Ted Lasso is doing well for Apple TV+, and the streaming service is rewarding the team responsible with a round of pay bumps, including a cool million dollars per episode for star Jason Sudeikis, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
According to sources, Sudeikis has closed a deal that will net him $1 million per episode for Ted Lasso Season 3, up from a reported $250,000 to $300,000 per episode for the first two seasons. Other cast members scored raises as well, including Brendan Hunt, Brett Goldstein, Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, who have been boosted from $50,000 to $75,000 per episode up to $125,000 to $150,000.
Writers, too, are seeing pay bumps, thanks in part to the show’s impressive 20 Emmy nominations. Aforementioned actors Hunt and Goldstein are in this group as well, having written and produced episodes of the show. The writers were meant to begin work on Season 3 in August, but the negotiations pushed the start date out to September 13, according to THR’s sources. Production is set to begin in January 2022.
Call of Duty Vanguard sees Call of Duty returning to its roots… once again. It does that a lot. The first multiplayer beta opened up this weekend for anyone who preordered on PlayStation, and I spent a fair number of hours getting my feet wet ahead of its November 5 release date. If you, like me, have been playing the last several iterations of CoD, you will probably feel a sense of familiarity with Vanguard’s multiplayer. Actually, let me rephrase that: you might feel like this is last year’s Call of Duty MP with a WW2 skin. The only thing keeping me playing Vanguard instead of going back to Black Ops Cold War are a few interesting new modes.
Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, and Domination are back, as you’d expect. However, Hardpoint, a mode I never really liked, has been changed to a new Patrol mode, which I definitely like. Rather than capture and hold static points, Patrol has you protecting a small circle of territory that moves along the map (hence the “Patrol” moniker). When a team of internet randos comes together to cover and capture this moving target, it’s really fun. It’s far and away my favorite addition to this year’s multiplayer, as it encourages both active and passive team coverage and discourages camping.
Well, long-term camping at least. Since the contested area is constantly moving, it’s in the best interest of long-range shooters to post up in a sniper nest for just a few minutes. The area moves from wide-open spaces, to inside buildings, and back out again. It’s great, actually. It requires using all your shooting skills: close-quarters, mid-range, and long-range, all within the course of a few minutes.
It’s tough to tell who’s on which side.
In all modes, close-quarters combat is where I’m finding the most frustration with Vanguard’s multiplayer because it’s tough to tell who’s on which side. Last year’s Cold War pitted NATO forces against Warsaw Pact forces, whereas this year (at least in the beta) both teams are made up of the same Allied characters. More than once, particularly in the Hotel Royal map, I didn’t know who was who. If you’re melee-close to someone, the indicator over their head just can’t be seen, and even at a distance the muted red indicator often disappears into the muddy ochre and brown tones of the map. Thankfully, friendly fire is not a concern here (there’s no Hardcore mode in the beta) because there are split-second moments where I’ve made the wrong call. Also, plenty where I’ve hesitated when I shouldn’t have and got smoked.
I understand in 2021 no one wants to play as the Axis powers, but some sort of distinguishing feature between the two teams other than a small dot with their name in red would go a long way. I like being able to tell when I’m being approached by an enemy player by their character model rather than their Activision gamer name, and I don’t want to have to git-gud at increasing my speed glancing up at the words floating above their head.
Champion Hill is a cool twist on the battle royale formula.
One mode where this isn’t a problem is the new Champion Hill mode, a cool twist on the battle royale formula where instead of fighting to be the last team in an all-out war, you’re instead running around in what’s basically a glorified paintball battlefield. The premise is simple: you join a two- or three-person team, get dropped into an arena, and work to eliminate the other teams. There are 10 teams in all, each randomly battling one another 2v2 or 3v3, until only one team remains. During the matches you earn money you can use during breaks in the competition to buy upgrades like weapons, perks, and buffs, or spend during the match to upgrade your weapon. It’s fun, but matchmaking took a long time no matter what I tried. I’m not sure if that’s due to lack of interest or because it’s still in beta, so I can’t really fault it for that unless it persists in the final game.
