is a mystery, and that his motives and his backstory, his intention–they’re all a mystery. And so I’m gonna keep it that way.”
Of course the character is a mystery–it’s hard to be anything else when you never take your mask off or talk. The fleeting glimpse of Noir’s mouth and jaw in Episode 7 was the most skin Mitchell has ever revealed on The Boys, and yet he finds ways to express Noir’s feelings.
“The decision you make of what mask you choose says something about you,” the actor said, explaining that he likes to imagine what Noir would be saying if he chose to speak, act it out, then simply remove the words while keeping the emotion intact: “Every movement, every decision you make, verbal or nonverbal, the world views you in some way. And so for me, as long as I can move freely and express myself through my body, I’m happy. I think I can say a lot about Noir through his body, so I think it’s a really fun role to play.”
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Noir is a terror in battle, but this season also revealed a seemingly softer side to him. Although misguided, he attempted to comfort a child with a stuffed pink bunny in the Season 2 premiere (while holding a severed head in his other hand). We also saw him appearing to weep when the news of Compound V went global and the world learned that “superheroes are made, not born.” Mitchell said in his opinion, those emotions are genuine.
“He does have a soft side and an empathetic dimension to him, and I think that’s what makes him interesting,” the actor said. “This is the reality of, he could rip you to shreds on the battlefield in a second, but when he’s off duty, there is a human there that feels and is vulnerable, you know, is odd and quirky in different ways.”
Noir had a few juicy fight scenes in Season 2, and Mitchell said the battle with Annie and Maeve was “a lot of fun.” Hilariously, it ended when Maeve shoved an Almond Joy into his mouth, revealing that tree nuts are Black Noir’s very own kryptonite–and one that Mitchell shares with the character.
“It was classic [showrunner Eric Kripke] writing. It’s just such a great, great moment,” Mitchell said. “The nut allergy is a thing that I deal with, so it’s very art imitating life–not that I’ve necessarily, you know, had to deal with chocolate bars being shoved down my mouth by someone I was fighting.” Luckily, they made sure to use a fake Almond Joy wrapper and a nut-free chocolate when shooting the scene (Mitchell thinks it may have had marshmallow).
With Season 2, The Boys proved itself to be one of the best shows on TV right now. Unsurprisingly, we already know that Season 3 is coming. We’re excited to learn more about Black Noir as the character’s drip feed of mystery continues in the future, and Mitchell left us with one tease: “It’s gonna be crazy.”
If you, like us, spent your time with The Boys Season 2 over the past two months wondering and theorizing aboutwho was popping people’s heads like bubble gum, you were probably happy to finally get an answer at the very end of the Season 2 finale, Episode 8, “What I Know.” That said, you may not have been thrilled about what that answer actually was.
Warning: This article contains massive spoilers for The Boys Season 2. You’ve been warned.
As Congresswoman Victoria Neuman’s presence grew throughout The Boys Season 2, it became more and more clear that the anti-Vought politician would have a large role to play. Her resemblance to real-life progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) helped endear her to viewers whose politics align with the show’s progressive stance, and by the end, many fans no doubt found themselves clinging to Neuman as the last hope to curtail Vought’s power going forward. Unfortunately, as the finale’s final scenes revealed, Neuman has actually been working for Vought all along. Not only is she a supe herself, but she’s been responsible for the head-exploding murders throughout Season 2, from CIA Deputy Director Raynor in the Season 2 premiere to the bloodbath at the hearing in Episode 7.
Hats off to you if you saw this coming, because we absolutely did not. Despite knowing that the comics version of the character–Victor Neuman, or Vic the Veep–was in Vought’s pocket, it seemed like the show was simply using the name while taking the character in a completely different direction. Unfortunately for The Boys–and for viewers who hoped Congresswoman Neuman would be a force for good–her entire arc this season turned out to be one giant misdirect. So naturally, we jumped at the chance to speak with Claudia Doumit, the actress who plays Congresswoman Neuman, about the character’s trajectory.
Right off the bat, we learned that even Doumit didn’t know her character would turn out to be evil, until it came time to shoot one pivotal scene.
“I remember, I’d run into [showrunner Eric Kripke] on occasion on set, he’d be passing to go somewhere else, and he would just say to me, ‘Big stuff for Neuman, very exciting! We’ve got some big stuff coming!’ I’d have no idea what he was talking about. And I’d get the script for the next episode. And she’s like, at a rally. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is exciting, I guess!’…It was just so confusing how excited the writers were and everyone was for this character, because in comparison, there are scenes where way more intense s*** is happening in the season with [other] characters. But then I got the script for Episode 7.”
