While you may not have touched Animal Crossing: New Horizons since you let your last batch of turnips rot, plenty of players are still using the game as a replacement for real-world activities. In this case, a group of players have found an interesting way to play a game of rugby, despite the game’s lack of a kickable ball.
In a video by Youtuber @kaicho_beda, a player stands in for the ball as the other players crowd around, trying to push them across the goal line on other side. The video’s poster also acts as the game’s commentator–similar to other videos on Tik Tok and YouTube where they act as an “announcer” over the top of various scenes out of Animal Crossing.
While this style of sport is unlikely to replace any real-life leagues, it’s a clever way to play, with the “ball” also able to act as ref and as the perfect action camera. If you still have six friends actively playing the game, you too can put together your own game of rugby–but why stop there? Anyone up for some hockey? Tennis? Basketball?
If sports aren’t your thing, check out everything that’s been added in the game’s second summer update, including a handful of exclusive seasonal items that will only be available until the end of the month.
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After rolling it out in Australia and other parts of the world, Netflix has expanded the reach of the new “Shuffle Play” button to more users across the globe.
The new Shuffle Play button does exactly that–it shows you a random TV shows or movie. It’s not entirely random, however, as the button will select a TV show or a movie using its algorithms to determine what the streamer thinks you’ll enjoy based on what you’ve watched before.
The option is currently only available on TV, but not mobile devices. A Netflix spokesperson told TechCrunch, which first reported the news, that the Shuffle Play button is aimed at letting users find new stuff to watch quickly.
TechCrunch also reported that Netflix has not yet decided if it will release the Shuffle Play button to more users as an official feature. Right now, the company is amassing feedback.
Netflix introduced a lot of new content in August 2020 in the US, including the original three Jurassic Park movies, 1979’s Mad Max, and the Adam Sandler movie Mr. Deeds. The video game documentary High Score premieres on August 19–and it is very good. Check out GameSpot’s video above to learn more about all the new stuff coming to Netflix this month.
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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is already one of the year’s biggest hits, offering a whole world for its would-be pilots to explore in a year when travel has been otherwise restricted. With such a huge world to build, MFS2020 relies on algorithms to generate most of it, which has resulted in some interesting new landmarks.
In one case, the simulator has downgraded the Queen’s house, turning Buckingham Palace in London into a fairly dismal-looking block of flats. While The Shard and the O2 Arena in London were modeled and added manually, it seems Buckingham Palace didn’t get the same treatment.
Likewise, while Sydney Harbor sports a loving recreation of the Opera House, the iconic Harbor Bridge has been replaced by a much more generic freeway bridge.
Players on Reddit have accumulated a number of similar landmarks, such as the ancient Roman Arènes de Nîmes, which also has a couple of terrace buildings in its center for good measure.
The tallest statue on the planet, the 182m Statue of Unity in India, has also been replaced by… well, nothing much really.
The golden Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar is barely recognisable in game, and even more strangely, a number of the green-roofed pagodas that surround it have been turned into huge apartment blocks.
While it’s perhaps understandable that MSF’s world-building technology was a little confused by some of the more uniquely-designed monuments in the world, it also seems to have a tendency to put buildings where they don’t belong, like on a football stadium, or even an airstrip.
And then there’s… whatever this is.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now for PC through Steam or the Microsoft Store for $60, or through Xbox Game Pass. Check here to see if your PC will be able to handle this mammoth game.
Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom has shared his thoughts on Amazon’s upcoming big-budget TV show based on the JRR Tolkien universe. Speaking to Collider, Bloom said he had the opportunity to get an inside scoop on the show from a producer he’s working with for his own Amazon projects, but he chose to stay in the dark so he could enjoy the show as a fan.
“I had a few questions for him to begin with … and then I was like, ‘You know, I don’t need to know any more.’ It’s not, obviously, it’s not a remake. It’s actually not based on The Fellowship or any of that. So I think it could be really, really interesting from that perspective,” Bloom said.
Bloom said he is going to “fan it up for sure” when he watches the show, which is new territory for him given he starred in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit films. Bloom also shared that he understands Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is a “big fan of fantasy” and that’s part of the reason why Amazon shelled out a reported $250 million for the rights alone.
“They certainly paid a pretty penny to get it done. No doubt there is a lot riding there on that,” Bloom said.
