Author: Trafficblast

The Fast & Furious franchise has never been afraid to raise the stakes, even if that meant racing souped-up muscle cars against airplanes, tanks, or even nuclear submarines. With the latest trailer for F9: The Fast Saga, though, a long-running fan theory has officially been confirmed: The Fast & Furious crew is going to space. Is this a terrible idea for the franchise, though?

The final shot in the new trailer sees Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) seemingly blasting off to space in a muscle car that’s been turned into a rocketship. While you could argue that’s the next (il)logical leap for the franchise to make–and it’s something fans have been asking for in recent years–it’s possible this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

After all, taking a hot rod into outer space seems utterly ridiculous, even for Fast & Furious. Though, it could potentially be grounded in some kind of reality.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Justin Lin definitely makes it sound somewhat possible, explaining, “I’m on the phone with scientists, learning about fuel and physics… It was great, having the scientists on the other line going, ‘ Wait, what? What are you trying to do?’ I love it.”

Still, just because something can happen doesn’t mean it should. There are (at least) two more Fast & Furious movies after 9 and, honestly, once you’ve gone to space, what else is left? This certainly feels like something you save for the final chapter, if you’re going to do it at all. What’s more, there are other earthbound places for the movie to go–including something that was first introduced in Fate of the Furious, the 8th installment of the franchise.

Why wouldn’t you go underwater? Sure, they tinkered around with a nuclear submarine in Fate, but there are depths that have gone unexplored. Imagine Dom and the family racing hot rod submarines, avoiding krakens, massive whales, and maybe even a meg or two while chasing yet another Shaw sibling who’s done something heinous but will be forgiven within two movies’ time. Who doesn’t want to see that?

Or perhaps it’s time to properly make use of the skies. They’ve dropped cars out of planes and crashed through them, but why not turn Dom’s Dodge Charger into a fighter plane and let him rip through the skies chasing Cypher’s mysterious jumbo jet?

Instead, the movie is going to space, and anything that comes next will be (pun absolutely intended) a downshift in terms of the over-the-top ridiculousness the Fast & Furious family is so keen to deliver us every few years. And sure, maybe F9 simply introduces the idea of sending them to space and in F10 they’ll face hot rodding aliens or Biker Mice from Mars. But ultimately, it feels like a lot of excellent material is being left behind due to going as big as they possibly can, skipping a few steps.

Does this mean F9 will be bad? Of course not. It’ll probably be the greatest movie of all time. After all, John Cena is there, Han is alive, and the Tokyo Drift gang is getting back together. What more can we ask for? But this feels like a short-term gain at the expense of the long term.

In fact, there’s really only one way to top going to space. In F10, Dom is going to have to drive so fast that he goes back in time to the first movie, where he meets his former self. He can then tell past Dom about all of the insanity that has happened to him in the two decades since the initial The Fast and the Furious movie, which would ultimately change the timeline. After all, we can’t forget that in the first film, Dom was merely a street racer who stole DVD players. My, how far he’s come. From there, in F11, which is supposed to be the final film in the main series, the two Doms will have to work together to correct the timeline and establish the universe.

That’s right, if we’re going to space in F9, then F11 needs to be starring Vin Diesel… And Vin Diesel. Then we can properly say goodbye to the most ridiculous and wonderful movie franchise of them all. That is, until they do a revival in a few years and the gang gets back together to save the planet from a massive asteroid that threatens to wipe everything out of existence.

In the meantime, we’re just going to keep thinking about these possibilities while we wait for F9: The Fast Saga to hit theaters on June 25.

In May, the horror streaming service Shudder is offering up new reasons to stay at home with fresh content arriving throughout the month. This includes brand new movies, recent On Demand hits, and classic catalog titles.

Having already released some of the year’s best new scary movies in the first four months of the year, Shudder has even more lined up in May. The wild sci-fi horror Fried Barry hits the service on May 6–this South African movie focuses on a man who is possessed by aliens and sets out on a wild night of sex, drugs, and violence. That’s followed a week later by The Reckoning, a period tale of witchcraft and possession from Descent and Hellboy director Neil Marshall.

On May 20, Psycho Goreman finally hits Shudder, following an On Demand release earlier in the year. It’s the latest movie from The Void director Steven Kostanski and is a hilarious tribute to ’80s horror and Japanese superhero movies, about a pair of suburban kids who gain control over a bloodthirsty alien warrior. The month wraps up on May 27 with Skull: The Mask, a supernatural slasher in which a museum assistant and a policewoman team up to stop a series of killings connected to a haunted mask.

