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Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Is Getting A 4K Blu-Ray Release

More than 15 years after its initial release, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is getting a new edition–this time on 4K UHD Blu-ray. The 4K UHD version will include the additional footage added in the 2009 Blu-ray release, making this the definitive way to watch the animated follow-up to the classic Square Enix JRPG. Advent Children’s 4K UHD Blu-ray is available to preorder now at Amazon for $31.

$31

It’s worth noting that if you preorder a copy now, you’ll get the lowest price offered ahead of its June 8 release. Amazon often discounts Blu-rays below retail price before launch, so you might wind up paying less than the current $31 price. This edition also comes with standard Blu-ray and digital editions of the film.

Advent Children takes place two years after the events of Final Fantasy 7 and revolves around a mysterious disease that is running rampant. The disease has even afflicted Cloud Strife. If you’ve only played Final Fantasy VII Remake and don’t know the whole story from the original game, you may want to hold off on watching Advent Children. The movie assumes you know all of the plot points from the game.

The 4K UHD edition of Advent Children releases just two days before Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade launches on PS5. The upgraded edition runs in 60fps at higher resolutions with improved textures. It also comes with a bonus episode starring Yuffie. Those who own the PS4 version can upgrade to the PS5 edition for free but will have to pay extra for the Yuffie DLC.

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Elgato Cam Link Pro Is A Capture Card For Multi-Camera Streamers

Elgato has announced its latest capture card, a higher-end version of its Elgato Cam Link. The Elgato Cam Link Pro is a new internal HDMI interface that can ingest up to four different camera feeds. This allows for streamers to switch between four different shots on the fly, perfect for those who are shooting podcasts or studio shows. The Elgato Cam Link Pro is a high-end option for this kind of production, which brings with it a hefty price: $360.

$360

The Cam Link Pro is an internal PCIe card that requires a PCIe x4/x8/x16 slot. To use it effectively, you’ll need at least a 6th-gen Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 processor and a GTX 10-series graphics card. It supports up to 4K30, 1440p60, and 1080p60.

In addition to taking in each individual feed, you’re able to display any number of your four feeds as one single feed with Multiview. This means you can display two, three, or even four feeds at once in a Zoom call or switch between them on the fly with the Cam Link Pro’s built-in Stream Deck integration–it’s not required, but you can control the Cam Link Pro’s feeds with an Elgato Stream Deck.

The Elgato Cam Link Pro seems like a great option for streamers, and if you’re interested in more, check out our guide to the best streaming accessories. It covers everything from the best webcams and microphones to capture cards and more.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Patch Notes For April 8 Revealed

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has gotten its second update in as many days. The April 8 update for the military shooter introduces a new modes in the form of Gunfight Tournaments and Gunfight Blueprints, while a new Throwback Moshpit playlist is also now in the game.

In Gunfight Tournaments, sixteen teams fight in 2v2 Gunfight matches in a single-elimination tournament that progress through four rounds. You can earn rewards for winning matches, including an emblem, calling card, charm, and a weapon blueprint. Competitors will also get XP bonuses for each match you win.

The Gunfight Tournaments are scheduled to run for a week, ending on April 15. New tournaments start every five minutes, so you shouldn’t have to wait long to get involved.

Another new mode is Gunfight Blueprints, which is a 2v2 playlist that lets you try out some of the new weapon blueprints in Season 2. These matches play out on some of the smallest Black Ops Cold War maps, including the new Mansion map.

The Throwback Moshpit playlist, meanwhile, includes team deathmatch, domination, kill confirmed, and Hardpoint.

This Black Ops Cold War update also includes some fixes for the Zombies mode. In Dead Ops Arcade 3, the bug causing the Gladiator enemy to fail to spawn is now fixed. Additionally, this patch fixes an issue that could case the Gladiator’s aces to stay on the screen for longer than they should.

Additionally, Treyarch reminded players that double XP is now available in Black Ops Cold War for a period of four days, wrapping up on April 12. You can see the complete patch notes below, as posted by Treyarch on its website.

It’s not just Black Ops Cold War that’s getting new playlists, as the battle royale game Warzone also recently welcomed three new playlists.

Black Ops Cold War April 8 Patch Notes

GLOBAL

Events

  • Double XP Weekend
    • Four days of Double XP now available in Multiplayer, Zombies, and League Play through 10AM PT Monday, April 12.