Doumit realized that Neuman was the head-exploder when she reached the hearing scene. That’s one of the reasons this twist was so hard to predict: Up until that moment, even the actor hadn’t known that Neuman was a villain. She played the character completely straight, without even subconscious hints at her true nature.
Doumit recalled that Kripke had told her to think of Neuman as “just a person” in this over-the-top world of supes and villains (who are usually one and the same). “I remember he said to me–which is hilarious–he was like, ‘People with power don’t have to
show that they have power. They just have it.'” Kripke told her to think of Neuman like a “very well known celebrity”–someone who effortlessly exudes power and influence without appearing like they’re showing off, like George Clooney.
Even in the murky trenches of YouTube comments and Reddit threads, few Boys fans guessed that Neuman was the culprit. Doumit said there actually are hints throughout the season, but they’re nebulous and few. One example she gave is more of a wink and a nudge in hindsight: In the Season 2 premiere, shortly after Raynor is assassinated, Neuman’s appearance on a news show serves as a scene transition, connecting the character with the act, albeit subtly to the point that it serves as more of a retrospective “a-ha” than an actual clue.
The biggest hint came from the end of Episode 7, during the carnage at the hearing. Those who re-watch that scene with the knowledge we have now will find that Neuman, though acting perfectly shocked, looks directly at several victims the moment before their heads erupt. When Mallory begins pulling her out of the room, nobody dies for a second or two, until Neuman glances back at her campaign manager, who promptly pops. It’s a marvelous ballet of masterful choreography, acting, and editing that makes it completely clear what’s going on, but only once you know what to look for.
“So there are kind of Easter eggs in there, but it’s very subtle,” Doumit said. “I think it’s good. I think that’s how they should do it. You should not expect her.”
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If there’s one group of people who should have seen this twist coming, it’s fans who have read The Boys comics. In the books, Vic the Veep is a Vought-funded politician who the company hopes to install in the highest office in the land. But Doumit was unaware even of the comics version of her character, leaving her as in-the-dark as most viewers.
When it came time to film the hearing, Doumit said she came back from a break and found the room covered floor to ceiling with blood. For her part, they did some takes where she looked completely shocked, and others where her reaction was “a little bit more measured.”
There’s one last factor here to discuss, beyond the shock value of Neuman’s villainous reveal. It’s the fact that we’re living through a time of turmoil, and AOC, on whom the character was openly based, is a beacon of hope for many of the show’s viewers. So many characters on The Boys are corrupt or evil, and it was nice having just one person in a position of power who was on the right side of history. There’s no doubt that some fans will not be crazy about this knife twist.
“The Boys tackles issues that are very timely–painfully timely. And I think that the characters that they implement as vehicles to tackle these issues and to bring them up and to talk about them are just as timely,” Doumit said. She understands that people are drawn to AOC’s voice and messages, but said the focus for fans should be on the issues and themes that the show brings up, and not on what the narrative might say about the real-life figures each character represents.
“I think the characters are very timely and the themes are very timely,” she said. “And I think that’s what’s more of the focus than, like, commenting on AOC.”
That said, “Yes, AOC does blow my mind, you know what I mean?” Doumit laughed. “Maybe they’re seeing it in more of a metaphor kind of way.”
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The Boys Season 2 has reached its bloody conclusion, but our journey isn’t over.
The Boys Season 2 was a nightmare, in all the best ways possible. It held up a mirror to society and forced us to face our current dilemma head-on, by showing exactly how Americans–ordinary and super alike–can be so easily seduced by racists and nazis. It told a gripping story about corruption, hatred, unfettered corporate power, and how desperate the fight against those forces can feel.
At the same time, The Boys has some of the most complex characters around, with villains who have a soft side and heroes who are sometimes difficult to root for. It wasn’t all grim–with the gore turned up to 11, The Boys Season 2 often cut through the tension with well-placed laughs, even as we cried at the injustice of it all. Frankly, we just loved spending time with these characters. The Boys Season 2 cemented this as one of our favorite shows ever.
And with Episode 8, “What I Know,” the season finale was a hell of a note to go out on. Butcher and The Boys rescued Ryan and–with some much-needed help from a few other supes–defeated Stormfront, though at a heavy cost. And we finally got an answer to a 10-episode-long mystery: It was Congresswoman Neuman, who appears to be secretly working directly for Vought, who’s been exploding victims’ heads. Who saw that coming? Definitely not us.
