Movies about cats are very popular these days–yes they are–and now another cat-themed movie has added more actors to its cast.
The Tom and Jerry movie, which is based on the classic animated show that in its new form will seemingly blend live-action and CG, has welcomed Ken Jeong, Rob Delaney, Jordan Bolger, and Pallavi Sharda to its cast, according to Entertainment Weekly.
The Tom and Jerry movie will also star Colin Jost, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Michael Pena. Fantastic Four and Ride Along director Tim Story is directly the Tom and Jerry movie.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the Tom and Jerry movie follows the cat and mouse after they get booted from their home and must live in a New York hotel. Chloe Grace Moretz plays the character Kayla, who works at the hotel and is tasked with hosting a fancy wedding there. No one wants to come to a wedding with a mouse problem, so Kayla brings in Tom the cat to get rid of Jerry.
It probably won’t go to plan.
There have been Tom and Jerry movies over the years, but this new one seems to be the first of its kind with its hybrid nature, the full details of which are unclear at this stage.
In other news about cat movies, the first trailer for the movie version of Cats recently came online–and it’s terrifying meme-generator. The movie stars Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson, Ian McKellan, James Corden, and Jennifer Hudson.
If you’re willing to buy a new monitor, variable refresh rate—also known as G-Sync on the NVIDIA side and FreeSync on the AMD side—is one of the best upgrades you can make to your gaming setup, reducing screen tearing and syncing your monitor’s refresh rate with your video card’s output. But while monitors with FreeSync are easy to come by and affordable, monitors with NVIDIA’s G-Sync are always more expensive, leaving budget-minded GTX users out in the cold, until just recently.This year at CES, NVIDIA announced that it was bringing G-Sync compatibility to some FreeSync monitors with a new driver update. They’ve officially validated 30 monitors as “G-Sync compatible,” but anyone can enable variable refresh rate (VRR) in the new NVIDIA drivers and try it on their own FreeSync-enabled display—and many have found certain uncertified monitors to work just fine.
So I researched some of the top G-Sync compatible monitors—both certified and uncertified—to round up the best ones you can buy. There may be others that work beyond the ones on this list that folks haven’t discovered yet, and hopefully NVIDIA’s supported list will continue to grow. But for now, there’s still a pretty decent selection.
TL;DR – These are the best FreeSync Monitors for Nvidia GPUs:
Best “Everything But the Kitchen Sink” Monitor – Acer Nitro XV273K
If you want a monitor that can do it all—or at least come incredibly close—the 27-inch Acer Nitro XV273K is the monitor to beat. While most 4K monitors have a paltry 60Hz refresh rate, the Nitro clocks in at 144Hz, not to mention it has an HDR-capable quantum dot panel. Its IPS panel means you get great color accuracy, better viewing angles, and a solid response time, albeit with greyish blacks and a bit of “glow” around the edges. But when it comes to straight up specs, it’s hard to beat the Acer Nitro, especially when you consider its built-in USB hub and four inputs—two HDMI and two DisplayPort. You’ll pay a hefty price tag for those features, but there aren’t many monitors that can check all those boxes.
Note that in order to support this specced-out monster, you’ll need to connect it with two DisplayPort 1.4 cables, and its FreeSync range is technically limited to 48-120Hz at 4K (though you can go all the way to 144Hz at 1440p). So while it isn’t truly without compromises, you get a lot of choice over how you play—and it’s certified to work with NVIDIA’s graphics cards.
Samsung’s huge CHG90 is still one of the most unique monitors we’ve tested (Read our review), thanks to its insane 32:9 aspect ratio coupled with Samsung’s QLED tech. It’s pricey, but if you want a seriously immersive gaming experience with HDR, fantastic color reproduction, and a 144Hz FreeSync refresh rate—which, while not certified, has been tested to work just fine with NVIDIA cards—Samsung’s got your back. It comes with two HDMI ports, one DisplayPort, and one Mini DisplayPort, along with a USB hub and 3.5mm in and out. It does have an unfortunately low pixel density at only 81 pixels per inch (PPI), but for an experience this unique, you may find it worth the sacrifice. If it seems like too much to spend, Samsung has a standard 16:9 version of the same monitor, which comes in both 27 inch and 32 inch varieties (though it’s a bit harder to come by these days).
