Author: Trafficblast

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is an unexpected project from Respawn Entertainment. The studio is most known for its first-person shooters, including the Titanfall series and, more recently, Apex Legends. Jedi Fallen Order marks the studio’s first foray into the third-person action adventure genre, which makes it all the more impressive that it’s doing so with the Star Wars license. However, during E3 2019, director Stig Asmussen revealed that the project was not originally a Star Wars title.

Speaking as part of an interview conducted at EA Play, Asmussen said that the unnamed original project caught the attention of various people at EA, the parent company of Respawn Entertainment. And since the gameplay pillars the developers established for its first project worked conceptually with Star Wars, it was able to adapt.

“Before working on Star Wars we were working on a different game and it had basically the same pillars that we have in this game, which is thoughtful combat, agile exploration–you know, beyond human–and Metroidvania level design,” he said.

“And that’s something that when we were working on this other game and we demoed it, people [at] EA saw it and said, there’s something in there that you could see easily see it turning into a Star Wars game. My background is melee action, so when they came to us and were like, ‘We really like the game you’re working out and we want to do at some point, but how would you guys feel about doing Star Wars?’ we were like, great.

“And [a lot] of the core functionality that we were building for the other game, a lot of the fundamentals, were able to transition over. So we always start with, ‘What is the game? How does it feel? How does it play? What are the mechanics?’ before really figuring out the story. It just so happened this thing that we were working on translated really well.”

Jedi Fallen Order’s first gameplay video was shown at the start of EA Play and revealed that lightsaber battles are going to be considered and tactical, instead of a flurry of swings. Because of that, it is being likened to From Software’s Dark Souls and Bloodborne titles, and this is something explored in our full interview with Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order director Stig Asmussen. The gameplay demo also confirmed that a major character from Rogue One will be in Jedi Fallen Order.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC on November 15.

Just before football season kicks off, you can count on a new Madden game to roll through. This year, we’re getting Madden NFL 20 along with a number of new features and gameplay tweaks, and you can get your hands on the game a bit early through its upcoming closed beta test. It’ll run from June 14 12 PM ET to June 16 at midnight ET, which covers the weekend after E3 2019, but only for a select few folks.

EA has outlined how to get into the closed beta. Those who attend EA Play have a chance to get a beta code at the Madden booth on-site. Between June 10 and June 14, EA will give out codes via stream/social media and you’ll have to follow the official Madden Twitch or Twitter account (@EAMaddenNFL). Developers will also participate in giving codes away via MUTHEAD (Madden Ultimate Team) and Reddit. EA says to check your email associated with your EA account for additional chances to get beta codes, especially those who competed in the Madden Championship Series.

The closed beta is for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One users, and codes are redeemable through each platforms normal process. The closed beta will not include the new Face of the Franchise or MUT modes, but will let you play normal games as either the Chiefs, Rams, Patriots, or Saints.

Be sure to check out all the other news and announcements that came out of EA Play for E3 2019, including an extended look at Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order gameplay and the new character coming to Apex Legends named Wattson.

Jason Reitman, the son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, spoke at Ghostbusters Fan Fest on Saturday about his upcoming 2020 sequel, which follows the world his father helped create in 1984. The first teaser for the movie was revealed back in January, but it will still be a little while before filming begins.

Speaking to a crowd at the director panel at the convention, Jason Reitman explained that the 2020 Ghostbuters sequel will start shooting in five weeks, as long as everything goes to plan. Originally, the story for the movie revolved around a 12-year-old girl with a proton pack. But since then, the idea has grown and revolves around a family. How does this family fit into the world? “You don’t know their connection, and they don’t know their connection either,” Reitman explained. There have been reports the movie is casting four teens to lead the film: two boys, two girls.

He said he’s excited about the possibility of making all kinds of Ghostbusters movies. And while the stars of the original film–Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Bill Murray–have all read the script, he would not confirm if they are in fact coming back. The other star of the movie, Harold Ramis, passed away in 2014.

