Despite Roku’s attempts to make YouTube TV harder to access, Google has found a workaround: YouTube.
Bear with me on this. There are two main YouTube apps on Roku: YouTube and YouTube TV. The first is the main app that viewers associate with watching music videos or their favorite creators. YouTube TV is a subscription based, virtual TV provider that lets customers watch live television.
In the midst of a very public battle over alleged antitrust behavior on Google’s part, Roku removed the YouTube TV app from the channel store, ensuring that new customers can’t sign up. Current customers can still access the app as long as they don’t remove it.
YouTube, the main app, wasn’t affected. It’s here that Google found a workaround. Google is adding a new feature that will let customers access YouTube TV directly from the main YouTube app on Roku devices, according to Variety. Think of it as Google preparing for more disruption. If the YouTube TV app disappears completely, YouTube can point to this feature.
Said feature will eventually roll out to customers on other devices, like Apple TV, but the company is starting with Roku for obvious reasons.
“On a parallel path, we’re working with other partners to secure free streaming devices in case YouTube TV members face any access issues on Roku,” a YouTube spokesperson told Variety.
Roku responded to Google’s actions by calling the company’s actions “the clear conduct of an unchecked monopolist bent on crushing fair competition and harming consumer choice” in a statement sent to IGN. The statement adds that Google’s move highlights “predatory business practices used by Google that Congress, Attorney Generals and regulatory bodies around the world are investigating.” Finally, Roku added that the company hasn’t asked for one additional dollar, but rather asked Google “to stop their anticompetitive behavior of manipulating user search results to their unique financial benefit and to stop demanding access to sensitive data that no other partner on our platform receives today.”
You know the meme with two Spider-Man figures pointing at each other? As corporations like Google and Roku — or Epic and Apple — fight publicly over which company is doing more harm, it’s probably fair to expect more of these types of big statements.
Oh, the joys of streaming. The colloquial “streaming wars,” as the internet has dubbed our current entertainment moment, is not between Disney and Netflix. It’s between Roku and Google; or Roku and WarnerMedia; or Roku and NBCUniversal. Sometimes, it’s between Amazon and WarnerMedia or Amazon and NBCUniversal. You get the picture. Roku has 53.6 million active accounts. Roku is one of the most popular over the top (OTT) set top boxes. The company has hardware partnerships with TV manufacturers like TCL. Roku wants to own the home — and that gives Roku a lot of power.
Google is both a hardware and a software business. (Roku is also getting into software but that’s a whole other discussion.) YouTube makes its money through ad revenue, and YouTube TV is a subscription based platform. The more people that YouTube and YouTube TV reach, the better. Being on Roku is a big deal.
Then there’s Google’s hardware business. Google also sells its own OTT device — Google Chromecast with Google TV. It’s $50 a direct competitor to Roku. If Google can use this moment to sell more devices, and take as many customers away from Roku as possible, it’s an automatic win. Except that Google risks alienating its base who don’t want to give up Roku, and are fine switching to a virtual TV competitor, like Sling TV or Hulu + Live TV.
Decisions, decisions. What to do? If you’re NBCUniversal, whose executives are fighting with Amazon to get Peacock on Fire TV, you tell disappointed customers to sideload the app and tweet at Amazon (this is true). If you’re Google, you simply use the other app that Roku isn’t booting to ensure customers remain happy.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might be the last time we see Dave Bautista’s Drax the Destroyer, the actor told Digital Spy.
Bautista has remained relatively quiet on plot details, but only because he has yet to see what the latest script contains, the actor said.
“I don’t know what the script of the third film is, to be honest with you. There was a script years ago that obviously is going to have to change because the whole direction of the Marvel universe has changed,” Bautista said.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due out on May 5, 2023, but Bautista says he’s unlikely to appear as Drax in any other form beyond that, including a spin-off movie.
“There were talks for a while about a Drax and Mantis film,” Bautista said, referencing the comedic relationship between the overly blunt Drax and the naive Mantis played by Pom Klementieff. “It was really because it was James Gunn’s idea. He really wanted to do a Drax and Mantis film. He laid it out to me. I thought it was such a brilliant idea, but I haven’t heard any follow-up from the studio. I don’t think they’re very interested, or it doesn’t fit into the way they have things mapped out. But other than that, no. I mean, as far as my obligations, I’ve got Guardians 3, and that’s probably going to be the end of Drax.”
