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Anthem Makes A Big Change To How Future Content Will Be Released

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Anthem is changing up how it releases future content. Developer BioWare has confirmed that it is ditching the previously announced “Acts” release schedule in favor of seasonal updates.

As described before Anthem’s release in February, BioWare planned for the game’s Acts to introduce new locations and features that roll out over time. The latest of these Acts culminated in the Cataclysm event that’s going on now. It’s coming to an end soon, and BioWare is now telling fans to expect seasonal updates in the future. BioWare’s Chad Robertson explained that BioWare is moving to this structure so that it can address some of the “core issues” people are experiencing.

“We hear your concerns on core issues in Anthem and are acting on it,” he said. “Those systems require a more thorough review and re-working versus quick fixes. We’ve got a team working on that now, and early results are promising. In order to address these long-range plans, we are moving away from the Acts structure for updates. Instead, we have additional seasonal updates planned for this year that we think players will enjoy.”

“These events will deliver challenges and chases similar to what you’ve seen, and are built around some fun themes we’re bringing to the game.”

Robertson said BioWare is making this disclosure as part of its effort to be more transparent and honest with fans about the work that’s required to “make Anthem better.”

“We also want to ensure we’re backing up our words with a great game you can play,” Robertson said. “So I don’t have any news today to share about the long-term changes we are bringing to Anthem. What I can say is that we will continue to engage with you, our community, through PTS when we can show you what is coming.”

Anthem is the 5th best-selling game of 2019 so far in the United States, according to NPD. It only trails The Division 2, Madden NFL 20, Kingdom Hearts III, and Mortal Kombat 11.

Presumably in a bid to get more people playing it, EA added Anthem to the free game catalog on EA Access and Origin Access earlier this month. The game’s lead producer, Ben Irving, left the team in August. Upon his exit, he said he believed Anthem has a bright future ahead of it.

Google Announces New Stadia Edition for Preorder

Google has announced a new Stadia bundle, now available at the G-Store, which will replace the previously announced and available Google Stadia Founders Edition.

Google confirmed to IGN that, as of today, September 18, the Stadia Founders Edition, which included the exclusive Night Blue Stadia controller, is now largely sold out. It is available in very limited supply in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the U.K., but is otherwise completely sold out in Europe.

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The Princess Bride Might Get A Reboot, But Star Cary Elwes Says It’s A Bad Idea

Reboots and revivals are very popular today in Hollywood, and now it appears another iconic film is in the running for a comeback. Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra said in a new interview that the iconic 1987 fantasy comedy The Princess Bride has come up in talks for a reboot.

He told Variety that “very famous people” have come to him to pursue the idea of a Princess Bride reboot. However, the executive declined to say who these people are, stating only that they “want to redo Princess Bride.”

The quote came as part of a profile of Norman Lear, who produced The Princess Bride, among numerous other film and TV projects such as Stand By Me, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Maude. Vinciquerra went on to say that Lear’s work is in high demand for reboots.

“We have so many people coming to us saying, ‘We want to remake this show or that show,'” Vinciquerra said. “Some people want to do animated versions of some of the sitcoms. Not a month goes by when we don’t have an idea coming from some very big name wanting to do things with Norman.”

The Princess Bride stars Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, and Wallace Shawn. Billy Crystal, Fred Savage, Peter Falk, and Andre the Giant also starred in the movie that was directed by Rob Reiner. The movie was nominated for Best Music, Original Song for “Storybook Love” by Willy DeVille.

Elwes, who plays Westley in The Princess Bride, spoke out against the idea of a Princess Bride reboot. Jamie Lee Curtis, who is married to The Six Fingered Man actor Christopher Guest, also said it’s a bad idea to reboot the movie.

Savage, who played a child who had the Princess Bride story read to him by Falk, reprised his character hilariously as a grown-up in Once Upon A Deadpool.

Borderlands 3 Has A Legendary Loot Cave Of Sorts

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Remember way back in 2014 when people discovered a loot cave in the original Destiny? It was this magical place where you could take advantage of the game’s systems to quickly acquire a surplus of rare loot. Well, Borderlands 3 kind of has one of those.

In this case, players discovered a way to exploit the level design for one of Borderlands 3’s areas to get an enemy to respawn over and over again to increase the drop rate for random legendary weapons. The farming method was first discovered by Reddit user Nordor222.

First off, to fully take advantage of this exploit, you’ll need to beat Borderlands 3’s campaign and unlock its endgame content. In the endgame, you unlock Mayhem Mode, which allows you to crank the difficulty of Borderlands 3 in a variety of ways. Mayhem Mode also increases your chances of getting a legendary loot drop though, so push it up to Mayhem Level 3 at the Sanctuary III console.

