Category: Games

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We finally got a chance to experience the UI for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S and like Microsoft said, it looks a lot like the Xbox One’s current UI. If you’re already in the Xbox ecosystem, the UI for Series X/S should look very familiar to you.

In the video above, Michael Higham shows off the Xbox Series X’s speed–booting the console up, navigating through the UI, and jumping into a game and playing around when he should be working (jk, Michael, we love you and appreciate you handling all these Xbox previews).

All in all, the whole process is pretty seamless and there’s very little waiting time involved. So when the Xbox Series X and Series S are here and we all have the chance to check them out, we shouldn’t have to wait too long between turning the console on and jumping into a game.

Speaking of, quite a few games will be available to play on Xbox Series X/S at launch. As Microsoft’s next-gen consoles support backwards compatibility, you’ll have access to select titles in your back catalog of Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Xbox games. Plus, there’s all the titles available on Xbox Game Pass. If you’re looking for something new, we’ve rounded up all of the games launching alongside or close to the Xbox Series X/S release date of November 10.

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While movie theaters and the movie-going experience overall have both been on increasingly shaky ground this year, the horror genre has been gaining ground and making a strong return. Against this backdrop, Scream 5 has been becoming increasingly into focus with early details about what to expect from the upcoming entry for the slasher series that dates all the way back to 1996. Actor Neve Campbell, who has been a part of the franchise since it first started, made a recent appearance to share her excitement for what’s ahead on CBS’ The Talk–you can see the full clip below.

During the brief segment, Campbell shares how she was initially reluctant to return to Scream, and her concerns over carrying on with the movies after the prolific and iconic horror filmmaker Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) who originated them died in 2015.

“I had been apprehensive because our incredible director Wes Craven passed away and I wasn’t sure about doing a film without him,” said Campbell. “But the new directors came to me with this beautiful letter, saying they’ve become directors and love film because of these films and because of Wes. And they really want to be true to his story and his journey with these films. So, I was really happy to hear that… you guys, I’m 47, and I’m going to be covered in blood!”

Also returning for the new Scream outing will be series stalwarts and original cast members Courteney Cox (Friends) and David Arquette (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The aforementioned directors praised by Campbell are Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (Devil’s Due) and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not).

Scream 5 is due to hit theaters on January 14, 2022, and while we don’t know too much about the plot, you can read everything that we know so far here.

There is a lot of The Walking Dead in the world. The main AMC series is currently in Season 10, the spin-off Fear the Walking Dead is in Season 6, and there is a brand-new companion show The Walking Dead: World Beyond currently airing. But if you’re someone who is just getting into the show for the first time, how can you catch up? Luckily, most of The Walking Dead is available to watch online.

What’s more, if you don’t have cable, there are ways to keep up with all these shows as they air, provided you don’t mind throwing down some cash on a few streaming services. Things do get a little bit tricky, as all The Walking Dead shows aren’t just on one of the big streaming platforms. Here is how to watch them all.

The Walking Dead

If you’re looking to catch up on nine seasons of the flagship series, which mostly features Rick Grimes and company killing walkers, running a town, and battling crazed survivors (until Rick is written off the show, that is), then the best place to watch old episodes of the show is on Netflix. Seasons 1-9 of The Walking Dead are available on the streaming service.

If you don’t have a Netflix subscription–which at this point seems odd–you can still watch random episodes of the show on Pluto, the free live streaming and on-demand service. Sadly, with Pluto, you can’t watch on demand, like you can with a lot of other programming on that platform. There is a channel called Stories By AMC, and it plays a lot of The Walking Dead on it, which is your only option there.

Additionally, the current season of the series can be watched on the AMC website–with a boatload of commercials–or ad-free on AMC+. The new service lets you watch all of AMC’s programming, ad-free, for $9 a month. Both new and old seasons are available on the site.

Fear The Walking Dead

While Season 6 is airing on AMC currently, featuring a rollercoaster of a ride with Morgan, catching up on the show is super-simple if you’re new. Seasons 1-5 are all available on Hulu, so getting up-to-date on a show that isn’t tied to a comic book–so you don’t really know what’s coming–is easy.

New episodes are available on AMC and full seasons on AMC+.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond

AMC’s latest series The Walking Dead: World Beyond just started airing on the network. Currently, it is not on Hulu, Netflix, or any other name-brand streaming service. However, you can catch the show on AMC’s website, but like mentioned above, you’ll be sitting through a lot of commercials, so you may just want to pony up for AMC+ if you’re not going to watch it live.

New episodes are available on AMC and AMC+.

Other options

Of course, if you have live TV that has AMC in the package, you may be able to stream on demand through that service. The cheapest live TV service that offers this–as well as the ability to watch all three Walking Dead shows–is Philo. It’s $20 a month for the service, which gives you access to more than 60 live TV channels and on demand.

Or you could just go the route of purchasing entire seasons or single episodes of the the shows. Full seasons of all three AMC zombie shows are available for purchase on Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, and more digital retailers.

