Author: Trafficblast

Stephen King Tells You What To Watch And Read This Halloween For A Real Scare

Writer Stephen King knows a thing or two about what’s scary. With the spooky holiday Halloween coming up, the author has now shared a list of a movie, TV show, and book that he recommends if you’re looking for a fright this Halloween.

Starting with film, King told Entertainment Weekly that he recommends this year’s Child’s Play remake. He says he missed it in theatres but eventually got around to seeing it. “I just f***ing loved that movie,” he said. “I laughed and I cried at the things in there. Everybody who’s in the movie does a terrific job. It’s a smart script and it’s just a load of fun. It really is. It’s gruesome as hell.”

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill voices Chucky, the doll who comes to life and kills people. The movie also stars Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, and Gabriel Bateman.

Moving to TV, King said he’s currently enjoying the Netflix show Marianne. The French series is “very, very scary,” King remarked. The show has sort of a Stranger Things vibe along with the “Steve King vibe as well,” the remarked.

Finally, King recommends the book Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. He said it’s “like Harry Potter but for grownups.” It’s scary, smart, and imaginative, King said.

The latest adaptation of King’s work is Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining that’s based on his book. The movie stars Ewan McGregor as the grown up Danny Torrance who still has his mysterious powers known as “the shining.” The movie opens on November 8.

Here’s How Many People Watched The Breaking Bad Movie In Its First Week

The new Breaking Bad movie, El Camino, was ridiculously popular on Netflix. The streaming network announced that more than 25 million households watched the film over its first week following its debut on October 11.

Specifically, 25,734,392 homes watched the movie over its first week. Anyone who watches at least 70 percent of a movie (or TV series) is counted as a “viewer” according to Netflix.

The big first-week numbers for El Camino are no surprise. Nielsen previously reported that the show had a 6.54 million “average minute audience” over its first three days in the US, which indicated that the movie was off to a good start.

GameSpot’s El Camino review scored the movie an 8/10.

“If you love Breaking Bad and Jesse Pinkman, El Camino is a beautifully crafted kindness, and a chance to spend another hour or so with a character you care about,” reviewer Meg Downey said. “If you don’t have strong feelings about either of those things, El Camino may feel like a really spectacularly shot screen saver. Either way, the fact that it exists at all, and that Sony TV and Netflix were willing to put money behind what is so obviously an extremely niche passion project, feels like a good omen for franchise TV.”

Read next: Breaking Bad Creator Reveals El Camino Alternate Endings, Breaking Bad Creator Reveals El Camino Alternate Endings

How’s Xbox Doing? Here Are The Key Takeaways From New Earnings Report

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Technology giant Microsoft has announced earnings for its latest fiscal quarter, and the report shines a light on how the Xbox business is doing–though it’s becoming harder to know.

Microsoft’s Xbox business is housed within the company’s More Personal Computing division. That business unit reached $11.1 billion in revenue for the quarter ended September 30, and that’s up 4 percent year-over-year. More Personal Computing also includes things like Microsoft Surface, search advertising revenue on Bing, Windows OEM revenue, and more.

Halo Infinite is one of 2020's most anticipated games on XboxHalo Infinite is one of 2020’s most anticipated games on Xbox

In terms of Xbox-specific stats, Xbox Content and Surfaces Revenue was up 1 percent. This includes revenue from Xbox Live–including transactions, subscriptions, cloud services, and advertising. Additionally, it counts sales of Microsoft’s own video games and royalties from third-party games sold on Xbox devices.

Minecraft experienced “strength” in subscription sales, Microsoft said, but overall sales declined due in part to a tough comparison to this time last year when a “third-party title” was performing well. This is likely a reference to Fortnite, which has moderated in revenue.

Minecraft is quietly among the most popular games on planet Earth. The game has more than 112 million monthly players, which is many millions more than Fortnite’s latest publicly released numbers.

Overall gaming revenue for Microsoft was down 7 percent

Microsoft no longer reports Xbox Live active users, which makes understanding the company’s fortunes more difficult to understand, but the company did share that total gaming revenue during the quarter was $2.542 billion, which is down $2.738 billion from the same period last year. Hardware specifically was down 34 percent due to fewer consoles sold. That’s to be expected given the Xbox One is at the end of its lifecycle with the new, more powerful Project Scarlett coming in Holiday 2020.

Another interesting note from Microsoft’s earnings report was that total Research & Development expenses jumped by $588 million, or 15 percent, due in part to efforts related to gaming (among other things).

2020 will be a big year for Xbox with the launch of Scarlett and Halo Infinite. Not only that, but Microsoft’s new streaming service, xCloud, is expected to continue its rollout throughout 2019 and into next year.

Microsoft’s total revenue–across all of its business units–reached $33.1 billion for the latest quarter, which is up 14 percent. Total income was $10.7 billion.

Watchmen Episode 1 “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” Breakdown

Tick-tock, Watchmen fans. The countdown to the HBO show may be over, but the doomsday clock is still dangerously close to midnight, as Meg and Mike have learned in this breakdown of Episode 1, It’s Summer Time And We’re Running Out Of Ice.