If you’re willing to give up higher refresh rates for higher resolutions at a somewhat reasonable price, the BenQ EW3270U is a solid contender (Read our review). Its massive 32-inch screen size means you’re making the most of all those pixels, and its VA panel provides darker blacks than its IPS cousins (plus HDR to boot). It’s unfortunately limited to a small FreeSync range of 40Hz-60Hz, so if your games drop below 40 frames per second, you’ll experience tearing. That’s pretty typical for 4K monitors, with the exception of the aforementioned Acer Nitro, so you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth the tradeoff. This monitor hasn’t been certified by NVIDIA, but other folks have found it to work just fine with graphics cards from Team Green. If you prefer IPS monitors for their better viewing angles and response times, LG’s 27UD68-P is a decent 27-inch 4K alternative that, like the BenQ, isn’t certified but should work with NVIDIA cards.
If refresh rate is more important to you than number of pixels—and let’s be honest, it probably should be—the $500 Asus MG278Q gets you great bang for your buck with a 1440p resolution and a FreeSync-ready 144Hz refresh rate, with certified support for NVIDIA graphics cards. It also has a plethora of ports (HDMI, DIsplayPort, DVI, and USB), not to mention a ton of adjustability, including the ability to put it into portrait mode. It’s a TN panel, so you won’t get particularly great viewing angles, but the pixel response is better to ensure clear action. If $500 is a bit too much to spend, you can grab the AOC AGON AG271QX for $390, though it isn’t as adjustable (nor is it certified by NVIDIA, but it has been tested to work with NVIDIA cards).
There aren’t a ton of NVIDIA-compatible FreeSync monitors with an ultrawide aspect ratio—besides the aforementioned Samsung superwide—but LG’s $469 34UC79G-B will do the job admirably. With a resolution of 2560×1080, it isn’t the sharpest monitor on the block, but its IPS panel and 144Hz refresh rate will give you a solid gaming experience nonetheless. It hasn’t been certified by NVIDIA, but it has been tested and should work just fine with your GTX card of choice. If you’re willing to spend more for an ultrawide, LG tells us its HDR-equipped, 1440p 34GK950F-B also works with NVIDIA cards, though it costs over $1000.
If you just want an inexpensive 1080p monitor to get the job done—with a solid refresh rate and FreeSync support—Viewsonic’s XG2402 is only $215 for a 24” 144Hz TN panel. That’s a pretty good deal, and while it isn’t certified by NVIDIA, it’s been tested working with NVIDIA cards. We liked its predecessor well enough, at least for the price, and the newer 2402 has an overdrive feature that should improve the display’s response time to reduce ghosting. Alternatively, the Acer XFA240 is a similarly-specced monitor for $200, and it’s certified by NVIDIA (not to mention slightly more adjustable). Its picture quality isn’t quite as good as the Viewsonic, though, so it comes in at second place for the budget category.
Sure, we’d all love to play our console games on a massive $4,000 OLED 4K TV, but for most of us, that’s just beyond our budget. In fact, many consumers balk at spending even $1,000 on a new TV. Thankfully, the best budget gaming TVs offer a surprising number of features with 4K resolutions, high-dynamic range, and even preloaded apps.And if you already have a high-end 4K TV in the living room for watching Netflix, movies, and sports, then you can spend a lot less for a second TV for the basement or a kid’s room that will pull double duty as big gaming screen next to a gaming PC or console. Sure, you can get better color reproduction, viewing angles, brightness, and contrast if you spend more, but a cheap TV might surprise you with its features and image quality.
