Author: Trafficblast

Elite: Dangerous Odyssey Doesn’t Mean Frontier Is Finished with Elite’s Space Exploration

Elite: Dangerous’ Odyssey expansion is the primary focus for developer Frontier right now, but the game’s space exploration core is “by no means done” – although Frontier hopes that if you didn’t enjoy the space content, you might come in to play with Odyssey’s new offerings anyway.

The major 2021 expansion – which will let players land on, explore and shoot one another across many of the planets in the game’s simulated galaxy – is taking up much of the developer’s time right now, but it doesn’t mark the end of updates to the version of Elite: Dangerous we already have.

“We definitely have to focus in order to get the experience on foot to be as good as we want it to be,” said game designer Luke Betterton to IGN. “It needs a similar level of focus to what we’ve previously given our in space content – and that’s obviously had many, many years. But [space content] is by no means done. This is an expansion to the existing game. It’s not a case of: ‘You’ve had this one and now we’re going to give you that one and we’re just going to move that way.'”

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Key to that idea is in how Odyssey is designed not to sit alongside the core game as a separate piece, but within it: “The Odyssey experience is going to go pretty much hand-in-hand with the existing experience,” Betterton continues. “You’ll be able to fly around, you’ll be able to step out of your ship, you’ll be able to do things that are on foot and then just hop back in your ship and continue an experience that is fairly seamless.”

However, while Odyssey aims to fit within Elite’s structure, allowing you to extend the usual offerings of exploration, combat, and trade, it’s being designed to feel like an entirely new activity, from collecting samples of undiscovered flora, to turning the usual strategic spacefighting into what looks like more frenetic on-foot firefights. Frontier hopes that means Elite’s appeal will broaden along with the gameplay:

“It’s about making Elite, as a kind of simulation and game experience, just so much more full,” explains Betterton.” There is more to do at every single moment. And if you perhaps didn’t find something in the original version of Elite – because you’re not that into spaceships perhaps – you can do all of the on-foot stuff regardless. It will allow all those people to actually find something in Elite that they necessarily didn’t have before.”

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Elite: Dangerous – Odyssey will launch in early 2021, and will include full planets to land on, as well as contracts that allow for diplomacy, commerce, lethal stealth, and all-out combat. There will be “diverse settings, objectives, and NPCs” that offer “endless mission variety and a near infinite amount of content to enjoy.”

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Will Smith And Kevin Hart Will Star In A Remake Of A Classic 1987 Film

Yet another remake of a classic movie is on the way. Will Smith and Kevin Hart will star in a remake of the 1987 John Hughes movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, according to Variety.

The original starred Steve Martin and the late John Candy as two men trying to get home for Thanksgiving. The hook was that Martin played a tightly wound executive while Candy portrayed a jovial shower ring salesman. A lot of hilarity and hijinks ensued as they made their way home, suffering setback after setback on their journey.

The new film will take a similar route, with Smith and Hart playing mismatched travelers who are forced to work together to get home for the holidays.

Brooklyn 99’s Aeysha Carr is writing the script and is making her movie writing debut. There is no word yet on who will direct. The movie is in production at Paramount, which is owned by GameSpot parent company ViacomCBS.

Smith has already starred in a popular remake, appearing as The Genie in Disney’s live-action Aladdin film that grossed over $1 billion at the global box office. Hart starred in a reboot of sorts, too, in the new Jumanji films that have been very popular at the box office.

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Fans Are Divided On The New Space Jam’s Uniforms

In case you haven’t heard, Space Jam is coming back. The upcoming movie, subtitled “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” stars NBA superstar LeBron James, who’s just given us a look at the Tune Squad’s new uniform for 2020.

While the original 1996 film featured a simple and classic jersey likely inspired by star Michael Jordan’s classic white and red Bulls jersey, the new film is going far more cartoony with its version. Take a look.

The Looney Tunes’ concentric circle logo, which also appeared on the original jersey, is now a major design feature across one side of the uniform, on a backdrop of bright teal. Even the “Tune Squad” lettering is more cartoony than the 1996 version.

Reactions to the reveal have been mixed, though that seems inevitable when producing a follow-up to a beloved yet unique film like Space Jam. For the most part, commenters on the Twitter thread agreed the brightly colored jerseys were a bit much.

It’s unlikely that even a Sonic-level backlash will see the jerseys changed, however, as the live-action parts of the movie have already been completed even as of March this year.

The sequel has its fair share of detractors, however, with the director of the original film warning that the second movie would be “doomed” without a star on Jordan’s level.

The new Space Jam movie is targeting a 2021 release.