Speaking of maps, the three that’re available in the beta are… just okay. Of the three, Gavutu, a rain-soaked South Pacific location, is probably my favorite because it has most of the features I like in a mid-sized MP map: a corridor up the middle, a wide-open space on one side, and a more clustered group of obstacles and buildings on the other. It still doesn’t quite feel right because in spite of the wide-open nature of the seaside of the map, it still feels a touch too small for the features it uses and during the course of the beta I never really got a feel for the “flow” of it. Hotel Royal, a small map with lots of CQC, is my least favorite of the bunch (in part due to the aforementioned friend-or-foe issues), while the Stalingrad-based Red Star gives me no strong feelings one way or another. I did appreciate how much Red Star reminded me of Call of Duty 2 from way back in the day, but other than that nothing really stood out to me about it. My opinion on the maps may change as I get more familiar with them, and week 2 will also open up The Eagle’s Nest, a map based on Hitler’s mountain stronghold (where it will be even weirder to not be fighting people dressed as Nazis).
Of the three maps, Gavutu, a rain-soaked South Pacific location, is probably my favorite.
Rank and loadout progressions have returned and appear to be exactly the same as they were last year, which was, in turn, very similar to how they felt in 2019’s Modern Warfare. You create your loadout with primary and secondary weapons, lethal and non-lethal weapons like grenades and Molotov cocktails, three perks, and your killstreak bonuses. Using a weapon during a match unlocks upgrades like optics, magazines, and different barrels, among others. Gaining rank with your Activision account opens up more weapons and modifications and… yeah, it’s pretty much exactly the same thing as last year, so it’s difficult to get excited about. One thing missing from the beta are unlockable skins, which add nothing to the gameplay itself but always push me to grind at least a couple of my favorite weapons to their highest levels. Hopefully those come back for the final game.
I did notice some weird ranking issues in both my profile XP and my weapon XP. Sometimes, for several matches, I’d accrue no XP whatsoever, in spite of all my efforts. Then, without warning, it would “catch up” and all the experience from the last 20 matches would suddenly appear at once. All the unlocks would come in a huge, delayed wave, which meant I wouldn’t be able to apply any upgrades to my weapons, or use new weapons, for extended periods of time. It meant missing out on the satisfaction of progression level to level, which is hopefully something they iron out before release.
The weapons feel modern and not World War 2-era at all.
The weapons also feel pretty much the same as well, which is to say that they feel modern and not World War 2-era at all. I understand the reflective sight actually predates World War 2 by a lot so it’s not technically historically inaccurate, but it still feels very odd to have them on small arms. The kill streaks, like the Recon Plane and Glide Bomb, are just the Spy Plane and Cruise Missile streaks from last year (and those were just versions of the UAV and Cruise Missile streaks from the year before). I appreciate the feeling of familiarity from year to year, but part of me hoped for new, more novel killstreaks to feel more era-appropriate instead of just relabeling them.
Additionally, skill-based matchmaking returns to Call of Duty in Vanguard and you’re probably not going to like it if you’re an old salt. Playing on PS5, which I’m admittedly not great at, I appreciated it. I usually play on PC and have a hard time adjusting from the joy of mouse and keyboard to controller-based play. For less competitive players like me, who just use CoD as an excuse to play online with friends for dozens of hours each fall, SBMM is a great way to ensure you win some and you lose some. But because you always play people of the same relative skill, there’s no way to know where you stand in the great player database in the sky. There’s also no way to shut it off, so it looks like a VPN remains your only option to skirt the algorithm if you’d rather not be matched with the same caliber of player.
In short, I enjoyed myself during my weekend with Vanguard – especially in Patrol mode matches – but not as much as I’d hoped I would. It’s hard to know if it’s the so-so maps, playing with a controller instead of my preferred mouse and keyboard, or because it just feels so much like Black Ops Cold War with a WW2-era skin on it. It’s still fun and I know I’ll put in many hours when the final game comes out, as I do at the start of every Call of Duty cycle, but there’s nothing really new here to get me excited about it. Hopefully my opinion will change as multiplayer evolves before its November launch, but if I had to score it right now I’d probably give Call of Duty Vanguard MP a 6. Remember, this is a beta and that score is in no way final, so be sure to check back around launch.
A spinoff series of The Batman is reportedly in development for HBO Max, and it’s set to revolve around The Penguin.
Variety reports that Colin Farrell, who is set to play the villain in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, has been approached to star in the series, but a deal has not been made yet.
Reeves, along with The Batman Producer Dylan Clark, would reportedly be involved as executive producers. The report says the show would dive into The Penguin’s rise to power in Gotham.
The Penguin is a longtime member of Batman’s rogues gallery and he was portrayed by Danny DeVito in 1992’s Batman Returns. He’s called the Penguin for his appearance, and in the comics the Penguin character has evolved into more of your typical crime boss/gangster. Rather than terrorize civilians, the Penguin in the comics uses his family’s wealth to fund his criminal empire and nightclub business.
