Author: Trafficblast

1. Q

Performed by: John DeLancie

Appeared in: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager

This is the only non-negotiable, must-have supporting character on this list. Q, the cosmic being who put humanity on trial in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s series premiere, also appeared in the series finale, where he became an ally and helped Picard save humanity.

His last words to Picard were telling: “I’ll be watching. And if you’re very lucky I’ll drop by to say hello from time to time. See you out there.”

No one was more of a challenge and a hilarious pain in the ass to Picard as Q; this is the same guy who transformed Picard and his senior crew into Robin Hood and his Merry Men. We need his irreverence and feigned indifference on Star Trek: Picard, more than anything.

Though Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was well into development before the release of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Respawn has confirmed its upcoming game is “very similar” to From Software’s title. Fallen Order lead combat designer Jasen de Heras takes comfort in that comparison.

“I thought it was pretty badass, and a little comforting to know that you could make this type of game without a stamina bar,” he said in an interview with Edge magazine, according to WCCFTech. “They let you attack, they let you roll, they do all this for free–and then the AI will tell you if you’re doing the correct thing. It just confirmed to us that you don’t have to limit everything the player does; let them have a little more agency, and then let the AI give them a slap on the wrist or a punch in the face. It was a positive thing for us to know there was a game that was similar to ours. Very similar.”

The comparison to From Software’s most recent game makes sense, as Respawn turned to the studio’s older games as inspiration for Fallen Order. “I’ve been a huge From Software fan since King’s Field,” Fallen Order game director Stig Asmussen said. “I mean, King’s Field II is one of my favorite games ever. But it’s not about you liking a game, and trying to make that game yourself. It’s more, ‘What can we learn about what’s fun about it?'”

In our time with the E3 2019 Fallen Order demo, we saw numerous mechanics and features inspired by From Software’s games–including checkpoint idols to upgrade your abilities, the loss of all in-game currency upon death, and challenging but fair combat. However, when it came to traversal mechanics, Fallen Order took most of its inspiration from Metroid Prime, with Force powers and droid upgrades acting as the lock-and-key mechanisms for exploration. “Metroid absolutely served as an inspiration for us,” Fallen Order lead level designer Jeff Magers told Game Informer. “What the Metroid-style level design does for us is somewhat [of] a way to give the player guided exploration. A ton of freedom within the world, but at the same time we can deliver really handcrafted moments and really focus on the moment-to-moment.”

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

The Epic Games Store has begun experimenting with cloud saves, a feature found in just about every platform from Steam to the Nintendo Switch. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney delivered the announcement on Twitter, saying “cloud saves are enabled for a couple of new games right now.”

Unfortunately, the word “couple” seems to be literal here. Twitter user ShyXLFT said another individual discovered an “enable cloud save” function in the settings of the action-RPG Moonlighter. Engadget reports the other game is the survival strategy game This War of Mine. Sweeney didn’t confirm which “couple of new games” have cloud saves enabled, but he did note the feature needs “a bit more work” before implementing it across the entire Epic Games Store.

When asked how the feature is implemented, Sweeney said that adding cloud saves is “a manual process for the store team per game.” He implied the feature doesn’t require any extra coding from the developers and games don’t need any form of updates on the developer side for cloud saves to be enabled.

Epic unveiled a roadmap earlier this year, where cloud saves–and various other features–targeted a July release. A few other features expected to arrive in July are improvements to the library, a redesign of the store page, cutting patch sizes, and more.

Coincidently, the two free PC games offered through the Epic Games Store are Moonlighter and This War of Mine. From now through Friday, August 2, both titles can be snagged for the low cost of free. Alan Wake and For Honor will be the next free games up for grabs.

Epic Games’ massive tournament for Fortnite is set to begin today. The Fortnite World Cup is a three-day event that will will put $30 million up for grabs for the best players across different categories. Plus, as the game has become a cultural phenomenon, Epic may be planning appearances from celebrity guests and other surprises.