Once that’s done, fly to Eden-6 and fast travel to the Jakob’s Estate. Head to the location that’s marked on the image below. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see a group of bandits. Among them should be a purple-tinged loot tink. He’ll have a pretty hefty shield–one amplified by Mayhem Mode–so bring out your strongest shock weapon to take the tink down. Maybe grab an incendiary weapon too, both to deal with the tink once its shield is gone as well as the group of bandits that spawn in to protect him.

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This tink already gives you pretty good loot, but with the bonuses provided by Mayhem Level 3, he’ll spit out a few purple and yellow items as you take him down. If you defeat him, you can open his backpack, which will typically spew out a few pieces of legendary loot and some phenomenal very rare items. Once you’ve grabbed all you can carry, warp back to the Jakob’s Estate fast travel point, quit to the main menu, reload the game, and head back to the tink’s spawn location. He’ll be back and carrying a brand-new set of legendary items for you to loot. Just repeat the process for as many times as you please.

Keep in mind, Gearbox may already know about this exploit and they could be working on a fix for it right now. When players discovered the loot cave in the original Destiny, Bungie shut that down in days. Given how this exploit essentially removes the need to do any of Borderlands 3’s endgame content, we imagine Gearbox will want to remove it at some point before the raid boss is added. So act now if you want to take advantage. Just think, what you see below could be yours.

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New Lord Of The Rings TV Show Could Return To A Familiar Shooting Location

Just as suspected, Amazon’s upcoming big-budget Lord of the Rings TV show will seemingly film in New Zealand. The show’s Twitter account posted a tweet that pretty much confirms it.

The tweet simply posted the New Zealand flag, which has sent fans into a tizzy about the show being filmed in the same country as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

In June, the New Zealand Herald reported that a “huge” part of the Lord of the Rings TV show will film in New Zealand; Queenstown and Auckland were called out as potential filming locations.

It was previously rumored that the Amazon Lord of the Rings TV show may film in Scotland. It’s still possible the production will shoot in other locations outside of New Zealand.

While New Zealand is a beautiful country filled with incredible scenery that has inspired some of the Lord of the Rings’ most iconic scenes, the country’s association with the franchise hasn’t been entirely smooth.

Warner Bros., the film giant behind The Lord of the Rings, made headlines in 2010 when it reportedly had a back-and-forth with the New Zealand government to ensure friendlier terms for the movie studio. As Fodors reminds us, the “Hobbit Law,” as it became known, focused on how film crews were considered independent contractors, and thus their ability to collectively bargain and enjoy protections and benefits came into question. The new government that took power in 2017 sought to adjust the legislation to be more worker-friendly, but it remains to be seen if anything has changed.

Whatever the case, Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said he’s optimistic about the law being changed. “We’re looking to restore a lot of workers’ rights that have been diminished over the last nine years, and that is a priority for us,” he said, as reported by Fodors. “It’s something that we want to have the legislation at least introduced within the first 100 days of government.”

For what it’s worth, this time frame has come and gone with no apparent change to the law.

The new Lord of the Rings show is set in the Second Age, which is a 3,441-year period that covered major events like the forging of the Rings of Power, including the One Ring; the War of Sauron, the beginning of the Ringwraiths, and when Numenor the island sank into the ocean. Also, it was during the Second Age that the Elven city of Rivendell was developed and the great battle where men, elves, and dwarves fought together for the first time against Sauron. A popular rumor was that the show would focus on a young Aragorn, but that may not happen.

JD Payne and Patrick McKay are writing Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show. They have no TV writing credits to their name, but neither did David Benioff and D.B. Weiss when they made the massively popular Game of Thrones series. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show recently brought on Game of Thrones series producer Bryan Cogman, who was known as the “third head of the dragon” for Game of Thrones, along with Weiss and Benioff.

There is no word yet on when the Lord of the Rings show will premiere, but we’re beginning to find out who will star in it. Black Mirror actor Will Poulter and Markella Kavenagh are in talks to play the lead roles, according to reports.

Behind the camera, Amazon has assembled an all-star team of writers and producers. The writers room for the untitled Lord of the Rings show includes Gennifer Hutchinson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul), Helen Shang (Hannibal), Justin Dohle (Stranger Things), Bryan Cogman (Game of Thrones), and Stephany Folsom (Toy Story 4).

J.A. Bayona, the director of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is directing episodes one and two of the Lord of the Rings show.

