Author: Trafficblast

With the start of the Battle Armor limited-time event and with Apex Legends Season 5 about to begin, Respawn has returned to its crafty ways on Twitter. Much like the tease of leviathan movement ahead of Season 2: Battle Charge, mysteriously hacked tweets containing secrets messages prior to Season 3: Meltdown, and manufactured media craze ahead of Season 4: Assimilation, Respawn has begun to use Twitter to hint at what could be coming in Season 5.

Interestingly enough, this hint actually ties back to Season 4 and Revenant’s introduction. Back when it wasn’t clear whether Forge or Revenant was joining the Apex Games, the Apex Legends Twitter account posted leaked emails that confirmed Season 4’s new character would be the nightmarish simulacrum. This latest Season 5 hint is once again those exact emails, but now the leaked image of them is pulled back–revealing post-it notes on the monitor display.

Based on the messages scribbled on the post-it notes, it seems like someone is taking notice of Revenant’s source code–a means of shutting the murderous machine down permanently. The emails suggest that something is wrong with the means of getting the code to take, but the post-it notes posit that the fact remains that it still exists as a possible exploit for destroying Revenant for good.

And who has a reason for wanting to see Revenant dead? Probably the young girl who Revenant orphaned in the Season 4: Assimilation animated trailer–long believed by the Apex Legends community to be Loba (her name based on the wolf statue she receives in the trailer as well as a file name attached to an upcoming playable legend in the battle royale game’s datamined files).

Of course, Respawn has already admitted it’s not above implementing fake files in order to trick dataminers, so this is all still conjecture. We’ll have to wait for an official announcement to see who Season 5’s new playable character is.

In the meantime, Respawn has already confirmed that Season 5 will be a “pleasant surprise” for Titanfall fans. Additionally, in-game Easter eggs have begun to hint at major structural additions to Kings Canyon in Season 5.

Throughout Destiny 2‘s current content season, the Season of the Worthy, one gun has been a mainstay in the game’s competitive mode: Hard Light. Thanks to tweaks to auto rifles at the start of the season and the gun’s unique perks, it’s been the go-to weapon in the Crucible for weeks. That might be about to change, however, thanks to an upcoming patch.

Developer Bungie previewed the update it plans to release on April 29, Hotfix 2.8.1.1, on its blog. The patch is set to tweak Hard Light to make it a little less deadly in PvP. Right now, Hard Light is a mainstay of competitive play for a couple of reasons: it’s highly stable, making it very accurate at long ranges for PC players and its bullets can ricochet off walls–and when they do, those bullets do double damage.

Hard Light also currently lacks damage falloff, a major perk over other weapons. Falloff is the reduction in damage for Destiny’s bullets the farther they travel; most auto rifles can have their damage reduced by half at longer ranges, but not Hard Light. That has resulted in lots of players using Hard Light in the Crucible and the Trials of Osiris, landing long-range kills and taking out opponents around corners. At the moment, Hard Light is so dominant that not using it puts you at something of a disadvantage.

Hotfix 2.8.1.1 will nerf the gun somewhat. Bungie is set to adjust Hard Light’s ricochet damage boost down from double to 1.35 times in PvP (ricochet will still do double damage in PvE scenarios). The gun will also now have damage falloff, making it less effective at long range–although falloff will only reduce its damage to 70% of normal at most, unlike other auto rifles, which drop to 50%. Bungie is also going to remove a “hidden recoil adjustment” that makes Hard Light more stable than the developer intends it to be.

All in all, that should work to make Hard Light an effective option in the Crucible, but not the foregone conclusion it has been all season. Patches, updates, and nerfs often have unintended consequences, though, and we’ll have to wait and see if this update casts a shadow over Hard Light.

Citing the coronavirus pandemic‘s profound impact on Hollywood, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced new rules on Tuesday for the 93rd Academy Awards that will allow movies that debuted on digital or streaming platforms to qualify for Best Picture. There are catches, however, the foremost being that this is an exception made for this year’s Oscars race only and not in perpetuity.

The Academy’s current rules require a film to be shown in a commercial movie theater in L.A. County “for a theatrical qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days, during which period screenings must occur at least three times daily.”

Going forward, but for only the 93rd Oscars, films that were previously planned for theatrical release but are initially made available on a commercial streaming or VOD service may qualify in the Best Picture, general entry and specialty categories for the 93rd Academy Awards.

