Author: Trafficblast

This Saturday has brought with it some deals on the iPad Air, thanks to a handy discount over at Amazon. The Air is a perfect model to grab if you want something light and portable, but still need a little extra power sometimes to knock out some light work while on the go. If you need something a bit more robust, take a look at these laptops that are also on sale over at Dell, which come with powerful new RTX 3000 based GPUs.

Save on These Alienware RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops

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Daily Deals for May 15 2021

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Even More Game Deals

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Hades has been rated for release on PS4 by the Korean Game Rating and Administration Committee, despite no public announcement of a PlayStation version. The listing also mentions Take-Two as the applicant, which would contrast with the self-published release the game got from Supergiant Games on both Nintendo Switch and PC.

The rating, which as of May 15 is still listed on the GRAC website, was spotted by a user on the forum ResetEra and lists a deliberation date of April 30. Release dates or windows aren’t mentioned on the website, but the description of the game makes it very clear that it’s the same Hades released last year.

Supergiant is no stranger to PlayStation, releasing several games on PS4 such as Pyre, Transistor, Bastion, but Hades initially only came to PC as an early access title before its eventual full release coincided with the Nintendo Switch version’s launch. Early in development, there was no ending implemented and players were given a chance to provide feedback. The iterative development process seems to have worked, as Hades ultimately won Game of the Year awards at DICE and BAFTA, and it ended up being one of GameSpot’s own top games of the year.

The timing, with E3 starting next month, might not be a coincidence. Though Sony doesn’t look like it’s going to be participating directly in the all-digital E3 happening in June, Supergiant could certainly still make announcements. Hades also features cross-save already between Switch and PC, so it’s possible those who already played the game on another platform could pick up where they left off–that is entirely speculation, however.

Hades’ approach to storytelling makes for an interesting twist on the roguelite genre, with characters remembering past encounters and little tidbits of the story getting dished out as you come back and make another attempt to escape the underworld. In GameSpot’s Hades review, Suriel Vazquez said it “uses its structure to tell an ongoing story about family, secrets, and resolution.”

With leaks and rumors flying around the anticipated release of Battlefield 6, such as massive destruction, extreme weather events, and massive player count, it’s time to go back to Battlefield 3, 4, and Bad Company 2 to see how these mechanics have played out in the past and if they are good or bad ideas in a next-gen title.

By Aaron Sampson on May 15, 2021 at 9:00AM PDT

Battlefield 6 is confirmed to release sometime between October and December this year. It’s scheduled to be revealed in June, and we’ll likely get a more in-depth look during EA Play on July 22. There have been a number of leaks and rumors lately such as the next game having highly destructible cities, extreme weather events, giant rockets, Osprey aircraft, and a near-future setting that includes drones and Boston Dynamics robots. While we can’t currently confirm any of this, what we can do is go back to older Battlefield titles set in modern times to see if these ideas could be good or bad for the series.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since the last DLC, Final Stand, dropped for a contemporary Battlefield. In this video, we’re going back to Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and even Hardline to see what parts of those games could be built on for the next game and what ideas should not be included.

There have been more recent announcements from an investor call including the fact that Battlefield 6 will be on last-gen consoles as well as the current PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The investor call also included revelations such as the next-gen versions of the game potentially having higher player counts, more advanced physics, and more destruction. Battlefield 6 is currently being worked on by four studios including DICE, DICE LA, Criterion, and EA Gothenburg. Stay close to GameSpot for incoming announcements on the next Battlefield game.

Resident Evil Village only released last week, but if you’re in the market for the game on either Xbox One or Xbox Series X, then Amazon has you covered. The Xbox version is currently on sale for $50, down from its standard $60 cost, and with Smart Delivery, your system will automatically install the best version it can run.

The deal does not apply to the PS4 or PS5 versions of the game, which are both still $60 on Amazon. It’s worth noting that if you are planning to get the game for PlayStation anyway, the PS4 version is actually the better purchase, as it includes a free digital upgrade to the PS5 version. The PS5 game sold on Amazon does not support the reverse, so you cannot use it on PS4.

