Author: Trafficblast

Anthem’s Upcoming Icetide Event Will Blanket The Planet In Snow

Anthem, BioWare’s beleaguered shared-world squad shooter for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, will celebrate the holiday season with a new winter-themed event. During Icetide, the world of Anthem will be blanketed in snow and ice, as everything freezes over for winter. There will be celebrations and festivities, but also unique challenges for players to deal with over this period.

A preview of the upcoming event ran over the Public Test Server for PC players over the past weekend, ending on November 11. During the preview period, the Tyrant Mine Stronghold was available to players, giving them a taste of the new missions offered up by the limited-time seasonal change. In freeplay, players also encountered more outlaws to fight, Snow Globe Storms to deal with, and an all-new time trial event. Fort Tarsis and the Launch Bay were also kitted out in decorations for the festive season, which will return when Icetide is made available for all players. It’s unclear when Icetide will be available in Anthem, but it’s fair to assume that we’ll see it before Christmas.

BioWare’s game recently added Mass Effect armor to celebrate N7 Day, and made major changes to how content will be released for the game in the future. It’s also faced setbacks as major figureheads leave the project: lead producer Ben Irving left the studio in August, followed by head of live service Chad Robertson earlier this month. Hopefully Icetide will reward fans who have stuck with the game during its difficult first year.

Now Playing: Anthem Video Review

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What’s New To Netflix This Week: Movies, TV, And Originals

I think it’s safe to say that almost everyone is subscribed to a streaming service at this point. And the most popular of them all is none other than Netflix–which has a massive release list for November 2019. This week, there are plenty of TV shows, movies, original programming, and comedy specials headed your way. Check out the full list below.

The biggest release of the week is Season 3 of the docuseries The Toys That Made Us, a show that explores the origins of your favorite toy lines from when you were a kid. This season, the show explores Power Rangers, wrestling toys, My Little Pony, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles–which is the best of the season and quite possibly the series. The Toys That Made Us arrives on Friday.

If you’re looking for something comedic, there’s a new comedy special arriving on Tuesday that may be up your alley. Jeff Garlin: Our Man In Chicago arrives that day, who you may know from HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm or the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs. This is Garlin’s 37th year of doing stand-up, and the comedian discusses his life as well as working in TV and more.

Below, you can find everything coming to Netflix this week. For more streaming info, check out everything coming to Hulu and Amazon Prime Video this November.

Coming to Netflix this week:

Sunday, November 10

  • Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Volume 5

Monday, November 11

  • A Single Man
  • Chief of Staff: Season 2

Tuesday, November 12

  • Harvey Girls Forever!: Season 3
  • Jeff Garlin: Our Man In Chicago

Wednesday, November 13

  • Maradona in Mexico

Thursday, November 14

  • The Stranded

Friday, November 15

  • Avlu: Part 2
  • The Club
  • Earthquake Bird
  • GO!: The Unforgettable Part
  • House Arrest
  • I’m with the Band: Nasty Cherry
  • Klaus
  • Llama Llama: Season 2
  • The Toys That Made Us: Season 3

Saturday, November 16

  • Suffragette

Now Playing: Best Things To Stream For November 2019 – Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Shudder, Disney+

Here’s Google Stadia’s Launch Lineup And 2019 Games

Google Stadia is launching in just over a week, and the company has been quiet on which games will be available right out of the box when the first customers get to log in on November 19. Now it has broken that silence, outlining the full launch lineup as well as another batch of games to come online throughout the rest of the year.

In the announcement, Google says it will start with 12 “carefully chosen” games, with an additional 14 more coming by the end of the year. The launch lineup does notably include two fighting games, Mortal Kombat 11 and Samurai Shodown, along with the rhythm games Thumper and Just Dance 2020. Those all seem aimed at addressing latency concerns right out of the gate.

They join other big console releases like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the rebooted Tomb Raider series, and Red Dead Redemption 2. The lineup also includes Destiny 2, which is included with a Stadia Pro subscription. Given that Stadia Pro is part of the Founder’s Edition, and those will be the only people playing on day one, that means everyone playing will get it.

Check out the full listing of both launch day games and others coming throughout the rest of the year.

Google Stadia Launch Lineup

  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
  • Destiny 2
  • Gylt
  • Just Dance 2020
  • Kine
  • Mortal Kombat 11
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Thumper
  • Tomb Raider
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Samurai Shodown

Google Stadia 2019 Lineup

  • Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle
  • Borderlands 3
  • Darksiders Genesis
  • Dragonball Xenoverse 2
  • Farming Simulator 19
  • Final Fantasy XV
  • Football Manager 2020
  • Ghost Recon Breakpoint
  • Grid
  • Metro Exodus
  • NBA 2K20
  • Rage 2
  • Trials Rising
  • Wolfenstein Youngblood

Now Playing: Google Stadia Connect Livestream At Gamescom 2019

Death Stranding – Combat Veteran on Hard Mode S-Rank

It’s likely that most of what you’ve seen of Death Stranding revolves around traversing vast plains or hiking across mountains while balancing a backpack full of packages; basically getting from one place to another in one piece. At its core, much of the gameplay tasks you with making deliveries and overcoming the challenges presented by the terrain. As Sam Porter Bridges you try to piece together what’s left of America. However, there is traditional combat in parts.

