The Console Crew is back, with a new face temporarily joining its ranks. Kurt Indovina steps in to host the show while Lucy is away, joining Tamoor and Jordan to discuss the biggest console-related events of the week.
The trio start with a discussion about Xbox Live, which is now called Xbox network. The name change seems to precede plans that Microsoft has for transforming Xbox Live Gold, as Xbox Insiders are reporting that they’ve begun testing online multiplayer for free-to-play games, Looking 4 Groups, and party chat without the need to pay for them.
Following all the Xbox talk, the group dives into a conversation about video game preservation, especially in the light of reports that Sony may be closing the online stores for PS3, PSP, and PS Vita. Tamoor gets a tad heated about it.
Console Crew is your weekly Friday roundup of the biggest news from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo, hosted by Lucy James, Tamoor Hussain, and Jordan Ramée. Subscribe to youtube.com/GameSpot to never miss an episode.
Godzilla vs. Kong has opened in Chinese theaters to impressive box office results. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the big-budget monster movie is set to make more than $20 million in its first day alone.
The movie, which arrives in the US next week, had made $18.2 million by 8 PM on opening night in China. THR states that the film is on course to beat the $20.9 million that its predecessor, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, made on its opening day in 2019. That film made $70.6 million in its first weekend in China.
While Godzilla vs. Kong has had a full theatrical release in China, in the US, the movie will hit theaters simultaneously with HBO Max on March 31. The film will have a digital-only release in the UK, where theaters don’t open until May.
The movie stars Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, Zhang Ziyi, Brian Tyree Henry, and Demián Bichir. It’s directed by Adam Wingard (Death Note, The Guest) and is the fourth movie in the MonsterVerse, following Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
New information about 2021’s Call of Duty game have been revealed ahead of an official announcement, including a return to a World War II setting and more. Eurogamer backed up Modern Warzone’s report that claimed 2021’s game is coming from Sledgehammer Games, the studio behind 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII.
According to Eurogamer, the game is called Call of Duty: Vanguard. Modern Warzone reported that this may be a placeholder name, but Eurogamer said the current plan is to call in Vanguard, though the site also acknowledged this could change.
What’s more, the report says Vanguard–or whatever the new game is called–will take place in a “traditional WWII setting.” This contrasts Modern Warzone’s report that the game takes place–at least in part–in an “alternate timeline” where WWII did not end in 1945.
Neither Modern Warzone nor Eurogamer said where their information came from, beyond unnamed sources who indicated the information to be accurate.
It would be no surprise to learn that Sledgehammer is developing 2021’s Call of Duty, as the studio historically releases new Call of Duty titles on odd-numbered years, except for 2014, when it shipped Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
2017’s Call of Duty: WWII brought the series back to the historical period and changed up the gameplay in a major way. It brought the series back to basics after 2016’s Infinite Warfare, which was set in the future and featured all manner of futuristic warfare technologies and systems.
Activision management has said 2021’s Call of Duty game–whatever it is–will not sell as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. But that’s nothing unusual or unexpected, especially given that 2020 was a banner year for games due in part to the pandemic, which in turn will make comparisons with this year’s game difficult to match. Also, Black Ops is a well-established and fan favorite sub-brand that historically performs very well.
The new Call of Duty game from Sledgehammer, if it is indeed real, will be made under new leadership. 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII was led by co-game directors Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, both of whom have since left Activision. Condrey now heads up the new 2K studio 31st Union, while Schofield’s new studio Striking Distance is making a horror game called The Callisto Protocol.
Another big unanswered question is how 2021’s Call of Duty will be incorporated into the battle royale game Warzone. Activision has said Warzone is the connective tissue that will tie together future Call of Duty premium games, and this is expected to continue.
In April, it’s believed that a nuke will go off inside Warzone and re-launch the map with a new theme focused on 2020’s Black Ops Cold War. After that, Activision might change the Warzone map again in 2022 based on 2021’s Call of Duty game, or it might not, according to VGC.
GameSpot has contacted Activision in an attempt to clarify the latest rumors and reports about this year’s Call of Duty game.
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Razer has announced it plans to manufacture and ship the concept N95 face mask it showed at CES 2021 in January. Razer has not announced a price or release plans for the mask, so far only known as Project Hazel, but CEO Min-Liang Tan said it will be coming to market in a recent interview.
“We were thinking, this is a concept project and is this going to be relevant when vaccinations and everything has been rolled out,” Tan told Yahoo Finance. “We are going to proceed in making it a reality and ship the smart mask.”