So maybe there’s room for a TV series instead? Unfortunately, Bautista has told JoBlo there’s “not a chance in hell” he’d reprise the role in that format.
Obviously, nothing is ever too permanent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Bautista’s exit might be one of those things you can’t walk back from. The actor has previously been very critical of Disney after it fired James Gunn for making inappropriate jokes on Twitter years before working on GotG.
Buying a 4K TV can seriously change your enjoyment of modern games, especially if you’ve already invested in particularly powerful consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The higher resolution makes details pop, and the benefit of HDR can bring out details previously hidden to you in your favorite titles. That’s why today’s deal on a Sony 55-inch X80J 4K Smart TV is so enticing. Best Buy is knocking $200 off the price this weekend, bringing it into impulse purchase territory.
The Sony X80J can be described as an entry-level 4K set, but it comes packed with numerous features that make its low price feel like a steal. First and foremost is its ADS panel, which is pretty much as close to IPS as you’re going to get without being IPS. That means you can expect rich colors and great viewing angles, as well as an extremely low response time of just over 11ms in Game Mode. You also get HDR and 10-bit color support, and while the absence of any local dimming feature dilutes this a bit, it’s still a good upgrade over just an SDR panel.
In addition to its gaming features, the X80J also ships with Google TV–the replacement for traditional Chromecast support. That means you can expect to find apps like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and more at the touch of a button, while still being able to cast to the TV with a compatible smartphone or tablet.
If you’re looking for something a bit higher up the tier list, you can check out our best gaming TVs guide for the best sets out on the market currently. And if you’re perhaps looking for some games to pair with your new TV purchase, Newegg has several deals on Xbox digital games today, including Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K21, and even a saving on a Biomutant preorder with promo codeEMCEWEY25.
A new patch is now available for Call of Duty: Warzone that makes a series of changes, including a long list of weapon balance updates–and yes, the promised Streetsweeper changes are part of this update.
The new update nerfs the shotgun by increasing its base hip spread and recoil and reducing its ADS speed. Activision said the Streetsweeper was “a tad too effective” compared to other weapons in its class. “This change will decrease its lethal range slightly, punish inaccurate sustained fire, and give a little more time to react,” the studio said.
Not only has the weapon itself been nerfed, but it won’t show up as much in Warzone’s loot spawns. For both Verdansk ’84 and Rebirth Island, the Streetsweeper’s Common and Uncommon variants were removed from ground loot, while its Rare and Epic versions no longer show up in supply boxes.
“The Streetsweeper’s wide availability fostered a dynamic where passive play was incentivized and rewarded. We do not think this type of play is particularly compelling for either party when players do not have the necessary tools in the early-game to effectively counter it,” Activision said.
A number of other weapons have been tweaked across Warzone, and Activision outlined some of its thinking for these changes.
“There are millions of you, and when we reduce the effectiveness of a weapon, we are bound to make a change to someone’s favorite gun. As players of this game ourselves, it pains us just as much,” the studio said. “However, we remain torn. We are the custodians of this game–we make it for you. In the same light, we are charged with maintaining the health and integrity of the game. In some instances, this requires us to reduce the effectiveness of some universally cherished weapons. When we make a change like this, our intent is the promotion of diversity. We believe what makes a game truly engaging is choice. When we diminish that choice, we take away the agency to play the game your way. This can happen when a weapon becomes so effective that simply not utilizing it puts you at a disadvantage.”
Activision went on to say it is approaching what it calls “balance homeostasis” as it relates to weapon balance across the game. These changes impact the “time-to-kill” statistics, too, with the idea that the time-to-kill figures should be higher.
Activision also pleaded with fans to understand that its goal is to raise the skill ceiling with these changes; they aren’t being made to intentionally anger fans.
“We ask that you consider these changes not as targeted attacks, but rather as part of a larger initiative to raise the skill ceiling,” it said. “We want to give you the runway and the platform to show us your epic plays and proudest moments. We hope that journey of mastery brings you as much enjoyment as it does us.”
Other weapons that received a balance pass in this new update include the CR-56 AMAX assault rifle, which seems its minimum damage decreased from 32 to 31; the FARA 83 assault rifle has its headshot multiplayer decreased from 1.5 to 1.35, with its base ADS move speed decreased by 7%. The Bullfrog submachine gun, meanwhile, sees its maximum damage decreased from 32 to 32, with the PPSh-41 getting a buff to increase its maximum damage range by 4%. A number of attachments have been tweaked as well, and you can see the complete patch notes below, which includes commentary from the developers about what’s changing and why.
