When it comes to mysterious and unpredictable storytelling, there are few modern shows that do it as well as Westworld. The series is ostensibly a remake of the classic 1973 movie, which was written and directed by Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton. But while the story basics are the same, under the guidance of showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the series has gone in a very different direction.
The setting of a Wild West-themed amusement park populated by robots that start to malfunction has allowed Nolan and Joy to explore a variety of intriguing themes, from the nature of self-determination and consciousness to the balance of power and trust between big business and the wider society. The high-caliber cast has included Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris, plus acclaimed stars such as Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, and James Marsden. Every episode of Season 1 deepened the mystery and the show delivered one of the most memorable and shocking final scenes of 2016.
Season 2 premiered in 2018 and took the story into even stranger and more surprising places. But while Season 1 left many plot strands hanging, Season 2 offered more closure while still paving the way for a third season, with Delores having escaped the park to enter the real world. Westworld Season 3 will finally arrive in 2020. Unsurprisingly for such an enigmatic show, very few plot specifics have been revealed so far. But the trailer shown at San Diego Comic-Con revealed a few details, and Nolan and Joy have dropped some clues about the direction of the new series. So while we wait for it to arrive, here’s everything we know to date about Westworld Season 3…
Supergiant Games has released a new update for Hades. Still in early access, the game receives a bunch of content in this update–including new weapons and powers as well as gameplay changes to certain enemies and items.
This latest patch is Hades’ sixth major update, adding a brand-new location at the very edge of the Underworld for you to explore. “We’re actively working on [Hades] based on our plans and your feedback,” Supergiant Games wrote in the patch notes. “We expect to keep adding features, characters, weapons, foes, powers, environments, and more, while expanding the story and fine-tuning all aspects of the experience.”
Supergiant Games hasn’t announced when Hades will leave early access, but this latest update suggests the game could possibly officially release soon. The new area, Temple of Styx, adds more story elements and includes the game’s final battle, so Hades now has both a beginning and an end. Other notable highlights in the update include gameplay reworks, such as the ability to call upon divine aid more often and the addition of new Boons and “Duo” Boons. The update also adds two new pieces of music to the game’s soundtrack.
Hades is an Epic Games Store exclusive, offered for free on the PC digital storefront from day one as an incentive to download the launcher. The full patch notes for Hades’ latest update can be found below.
Hades August 6 Update Full Patch Notes
General Gameplay
Boss foes switch between phases faster (their invulnerability periods are shorter)
Knock-away effects now work against boss foes
Trial of the Gods: spurned gods’ Boons no longer have reduced rarity; they may offer ‘Exchange’ Boons for Boons from the other god
Slightly reduced the length of each biome (since completing a run now takes longer than before)
Increased healing from Death Defiance effects
After clearing Encounters, Chamber doors should unlock slightly faster than before
Pool of Purging: newly added! Look for these in chambers from time to time
Increased value of Charon’s Obol Chamber Rewards and gifts from Sisyphus
Wall Slam damage scales up in each successive biome
Health pick-ups no longer block projectiles
Weapons & Powers
Heart-Seeking Bow: increased damage of main Attack (Dash Attack is unchanged)
Shield of Chaos: returns sooner after the Throw special if there are no other foes near it
Various improvements and fixes to input buffering
Boons & Blessings
Reworked and renamed Wrath and all Wrath Boons: now you can Call for Olympian aid more often, or use your entire God Gauge for an ultra-powered effect like before
Billowing Strength (Zeus): newly added!
Thunder Dash (Zeus): normalized base power level
Tempest Strike (Poseidon): slightly reduced power level
Tempest Flourish (Poseidon): slightly reduced power level
Divine Strike (Athena): slightly increased power level
Proud Bearing (Athena): increased power level
Heartbreak Strike (Aphrodite): slightly increased power level
Life Affirmation (Aphrodite): newly added!
Impending Doom (Ares): newly added!
Clean Kill (Artemis): reduced power level
Fully Loaded (Artemis): no longer upgradeable using Poms
Tipsy Shot (Dionysus): now enhanced by Rapid Cast (Hermes)
Second Wind (Hermes): newly added!
Greater Recall (Hermes): newly added!
Greater Evasion (Hermes): reduced power level of Rare and Epic rarity
Passing Through (Hermes): reduced power level
Second Wind (Hermes): reduced power level
Lightning Phalanx (Zeus x Athena): newly added!
Vengeful Mood (Zeus x Ares): newly added!
Freak Accident (Zeus x Artemis): cut from game; replaced with…
Lightning Rod (Zeus x Artemis): newly added!