He went on to acknowledge that vaccinations are coming, but people still have to be careful and when traveling vaccinations may not be as widespread.
“We’ve realized that even with vaccinations we are hearing you still have to be masked up because there is still the risk factor that even if you’re vaccinated you still need to be incredibly careful,” he said. “Secondly, there are also many countries that are unlikely that are going to get the whole [scale] of vaccinations in the next year or even two so traveling everyone should be very careful.”
He concluded that the mask is still a viable product, because “we will all be, unfortunately, wearing masks for a long time to come.”
Project Hazel includes rechargeable active ventilators and Smart Pod filters that promise to eliminate 95% of airborne particles, and a wireless charging case that includes a UV sterilizer. It’s made of scratch-resistant and waterproof plastic, and includes an air-tight seal with cooling features. It’s clear to allow viewers to read facial expressions or to facilitate those who require lip reading. Plus it sports a microphone for amplification and a low-light mode. Of course, it also has RGB lighting.
When Razer debuted Project Hazel it said it would be putting it through “rigorous testing and user feedback to ensure safety compliance and maximum comfort and usability.” Part of that compliance includes fulfilling requirements set by government agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates N95 criteria.
Razer targets many of its products toward high-end video game consumers with laptops, gaming chairs, and accessories like keyboards. It’s been a lucrative business, generating more than $1 billion in revenue last year.
PureArts has announced a new Resident Evil 2 statue that is impressive in how gross it is. The 1:1 scale “Licker” bust has been announced as part of the Resident Evil 25th anniversary festivities. Limited to 100 units, the statue sells for $900, and it’s very horrifying to look at.
Created with what looks like a very fine attention to detail, the Licker statue is modeled after the creature from Resident Evil 2. “Razor-sharp tongue, vicious claws, and never-ending hunger for flesh… Lickers are one of the most disturbing creatures you can ever imagine encountering,” reads a line from its description.
The Licker has an exposed brain and no skin–it also has a very long and horrible-looking tongue that is truly a sight to behold. You can see more of the creature and the bust in the video above.
The tongue, uhh, borderlines on NSFW, so keep that in mind if you’re looking at this video or the numerous product shots here in a public place.
Beyond that, Capcom is planning a Resident Evil Showcase event for April where it will divulge more news and details about various developments across the franchise. A Resident Evil reboot movie is also on the way, and we recently learned it’s called Welcome to Raccoon City.
Microsoft is giving independent games all the attention today during the ID@Xbox Showcase. You’ll get a look at over 100 games, including debuts of new gameplay and trailers from 25. They include very small teams as well as slightly bigger projects, and there will also be an update on STALKER 2. Well, actually, you can learn about that game right now.
Here’s how to watch the whole presentation and what to expect.
How To Watch ID@Xbox Showcase
The ID@Xbox Showcase will only be streamed on Twitch, as Xbox partnered with the company for the event. It starts at 9 AM PT / noon ET today, March 26. If you don’t want to watch it on Twitch itself, we’ve also embedded the Xbox channel’s stream above, so you can catch all the news and information right here.
What To Expect
ID@Xbox Showcase will feature game announcements from several companies already confirmed. These include:
DrinkBox Studios
Curve Digital
Dear Villagers
Devolver Digital
Other games confirmed to appear include The Ascent, The Wild at Heart, Voidtrain, and Exo One, and there will also be interviews with developers as well as free code giveaways.
Xbox Game Pass has become a huge part of Microsoft’s strategy across Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and we’ll get announcements on indie games headed to the service during the stream as well. We expect a few surprises, as is usually the case with these kind of events, so don’t miss out on your chance to hear the latest news and possibly grab some free games.
Netflix’s The Witcher: Blood Origin has added another lead actor. Laurence O’Fuarain, who appeared on Game of Thrones and Vikings, will play the central character Fjall. He is a troubled man who is seeking redemption. His official character description says:
“Born into a clan of warriors sworn to protect a King, Fjall carries a deep scar within, the death of a loved one who fell in battle trying to save him. A scar that won’t let him settle, or make peace with himself or the world around him. In his quest for redemption, Fjall will find himself fighting beside the most unlikely of allies as he carves a path of vengeance across a continent in turmoil.”