We won’t have to wait long to get another glimpse at the movie, as a new trailer for The Batman is set to debut at this year’s DC FanDome, which begins on October 16.
As was hinted at yesterday, Deathloop is indeed amazing and I’ve still got you covered for all the best deals on a launch day purchase. I’d also like to personally recommend the whopping 46% off deal that’s happening for Mass Effect Legendary Edition on consoles. Last but not least, fighting game fans should be aware of quite the fisticuffs sale on Xbox. All those deals and more await you below!
Hideo Kojima is imagining a game that you and you alone would experience, kind of. In an interview with Japanese magazine An-An (via Siliconera), Kojima talked about his latest goal in game development: making games that “change in real-time.”
“I want to create a game that changes in real-time,” Kojima told the magazine. “Even though there are people of different ages and trades playing the same game, they are playing it in the same way.” To Kojima, the mind behind the sole entry in the “Strand-type” genre, Death Stranding, games should be experienced differently by each person playing. Arguably, that already happens since we, as humans, all experience and process media in our own unique way. However, Kojima wants that process to extend to games themselves.
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Death Stranding Director’s Cut – Official Final Trailer
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Continuing, the developer said he wants “the game to change based one where that person lives, and that person’s unique perspective.” Kojima’s idea here sounds extremely out-of-this-world, but considering its source, this is standard fare. Kojima’s games have often made use of new, inventive mechanics, including Death Stranding’s take on asynchronous co-op. In that game, players could interact with each other by building structures throughout the game’s world or by leaving equipment behind for others to stumble upon.
While Kojima’s constantly-changing, extremely personalized dream game is likely far from becoming reality, Death Stranding is getting a new lease on life thanks to a Director’s Cut version releasing on the PS5. According to a new trailer, Death Stranding Director’s Cut will include new songs and “blood urine” when it launches for PS5 on September 24.
WandaVision won three Creative Arts Emmys during the weekend of September 11: Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics–Agatha All Along, Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes–Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience, and Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-hour).
Composed by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Agatha All Along played in Episode 4, “Breaking The Fourth Wall,” and introduced Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) as the villain responsible for a bunch of bad deeds in the show–including killing Sparky the dog.
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Now Playing: Vision’s Comic Book Origins Explained | WandaVision
When Agatha All Along was released, it was warmly received and reached the top of the iTunes charts. Speaking to the New York Times, Anderson-Lopez stated, “[Agatha All Along has] an ‘Addams Family’ twist with an electric harpsichord. It’s super-duper cool and feels like something you’d find in a haunted house.”
Agatha All Along’s competition in the Original Music and Lyrics category included Bo Burnham: Inside’s Comedy, The Boys’ Never Truly Vanish, The Queen’s Gambit’s I Can’t Remember Love, Soundtrack of Our Lives’ The End Titles, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Birthday.
The Emmys aren’t quite over. The Primetime Emmy Awards–the one most people tune in for–takes place the weekend of September 25. WandaVision was nominated for 23 Emmys in total, including Outstanding Limited Series. Both leads–Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany–got nods as well, and are up for awards in Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. Kathryn Hahn was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series.
Following a successful reveal of Project Eve at Sony’s latest PlayStation Showcase, Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim bought a little present for each of the game’s 260 developers–a PlayStation 5.
According to Daniel Ahmad (via Twitter), Swift Up’s CEO chose the PS5s as a gift so that the game’s creators could all play Project Eve when it eventually releases. It’s unclear exactly how Swift Up’s CEO acquired so many of the still hard to find consoles, but given Project Eve’s role in the recent PlayStation Showcase, Ahmad says it probably wouldn’t have been too hard to secure so many units.
Despite each of the game’s developers receiving a PS5 to play the game on, Project Eve was announced as a multiplatform title back in 2019, and slated to release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Whether or not the title is now a PS5 exclusive is unclear, but Project Eve will take advantage of the PS5 DualSense controller’s haptic feedback according to an official PlayStation Blog post, though Swift Up hasn’t revealed specific details on that front.
Project Eve made an action-packed splash at Sony’s most recent PlayStation Showcase with a new gameplay trailer, showing the game to be a stylish, futuristic action title. Players will take on the role of Eve, a warrior facing mysterious creatures on a destroyed Earth. Eve can parry enemy attacks and dish out combo attacks, and will grow stronger over the course of the game as she acquires new skills, items, and costumes that will change her look.