Whether you need a budget gaming TV for your new pad or a second TV for playing games, let us help you find one that delivers gaming greatness without breaking the bank.
This is the priciest TV on this list, but those extra bucks make a big difference. The TCL 55R617 is the best low-cost TV around right now, period. Make sure to check out our TCL 55R617 (read our review) to really understand what makes this the best cheap TV out there. It’s Roku-enabled, which is basically standard for TCL sets right now.
Unlike some of the other best cheap TVs, this one is 4K and HDR, making it an enormously good value. Throw in the fact it’s a 55-inch TV set, has a great picture, and costs much less than comparable 4K HDR sets, and the TCL 55R617 is the best cheap TV for gaming, without a doubt.
A quick glance at the list shows quite a few entries from TCL, but it’s because the company makes excellent TVs at even better prices. This 40-inch, 1080p set is no exception. If you don’t have an Xbox One X or PS4 Pro, you can do without the 4K HDR, and 40-inches is a great size for bedrooms, dorm rooms, or anywhere else you want to stick one. It has Roku’s streaming software built-in, just like its bigger siblings. If you want cheap but don’t need 4K, this one is perfect for gaming and streaming media.
Vizio’s E Series line has garnered constant praise over the years as having one of the best pictures of any budget TV. The 43-inch Vizio E43-F1 is the smallest member of the E Series and features a 4K picture with HDR and a 60Hz refresh rate. The secret to its budget excellence is full-array local dimming for better contrast and deeper black levels.
The 55-inch model in Vizio’s excellent E-series serves up 4K, HDR, 60Hz refresh rate and local dimming. Vizio E Series features 10 dimming zones on this 55-inch, and smaller, models. (You get 12 zones on the 65- and 70-inch models and 16 on the largest 75-inch size.)
Having any number of dimming zones is more important than the actual number because it allows for a more dynamic picture with greater contrast and deeper blacks. Contrast is an important aspect of a TV particularly for gamers because you need to see details hiding in dark scenes to stay one step ahead of your enemies.
This Toshiba set has a lot of features for not a lot of money. You can also find it on sale on Amazon frequently, making it an even cheaper option for your gaming needs. Built-in Fire TV functionality is a nice feature, especially if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber. But the real draw of the Toshiba is its 4K and HDR capabilities. If you have a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, this is a great choice for your 4K gaming needs on the cheap.
As we mentioned in our best 4K TVs guide, this model has an absurdly low price for a giant 55-inch, 4K TV set. There’s one catch: its peak brightness isn’t really high enough to make HDR content shine. So, while HDR is technically supported and will work with your HDR-enabled consoles, it won’t look all that much better than SDR.
But in every other way, this is an amazing deal. Huge size, great picture quality, low input lag, and built-in Roku software. If you don’t want to spend the extra money on the TCL 55R617 at the top of our list, this is a great, cheap 4K TV for gaming with a few tradeoffs that warrant its lower price tag.
The LG is a solid choice for gaming, thanks to a composite/component input for older consoles and 2 HDMI ports for your newer gear. It also has LG’s Color Master Engine, which renders bright colors whether you’re watching movies or playing games.
What’s that? Do you want something cheap? Like… really cheap? You give up some screen size (it’s 32 inches), but that’s to be expected. However, you’re also sacrificing resolution, which is cut down to a high-definition only 720p. On TVs 32-inches and smaller, this is pretty common. You can get 1080p in a 32-inch TV, but you have to pay almost twice as much as this TCL set. And unless you sit really close, you won’t notice the difference that much. Not on a screen this small.
Input lag is only so-so and image quality isn’t the greatest. After all, we’re talking about a TV that costs less than the collector’s edition version of some video games. You’re just not going to find super-low input lag and pristine visuals in this price range. As ultra-low-cost TVs go, TCL punches way above its weight here, but be aware of its drawbacks. You can also get it at.