The Witcher: Blood Origin has cast Laurence O’Fuarain as Fjall. Born into a clan of warriors sworn to protect a King, Fjall carries a deep scar within, the death of a loved one who fell in battle trying to save him… pic.twitter.com/nGv1dPk5ny
O’Fuarain is the second lead for Blood Origin, joining Jodie Turner-Smith, who is attached to play the elite warrior Eile. The show is set 1,200 years before The Witcher, and its story will touch on the creation of the first Witcher.
Blood Origin is the second Witcher spin-off that Netflix is developing, following on from The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, which is an animated movie focusing on Vesemir.
As for the main Witcher show, the second season is currently filming, but a premiere date has not been announced. With 76 million member households watching The Witcher season 1 over its first four weeks, The Witcher is among Netflix’s most popular TV shows ever for its first season.
If you enjoyed Immortals Fenyx Rising and are excited at the idea that this second slice of DLC will take you to an all-new location with an all-new protagonist, well, better check that enthusiasm at the door. Myths of the Eastern Realm does indeed feature a different location and protagonist, but “new” would be a long way down the list of words I’d use to describe it. This six to eight-hour adventure is cut from the same exact cloth as its parent game – albeit with a slightly different pattern, and the result feels overly familiar with little to set it apart.
As the title suggests, Myths of the Eastern Realm is inspired by Chinese mythology and introduces us to a world that has been torn asunder, the balance between Heaven and Earth shattered and all the humans turned to clay. A mortal named Ku (male only, there’s no female option) somehow survives and seeks out the aid of the Goddess Nuwa, the original creator of all living things, in hopes that the damage can be undone. The setup may sound epic, but sadly, it doesn’t ever really deliver.
Myths of the Eastern Realm certainly makes a strong visual impression, however, thanks to its richly detailed world and the varied topography of its new map. Peering out from one of the many high vantage points typically reveals temples and pagodas perched atop rocky cliffs, waterfalls splashing down to feed snaking rivers and green plains giving way to bamboo forests or flowering groves. And when an impossibly large moon rises on a misty night, shining ethereal light down on an already gorgeous landscape, I invariably took some time to drink it all in.[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Myths%20of%20the%20Eastern%20Realm’s%20world%20has%20been%20torn%20asunder%2C%20the%20balance%20between%20Heaven%20and%20Earth%20shattered%20and%20all%20the%20humans%20turned%20to%20clay.”]
The aesthetics fit the theme well then, but from a functional perspective, getting around, fighting enemies, collecting resources, and completing objectives feels exactly the same as it did in Fenyx’s adventure: still good, but nothing to get excited about or to reinvigorate the gameplay after the 30 hours we spent with this foundation last year. Ku has the same climbing and gliding ability set, and the same implementation of Far Sight to tag puzzles, objectives and collectibles in the terrain. This expansion’s map is pocked with enemy camps, challenges, and upgrade materials, and they’re all functionally identical to those of the Golden Isle. Ku’s weapons, armour, stamina and health are all upgraded in the same way too, sometimes with extremely familiar animations, while gathering ingredients to turn into potions is identical. Well, aside from the fact that you’re collecting peaches instead of pomegranates.
Sure, you may no longer be venturing into the underworld via Vaults of Tartaros, and instead ascending to ruined temples that float amidst blue skies, but the differences are superficial. Instead of solving puzzles with moving platforms you now solve puzzles with moving clouds. And instead of receiving a shard of Zeus’ Lightning to upgrade your stamina at the end of a vault you get Sky Agate at the end of a Heavenly Ruin. It also upgrades your stamina.
Even the enemies occupy the same roles, whether you’re talking about the chimeric Fei, which have tagged in for the Gorgons, or the winged beasts, which might as well be Harpies for all the difference it made. And then there are the many variants of ethereal soldiers, some of which teleport about and some of which have shields that have to be crashed through with heavy axe attacks, just like they did throughout Fenyx Rising.
And sure, the Constellation puzzles from Immortals’ main game may now be called Bagua puzzles, but it’s the exact same thing with the same reward, and invariably involve well-worn staples like moving crates around to weigh down pressure switches. With so much of it feeling so similar, I was pleased to find a couple of new wrinkles in Eastern Realm’s puzzle design, such as crates that can be flipped between small and large, and areas in which Ku’s stamina is drained and you’re forced to work around that limitation, but these are hardly game changers. Most of my criticisms of the puzzle designs in the base game remain here. These puzzles are fine, but they’re not fresh or inspiring.