MULTIPLAYER

Gunfight Tournaments

  • Sixteen teams of two clash in a 2v2 single-elimination tournament for exclusive rewards. Win and move on to the next round. Lose, and you’re out.
  • Register for a Tournament and get matched up with 31 other players of similar skill.
  • Each Tournament is broken up into 4 Rounds: Preliminaries, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and the Tournament Finals.
  • Each Tournament introduces new exclusive rewards as you win your way through the bracket. Rewards for the first Tournament include a new Emblem, Calling Card, Charm, and Assault Rifle Weapon Blueprint.
  • XP is also awarded as players win their way through each Tournament and can be earned repeatedly with each Tournament participation.

Modes

  • Control
    • Each segment captured by the Attackers will now add 20 seconds to the game clock. Time will no longer be added after capturing a single zone.
    • Overtime Defense is now awarded to the team that captures the most zone segments in the previous rounds. In the event of a tiebreaker, the team with the most kills will be awarded Defense in Overtime.
    • Also applies to CDL Control in League Play.

Featured Playlists

  • Gunfight Tournament [NEW]
  • Gunfight Blueprints [NEW]
  • Throwback Moshpit (also available in Hardcore)
  • Snipers Only Moshpit
  • Nuketown 24/7 (also available in Hardcore)
  • Prop Hunt
  • Face Off (also available in Hardcore)
  • Multi-Team Moshpit

ZOMBIES

Dead Ops Arcade 3

  • Enemies
    • Addressed an issue where the Gladiator enemy was not spawning under certain circumstances.
    • Addressed an issue where the Gladiator enemy’s axes remained on the screen longer than intended.

Featured Playlists

  • Outbreak
  • Firebase Z
  • Die Maschine
  • Dead Ops Arcade: First Person
  • Dead Ops Arcade
  • Onslaught (PS4/PS5)
  • Onslaught Containment (PS4/PS5)
  • Onslaught Nuketown (PS4/PS5)
  • Onslaught Apocalypse (PS4/PS5)

Now Playing: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Official “Season Two Reloaded” Trailer

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Destiny 2 Weapon Nerfs And Buffs Are Coming In Season 14

Bungie has provided a preview of some balance changes coming to Destiny 2 as part of the as-of-yet untitled Season 14. While numerous areas of the game will be tweaked, the latest weekly blog post keys in on changes to weapons, which will see certain swords and hand cannons nerfed, the effectiveness of certain perks reduced, and more.

Weapons feature lead Chris Proctor detailed a selection of changes, which will be further explained in future patch notes. Among the most wide-ranging changes are a nerf to Aggressive (120rpm) hand cannons. Proctor describes them as “very dominant” in PvP modes, so Bungie wants to “rein them in a bit.” It’s doing this by reducing the damage and aim assist falloff distance by 2-4 meters, depending on the given weapon’s Range stat. Proctor says this should tone down the Beyond Light buff to Aggressive hand cannons by about half.

Vortex Frame swords like Falling Guillotine will see their effectiveness reduced, but not by decreasing their damage. Bungie is increasing the amount of ammo a full-energy Heavy attack requires from 4 to 6, so you’ll need to be a bit more selective with how you attack. All swords and the Exotic weapon Bastion will also see the removal of chip damage, which is what allows you to bypass shields to deal direct damage. Proctor says chip damage causes a variety of issues, including problems with enemies in Stasis and the mechanics involved with certain encounters. (It’s not all bad news for Bastion, as it will intrinsically stagger Unstoppable Champions following the update.)

The Quickdraw perk will also see a nerf, as it currently provides more of a benefit than intended, offering a major boost to weapon handling. Proctor points out that this “completely negates” what is meant to be the drawback of using weapons with low Handling stats, like sniper rifles or Aggressive shotguns. After the update, the Handling bonus will go away after one second when switching to a weapon with Quickdraw, or as soon as you aim down sights. You’ll also see Quickdraw replaced by Surplus on both new and existing versions of two extremely dominant PvP weapons: the shotguns Felwinter’s Lie and Astral Horizon.

The Frenzy perk will also be nerfed due to how effective it is in PvE; you’ll now only get 15% bonus damage from it (as opposed to 20%). Reservoir Burst on fusion rifles will also be adjusted to increase magazine size but with reduced battery bonus damage (25%, down from 33%). Proctor also teased the need to make this change due to some upcoming content.

And finally, another Exotic, The Lament, will be nerfed due to it being a “clear outlier for sword damage.” Its revved Heavy attack will deal about 16% less damage, but it will still have anti-barrier effects even with chip damage being removed.

While these were the only specifics shared, Bungie did say that some underused perks and linear fusion rifles will be receiving buffs. Those changes should be outlined later in April.