Also in the interview, Bloom spoke about a conversation he had with Peter Jackson some 20 years ago when the director raised the idea of a remake of The Lord of the Rings.
“I remember being on set with Peter Jackson and him saying, ‘Can you imagine the day when they do a remake of this movie?’ And I was like [flabbergasted face]. And then of course here we are, 20 years later, but it’s not a remake,” Bloom said of the Amazon show. “The Lord of the Rings is a title for a world. But I think it’s going to be interesting from that perspective.”
A remake of The Lord of the Rings wouldn’t be something Bloom would be too interested in seeing.
“If it was a remake I would be like, ‘You’re going to take us back into Hobbiton and try to tell us that what we saw…’ It was such an informative time and it had such an impact. It’s different, what’s coming [from Amazon] and I think that’s a good thing.”
Bloom currently stars on Amazon’s Carnival Row. In December 2019, he signed a first-look deal with Amazon that will see the star develop multiple TV shows and movies for the company.
Released in 2004, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth was a high point in a period when EA had the license to make games based on Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. That license reverted to Warner Bros. in a messy handover in late 2008, condemning the Middle-earth real-time-strategy series to licensing hell–but now a group of fans is bringing it back with a modern engine, Kotaku reports.
The project is fittingly named The Battle for Middle-earth: Reforged and was first announced in 2018. However, a recently released video showcasing a whole chunk of gameplay has brought BFME:Reforged back into the limelight.
Due to licensing issues and the age of the original game, it’s difficult for fans to get a hold of EA’s original version of BFME, and even harder to get it working on a modern computer. However the Reforged team is going further than just making the game playable again, instead giving it a full graphical update, as well as adding new features and effects. The project’s website describes a team of fans working on the unofficial remaster, with some working almost full time on it.
The current plan for BFME:Reforged is to work towards a beta with two factions included, and from there to add four more factions before the full game is released. You can check out the Reforged website to follow along with the project as it progresses.
Halo Infinite will have not one but three different composers who are collaborating on the game to create music, and now they have all been announced. Joel Corelitz is the third and final composer to be announced for the game; he joins Gareth Coker and Curtis Schweitzer.
Developer 343 Industries announced his involvement in a blog post where they also shared a brand-new track from Corelitz that will be featured on Halo Infinite’s OST, “Through the Trees.”
Halo Infinite is just the latest huge game project for Corelitz, as he previously composed the music for Death Stranding alongside Ludvig Forsell.
Corelitz explained on the Halo Waypoint blog that he was approached by 343’s music supervisor, Joel Yarger, who was looking to add “some different flavors” to Halo Infinite’s music. Corelitz is known for creating music that fuses modern synthesizer sounds with orchestral music, and this shines through in the “Through the Trees” track.
The Halo franchise is known for its music, and Corelitz said it was a challenge to incorporate his own new ideas while paying homage to the music that came before it.
“Figuring out where my own music sensibilities complement Halo’s established sensibilities was a process–almost like learning a new subset of music theory,” he said. “I had to learn Halo’s musical rules so well that they became instinctive.”
Corelitz said he’s been a fan of Halo since the start of the series, and he feels a sense of pride to be able to work on Halo Infinite. “I know and love its music as a player. Being able to pull from Halo’s rich musical identity as a composer–to integrate its themes and express them in my voice was a new experience and a real honor,” he said.
The music Corelitz wrote for Halo Infinite is meant to reflect Master Chief’s personality.
“He’s always calm, confident, and never rattled,” Corelitz said. “And the music reflects that. It’s positive, inspiring, open. We’re often asking the orchestra to play very softly and the choir to sing very quietly. And if it ever gets moody, or more intense there’s a very significant reason for it, and that makes it much more impactful.”
Halo Infinite was originally expected to be a launch title for the Xbox Series X, but Microsoft recently delayed the game to 2021 due in part to complications related to working from home during the pandemic.
Get ready for a very scary 2021. The Exorcist, the film that has traumatized countless moviegoers since the 1970s is reportedly being rebooted by Morgan Creek Entertainment, according to Deadline. The information was casually dropped in a report about Dead Ringers, a TV show reboot of the production company’s original 1988 film.