In terms of classic horror, the original Wicker Man arrives on May 1–this is one of the greatest British horror movies of all time and a must-watch for fans of scary movies about cults. There’s also a pair of movies from legendary producer William Castle–House on Haunted Hill and 13 Ghosts–plus Jacques Tourneur’s still terrifying classic Curse of the Demon (aka Night of the Demon). And finally, fans of New York-set ’80s horror comedies can double-bill Frank Henenlotter’s outrageous Frankenhooker and the cult vampire movie Def By Temptation.

New to Shudder in May 2021

May 1

• The Wicker Man
• House on Haunted Hill (1959)
• House on Haunted Hill (1999)
• 13 Ghosts
• Curse of the Demon

May 4

• Frankenhooker

May 7

• Fried Barry

May 10

• Sator
• Climate of the Hunter
• The Funeral Home

May 13

• The Reckoning
• Trickster

May 17

• American Mary
• Time Lapse
• Found

May 18

• Def by Temptation
• Black Roses

May 20

• Psycho Goreman

May 24

• Werewolf
• The Machine
• The Windmill

May 27

• Skull: The Mask

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Although it’s younger than many of Nintendo’s other tentpole properties, the Animal Crossing series is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, making it one of the longest-running franchises in gaming today. Western fans were first introduced to the quirky life sim on the GameCube, but the series actually debuted on that system’s predecessor, the Nintendo 64–and in its earliest stages of development, it was a very different kind of game than the one Nintendo would eventually release.

Like so many of the company’s other titles, Animal Crossing was born not from a setting or story concept, but rather a gameplay idea–namely, the ability for multiple people to play in and influence one shared space. This idea was sparked by the 64DD, a short-lived disc drive attachment that Nintendo released for the N64 toward the end of the system’s lifetime. Many of the features that the 64DD afforded over the base N64 hardware–particularly its real-time clock and ability to store comparatively large amounts of data–would serve as the foundation for what would ultimately become Animal Crossing.

“The idea for Animal Crossing began with the idea that we could use the 64DD to write a massive amount of save data to make a kind of game that hadn’t ever been made yet,” game director Katsuya Eguchi said during the 2008 Nintendo Game Seminar (as translated by Nintendo World Report). “At that point, the theme that I considered was ‘playing with others.’ The beginning of that design was that you’d have this RPG-like world in this massive field, and multiple people would enter, and your play would affect the other players.”

Although the Nintendo 64, with its four built-in controller ports, readily lent itself to multiplayer gaming, what Eguchi and his co-director, Hisashi Nogami, envisioned was a sort of shared experience that people could play asynchronously–something considerably different than what other multiplayer-centric N64 games like Mario Kart 64 offered. This desire to create an asynchronous experience stemmed from Eguchi’s busy schedule, which prevented him from enjoying games with his children.

“At the time, I was very busy with work, and there was no way for me to play games together with my family,” Eguchi said. “I was sad that I couldn’t play games with my kids, even though I knew it would be fun. From the beginning, my idea was that, if this is the way it’s going to be, maybe there’s something we could do where someone in a similar environment to me could come home late and play, which would somehow overlap with what the kids had done.”

This basic conceit led Eguchi and Nogami to experiment with a “relay-type” RPG, in which one player could come in and continue the progress that another had made earlier. “For instance, say the kids were adventuring in a dungeon during the day and made it partway through, but then something happens where they can’t move any further. Then, some trace of that status can be left, and then when dad came home at night, he could use the information the kids left as a hint and clear the dungeon, and proceed further. I wondered how that kind of relay-type-play would be,” Eguchi explained.

Although the game was initially envisioned as an RPG, it was very unconventional by the genre’s standards, even in its earliest state. For one, players would have relied on animal companions for their powers. “There are lots of RPGs where you become the hero, but in the game that I was imagining, the player was powerless,” Eguichi said. “So I thought, OK, what the player can’t do on their own, they could borrow the power of animals to overcome. That’s the first time the idea of animals came up for this project.”

Nogami elaborated further: “There were various different kinds of animals, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The player is powerless, so they would issue commands to the animals as they proceed forward, and eventually, you would come to a place where you simply couldn’t proceed forward with the animals you had at your disposal.”

At that early juncture, the animals of Animal Crossing served a strictly utilitarian purpose; Eguchi and Nogami hadn’t even considered letting players speak with them. “At that point, we had discussions about things like how many floors could we have in a dungeon? How should items be placed? There wasn’t even a hint of being able to have conversations with animals at the time,” Eguchi said.