The event is taking place at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York. It started with an opening ceremony at 12:30 PM ET, followed by Creative Finals at 1 PM. The Celebrity Pro-Am will begin at 4 PM. That showcase event will feature celebs and pro players competing for a prize pool of $3 million to be donated to charity.

Then Saturday, July 27, the competitive tournament will start with the Duos Finals. A pre-show will begin at 12:30 PM ET followed by the competition at 1 PM. That will feature a total of 50 duos teams competing for Fortnite dominance. Then Sunday the schedule will repeat for Solos tournaments among 100 selected players. On both days, the winners will be crowned in a ceremony at 4:45 PM.

Be sure to bookmark this page and check back for all the action as it happens.

In a press release, Viz Media announced the English translation of another My Hero Academia spin-off manga is scheduled to release next month. Titled My Hero Academia: Smash, the manga reimagines the original story as a comedic sketch-based slice of life.

Smash is the first spin-off series of My Hero Academia, but it was not the first to get an English translation and physical release in the west. The immensely popular third spin-off, Vigilantes (known as Illegals in Japan), was translated into and released in English first, followed by the second spin-off, School Briefs. My Hero Academia’s fourth spin-off, Team Up Mission, has just made its debut in Weekly Shonen Jump (which can be downloaded and read digitally).

My Hero Academia: Smash releases in the US and Canada on August 6. The manga will cost $10 USD / $13 CAN. Of all the spin-offs, Smash is the only one that isn’t canon to My Hero Academia’s story, as it’s just a retelling of the original manga, albeit with a goofy twist.

School Briefs follows the normal, everyday classroom activities of Midoriya, Ururaka, Iida, and the rest of Class 1-A in-between the battle-filled arcs of the main story. You see the students interacting with their guardians in preparation for Parents Day, for example.

Vigilantes follows Koichi Haimawari, an aspiring hero who never made the cut and went on to attend a normal high school. Just as the Superman-like All Might found his Superboy in Midoriya, the Batman-like Knuckleduster finds his Robin in Koichi, training him to use his modest Quirk as a vigilante that illegally investigates the crime of villains that professional heroes can’t or won’t go after. As Koichi gains more notoriety in the city, he and Knuckleduster begin to influence the ideals of other heroes, such as Tensei “Ingenium” Iida and Shota “Eraser Head” Aizawa.

Finally, Team Up Mission occurs in the time period between the third and fourth seasons of My Hero Academia and sees Class 1-A pairing up with professional heroes ahead of the students’ mentorships. Midoriya is partnered with My Hero Academia: Two Heroes‘ Melissa Shield and the two’s natural chemistry make them a fierce crime-fighting duo.

Xur’s back! It’s the weekend in Destiny 2, and everybody’s favorite snake-faced Agent of the Nine has returned to the solar system to sell you a slate of goods that can help you fill out your Exotics collection. The haul this week is a bit lackluster–unless you’re looking for some Year One Exotic weapons and armor, that is–but since the Solstice of Heroes event kicks off next week, this might be a good opportunity to grab some gear that can help you complete all your goals as the Season of Opulence winds to a close.

Where Is Xur?

Head to Earth to find Xur this weekend. He’s hanging out in the Winding Cove area of the EDZ. To get to him, start at the Winding Cove transmat zone and head straight north to the edge of the area. Climb the cliff there to where a Fallen dropship has crashed. Xur chills out right beneath it.

What Is Xur Selling?

Though it’s been nice to get Year Two Exotics from the Forsaken expansion from Xur on occasion, this week, all his gear is a blast from the past. As usual, he’s offering an Exotic weapon and three pieces of Exotic armor, one for each character class. If you need something Xur isn’t carrying, you can always snag an expensive Fated Engram, which will guarantee you an Exotic you don’t already have–but only from the first year of Destiny 2 content or Forsaken. Anything that has come from the Annual Pass expansions over the last year won’t be in the Fated Engram pool, so make sure you know what you need before you buy. You can also grab a Five of Swords card, which lets you adjust Nightfall runs for higher scores, and an Invitation of the Nine from the Season of the Drifter if you haven’t completed them all yet.