$50 for an Xbox Series X game is a fantastic deal, especially considering how new it is and that some publishers are selling these games for $70. That seems like it may be the standard price moving forward, albeit likely after they aren’t offering Smart Delivery releases that also include an Xbox One copy.

This is actually the second time we’ve seen only the Xbox version of Resident Evil Village get a $10 discount, as Newegg was selling the digital version for $50 prior to launch. In this case, it couldn’t do the same with PlayStation because Sony doesn’t allow other retailers to sell digital PS4 or PS5 games, which is the subject of multiple lawsuits now.

Resident Evil Village picks up shortly after the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and once again stars Ethan Winters. His tranquil life with his wife and daughter is quickly uprooted and he’s forced to deal with terrifying monsters–many of which don’t really resemble what we’ve seen from Resident Evil in the past. Phil Hornshaw was a big fan of the game, awarding it a 9/10 in our Resident Evil Village review and praising its “varying pace” and “tight, fluid” combat. If you’re stuck, check out our Resident Evil Village guides for walkthroughs, tips, item locations, and more.

Sometimes in interviews, actors need to play things close to the vest. Whether it’s because they’re under studio orders or they simply don’t want to ruin things for fans, most will refuse to reveal twists from their movies or decline to comment on future sequels or casting rumors. Most of the time though, by not saying something they’ve already said too much. So with that in mind, welcome to the new age of performers just straight-up lying about things.

Now that most actors know a “no comment” is the same as a yes to many outlets and fans, they’ve had to alter their approach a bit. At this point, we can hardly trust a full and utter denial. Was Chris Evans lying when he tweeted “News to me,” regarding rumors that Captain America will return to the MCU at some point? Well, it’s a definite possibility. Especially when you consider Marvel Studios’ track record for denying casting items that have already been confirmed (though not officially announced by Disney/Marvel) by a reputable source.

Recently, Andrew Garfield said the Spider-Man: No Way Home casting rumors about him were “so crazy.” And this was after star Tom Holland said Garfield and fellow past Spidey Tobey Maguire “will not be appearing in this film.” Maybe these guys are telling the truth, but there’s definitely precedent to question their denials.

So let’s take a look back at this phenomenon. From Hailee Steinfeld having to deny for over a year that she was Kate Bishop to Benedict Cumberbatch being like “Who’s Khan?”, here are some notable times stars have lied and acted all “what he f*** are you talking about?” when asked about a casting rumor.

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Jonathan Majors

In September of 2020, Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors was asked by Jimmy Fallon about the Marvel/Kang the Conquerer rumors for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. “Man, I heard the same thing, bro,” was his cryptic response. But in December 2020, Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirmed at a Disney investors day event that Majors was in fact playing the role.

Hailee Steinfeld

“That’s not something that’s necessarily happening,” Hailee Steinfeld said, back in November of 2019, regarding her Kate Bishop role on Disney+’s upcoming Hawkeye series. And this was after Variety reported that September that she’d been offered the role.

And so Steinfeld danced and denied up until December 2020 about actually being on the show. Of course, since she probably signed on to play Kate just this past summer, she wasn’t outright lying. There were negotiations, naturally, and the pandemic also put a pin in just about every production. That being said, Marvel has plans for when they want to announce things to the world, even if most fans, and publications, are ahead of that announcement by a few steps.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch is the uncrowned king of wholly denying he’s playing someone he’s actually playing. Back in 2012, when he was asked if he was playing Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, he responded with the following: “A few have asked that which is strange [but] I play a character called John and not that other name. It’s interesting. Speculation is speculation and that’s all fun.”

And guess what?

KHAAANNNNNN!

Back in 2014, Cumberbatch got in the repeated habit of saying he wasn’t playing Doctor Strange. Well, maybe not denying, but more along the lines of “Tell the fanboys it’s still a rumor.”