What to look for in a Budget Gaming TV
When shopping for a budget gaming TV, expect to make some sacrifices. To stay on a budget under $700 or $500, don’t expect to see many quality screens bigger than 55-inches. You can also basically forget about OLED, as the screen technology demands a premium of $2,000 and up.
There are two ways of going about buying a budget gaming TV: get a big screen with poor image quality or a good quality screen that might be smaller than you want. I highly suggest going with the latter route as your TV might only be 43-inches, but if it’s 4K in resolution and produces accurate colors, you can always sit closer to the screen to remedy its small size.
Having a big screen might be nice, but if it has muted blacks and an off-putting color cast, no amount of distance is going to fix the way it looks. And you certainly can’t fix a poor quality display panel on your own.
To 4K or not to 4k
It’s worth taking a moment to discuss whether or not you should buy a 4K TV. Even if you only have a console capable of 1080p gaming (a PS4 Slim or Xbox One S), there are a couple of benefits to buying a 4K TV.
First, there’s High-Dynamic Range (HDR), a feature found almost exclusively in 4K TVs. However, that’s not to say all 4K TVs support HDR. Instead, you should look for budget models featuring a peak brightness above 300 nits to get the full HDR effect.
Increasingly, games are starting to support HDR on the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S, and it can make a big difference in image quality. These games will look a lot better on a 4K TV with HDR support than on a 1080p TV without it.
Second, you’re running out of options anyway. If you’ve been shopping for a new TV anytime in the last year, you’ve probably noticed HD sets aren’t the dominant force in TVs they used to be. You’re hard-pressed to find a new TV bigger than 49-inches in 1080p.
Manufacturers, and consumers too, have already moved on. If you do a quick search of 55-inch TVs on Amazon, you’re going to find the results are overwhelmingly 4K. That almost sounds concerning, but the prices on 4K TVs have come down much more dramatically, and in a much shorter time, than similarly-sized televisions during the HD era.
Bargain brands like Vizio and TCL have helped push the price of 4K sets down across the board. It’s not hard to find a 55-inch 4K TV with tons of features for less than $400, which is pretty amazing if you look at the historical prices of televisions. As little as 20 years ago, 32-inch CRTs were out of reach of most people. Now a 32-inch TV seems almost quaint.
It’s almost surprising how quickly 4K is taking over. You’ve long been able to get 4K computer monitors, but with the new round of the best graphics cards for gaming, you can now actually take advantage of all those pixels. Gaming laptops, too, are starting to squeeze in those new GPUs, making 4K closer to the norm than the exception. So what’s next for display technology? Why, 8K of course.
NBA Live is not a flagship EA Sports title in the way that heavy-hitters like FIFA and Madden are, and it has a tumultuous history at the company. However, the strides that last year’s NBA Live 19 made in a positive direction gave fans some hope that the series was back on track again. Now, it appears something might be amiss or changing with the pro basketball franchise.
EA announced today that NBA Live 20 is still coming, but it’s been delayed to EA’s FY20 Q3, which means the game is now scheduled to release between October 1 and December 31, 2019.
A spokesperson for EA Sports told GameSpot that NBA Live will feature a “different approach,” but it’s not clear if this is the reason for the delay.
“We’re planning a different approach to NBA Live this year, and will have more to share in the quarter ahead,” the spokesperson said.
In an earnings call today, EA CEO Andrew Wilson says EA as a company remains committed to making basketball games, and he remarked that the NBA Live series is getting better with each new instalment. He also acknowledged the rumours that NBA Live 20 will be a free-to-play title, but he didn’t confirm or deny anything.
This delay for NBA Live 20 is a big deal because it means the game will launch a while after competitor NBA 2K20, which arrives on September 6. In 2019, both NBA Live 19 and NBA 2K19 launched in the same week.