The game’s setting was also initially very different. Rather than taking place in one forest village, the adventure would have originally unfolded over four islands, each themed after a different season. “During our original planning phase, the field we planned was incredibly large and split into four. There would be four different islands–one for each of the four seasons, and each island would have small dungeons that you would adventure in,” Nogami explained.

Then, something happened that forced the development team to change course: the 64DD flopped. Despite the time Nintendo had sunk into developing the peripheral, it turned out to be a commercial failure, and the company shifted projects that were in development for it to the base N64. This presented numerous challenges for the Animal Crossing team, and many elements of the game had to be streamlined or outright reimagined to work on the more limited hardware.

“Using a regular cassette meant the backup memory would not be as large, so we had to greatly reduce the amount of content,” Eguchi said. “And so when considering what could be left in, we decided that we should be sure to keep the field structure that allowed for players to mutually affect each other. So I made it my priority to reconsider how to preserve that with the smaller Nintendo 64 cassettes.”

Despite being forced to make some significant concessions to adapt the game to the base N64, Animal Crossing still retained many elements initially inspired by the 64DD. Although the game couldn’t take advantage of the peripheral’s real-time clock, the development team included a battery-backed clock in its cartridge, which still allowed it to keep track of the date and time. Similarly, the four seasonal islands that originally served as the setting were pared down to one village that changed seasons as the year progressed. This new backdrop informed the rest of the game’s design, and the other elements soon fell into place.

“When we were trying to figure out what the player would be doing in this compact field, at first we thought maybe it should be ‘having your own room.’ You would decorate it to your heart’s content and get those materials for decorating it from somewhere,” Eguchi explained. “We thought, what if the players were to show each other these rooms? And after that, we began creating the village elements. Where would the furniture be supplied from, and how should it be funded?”

Most importantly, the game retained the element that inspired Eguchi in the first place: a shared setting that players could enjoy, even if they couldn’t play in it together simultaneously. 20 years later, these elements continue to resonate with players, and Animal Crossing sits alongside Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon as one of Nintendo’s most beloved and best-selling franchises.

The Cinemax series Warrior, based on an original concept and treatment by martial artist Bruce Lee, will be coming back for a third season on HBO Max according to an announcement. In a video released on Twitter–which you can see below–the cast articulates something fans are all likely hearing upon hearing this news: “Against all odds, we are back.”

The series, which was tragically cut short only due to Cinemax’s decision to cease producing original programming, is a “gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 19th century.” Season 1 and 2 are now available for streaming on HBO Max.

Season 2 aired for 10 episodes, starting in October 2020. Its cast included Andrew Koji (Fast & Furious 6), Kieran Bew (Alien vs. Predator), Olivia Cheng (Supernatural), Jason Tobin (Fast & Furious 9, which just got its second trailer), and Dianne Doan (Agents of SHIELD). The series is created and co-executive produced by Jonathan Tropper (Banshee).

“We applaud HBO Max for understanding the importance of telling this story and for continuing to support this level of representation in our industry,” said Shannon Lee, co-executive producer from Bruce Lee Entertainment. “I just know that my father is grinning right now to see this show he dreamed of so long ago continuing to beat the odds. We have every intention of delivering the same high level of meaningful storytelling and Gung Fu action in Season 3!”

No production start date or plot details have yet been announced, but the fact that there will be a third season at all is massive in itself.

If you’re serious about gaming, especially on PC, you should consider upping your monitor’s refresh rate to at least 144Hz from the standard 60Hz that you’ll find on most budget monitors and televisions. If you thought 60Hz looks smooth, wait until you play a game with a variable refresh rate up to 144Hz with G-Sync or FreeSync active. A higher refresh rate gives you an edge that you wouldn’t otherwise have at 60Hz. Reacting to enemies, twitch aiming, and timing are all factors that are improved by increasing your refresh rate, whether you can tell the difference with your eye or not. Anyone who’s serious about gaming, especially competitive multiplayer, should consider getting a 144Hz gaming monitor. Fortunately, if you’re not sure what the best options are, we’ve outlined the best 144Hz gaming monitor options currently available below, from 4K to 1440p and more.