Regardless, never trust a Cumberbatch in the wild. Now he’s denying rumors of possibly playing a live-action version of Thrawn in a Star Wars Disney+ series.

Marion Cotillard

Much like Benedict Cumberbatch, who was trying to protect a big twist for his Star Trek movie, Marion Cotillard wouldn’t confess to being Talia al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises when asked about it at the 2011 premiere for Contagion. “Well, actually, it was not based off of a character in the comic,” was her reply. Spoilers: It was.

Paul Rudd

Paul Rudd couldn’t escape the superhero denial game when asked in 2013 if he was going to play the title role in (then-director) Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man. “Oh, that’s all rumors man,” he said, despite a previous report by Variety claiming the role was down to either him or Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Speculation even increased when Rudd was spotted backstage at the Oscars that year hanging with MCU heavy-hitters Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo.

Tatiana Maslany

Before being officially announced for the role of Jennifer Walters – aka She-Hulk – for Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series this past December, and despite reports of her being cast in the role coming from Variety, Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany had to play the denial game, saying to the Sudbury Star, “That actually isn’t a real thing and it’s like a press release that’s gotten out of hand. It’s totally not – I’ve been connected to these things in the past and press has gotten onto it, but it’s not actually a thing, unfortunately.”

Joaquin Phoenix

Back in 2018, responding to a question about him playing Joker, Joaquin Phoenix said “What movie about the Joker?” Even though he played dumb about the entire thing, Phoenix at least said that the idea of a standalone Joker movie “sounds amazing.”

Jason Momoa

Back in 2014, at the East European Comic-Con, Jason Momoa laughed off Aquaman casting rumors, saying “I know, Aquaman! I couldn’t even be more random for Aquaman, you know, with the blonde hair. I don’t even know where that comes from, it’s like me being Robin or something. Who pulls that out? I see that on the internet and I’m like, Aquaman? A guy like Lobo I could see.”

Momoa would basically lie to protect the Aquaman secret for years before starring as Aquaman.

Christoph Waltz

In a ruse befitting a Bond villain, Christoph Waltz flat out denied being franchise baddie Blofeld in Spectre, insisting “No. No. It’s more interesting than that.” Of course, the character “Oberhauser” did turn out to be Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Waltz was just a lying liar who lied.

Brie Larson

Brie Larson did a great job of playing dumb in a 2016 interview with MTV where, when asked about playing Captain Marvel, she responded with “Who’s Captain Marvel?” She also seemed to mistake Captain Marvel with Captain America, and had some laughs over the whole thing. This is called “running down the clock” in the interview business. A month after the interview her casting was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con.

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What other instances of actors denying the obvious can you think of? Let’s discuss — and maybe forgive — in the comments!

Amazon Games’ New World–which seems to be one of the only projects the company has kept from being canceled–is due out this August, and the game is going to have a real-money store. However, the development team is soliciting players’ feedback regarding this store are trying to be transparent about future plans.

The game’s recent alpha-stage patch notes made mention of the in-game store, and studio director Rich Lawrence released a statement on Twitter to explain how it would work.

“All store items at launch will be exclusively cosmetic in nature,” Lawrence said. “We are introducing the storefront in alpha in order to test these items and their value. No selections in the store or their indicated cost (during testing there is no real cost in any case) is final. Our purpose is quality assurance and gathering player feedback, so please share your thoughts once the system is introduced.”

It’s possible that future paid content will be more than cosmetic, however, such as “rested XP” or fast-travel, though Lawrence said this will not be the only way to get this content, and he added that the team wants to keep listening to feedback as it decides how to move forward. Down the line, a battle pass-style system may be introduced to combine certain items, but it will be tested first to ensure it doesn’t cause issues with gameplay.

New World, set to release for PC on August 31, is a huge MMORPG that Amazon Games has been developing for several years, and many of the studio’s other projects have been canceled. This includes a separate Lord of the Rings MMO which was reportedly canceled over a dispute with Tencent, as well as the shooter Crucible, which took the unusual step of actually releasing before it was then removed from sale and shut down.