Category: Games

What if you could relive moments of someone else’s life? Imagine you could see what they see, touch what they touch, and feel what they feel, all from the comfort of your own home In Cyberpunk 2077 this kind of tech exists, and it’s called Braindance.

In this video, Jake Dekker looks back on the history of one of Cyberpunk 2077’s most popular forms of entertainment, Braindance. Although Braindance shares some minor similarities with VR headsets, the technology couldn’t be more different. Unlike virtual reality, BD can engage all five senses by stimulating your brain in a variety of ways. This results in a fully immersive experience that lets you live out scripted moments as someone else. While the most obvious use for this tech is *cough* porn, it was originally used to rehabilitate convicted criminals. But like all revolutionary technology, it became a crucial part of culture and its uses extended far beyond just those two things.

For more Cyberpunk Lore, be sure to check out our other videos, including our deep-dive on Adam Smasher, the cyborg who almost killed Johnny Silverhand. Cyberpunk 2077 comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 19.

The creator of the original PlayStation console is back to make new machines, though they probably aren’t what you’d expect. Ken Kutaragi has moved from video games to robots, and he aims to help human workers with factory jobs.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Kutaragi explained that as CEO of Ascent Robotics, a company founded in 2016, he is not receiving a salary and wants to solve problems caused by the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has turned the old argument about robots taking our jobs on its head,” he said. “It’s pretty clear now that if we want to arrive at a new normal, we need more and more robots in our daily lives.”

Increased automation has certainly been a concern across numerous industries, with machines taking the place of cashiers, assembly workers, and even cooks. With the pandemic putting peoples’ lives at risk, however, at least a temporary increase in automation may be necessary. The machines working alongside humans could reduce person-to-person contact which would in turn limit chances for the virus to be transmitted.

In Kutaragi’s case, he’s aiming to create new technology related to autonomous driving and more traditional robotics, including an arm that can pick items out using a camera.

Kutaragi left his position at Sony in 2007, the year after it launched the PlayStation 3. He had served as chairman and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment (now Sony Interactive Entertainment), and was succeeded by Kaz Harai, arguably a more recognizable figure who has spawned countless memes. Harai went on to lead all of Sony as CEO for several years. The PlayStation brand is still strong, of course, with the PS5 due to launch next month.

In years past, Xbox FanFest has given the biggest Xbox players a chance to celebrate the latest Xbox games and play together in-person, but the ongoing pandemic has made that impossible. However, Microsoft is moving Xbox FanFest entirely online with a series of global events, giving you the chance to participate in meet-and-greets, win prizes, and more. In order to participate, you’ll need to register, and we’ll run you through the steps to do so.

With the Xbox Series X and Series S just weeks away, it should make for a very exciting rest of 2020, so you won’t want to miss out.

How To Register For Xbox FanFest

In order to register for Xbox FanFest, you must have an Xbox profile and be at least 18 years old. It’s eligible to anyone worldwide, though activities and communications are going to only be in English.

To register, beginning on October 12 at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET, you’ll want to visit the official Xbox FanFest page. From there, you’ll be able to see schedules for upcoming activities and you’ll also receive emails on new FanFest information.

You’ll receive 100 Microsoft Rewards points for completing your registration, and more points will also be available for specific activities during the duration of FanFest. Additionally, certain activites are open to everyone, including those who didn’t register, and they will have special bonuses for those who did register. These will be labeled Xbox FanFest Plus Ups.

Cost Of Xbox FanFest

The basic registration for Xbox FanFest is free, and many of the events you’ll get access to will also be free. However, Microsoft said there may be a ticket price associated with certain events, stopping short of estimating what that price will be.

You may also gain access to Xbox official gear purchases that won’t be available to anyone else. We expect some of these to be purchased items, while others could be through sweepstakes.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

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The New York Comic Con virtual panel for The Stand brought together stars Whoopi Goldberg, James Marsden, Greg Kinnear, Amber Heard, Jovan Adepo, Odessa Young and Owen Teague alongside showrunner Benjamin Cavell and executive producer Taylor Elmore for a vibrant conversation previewing the series. In addition, Whoopi Goldberg surprised fans by debuting the official trailer during the panel!

Helstrom, based on the Marvel comic book characters Daimon and Ana Helstrom, is the closest Marvel has come to horror yet, which means its release is perfectly timed for the spooky season. It also looks to be the final live-action Marvel series that isn’t an expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The series follows a pair of estranged adult siblings, Daimon (Tom Austen) and Ana (Sydney Lemon), who happen to be the children of a demon dad that happens to also be a serial killer, and a mother who’s spent the last two decades possessed and institutionalized. As a result of their parentage, the siblings have supernatural powers and no shortage of emotional baggage.