And those are just the obvious beats. We scoured the whole episode looking for every tiny tidbit and hidden reference that was easy to miss. Read on to discover what we found.
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1. What I Know
The episode title is taken from Issue 39 of the comics, in which Butcher discovers that Hughie has been unknowingly dating a member of The Seven.
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2. How to survive a supervillain attack
This PSA was designed to resemble the school shooting PSAs that schoolchildren must now watch in real life.
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3. ICE is next in line
We learn in the second scene that Compound V is going to be distributed widely among police and first responders. The Pentagon has a big order in, and ICE is “next in line.” ICE, of course, is the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. ICE has reportedly committed serious atrocities, among many other questionable acts and methods, and they’re probably the last people in the world who should be given superpowers.
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4. A plum gig at Fox
It’s interesting to learn that Fox News exists in the world of The Boys, since Vought News was clearly meant to be a parody of it. Guess there’s room for two right-wing propaganda networks in this fictional universe.
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5. Epinephrine
While preparing to deal with the different supes, Mother’s Milk touts Epinephrine as A-Train’s kryptonite. Simply put, Epinephrine is a fancy name for adrenaline. With A-Train’s already stressed heart, it would likely do the trick, were it to come to that.
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6. Wile E. Coyote
Frenchie compares Hughie to Wile E. Coyote, “always chasing Road Runner.” This is a reference to the classic cartoon characters, who were first created for Warner Bros. in 1948. In the cartoon, Wile E. Coyote always chases Road Runner, usually with elaborate plans and faulty gadgets, but never quite catches him.
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7. Kill ’em all, let God sort them out
This common phrase is generally attributed to 12th-century Catholic crusader Arnaud Amalric. Supposedly, during the sacking of Béziers, a massacre that saw 20,000 people executed and began the Albigensian Crusade, Amalric said, “Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius,” which translates to “Kill them. For the Lord knows who are His.”
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8. Comics Maeve
Queen Maeve in the show has never resembled her comics character–jaded, cynical, and drunk–more than she does in this scene.
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9. Ashley’s hair
If you’ve been paying attention this season, you’ve no doubt noticed Ashley slowly losing massive clumps of hair due to stress. Finally, someone else has noticed as well.
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10. Vought: Tournament of Heroes
Homelander asks Ryan if he wants to play Vought: Tournament of Heroes, an apparent video game in which Homelander himself is the main character. But it sounds to us like the kind of crappy licensed cash-in game you find in bargain bins two weeks after it’s released.
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11. West Elm Death Star
Stormfront refers to Vought Tower (and this room in particular) as a “West Elm Death Star.” West Elm is a furniture store that sells expensive, trendy furniture, often found in malls. The Death Star, of course, is the planet-killing superweapon from Star Wars, which is a funny reference for Stormfront to make, since she dresses like a Sith.
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12. Planet Vought
The restaurant Planet Vought is a parody of Planet Hollywood, a cheesy themed restaurant chain.
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13. Brave Maeve rainbow veggie burger
If you’ve been paying attention this season, you’ll have noticed that Vought has launched a line of vegetarian pride-themed food products tied to Maeve. The latest to emerge is Planet Vought’s new “Brave Maeve” rainbow veggie burger. No wonder Ashley was so stressed out when she walked in on Maeve in bed with two men.
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14. Duane Reade
Starlight remarks that she thinks her mom got her new crucifix necklace at Duane Reade, a pharmacy and convenience store chain founded in Manhattan in 1960. The stores are mainly located in New York. In 2010, they were bought by Walgreen.
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15. VNN
Starlight and Hughie send the Stormfront materials to “Breaking News VNN,” or Vought News Network. It probably wasn’t smart to send this damning evidence to the propaganda network owned by Vought itself. Later, though, the story breaks on NNC, a CNN parody, so clearly they sent it to more than one outlet.
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16. Fort Bragg
Becca remarks that she and Butcher used to shoot guns at the range at Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg is a US Army installation in North Carolina. We know Butcher was a member of the SAS, a British Army special forces unit, but we don’t know why he might have been stationed at Fort Bragg.
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17. White genocide
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18. Jeffrey Epstein’s death
If you look closely at the news chyron when Stormfront’s Nazi ties break, you can see that the NYPD has a “credible lead” tying Stormfront to Jeffrey Epstein’s death. In real life, Epstein died in his prison cell on August 8, 2020 under suspicious circumstances while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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19. Goebbels and Göring
In addition to Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, the news program identifies Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, in photographs with Stormfront.
