Production on a film adaptation of the novel Metro 2033 has been halted after its screenwriters struggled to move its setting from a post-apocalyptic Moscow to Washington D.C.
The rights to the film have reverted back to author Dmitry Glukhovsky, according to an interview he gave with VG247. MGM had previously acquired film rights back in 2012 and attempted to adapt it with writer F. Scott Frazier, who wrote xXx: Return of Xander Cage.
Monster Hunter World is getting a icy-themed expansion, but you’ll have to wait a while before you can break the ice. In a special stream, Capcom announced Iceborne, a massive expansion set to launch for PS4 and Xbox One in fall of 2019. PC release details are to be announced. Presumably, you’ll have to deal with some frigid monsters.
That wasn’t the only Monster Hunter World surprise unveiled on the stream, though. The company also announced Geralt from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt would be appearing in the game through a collaboration with CD Projekt Red. The presentation referenced Geralt finding himself in the New World, so it will include a new type of Witcher gameplay and even Geralt’s own voice actors. That will come early next year.
If you’re curious about Monster Hunter World but haven’t dipped in yet, you can sample a free trial version of the base game on PS4 and Xbox One for a limited time. The Trial Version lets you play quests up to 3-star level and online multiplayer up to Hunter Rank 4. You can transfer your save data from the trial into the full game. That will kick off on December 12 and end on December 17.
For current players, the special event Kulve Taroth Siege event will come back on December 20. This time the monster will be an Arch Tempered version, offering even better rewards. A special Appreciation Fest event is planned for January 2019, with celebratory decorations in the Gathering Hub and some new quests and gear.
Monster Hunter World recently won Best Role-Playing Game at the 2018 Game Awards, beating out strong competition: Dragon Quest XI, Octopath Traveler, Pillars of Eternity 2, and Ni No Kuni 2.
“Ever since the title was first announced, it was clear that Capcom was gunning for something grander than Monster Hunter Generations,” critic Ginny Woo said in GameSpot’s Monster Hunter World review. “It has succeeded, and this is likely the biggest and best that the franchise has ever been. It’s not just the comparative depth of the narrative; it also boasts almost seamless integration between combat systems that were previously incomprehensible for amateurs. The Monster Hunter formula has definitely honed its claws, and all the above factors play their part in making Monster Hunter World a meaningful evolution for the series at large.”
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate might have only launched for Nintendo Switch a few days ago, but it’s already breaking records. The fighting game has become the console’s biggest ever launch, according to sales monitor Chart-Track, meaning it also performed better in its opening weekend than Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee did combined in theirs.
Red Dead Redemption 2 remains at No.2 for the week ending December 8, while FIFA 19 drops two places to No.3. Below these, Battlefield V spends a third consecutive week at No.4 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe benefits from hardware bundling with Switch consoles and Smash Bros. to finish at No.5.
Three new entries hit the chart this week: Just Cause 4 debuts at No.6, PUBG‘s PS4 release helps it re-enter the ranking at No.22, and Sega Mega Drive Classics‘ Switch debut helps it break back in at No.33.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been a critical success as much as a commercial one. Edmond Tran awarded the game a 9/10 in our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review-in-progress, saying its “diverse content is compelling, its strong mechanics are refined, and the encompassing collection is simply superb.”
You can read the full top 10 sales chart for this week below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
Stranger Things Season 3 is coming next year, and now, Netflix has announced the titles of all eight episodes in the upcoming season. Netflix hasn’t shared much in the way of specific plot details on the third season, so these episode titles are almost all there is to go on.
Here they are:
Stranger Things Season 3 takes place in Summer 1985. Season 1 took place in 1983, with Season 2 beginning just before Halloween in 1984. Season 3 premieres on Netflix in April 2019
Stranger Things premiered in 2016, with Season 2 arriving in 2017. The wait for a new season now is the longest ever, and that might be the result of Season 3 having even more special effects.
