Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting the first part of its free summer content update on July 3, including the ability to swim and hunt for new marine life.
Wave 1 of the Summer Update will let you dive into the ocean from any edge of your island, and let you swim around in search of new marine life that you can donate to museum curator Blathers. This includes star fish (or, sea stars), anemone, and garden eels, as seen in the trailer below. Blathers will have plenty of facts to tell you about your new finds, as well. As per usual, we don’t suggest bringing him a bug unless you want to scare him.
The update will also introduce the mermaid crafting set, which can be obtained through interactions with Pascal. You’ll be able to get new DIY recipes from Pascal–a red sea otter that would appear weekly in previous Animal Crossing entries–by trading scallops with him, but it’s unclear if he’ll be around as sparsely as Redd (who was introduced in an earlier update). There’s also a new encounter with Gulliver, although exactly what that results in isn’t made clear.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
The first story DLC for Control, The Foundation, hit PC and PS4 in April. And there it stayed alone for a few months during the exclusivity period, but with that over you can now explore a new section of the Oldest House on Xbox One as well.
Developer Remedy noted the release on Twitter with an appropriately in-universe message style. The Board says there’s a Situation/Crisis/Uh-Oh that needs attending. The Foundation costs $15 individually or $25 as part of a season pass that will also include the second expansion, AWE.
AWE is said to be coming in late summer, and Remedy acknowledged “frustrations” with the Foundation exclusivity period in a note on Reddit. As a result, the AWE expansion will be released simultaneously on all platforms.
The Foundation picks up from where the main game’s story left off to pick up a loose plot thread. Marshall, the head of operations for the Bureau of Control, left to deal with a problem in the Foundation, the lowest point in the Oldest House. The DLC deals with you going down there to help sort out the issue yourself.
Control was named one of GameSpot’s Best Games of 2019, in part because of the strength of the world-building.
“From the first moment you set foot in the Oldest House, itself a potentially-sentient structure whose corridors and rooms change and mutate of their own accord, Control revels in its sense of the supernatural uncanny,” Phil Hornshaw wrote. “Its influences are immediately apparent: As much as it might draw on real science and history as a grounding for its extra-ordinary events, it also pulls ideas from the online creepypasta database SCP and leans into Remedy’s long-running fascination with the works of David Lynch.”
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Actor Henry Cavill is reportedly returning to play Superman again in a new film, and if he has his way, he’ll stick around for “years to come” in the role.
Speaking to Variety, Cavill said he was proud to play Superman in three films–Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League. He said playing Superman has changed how fans see him, and he recognizes the responsibility attached to that.
“With a character like that, you carry the mantle with you off set. And it becomes part of your public representation. When you meet children, children don’t necessarily see me as Henry Cavill, but they might see Superman, and there’s a responsibility which comes with that,” Cavill explained. “Because it’s such a wonderful character, it’s actually a responsibility I’m happy to have, and I hope that I get to play more of Superman in years to come.”
Also in the Variety interview, Cavill said playing Superman has changed his life “dramatically.” It’s opened new doors for him and “changed the entire course of my career,” he said.
Cavill also said he’s learned more about himself through playing Superman. Clark Kent/Superman is a good and kind person, and Cavill said playing the part has led to his own self-reflection.
“You start to really look inwards,” Cavill said. “You say, ‘Am I a good person? Can I be a good enough person to play Superman?’ And if you ever hear a whisper in there which is like, ‘Hmm, hold on a second. Maybe not,’ then you adjust it, and you make sure you are a better person. I think that’s all we can do in life.”
Central Park, a new animated series co-created by Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, is midway through Season 1, but a big change is coming for Season 2. One of the show’s characters, Molly, is a biracial young girl who has, up to this point, been voiced by Kristen Bell (Frozen, The Good Place), who is white.
Going forward, the part of Molly will be recast, and while Bell will remain on the show she will play a new character.
In a statement from the show’s creators Bell has shared on Twitter, it’s stated that Bell was cast in the show “before there was even a character for her to play,” but the decision to cast her as Molly was misguided.
This is a time to acknowledge our acts of complicity. Heres 1 of mine. Playing the Molly in Central Park shows a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege. Casting a mixed race character w/a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race & Black American experience. pic.twitter.com/8AL8m4K7Uk
“After reflection, Kristen, along with the entire creative team, recognizes that the casting of the character of Molly is an opportunity to get representation right–to cast a Black or mixed race actress and give Molly a voice that resonates with all of the nuance and the experiences of the character as we’ve drawn her,” the statement reads.