Destiny 2 Season 14, whatever it ends up being called, is expected to launch in mid-May. It’ll bring with it some new and returning Iron Banner weapons.

Now Playing: The Devils’ Lair – Destiny VS Destiny 2 Comparison

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Asterix Live-Action Adaptation Lands Swedish Soccer Player Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Swedish soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic will make his movie debut in the upcoming fifth live-action adaptation of the French-originated and globally popular children’s franchise The Adventures of Asterix, according to Deadline. Ibrahimovic joins Vincent Cassel (Westworld), Guillaume Canet (Next Time I’ll Aim for the Heart), Gilles Lellouche (Love Me if You Dare), and Marion Cotillard (It’s Only the End of the World) for Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, which is currently in pre-production and expected to start filming later this spring.

Ibrahimovic will play Oneofus, Canet and Lellouche will play Asterix and Obelix respectively, and Cotillard will play Cleopatra. Announcements of other actors and their roles are still expected for the movie, which has a script co-written by Philippe Mechelen and Julien Hervé, who also recently wrote 2018’s Looking for Teddy. Canet will also direct.

As the original property, actor names, and films cited so far indicate, this will be an international story and production–Deadline indicates that production was originally expected to move forward in China, but was shelved for obvious reasons due to the pandemic, and will now take place in France and Morocco. The movie will revolve around the only daughter of the Chinese Emperor Han Xuandi, who escapes from the grips of a rogue prince and runs off to Gaul, seeking help from two valiant warriors, Asterix and Obelix.

Netflix recently announced it will be separately developing a 3D animated version of The Adventures of Asterix, expected to be released worldwide in 2022. This version will be produced in France.

Kangaroo Jack Star Confirms There Is An R-Rated Cut

It is widely known that the 2003 movie Kangaroo Jack began its life as an R-rated mobster movie called Down Under, but could the original edition that was film get a re-release in the wake of the Snyder Cut? Star Jerry O’Connell said in no uncertain terms that an R-rated cut of the movie exists that features a lot more adult content, including his own full frontal nudity. Don’t get your hopes up for it to be released, however.

“There is an R-rated cut of Kangaroo Jack out there. There is full frontal involved,” he told Kinda Funny. “We need the O’Connell cut.” Unfortunately, however, O’Connell remarked that “it’s never gonna happen.”

O’Connell mentioned in the interview that the first version of the movie featured a lot of cursing and nudity to capture its R rating. The executives decided to change the movie to a PG rating after testing it.

“They immediately tested the movie the second they had a cut of it. And everyone was like, ‘I was going to take my kids to this!’ They thought it was about a talking kangaroo,” he said.

O’Connell said he was upset to learn that the film executives changed the film to make it more appealing to children. “Wow, what a bummer. I thought this was going to be my Reservoir Dogs,” O’Connell said.

Also in the interview, O’Connell recalled how when he was informed that Kangaroo Jack would change to a PG rating, he was told this might impact the essence of the film. But O’Connell said he didn’t care; he was in his 20s and it was one of his first big-budget movies. He said he trusted producer Jerry Bruckheimer and others to make the right decision for the movie.

Kangaroo Jack is a surprisingly adult kids movie. The story follows two men played by Jerry O’Connell and Anthony Anderson who are recruited by a mob boss to deliver $10,000 to a contact in Australia. When they get Down Under, they accidentally hit a kangaroo with their car and they put a jacket on the animal as they pose to take a picture. Unbeknownst to them, the kangaroo is not dead, and he wakes up and hops off with the money.

This is an Australian legend, only that it was said to be two tourists who lost their passports instead of a wad of cash meant for a mob boss. Kangaroo Jack, the finished film that released with a PG rating, is filled with sexual innuendo and violence.

One of the main reshoots for Kangaroo Jack to change the tone and rating was a bizarre dream sequence involving the kangaroo who performs a rap. O’Connell said he was watching cartoons one day before the movie came out and he was surprised to see the ad for Kangaroo Jack featuring this sequence.

Kangaroo Jack also stars Christopher Walken and Michael Shannon as two mobsters. If you’re looking for more information on the change and reshoots, check out this excellent 2003 story from The Los Angeles Times.

An animated comedy called Kangaroo Jack: G’Day USA was released in 2004.

Exclusive: Hot Wheels Unleashed Gameplay Shows Off Lightning-Fast Racing

Hot Wheels Unleashed is the next game in the decades-long toy and video game franchise, and GameSpot has an exclusive new gameplay video showcasing the fast-paced micro-racer in action. Announced back in February, with an expected release on September 30 this year for current platforms, it will feature many of the familiar aspects of Hot Wheels, such as cool racing vehicles and complex orange tracks with some bizarre loops and turns.