The May 7 patch also fixes additional out-of-bounds glitches across Verdansk, while it also clears up the issue that could cause player models to load in low resolution at the start of a battle royale game.
In other news, the latest playlist update for Warzone is out now. It adds Plunder – Trios and Mini Royale Quads and Resurgence Duos for Rebirth Island. The update also removes Resurgence Trios from Verdansk, a move that has drawn a lot of criticism from fans, as it was one of the most beloved modes in the game.
Loot that spawns across both Verdansk and Rebirth Island has been adjusted as follows…
Streetsweeper
Common variant removed from ground loot
Uncommon variant removed from ground loot
Rare variant removed from Supply Boxes
Epic variant removed from Supply Boxes
Hauer 77
Common variant added to ground loot
Uncommon variant added to ground loot
Rare variant added to Supply Boxes
The Streetsweeper’s wide availability fostered a dynamic where passive play was incentivized and rewarded. We do not think this type of play is particularly compelling for either party when players do not have the necessary tools in the early-game to effectively counter it.
BUG FIXES
Fixed additional map locations in Verdansk that allowed players to reach out-of-bounds areas. This is on top of the locations that we addressed last week.
Fixed a bug causing Player models to initially load as low resolution at the start of a BR match.
Fixed a bug with the Cold War AK-47, FARA 83, XM4, and RPD where they were having their ADS Move Speed and Firing Move Speeds decreased with the Tactical and SAS Combat/Spetsnaz Stocks rather than increased.
WEAPONS
Assault Rifles
CR-56 AMAX
Minimum Damage decreased from 32 to 31 (Warzone Only)
With a great damage profile, locational multipliers, and manageable recoil, the CR-56 AMAX was able to reliably reach extreme TTKs at long-range. This change reduces its fastest minimum damage TTK by about 17% in addition to its slowest minimum damage TTK by an additional shot. Its fastest maximum damage TTK however, remains intact—which is a risk we feel is equal to the reward considering how unforgiving its rate of fire is and how many other weapons it has to contest with in the mid-range engagement space. The CR-56 AMAX is just a tad more dominant than we would like it to be and with this change, our aim is to widen the selection of viable long-range assault rifles.
FARA 83
Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.5 to 1.35
Base ADS Move Speed decreased by 7%
When combined with a mobility-based stock, the FARA 83 was capable of reaching exceedingly fast ADS firing speeds. We like how the FARA 83 plays, but it is a bit too versatile currently. As part of our efforts to increase the overall Time to Kill, we are reducing the FARA 83’s fastest TTK by 16.6% to compensate for its generous rate of fire and recoil control.
Shotguns
Streetsweeper
Base Hip Spread increased
Recoil increased slightly
ADS speed reduced slightly
While shotguns tend to have limited viability outside of early game, we find the Streetsweeper is a tad too effective given its rate of fire and ammo capacity when compared to other weapons of its class. This change will decrease its lethal range slightly, punish inaccurate sustained fire, and give a little more time to react.
Submachine Guns
Bullfrog
Maximum Damage decreased from 34 to 32
Maximum Damage Range increased by 11%
Base Move Speed increased by 1%
Sprint Out Speed increased by 13%
The Bullfrog’s exceptional headshot multiplier has allowed it to reach one of the fastest TTKs in the game. While this change does not directly affect that multiplier, it does diminish its output. This change reduces the Bullfrog’s ability to consistently achieve extreme TTKs, while not removing it entirely. We felt it was too easy to consistently reduce the TTK to these ranges, so we are asking for a bit more accuracy in exchange for the Bullfrog’s attractive stat line. We are hesitant to label this an outright ‘nerf’ as we believe there is more value to a weapon than its damage alone.
PPSh-41
Maximum Damage Range increased by 4%
Open Bolt Delay decreased by 80%
We would like to push SMGs in different and interesting directions to distinguish them from one another. Ideally, we are providing a myriad of options within each weapon category that are supplementary to a multitude of diverse playstyles. In that vein, we are going to push the PPSh-41’s identity in a way that continues to diversify it from its competition in meaningful ways. To us, the PPSh-41 is the quick to fire, high-capacity, short-to-mid range SMG. Not every weapon needs to have the highest TTK potential, but every weapon should at least feel viable and have a niche where it excels given a complementary playstyle.