This won’t be the first crack at a modern Exorcist revival. The franchise was spun into a TV show on Fox that lasted for two seasons back in 2016. Before that, the original film had two sequels, The Exorcist II: The Heretic in 1977 and The Exorcist III in 1990, and one prequel in Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist in 2005.
The franchise owes its existence to the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, published in 1971. The novel was adapted into a stage play in 2012 and toured through the UK as recently as 2019.
There are no concrete details about Morgan Creek’s planned reboot, meaning it’s far too soon to tell whether or not it will simply be a second pass at the first film or if it will be something completely new. Casting, production timelines, and a release date beyond the planned 2021 year, remain entirely unknown.
Madden NFL 21 officially hits the field on August 28 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but you can play the professional football game an entire week early–if you’re willing to pay for it.
EA Sports has confirmed that Madden NFL 21’s early access period begins on August 21. On that date, you can begin playing the full game through EA Play, which is EA’s new name for all of its subscription services. If history is any indication, while you can play the full game early, total play time is expected to be limited to no more than 10 hours.
Subscribing to EA Play, which costs $5/month or $30/year, is not the only way to play Madden NFL 21 early. The game’s $80 Deluxe edition unlocks on August 25, and there are no time limits.
All of your progress from the EA Play trial is likely to carry forward if you choose to buy the game outright. EA Play members save 10 percent on all EA digital content, which knocks down the price of Madden NFL 21’s standard version from $60 to $54.
Madden NFL 21 introduces a number of updates and improvements over last year’s game, while it also adds a brand-new, arcade-style backyard football mode with trick plays. For more on Madden NFL 21, check out GameSpot’s video above where we speak with producer Seann Graddy and run down everything that’s new.
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If you thought the long and winding story of New Mutants couldn’t get any stranger, think again. Though the majorly delayed film is looking at an actual, real, definitely-going-to-stick-this-time release on August 28, new information about the (probably cursed) production keeps trickling in–this time, with what might be the most bonkers superhero casting of all time.
Nerdist reports that director Josh Boone seriously considered bringing comedian Sacha Baron Cohen on board to play Warlock, a character who played a major role in the New Mutants comics but sadly did not end up making the cut in the live action adaptation–though, apparently, Warlock made it through several versions of the script before a final draft was cooked up.
For the uninitiated, Warlock–not to be confused with Adam Warlock, no relation–was a giant robotic alien creature who came from a race called the Technarchy that traveled around the galaxy infecting populations with the techno-organic virus. If you’re a fan of characters like Cable, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the term “techno-organic virus” before–it refers to a virus that infects and then drains the life energy out of organic organisms. The Technarchy made their way in the universe by infecting and then sustaining themselves with the virus’s energy but Warlock was different–he actually possessed empathy and compassion and was thus regarded as a “mutant” for his race. Long story short, he ended up on Earth and joined up as a core member of the New Mutants.
Had Warlock actually made it to the big screen, Baron Cohen would not have been put on stilts and strapped into a crazy Borg-like costume, however. Boone explained that his ideal take would have made Baron Cohen the “Andy Serkis of Warlock,” meaning he would have performed the character to be CGI’d in later, like Serkis’s iconic performance of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies.
We can’t tell if this is the biggest missed opportunity in a superhero movie or a dodged bullet. Maybe it’s both.
New Mutants will be coming to theaters on August 28.
In today’s Save State, Chastity talks about how Baldur’s Gate 3 was initially planned for August, but will now release in early access on PC and Stadia in late September. The release date was confirmed during the Panel from Hell stream during Summer Games Fest, in which we got a new CGI trailer and details on five origin characters at launch.
Adjusting to working from home during COVID-19 has been a challenge for numerous game developers, including Arkane Studios. Their game Deathloop has officially been delayed to 2021.
In Batman news, yesterday we talked about the Batman teaser site, for a game rumored to be called Gotham Knights. The countdown on the official site ended, and it resulted in…another teaser.The game will most likely be revealed during the WB Montreal panel at DC Fandome this Saturday, August 22. We will also be covering all the biggest DC movies from DC Fandome over on https://www.youtube.com/gamespotuniverse.
While you’re here, check out GameSpot’s merch store! Until the end of August, all the proceeds will go to charity, split between Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 direct relief. Check it out here: https://store.gamespot.com/