Author: Trafficblast

Back in February 2018, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai announced that he would be stepping down and transitioning to a director-chairman role. Then in March of this year, the executive confirmed his retirement, leaving then-CFO Kenichiro Yoshida in charge of the company. Hirai’s last day at PlayStation and Sony as a whole was Tuesday, June 18. It was previously reported that he will serve as senior advisor and “will continue to provide counsel as requested by Sony’s management team.”

Hirai joined Sony Music in 1984 and moved to Sony Computer Entertainment (now Sony Interactive Entertainment) in 1995 before becoming CEO and president of the company in 2012. At the time of his promotion, Hirai said his mission was “to ensure Sony continues to be a company that provides customers with kando–to move them emotionally–and inspires and fulfills their curiosity.” Games like God of War, The Last of Us, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End–among many others–are some recent examples that have instilled Hirai’s vision of kando.

With Hirai heading off to live his best life, he’s entrusting Sony to the newly-appointed Yoshida, who assumed the position of CEO and president on April 1, 2018. Speaking of his successor, Hirai said Yoshida “possesses the breadth of experience and perspective, as well as the unwavering leadership qualities required to manage Sony’s diverse array of businesses, and as such is the ideal person to drive the company forward into the future.” As the baton was passed, Yoshida said he aims “to build on the business foundations established by Mr. Hirai, and execute further reform measures that enhance our competitiveness as a global enterprise, and enable us to realize long-term profit growth.”

Hirai’s decision to step down was partly because he was “worn down from the travel schedule he’s maintained during the past six years as CEO,” a Variety source said. Now that he’s finally able to wind down after being reportedly worn down, Hirai plans to spend more time with his family in his California home.

Toy Story 4 hits theaters this week, and box office predictions suggest that it’s going to be one of the biggest movies in the studio’s history. But while anticipation for this sequel is high, the studio also continues to make original movies. The animated fantasy Onward has already been confirmed for a release next March, and Pixar has now announced another movie for 2020, titled Soul.

News of this latest Pixar movie was revealed via Twitter alongside a logo and the release date of June 19, 2020. The tweet also states that Soul “will take you on a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life’s most important questions.” Check it out below.

Soul will be directed by Pete Docter, who previously helmed Pixar’s highly acclaimed Up and Inside Out. No further details have been revealed yet, but expect casting news to follow in the coming months.

Onward will arrive on March 6, 2020. The movie features Spider-Man star Tom Holland and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chris Pratt as teenage elf brothers who embark on a magical quest–check out the first trailer, which was released last month.

Toy Story 4 hits theaters this Friday, June 21–you can read GameSpot’s roundup of critics’ reviews here. For more on Pixar, check out our ranking of every original Pixar short film to date.

After months of anticipation, Nintendo finally pulled back the curtain on its new Animal Crossing game for Switch–now dubbed Animal Crossing: New Horizons–at E3 2019. Since the company’s E3 Direct, more details about the title have begun to emerge, and one of the new tidbits we’ve learned is that it won’t support cloud saves.

In an interview with French website Gamekult (via US Gamer), game producer Higashi Nogami confirmed that, unlike most Switch titles, New Horizons will not allow players to back up their save data to the cloud. The reason for this, according to Nogami, is to prevent players from manipulating time in the game, thereby cheating.

This news doesn’t come as much of a surprise, particularly if you’ve been following the series. Each installment to date has taken measures to prevent players from cheating; in the past, if you quit the game without saving, the irritable mole Mr. Resetti would pop up the next time you loaded your file and scold you (although he’ll be out of a job in New Horizons thanks to the game’s auto-save feature). Mr. Resetti was optional in Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS, but that title similarly didn’t allow you to back up saves.

New Horizons isn’t the only Switch game with this restriction, either; a handful of other first-party titles, namely Splatoon 2 and Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, likewise don’t support cloud save backups, and that will presumably be the case for Pokemon Sword and Shield as well (although that hasn’t been confirmed yet). A few notable third-party games also don’t support cloud saves, such as Dark Souls Remastered, Dead Cells, and NBA 2K19.