ATTACHMENTS
Barrels
Combat Recon (Snipers)
Bullet Velocity multiplier increased by 12%
ADS Idle Sway multiplier decreased by 33.3%
As we continue assess the place of Cold War snipers within Warzone, we realize there is much work to be done. In addition to improving the overall efficacy of these weapons and attachments, we will also be taking a close look at their optics. This includes addressing attachment pros where there are few, if any, use cases. In specific… we may see a Cold War equivalent to an immensely popular Modern Warfare sniper attachment very soon.
It is crucial to maintain an engagement space where each weapon type can excel, lest we risk guns becoming analogous. In that regard, some weapon types were able to elude mobility as a core weakness given the right attachments. We believe this is in part why assault rifles have been able to assume the role of submachine guns. While it is a priority for us to maintain and embrace gameplay differences between Modern Warfare and Cold War guns, we felt movement speed modifiers in their current state would undermine gameplay integrity and overall weapon diversity if left unchecked. These stocks are still a solid choice, even with such a substantial reduction—which we believe speaks to just how strong they were.
For more on Warzone, check out GameSpot’s features:
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In a new trailer released today, Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade will be exclusive to PlayStation 5 for at least six months.
A graphic at the end of the “Final Trailer” for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade reveals that the game will remain exclusive to Sony’s console for at least the first six months after it releases. The trailer also showcases more of the new expanded story of the game, focusing particularly on the new Yuffie chapter and revealing some new boss fights, such as a new encounters against Scarlett in a combat-ready new Shinra mech suit.
The exclusivity window is not entirely surprising given that the original release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake was exclusive to PS4, and also had a timed exclusivity deal in place. This approach seems to follow the trend of Sony striking exclusivity deals for Square Enix’s big titles, with Final Fantasy XVI and Forspoken also planning to launch first on PS5.
It has not yet been revealed whether FF7 Remake Intergrade will be ported to Xbox or PC after the six month exclusivity window. Square Enix does have a history of porting their games to multiple systems following exclusivity deals, however, such as Rise of the Tomb Raider launching exclusively on the Xbox One, and releasing on the PS4 later. If Intergrade does end up releasing on Xbox systems or PC, though, it wouldn’t be until the exclusivity period was up, which would be December this year at the earliest.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade launches on the 10th June, but if you’re hungry for more Final Fantasy, Square is also planning to expand on the FF7 universe through additional content and games such as The First Soldier and Ever Crisis that aim to build on the lore of the FF7 compilation of games. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was recently part of March’s Playstation Plus update on the PS4, and PS4 gamers can get a free upgrade to the next-gen version, but it won’t include the Yuffie content without additional purchase.
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Liam Wiseman is a Freelance News Writer at IGN, and likes Final Fantasy waaay too much. You can follow him on Twitter @liamthewiseman
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
Hulu has a wealth of great scary horror movies available to stream right now, and we’ve picked out some of the best. The sheer number of streaming services available now means it’s sometimes hard to know what to watch, but it’s hard to deny that it’s a great time to be a movie fan. Whatever genre you like, there’s a huge number of movies available on both the big platforms and more niche services, and horror fans are perhaps the best served of all.
Hulu’s selection is heavier on modern horror than older classics, but that makes it a great place to catch up on some stand-out chillers from the past two decades. Monster movie fans can check out the hungry alligators of Crawl and subterranean creatures in The Descent, while those who prefer vampires and zombies have got favorites such as Let the Right One In and 28 Days Later to watch.
There are movies from established filmmakers such as Alexandre Aja, Lars Von Trier, and William Friedkin, and some from rising genre talents like Brandon Cronenberg and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. It’s not all newer movies either–fans can revisit Danny Boyle’s zombie classic 28 Days Later, while the classic ’70s sci-fi oddity Phase IV will terrify anyone who hates creepy-crawlies.
So here’s GameSpot’s look at the best horror movies to watch on Hulu. And once you’ve checked these out, read our guide to the biggest upcoming horror of 2021.
