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You Can Play As Luigi In Super Mario Bros. 35 After All

Super Mario Bros. 35–a multiplayer battle royale take on the original Super Mario Bros.–is one of the strangest games Nintendo has released in a long time, and it’s garnered quite a bit of attention recently. Now, some clever players have discovered that you can play as Luigi in the game, just like in the original Super Mario Bros., though they haven’t quite agreed on how to unlock him.

The original Reddit post claimed that you had to reach Star Rank, which is progress level 100 in the game, before you could play as Luigi. Follow-up posts and replies from fans seem to indicate that you have to complete every stage in the game at least once, including the final Bowser in 8-4. It’s unclear if Star Rank is also required. Players simply hold L during the matchmaking process, and they’ll play as Luigi instead of Mario.

This isn’t the first time that fans have tried to find Luigi in a Mario game. For many years, a rumor circulated that Luigi was playable in Super Mario 64, which was seemingly bolstered by a blocky texture on a fountain in the castle courtyard that supposedly read “L is Real 2401.” Earlier this year, hackers discovered Luigi in the game’s source code following a massive leak, finally confirming that he was indeed hiding in the game all along.

Super Mario Bros. 35 is available to Switch Online subscribers, and it will only be playable until March 31 of next year.

Now Playing: Super Mario Bros. 35 – Official Announcement Trailer

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Ghostbusters: Afterlife Gets New Release Date, And Don’t Breathe Sequel Date Announced

It has been 10 months since the first trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a movie that was originally going to hit theaters in July 2020. However, Sony has announced the movie is getting pushed back for a second time. In addition, the movie studio has revealed the release date for the sequel to Don’t Breathe.

In December 2019, we got our first look at the next movie in the Ghostbusters franchise–which takes place present day after the events of Ghostbusters II. Sony has announced that the film is being pushed back to June 11. Interestingly enough, this is the second weekend of June, which is the date when the first Ghostbusters debuted in 1984.

Additionally, the Don’t Breathe Sequel will be hitting theaters on August 13, 2021. Rodo Sayagues will co-write and direct the film. He also co-wrote the original alongside Don’t Breathe’s director Fede Álvarez. The Don’t Breathe follow-up was announced back in 2016. At this time, there is not much known about the film, but Álvarez has said he knows “exactly where it goes.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife will be directed by Jason Reitman, the son of Ghostbusters’ director Ivan Reitman. The film will star Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), and McKenna Grace (Captain Marvel). Additionally, Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts will reprise their roles from the original movies, but it’s unknown how large these roles are.

Jared Leto’s Joker Refuses To Die, Is In Zack Snyder’s Justice League – Report

Just when you thought he was out, they pull him back in. Jared Leto is returning to the DC movie universe as the Joker once again–and it’s not for The Suicide Squad. Instead, Leto will evidently appear in the upcoming Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which will premiere on HBO Max in 2021.

The news comes from The Hollywood Reporter. Leto will reportedly be filming new scenes for Snyder’s cut of the Justice League movie. According to THR, filming of the new scenes is currently underway with other DC movie actors Ben Affleck (Batman), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), and Amber Heard (Mera) involved, among a long list of others.

This development comes a year after reports surfaced that Leto was unhappy Warner Bros. made a standalone Joker film with Joaquin Phoenix in the role. As previously mentioned, he also hasn’t been announced as appearing in James Gunn’s upcoming Suicide Squad sequel, while the Birds of Prey movie revealed that he and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) were no longer together.

For those who somehow remember the plot details of 2016’s Suicide Squad, this won’t be the first time Leto’s Joker and Affleck’s Batman appear in the same film. There are a few scenes of the two together in Suicide Squad, though chances are it’s actually Affleck’s stunt double donning the cape and cowl for those moments.

Given that Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman is going a different route and star for the Caped Crusader, chances are the Snyder Cut will be the last time we’ll see this particular duo on-screen together. Unless they also throw Leto into The Flash, which will Affleck play the Dark Knight once again, along with Michael Keaton returning as Batman from the 1989 film.

Yes, the DC movie universe is confusing. Multiverses often are. Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max next year.

WWE Being Investigated For Possible COVID-19 Hotspots

The Orange County Department of Health is investigating several buildings that are considered COVID-19 hotspots in the county. The buildings where WWE is running shows are part of that list.

F4WOnline is reporting that the Orange County Department of Health is asking its COVID-19 strike team to investigate 17 businesses where COVID-19 may be spreading. Well-known bars, a church, and two Crunch Fitness gyms are being looked at, but so are the big three WWE venues. The WWE Performance Center, Full Sail University, and the Amway Arena, all places WWE are currently holding events, are on the list.

