The US Army esports team has returned to Twitch after voluntarily leaving the platform last month. The stream is still ongoing, but it opened with a long period of time in which a lone streamer sat on camera while viewers in chat spammed messages like “WARCRIMES.”
The chat flooded with messages about white phosphorus, the defunding of the USPS, US war crimes, and more as Chris “Goryn” Jones sat on camera awkwardly. He did answer some of the more straightforward questions, like who his favorite Twitch streamer is, between long, uncomfortable pauses. He eventually started playing World of Warcraft for around 1,500 viewers.
“Everybody has the ability to their own opinions,” Jones said while browsing through chat messages. The stream started under the “just chatting” section on Twitch before he hopped onto the MMO.
The US Army’s presence on Twitch became the subject of controversy in July after it joined the platform as part of an outreach and recruitment initiative. The US Army and the US Navy have banned viewers who ask or talk about war crimes, which is potentially a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. Twitch stepped in and stopped the US Army from promoting the fake giveaways that would give viewers’ information to military recruiters.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted down a measure that would have prevented the Army and other branches of the military from recruiting on platforms like Twitch on July 30. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed the amendment but 103 Democrats, who currently have the majority in the House of Representatives, joined Republicans in voting it down.
Publisher Activision has announced that Call of Duty Mobile‘s Season 9 starts on Saturday, August 15. Titled Conquest, the new season introduces a fresh battle pass, an added game mode, and more.
The headlining feature of Season 9: Conquest is the extra Battle Royale areas. The in-game Battle Royale map has been updated to include four new locations for players to loot weapons and battle enemies in. This includes Campground, Dormitory, Outpost, and Radar Base, all of which house the new Armor Plate item that repairs damaged armor so that you can stay in the fight a little bit longer. In addition to the updated Battle Royale map, Multiplayer has been refreshed with the brand-new close-quarters map Shipment 1944.
Activision shared a roadmap of Season 9’s content, which outlines what’s now live and what’s to come.
A lot is coming to Call of Duty Mobile this month.
Elsewhere in Season 9, players can further customize weapons with the addition of Gunsmith, a feature seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Just as expected, Gunsmith lets players personalize their favorites guns with over 50 new attachments, 20 new reticles, and 60 weapon levels. Battle Royale also supports Gunsmith.
And of course, Season 9 comes with a new battle pass with free and premium tiers that features new characters, weapon skins, weapon charms, a new scorestreak, a new weapon, and more. Victor Reznov from the Black Ops series and World at War can be unlocked via the premium tier while the new Kilo Bolt-Action Rifle can be obtained by reaching tier 21 on the free battle pass.
Coming later this month is a new game mode and marquee event. The 10v10 Featured Playlist increases the player count and includes Domination and Team Deathmatch on Crossfire, Meltdown, Shipment, and Takeoff. Meanwhile, the Finest Hour marquee event lets players assemble an army to conquer cities on a virtual map. Those who succeed in their takeovers will earn characters and weapons for each city seized.
Season 9: Conquest also packages various user interface updates, weapon balances, and gameplay optimizations. Activision has yet to outline these changes.
Don’t look now, but loads of new LEGO Super Mario sets are now available to purchase. It’s almost upsetting how many of these sets they released all at once, or at least upsetting for our bank accounts. First there’s the Starter Set, which you need to have in order to use the heap of expansions that are also available. Then there’s a handful of Power-Up Packs to give Mario new looks and special abilities, and even blind bag character packs. Friends, it’s a lot.
If you’re interested in building LEGO Mario levels, the first thing you need to pick up is the Starter Set. That’s the only one that comes with the main man himself. And without Mario, you won’t have much fun with the expansions. You can also check out the LEGO Super Mario app that accompanies these sets.
Some of the sets are selling out at various retailers (looking at you, Amazon), so you might want to grab any you want sooner rather than later. If you don’t find what you want in stock at the links above, you can try the LEGO Store or Target, as they’re also available at those retailers. And if you’d like to see what we thought of it, check out our LEGO Super Mario hands-on look. Now go out there and start building.