Cloud saves are one of the perks you get for subscribing to the Nintendo Switch Online service. While New Horizons won’t support that feature, the game does require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to play online with others. As we learned during a Treehouse Live demo, New Horizons will support up to eight players online and locally. Nintendo also confirmed the game will feature couch co-op for the first time in the series.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons launches for Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020. We learned a lot of other details about the game during E3. This time around, players will be establishing their own village on a deserted island, and they’ll be able to use materials they gather from rocks and trees to craft tools and furniture. The game also makes some welcome quality-of-life improvements, like giving you more control over where other animals move in. You can read more in our Animal Crossing: New Horizons pre-order guide.

To call the MCU “cagey” about protecting its secrets and reveals would be putting it lightly. Since the superhero boom, the people at Marvel Studios have been doing everything they can to obfuscate and deflect the truth about their movies from the general public before their release–and sometimes, even from the actors themselves. Most recently, some of Avengers: Endgame‘s biggest stars opened up about being told they were “filming a wedding” rather than a funeral for Tony Stark in the final moments of the movie. Other cast members have spoken up about only being given parts of scenes or “dummy” scripts, and the directors themselves have sparked social media campaigns begging fans not to spoil the movie’s secrets.

Of course, some of these claims may just be for show, or at the very least be playfully exaggerated–especially in the case of “notorious” spoiler-ers like Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland who have made names for themselves by unintentionally (or, sometimes, very intentionally) letting secrets about their various movies slip well before they’re supposed to. Marvel’s secrecy has become a meme unto itself, which really begs the question: How do you make a movie like Spider-Man: Far From Home that deals directly with the fallout of the most secretive Marvel movie of all time if you don’t actually know what happens in the most secretive Marvel movie of all time?

The answer: You don’t, apparently. For all that Endgame has garnered a reputation for being kept under complete lock-and-key from just about everyone, it turns out the cast and crew of Spider-Man: Far From Home was in on the whole thing from the very beginning. Yes, even infamous secret-spiller Tom Holland.

GameSpot sat down with Ned Leeds himself, Jacob Batalon, and Far From Home director Jon Watts to talk about the secret keeping of a post-Endgame movie–and it turns out, security on spoilers was way less strict than we could have anticipated.

“We read the full thing. We read the full script. Nothing was redacted or anything like that. That was like a big secret that we couldn’t talk about ever,” Batalon admitted. “Even, for some reason, while we were filming we were pretending like it never happened. […] We made sure that no one ever brought it up. I mean, we’d bring it up as far as story-wise goes, as far as making the scenes and everything, but it was never really a thing discussed. It wasn’t a big deal.”

And somehow, miraculously, that approach seemed to be successful–at least, so far. Endgame may have avoided major leaks by keeping the actors as in the dark as possible, but Tom Holland would have been in the loop thanks to Far From Home’s filming schedule–and it all worked out!

Nice work, Tom!

Watts confirmed–and added that, despite knowing the secrets of Endgame well in advance, Marvel Studios took a relatively hands-off approach to Far From Home’s story. “I was one of the lucky few who knew the secret a long, long, long time ago,” Watts laughed. “It was more just with that in mind, we were cut loose to develop our movie and to answer a lot of those unanswered questions in Endgame and figure out a way to use that as a jumping-off point.”

Watts continued, “It was just like we know where those movies end, and that’s where you start, and then where are you going to go from there.”

So, where do they go from there? You can find out when Spider-Man: Far From Home hits theaters on July 2 to officially wrap up Phase 3 and to kick off the mysterious Phase 4.

With the smashing success of the John Wick franchise, and with a fourth installment slated for a May 2021 release, action badboy Keanu Reeves (47 Ronin, The Matrix) is back in full force. Everyone’s loving him, from developer CD Projekt Red to the whole of the Internet. Even Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige admits to looking for “the right way” to include the Canadian-American actor in the MCU.