However, during an interview with Parade Magazine, Weaver herself confirmed she will be in the movie, along with Murray and Aykroyd. “It’s going to be crazy working with the guys again,” she exclaimed. Sony has yet to comment on the remarks.

Next year’s movie will not be connected to the 2016 reboot, which angered one of the stars, but aside from Reitman being the son of the original director, he’s a fan of the movie. “I love everything about it. The iconography. The music. The tone,” Reitman told Entertainment Weekly. “I remember being on set and seeing them try out the card catalog gag for the first time when the library ghost makes them come flying out. I remember the day they killed Stay Puft and I brought home a hardened piece of foam that just sat on a shelf for years. I was scared there was a terror dog underneath my bed before people knew what a terror dog was.”

The third movie in the original Ghostbusters universe hits theaters on July 10, 2020.

Microsoft is no stranger to dropping a cheeky message or hint at a big console announcement, and it seems like there’s another one for E3 2019. Ahead of an impending reveal during Sunday’s Xbox press conference, Microsoft appears to be teasing the reveal of a next-gen Xbox system.

Within its daily countdown videos for the Xbox 2019 press conference are RGB color codes for the specific color scarlet–and if you’re not aware, rumors point to the codename “Scarlet(t)” for one of the next-gen Xbox consoles. There are rumors of other Xbox consoles under the codenames “Anaconda” and “Lockhart” as well.

In the “3 Days To E3” video, the background had the text “R 255,” and the next day had “G 36,” and today showed “B 0”–this turns out to be 255, 36, 0. You can see screen caps of this in the tweet below.

In the past, there were hidden messages in pre-E3 videos that teased Project Scorpio, which turned out to be the Xbox One X. And in the lead up to Microsoft’s press conference this year, we expected news of new console hardware at the show given that head of Xbox Phil Spencer made mention of it last year.

If Microsoft is indeed announcing a next-gen Xbox at E3, it will be doing so during its press conference on Sunday, June 9. It begins at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST (6 AM AET on June 10). You can watch the event live here on GameSpot or follow our Xbox liveblog.

For all things E3 2019, check out all our coverage of the latest announcements and news; catch up on all the Xbox One games we’ll see at the show, the details on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order gameplay, and everything that happened at EA Play.

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Nintendo has been fairly tight-lipped about what it plans to showcase during its E3 2019 Direct presentation next week, but now we know at least one announcement we can expect from the broadcast. Following the finals of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Championship, Nintendo confirmed it will reveal the game’s next DLC character during its E3 Direct on Tuesday, June 11.

In a video message, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai congratulated the winning team and provided an update on the game’s DLC. “As for me, I’ll be continuing my work on the next DLC fighter, and more information regarding that will be shared in the Nintendo Direct for E3 2019, so I hope you’re looking forward to it,” Sakurai said.

Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser also teased that fans wouldn’t want to miss Tuesday’s Direct. “I think many of you are gonna want to tune in next week to see what, or who, [Sakurai] may be talking about,” he said. Bowser also announced a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Online Open tournament, which will kick off this month. The four winners of that will compete in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at the Evo 2019 championships this August.

Nintendo has already released two DLC characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Piranha Plant, who was offered for free to early adopters, arrived in February, while Persona 5’s Joker launched in April. There are still four DLC characters coming to the game, although Nintendo hasn’t revealed their identities yet. Joker and the remaining four fighters are included in the $25 Fighters Pass.

Nintendo’s E3 Direct presentation airs at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST on June 11. In addition to revealing the next Smash DLC fighter, we know the broadcast will focus on Switch games coming in 2019, including Luigi’s Mansion 3, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. You can find out when and how to watch Nintendo’s E3 Direct here.

That wasn’t the only announcement to come out of Nintendo’s pre-E3 tournaments. Following the Splatoon 2 World Championship, Nintendo announced the date and theme of the game’s final Splatfest event, which will take place from July 18-21. Following the Splatfest, Nintendo will release the game’s 5.0 update. You can find more news and announcements from E3 on GameSpot’s E3 2019 hub.