A bunch of upcoming Xbox One games have been highlighted in a new series by Microsoft’s ID@Xbox division. The Summer Spotlight Series specifically targets smaller projects by smaller teams, giving us a brand-new look at titles like Carrion, Dead Static Drive, SkateBird, and more.
The series consists of six videos, with each one diving into and showing off new games and gameplay. The videos themselves are short and feature someone from the development team of each spotlighted game discussing what the game is about, how the game plays, and, in some instances, a vague release window. You can check out the first Summer Spotlight Series video below.
Some of the videos also include footage newly released or highly anticipated titles, such as Cyber Shadow, ScourgeBringer, Super Meat Boy Forever. Below is a full list of all the games mentioned in the Summer Spotlight Series.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
Developer Experiment 101 showed off new Biomutant gameplay and provided an update on its development.
In an interview with IGN, creative director Stefan Ljungqvist went in-detail about some elements players can expect in Biomutant. Ljungqvist talked about the gigantic bosses and how they play pivotal roles in the game’s story, how the morphing character creator affects stats, the necessity of crafting the necessary gear to traverse the various biomes, and more. The entire interview was punctuated by bits and pieces of new gameplay, illustrating the scope of Biomutant’s world as we see expansive fields, deep waters, and everything in between.
Throughout the interview, Ljungqvist said Biomutant was the biggest game he had ever worked on, mentioning the game’s massive size on several occasions while disclosing that Biomutant is almost done. “We are at the end phase of development,” Ljungqvist said. “When you asked me at the beginning ‘what we’ve been doing,’ we’ve been doing the same thing. In a massive game like this–and it’s very big, like I said, the largest game I ever worked on–you will have issues. You will have technical challenges to overcome–and artistic too–but at this stage [of the project], it’s more like cleaning out. You know, we’re squashing bugs.”
Earlier this year, Experiment 101 said something similar, issuing a statement on Biomutant confirming that the game’s development was nearing completion. Apart from this, the last time we saw Biomutant was back in 2018 when Experiment 101 showed a lengthy gameplay session during Gamescom. While a release date is still unconfirmed, Biomutant will launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
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The centerpiece of Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Isle of Armor expansion is a new storyline that centers around Kubfu, a brand-new Legendary Pokemon that you’ll receive after you complete all three of the Master Dojo’s trials. Unlike most other Legendary Pokemon, Kubfu is actually able to evolve, and its evolution, Urshifu, can take one of two forms: Single Strike or Rapid Strike.
However, evolving Kubfu is a bit more involved than it may initially seem, and Urshifu’s two possible forms each have their own strengths and drawbacks. To help you decide which one to choose, we’ve put together this guide explaining how to evolve Kubfu and how its two evolutions compare. Isle of Armor story spoilers follow.
How To Evolve Kubfu
After you complete the Master Dojo’s three trials, Mustard will gift you the Legendary Pokemon Kubfu. To evolve it, you’ll need to challenge one of the Towers of Two Fists, but before you can do that, you’ll need to increase your friendship with Kubfu. Fortunately, this is much simpler than the usual methods of improving friendship with your Pokemon.
After you receive Kubfu, Mustard will mark down several areas on your map that have great views. You’ll need to visit three of these and speak to a dojo member at each to max out your friendship with Kubfu. It doesn’t matter which viewpoints you visit, so you have some flexibility over how you approach this trial. Once you’ve visited three of the areas, return to Mustard and you’ll earn the right to challenge either the Tower of Darkness or the Tower of Waters.
Each tower consists of five battles, but you can only select one of them to challenge, so think carefully before you begin. Your Kubfu will need to be at least level 70 to gain access to the tower, and it must be the only Pokemon in your party for the challenge. After you defeat the first four trainers, your final battle will be against Mustard, who uses his own Kubfu.
Your Kubfu will evolve differently depending on which of the two towers you challenge. If you complete the Tower of Darkness, it will evolve into Single Strike Urshifu, a Dark/Fighting type; if you complete the Tower of Waters, it will evolve into Rapid Strike Urshifu, a Water/Fighting type.
Which Kubfu Evolution Is Better?