Call Of Duty: Warzone/Modern Warfare Update Will Fix The FR 5.56 Weapon

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone developer Infinity Ward is working on a fix for the FR 5.56 weapon to address how overpowered it currently is. The developer confirmed on Twitter that it has identified the problem, but there is no ETA on when the fix may be delivered.

The issue is that the underbarrel shotgun for the FR 5.56 is just too powerful. Videos have emerged on social media showing that the weapon can kill an enemy too easily from distances that should normally be outside the lethal range for a shotgun.

You can check out the video below from YouTube user TheXclusiveAce to see how the underbarrel shotgun is overpowered and how it is effective at a range of 15 meters. The issue appears to be related to the Season 5 update.

In other news, Activision is preparing to announce this year’s new Call of Duty game, which is believed to be Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Recent teasers have suggested that Activision will further pull back the curtain on the new game this Friday, August 14.

2020’s new Call of Duty game is developed by Black Ops creator Treyarch and longtime Call of Duty support studio Raven Software.

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Alleged Marvel’s Avengers Datamine Could Point To New Playable Characters

With the beta for Crystal Dynamics’ Marvel’s Avengers game now having dropped on all platforms (though the PS4 got it the earliest), dataminers have started to dig through the files of the PC version of the beta, allegedly finding clues about upcoming characters. According to a report by IGN, the game files include references to at least 15 previously unannounced playable characters.

As detailed on two different Reddit threads, the characters are listed in the code with the prefix UnlockPlayableCharacter, with the full list including the following Marvel heroes:

  • Captain Marvel
  • She-Hulk
  • Kate Bishop
  • War Machine
  • Peter Parker
  • Ant-Man
  • Wasp
  • Vision
  • Black Panther
  • Doctor Strange
  • Falcon
  • Mar-Vell
  • Mockingbird
  • Quake
  • Winter Soldier
  • Scarlet Witch
  • Hulkbuster

While Peter Parker presumably refers to the PlayStation-exclusive inclusion of Spider-Man, other fan-favorites such as Black Panther, Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch are new to the game.

Some fans have speculated that some of the characters, such as War Machine and Hulkbuster, will be essentially reskinned versions of characters already in the game, allowing players to get around the restriction that prevents two of the same character from participating in a mission.

While Hawkeye has already been announced as the first post-launch DLC character to arrive in the game, one user dug deeper into the files to reveal that Black Panther, She-Hulk, Kate Bishop, and Winter Soldier have the most files under there name, implying they’ll be ready to add to the game sooner than others.

The last beta dates for Marvel’s Avengers arrive this week, from August 21-23 on all platforms. While the game will launch with six playable characters–Iron Man, Kamala Khan, Black Widow, The Hulk, Captain America, and Thor–the latter two will not be playable in the beta. Spider-Man will be available exclusively for players on the PS4 and PS5.

Marvel’s Avengers is planned to launch on September 4 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game will also come to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

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Laurence Fishburne Won’t Be Returning For Matrix 4

While a number of actors from the original Matrix trilogy–including Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and, of course, Keanu Reeves–are reprising their roles for the upcoming Matrix sequel, Morpheus actor Laurence Fishburne will not, The Wrap reports.

The reason for this is simple: “I have not been invited,” Fishburne told New York Magazine when asked about the project, adding, “Maybe that will make me write another play. I wish them well. I hope it’s great.”

As Morpheus, Fishburne had one of the most iconic roles in the original film, as the mentor to Reeves’ Neo. “It is probably the role that I’ll be best remembered for, which is great; it’s not the only thing I’ll be remembered for, which is better,” Fishburne said of the role, adding, “what I get with him is I’ve got Darth Vader in this hand, and I’ve got Obi-Wan in that hand. I’ve got Bruce Lee, I’ve got Muhammad Ali shuffled in there, and I’ve got kung fu.”

The Wrap speculates that the movie may respect the canon of The Matrix Online, where Morpheus was killed as part of a game event. The game has previously gained the Wachowski sisters’ blessing as a continuation of the film series, though that may change with the new sequel.

However character deaths don’t seem to be too much of an issue as far as plotlines go, as both Neo and Trinity are returning despite their deaths in the original film trilogy. Hugo Weaving has also confirmed that he will not be returning as Agent Smith, despite his efforts to the contrary.

Not much about the plot of the new movie is known. Helmed by Lana Wachowski, though without her sister Lilly, writers Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell both contributed to the script as well. Both have collaborated with the Wachowskis before–Hemon on Sense8, and Mitchell on the sisters’ film adaptation of his novel Cloud Atlas.

Originally planned to debut in May 2021, coronavirus delays have pushed the release of Matrix 4 back to spring 2022.