There’s also a promise that the team is “committed to creating opportunities for people of color and Black people in all roles,” including on the production side.
Bell has added her own commentary, admitting that playing Molly “shows a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege.”
This comes shortly after Jenny Slate announced that she was stepping away from playing Missy in Big Mouth, who is also a biracial child.
Similarly, long time Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria revealed earlier this year that he will no longer play Apu on the show. “Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore,” he said.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
The newest update has now arrived across Xbox One and PC, and it’s a small one. Update version 1.1619.0.0 introduces two new Pride Month nameplates and some bug fixes.
You can unlock the Pride nameplates simply by playing The Master Chief Collection anytime between now and July 24 at 5 PM PT. You can see the nameplates below.
You can unlock these Pride Month nameplates right now
In terms of bug fixes, the new Master Chief Collection update for Xbox One and PC addresses a “body shot damage issue” for the SWAT mode in Halo: Combat Evolved. Additionally, more Shotty Snipers game mode variants have been introduced for Halo 2.
The patch is 832.19 MB on Xbox One and 49.5 MB on Steam. The Windows Store edition is 536.6 MB. You can see the full patch notes below.
The Master Chief Collection June 24 Update
Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta)
536.6 MB update size.
Steam
49.5 MB update size.
Xbox
832.19 MB update size.
Updated Content
Below is a list of new content and bug fixes that have been added to MCC with today’s update:
Nameplate Additions
Two new Pride Month nameplates have been added which you can unlock by playing MCC between June 24th at 5pm PT and July 24th at 5pm PT
Gameplay Updates
Fixed a body shot damage issue in SWAT for Halo CE
Added additional Shotty Snipers game variants for Halo 2
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
There’s a lot to like today for Nintendo Switch gamers. If you’re an Amazon Prime member then there is an easy way to score 15% cashback on Nintendo eShop gift cards (and 5% cashback on everything else on Amazon). There’s also a nice deal on a 256GB memory card for the Switch. For those of you who are into collectibles, you can preorder the new Final Fantasy VII Polygon Blind Box, the LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian Razor Crest, or a sweet Deadpool Talking Head.
The Twilight Zone has always been political. Countless episodes of the original series tackled politics, directly as well as indirectly–from The Mirror, which parodied Fidel Castro, to The Shelter, which concerned the mutually assured destruction policies of the Cold War. Last year’s Twilight Zone revival, publicly helmed by comedy and horror auteur Jordan Peele, trod a similar path, with mixed results (which is fine–there were episodes of the 1960s series that missed the mark as well). The reboot’s second season, available now on CBS All Access, continues the tradition, and the three episodes sent to press ahead of Season 2’s release skewer some of the internet’s favorite bogeymen: “Karens,” incels, and whiny, entitled, self-centered men.
Each of these three episodes features a signature Twilight Zone conceit. In “Meet in the Middle,” for example, a man named Phil (Westworld’s Jimmi Simpson) begins hearing a voice in his head (Community’s Gillian Jacobs) and wonders whether she’s a real person or a figment of his imagination. There’s commentary burbling beneath that mystery; the character could be generously described as “picky” when it comes to women. Anyone online in 2020 will recognize in Phil the traits of your average garbage incel dude–the kind of guy who comments on Pornhub videos and feels the need to criticize women’s appearances while wondering without a shred of self-awareness why so many people have him blocked on Twitter. Any woman who falls short of his long list of imagined, hypothetical ideals gets judged as shallow and boring, and it’s their fault he’s #foreveralone. There’s a reason he falls so hard for the female voice in his head as it becomes clear that she checks his every box–she’s the ideal woman he always imagined was out there, as he dismissed and belittled every actual woman he encountered in real life, from Tinder dates to his therapist.
In “The Who of You,” a struggling actor named Harry (Ethan Embry) discovers on his most desperate day that he has the ability to jump into other people’s bodies by simply looking them in the eye. A succession of new victims get transferred into Harry’s sleeve (sorry), while he jumps from host to host and attempts to abscond with a big bag of money. As Peele’s narrator points out, Harry is the type of person who thinks he’s the center of the universe–a clear-cut sociopath. He’s ineffective when trying to communicate with others, blames everyone around him for his own failings, and believes life’s deck is unfairly stacked against him, when in reality, he’s just a whiny, selfish a-hole. You have encountered this “reply guy” countless times on Twitter and in comments sections–I guarantee it. And the last thing you’d want is for him to spontaneously develop a superpower that puts his extreme lack of empathy to the test.