Sweet Nectar (Poseidon x Aphrodite): newly added!
Exclusive Access (Poseidon x Dionysus): newly added!
Merciful End (Ares x Athena): reduced power level
Heart Rend (Artemis x Aphrodite): newly added!
Hunter’s Mark (Artemis): Status Curse now applies to a nearby foe (instead of the one you hit)
The news comes from Game Informer’s September cover story, which reports that, alongside cross-platform play, Modern Warfare will have “dedicated servers for everyone” when it launches on October 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Modern Warfare isn’t the only game in the long-running franchise to feature dedicated servers, though. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare also had dedicated servers when it was released in 2007. So, too, did Ghosts, Black Ops, and World at War. Back in October 2018, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 received a silent server update that improved stability, increasing the tick rate in response to community backlash over slow server speed.
Also out of Gamer Informer, Modern Warfare will feature a cheeky throwback to the ’90s in the form of Tamagunchis, virtual pets that need the same level of attention as the Tamagotchi but with a twist: These virtual pets feed off your kills instead of your constant love and adoration.
If you’re a fan of Jordan Peele’s horror movie Us and have ever wondered what it would be like to experience the terrifying events of the Tethered uprising firsthand, you’re in luck. Us has inspired a new interactive maze at Universal Studios’ “Halloween Horror Nights” event.
This new maze will be featured at Universal’s Hollywood and Orlando theme parks. Check out the teaser trailer for an early look at how Peele’s latest horror project is being adapted to scare you in reality as well as on-screen.
Fans will be treated to a full-fledged story as they navigate the Us maze. The maze begins in 1986 as young Adelaide Wilson travels into a mirror funhouse and first encounters her tethered doppelganger. From there, the maze drags fans into a twisted present as The Tethered begin a mass uprising against their doubles.
Our IGN First game for August 2019 is Borderlands 3, which means a full month of coverage, roughly three features a week, right through the end of this month. Our first video showed off the first 14 minutes of Borderlands 3, and our newest look at Borderlands 3 takes us on a tour of Sanctuary III, the hub for all your vault-hunting needs.
Lead Mission Designer Keith Schuler and Lead Systems Designer Matt Berner are our guides as we get our first look inside, including major and minor differences from the Sanctuary of Borderlands 2. Watch the video above to learn about all the new and exciting things you’ll find in Borderlands 3’s Sanctuary.
At a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) public panel on microtransactions in video games, the Entertainment Software Association announced that all three console platform-holders have agreed to a voluntary change in their policies toward loot boxes. Though the ESA’s Michael Warnecke defended the practice in broad terms, he said, going forward, any new games or game updates that add loot boxes on Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony platforms will be required to disclose the rarity rates of items.
“Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have indicated to the ESA a commitment to new platform policies with respect to the use of paid loot boxes in games that are developed for their platform,” Warnecke said. “Specifically, this would apply to new games and game updates that add loot box features, and it would require the disclosure of the relative rarity or probabilities of obtaining randomized virtual items in games available on their platforms.”
Warnecke noted that many leading publishers that are members of the ESA have committed to a similar approach at the publisher level, and that this voluntary disclosure puts all platforms on par with the mobile disclosure requirements. Though the ESA did not mention specific companies that have agreed to the disclosures, its membership includes major publishers like Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Disney, Epic Games, Square Enix, Take-Two, and Ubisoft. GameSpot is contacting ESA members for clarification on their individual policies.
“This approach would also be compatible with the Apple and Google approach on the mobile platform. We believe that, taken together, this provides a comprehensive approach to ensuring that consumers get the information they need so they can make informed purchasing decisions when it comes to paid loot boxes.”
GameSpot has contacted Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony for comment.
Cyberpunk 2077 can’t come soon enough. After years of waiting, the highly-anticipated first-person action-RPG’s release date was confirmed for April 16, 2020, at E3 2019. While that’s still a little while away, we’re fortunate in that he fine people at R. Talsorian Games have released the jump start kit for Cyberpunk Red–the latest edition of the tabletop RPG franchise that Cyberpunk 2077 is based on called Cyberpunk 2020.
Cyberpunk Red acts as a sequel to Cyberpunk 2020. It’s set in-between the events of the tabletop original and the upcoming game. If you do the math that’s 57 years unaccounted for, so that’s a lot of new details about the Cyberpunk universe being revealed here.
Below you can find all the biggest new lore, history, and character tidbits. You’re welcome to watch the video version above.