Set in an alternate 2019, 30 years after the world was forever changed by the harrowing events of the graphic novel, HBO’s Watchmen stars Regina King as Angela Abar, a detective in a very, very different Tulsa, Oklahoma. In this reality, the police were attacked in their homes by a white supremacist militia called the 7th Kavalry and have since begun wearing masks to protect their identities. Uniformed police wear yellow sleeves to obscure their faces, while plainclothes detectives like Angela have adopted full-on superhero alter-egos for themselves. Angela works as Sister Night to track down and round up the members of the 7th Kavalry, who have also adopted masks to hide their identities–a very specific mask, and it’s one you’ll probably recognize. Rorschach, the paranoid vigilante from the graphic novel, has become the 7th Kavalry’s idol, thanks to the posthumous release of his journals.

And all that is just the tip of the iceberg. The course set for America by Ozymandias and his psychic squid massacre back in 1985 has taken the country down a bizarre and complicated path where cars are all battery-powered, cell phones don’t exist, and Robert Redford (yeah, the actor) has remained the president for the last 30 years.

But don’t panic if you weren’t able to catch all of that on your first viewing. Watchmen is a show loaded with details, from subtle references and Easter Eggs to tiny clues and worldbuilding, all hidden in the background of virtually every shot. So join us as we break the episode down, scene by scene, and comb through every potential hint as to what, exactly, may be going on.

Battlefield 5’s Next Free Expansion Brings Back Iconic Pacific Maps

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EA has announced Battlefield V‘s next free update–and it is a big one. Chapter 5: War in the Pacific adds new maps, US and Japanese factions, more weapons, and additional pickups.

The new maps in War in the Pacific are reimagined versions of classic Pacific maps, including Iwo Jima and Pacific Storm, both of which will be available at launch. Then in December, EA will introduce perhaps the most-anticipated map: Wake Island. This is one of the most iconic Battlefield maps ever, and it’s exciting to see it finally coming to Battlefield V.

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As for the new weapons, War in the Pacific is adding the M1 Garand rifle, the bolt-action Type 99 Arisaka for the Recon class, and the Type 100 SMG for the Medica class. The final new weapon is the M1919A6, which is a smaller machine gun for the Support class.

These weapons will be available at release on October 31, while others–including the M3 Grease Gun, Nambu Type 2A, Type 97 LMG, and M1918 A2–will be released over time through gameplay rewards. A new gadget, the Lunge Mine–which can destroy tanks–is also headed to Battlefield V with the new War in the Pacific update.

War in the Pacific also introduces two new pickups–the katana and the M2 flamethrower. As with all other Battlefield V pickups, these weapons are found on the map.

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Additionally, there are new vehicles–the M4 Sherman and the Type 97 tanks–coming to Battlefield V with the new update. New amphibious vehicles, the LVT and Ka-Mi Light tanks, are also coming to Battlefield V alongside the speedy MB Jeep and Type 95 car.

In the skies, the Battlefield V update adds the F4U Corsair for US troops and the Zero Fighter for Japanese forces. The update also introduces two new Elites–Jack Culver for US forces and Keisuke Nakamura for the Japanese troops. Elites are special characters that can be purchased with real money but do not impact gameplay.

For more on the big new War in the Pacific update, go to the Battlefield website.

The Witcher Reveals New Images of Geralt, Roach and Yennefer

Before Netflix takes The Witcher to Lucca Comics & Games convention on October 31 in Italy for a big panel event, the streaming giant has released new images from Season 1 of the new fantasy series, which stars Henry Cavill.

Check out the four new images below at the start of our Season 1 images gallery:

While the image of Yennefer is ripped straight from the trailer we saw back at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, the other three images offer new shots of Geralt, Roach, and a mysterious hand (Ciri’s?) touching a monster’s claw… Is it one of Geralt’s kills perhaps?

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One Piece: Stampede Review

One Piece: Stampede will play in limited theatrical release in North America on the following dates: Oct 24, 29 & 31 (Subtitled); October 26 & 30 (English Dub) Canada: Oct 25 & Nov 5 (Subtitled); Oct 28 & Nov 8 (English Dub).

“In a deep, lofty darkness, you will find your answer.” This is the only hint left by Gol D. Roger, king of the pirates, after he hides an “invaluable treasure” on the island where the great Pirate Festival, the setting of One Piece: Stampede, takes place. And that’s all the setup we need for a perfect “greatest hits” film which pits the Straw Hat crew and so many of One Piece’s most beloved and fan-favorite heroes and villains (Trafalgar Law, Boa Hancock, Buggy, Eustace Kid, and more) against one another in a thrilling carnival setting as they race to find Gol D. Roger’s treasure.

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Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville Review

Whether you’re listening to a tiny Acorn yodel as it transforms into a mighty Oak tree or watching a wannabe superhero zombie hold his arms aloft like Superman when he sprints, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville’s roster pops with personality. Its PvE campaigns may be boring and repetitive, and its multiplayer maps can create chaotic clusters of action where it’s hard to work out what’s going on, but that’s easy to forgive after you meet its varied and amusing cast of playable plants and zombies. Their unique abilities fill the full range of playstyles, from snipers to healers, and kept me smiling even if the modes around them never quite hit the same high bar.

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