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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.
To further back up the evidence of some shows being broadcast on both services, DC Universe’s original content will be moved to HBO Max, according to DC Publisher Jim Lee.
“The original content that is on DCU is migrating to HBO Max,” Lee said. “Truthfully, that’s the best platform for that content. The amount of content you get, not just DC, but generally from WarnerMedia, is huge and it’s the best value proposition, if I’m allowed to use that marketing term. We feel that is the place for that.”
Doom Patrol, which originated on DC Universe, had its second season simulcast on HBO Max, while the first two seasons of DCU’s animated series Harley Quinn recently made their way to the service. It’s unclear when other programs, like Titans, will make the jump as well.
In regards to what’s going to happen to DCU, it will continue to exist. Lee said it’s in the process of a transformation and that news of what that transformation looks like will come later.
On the comics side of things, Lee said DC is still “absolutely” publishing comics, “one hundred percent.”
“It is still the cornerstone of everything that we do,” Lee said. “The need for storytelling, updating the mythology, is vital to what we do. The organization leans on us to share and establish the meaningful elements of the content that they need to use and incorporate for all their adaptations.”
“When we think about reaching global audiences, and we see comics as helping drive that awareness and that international brand, it’s very much part of our future.”
While the company is committed to continue publishing comics, its overall slate of comic offerings will be reduced. He said the company will focus on increasing the margins of the books being sold and taking a look at the bottom 20% of the line that “wasn’t breaking even or was losing money” and determining how best to proceed with those comics.
DC fans can expect to hear more about the company’s future offerings across comics, TV, movies, and video games at the upcoming DC FanDome event on Aug. 22. WB Games Montreal’s possible Batman game is expected to make an appearance there alongside Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game. Here’s the full DC FanDome schedule including panels, how to watch, and more.
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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
The title brings to mind a certain 2017 comic book mini-series called Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, so by diving into that comic event, we may glean some details about possible playable characters, hero bosses, surprise villains, and more.
The comic was written by Joshua Williamson with art by Jason Fabok, Jesús Merino, Fernando Pasarin, Robson Rocha, and Howard Porter.
Warning: full spoilers for Justice League vs. Suicide Squad ahead!
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Possible Story
Image credit: DC
The story of Justice League vs. Suicide Squad is filled with dozens of characters and almost as many game-changing plot twists. It starts with both the titular teams responding to a terrorist attack, but instead of focusing on the threat, they start fighting each other. In a surprising turn of events, the Justice League is defeated and imprisoned in Belle Reve under Amanda Waller’s watch.
But as things usually go with these sorts of stories, a villainous mastermind wanted all this to happen as part of their insidious plan. Enter: telepathic bad guy Maxwell Lord.
Image credit: DC
Turns out Lord orchestrated all of this with the help of the first-ever Suicide Squad team (more on them in a bit) because he wants to take over the world by possessing the Justice League and using them to do his evil bidding. To do that he bolsters his own mind control powers with the Eclipso Diamond, which was hidden inside Belle Reve.
Image credit: DC
Batman is able to avoid getting mind controlled along with a few others, so it then falls on him to assemble this ragtag group survivors – Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Killer Frost and Lobo – to stop Lord.
Image credit: DC
It’s quite the ambitious story – perhaps too ambitious for one video game to recap in its entirety – so we imagine that this story may simply inspire the plot of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and what we get in the game will be more of a streamlined remix.
The main reason we think the game will at least somewhat follow this comic, aside from the obvious fact that it pits the Squad against the League, is a small detail in the teaser poster that seems to point to the inclusion of classic DC villain Eclipso. The ancient evildoer’s signature purple energy and cracked white skin appear to be afflicting Superman, just like it does when Eclipso possesses someone in the comics.