Not only do BTs pose a great threat that’ll have you stressing when sneaking about, but you’ll have to get your hands dirty in combat. And in the video above, we show you an S-rank run of a long and intense boss fight on Hard difficulty.

Later in the game, you take on the terrifying Combat Veteran in what appears to be the trenches of a World War I battlefield. You must use cover and the equipment found around you, and a few guns take him down and the deathly soldiers conjured up during the fight. Be warned, this video may contain spoilers.

Death Stranding is out now on PlayStation 4 with a PC version coming in 2020. Be sure to read our Death Stranding review for our full thoughts on the game.

Black Friday 2019: Best Nintendo Switch Deals So Far

Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons (Gray or Neon Red/Blue) | $60

Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons (Gray or Neon Red/Blue) | $60

Nintendo’s pricey Joy-Con controllers will be down to $60 on Black Friday at Best Buy, Amazon, and Target, which is a nice savings of $20. It appears that only the original gray or neon red and blue Joy-Cons will be eligible for this awesome deal. Nevertheless, if you’re gifting a Switch this holiday or want to have some multiplayer fun at your holiday party, you shouldn’t pass up this deal.

Disney Plus: 13 Of The Best ’90s Movies To Watch On Day One

After months of build-up, Disney+ is nearly here. Disney’s streaming platform is landing with hundreds of movies and TV shows available to stream, spanning the many decades of live-action and animated storytelling from the studio. In fact there’s so much available, that it might be a bit confusing to know where to start, so we’ve jumped into the line-up to pick some must-see movies.

After the uncertainty of the 1980s, which saw Disney struggling to find its identity as it tried–and largely failed–to pull in an older audience with darker takes on fantasy movies, the studio found incredible success in the ’90s. While there were some live-action hits, it was Disney’s animated output that defined the studio this decade. Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King smashed records and won awards to an amazing degree, and are now considered classics right up there with the very best of the studio. Even the slightly less successful pictures, such as Mulan and Pocahontas, are great movies that hold up superbly 20 years later.

But there was more than just traditionally animated movies. Stop-motion genius Henry Selick directed two of the decade’s best, including the Tim Burton collaboration The Nightmare Before Christmas, and there were also rom-cons, teen movies, spooky fantasies, and retro superhero adventures. They’re all on Disney+, along with much more from the decade. So to get you started, here are the best ’90s movies to stream right now on Disney+. And once you’ve finished reading, check out GameSpot’s guides to Disney+’s best movies from the 1980s, all the Marvel movies and TV shows, and all the Stars Wars movies and shows to watch on day one.

Batwoman Reveals the Fates of 3 Major Batman Characters

Warning: this article contains some spoilers for Batwoman: Season 1, Episode 6! You can check out our review of the new episode here.

While Batwoman finally shows us the Arrowverse’s version of Gotham City, it’s not one populated by the usual cast of heroes and villains. As we learned in the pilot, Bruce Wayne is long gone, having mysteriously vanished several years ago. Most of his enemies seem to have followed suit, with only a handful of cameos in last year’s “Elseworlds” crossover serving as proof that villains like Mister Freeze and Bane ever existed. But that all changes in a major way in Batwoman’s sixth episode.

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The Batman Adds New Cast Member

The cast for The Batman just keeps growing. Recent Julliard grad Jayme Lawson has been cast in a mystery role, according to Collider. She will be joining Robert Pattinson as Batman himself, Bruce Wayne, Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman, Paul Dano as Eddie Nygma AKA The Riddler, and Jeffery Wright as Commissioner Gordon. This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Colin Farell is in talks to play Oswald Cobblepott AKA The Penguin and Andy Serkis is in the running for Alfred Pennyworth.

Considering how rogues-heavy the cast list is currently, there’s potential for Lawson’s role to be more heroic. Given that Reeves has described the project as more of a “detective” story rather than a traditional superheroic brawler, Lawson may be playing someone like Vesper Fairchild or Silver St. Cloud. Or, maybe the opposite is true and we’re looking at another of Batman’s many femme fatal-style enemies–Poison Ivy is a bit more supernatural than the current roster, given her powers and ability to control plants, but she may not be completely out of the question. Similarly, Talia Al-Ghul is a go-to for Batman stories wanting to play up the detective angle, given her father Ra’s and Bruce’s long-standing intellectual rivalry.

Whatever the case may be the speed at which news about The Batman is rolling out means we’ll likely not be left in the dark for too long.

The Batman hits theaters June 25, 2021.

Now Playing: Joker ‘Definitely Will Not’ Meet Batman

Does Death Stranding Actually Introduce a New Genre?

One of the biggest questions leading into Death Stranding’s launch was — does Hideo Kojima’s first post-Konami game actually introduce a new genre, as Kojima claimed it would before launch? Now that we’ve had plenty of hands-on time with Death Stranding, we’ve been able to determine firsthand whether the ‘Strand Genre’ really is its own thing. And the answer is: not quite, but the way it evolves certain gameplay ideas are absolutely worth being explored in other games, which is something Kojima called for as well.

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Won’t Have Early Access on EA Access

EA’s big release of the year, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is out later this week and to prevent spoilers from leaking early, the publisher announced that there will not be a timed early access trial for Jedi: Fallen Order. Instead, EA Access members will get two exclusive cosmetics.

Even though Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is out on November 15, EA is opting not to give EA Access members early access “in part to reduce the risk of spoilers.” Instead, members will get a cosmetic skin for their ship and droid, as well as a 10% discount off the game.