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20. Vought Sonic
The speakers that The Boys use to distract Homelander are, ironically, Vought-branded technology.
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21. Deepfakes
Stormfront claims the pictures of her in Nazi Germany are “deepfakes.” The term is a portmanteau of “deep learning” and “fake.” It describes videos that use an algorithm to make one person look like someone else, often quite convincingly. The implications of this very real technology are frightening, and various forces have taken notice.
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22. Kimiko’s healing
You might have been alarmed by Stormfront cracking Kimiko’s neck during this fight–but only if you forgot that Kimiko has powerful healing capabilities. This isn’t the first time she’s come back from the dead; she was mortally wounded by Black Noir in Season 1, but quickly recovered.
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23. Girls do get it done
It’s a credit to just how good this show is that it can repeatedly make fun of cheesy moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when all the female heroes in a given fight find themselves coincidentally battling alongside one another–usually with a swell of inspirational music–while also pulling off exactly that in this scene. Girls get it done!
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24. The crowbar
The crowbar is one of Billy’s signature weapons from the comics. He uses it for a very specific purpose late in the books (don’t worry, I won’t spoil it).
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25. Stormfront’s German
Stormfront’s German is hard to make out here, even if you run it through Google’s translation service and ask several co-workers who speak a little German. But she mentions having her “arm out a car window” and finding “a perfect spot under an apple tree.” Based on what we know about Stormfront, she’s likely experiencing flashbacks to her youth in Germany, and possibly her courtship with Frederick Vought, as her body shuts down following Ryan’s attack. In other words, her life is flashing before her eyes.
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26. Maniacal Homelander
Homelander grinning maniacally while drenched in blood is one of those images that just sticks with you if you read the books on which the show is based.
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27. Space spores
The Deep references part of the Church of the Collective’s beliefs during his rant to Alistair, relating to humanity being born from “space spores.” This is a reference to Scientology’s core belief tenets, which involve aliens and are pretty far out.
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28. Saint Christopher
Butcher gives Ryan Becca’s pendant of Saint Christopher. Saint Christopher is viewed as the patron saint of travelers due to a legend about him carrying Jesus across a river as a child–not unlike Butcher carrying Ryan away from Homelander.
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29. Neuman!
It turns out Congresswoman Victoria Neuman is the supe who’s been popping heads all season. Don’t worry if you didn’t see this twist coming, because there were virtually no clues all season. However, if you return to the previous episode and watch the hearing scene again, you can clearly see her look directly at several people right before they explode.
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30. Only the Good Die Young
The credits song this week is “Only the Good Die Young,” from Billy Joel’s album. It also played earlier in the episode, when Hughie and Starlight were in the car.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War begins their open Beta on October 8th. The first two days are for Playstation Plus members who have pre-ordered Cold War. In the following two days, the beta is open to all Playstation users regardless of pre-orders. The following weekend beginning October 15th, the cross-platform beta begins for those who have pre-ordered Cold War on Xbox or PC. For this entire second weekend, PS4 players are able to play for free. Let’s go over what changes were made from the alpha into the beta.
A new map named “Cartel” has been added into the mix. It’s available to play in both combined arms mode, as well as multiplayer. This map takes place in Nicaragua and is said to have some ties to Cold War’s Main villain, Perseus. It features rideable motorcycles, a large airplane hanger, and varying levels of terrain. The map also features a prominent recon tower that players can hold down center objectives in. Other changes include the introduction of the ping system, a tactical stim, and the sentry turret scorestreak.
If you reach level 10 of the multiplayer beta, you unlock a blueprint for the Milano 851 submachine gun. The second weekend will feature the brand new Fire Team Dirty Bomb mode. This large-scale mode features up to four teams of 10 that need to plant uranium in designated locations across the map. The uranium is dangerous to hold over long periods and can explode on impact. Be sure to keep it tuned to Gamespot for continued coverage of Fire Team and other Cold War updates.
A Square Enix job posting has revealed that the upcoming Final Fantasy 16 has “completed development,” and the team is currently working on boss battles and expanding various development tools for remote work.
The Kombat Pack 2 for Mortal Kombat 11 will be adding Mileena, Rain, and Rambo, voiced by Sylvester Stallone himself. The game will be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X & S with a free upgrade.
Valorant has revealed its latest Agent, a healer named Skye. She’ll be added to the game alongside the 1.11 patch on October 27.
Pixar’s upcoming movie Soul is moving again, but it’s not just changing dates. In addition to getting a new release date, Soul will change venues, too; Disney will release Soul on Disney+ just in time for Christmas.