Image credit: Rockstready/DC
Eclipso’s power comes from the cursed Heart of Darkness gem, AKA the Eclipso Diamond, and when Maxwell Lord uses the gem in the comic he loses control of his own mind and becomes a puppet of the godlike Eclipso, who wants to outright destroy the world instead of rule it. This sets up the final confrontation and an epic challenge for Batman’s team to overcome.
We could imagine that the game will see Eclipso possess the Justice League and force them to commit atrocities across the globe; with all heroes compromised, the last hope for humanity is Amanda Waller and her team of criminal misfits. The members of the Suicide Squad must then take down each member of the Justice League (probably not by literally killing them) and bring them back to their senses in order to topple the real enemy.
It’s a toss up as to whether Maxwell Lord will show up as the evil mastermind like in the comic, but given that he’s the premiere villain in the upcoming movie Wonder Woman 1984, it wouldn’t surprise us if he’s in the game to capitalize on the character’s rising star.
Image credit: Warner Bros
And if you want to toss in a twist, maybe Rocksteady’s favorite hero, Batman, avoids getting possessed by Eclipso just like in the comic, and he’s the one who instructs the Suicide Squad on how to defeat each of his teammates. We all know Batman has a plan to disable each of his allies just in case they become compromised, so it actually makes sense for him to fill this role.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Playable Characters
Because we’re presumably going to be suiting up as members of the Suicide Squad, let’s try to piece together the potential roster of playable characters.
If we’re going by the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad comic, then the roster might include Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Deadshot, Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, El Diablo, and Killer Frost. That’s essentially the first Suicide Squad movie lineup with Killer Frost added in.
Image credit: DC
Killer Frost is one of the main characters of the comic, and as a fresh recruit to the ranks of Task Force X, she acts as a gateway character for the audience to learn about how it all works – for instance, how there’s a tiny bomb implanted at the base of her neck that’ll go off if she disobeys orders. It’s Killer Frost’s emotional arc that grounds the story as she proves she’s not all bad by risking her life to save the world with her icy powers. She could fulfill a similar role in the game.
It’s unclear whether Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be connected to Rocksteady’s existing Batman Arkham universe, but if it does indeed take place within that world, then we may already have a key piece of information thanks to Batman: Arkham Origins. The post-credits stinger at the end of Arkham Origins shows Deathstroke being recruited to the Suicide Squad by none other than Amanda Waller. It’s a given that Waller would show up in a Suicide Squad game because, duh, but if we’re in the same continuity then we may also get to play as Deathstroke. We’ve also seen that universe’s iterations of Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, and Deadshot across the four Arkham games.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Hero Bosses
If we’re playing a game with the (admittedly morbid) goal of hunting down the Justice League members, then it stands to reason that each hero would wind up being a formidable boss. The hero roster in the comic includes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Green Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz.
Image credit: DC
It goes without saying that the game can and will shake up the Justice League roster, and there are a few ways they could do that. While Superman is confirmed in the teaser image and Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman seem like roster staples thanks to the Justice League movie solidifying their A-List status, the Green Lantern slots feel a bit more flexible. It wouldn’t surprise us if they consolidated that duo into a single Green Lantern, probably the classic Hal Jordan. That could free up room for another hero like Shazam, Hawkgirl, or Martian Manhunter. And of course, there’s no real limit on how many Justice League characters could be included.
In the comic, each member of the Suicide Squad was pitted against a specific member of the Justice League based on who had the best chance to beat them in a fight. Deadshot went up against Batman, Enchantress took on Superman with her powerful spells, Killer Croc took on Aquaman underwater, Killer Frost battled Cyborg, El Diablo fought both Green Lanterns, Captain Boomerang squared off with his nemesis The Flash, and, for reasons we can’t explain, Harley Quinn went after Wonder Woman. It’s possible that each chapter of the story will see us controlling a different member of the Squad, and those chapters will culminate with a face-off against their nemesis on the Justice League.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Villains
We’ve already covered Maxwell Lord and Eclipso, but Justice League vs. Suicide Squad has even more villains.