In a statement, WWE said: “WWE is not open to the public, but rather operating on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance. As part of on-going weekly testing protocols, Aventus Labs have administered more than 10,000 PCR tests to WWE performers, employees, production staff, and crew resulting in only 1.5 percent positive cases as compared to the current national average of more than 5%. Additionally, extensive contact tracing takes place and impacted individuals are placed in 14-day quarantine and then only cleared after they test negative.”

However, there reportedly have been at least two COVID-19 outbreaks in WWE since moving all of their tapings to Florida. One in June and another in September, with the case of the latter, matches for the Clash of the Champions card had to be changed as a result.

WWE, like most televised sports, has felt the ramifications of the global pandemic and moved Wrestlemania 36 this year to the Performance Center. It’s reported that the company won’t even attempt to do live-events until January of 2021.

Darkest Dungeon 2 Coming To Epic Games Store in 2021

Being terrorized in an underground reliquary might not sound fun to everyone, but the stout RPG Darkest Dungeon has managed to garner a lot of players since its release in 2016. Now, after a barrage of DLC packs, developer Red Hook–note the Lovecraft reference–have announced that Darkest Dungeon 2 will be available in Early Access on the Epic Games Store in 2021.

Based on the trailer, players can expect a lot more in the way of darkness and plenty of dungeons in the sequel. Several of the pre-release materials reference your party of characters going on a “journey” rather than staying in one location, as they did in the first game. When Darkest Dungeon 2 was revealed in February 2019, the developer also noted that the team has increased from five to 14 in order to increase the game’s scale and quality.

In GameSpot’s Darkest Dungeon review, critic Daniel Starkey called the game an expertly-balanced take on the roguelike genre.

“Darkest Dungeon plays the long game,” they wrote. “It builds you up for a grand bout that will test everything you’ve learned, as well as your ability to plan several in-game weeks out. The pay-off for this constant offensive comes in short bursts–just enough to keep you going, just enough to keep you hopeful for the next excursion. It’s an extraordinary cycle that bears a special teacher–rewarding your cleverness and punishing your foolishness. It transfixes and binds you to this grand journey, dotted with failures and successes. And because you endured, because you thought your way through it, the final victory against the unimaginable evil you face at the bottom of the Darkest Dungeon is personally valuable.”

Now Playing: Darkest Dungeon: The Crimson Court – Launch Trailer

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Pokemon Go Is Adding Galarian Ponyta Soon

Galarian Yamask is making its Pokemon Go debut later this week as part of the game’s Halloween 2020 event, but it appears it isn’t the only new Galarian form being introduced soon. Developer Niantic shared new images on Twitter today teasing the arrival of Galarian Ponyta.

The first image, which you can see below, shows Galarian Ponyta’s distinctive pastel mane peeking out from behind a tree. A follow-up tweet, meanwhile, shows the Pokemon’s tail, further confirming that the monster in question is indeed Galarian Ponyta.

Niantic hasn’t announced when Galarian Ponyta will actually be available in Pokemon Go, but the autumn foliage in the teaser images suggests it’ll arrive sometime soon.

In the meantime, Pokemon Go players will be able to catch the aforementioned Galarian Yamask this week. The Ghost Pokemon is debuting as part of this year’s Halloween event, which kicks off at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET on Friday, October 23. Galarian Yamask’s arrival means Pokemon Go players will also have their first chance to get Runerigus, a brand-new Gen 8 Pokemon introduced in Sword and Shield.

That’s not all that’s happening as part of the Halloween 2020 event. New costumed versions of Gengar and Sableye are debuting in the game as well, while the Legendary Pokemon Darkrai is returning to five-star Raids. Mega Gengar is also replacing Mega Venusaur in Mega Raids starting October 23, and there will be a special Raid Day featuring another regional form–Alolan Marowak–on October 31.

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League of Legends: Wild Rift Gameplay Reveal Set For This Thursday

Verizon has announced that it will hold a League of Legends: Wild Rift livestream on October 22 from 6:30 – 8 PM PT / 9:30 – 11:00 PM ET in collaboration with Apple and Riot Games. The broadcast will provide the first look at the mobile League of Legends spin-off, which goes into open beta across most of the Asian Pacific on October 27 for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.

The broadcast goes live on Twitch Rivals and Verizon’s official Twitter account. It includes celebrities and pro streamers, like singer-songwriter Chrissy Costanza and FaZe Clan co-owner FaZe Apex, playing against each other to showcase the capabilities of 5G mobile gaming on the newly announced iPhones. There are no prizes on the line: They are just coming together to play League of Legends: Wild Rift, which drops in North America in Spring 2021.