EA signalled that something might be changing with NBA Live this year when it released a roster update for NBA Live 19 to bring the game in line with all the wild off-season trades. Many wondered if this meant NBA Live 20 would be canceled, with players instead given the accurate rosters for the previous game. It seems EA still plans to release NBA Live 20, but it seems it will indeed be a non-traditional release.
If you’re old enough to remember Rune, then you likely have fond memories of smashing mead filled cups on the floor after a hearty chug, or ripping off enemies’ arms and beating them to death with it. The 2000s-era Viking-themed PC action-adventure from Human Head Studios stood apart from the dominant shooter market of the time, being one of the few PC games focused exclusively on melee combat. Alongside unflinching violence and an endearing use of Norse mythology, Rune manages to persevere in most people’s memories as a notable gem from the turn of the century.
A lot has changed in gaming since the first Rune, though. The scope of action-adventure games has dramatically expanded. Melee combat mechanics have evolved in countless ways. And Norse mythology-themed adventures are more prevalent now than ever before. It makes you wonder how the upcoming Rune II could even begin to make a dent against today’s action franchise heavyweights. But the truth is it’s not attempting to beat them at their own game. Retooled as an action-RPG with survival elements, Rune II‘s developers opted to iterate upon the original’s rudimentary action and exploration in ways that are faithful yet still ambitious and distinct for its relatively modest scope.
Set decades after the events of the first game, Rune II puts you in control of a new Viking warrior on a mission to defeat the trickster god Loki, who is manipulating the flow of time from afar to reset Ragnarok and create an infinite cycle of chaos. Naturally, it’s your job to stop him, but you can only do so by working up the power to enter the Realm Gate that he’s sealed himself behind.
The primary goal in Rune II seems straightforward, but accomplishing it is more complicated and less linear than you might imagine. You start the game on an island with no weapons and armor. You’re barely strong enough to hold your own in a fight, and everything wants to kill you. The game has you working from nothing, slowly scavenging the environment for resources to craft essential equipment, food, and lodging. All the while, you must actively explore the world in search of artifacts that can transport you to where Loki is hiding. You only need a handful to earn a chance to duel with the trickster god, but whether you’re strong enough is another matter entirely. The developers weren’t able to show me a Loki duel during our demo, but they told me that it’s a challenging fight and that you need to be incredibly skilled if you’re looking to conquer him on the first go.
Speaking of fighting, Rune II retains the quick mouse and keyboard-driven combat of the original; though, it will have controller support at launch. While its adherence to this tradition makes encounters a little clumsy, there’s still a degree of precision and strategy involved. Fights tend to be quick with overly aggressive enemies who push you to frequently bobbing and weaving trying to find openings. You possess an arsenal of attacks you can perform depending on the direction you’re moving and swinging, which demanded skill to execute with proper intention in the heat of battle.
The rhythm of combat and survival is more tense and hectic thanks to a countdown clock that ticks away as you play. The game can be broken down into periods called Ages, which each last about four hours. Every time Loki resets Ragnarok, a new age begins. Each affects the world in different ways to make your time spent fighting and exploring more inconvenient. For example, the Age of Frost increases the number of dangerous Frost Giants in the world, while the Age of Chaos causes enemy factions to fight against one another. Regardless, when an Age ends, you’re instantly thrown into a fight against Loki whether you’re ready or not.
There’s an inherent dynamism to Rune II’s world, story, and systems that makes it stand apart from the original and other survival games like it.
You do have support from the Norse Gods, such as Odin, Thor, or Hel. You’re lead down a path to aligning yourself with one, which grants you special powers. The choice you make ultimately affects the story’s outcome; however, the specifics towards how remains a mystery.
There’s an inherent dynamism to Rune II’s world, story, and systems that makes it stand apart from the original and other survival games like it. An overarching foe you’re continually building up your strength to defeat Loki only to fail repeatedly creates a loop that’s fascinating to see. The cyclical structure also seems fertile ground for personal anecdotes of difficulty and hardship to share with others. Fortunately, the game will include online cooperative play, so even if you do spend hours bashing your head against the wall trying to survive and defeat Loki, you’re welcome to with up to four friends.