Soul will launch on the streaming service on December 25. Unlike the recent Mulan, which asked a $30 premium, Pixar’s latest animated film will launch at no additional cost to Disney+ subscribers. Soul, announced last summer, was initially set to launch this summer, but was later postponed to November 20 thanks to the pandemic.
“We are thrilled to share Pixar’s spectacular and moving Soul with audiences direct to Disney+ in December,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek in an official statement. “A new original Pixar film is always a special occasion, and the truly heartwarming and humorous story about human connection and finding one’s place in the world will be a great for families to enjoy together this holiday season.”
Soul tells the story of jazz musician Joe (Jamie Foxx), whose big break is cut short when his soul becomes separated from his body. He wakes up in a dark place, heading toward the light, but escapes to a place called The Before, where he meets 22 (Tina Fey), a soul with no interest in inhabiting a body on Earth. Joe has to convince 22 of the joys of life while trying to make his way back to his body before it’s too late.
“The world can be an exhausting and frustrating place–but it’s also full of unexpected joys, even in seemingly mundane things,” said co-director (and Pixar chief creative officer) Pete Docter. “Soul investigates what’s really important in our lives, a question we’re all asking these days. I hope it will bring humor and fun to people at a time when we can surely use that.”
Soul is co-directed by Docter and Kemp Powers. This is Powers’ freshman directorial effort, but Docter is a Pixar vet, with Monsters Inc., Up, and Inside Out in his portfolio. The two wrote the movie alongside Mike Jones. In addition to Foxx and Fey, the movie also features the voices of Quest Love, Daveed Diggs, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Richard Ayoade, and more.
Soul is the latest of many films to reschedule amid the ongoing pandemic, including recent shifts for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Daniel Craig’s final 007 outing in No Time to Die, and just about every Warner Bros. superhero film including The Batman and Shazam! 2, all of which have moved out to 2021 or later. Wonder Woman 1984 is currently the only big movie left on the release calendar for 2020.
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Microsoft is reportedly working on a “direct browser-based solution” that will allow it to bring its cloud gaming service, previously known as Project xCloud, to iOS and iPadOS devices in 2021.
As reported by Business Insider and The Verge, Xbox head Phil Spencer revealed the news during a “recent internal all-hands meeting.” He stated “we absolutely will end up on iOS. We’ll end up on iPhones, and iPads with Game Pass.”
Apps for streaming services are allowed on Apple’s App Store, but only as a “catalog app” that will help users sign up for the service and see what games are available. The tricky part is that Apple says each game on the service must also have its own individual App Store page, which is a problem for services like Xbox’s cloud gaming that has over 150 games.
Ghost of Tsushima’s version 1.1 update will bring with it New Game+ and the co-op Legends mode, but now we know what may very well be its most important addition – the Charm of Canine Recruitment that will let you pet dogs and turn them into allies a.k.a. your new best friend.
Announced by developer Sucker Punch on Twitter, this Charm of Canine Recruitment will unfortunately only be available in New Game+, but those looking forward to Ghost of Tsushima: Legends will be happy to know you will be able to pet the spirit dogs.
This wonderful news is another cherry on top for the version 1.1 update that will add Ghost of Tsushima: Legends for all owners of the base game for free. This new, online cooperative multiplayer experience will feature two-player story missions and four-player survival missions, as well as a raid that will be released “weeks following launch.”
There will also be more to do and gain in New Game+ besides making dogs your new best friend, including all players having access to a New Game+ horse, other new Charms, and a Ghost Flower merchant that will allow you to exchange Ghost Flowers for Charms, new armor dyes, and other vanity gear that can only be found in New Game+.
Ghost of Tsushima might let you pet the foxes, but it hasn’t let you pet the dogs yet. In fact, until now, players have had to kill the dogs when they attacked, as they were, exclusively, very bad dogs. That’s all set to change in Update 1.1, the huge update that’s also adding co-op–soon you’ll be able to befriend the dogs.
In the game’s New Game+ mode, which will be added on October 16, you’ll be able to equip the Charm of Canine Recruitment. This allows you to walk up to enemy dogs and give them a good pet, which will make them change sides and attack your enemies.
Just be aware that the dogs are still likely to die in the ensuing scuffle, unless you’re a very good samurai. You can see the charm in action below.
In fact, this is one of two dog-patting additions being made to the game–you’ll also be able to pat the spirit dog that one player can summon during multiplayer.
You’ll also get a new horse in New Game+, with a red mane, so animal fans have reason to be excited.