• D.A.R.C.I (Exotic sniper rifle) — 29 Legendary Shards
• Vesper of Radius (Exotic Warlock chest armor) — 23 Legendary Shards
• Wormhusk Crown (Exotic Hunter helmet) — 23 Legendary Shards
• Armamentarium (Exotic Titan chest armor) — 23 Legendary Shards

D.A.R.C.I

Though it often gets overlooked, D.A.R.C.I is a powerful sniper rifle whose primary usefulness is in gaining information. The Personal Assistant perk tells you enemy health and other info when you scope in on a target, while the Target Acquired perk gives you better target acquisition and higher precision damage. If you like snipers, you can get a lot done with this one in PvE.

Vesper of Radius

If you’re the kind of Warlock who likes throwing down rifts for teammates, Vesper of Radius is for you. It generates an Arc shockwave when you cast rifts that can damage enemies and recharges your rift energy when you’re surrounded, making it highly useful when you’re healing yourself in the heat of battle.

Rolls:

• Slot 1: Unflinching Scout Rifle Aim; Unflinching Sniper Rifle Aim; Unflinching Power Aim
• Slot 2: Auto Rifle Reserves; Sidearm Reserves

Wormhusk Crown

Hunters also get an Exotic that pairs with their class ability. Wormhusk Crown gives you a little boost when you use your Hunter dodge, providing a small bump to your health and shields that can help you stay alive a little longer.

Rolls:

• Slot 1: Heavy Lifting; Enhanced Ashes to Assets; Machine Gun Targeting
• Slot 2: Sword Reserves; Machine Gun Reserves

Armamentarium

Xur’s chest armor for Titans is pretty simple: It gives you an extra grenade charge. No frills for Armamentarium, just more pockets so you can dish out additional destruction.

Rolls:

• Slot 1: Unflinching Rifle Aim; Unflinching Large Arms; Enhanced Unflinching Bow Aim
• Slot 2: Bow Reserves; Hand Cannon Reserves

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood spoilers ahead!

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s ode to a very specific era in Tinseltown, one that came to an end–at least, it seems, in the director’s mind–when Charles Manson directed members of his cult to murder Sharon Tate, her unborn child, and three of her friends in August, 1969.

Tarantino paid close attention to recreating this particular time and place, from the ads on the radio to the restaurants at which the characters eat. OUATIH is crammed full of fun references to the 1960s, Hollywood, pop culture, and even Tarantino’s past work. We did our best to document as many as we could, but this is a film that will benefit from repeat viewings. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below.

With the original film’s director, Ruben Fleischer, not returning to helm the sequel, Sony is considering actor-filmmaker Andy Serkis to direct Venom 2.Serkis — who rose to fame for his performance-capture portrayals of Lord of the Rings’ Gollum, Planet of the Apes’ Caesar, Star Wars’ Supreme Leader Snoke, and King Kong — is reportedly among the candidates being eyed to direct the sequel, which Sony hopes to have start filming this November.

“Serkis flew to Los Angeles for meetings set by Sony brass earlier this week. He is one of several filmmakers in the mix, sources say,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

As a director, Serkis helmed the Andrew Garfield-Claire Foy drama Breathe as well as Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, a more mature retelling of The Jungle Book that Netflix picked up after it was dropped by Warner Bros.

Every Spider-Man Movie Spin-Off in Development

With his background in both acting and making effects-heavy films, Serkis is in line with what Sony needs in a director for the sequel. Serkis, of course, was also the one who revealed that Tom Hardy’s Venom would be brought to life via performance-capture.

According to Variety, Bumblebee and Kubo and the Two Strings’ Travis Knight and Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Rupert Wyatt are also under consideration to direct Venom 2.