Rune II is an intriguing albeit unexpected sequel to the original that offers a compelling twist to the action-RPG formula. Despite the new structure, the game’s fast-paced combat and wealth of Norse mythology seem likely to appease longtime fans. Make no mistake; this still feels like Rune. Though with nearly 20 years separating it from the first game, your recollection of that experience may be hazy. Still, Rune II seems enticing all the same and with a release set for sometime this Summer exclusively on the Epic Store, you won’t have to wait long.
From front to back, Wolfenstein: Youngblood is very much the same game on the Nintendo Switch as it is on other consoles and PC. You’ll get the bombastic combat scenarios where you’ll tear through Nazi trash as the charismatic, dynamic duo of Jess and Soph Blazkowicz, twin daughters of series hero BJ Blazkowicz. And you have the opportunity to play it all alongside a friend. The portable nature of the Nintendo Switch makes this an even more enticing prospect, but the platform’s limited hardware hurts the game’s best parts; low frame rates and muddy visuals make the action harder to enjoy. While these issues are not prohibitive, they do make the Switch version the weakest of the bunch.
Youngblood is a bite-sized spin-off that jumps ahead in Wolfenstein’s timeline by taking you to the 1980s, almost 20 years after the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. You see an older Anya and BJ teaching their twin daughters Jess and Soph the means of survival, just before BJ goes missing. With the help of Abby, daughter of Grace Walker from The New Colossus, you’re able to track him down in Nazi-occupied France, particularly Neu-Paris.
Not long after the introductory mission do you see how Youngblood breaks off from the traditional Wolfenstein structure; Neu-Paris acts as a group of separate hub areas where most of the action takes place. Many of the side quests and random events in these areas feel more like filler and will eventually have you running through familiar areas frequently. If anything, it’s at least a means of familiarizing yourself with the intricacies of the Dishonored-influenced districts. Main missions branch off from the hub areas, and in these missions are where you’ll find the relentless, challenging firefights that keep up a satisfying momentum. This is where Youngblood truly shines on the PC version, however, due to the Switch’s technical limitations, it doesn’t quite hit the same highs. [Read our PC review for our full thoughts.]
Overall, technical performance hampers some of the great FPS action as it makes aiming, movement, and reacting a bit more difficult.
Light RPG elements are new to the Wolfenstein franchise, and they don’t shake up the formula too much, but make for some enjoyable twists. You’ll earn XP and level up to drop points into a skill tree that grants new abilities or buffs to make you more effective in combat. You can upgrade weapons to fire with even more impact or change the way they function altogether. There’s also an armor-type element to strong enemies that’ll have you juggling between certain weapons to lay down the most damage. All these small changes serve to bring a slightly more dynamic edge to a solid FPS foundation.
Youngblood is wrapped in the idea of cooperative play, which is a blast. Friends (or randoms) can jump into your session easily and the game-state will remain untouched–the AI simply gets taken over by the player, and vice-versa when they leave. Pep signals are core to the co-op experience; these are cooldowns that grant useful buffs or clutch armor/health recharges. The revive system is another key to teamwork that sort of comes in place of traditional checkpoints. Outside of pep signals though, there feels like a lack of synergetic co-op gameplay features, like tag-team attacks or teamwork-centric capabilities, and it feels like a missed opportunity. It’s worth noting that you will need to have a Nintendo Switch Online account to do any sort of co-op play, however.
When it comes to the Switch version specifically, the question on many minds is: how well does it run? To that, I would say: not great. The frame rate is the most noticeable shortcoming as the game generally runs at sub-30 FPS and chugs when the action gets intense in both docked and undocked modes. There’s also heavy use of motion blur to help smooth over the low frame rate. Overall, technical performance hampers some of the great FPS action as it makes aiming, movement, and reacting a bit more difficult.