Before we really dig into Red, let’s dive into a bit of background from the Cyberpunk 2020 creator himself, Mike Pondsmith. In a previous interview we conducted with the famed creator, he described Cyberpunk’s world as such:
Cyberpunk 2077 is based in the world of tabletop RPG, Cyberpunk 2020.
“The 2020 world is a fusion of many types and elements of the overall genre. And it’s about a combination of technology gone wrong but being used by people in novel ways up against large megacorporations, powerful people, and powerful forces, governments, etc that are all conspiring to keep people oppressed and stomped on.”
While you can create any sort of Cyberpunk city or setting you’d like in the tabletop RPG, the books and the upcoming game focus on Night City, an urban sprawl between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
As Pondsmith said, corporations (are mostly) calling all the shots and doing what they can to keep the people oppressed. While governments still exist, they rarely pose much of a threat to the corporate overlords.
The lack of government regulation has left the megacorporations free to start conflicts on a whim with little repercussions. These wars have been dubbed the “Corporate Wars,” and typically end in lots of bloodshed.
The 4th Corporate War
Cyberpunk Red takes place in 2045 after the Fourth Corporate War, a bloody conflict started in 2021 by Aquacorps CINO and OTEC and later escalated by Militech and Arasaka. As different corporations aligned with either Arasaka or Militech, an all-out war was waged between different corporations across the planet. The megacorps rolled through countries, broke international laws, and hired private armies to do their bidding.
The 4th corporate war inevitably ended with the death of over half a million people.
In an attempt to put an end to the war, Johnny Silverhand aka Keanu Reeves and the Solo (hit-man) Morgan Blackhand led an attack on the Arasaka headquarters in Night City. During the raid, a small nuclear bomb was detonated and leveled most of Night City, killing over half a million people. Despite knowing that the bomb was supplied by Militech, the US president put the blame on Arasaka and nationalized Militech. The increased pressure reduced Arasaka to a Japan-only corporation for the next ten years.
Due to the combined efforts of Miltech and national armies, the 4th Corporate War was put to an end.
Welcome to the Time of the Red
The end of the 4th Corporate War ushered in the Time of the Red. So why is it called Cyberpunk Red? Well due to the mass destruction and radiation from the 4th Corporate War, a “red pall hangs over the skies worldwide.” However, the radiation isn’t that big of a threat because most people living in this universe already had radiation filters installed in their bodies.
Cyberpunk Red is named after the red skies that filled the world after the nuclear destruction at the end of the 4th corporate war.
With major cities in shambles, people have been reclaiming the once-abandoned towns and settlements throughout the country. As you’d expect, bandits and other questionable types roam the wilds. Most people who venture beyond the cities stick with armed nomad caravans.
Meanwhile, in 2030, sweeping reconstruction projects take place across the world. Especially in Night City which had its city center leveled. However, in the interim, the city outskirts and districts less affected by the bomb have become overcrowded.
By 2045 the first Mega Building is erected. These are huge buildings designed to safely house as many people as possible. V’s apartment in the 2077 gameplay reveal demo is located in a Mega Building. As the narrator says in the video, these apartment buildings have everything one could possibly need and typically form micro-societies within Night City.
In 2045, Night City’s NCART subway system has also seen better days. While it’s still functional, flooding is a common occurrence and it gets delayed frequently. According to Red’s world book, “City planners are working to raise a majority of the track into a new monorail configuration, but that will take time and money the city doesn’t have.” Something tells us this monorail system will be completed by the time 2077 rolls around.
The NET
To kick off this new era, the NET as we know it, or rather as we’d know it from Cyberpunk 2020, has been wiped out. Originally you were able to travel the world and into space via the NET, but the infrastructure that allowed for that kind of freedom had been destroyed. After the 4th Corporate War, Netrunners had to physically jack in to local networks if they wanted access.
The Time of the Red introduced city-wide networks called DataPools.
Based on what we’ve seen of Cyberpunk 2077, We’d imagine this localized NET infrastructure is still present in the 2070s. As we saw in the 48-minute gameplay reveal, once V jacked into the Maelstrom gang’s network, she had access to the entire hideout.
However, in the Time of the Red, Netrunners had to own a set of fancy VR goggles called Cyberdecks if they wanted to jack in to a network. Based on what we’ve seen of Cyberpunk 2077, either you don’t need a cyberdeck to hack or they aren’t nearly as bulky as what’s described in Red.
Along with a series of localized networks, the Time of the Red introduced city-wide networks called DataPools. These can be accessed in one of two ways: Through a Data Term or cell phone-like device called an Agent. From what we can tell, local networks rarely interface with these DataPools.