There are provisions, though. The Academy dictates:

• The film must be made available on the secure Academy Screening Room member-only streaming site within 60 days of the film’s streaming or VOD release;
• The film must meet all other eligibility requirements.

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The Academy also says that when theaters reopen in accordance with legally specified guidelines and criteria, and on a date to be determined by the Academy, those rule exemptions will no longer apply and all films released thereafter must comply with the Academy’s previous standard theatrical qualifying requirements.

And when theaters do reopen, the Academy will expand the metropolitan areas for qualifying theatrical runs to also include the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Previously, Netflix titles such as Roma, The Irishman, and Marriage Story all had to have qualifying limited theatrical runs before debuting on streaming in order to be considered for Best Picture.

This is obviously an unprecedented move on the part of the Academy given the nationwide closure of cinemas due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent delays in studios’ being able to release their films theatrically. Several studios, including Universal and Warner Bros., have opted to release some of their titles that had been meant for theatrical release straight to VOD now instead.

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The Academy’s Board of Governors also announced the following rules changes in the categories of Sound, Music and International Feature Film:

• The two Sound categories, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, have been combined into one award for best achievement in Sound that emphasizes the team effort. The number of Oscar® statuettes remains the same; up to six statuettes may be awarded. Eligible recipients may include one production sound mixer, two supervising sound editors and three rerecording mixers.
• In the Music (Original Score) category, for a score to be eligible, it must comprise a minimum of 60% original music. Additionally, for sequels and franchise films, a score must have a minimum of 80% new music.
• In a procedural change in the International Feature Film category, all eligible Academy members will now be invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting. For the first time, film submissions will be made available through the Academy Screening Room streaming platform to those members who opt-in. These members of the International Feature Film Preliminary Voting committee must meet a minimum viewing requirement in order to be eligible to vote in the category.

What do you think of these Oscar rules changes? Let us know in the comments.

Riot’s strategy card game, Legends of Runeterra, has officially launched after three months in open beta. From April 28 to April 30, the game is being launched around the world on both PC and Mobile, with regions releasing the game at different points over the course of the two days.

The full release comes with an all-new card set called Rising Tides, and a range of new champions and cards from League of Legends have been introduced. The update also adds 11 champions, six keywords, a new cosmetic board, two cosmetic guardians, new card backs, over 120 new cards, and a series of new emotes.

Regions have been updated as well, with the pirate-themed region Bilgewater officially becoming its own region and the region roads for existing regions have been expanded on.

Log-in bonuses have been added, incentivizing players to log on each day and complete daily missions for free cards. Players will be rewarded for the first seven days they log in, with rewards ranging from cards to Expedition tokens. The final reward is a new deck with two Ashe champion cards.

Beta players don’t need to worry, as the update does not wipe out any progress made so far. All purchases and progress made before the full release has been carried over.

Both the mobile and PC editions can be linked to a single account, with cross-platform play available from launch. Any Android device with an OS 5.0, 2 GB RAM, and a GPU Adreno 306 equivalent or better will be able to run the game. iPhones with at least iOS9 and an Arm64 processor should be able to run this game, although Riot does not recommend 1GB RAM devices such as the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPad Air 1.

PC devices require 64-bit Windows 7, 8.1, or 10, a 3GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, and a GPU with 512MB+ VRAM. Mac OS is currently not supported.

According to the official website, Legends of Runeterra will not be launching in China or Vietnam at this time.

For new players jumping into the game, check out our analysis on how Legends of Runeterra works and just how it differs from all the other strategy card games available.

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for The Flash: Season 6, Episode 17. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here’s our review for Season 6, Episode 16.

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The second half of The Flash: Season 6 doesn’t feel quite as fast-paced as the first. Maybe it’s that there are more moving parts to juggle in the aftermath of Crisis, or simply that new episodes have aired more sporadically over the last few months. Either way, “Liberation” is a big step in the right direction for the series. This episode helps push the Mirror Master storyline into its next phase while even linking back to the first half of Season 6 and working to tie everything together. Ignoring the inescapable fact that this season isn’t going to get the conclusion originally planned, things are shaping up nicely for the next several weeks. Mostly, anyway.