While not as important, the downgrade in visual quality is readily apparent. The game runs at 540p handheld and 720p docked, but uses some sort of dynamic resolution for assets and character models to help keep the frame rate in check. This turns things into blocky messes in certain combat scenarios that take place in large environments. And the low resolution and a gray foggy haze slightly obscures objects and enemies in the distance, making them difficult to identify.
Youngblood suffers as a result of the Switch’s relatively underpowered hardware, but for all its technical shortcomings, the game still delivers intense, momentous, and challenging combat. Everything features-wise remains intact, and you’ll get to enjoy taking a shotgun (or fully charged laser beam) to the heads of Nazi scum. The Blazkowicz sisters, Jess and Soph, bring their own unique swagger to the Wolfenstein franchise, too. So if the Switch version is your only way of playing Youngblood, you can be confident it’s still one hell of a ride.
Sigma has been revealed as the 31st Hero in Overwatch, and the gravity-controlling mad scientist is currently playable in the game’s PC test server. With so many Heroes in Overwatch now, creating new ones has become a balancing act for Blizzard–one where brand-new mechanics must be weighed against the established lore of the game’s narrative. Sigma is no different, having started out as one character that had to be changed to fulfill specific criteria: someone who further fleshed out Talon and also acted as an anchor tank.
“[Sigma’s introduction] wasn’t really reactionary to the meta,” lead hero designer Geoff Goodman said in an interview with GameSpot. “We were looking to introduce a new barrier tank to the game, specifically an anchor tank that the team could rally around to push through chokes and take objectives. So a lot of the prototyping all began with him having a large barrier and being somewhat immobile, so he’s not running off on his own. The teammates had to gather around him and make a push.”
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Blizzard is always working on multiple Overwatch Heroes at once and adapting prototypes as the needs arise. So when it came time to introduce Hero 31, there already was an idea of what the team wanted to do next. “We knew, from a gameplay side, that we wanted this anchor tank, and even at an early point for him, we knew we wanted him to be part of Talon,” Goodman said. “So, he literally was just ‘Talon anchor tank’ on paper for a good amount of time as we were prototyping.”
Though Talon is partially made up of former Overwatch team members and is currently the main antagonist in Overwatch’s narrative, much of the organization still remains a mystery. It’s a trend Blizzard was looking to change, and Hero 30 and 31 allowed the developer to do it. “[Talon is] an extremely important group in the Overwatch universe and while there are already some really prominent and beloved characters in our line-up who are in Talon, I think when you look at it, they’re still a very small sub-section of the overall group,” Goodman said. “As we’re developing the universe, when we add new Heroes, we try and make sure that they call back to the core Overwatch story. So that’s why Baptiste and also Sigma are very related to Talon, because we were thinking, ‘Oh, this would be a good chance to be able to explore more of this world through them and see it through two new characters’ eyes.’ So with this two-pack of Heroes, you [learn] a little bit more about Talon and see Talon grow as a group as well.”
However, before Sigma was created, Blizzard looked to a previously established Overwatch character for Hero 31: Mauga, a Talon member introduced in the Overwatch comic that’s focused on Baptiste and who’s a former friend to Overwatch’s 30th Hero. His willingness to embrace the murderous side of the organization that caused Baptiste to quit made him seem like a good way to explore Talon from another point-of-view. Plus, the dude is built like a truck, making him a prime candidate for the tank role in a video game. “Originally, [Hero 31] started as a different character that we later called Mauga,” Goodman said. “[Baptiste and Mauga] were going to be together. However, we found it kind of difficult because, though we really liked Mauga, it was hard to imagine that guy as a slow-moving dude with a shield, marching with his team. That guy feels a little more like he’d be jumping in like Winston or Wrecking Ball and causing chaos. So somewhere sort of later in development, we decided to shift gears and go with a completely different character, and that’s how Sigma formed.”