Both Single Strike and Rapid Strike forms of Urshifu have the exact same Ability–Unseen Fist–and base stats, so neither is more powerful than the other. The biggest difference between the two forms is their potential movesets. Although they can learn many of the same attacks, Single Strike Urshifu is able to learn a handful of Dark-type attacks, including the signature move Wicked Blow. This attack deals damage and always results in a critical hit unless the opposing Pokemon has an Ability that prevents crits, such as Battle Armor or Shell Armor.
Similarly, Rapid Strike Urshifu is able to learn a handful of Water-type attacks. This form’s signature move is Surging Strikes, a multi-hit attack that strikes opponents three times. Although each hit has a fairly low base power, all three strikes are always critical hits unless the opposing Pokemon has the aforementioned Abilities.
Ultimately, which Urshifu you should choose comes down to personal preference. Single Strike Urshifu’s biggest drawback is its 4x weakness to Fairy Pokemon, which are fairly prevalent in competitive play, although it gains immunity from Psychic types. Meanwhile, Rapid Strike Urshifu’s Water typing opens up weaknesses to Grass and Electric Pokemon. Another point to keep in mind is that Water/Fighting is a less common type combination than Dark/Fighting. The only other Water/Fighting Pokemon is Poliwrath, while Pangoro and Scrafty share Single Strike Urshifu’s typing.
How To Get Gigantamax Urshifu
Both forms of Urshifu are capable of Gigantamaxing, although they won’t have that ability innately. As with your Galar starter, you’ll need to teach Urshifu how to Gigantamax, but you can’t simply feed it a regular Max Soup as you can other Pokemon; you need an additional ingredient for the dish called Max Honey.
Max Honey can only be obtained after defeating a Dynamax Vespiquen raid. You’ll be tasked with battling one on Honeycalm Island as part of Isle of Armor’s story. After you’ve obtained the Max Honey, you’ll need to combine it with three cluster of Max Mushrooms to create a special Max Soup that will give Urshifu the ability to Gigantamax.
Kubfu isn’t the only new Pokemon you can evolve in Isle of Armor; you can also evolve Galarian Slowpoke into Galarian Slowbro, a brand-new regional variant that comes with a unique Ability called Quick Draw and an exclusive Poison-type attack called Shell Side Arm. The Isle of Armor expansion also gives you the ability to teach certain Pokemon how to Gigantamax thanks to a special dish called Max Soup.
While Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins has hinted at plans for a third movie in the series, it doesn’t sound like that sequel will be happening right away.
Jenkins spoke to Total Film Magazine (via Batman News), saying the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled her to stop and reassess her future plans for the DC film franchise, which includes both Wonder Woman 3 and a planned spinoff focused on the Amazons.
“I’ve really hit the pause button,” Jenkins told Total Film. “Because the truth is, where that plotline was coming from was our state of being six months ago. And so I want to make sure that I’m totally absorbing whatever the result of this pandemic is.”
“We’re not starting to work on that movie right away,” Jenkins continued. “I’m hoping to do this Amazon movie before we do the third Wonder Woman. And I may not do either of them. You never know what will happen in this world, you know? But yes, I think the plotline will stay very similar, probably. But I want to make sure it’s influenced by all of this.”
Previously, Jenkins indicated the third Wonder Woman movie won’t be a period piece like its predecessors, but will instead take place in the present-day DC Universe.
While Wonder Woman 3 may be on the back-burner for now, the upcoming Flash movie may give us a better idea of the future scope of DC’s cinematic universe. Michael Keaton is reportedly in talks to reprise his Batman role for that movie, setting the stage for Keaton’s Batman to play a Nick Fury-like role in the DCEU. Perhaps this iconic Batman will have a part to play in Wonder Woman 3 as well?
Surgeon Simulator 2 will take the first game’s brutally amusing cartoon operations, and add a much wider game around it – from larger, more varied levels, to 4-player co-op, to customisation, and even an entire level creation suite.
In a game overview video revealed at IGN Expo today, we got a first look at the sequel’s many additions, all set in the new Bossa Labs medical facility, a varied set of areas to unlock, featuring new items like the Anatomy Vendor, multiple new tools to operate with, and dozens of physics-enabled objects to accidentally knock over.
The video also introduces the game’s four characters, Penny, Kamal, Heather and Milo, all of whom can be used in 4-player co-op, and can be customised with new costumes and a variety of finger ornaments.
We also got a look at the Bossa Labs Creation Mode, which opens up the streamlined level creation tools used by the developers themselves. Level designs can run from medical, to sci-fi, to fantasy, and can be uploaded for other players to try.