Since its release back in 2009, Demon’s Souls has had a major impact on the gaming industry. Though it’s overshadowed by its successor, Dark Souls, and the enormous influence that game and its sequels have had on developers all over the world, much of what made Dark Souls so interesting was first explored and made possible by Demon’s Souls. In November, players who missed out on Demon’s Souls when it came out on the PlayStation 3 will have a new chance to take a crack at it, with a full remake of the game among the launch titles for Sony’s next-generation console.

That means that the new Demon’s Souls is fast approaching, so it’s time to run down everything we’ve learned about one of the PlayStation 5‘s biggest launch titles. Here’s what you need to know about the return of the seminal entry in the Soulsborne genre.

Demon’s Souls Remake Release Date, Platforms

Demon’s Souls is launching alongside the PlayStation 5, which means it’ll release on November 12, when the console does. Right now, that’s the only platform to expect Demon’s Souls on–although there was a brief moment when it looked like we might get Demon’s Souls on PC as well. The trailer revealed during a recent PS5 game showcase listed the game for both PS5 and PC, but Sony corrected the record. That might mean a PC version is in the offing sometime in the future, but on November 12, you’ll need a PS5 to play the remake.

What Exactly Is Demon’s Souls?

Even if you’re familiar with Dark Souls and the games that came after it, you might have missed the bus on Demon’s Souls and find yourself wondering what it’s all about–and why you should care.

Demon’s Souls is the prototypical Souls game, so it carries a bunch of the hallmarks of the formula that has come to define From Software’s titles in the years since. You play a lone warrior venturing into a dark fantasy land dominated by monsters and demons, where your goal is to slay enemies to gain the souls they carry. Those souls can be spent on leveling your character up by adjusting your stats, which can alter the game by allowing you to use different weapons, speeding up your actions, or giving you access to magic. If you die, however, you lose what souls you’ve earned but haven’t spent, so planning and strategizing, playing carefully, and managing risk are all key to the experience.

Most of how you play the game is dictated by a stamina meter that determines how much you can run, swing your sword, or block incoming blows. In combat, Demon’s Souls is largely about managing your stamina meter and timing, making sure to block certain attacks, dodge others, and strike when you have an opening–without overcommitting and leaving yourself open. Like the other Souls games, part of the fun of Demon’s Souls is its difficulty–it’s a world where enemies can lay you out with just one or two hits, demanding that you be attentive and careful if you want to succeed.

Gallery

Demon’s Souls takes place in the cursed land of Boletaria, where the king has made use of an ancient power called the Soul Arts, and in doing so, awakened a demon from the dawn of time called the Old One. As a result, the demon has blanketed Boletaria in a dense fog that unleashed all sorts of monsters. Those monsters want human souls, and they’ve hunted the people of Boletaria, ripping their souls free to feed on them–and leaving the soulless to fall to madness and attack any who’ve survived.

Your job as a lone warrior venturing into Boletaria is to free it from the curse of the Old One once and for all, but it isn’t going to be easy. As with Dark Souls, you should be prepared to die.

Like most of the other Souls games, Demon’s Souls also features a multiplayer component. It allows you to either summon other players to help you fight through the monsters and bosses you face, or invade the worlds of other players to add to their woes (and they can invade yours, too). Though you’ll need a PlayStation Plus subscription to access Demon’s Souls’ multiplayer, you will still be able to see the notes other players leave to either warn you of or trick you about incoming threats.

It’s A Remake From Bluepoint Games

Like Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls was originally developed by From Software, which has gone on to create a bunch of titles using pieces of the formula, including Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The remake is retaining all the design of the original, with updated visuals and audio.

However, the developer behind the remake is Bluepoint Games, which was responsible for the gorgeous PS4 remake of Team ICO’s Shadow of the Colossus, a game originally released on PlayStation 2. That remake maintained everything from the original, with updated graphics and additional touches like a photo mode. It’s likely we can expect the same treatment here: the classic Demon’s Souls gameplay but with a much more impressive, modern presentation.

The Original Was Phenomenal

Demon’s Souls might be the lesser-known Souls title, but among those who have played it, it’s extremely well-regarded. GameSpot gave the original Demon’s Souls a 9 when we reviewed it, and named it 2009’s Game of the Year. As GameSpot reviewer Kevin VanOrd put it 11 years ago: “Perhaps the game’s greatest triumph, however, is that it takes qualities normally associated with frustration and discomfort–constant trial and error, slow progression, harsh enemies–and makes them virtues. It may have an unusual and unforgiving set of rules, but it stays true to them and, in the process, draws you in like few RPGs can. Demon’s Souls is a stark and sulky beauty and is one of the finest games of 2009.”

So if you’re wondering why you should care about the remake of Demon’s Souls in 2020, its past performance, coupled with the huge impact of the Souls titles on the gaming landscape in the years since, are pretty good reasons.

Reveal Trailer

Our first look at the remade Demon’s Souls came with the PS5 announcement event. You can check out the trailer below.

Gameplay Trailer

Later, when Sony showed off a bunch of upcoming PS5 games during its showcase event, we got a closer look at Demon’s Souls.