Feige was interviewed by Comic Book, who asked if the studio was in talks with Reeves. Feige said Marvel talks to Reeves for every movie the company makes. This led to Feige confirming that he wants Reeves in the MCU. “I don’t know when, if, or ever he’ll join the MCU, but we very much want to figure out the right way to do it.” Feige believes the situation with Reeves could play out similarly to Jake Gyllenhaal (Source Code, Southpaw), who has been approached “multiple times” until “the right way” appeared. Gyllenhaal plays Quentin Beck/Mysterio in the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is scheduled to debut on July 2.

Reeves is everywhere these days. The prolific action star plays himself in Netflix romcom Always Be My Maybe and lends his voice to Toy Story 4. Reeves also returns to Ted “Theodore” Logan in Bill & Ted Face the Music and plays “key” character and “legendary rockerboy” Johnny Silverhand in the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077.

During E3 2019 we learned that CD Projekt Red approached Reeves about a year ago or so and called the meeting a “match made in heaven.” Cyberpunk 2077 will launch on April 16, 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Microsoft announced the next few weeks of Xbox game Pass games coming to PC and console, but a few are rotating out as well. You have just over a week to play the games slated for rotation.

On June 27, Next Up Hero will retire from the service. Then on June 30, Game Pass will sunset Dead Island Definitive Edition, Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, Shadow Complex Remastered, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Zombie Army Trilogy.

If you want to keep any of these games in your library permanently, your Game Pass subscription grants you a 20% discount on game purchases, as long as you make those purchases while the games are still part of the Game Pass service. Otherwise, just get your time in while you can.

Game Pass costs $10 per month for a standard subscription on PC or Xbox One, but Microsoft recently introduced a new Game Pass Ultimate that bundles both along with Xbox Live Gold for $15 per month. You can try the Ultimate version of the service for $1 for your first month, or take advantage of a little loophole to upgrade your current Gold or Game Pass time on the cheap.

The announcement came alongside new games that are rotating into Game Pass as well. Those include Resident Evil: Revelations, Rare Replay, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and Goat Simulator to close out the month of June.

The month of July is a huge one for Netflix. Aside from the streaming service dropping its usual slew of movies and TV series, some of Netflix’s most popular shows return this month for brand-new seasons. Make sure to plan out your month now because it’s going to be packed.

On July 4, the most anticipated streaming series returns for a third season. That’s right, the kids from Stranger Things are back and probably dealing with some more horrible monsters from the Upside Down. Hitting on more ’80s nostalgia, this season heads to a mall, the place where all the cool kids hung out and worked during the summer. While we don’t know too much about the plot, the latest posters for the new season did reveal some new characters and some behind-the-scenes photos gave us some clues to this season’s story.

The two other returning series to keep your eye on are Season 4 of Queer Eye, coming on July 19. Like previous seasons, the cast remakes someone’s life in order to better themselves through cleaning up their house, giving the target a makeover, and giving them the confidence to move forward in their lives. If you need something uplifting that will bring a tear to your eye, this is a must watch for you. On July 26, Orange is the New Black returns for Season 7. This will be the final season of the prison dramedy, so maybe we’ll see some of the cast finally get released–or shived. This is prison, after all. If you’re wondering about Netflix’s other big series, Glow, that isn’t releasing until August. Be patient.

As far as non-Netflix originals go, there are plenty of movies coming, mainly on July 1. The classic Martin Scorsese movie, Taxi Driver, arrives that day, following Robert DeNiro’s character, a war veteran on the verge of a breakdown as he works as a New York City cab driver at night. On the comedic side of things, the sports comedy Caddyshack arrives. The movie follows an elite golf club which has a gopher problem. It’s one of the few times golf is fun in a movie.

While there are plenty of things arriving in July, Netflix has also announced many things are leaving as well. On the first of the month, all the Mummy movies are saying goodbye to the streaming service. Also, Wedding Crashers and the first two Austin Powers movies are leaving as well, so watch them all before the first of the month hits.

Below, you’ll find everything coming to Netflix in July. If you’re interested in more steaming news, check out what Hulu has planned for July.