Several running plot threads come to a head in “Liberation,” with Eva making her big play to escape the mirror dimension and Barry finally coming to terms with the fact that the person he thought was Iris is actually an impostor. Continuing the general Season 6 theme of finding a balance between humor and tragedy, there’s a welcome dose of comedy to Barry’s discovery. The scene where Cecile confronts Barry at home is basically the Arrowverse’s take on that infamous Pepe Silvia meme from It’s Always Sunny.

That moment helps cleanse the palate before things take a much darker turn in the latter half of the episode. Eva once again proves how adept she is at manipulating Team Flash and turning them against one another when they should be confronting a common enemy. And even after Cecile frees Barry to go confront Mirror Iris, we see just how unequipped he is to deal with a foe who can hide behind the faces of those he cares for most. Barry’s depleted speed definitely stacks the deck against him, but this episode is successful in showing how Mirror Master can be a formidable threat even against a speedster at full power. The battle between Barry and Mirror Iris uses the mirror mechanic to its fullest, culminating in that cool moment where Iris shatters the ceiling mirror and strikes at Barry from countless directions at once.

Another big strength of this episode comes with its focus on giving the mirror doppelgangers a clearer sense of personality and motivation. It’s much easier to appreciate these characters as, well, actual characters now. We understand the subservient bond they share with their “mother,” even as we see Mirror Iris beginning to develop feelings of independence and longing for a humanity she can never achieve. That helps give the eventual death of Mirror Iris a weight and significance that might otherwise be lacking. Even Mirror Kamilla’s sacrifice has an aura of tragedy, showing us just how callously Eva will throw these creations away once they served their purpose.

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On that note, it’s quite a treat seeing Sendhil Ramamurthy return as a captive Ramsey Rosso. As novel as the two-pronged approach to Season 6 has been, it’s also nice to see some extra connective tissue form between the two halves. And given that Ramsey never quite seemed like he got his due as the main villain of a half-season story arc, the implication that he still has a big role to play in the series is a welcome development. I do wish there were a clearer sense of why Eva needed Ramsey’s metahuman blood to achieve her escape, other than just “because it furthers the plot.” But regardless, it’s nice knowing we can look forward to Bloodwork’s return, whether that means he resurfaces later in Season 6 or his “long game” pays off further down the road. If Legends of Tomorrow has proven anything, it’s that there’s no reason to discard good villains after one season of television.

It’s also worth pointing out the unique approach taken to the closing epilogue scene. These scenes are almost always used as stingers – a chance to toss in one more unexpected plot twist before the credits roll. But in this case, we’re treated to a heartfelt moment where both Barry and Iris reach out to one another and pledge to reunite. It’s a nicely emotional way to cap off the episode, as well as providing a reminder of what’s at stake as Barry struggles to figure out how to deal with the Eva problem.

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Only one subplot serves to drag down an otherwise strong episode here. The brief detour in Caitlin’s chilly apartment feels like an unnecessary bit of fluff tacked onto an episode that didn’t need it. Granted, the series is clearly setting up something bigger with Caitlin here, but why not save this quick preamble for the main event? Not to mention that it’s very difficult to muster excitement for any new plotline that involves Caitlin’s family. The series may have improved a lot this season, but that dredges up bad memories of Seasons 4 and 5.

In these times of quarantine and social-distancing, people are looking for more content to consume at home, and Star Wars writer Gary Whitta is here to help with something very special.

Whitta, who wrote Star Wars: Rogue One as well as the Denzel Washington movie Book of Eli, has started a talk show that takes place inside Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s called Animal Talking, and it promises to deliver the kind of wholesome programming that we’re all looking for these days.

Whitta created a set in his Animal Crossing basement featuring a desk and a couch for the interview subjects. There are even decorative plants, lights, and a drumset for the house band. It looks great.

The pilot episode featured actress and host Naomi Kyle, while Whitta said he hopes Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood–a known fan of New Horizons–may come on the show at some point.

The next set of guests includes former GameSpot video producer Mary Kish, along with comedian Mike Drucker and Raquel Lily as the music act. You can check out the very first episode of Animal Talking below.

New Horizons has been a massive success for Nintendo, scoring strong reviews and selling exceptionally well. Nintendo’s next earnings report is coming up on May 7, and it’s expected that the company will share more details about the commercial performance of the game at that time.