As we mentioned before, the story also features a surprise third team. In the comic, it’s revealed that the “X” in Task Force X actually stands for the number 10, meaning there were other incarnations of the Suicide Squad that no one knew about. Maxwell Lord reassembles the original Suicide Squad team that was first used and discarded by Amanda Waller, promising them vengeance against her and her current team. They wind up just being a means to an end for Lord to achieve his ultimate goal.
Image credit: DC
There are already two sizable teams in this story, but if the game wanted to include this twist and introduce a third, then it would be Maxwell Lord leading Doctor Polaris, Emerald Empress, Lobo, Johnny Sorrow, and Rustam. These could be the “real” villains that we have to deal with after sorting out the Justice League. After all, what’s a comic book story unless two opposing sides first butt heads then team up to take on their true enemy?
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All of this is just guesswork based on the newly revealed title. We’ll have to wait until DC FanDome on August 22 to find out the real deal. Until then, let us know what you think Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be like in the comments.
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Joshua is Senior Editor and Producer at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
WB Montreal has been teasing its next game since way back in September 2019. That was before, you know, everything. But the DC Fandome schedule notes we’ll finally see its formal unveiling, rumored to be a Batman game called Gotham Knights.
A WB Montreal reveal is slated as one of the first panels for the event on August 22, to take place at 10:30 AM PT. It promises a first look at a new game with a developer Q&A, but it’s only scheduled for 20 minutes so the question period will probably be pretty brief.
The teases surrounding the game have used the slogan “Capture the Knight,” and based on the imagery many fans have speculated that it will involve the Court of Owls storyline–a 2012 series that revolved around a shadowy cabal of influential Gotham elite. A recent Eurogamer report claimed it will be called Gotham Knights, but that name is unconfirmed.
If it is called Gotham Knights, it would be named after an early 2000s series revolving around the entire Bat-family: Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Oracle, and others. Given how the Batman Arkham games already featured multiple playable characters, this could be a natural next step.
Also at Fandome, Rocksteady will be showing its next game. The panel, set for 5 PM PT on the same day, is called “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.” It’s unclear if that’s the full title of the game.
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As chronicled in the Conjuring series and its Annabelle spin-offs, the possessed doll came into the Warrens’ possession in 1970. They incarcerated it in a special glass box at their home, which later became The Warrens’ Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut.
Lorraine Warren, who died last year, explained in 2014 why simply destroying the Annabelle doll isn’t an option, saying that “getting rid of the doll would only get rid of the vessel, not the evil that resides within the doll. At least as it sits, we know where it resides. It isn’t out into the world causing harm to others. We have a Catholic priest who performs a binding prayer around the doll which acts as a blockade. The evil can’t penetrate the holy prayers that bind it. Think of it as similar to an electric-dog fence — keeping the dog within set boundaries.”
Now fast-forward to August 14, 2020, where social media was convinced of rumors that Annabelle had somehow found its way out of its confines to make life even more miserable.
That’s not to say Annabelle’s on-screen counterpart hasn’t been up to no good lately. New Line Cinema recently released the viral video below of “Annabelle in Quarantine” to honor National Doll Day:
You’ve made it to Friday, and your reward this week is a giant sale over at Best Buy. Hundreds of products are discounted currently, including tons of Nintendo Switch games, in-ear and over-the-ear headphones, laptops and tablets and so much more. Newegg has a killer deal on a 1TB NVMe SSD from Western Digital and we can’t forget the leader of the pack, which is the Hybrid Theory 20th Anniversary Album which is up for order at Amazon.
Having a supportive and comfortable chair for both work and gaming has become even more crucial over the past year as more people try to remain at home due to COVID-19. As a result, we’ve seen some great deals on gaming chairs and other ergonomic office equipment recently, and Newegg’s latest deals notably feature several Fortnite-themed gaming chairs.