The story kicks off when Daimon, who makes his living as an ethics professor and also happens to be a part-time exorcist, learns that the demon possessing his and Ana’s mother is attempting to carry out a mysterious sinister plot. He enlists Ana, an antiquities broker, to help figure out what’s going on. Naturally, they discover that the mystery goes far deeper–and potentially includes even more demons.

The first season of Helstrom consists of 10 episodes, 5 of which were provided for review. In those episodes, it’s clear that this isn’t like any other live-action Marvel TV series you’ve seen before. There’s no way around the fact that Helstrom is a horror show. It has monsters, some gore, and a number of jump scares to keep you entertained. That said, the show is far from perfect–and far from your best Halloween binge option this year.

Ultimately, Helstrom looks and plays like a CW series with a bigger budget, better production design, and a darker and more disturbing setting. All too often watching these first five episodes, the long-running Supernatural came to mind. In another world, it would be easy to see them paired together for a night of spooky sibling fun on The CW. Of course, Helstrom would have to tone down some of its content–the language and gore.

Still, being reminiscent of a CW show isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, that might be exactly what some are looking for: a show where the relationship drama is as prevalent as the supernatural setting it unfolds in. Yes, Daimon and Ana have interesting powers and find themselves literally fighting demons. However, at the end of the day, this is a story about two siblings dealing with the trauma from growing up as members of a seriously messed up family, while attempting to hold the threads of that family together as best they can.

To that end, Helstrom is a decent family drama. Austen and Lemon’s portrayal of the siblings is engaging as they attempt to heal themselves, while also learning to trust each other. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Marvel is truly heartbreaking as their mother Victoria, who rotates between being the captor and the captive as her human side becomes more and more consumed by the demon that possesses her.

The trio are surrounded by a set of supporting characters–Robert Wisdom as Caretaker, June Carryl as psychiatric hospital boss Louise Hastings, and Ariana Guerra as Vatican agent Gabriella Rossetti–who help guide them on their journey (or, in the case of Gabriella, attempt to keep an egotistical Daimon somewhat grounded).

Ultimately, the thing that sticks out most about Helstrom is what it could have been. In the comics, the character of Daimon Helstrom was introduced in an issue of Ghost Rider. Knowing that, it hardly seems a coincidence that this show was announced simultaneously with Hulu revealing it was making a live-action Ghost Rider TV show. While this series seemingly exists outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s clearly building out a supernatural world that would have worked well when combined with Ghost Rider. Unfortunately, the Ghost Rider project was canceled in September 2019. What’s more, after Helstrom was announced, executive producer and former head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb left the company, with most attention shifting to the MCU expansions on Disney+, including WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and more.

This leaves Helstrom in a tenuous place where it’s hard to get too invested because, honestly, it seems unlikely that it will continue beyond this initial season. In fact, casting even more doubt on a potential Season 2 was the report back in April that Marvel had ended its overall deal with Helstrom showrunner Paul Zbyszewski at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That said, Helstrom has the makings of a decent standalone piece. There’s nothing overtly bad about the show. The issue is that there’s also nothing remarkable about it. Nothing about it feels special, other than the fact that it’s simply something Marvel hasn’t tried before. It’s a middle-of-the-road entry into the horror space for Marvel–a space it may not visit again for a very long time.

Mosul, the military action movie produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, has found a home at Netflix, where it will release this November, according to a report from THR.

Written and directed by Matthew Michael Carnahan, who co-wrote World War Z and 21 Bridges (also Russo-produced), the movie retells the real-world events as first described in The New Yorker’s “The Desperate Battle to Destroy Isis.” The story centers around a group of Iraqi police on the Nineveh SWAT team as they defend their Northern Iraq town.

Mosul first premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2019, and then at the Toronto International Film Festival after that. The film was initially set for distribution in 2019 via 101 Studio, but plans fell through according to THR.

Mosul stars Suhail Dabbach (The Hurt Locker), Adam Bessa (Extraction), and Is’Haq Elias. The Russo Bros. produced the film alongside Mike Larocca and The New Yorker Studios. Todd Makurath, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are executive producing along with Mohamed Al-Daradji, Patrick Newall, Wang Zhongjun, Wang Zhonglei, and Hu Junyi.

Mosul is the second Russo-produced military action film to hit Netflix after this spring’s Extraction, which starred Chris Hemsworth. Following the completion of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, two huge, interconnected films, the Russos seem to have shifted away from blockbusters toward producing smaller and more self-contained stories.