Category: Games

The new Ghost of Tsushima Legends update is now live, adding multiplayer co-op missions to Sucker Punch’s latest release. We figured that the update seemed as good an excuse as any to jump back into the game.

In the video above, Max Blumenthal channels his inner ghost to pull off some super slick combo kills, aiding his allies from the shadows as the Assassin class. The gameplay should give you a pretty good idea of whether the Assassin is the ideal starter class for you. Don’t fret if you start with a different class though; every class can be unlocked eventually.

Once you’ve downloaded the update for Ghost of Tsushima, accessing Legends is fairly straightforward. You can either talk to Gyozen, a brand-new in-game character who will be added to and marked on your map once the update is downloaded, or you can select “Legends” from the main menu.

Still on the fence about whether to pick up Ghost of Tsushima? In GameSpot’s Ghost of Tsushima review, Edmond Tran wrote, “Ghost of Tsushima’s story hits hard in the game’s third and final act, and ends in spectacular fashion. It left me with the same kinds of strong emotions I felt at the end of all my favourite samurai film epics, and had me eager to watch them all again. The game hits a lot of fantastic cinematic highs, and those ultimately lift it above the trappings of its familiar open-world quest design and all the innate weaknesses that come with it–but those imperfections and dull edges are definitely still there.”

It’s the question on the minds of so many theme park fans: When will Disneyland reopen? While there is still no set date, the state of California has revealed the guidelines that must be met in order for the parks to open. This comes after Disney announced it was laying off 28,000 workers, partially blaming the state for not allowing them to reopen. Don’t get too excited, though, as it may still be some time before the gates open–a possibility Disney is unhappy about.

As announced by California’s Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, via The Hollywood Reporter, theme parks will be able to open at 25% capacity when the counties they exist in reach Tier 4 (yellow) status in the state’s four-tiered system. The guidelines to achieve Tier 4 status are less than one new daily case per 100,000 people and less than 2% positive tests.

Currently, Orange County–home to Disneyland–is in Tier 2 (red), which means there are 4-7 daily cases per 100,000 people and a 5-8% positive test rate. Universal Studios Hollywood is in Los Angeles County, which is currently Tier 1 (purple) with more than 7 daily cases per 100,000 people and a positive test rate of over 8%.

Once the counties reach Tier 4, they will be allowed to open–but there are some rules being imposed by the state. Once open, in addition to the 25% capacity limit, all ticket reservations must be made in advance. There are to be no day-of ticket sales. Beyond that, masks will be required inside the parks. Currently, the shopping complexes attached to both Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood are open. Both require masks and take guest temperatures.

Shortly after the state revealed its guidelines, Disney responded in a statement. “We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science-based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world,” Disneyland Resort president Ken Potrock said. “Nevertheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operated facilities. Together with our labor unions we want to get people back to work, but these State guidelines will keep us shuttered for the foreseeable future, forcing thousands more people out of work, leading to the inevitable closure of small family-owned businesses, and irreparably devastating the Anaheim/Southern California community.”

Likewise, Universal Studios Hollywood is not pleased with the new guidelines. In a statement, the park’s president and chief operating officer Karen Irwin commented, “Pushing us into Tier Four behind other businesses that have already reopened makes no sense. It ignores science, reason and the economic devastation this will bring to the thousands of our employees, the indirect businesses that rely on us, and our industry overall.” She continued, “The health and safety of our guests and team members has always been our top priority. We have designed detailed health and safety protocols that allowed us to open our theme parks in Orlando, Osaka, and Singapore. We have collaborated with LA County health and government officials on a comprehensive plan to move forward safely here, and we are prepared and ready to reopen. Our theme parks are controlled primarily outdoor businesses that we have proven we can operate responsibly.”

Ultimately, Irwin said that theme parks should fall under Tier 3. Keeping them in Tier 4, she believes, will mean parks won’t open until sometime in 2021. “Our employees are ready to go back to work and the fact that they won’t be able to do so until well into next year is shameful,” she said.

Disney and Universal’s parks in Florida are open to the public, with restrictions in place. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the state of Florida has also seen a decline in testing. In July, an average of 54,400 daily tests were administered. Now, the state averages less than half that. Thus far, no outbreaks have been traced back to Disney World’s guests or employees, according to the New York Times.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Universal Studios Hollywood.

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Netflix has announced that The Office’s Rainn Wilson will be executive producing and narrating a quirky new competition series titled We Are the Champions. The show, which is slated to debut on November 17, will feature “unusual competitions around the world… including cheese rolling, chili eating, fantasy hair styling, yo-yo, dog dancing, and frog jumping,” according to Variety. In other words, the show sounds like an attempt to try to wind 2020 down with a light-hearted salve to what will no doubt be an exhausting final few weeks of the year.

“We Are the Champions’ celebrates weirdness, finds beauty in idiosyncrasies, and demonstrates what it really takes to rise to the top: heart,” Wilson said. “As a self-proclaimed expert on the unconventional, I’m excited to introduce viewers to these small-world competitors with big-world dreams because, in this time, we could all use a hero–be it a dancing dog or the world yo-yo champion.”

Chris Uetwiller, CEO of the show’s production company, Dirty Robber, added, “In a TV landscape that can be rather formulaic at times, We Are the Champions represents something refreshing and different.” He also emphasized that the show is about storytelling that will surprisingly move people, asking, “Who knew people would ever be moved by cheese rolling?”

The show also bookends a year that similarly kicked off with Wilson’s The Office co-star Jim Krasinski starting a new project in March to combat great stress and uncertainty. Krasinski’s YouTube series, called “Some Good News,” had a quick, strange, and somewhat divisive journey from a feel-good one-off to a series that garnered more than 2 million subscribers and netted around 70 million views to then being acquired by GameSpot parent company ViacomCBS for the CBS All Access app. The show has not yet debuted on CBS All Access, but Krasinski announced he would no longer star–and the shift also meant that an adorable once-free show has now been locked behind a streaming paywall.