For more display recommendations, see our picks for the best 4K monitors and best 4K TVs for gaming. Televisions have started to adopt high refresh rates as well, and with technology like FreeSync Premium, they’ve become viable options for hardcore gamers. And if you want to learn more before buying a new gaming monitor, check out our complete guide to monitor technologies, which covers everything from HDR for monitors and panel types, among other things. We’ve also got a guide to the best gaming monitors for PS5 and Xbox Series X, if you’re a console gamer considering buying a new monitor over a TV.

LG 27GN950-B

The LG 27GN950-B is our pick for best 4K monitor, but this IPS display is also an excellent choice for those looking for a 144Hz refresh rate–or even a dual-monitor setup thanks to its thin frame and ability to be raised, tilted, or pivoted to your preference. Behind its 4K resolution and 144Hz refresh rate, it boasts low input lag and a max 1ms response time. It also features HDR600 support and has great color representation with or without HDR turned on. It’s equipped with one DisplayPort 1.4 port, two HDMI 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports.

Gigabyte G27Q

If your graphics card is capable of pushing 1440p and 144Hz, you should definitely consider the Gigabyte G27Q as your gaming monitor. Its 27-inch IPS display boasts a max response time of 1ms, and it comes with two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort 1.2 port. It’s also G-Sync Compatible via FreeSync Premium. One of the coolest features of the G27Q is being able to control display settings with keyboard and mouse–no clumsy on-board monitor controls to worry about.

For more great 1440p, 144Hz monitor options, see our LG 27GL850 review and Razer Raptor 27 review.

Acer Nitro XV242Y

1080p 144Hz monitors are quite affordable, and even though the Acer Nitro’s budget price may imply that it’s lower quality, it’s not one to disappoint. Its fast refresh rate is accompanied by FreeSync Premium and G-Sync compatibility. The monitor can also be overclocked to 165Hz. One thing to note is that the Acer Nitro XV242Y has only a single DisplayPort 1.2 port, so you won’t have extra room to plug in anything but your gaming PC.

AOC G2490VX

As far as cheap gaming monitors go, AOC makes the best. Its 24-inch G2490VX gaming monitor is less than $200, yet boasts a 1080p resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, FreeSync Premium, and more. If you just want to dip your toe into high refresh rates, this is an excellent option to go with.

LG 34GN850-B

Combining 144Hz with an ultrawide display gives you an ultra-smooth, extremely wide view of your gameplay, and one of the best ultrawide monitors out there is the LG 34GN850-B. In addition to its 3440×1440 resolution, this curved ultrawide display features a max 1ms response time, FreeSync Premium with G-Sync compatibility, and HDR400 support. As for ports, it has two for HDMI 2.0, one for DisplayPort 1.4, and three USB 3.0 ports, two of which are downstream and one of which is upstream.

ViewSonic Elite XG270QG

If you’ve got an Nvidia graphics card and want native G-Sync support, then the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is the best balance between performance, price, and feature set–though if you have an AMD GPU, you’ll want to look at the FreeSync options on this list. It boasts a refresh rate up to 165Hz (overclocked), 1440p resolution, a max 1ms response time, and very low input lag. Its 27-inch Nano IPS display produces gorgeous colors as well, making this a great monitor for any type of gamer, from competitive and cooperative multiplayer aficionados to those who like playing single-player games on their own. It has one HDMI 2.0 port, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, three USB 3.1 Type-A ports, and one USB 3.1 Type B port.

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Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been updated once again, with the newest playlist update for April 14 bringing a brand-new multiplayer mode for everyone.

Escalation Slayer, which was previously only available in Custom Games when it arrived in the Season 6 update, is now available in public matchmaking. Similar to Gun Game, Escalation Slayer gives you a new gun each time you get a kill, seemingly at random, until someone gets a kill with all of them. Given Halo’s huge variety of famous and fun weapons, this mode sounds like a treat, in addition to being very chaotic.

It’s available now for Halo: Reach, Halo 2: Anniversary, and Halo 4 in 4v4 and FFA modes. There is a dedicated playlist for it accessible through the match composer so you can play it 24/7 if you want.

With the addition of Escalation Slayer to the featured playlist slot, the fan-favorite Grifball mode has rotated out.

Now that Escalation Slayer has arrived, that paves the way for 343 to deliver the next big matchmaking change for Halo: MCC. The studio is planning to add the new Halo 3 map Waterfall–the first new map for the game in over a decade–to public matchmaking at some point in the future. It’s currently in the game, but only for Custom Games.

For more on MCC’s Season 6: Raven update, check out GameSpot’s interview with 343 about the new Halo 3 map, the new Custom Games Browser, and more.

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