Once Blizzard decided to focus on a brand-new character instead of a previously established one, it opened up the possibility of exploring previously established technology and powers in a brand-new way. Both Orisa and Zarya have gravity abilities, for example, but no Overwatch Hero had been completely built around gravity-focused powers. “It was clear that once we shifted courses on this character, that we were going to double down on the gravity abilities,” Goodman said. The idea of doing another scientist–we had some other ideas–came about pretty quickly too.”
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Goodman added that Overwatch’s story and gameplay are developed “hand-in-hand” so several of the add-on Heroes have had their design or backstory completely changed prior to their release, like Sigma, to better fit their abilities or vice versa. The prototype for Ana, for example, was an alchemist who operated as a close-range fighter with throwable potions that caused different splash effects. When it came time to implement the alchemist into the game, Blizzard chose to use the opportunity to add Ana as a playable Hero. As Ana had already been established as a sniper in Pharah, Soldier: 76, and Reaper’s backstories, however, most of the alchemist’s explosive concoctions became special bullets, with only one remaining potion-like: Ana’s Biotic Grenade.
Going forward, the creation of Heroes will be impacted by Overwatch’s new Role Queue feature, though perhaps not as substantially as you might think. Blizzard has had plans for Role Queue for a while and has thus already been working within the parameters of its eventual launch. “We have been talking about Role Queue for a long time,” Goodman said. “It took quite a while to implement it. I don’t even remember when we first started talking about it or really committing to it.” Sigma has always been designed with Role Queue in mind, for example, and changes to his character–like removing Accretion’s secondary ability to form a rock-like version of Mei’s Ice Wall–have been a result of balancing the character, not accounting for the new feature.
Goodman did add that Role Queue’s launch does currently eliminate the possibility of seeing a fourth class (beyond tank, damage, and support) in Overwatch, as introducing another class would mess with the balance Blizzard has been operating under with Role Queue in mind. However, there may be more hybrid Heroes–like Brigitte, who’s support class but can use Barrier Shield and Shield Bash to technically act as a tank for her team–in the future.
For now, the only way to play with Sigma is on Overwatch’s PC test servers, but the Hero will be officially launching on all platforms soon enough. Overwatch is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Avengers: Endgame is now officially the biggest movie of all time and now you can watch it at home, constantly reliving every gut-wrenching moment until you’re a puddle of tears and victory. With the film now available for digital release, with Blu-ray and 4K coming soon, it’s time to take an even closer look at the film.
That closer look includes a long list of featurettes on the home release, as well as a commentary from the writers and directors, in which we learned quite a bit about making the film. Another intriguing feature on the set, though, is the inclusion of deleted scenes. With such a massive undertaking and a cast of characters this big, it’s only natural that multiple scenes wound up on the cutting room floor. Now, you can actually see a handful of them.
In case you somehow haven’t seen the movie that finally dethroned Avatar yet, what are you doing? Go watch it instead of reading about deleted scenes. Warning: We’re talking all kinds of Endgame spoilers.
This is by no means a complete counting of every scene deleted from the movie, which we’ll get to below, but for now, these are the only bits of cut footage you’re going to see. You can purchase Avengers: Endgame digitally now or pick up a physical copy on August 13.
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15. Not Even The Writers And Directors Know What’s Up With Vormir
In one of the most confusing moments from the three-hour long commentary, all four of the men behind Endgame debate what exactly happens to Red Skull after the Soul Stone leaves Vormir and whether or not Steve Rogers ran into him.
Anthony Russo: “Speaking of Red Skull, have you guys thought about whether or not Cap runs into Red Skull when he’s returning the Soul Stone?”
Steve McFeely: “He would have to.”
Chris Markus: “Many times.”
McFeely: “Well I guess if Red Skull has been released from his bonds…”