Season 3’s story emphasis is expected to shift away from Will. “We’re going to give Will a break,” producer Shawn Levy said previously. “We’re not going to put Will through hell for a third season in a row. He’ll be dealing with stuff, but he won’t be at rock bottom the way we forced the amazing Noah [Schnapp] to play.”
At least two new cast members are joining the show for Season 3, including Carey Elwes and Jake Busey. Busey will play Bruce, who is a “corrupt and sexist news reporter,” while Elwes is Mayor Kline, a “slick and self-serving politician.”
A 16-bit Stranger Things video game was announced at The Game Awards. Matt and Ross Duffer were on stage to premiere a new Stranger Things Season 3 game–you can re-watch that reveal below.
Family Guy said goodbye to two icons during production on Season 17: Carrie Fisher and Adam West, both of whom lent their voices to the animated comedy in numerous episodes over the years – West since Season 2 as Quahog’s Mayor West, and Fisher since Season 4 as Angela, Peter Griffin’s boss at Pawtucket Brewery.
Because Family Guy’s episodes take so long to produce, the show paid tribute to Fisher shortly after her death by dedicating its midseason premiere to her in January 2017, but didn’t address her absence on-screen until this year’s Dec. 9 episode, “Pawtucket Pete,” which revealed that Angela had died from going swimming 20 minutes after eating.
Jason Momoa, Aquaman himself, has spoken up about his fellow Justice League co-stars and director Zack Snyder.
In an interview with HuffPost, Momoa discussed his feelings about the rumors that Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck may both be out as Superman and Batman, respectively.
Capcom is trying something new on the business side for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. The publisher announced that the game is adding optional “sponsored content” on December 11, and it will come in the form of advertisements to tell you about the Capcom Pro Tour competitive gaming event, content bundles for the game, and extra costumes you can buy.
The ads will show up in “several locations” throughout the game, including loading screens, tournament stages, and even on characters themselves. Specifically, characters will now have a new “Ad Style” option that will display sponsored content on clothing or the character model itself. The ads on stages, meanwhile, will display sponsored content in clear sight. And the loading screen ads are exactly what they sound like; Capcom clarified that the loading screen with ads enabled won’t be longer than when they’re disabled.
An example of Capcom Pro Tour ads in Street Fighter V
The important thing here is that these ads are entirely optional. If you do decide to view the ads, you’ll be rewarded with extra Fight Money (the game’s currency) when you play Ranked and Casual matches. There is an upper limit on the Fight Money payouts, however, though Capcom did not say what it is.
Capcom’s blog post suggests that the sponsored content functionality is switch on by default. It can be toggled off in the Battle Settings menu. You can choose to only see ads where you want them, too; so you could choose to only see the costume ads or the stage and loading screen ads. Go to Capcom’s blog post to learn more.
As Gamasutra reminds us, advertisements in games is nothing new, but what’s notable here is that Street Fighter V is not a free-to-play game. Still, it is not unprecedented for full price games to feature ads. EA’s FIFA franchise displays well-known global brands on the sidelines. Additionally, back in 2008, Barack Obama’s campaign spent money to buy ads in 18 different video games, and he eventually went on to win the Presidency that year.
An example of more ads in Street Fighter V stages
Most major video game publishers are looking at ways to make more money from games in new ways, and in-game advertising is just one of those ways, alongside microtransactions.
Ads in Street Fighter V launch on December 11, and it will interesting to see how players react. We also don’t know yet what other gaming or non-gaming brands might sign up to put ads in Street Fighter V. Another question some may be asking is if Capcom is adding ads to Street Fighter V to make up for how it failed to reach Capcom’s sales targets.
The game was originally released in 2016 for PS4 and PC, while the better-received Arc
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Netflix has revealed the title names for the third season of Stranger Things.
These titles align with the teaser for this newest season that was a fictional commercial for the brand new Starcourt Mall in Hawkins, Indiana.
The reveal was released on Stranger Thing’s Twitter and features the the episode names appearing over the iconic title sequence.