As one would expect, there are quite a few different Fortnite designs available as well as two different styles: a reclining style with wheels and a rocker chair that features a pedestal base. Normally priced between $200 and $300, the Fortnite chairs are all marked down between $104 and $156 right now, a great price for any gaming chair. All of them are part of the reliable Respawn by OFM line of gaming chairs, which are known for their more affordable price tag and ergonomic support.
The Fortnite gaming chairs are only on sale until Monday, August 17, so you’ve got the weekend to peruse the deals and grab a new chair for your gaming setup. Be sure to check out Newegg’s other deals as there are discounts on non-Fortnite-themed chairs as well, and see our full roundup of the best budget gaming chairs under $200 for more options.
The Omega-Xi chair is inspired by the rare Fortnite skin and features padded armrests; unfortunately, they’re fixed and not adjustable. The chair can tilt up to 155 degrees with an angle lock to help you set your preferred position. It also has an extendable footrest for stretching out.
The Raven-Xi gaming chair is the same style as the Omega-Xi gaming chair, the only difference being the holes resembling eyes like the Raven outfit in-game.
For just over $100, this Skull Troop-V gaming chair is a great value for your money. While it only inclines up to 105 degrees and doesn’t have a footrest, it still features full 360-degree swivel, built-in lumbar support, and an integrated headrest to keep you comfortable during long gaming sessions.
It’s hasn’t even been two weeks since Fall Guys‘ starting frustrating players and streamers around the world. Players, in a quest to not fail hilariously, have already started perfecting the top strategies for Slime Climb and other games–just qualifying for the next round isn’t good enough for them.
“These mini games are so contained so it’s fun seeing this happen, but we do want to keep them fresh,” Fall Guys designer Joe Walsh tells GameSpot. Walsh said the UK-based team at Mediatonic are brainstorming and testing ways to change existing mini games to keep them challenging.
Some ideas include adding the giant spinning obstacle from Jump Club to Perfect Match in order to make the fruit-based mini game even more stressful. Walsh also mentioned changing the structure of Fall Mountain so that players can’t get too adept at getting to the top first.
Fall Guys has seen millions of players hop onto its crowded servers since launching on August 4. Since then players have grown to hate team-based games for how impossible they can be if you land on a bad team. Team yellow has become the target of a meme for always losing, according to scores of Fall Guys players.
“We checked the stats and team yellow is just as good as winning as everyone else,” Walsh said. “We’re keeping an eye on it though, since these things have the possibility to become more than a meme.”
Players have said that they purposefully go after team yellow, sometimes sabotaging their own team, during team-game rounds in order to keep the meme going. The official Fall Guys Twitter account has even added to the craze while promoting an all-streamer tournament. Walsh hopes everyone can keep the back-and-forth light and not too frustrating.
The anti-team yellow sentiment has grown out of a general team game frustration for many players. Games like Fall Ball, Egg Scramble, and Jinx can be frustrating if you get paired with a bad squad or get outnumbered by other teams. Walsh says that this is partially by design despite how much players want them to be changed or removed.
“Team games are supposed to be an equalizer,” he said, also mentioning that they’ve considered an all-solo mini game playlist for those that are frustrated. “They give players who aren’t as great at the platforming sections a chance. It’s also just so funny to watch a team struggle to get eggs out of a basket.”
Walsh added that they have tried to sneak some surprising elements into the team games. There is a small chance that a giant chicken egg will spawn during Fall Ball. The team that scores with it gets five points. “We wanted help create those one in a million moments,” he said. “It’s an amazing story to tell when you come back from a five point deficit.”
Mediatonic has a number of other plans on the way. They’re “currently talking” with Twitch about deeper streaming integration. One idea is to let viewers control the cannons on Fall Mountain. Other ideas involve making streams more of a game show experience, although Walsh isn’t sure what that’d look like yet.
Walsh hopes that they can keep the momentum going with new mini games for years. “We want to keep everything fresh, even things like Perfect Match which we didn’t expect much from,” he said. “It’s really exciting.”