Data Pools are essentially the internet if it was localized to a city. You can message people, share information, buy stuff, and research things, i.e. Facebook, forums, Amazon, and Wikipedia would all exist within the Data Pool. It’s also home to something called PopMedia, which is described as an “entertainment and news programming created by independent producers instead of MegaCorps.” According to the world book, it also boasts an “ungodly amount of trash.”
Chances are, your primary communication device in Cyberpunk 2077 will be your Agent. In Cyberpunk Red, Agents come in three forms: Basic, Expensive, and Luxury. Agents can do pretty much anything a modern phone can do. Though, it is possible to reprogram an agent to act as a surrogate lover and purchase other complementary cybernetic enhancements to suit various needs…This sounds like a Cyberpunk 2077 sidequest waiting to be written.
Living in Red
Life in the Time of the Red can be difficult. Wars break out over fresh food so most people’s diets consist of Kibble and other synthetic foods. Even then, those meals aren’t always cheap. It’s hard to say what meals will look like in 2077, but considering Night City seems to be a bit more stable in CD Projekt Red’s RPG, we bet the food options will be a bit more diverse. After all, we do see someone eating with chopsticks in the reveal trailer. However, it’s still unclear if you will need to manage your hunger or if it’s just a means to recoup a bit of health like in The Witcher 3.
With the public transportation system constantly on the fritz, cars were your most reliable way of getting around during the Time of the Red. And while fancy cybercars did exist, they were expensive and hard to drive unless you were cybered up. Fortunately, good old fuel-burning cars are still kicking during Red.
The AV-4 is described as “the closest thing to a science fiction jet-car.” One of these popped up in Cyberpunk 2077’s debut gameplay.
While cybercars might be rare, Cyberbikes aren’t. These things can run off alcohol or water and are definitely present in 2077. In fact, during this year’s behind closed doors demo at E3 we got a glimpse of V riding a Yaiba-Kusanagi cyberbike.
Two other vehicles Cyberpunk Red mentions are the F-152 Aerogyro, which is basically a one-man helicopter, and the McDonnell Douglas AV-4. The AV-4 is described as “the closest thing to a science fiction jet-car.” These can reach speeds of 350 miles an hour and are typically reserved for corporate big-wigs and trauma teams. We’d say that the aircraft we see at the beginning of the gameplay reveal is one of these. Considering CD Projekt Red has said that you probably won’t be able to pilot flying cars or vehicles, we think it’s safe to say that transportation technology won’t make too many advancements before 2077. However, we bet we’ll see more cybercars.
And of course, one of the most important things for any cyberpunk is their style. CD Projekt Red released a series of images teasing some of the various styles. However, clothing does more for a cyberpunk than net them clout on the street. Depending on how much you’re willing to spend you can find jackets with built-in portable chargers, clothing that adjusts to the temperature, bodysuits that can change colors and textures, and undershirts that can harden into body armor. Hopefully, when 2077 comes out you’ll be able to give your netrunning ninja assassin a bodysuit that lets her cloak herself as she breaks into a corporate headquarters.
The People of Red
But what about Johnny Silverhand and Morgan Blackhand? Well, they should be dead. But if you’ve seen the E3 2019 trailer, it’s clear that Johnny is alive…at least in some form.
According to the Cyberpunk Red timeline, there are rumors that Johnny Silverhand’s body was found in cold storage in a body bank under the wreckage. This is just wild speculation but we hope you get to recover Johnny Silverhand’s body at some point during 2077.
Is Johnny Silverhand still alive in Cyberpunk 2077?
Morgan Blackhand, on the other hand, is rumored to be covertly working for President Kress and the US Government. We’re not sure exactly how could play a role in 2077, but based on the gameplay reveal you can pick Morgan Blackhand to be one of your character’s role models.
Pokemon Sword and Shield introduce a few new mechanics to the series, most notably Gigantamaxing and Max Raid Battles. Those aren’t the only features the games are adding to the mix, however. Following the latest Galar Research Update video, The Pokemon Company revealed another new mechanic in the upcoming titles: Poke Jobs.
Each Pokemon Center in the Galar region features a new type of PC called a Rotomi. In addition to being able to store your extra Pokemon here, the Rotomi appears to serve a similar purpose as job boards in other RPGs, letting you browse through a list of available Poke Jobs. Once you accept one, you can then send Pokemon from your boxes out to complete the task, and they’ll return after a certain amount of time with rewards.
According to the official Pokemon website, Pokemon you send off on jobs will earn experience points and may even net you some rare items. Certain types of Pokemon will be more suited to specific jobs, and the amount of rewards you receive will depend on how long the Pokemon worked and how suited they were for the task.