Kelly Marcel scripted Venom 2, which will see stars Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams return. Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady (aka Carnage) was teased at the end of the 2018 film, which grossed over $800 million worldwide. Harrelson and Serkis, of course, starred together in War for the Planet of the Apes. (Watch them respond to IGN Comments together.)

For more on Venom 2, check out our wishlist of everything we want in the sequel.

Amazon’s The Boys is an absolutely bonkers superhero show in the best way. Showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural) successfully adapts Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s best-selling graphic novel into a wonderfully irreverent, gratuitous, and stylized drama that explores the complex nature of not only what it means to be a superhero, but also the profound effect superheroes have on ordinary people. When the show lets its superhero flag fly, the results are impressive, but those moments aren’t as frequent as we’d like. Thankfully, The Boys has a myriad of memorable, nuanced characters, that distinguish it from similar offerings within the genre.The story centers on Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), who joins a group of superhero-hating ruffians after his girlfriend is horrifically murdered by a speedster known as A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). Hughie and “The Boys” are an engaging gateway into the minds of non-meta humans, with each member having their own reasons for wanting the supes dead. Quaid’s Hughie is a charming “aw shucks” kind of protagonist, but it’s Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher who steals the spotlight. Urban is incredible in his portrayal of Butcher, as his character searches for the hero responsible for killing his wife. Gravitas is required when one leads a group of strongly-minded individuals into battle, and Urban has plenty of it.

The Boys Season 1 Gallery

Tomer Capon’s Frenchie is another effective member of The Boys, half poet, half psychopath. His relationship with newcomer The Woman – played by Suicide Squad’s Karen Fukuhara – adds a nice bit of humor and tenderness to an otherwise bleak and violent story. The Woman also serves as a powerful counterpoint to Butcher’s “the only good supe, is a dead supe” mantra, since she has a few hidden abilities of her own. One of the best aspects of The Boys is its willingness to blur the moral lines between heroes and villains, by simply treating them as complicated humans first, instead of superhero caricatures.

And speaking of heroes, The Seven are a dynamic bunch to follow, even if you only get to know three or four of them really well (Season 2 better have more Black Noir, played by Nathan Mitchell). Like The Boys, The Seven are a complex troupe, who are more than their douchebag appearances would lead you to believe. Chace Crawford’s The Deep is a misogynistic d**k, but he genuinely cares about sea creatures; unfortunately, every time he tries to save one of his beloved animals, something goes terribly wrong in a very funny way. And even though he treats women like crap, Crawford portrays The Deep in a surprisingly sympathetic way. Of all the members of The Seven, he’s the one who’s constantly pushed aside and left to fend for himself.

Antony Starr’s Homelander is a deadly cross between Superman and Captain America, minus the good upbringing. Starr has proven that he can play emotionally enigmatic characters – most notably in Cinemax’s excellent Banshee series, but his Homelander character is on another level entirely. Imagine if Clark Kent didn’t have Ma and Pa Kent to mentor him, but instead, endured a traumatic upbringing while possessing god-like powers. That scenario would likely mess anyone up, and Kripke plays with that narrative to great success. Homelander’s wavering sense of what it means to be a hero makes him the most unpredictable character on the show and one we can’t wait to learn more about in future episodes.

While the character development is superb, The Boys needs more superhero antics in Season 2. Perhaps the lack of heroics is due to budgetary reasons, which would explain why we don’t often see Homelander fly. However, when the action is on full display, it’s ultra-violent and really cool. Homelander’s heat vision is particularly delightful, as he cuts villains in half with ease. Black Noir’s ninja-like skills are impressive, and The Boys join in on the fun by means of explosives or cleverly-placed traps. The central will they/won’t they narrative between Hughie and Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is the show’s weakest link, mostly due to its predictability. Thankfully, it doesn’t get in the way of Kripke’s sharp pacing throughout The Boys 8-episode arc.