Pre-ordering the standard version of the game on Epic Games Store will open up closed beta access and an exclusive Mad Scientist costume, with the Deluxe Edition offering more on top of that.
There’s more to see from today’s IGN Expo, and we’re running the Summer of Gaming throughout June – here’s the Summer of Gaming full schedule. All month, we’re supporting some incredibly important causes – the World Health Organisation and The Bail Project – if you are able, help us support them too at donate.ign.com.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Anyone in the market for a new smartwatch can score a pretty sweet deal on the full line of the latest model of Apple Watch. Amazon has at least one of each variant of Apple Watch Series 5 on sale for $100 off. Or, if you’re not looking to drop that kind of cash, you can save $20 on every Apple Watch Series 3 option, bringing the baseline model down to $179. Here’s what’s on sale.
The Apple Watch Series 5 is the newest smartwatch in the lineup. One of its key features compared to previous models is its always-on Retina display. That means you no longer have to tilt your wrist and hope the display lights up to see what time it is, or to check on your notifications.
Aside from that, most of the newer features are designed to track and monitor your health. With the new ECG app, you can monitor your heart rate and check your heart rhythm. It offers fall detection and can automatically alert your emergency contacts. It has a Noise app that gives you an alert when the volume of the world around you reaches a level that could impact your hearing.
New features aside, it has all the things that made the previous four models great. It tracks all your workouts, offers super-fast Apple Pay, and connects you with the wide variety of watch apps that are available.
If you can live without those high-tech new features and don’t need a 44mm model, you can save quite a bit of money by picking up the Apple Watch Series 3. Every model is $20 off at Amazon right now.
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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.
This time around, multiple people in the company who have been at the venue are now testing positive for the coronavirus, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet. The names of the talent have not been revealed, but at least three people now have the virus, and this includes in-ring talent.
Reportedly, WWE will now be administrating more testing before TV production for this week, to ensure the virus hasn’t spread any further.
In Florida, where the Performance Center is located, there has been a surge of confirmed cases of the virus. On Wednesday, the state confirmed a record-setting 5,500+ cases of COVID-19. This is the highest single-day count for Florida. 44 people have died within the last day, bringing the death toll to 3,281. The spike comes from people aged 25-34 according to a state report.
Another entry in Klei Entertainment’s isometric survival horror franchise Don’t Starve is headed to mobile devices. The studio announced Don’t Starve: Newhome, a free-to-play mobile game published by Tencent Games, along with a closed beta scheduled for next month.
Newhome will bring all the familiar Don’t Starve elements–the Tim Burton-inspired art style, challenging survival and exploration gameplay, and the like–to Android and iOS devices. According to a press release, Don’t Starve: Newhome will have “all-new features” specifically designed for mobile devices, such as cooperative multiplayer modes, faster play sessions, and more.
In addition to the announcement, Klei also confirmed that Don’t Starve: Newhome will have a closed beta that will take place in mid-July, though it will only be available to players in Canada and the US. Whatever progress you make won’t carry over to the full game when it launches, but participating players will receive an in-game item for reaching an undisclosed level. You can sign up for the Don’t Starve: Newhome closed beta here.
You can check out the official cinematic trailer and screenshots below.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Ex-Machina, there have been many movies about artificial intelligence over the years. It was perhaps inevitable that we’d eventually get an AI movie star, and it seems that day is here. It’s been reported that a new sci-fi movie is in development, and it’s set to star an AI robot named Erica.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is simply titled “b.” The film has a reported budget of $70 million, but does not yet have a director attached. The story will “follow a scientist who discovers dangers associated with a program he created to perfect human DNA and helps the artificially intelligent woman he designed escape.”
Erica was originally built as part of a joint robotics project between Osaka and Kyoto universities, led by scientist by Hiroshi Ishiguro. She now has own IMDB page, and you can watch a 2018 video of her below, in which she introduces herself and interacts with the public:
Erica has been taught how to “act” using the principles of method acting. Co-writer and producer Sam Khoze told THR how Erica has been adapted to work on the movie. “In other methods of acting, actors involve their own life experiences in the role,” he said. “But Erica has no life experiences. We had to simulate her motions and emotions through one-on-one sessions, such as controlling the speed of her movements, talking through her feelings and coaching character development and body language.”