We also recently learned that Sword and Shield will feature their own regional variant Pokemon, much like Sun and Moon before them. The games’ latest trailer revealed Galarian forms of Weezing, Zigzagoon, and Linoone. Interestingly, the Galarian version of Linoone is capable of evolving into an entirely new Pokemon named Obstagoon.
The latest trailer also revealed Gen 8’s adorable Electric rodent, Morpeko, which resembles a hamster and is able to change between “Full Belly” and “Hangry” forms. Additionally, the video introduced two new rival characters, Bede and Marnie, as well as this generation’s villainous team, Team Yell.
EA has revealed what’s new in FIFA 20‘s Career Mode on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The mode, which has remained largely unchanged for the last two years, is getting dynamic press conferences, updates to player potential, and more.
“Our vision was to breathe new life into the Manager Career experience by … [building] a variation of ever-changing stories that would surface to our players through pre- and post-match press conferences and player conversations,” EA said in a blog post.
That manifests itself in dynamic interviews with journalists both before and after big matches, with the journalists asking different questions “depending highly on the outcome, goals scored, opponent, time of season or stage of competition, and more.”
Similarly, managers can converse with players one-on-one through a “messaging app-like interface,” EA said. “The manager will have to deal with a variety of requests from players as well as happy or disgruntled players that are trying to get their thoughts across. The manager will have to find ways, either through direct actions or by communicating his/her stance in order to mitigate and solve these situations.”
Together, the two features contribute to a player’s morale, a system which has been revamped for FIFA 20. As well as conferences and one-on-ones, player morale is affected by playing time, wages, and both individual and team performances. High morale boosts players’ attributes, so picking the right answers and playing the right players are important considerations.
The final big new feature is dynamic player potential, whereby young stars’ potential overall rating will change depending on their performances. If, for example, a young striker is banging in the goals in his debut season, his potential peak rating will increase; similarly, an ageing player who’s still keeping up with modern football will see his stats drop off at a slower-than-expected rate.
Elsewhere, Career Mode contains a number of smaller tweaks and updates on the current iteration. These include:
Improved manager customization, utilizing the new character creation tool seen in Volta and across FIFA 20–this means you can create female managers for the first time in FIFA.
Rebranded user interfaces particular to the Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga, and the MLS.
New news screenshots and updates
Two new environments for dynamic negotiation cutscenes to take place in: the restaurant and the rooftop lounge.
You can see the full list of bug fixes and balance changes in the list below, via EA. For more on this year’s game, check out everything we know about FIFA 20’s Ultimate Team, Pro Clubs, or Volta modes. The game launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC–with legacy editions coming to Switch and older platforms–on September 27.
FIFA 20: Career Mode Spot Fixes And Balance Changes
General Improvements
Added an option in the player actions pop-up to add a player to the shortlist and immediately go to the transfer hub with the respective player.
Redesigned Team Management layout to allow for easier player attribute comparison.
Added an option to disable international management job offers at the start of a new career.
Increased the initial Composure attribute values for generated youth players and redistributed weights for player growth between physical, mental and skill attributes to allow for more physical growth.
Improved distribution of ethnicity within a country when generating youth players.
Significantly increased the initial amounts for wage budget allocation.
Increased the player value of defensive players based on the latest transfer market activity.
Fixed multiple issues with leagues that split into play-offs after the end of the regular season.
League objectives are now correctly tracking the play-off instead of the regular season standings. Champions celebrations are triggered at the end of the play-offs.
Improved the algorithm used by AI teams to determine their starting XI. Moving forward you should see far fewer instances in which the opponent isn’t using their prime starting XI in important matches.
Re-adjusted the number of saves to eight, inside Career Mode, to address the feedback received from our players during the ’19 cycle.
Competition Changes
Fixed multiple fixture congestion issues. The winter break roll-out this season, as well as the removal of the FA Cup 5th Round Replay, have improved fixture congestion issues in English leagues. We’ve slightly altered the authentic schedule of the English Championship by pushing its completion to a later date. This ensures that schedule conflict situations between Championship rounds and European football nights aren’t possible. A lot of the congestion issues reported by the community were happening with mid-week league rounds happening at the same time as European football, which, although unlikely in the real world, is a common occurrence in Career Mode.
Added the new format and schedule of the Spanish Supercup.
Added support to round down the points in leagues that split into play-offs and halve the points such as the Austrian Bundesliga.
Updated usage of the fourth substitute in extra time to all competitions that support this new law of the game.