Coming To Netflix In July

July 1

• Designated Survivor: 60 days — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
• Astro Boy
• Caddyshack
• Caddyshack 2
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
• Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke
• Cloverfield
• Disney’s Race to Witch Mountain
• Frozen River
• Inkheart
• Kill the Irishman
• Lady in the Water
• Little Monsters
• Mean Dreams
• Mean Streets
• Megamind
• Nights in Rodanthe
• Paul Blart: Mall Cop
• Philadelphia
• Rain Man
• Road House
• Room on the Broom
• Scream 3
• Starsky & Hutch
• Swiped
• Swordfish
• Taxi Driver
• The Accountant of Auschwitz
• The American
• The Book of Eli
• The Brothers Grimm
• The Hangover
• The Pink Panther
• The Pink Panther 2
• War Against Women
• Who’s That Knocking at My Door?

July 2

• Bangkok Love Stories: Objects of Affection — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Bangkok Love Stories: Plead — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Good Witch: Season 4

July 3

• The Last Czars — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Yummy Mummies: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

July 4

• Kakegurui: Season 2
• Stranger Things 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

July 5

• In The Dark: Season 1

July 6

• Free Rein: Season 3 — NETFLIX FAMILY
• The Iron Lady
• Sicilian Ghost Story

July 9

• Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns
• Kinky

July 10

• Family Reunion — NETFLIX FAMILY
• Grand Designs: Season 10
• Grand Designs: Season 15
• Parchís: El documental — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

July 11

• Cities of Last Things — NETFLIX FILM

July 12

• 3Below: Tales of Arcadia: Part 2 — NETFLIX FAMILY
• 4 latas — NETFLIX FILM
• Blown Away — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Bonus Family: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Extreme Engagement — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Kidnapping Stella — NETFLIX FILM
• Luis Miguel – The Series: Season 1
• Point Blank — NETFLIX FILM
• Smart People
• Taco Chronicles — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• True Tunes: Songs — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 13

• Sorry Angel

July 16

• The Break-Up
• Disney’s The Princess and the Frog
• Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Wynonna Earp: Season 3

July 17

• Pinky Malinky: Part 3 — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 18

• Secret Obsession — NETFLIX FILM

July 19

• Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: New 2019: Freshly Brewed — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Season 3 — NETFLIX FAMILY
• La casa de papel: Part 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Last Chance U: INDY: Part 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Queer Eye: Season 4 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• SAINT SEIYA: Knights of the Zodiac — NETFLIX ANIME
• Typewriter — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

July 22

• Inglourious Basterds

July 24

• The Great Hack — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

July 25

• Another Life — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Workin’ Moms: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

July 26

• Boi — NETFLIX FILM
• The Exception
• Girls With Balls — NETFLIX FILM
• My First First Love: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Orange Is the New Black: Season 7 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• The Son — NETFLIX FILM
• Sugar Rush: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• The Worst Witch: Season 3 — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 29

• The Croods

July 30

• Whitney Cummings: Can I Touch It? — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

July 31

• Kengan Ashura: Part l — NETFLIX ANIME
• The Letdown: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• The Red Sea Diving Resort — NETFLIX FILM
• Wentworth: Season 7

Leaving Netflix In July

July 1

• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
• Blood Diamond
• Body of Lies
• Bull Durham
• Chasing Amy
• Cool Hand Luke
• Definitely, Maybe
• Did You Hear About the Morgans?
• Doctor Zhivago
• Dolphin Tale
• Dumb and Dumber
• East of Eden
• Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer: Season 1
• It Takes Two
• Malibu’s Most Wanted
• Monster-in-Law
• Pan’s Labyrinth
• Punch-Drunk Love
• Silence of the Lambs
• The Boondock Saints
• The Interview
• The Matrix
• The Matrix Reloaded
• The Matrix Revolutions
• The Mummy
• The Mummy Returns
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
• The Terminator
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
• The Wild Bunch
• Turner and Hooch
• Valkyrie
• Wedding Crashers

July 2

• Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

July 4

• The Indian in the Cupboard

July 9

July 10

• Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

July 12

• Gone Baby Gone

July 14

• The Immigrant

July 16

• American Gangster

July 27

• Pretty Little Liars: Seasons 1-7

July 30

• Staten Island Summer