Our recent hands-on with the game gave us a chance to check out three unique tracks: Spider Trial, Speed Vault, and Dragon’s Den. In keeping with Hot Wheels’ style and aesthetic, which features a variety of stylized muscle and sports cars, the races turned into hectic brawls on the track where crashes and conflicts with other racers were common.

What’s interesting about the pedigree behind Hot Wheels Unleashed is that it’s coming from developer Milestone, the same team behind racing sims like the MotoGP and Ride franchises. Just before the reveal, we spoke with lead game designer Federico Cardini from developer Milestone about the making of the game and what it was like jumping from one side of the racing genre to the more over-the-top side of an arcade racer.

“I’ll be honest, from a development side, it really made me ecstatic, I’d say. We are also fans of racing in general, and we really felt like with an arcade racer like this, we could show our love for the genre,” said Cardini while reflecting on Milestone’s jump from sim-racing to an arcade racer. “One of our most famous games is Screamer, from the nineties, and that was an arcade racer, and we have an incredible amount of knowledge and expertise on racing games. This is a great opportunity for us where we can really create something unique for a game like [Hot Wheels Unleashed] that uses our years of experience on racing games.”

In the final release coming this September, the full game will have 40 standard tracks and over 60 vehicles to collect and race in arcade mode and online. Including preorder bonuses vehicles, such as the GT-Scorcher and Track Manga vehicles, you can also expect to see DLC vehicles post-launch as well. The developer made tracks that ship with the game, and you can use the game’s track editor to make your own complex levels to test your skills and share with others online.

The most recent Hot Wheels game that fans got to check out was the tie-in DLC for Forza Horizon 4, which turned out to be a favorite activity in the online racing community. Hot Wheels Unleashed looks to be the kind of game that Hot Wheels fans have come to expect, which leans heavily into the over-the-top racing and fun tracks to race on.

Now Playing: Hot Wheels Unleashed Exclusive Gameplay

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Two New Maps Quietly Removed A Week After They Were Added

Infinity Ward added a trio of new maps to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare last week, but the studio has now quietly removed two of them without explanation.

Last week we reported that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which Activision had seemingly ended support for, received the classic Call of Duty 4 map Killhouse, as well as two new maps called Al-Raab Airbase and Drainage.

But, as spotted by Eurogamer, both of the new maps have now been removed, while Killhouse remains, accompanied by the Killhouse 24/7 playlist inside the game. Drainage and Al-Raab Airbase were previously playable in private matches, but if you log into the game now, you won’t be able to choose them during custom game setup.

It’s not clear why the maps were even added, never mind removed, and Activision nor Infinity Ward haven’t commented on the situation, which makes it all the more confusing. Hopefully, we’ll get an official explanation soon. We’ve contacted them for comment.

In other Call of Duty news, check out our article covering how the Season 2 update finally reduced the game’s massive file size. The actor behind Modern Warfare’s Mara character also recently got two Warzone cheats banned after calling them out during a Twitch stream.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Resident Evil Village Showcase Announced as New Demo Files Seemingly Appear

Capcom has announced a Resident Evil Village showcase for April 15, and files for a new ‘gameplay demo’ appear to have been uploaded to the PlayStation Network.

Announced on Twitter, Capcom says the showcase will include a new trailer and gameplay, “along with a few other surprises” on April 15 at 3pm Pacific / 6pm Eastern / 11pm UK (that’s April 16 at 8am AEST).

Those surprises could include the promised second demo for Resident Evil Village (which will be multi-platform). MP1st reports that files for a new demo have been uploaded to PlayStation Network’s backend, calling it a “Gameplay Demo” (presumably to differentiate from the previous Maiden demo, which was more of an interactive experience, with no combat included).

MP1st reports that the files are around 10GB in size, and includes Vita Remote Play controls, which suggests it can be played on PS4, PS5, or Vita. The Maiden demo was released alongside the last showcase, so it feels likely that Capcom will repeat that trick.

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We’re running an IGN First for Resident Evil Village throughout April, giving you exclusive looks at the game you won’t see anywhere else. We’ve already shown gameplay on PS4 Pro, and run you through the evolution of Lady Dimitrescu, and we have much more coming.

An open beta for the game’s multiplayer mode, RE:Verse is playable right now, and it feels likely we’ll see more of it in the showcase. It’s possible we may also learn more about live-action movie Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which will remake the first two games as a single film.

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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].