Kate Hawley is the costume designer; she previously worked on Edge of Tomorrow and Suicide Squad. Rick Heinrichs, who won an Oscar for Sleepy Hollow and also worked on The Last Jedi, is the production designer; Jason Smith, who worked on The Revenant, Super 8, and The Avengers is the visual effects supervisor. Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey is also working on the new Amazon show, as is Lord of the Rings movie trilogy illustrator and concept artist John Howe.

The Amazon show also has numerous producers, including people who have worked on Westworld, Boardwalk Empire, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and The Departed.

In other news, a new Lord of the Rings video game focused on Gollum is in development at Daedalic Entertainment, while a AAA online Lord of the Rings game is also on the way.

Preacher Season 4 Episode 8 “Fear of the Lord” Best Easter Eggs

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  2. Nintendo Switch Update 9.0.0 Out Now – GS News Update

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  11. Borderlands 3 – Easy Legendary Loot Farming Guide

  12. New Destiny 2 Five-Year Plan Includes Big Nightfall Changes – GS News Update

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Color Out Of Space Review: Too Much Of A Good Thing

Over the years, we’ve come to expect Nicolas Cage to get unhinged in his movies. No matter how grounded the film, we all wait for the moment when–at long last–the midnight movie staple starts shouting his brains out or going nuts. This is all to say that a Lovecraftian movie that unites Cage with a director as fascinating as Richard Stanley (who is making his return to longform filmmaking after being infamously fired on the set of The Island of Doctor Moreau in 1996) should be prime for some iconic shenanigans.

Sadly, while we do get those moments in Color Out of Space, the movie doesn’t understand that Cage needs to be first restrained, then unleashed once the anticipation builds up. Combined with other issues, the result is a disjointed and at times painfully dull movie, despite the alpacas and the Cronenberg-esque body horror.

Based on a 1927 short story of the same name by acclaimed horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, Color Out of Space follows Nathan Gardner (Cage) as he contends with dissatisfaction with his idyllic farm life in rural New England. The farm, the alpacas, and the house where his family lives belonged to his father, who Nathan swore he’d never become. Nathan’s wife, Theresa (Joely Richardson), is going through breast cancer treatment. Nathan’s kids–stoner teenage son Benny (Brendan Meyer), Wiccan teenage daughter Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), and young Jack (Julian Hilliard)–each have their quirks and occasionally drive Nathan nuts, but they otherwise manage like any other family.

Of course, everything goes to hell once a meteorite crashes onto the Gardner farm. It unleashes a gradual wave of increasingly weird events that seem perfectly designed to drive the family to madness–if it doesn’t make the audience go mad first. First comes the neon fuchsia glow that permeates the house and a whistling sound that hammers your eardrums for the rest of the film. Then it’s the strange flowers that begin to glow, and the nearly alien praying mantis with multiple sets of eyes that flies around the house. Then the residents of the farm begin to change too, first in personality, then in grotesque and otherworldly ways that could easily give you nightmares–especially when it comes to those dang alpacas.

H. P. Lovecraft is one of the most influential horror writers of the early 20th century, with his exploration of the fear of the unknown and what is now referred to as the Cthulhu Mythos serving as inspiration for countless works of horror. While a great source of inspiration, Lovecraft has proven to be a particularly difficult writer to adapt to cinema, due to the cosmic nature of his stories, which often rely on the horror of the unknown, and the audience never fully getting the answers they want.

If there’s one thing Color Out of Space does very well, it’s making you feel like you’re a part of a Lovecraftian cosmic horror story, and following the author’s style of storytelling. Stanley knows how to build anticipation and slowly reveal the sci-fi elements of the story and how the meteor changes the Gardner family and their property. The cinematography makes even the most ordinary objects and situations seem otherworldly and even terrifying–especially once the body horror comes into play and the film becomes outright grotesque. Unfortunately, Stanley reaches too far, and loses sight of the scope as the editing gets too frenetic, making the already messy plot feel overwhelming.

The problem with Lovecraftian stories is that by nature, all characters are hopeless against the cosmic forces that have drawn targets on their backs. No matter what the characters do, they (as well as the audience) are simply passengers on a ship they can’t steer or escape. In Color Out of Space, this translates to a feeling of repetitiveness and stupidity, with the characters making the same illogical, insane decisions over and over. This may satisfy Lovecraft fans, but it will bore anyone hoping for characters with any type of agency.

This is a problem that falls almost completely on the script and direction. Stanley knows how to build an atmosphere, but he quickly loses the thread as the film spirals out of control. For most of the second half, the characters frequently change their behavior and act irrationally, but there are no clear rules for what is happening to the farm or how it impacts the characters. We all expect Nicolas Cage to eventually lash out, and it’s a blast to see him lose his grip with reality and go off. But his performance, while amusing, feels out of place with the rest of the film, especially since no one else in the family can match Cage’s insanity.