Riot Games unveiled a brief teaser of Wild Rift gameplay during Apple’s iPhone event earlier this month, where the product company unveiled the new iPhone 12 lineup. The studio confirmed that the League of Legends mobile title will take advantage of iPhone 12’s A14 chip. This new processor, coupled with 5G network speeds, should make League of Legends: Wild Rift feel reminiscent of its PC counterpart while providing console-quality responsiveness.

The full iPhone 12 lineup includes the iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Both iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro will be available on October 23, while the iPhone 12 mini drops on November 6 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max releases on November 13.

Now Playing: Top New Video Games Releasing On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Month — October 2020

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Spider-Man: Miles Morales Features A Hooded Crimson Cowl Costume

We’ve already seen a couple of alternative costumes for Miles Morales ahead of his debut in Spider-Man: Miles Morales (even one including an adorable cat). But in a new tease for the PlayStation 5 title, Miles’ is sporting a new look that features a cowl.

Insomniac Games has released an excerpt from the in-game version of the Daily Bugle, with a piece focused on two new styles that Miles has been seen sporting around the city. The first should be familiar, with the T.R.A.C.K suit being one of the first alternative costumes revealed. But the second is entirely new, with Miles donning a hood in the Crimson Cowl costume.

In 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, each costume featured unique abilities that could be used in combat. It’s not clear yet what abilities might be attributed to each of Miles’ outfits, but it’s presumably going to follow the same formula. Abilities could also be used with other costumes once unlocked, letting you look your best while fighting your best at the same time.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is launching on November 12 for both PS4 and PS5, with save game progress carrying over should you start on a current-gen console and move over to Sony’s next-gen hardware. The same can’t be said for Marvel’s Spider-Man, however, which will require a fresh start if you pick up the Miles Morales ultimate edition with Spider-Man: Remastered.

Now Playing: Spider-Man: Miles Morales Gameplay First Look | PS5 Showcase

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Fortnite’s Latest Patch Makes it Over 60GB Smaller on PC

Fortnite’s latest patch on PC has reduced the game’s file size by over 60GB.

The news was revealed by the Fortnite Status account on Twitter. To accommodate the optimizations, the v14.40 is larger than normal on PC, totalling 27GB. The patch is live as of writing and brings with it the Fortnitemares 2020 event, Midas’ Revenge.

The patch promised to “massively reduce” the Fortnite file size by over 60 gigabytes, and mean “smaller downloads for future patches and improved loading performance.” After release, that seems to be the case, with Twitter user The_Equalizer74 reporting that the game had shrunk from 99 to 29.5GB.

It’s an impressive change, likely achieved by more efficiently compressing texture packs. It’s also a handy one if your SSD is already being dominated by enormous games like Call of Duty: Warzone. It’s not clear if console versions of Fortnite have also seen a reduction in filesize (but they were already considerably smaller than on PC).

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For all the details on what the update has brought to the game, including new items and challenges, you can check out the patch notes here, via the Epic Games website.

In other Fortnite news, here’s the full BTS Dynamite choreography video that debuted in the game’s Party Royale mode. You can also check out our coverage of how Nvidia Reflex affects latency in Fortnite.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Xbox Seemingly Announcing Digital Xbox Series Launch Events

It looks like Microsoft is starting to announce digital Xbox Series launch events, which appear to cover the worldwide midnight launch of the next-gen consoles.

After teasing an announcement over the past few days, the official Xbox Australia and New Zealand account tweeted out a short clip of a gorgeous vista from Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand. The clip is accompanied by a date and time, with fans asked to tune in on November 9 at 11 PM NZDT / 9 PM AEDT to observe the event.

In a follow-up tweet, the Xbox ANZ account added that the event will be “100% socially distanced and virtual,” meaning fans can tune in regardless of their location.

The Xbox Mexico account tweeted out a similar RSVP for a “special celebration” event that will take place on November 9 at 7 PM. No announcements have been made regarding US or UK events, but they can likely expect similar celebratory launch events.

Given that New Zealand is often the first country to start selling new consoles and games due to the timezone, the Xbox ANZ team are known for their shenanigans, so expect the unexpected – for example, at the launch of the Xbox One, the first console was plopped into a tank full of 20 sharks at an aquarium in Auckland.

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Xbox Series X retails at $499 USD / £449 / $749 AUD, while Xbox Series S comes in at $299 USD / £249.99 / $499 AUD. Both Xbox Series consoles will be released on November 10. Xbox Series X and S are currently sold out ahead of launch but, with more units promised, keep an eye on our Xbox Series preorders page – and if you want to know everything about the consoles before you nab one, we have our Xbox Series X and S guide.

In other Xbox Series launch news, check out this episode of Unlocked where the team offers their reactions to the official launch lineup for the Xbox Series X.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.