What Does The Remake Entail?

On its official webpage for the game, Sony has run down what you can expect from the improvements to Demon’s Souls when you fire it up on your next-gen console. It’ll sport two graphical modes: the high-resolution 4K mode, and a high-frame rate mode. We’re not exactly sure what frame rate to expect in either mode just yet, however.

The PS5 sports a few technological advancements over the PS4 and PS3 that are getting worked into Demon’s Souls as well. If you’ve got headphones that support it, you can take advantage of the consoles Tempest 3D AudioTech, which should make Demon’s Souls sound even more immersive. Another big push for the console is the haptic feedback baked into the new DualSense controller, although we don’t know exactly how that’ll amplify Demon’s Souls just yet.

Demon’s Souls Remake Versions And Price

There are two versions of Demon’s Souls that will be available on release day. The first is the usual standard edition, which gets you only the base game for $70. There’s also a second version, called the Demon’s Souls Digital Deluxe edition, which comes with some additional in-game items. That version will run you $90.

The items in the Demon’s Souls Digital Deluxe edition seem likely to make it a bit easier to survive the game’s opening hours. You’ll get some armor, weapons, and items to use, as well as the Demon’s Souls original soundtrack. Here’s the full list of in-game items:

• Red-Eye Knight Amor
• Boletarian Royalty Armor
• Ritual Blade
• Hoplite Shield
• Ring of Longevity
• Preservation Grains
• Phosphorescent Grains
• Bearbug Grains
• A Legendary Hero Soul
• A Renowned Warrior Soul
• A Storied Warrior Soul
• A Large Hardstone Shard
• A Moonlightstone Shard

The $70 price tag for the standard version of Demon’s Souls is a notable change from the usual price for AAA games. For more than a decade, games have been coming in at $60, but most of the games coming to PS5 will cost $10 more. That seems to be an increasing trend among all next-gen games, in fact. For more details, see our Demon’s Souls preorder guide.

Compared To The PS3 Version

The upgrade of Demon’s Souls from the PS3 is pretty substantial, as one might guess, but it’s tough to really picture until you see the two games stacked against one another. To make it very clear, GameSpot created a video that shows the two side by side. Check it out below.

There Might Be Something Called “Fractured Mode”

We don’t know much about new features Demon’s Souls might include, but we do know there might be some new things added to the remake not present in the original. Like the mentioned-but-deleted PC version, an early description of the Demon’s Souls remake mentioned something called “Fractured Mode,” but there were no clues as to what that actually was. Subsequent descriptions of the game, including the official PlayStation store preorder page, don’t mention Fractured Mode, so who knows what it is–or whether it’ll actually be part of the Demon’s Souls remake.

That said, there’s some speculation about what Fractured Mode may be if it does appear in the remake. Mods for the original Demon’s Souls randomize the placement of enemies, items, weapons, and more, in order to create a fresh experience–and including something similar in the remake would make sense to make the game appealing to hardcore veterans. But there’s still no real information to go on about Fractured Mode, and it’s very possible it was never a feature in the game at all. We’ll have to wait until November 12 to find out.

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Back in February, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising released in US theaters right before movie-going became a thing we just can’t do right now. If you missed seeing the anime in theaters, don’t worry because it’s coming to a TV screen near you on October 27.

There are plenty of places to pick up My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising on Blu-ray. However, depending on where you buy it, you can get some pretty cool packaging or some extra fun things, which we have highlighted below.

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is directed by Kenji Nagasaki with a script from Yosuke Kuroda, both are regulars on the main MHA anime. The home release lacks exciting special features. There’s a behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and some promo videos, but nothing else. However, the film does come with Blu-ray, DVD, and a digital copies, so you have multiple ways to watch it.

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Some PlayStation 5 buyers may soon open their doors to an unexpected surprise–a preordered accessory absent from the next-gen system. Sony’s website currently indicates that it plans to ship certain PlayStation 5 accessories early, dating them for October 30.

According to the PlayStation website, the DualSense controller, HD Camera, Media Remote, DualSense Charging Station, and Pulse 3D Wireless Headset all release on October 30. This is two weeks before the PlayStation 5 launches on November 12.

A Twitter user named Mike Y. screenshot an email from PlayStation. The email said the company is excited to ship the accessories early. It’s unclear what accessories Mike will receive in the coming weeks, as the email simply says “PS5 Digital.”

Some retailers like Target also confirm the October 30 release date. Other stores, such as Best Buy and Walmart, still display a November 12 launch for accessories.

This comes not long after Sony finally unveiled the user interface for PlayStation 5, which looks to be snappier and more intuitive than previous iterations. There’s a new feature called Game Help that offers hints and tips baked right into the system’s interface. However, this feature is exclusive to PlayStation Plus subscribers, who also get access to the vault of classic PlayStation 4 games through the PS Plus Collection.

PlayStation 5 comes in two variants, the Digital Edition for $400 and standard edition for $500, both launching on November 12. Check out our PlayStation 5 preorder guide to find out which stores have available stock.