In this video, veteran survival horror player and Resident Evil aficionado, Kurt Indovina, shares some vital tips and tricks in order to ensure your survival in Resident Evil Village. If you’ve spent some time in the shoes of Leon Kennedy, blasting your way through the Los Plagas-controlled villagers of Resident Evil 4, then you should have no problem adapting to Village’s combat, inventory management, treasure hunting, and merchant. But if you’re new to the franchise, it can be a lot to take in.
Kurt breaks it down into three categories: combat, exploration, and the Duke. Kurt gives tips on fighting the game’s werewolf-like enemies, Lycans, how to look for treasure, the importance of hunting animals, killing crows for pocket change, and best practices when selling your loot as well as upgrading your weapons. While it’s easy to be distracted by Lady Dimitrescu’s empowering demeanor, don’t be fooled, there’s plenty more the game offers in terms of frights and thrills to pay attention too.
While Village takes a lot of cues from its previous installment Resident Evil 7, the many environments of the game can be far more daunting than the Baker house Ethan Winters slithered through all those years back. In Resident Evil Village, Ethan must rescue his daughter Rose from the grasp of Mother Miranda, and it’s up to you as the player to be prepared for the dangers that await.
Resident Evil Village is finally out and our two local evil residents, Dale and Jesse have played and finished the game a collective 7 times, so they’ve got a lot to say! Boss man Alex Simmons also makes a triumphant return to the pod to talk about all the – somewhat disappointing – Star Wars announcements coming out of May 4th. We also discuss The Bad Batch, Sound of Metal and how much we’d pay for one of those new realistic looking lightsabers.
Plus, the return of a Resident Evil themed Go On Name Them and of course, your feedback.
Remember, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, please do: [email protected].
The Mass Effect: Legendary Edition makes a ton of changes to the original trilogy, particularly to the first one since it hasn’t aged quite as gracefully as the others. But for purists and/or masochists, you can still cling to one piece of the original if you so choose: the Mako. The crappy, crappy Mako.
“For those people out there who do like pain, we’ve left the option to leave it back kind of closer to the original controls as well if you want,” environment director Kevin Meek told PC Gamer. Project director Mac Walters added that you can toggle it back and forth, in case you want to experiment with the original.
Those who didn’t play the original may not realize that the Mako was particularly divisive. While Mass Effect was lauded as a huge achievement in BioWare’s RPG oeuvre, it was clear that vehicle design was not exactly its strong suit. Imagine trying to pilot a homemade boxcar racer through a swimming pool. So it was an obvious place for BioWare to modernize and refine, but if you love a challenge you can still switch it back.
The original Mass Effect has been changed to work a bit more like its sequels in general, which refined the shooter controls and made the RPG stat-infused randomness less front-and-center. That means your squad will control more like Mass Effect 2, so you can more easily manage your teammates. The inventory system also received a rework, and some old animation bugs have been smoothed over. The trilogy features a universal character creator including a more unified look for the default “FemShep”–the female version of the protagonist, Shepard.
The big lady gets big results. Resident Evil Village’s debut on Steam is going record breaking-ly well, making it a top performer for the franchise on PC.
According to the Steam stats page, Resident Evil Village is currently one of the top 10 most-played games on Steam. At the time of writing, the game has just over 78,000 concurrent players, making it ninth on the list. While being on the bottom end of the top 10 list may not sound very impressive, it’s quite a feat considering the competition. The top spots on Steam’s top 10 most-played list are often dominated by Counter Strike: GO, DOTA 2, PUBG, Grand Theft Auto V, and Rust. It’s also worth noting that Resident Evil Village is currently the only single-player title on the top 10 list.
Compared to the rest of the Resident Evil franchise, Village is going above and beyond previous player counts. According to video game industry analyst Benjisales on Twitter, a majority of previous Resident Evil releases only managed to net a fraction of Village’s peak player count. Resident Evil 7’s peak player count is just 20,449, likely because it followed Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6, two infamous entries in the franchise. Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake have much more impressive numbers, boasting peak player counts of 74,227 and 60,293 respectively.
In our review for the game, GameSpot editor Phil Hornshaw gave Resident Evil Village a 9/10, saying the game “leans heavily on Resident Evil 4’s brand of action, but adds its own sensibilities to the mix.” If you’ve recently started Village and are a bit lost, we have some choice beginner’s tips and a guide on how to beat the game without spoilers. Resident Evil Village is currently available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Stadia, and PC.
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