Of course, Immortals Fenyx Rising offset some of its workmanlike puzzle design with the force of its personality. The double act narration from Zeus and Prometheus laid the groundwork for the story to not take itself too seriously, while the supporting cast of gods piled on to hammer home the point that Greek mythology is like one big cosmic soap opera. Even the big bad, Typhon, interjected theatrically to ensure we were kept in tune with the larger threat.[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Ku%20is%20a%20likeable%20enough%20protagonist%20and%20is%20written%20with%20some%20levity%2C%20but%20I%20didn%E2%80%99t%20find%20much%20to%20latch%20onto%20in%20the%20story…”]
It was fun and – for the most part – engaging, and I miss that here. Myths of the Eastern Realm is much more pared back and all the worse for it. Ku is a likeable enough protagonist and is written with some levity, but I didn’t find much to latch onto in the story, and the characters simply aren’t strong enough to bolster it. Take Goddess Nuwa, for instance: Her role is essentially to mollycoddle Ku; to try and stop him from doing anything and then to scold him when he successfully did that thing she told him not to do. It’s hardly riveting stuff and absolutely not my idea of video game escapism.
From a gameplay perspective, Ku hits the ground running in Myths of the Eastern Realm. Unlike Fenyx, he starts his adventure with almost all his skills upgraded – he can string dodges together, launch enemies, slow time while firing his bow in mid-air, parry into counters, sprint attack, and more. It makes sense to do this given everybody will be coming from a close to fully upgraded Fenyx, but it is a shame that there aren’t new additions to these skill trees to vary the gameplay and make Ku play like a different character.[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=The%20new%20God%20Seals%20system%20ascends%20through%20three%20tiers%20as%20Ku%20fights…”]
The one effort that Myths of the Easter Realm makes to differentiate itself is the new God Seals system, which is an on-screen indicator that ascends through three tiers as Ku fights, making his attacks faster and more aggressive and opening up super-charged versions of two of his Godly Powers: Blades of Huang Di and Axe of Yan Di. Immortals players will recognise these as Ares’s Wrath and Hephaistos’s Hammer, respectively, but this time they have unique upgrades to unlock. Despite this, the role they play in combat is essentially the same, and they’re joined by Fenyx’s other Godly Powers, all of which are functionally the same but with new names, and all of which are fully upgraded out of the gate and thus never change.
I understand that actually building out new skill trees and Godly Powers is perhaps beyond the scope of this piece of DLC, but what does a palette-swapped, smaller version of a game I’ve already played really add?
Do you want to get that promotion or start a whole new career as a backend developer? This is your time to take that first step towards it. With businesses around the world going digital more than ever before, and the average salary for a backend software engineer in the United States ranging from $102k – $122k a year, now’s the time to learn these in-demand developer skills. And that’s especially true as right now, you can get The Complete 2021 Superstar Backend Developer Bundle on sale for just $39.99.
This amazing value elearning bundle includes 13 different courses and more than 35 hours of training content on HTML5, CSS3, Ruby, Python, PHP, and more.
As you explore the server-side of web and app development, courses like the 4.3/5 rated Java Basics: Learn To Code The Right Way will give you a solid understanding of Java so that you’re able to start building Android and desktop apps immediately, while the 4.3/5 rated course Python Programming For Everyone will take you from absolute beginner to Python pro, by setting you up with all the skills you need to start writing and running Python code.
These courses are taught by the tutors at SkillSuccess, a leading hub for carefully curated courses designed for you to learn any skill on your own time, at your own pace. Some of the industry experts leading these developer courses include John Elder, the founder of the Codemy coding school, creator of one of the 1990s’ first Internet advertising networks and overall web development pioneer, who holds a 4.5/5 instructor rating from previous students, and Avetis Ghukasyan, an accomplished web development specialist with an impressive 4.5/5 instructor rating.
Speed reading is basically the closest thing to having a real-life superpower. It allows you to learn new skills, take in reams of important information and boost your brain in a fraction of the time – and you can learn how to do it yourself with The Become a Super-Learner & Speed Reading Bundle, on sale right now for just $29.99 – that’s a massive 97% discount off the regular price of $1400.
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These courses are taught by industry leaders like memory expert Jonathan Levi, an author, keynote speaker, and podcaster with an impressive 4.5/5 instructor rating from his previous students, renowned for his popular Become a SuperLearner™course and top-rated Becoming SuperHuman podcast, and the 4.4/5 rated Eralp Sendan, a memory coach who specializes in continuous improvement and managing a complex project – something you too will be able to boast after his lessons.