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You Suck At Parking Is The Extreme Parking Game I Never Knew I Needed

Belgian indie studio Happy Volcano, the creators of recently released The Almost Gone, has announced its second game, You Suck At Parking. As the name suggests, it’s a game about finding a park, albeit as part of a frenetic race against other players.

Billed as an “extreme physics-based parking game,” You Suck At Parking sees players racing through obstacles including jumps, loop-the-loops, and speed boosts to be the first to a parking spot–though to be successful you’ll also have to stop in time to fit in the parking space.

While the game will come pre-set with a number of levels, it’ll also include a level creator for players to make their own wacky parking problems.

With the recently released Fall Guys proving that competitive games don’t have to be too serious to become a hit on Steam, it’ll be interesting to see what Happy Volcano does with its frenetic parking game.

Interested players can check out an alpha version of the game now, with sign-ups available on the game’s website. Everyone else will have to wait until You Suck At Parking launches, which is planned for next year on Steam.

Fall Guys Dev Warns Of Scams For A Non-Existent Mobile Version

Things that are popular are often targets for scams, and this is also the case for the whimsical battle royale game Fall Guys. Developer Mediatonic recently called out a YouTube channel that claims to have details on a mobile version of the game, but it’s all a bunch of baloney.

The developer confirmed on Twitter, “If you see any ads for a mobile version, they are scams.” The video in question is not even a good fake, the developer said, because it’s just the PC version pretending to be a mobile version–the mouse cursor is even in the video.

“I don’t want to live on this planet anymore,” the Fall Guys Twitter account says. Mediatonic does have hopes to bring Fall Guys to other platforms beyond PS4 and PC someday, but no plans have been announced yet.

In other Fall Guys news, Mediatonic has kicked off a charity campaign where it will create a special skin for the biggest donation to charity. The Tushy Bidet company is currently in the lead with a $40,000 donation for a shirt that says, “Ask Me About My Butthole.”

What’s more, Star Wars writer Gary Whitta is pausing his Animal Crossing talk show and starting a new one based on Fall Guys.

Mediatonic also has plans to develop the wacky battle royale into more of a game show experience with deeper Twitch integration. Streamers will undoubtably rush to be the most popular Fall Guys streamer as new mini games come out.

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Bungie Shuts Down Destiny 2 Solstice Of Heroes Challenge Following Reward Bug

We’re a week into Destiny 2‘s summer event, the Solstice of Heroes, but things aren’t going as smoothly as Guardians and Bungie would probably like. A bug is afflicting the new event, messing up some of its rewards. As a result, Bungie has disabled a weekly challenge for the Solstice of Heroes, and we don’t know when it’ll be back online.

The offending challenge is the one that rewards you with Powerful gear for heading to the special location that’s part of Solstice, the European Aerial Zone. There, defeating bosses and unlocking Solstice Packages can earn you a weekly reward if you speak with Eva Levante in the tower. Bungie said on Twitter that those rewards aren’t going out correctly. Until it’s fixed, the challenge has been disabled–presumably to save you from wasting your time completing it, only to receive nothing.

For players working their way up to the current soft Power level cap of 1,050, that’s a bummer, because Powerful rewards are the most reliable way to make that climb. The good news, however, is that Bungie disabling the challenge doesn’t mess with the big goal of the Solstice of Heroes event: unlocking and upgrading the special Solstice armor.

The Solstice armor requires a lot of grinding to unlock, earn, and upgrade to its full potential. You’ll need to complete a number of different activities throughout the solar system, including knocking out Crucible and Gambit matches, taking part in Strikes and Nightfall: The Ordeal runs, and earning rewards in the EAZ. Even though the weekly challenge has been disabled, the EAZ is still available and still dishes out Solstice packages and other rewards. That means your progress on your Solstice armor shouldn’t be hampered.

We’ll keep an eye out for updates from Bungie about when the Solstice weekly challenge might be restored, and what other bugs the developer might need to squash during the Solstice of Heroes. The event runs until September 8, so you should still have plenty of time to get all of its rewards before its end.

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Fortnite Drama Heats Up: Epic To Lose Apple Dev Accounts | Save State

In today’s gaming news, the lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games heats up. Epic Games has filed for a temporary restraining order against Apple, after Apple announced it would be cutting off Epic’s developer accounts for iOS and Mac, including those it uses to work on the Unreal Engine.

Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Montreal are teasing a new game, could it be the rumored Court Of Owls-inspired Gotham Knight?

Ghost of Tsushima is getting a co-op mode later this year. Legends will introduce new story missions, wave-based missions, as well as a raid. Don’t forget to check out store.gamespot.com to get some awesome Play For All merch. All proceeds will be donated to Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 relief efforts.