Project Eve does not currently have a release date.
The voice actor who plays Bayonetta in the Platinum Games series has commented on her future with the series, and it has fans worried that she’s not coming back for Bayonetta 3.
After a fan on Twitter said they couldn’t imagine Bayonetta with a different actor, Hellena Taylor replied, “Well you might have to.” Asked to clarify what she meant, Taylor responded, “I’m not at liberty to say.”
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In another tweet in response to the speculation that Taylor isn’t returning for Bayonetta 3, she replied, “I so wanna answer that one but I’m bound by confidentiality agreement.”
Presumably due to that agreement, Taylor said in yet another tweet that, “I’m not saying anything” one way or the other about her involvement or lack thereof in the next game.
Former PlatinumGames developer JP Kellams said he would be outraged if Taylor does not return to voice Bayonetta again in Bayonetta 3.
Now this is the best tweet of the night. I love this man. He is so talented and such a lovely person. It was such a joy to work with him.
Bayonetta 3 was announced in 2017 for Nintendo Switch but very little information about the game has come to light since then. Just recently, director Hideki Kamiya and Atsuhi Inaba from Platinum Games said they are eager to show more and fans needn’t worry about the game. Nintendo, which is publishing the title, gets to make the call about when to show more of it.
At E3 2021, Nintendo said development on the game is “progressing well,” but it was still too soon to actually show more of it.
“We like to show things when we’re ready to show them,” Nintendo’s Bill Trinen said at the time. “And certainly we like to show things when the developers are ready to show them.”
You’re rapidly approaching the end of Psychonauts 2 when you get to Lucretia’s Lament, delving into the secrets of the Psychonauts. But there are still plenty of collectibles to find, even if this is one of the smaller levels in the game. Here’s where to find everything you need to keep maxing out your Intern rank and powering up all your psychic abilities.
Emotional Baggage: Duffel Bag, Suitcase, Hat Box, Steamer Trunk
Figments: 106
The quilting-themed world of Lucretia’s Lament is one of the smaller, more straightforward levels in Psychonauts 2, but make sure you thoroughly check the flea circus area before moving on.
Nugget of Wisdom: When you first arrive in Lucretia’s Lament, you’ll find yourself in a flea circus version of the Aquato family act. Look for ladders and climb up to the highest platform you can reach, near the carousel section, then cross the tightrope to reach the Nugget.
Memory Vault: Down on the ground, look for a red jar that’s being used as part of the stage area. In the corner behind it lies the Memory Vault. It’s to the right of the stands, which have a few bug figments making up the audience.
Suitcase Tag: Complete each of the circus acts in the flea circus portion and you’ll be sent up to the high dive for one last maneuver. When you get there, look over to the right and jump over to a big piece of metal holding up portions of the stage. Run to the far end to find the Suitcase Tag near the edge.
Steamer Trunk Tag: Once you enter the quilted area of Lucretia’s Lament, you’ll use a bridge to cross a stream. Immediately turn right to find the Steamer Trunk Tag just sitting near the fence.
Memory Vault: Around this same area is a Memory Vault, hidden among the trees not far from the Steamer Trunk Tag.
Nugget of Wisdom: Look up for your second Nugget of Wisdom, which is also located near the bridge you crossed. This one is up on top of a thread spindle, and you’ll have to carefully climb up on some objects to get high enough to reach it.
Hat Box Tag: Follow the path and you’ll come to a portal you can move through that will take you to another portion of the level, marked by a drawing of Nona and Raz’s father as a boy. Instead of going through, check around behind it for the Hat Box Tag.
Purse Tag: Continue on and you’ll pass through two more portals. When you come through the third one into the Quilt Forest, which looks like a throw pillow, head around behind the exit side to find the Purse Tag.
Duffle Bag Tag: In the Quilt Forest, not long after you arrive, look for a black button on the ground. Use Telekinesis to pull on the button to create a portal that will take you to the Duffle Bag Tag.
Nugget of Wisdom: In the same area, the Quilt Forest, keep going until you find another black button. Repeat the process with Telekinesis of grabbing it, and the new portal will carry you to where the Nugget of Wisdom is hidden.
Emotional Baggage: Eventually, you’ll hit a dead end with a huge dam, a bunch of chains, and some luggage holding back the water. Here, you’ll find all the level’s Emotional Baggage in the same place. As you can see, Lucretia has a lot of it.