Color Out of Space is an attack on the senses, at times thrilling and even scary, often gloriously grotesque and laugh-out-loud funny, but also overwhelmingly dull. This is a movie where the individual pieces make for good impressions, but when seen as a whole it becomes a messy attempt at extending what should have remained a short story into a feature film that overstays its welcome. That being said, fans of Lovecraft who know what they’re getting themselves into and fans of Nic Cage’s signature brand of crazy might still find plenty to enjoy in this movie.

Yu Suzuki: I’ve Never Been Able To Do Everything I Wanted With A Game

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Some 18 years after its last installment, the wait for the next entry into the Shenmue franchise is nearly at an end. Shenmue III, the sequel to the beloved Sega Dreamcast open-world series, has traveled a long road into existence, starting with a vision for the third game in the series that director Yu Suzuki has held onto for nearly two decades. That vision, or some version of it, is finally about to be realized.

At Gamescom, Suzuki discussed the path Shenmue III has taken across nearly two decades, which included a Kickstarter campaign that asked backers for $2 million to help give the game life. The campaign wound up pulling in more than $6.3 million, and the game later greatly expanded in scope after Suzuki’s company, Ys Net, made a publishing deal with Deep Silver. Without that deal, Suzuki said, Shenmue would have been much simpler.

“The most important part is the story, so I would have done the story, that’s for sure,” Suzuki said in an interview with GameSpot. “It would have been a type of game where you just observed a story going on with some [Quick Time Events].”

Even with more money, Suzuki said Shenmue III doesn’t encompass everything he wanted to do with the game.

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“I’ve been making games since 1983 and there wasn’t once where I could do everything I wanted,” Suzuki said. “All the time, it’s about half of the things I wanted to do. But since I could complete at least half of it, I am happy. If I manage to do everything 100%, I won’t have anything to do next.”

“The problem is when you make a game … if you put everything you want in, you can put a lot in it, but the risk gets bigger because it’s a completely new game,” he said. “And this time for Shenmue III, I had to pare down a little bit on innovation, and it’s more a game I made for the fans of the series. But there are still new things in it.”

Still, what composed the Shenmue III hands-on demo at Gamescom is a far cry from the thinner, more observational experience Suzuki described. In the 45-minute segment, protagonist Ryo Hazuki searches for a man with a scar on his face in a small village, questioning its inhabitants and taking part in a number of small activities. Those include odd jobs you take on to earn money like chopping wood, gambling on games such as Lucky Hit, and fight training with minigames that can build up Ryo’s stats or increase his capability with signature moves.

None of those activities are especially innovative–they’re pretty much all simple quick-time events that only really have you pushing one or two buttons in time with a prompt. The same was true of the many conversations Ryo has with different characters in the demo as he seeks out the man with the scar. It all felt right in line with the original two Shenmue games, despite 18 years in between.

Though the demo feels firmly rooted in the past of open-world games and Suzuki said Shenmue III is geared at longtime series fans, he also said he felt the influence of the influx of open-world games in the years since Shenmue II. In some ways, the way open-world games have evolved over the years changed some of the ways Suzuki approached his own return to the genre.

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“I’ve arranged a game to fit the time we’re living in now, so it’s a bit more modern, maybe,” he said. “You know, nowadays everything is going faster, these movies, the games. [Players are] looking for the thrill that it provides, and I think the Shenmue we have now is a bit faster as well compared to the old Shenmues. But since it’s still Shenmue it’s still quite slow and chilled compared to other games. It’s like, it’s just a slow life.”

With Shenmue III finally coming, thanks largely to an outpouring of support from fans who want to see the story continued, a natural question is one of the future of the series. Suzuki has said before there’s more to Ryo’s story and his vision than Shenmue III–there are “11 chapters” in the story in total, although he didn’t say how many of those chapters Shenmue III comprises. Still, from the way fans reacted to the idea of a Shenmue III, it seems plausible that a Shenmue IV could be possible, too.

That might depend on the reaction to Shenmue III, a game fans have been waiting almost two decades to play. That long a wait–and a few million dollars pledged by fans eager to see the game realized–would seemingly put a lot of pressure on a creator. Suzuki said that even though the game’s launch is imminent, he’s not anxious about it.

“In my mind, I think I was able to make a game that was several levels higher than the initial project, and I have done everything that I could that was in my power, so I am not that anxious,” he said. “I am more looking forward to see how people see the game. If some people don’t like it, I guess that, since I’ve done the best I could, there’s no way I worry too much about that.”

Shenmue III releases on PS4 and PC on November 19.