In the last of the three episodes sent to press, “You Might Also Like” takes aim partially at the vapid, worshipful capitalism that sees consumers lining up every 12 months to get another brand new iPhone that’s once again incrementally better (or sometimes actively worse–still missing you, headphone jack) than their current one. The episode stars Gretchen Mol as Janet Warren, a bonafide “Karen.” She’s a prim, activewear-equipped housewife who’s never satisfied despite having everything she ever wanted. She exists in a pristine world in which everyone around her is obsessed with The Egg, a new product that an unidentified company has promised “will make everything OK forever.” Nobody knows what it does, but everybody wants one. The episode is interspersed with vaguely unsettling commercials for The Egg and other dystopian products.
“You Might Also Like” also features the return of the Kanamits, an alien species that originally appeared in the iconic 1962 episode “To Serve Man” (you know, the one with the human cookbook reveal). Naturally, when Mrs. Warren encounters these blue-hued, big-noggined beings, she demands to speak to their supervisor–yes, really. Subtle, this one is not.
Like so many chapters of The Twilight Zone that have come before, these episodes span the gamut from silly to disturbing. Their attempts at social commentary aren’t hard to decipher, but that doesn’t make them less incisive. If nothing else, their portrayals of modern, internet-driven stereotypes are more or less accurate, and many viewers will recognize them immediately. With all of The Twilight Zone’s 2020 episodes dropping at once (rather than week-to-week like the first season), the three we’re able to discuss currently present just a small slice of what the show’s second season has to offer. But if you live your life online (and these days, who doesn’t?) they’re worth tuning in for.
Under this program, people can get an Xbox Series X with no cost upfront and pay it off over the course of two years. This is a common business practice in the world of smartphones, but it’s new for console. Microsoft has been trialling the program since the Xbox 360 days. However, the Xbox Series X launch will mark Microsoft’s biggest push yet in that regard, Spencer said.
“Xbox All Access is going to be critical to both our launch for Xbox Series X as well as just the overall generation,” Spencer said during a GameLab speech, as reported by GI.biz.
Spencer went on to say that the response to Xbox All Access in the test markets has been “great.” The program is currently limited to a few countries, including the US and Australia, but Spencer said Microsoft is keen to expand the program to other places around the world.
“You’re going to see a much broader market and retailer support for All Access,” he said. “It matches a model customers use for many other devices they buy. And if you have services attached to those devices that people love, it just becomes an easier way to bring a great product to customers.”
Xbox All Access will not only help improve Xbox game console sales by offering a lower upfront price point, but it comes bundled with Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass. Digital subscription services like these are critical for Microsoft, as the company loses money on every console sold.
Crystal Dynamics gave an extensive look into its upcoming Marvel’s Avengers game including story details, the game’s antagonist, and lots of Thor gameplay. The video also showed how customization works, as well as its heroes “tech trees”, which is the game’s talent system.
Full Marvel’s Avengers presentation: https://youtu.be/u52gatfT-0U
The Pokemon Company also revealed Pokemon Unite, a Pokemon themed MOBA coming to Nintendo Switch and Mobile, and will feature 5v5 combat. There’s no release date yet, however.
After a delay the Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire event is definitely happening on June 25 at 9AM PT / 12PM ET. Cyberpunk 2077 will release for PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC on November 19 with PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrades coming alongside the consoles.
Meanwhile, Play For All keeps on trucking. Play For All is multi-week summer gaming celebration and charity event featuring special guests like Troy Baker, Danny O’Dwyer, and many familiar GameSpot faces. We’ve already raised thousands of dollars for #BlackLivesMatter and COVID-19 Relief Efforts thanks to all of you! Be sure to tune in every day between 12PM and 2PM PDT for interviews, livestreams, and everything in between.
After Microsoft announced it was shutting down Mixer and moving to work more closely with Facebook Gaming, some wondered what impact this could have on the Xbox dashboard.
Currently, the dashboard on Xbox One contains advertisements and links to Mixer streams. Some were wondering if Facebook Gaming streams will replace them in the carousel. That won’t be the case, according to Xbox’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb.
“If you are asking if the current Mixer integration in the dashboard is just going to become Facebook Gaming. The answer is no,” Major Nelson said on Reddit.
