Category: Games

Season 9 of Fortnite officially kicks off later this week, and as it traditionally does before the start of every season, developer Epic Games is dropping a series of teaser images in the days leading up to it. The studio has now shared its second Season 9 teaser, and this one continues to hint at a futuristic theme for the upcoming season.

The teaser, which you can see below, offers a peek at what looks like another new skin coming to the game in Season 9. “The Future is Bright,” this tweet reads, playing off the phrase that accompanied the first teaser image, which said, “The Future is Unknown.”

In the past, combining each of the teasers together would reveal one larger image that signified something important for the upcoming season, and it appears Epic is continuing that tradition. The first teaser prominently featured the letter N, while the second has the letter E, suggesting the teasers will spell out some word that will presumably tie into Season 9’s theme.

Season 9 of Fortnite begins this Thursday, May 9. It remains to be seen what awaits in the new season, but there are undoubtedly some big changes in store for the game’s map following the unvaulting event that took place this past weekend. Players who were in a match at the right time on May 4 got to jump into the mysterious vault in Loot Lake and vote for a retired weapon to bring back to the game. Afterward, the volcano erupted, destroying Tilted Towers and altering other parts of the island.

While these world-changing Fortnite events are typically one-time-only occurrences, issues prevented some players from witnessing the unvaulting event as intended. As a make-good, Epic is giving out the Arcana Glider for free to those who were in the Unvaulting playlist at the right time. Epic also shared a replay of the event, giving players who missed it in-game a chance to watch what happened.

In the meantime, there are still a few days left to finish up any remaining Season 8 challenges and unlock the last few Battle Pass rewards. If you need help completing some of this season’s missions, we’ve put together guides for all the trickier ones in our full Fortnite Season 8 challenges roundup.

As Game of Thrones heads towards its epic conclusion, the latest episode delivered one of the most controversial moments in the show’s eight year run. Never mind the shocking twists, epic battles, and cold-blooded murder–Season 8, Episode 4 revealed that Daenerys likes to relax with a takeaway coffee. After seemingly everyone on social media took it upon themselves to inform HBO that a coffee cup had been left on the set in one shot of the latest episode, the network has now removed it.

The cup appeared briefly on a table on front of Dany, as she sits watching people flocked around Jon Snow, singing his praises for his prowess in battle. HBO subsequently admitted their mistake, amusingly stating that Dany had in fact ordered a “herbal tea.” And while many presumed that the cup was from Starbucks, it was also confirmed that it was in fact from the production’s craft services.

However, fans looking for the offending cup on the network’s streaming platforms HBO Go and HBO Now will no longer be able to find it. Overnight the scene has been altered and the cup has gone. Check out the two comparison screenshots below:

Game of Thrones Episode 3 proved to be quite divisive among fans, but the follow-up has been more positively received. Check out our full Game of Thrones, Episode 4, “The Last of the Starks” review to see what we thought of it. You can also watch the preview trailer for Episode 5 and check out some fresh theories about where things will go from here. There are just two episodes left, but each one clocks in at 80 minutes, so there’s still plenty left.

EA Access is expanding to PlayStation 4 this summer. Starting in July, PS4 owners will be able to take part in the same console subscription service previously exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox One.

“As we continue to invest in digital and subscription services, bringing our games to even more people across both consoles is an exciting opportunity for everyone,” EA executive VP of strategic growth Matt Bilbey said in a press release. “Our goal is to give players more choice to try and play our games wherever and however they choose and we’re happy to bring the service to PlayStation 4.”

On PS4, you will be able to pay for a monthly $5 / £4 or annual $30 / £20 USD subscription to EA Access. With a subscription, you get access to a vault of free EA titles, such as Titanfall 2, Star Wars: Battlefront II, and FIFA 18. Subscribers also get a 10 percent discount on all digital EA games, as well as their respective expansions and in-game purchases. Perhaps most notable is EA Access’ Play First Trials, which typically gives you 10 hours of early access to all new EA titles prior to their official release.

For now, the only upcoming title scheduled to come to EA Access via Play First Trials is Madden NFL 20. That said, there are a few other games releasing in the near future, all of which most likely will be made available on EA Access at some point. Respawn is releasing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order this November, a story-focused game set during the aftermath of Revenge of the Sith. The developer has Titanfall-related projects in the works as well. There are also the annual EA Sports games, such as NHL, NBA Live, and FIFA, all of which will most likely get sequels. New EA Originals are bound to make it onto the subscription service too.

Though EA has experienced some troublesome drama in recent years, ranging from Battlefront II’s microtransaction controversy to the lackluster receptions of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, EA Access is a positive step for the company. The service is a good deal for anyone looking to save on the combined retail price of the company’s vast library of titles. Last year, we listed EA Access as one of the major plusses for Xbox One. PC already has a version of EA Access called Origin Access.

The upcoming movie about The Lord of the Rings author, called Tolkien, does not come with a stamp of approval from the Tolkien Estate. That is no big surprise, as the Estate has for decades distanced itself from dramatic adaptations of the fantasy series, including Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series. Now, Tolkien director Dome Karukoski has spoken about why it’s in the movie’s best interest to have avoided any relationship with the Tolkien Estate to begin with.

Speaking at the Tolkien premiere in New York City, Karukoski the movie might have been “suffocated” had the producers worked alongside the Tolkien Estate. “Honestly, you try not to work with the Estate for reasons obvious,” Karukoski said, as reported by Indie Wire. “Even if it would be out of kindness to ask the Estate, you start servicing them, they become your friends. You shouldn’t mess with the Estate, so the film can exist purely for your own reasons and your own feelings about the characters.”

Karukoski went on to say the the Tolkien movie producers did “very, very thorough research” to try to under Tolkien the man and the other key characters in the story, like Edith Bratt. The director said what viewers will see is that “the emotional truth of [the characters] is very true.”

Had the Tolkien producers worked with the Estate, that might have led to situations where the film would obscure or ignore certain character traits–and that wouldn’t be good, Karukoski said.

“To dig out the emotional truth of the characters, you have to try to not hide certain evidence and when you work with an Estate what happens is that that kind of gets suffocated,” he said. “You’re not allowed to do certain things so that the audience can feel an emotion from it.”

In another interview, Karukoski told SkyNews, “Even if they were the kindest Estate ever, they would kind of become your friends and you start servicing them rather than the purity of the drama you need to make the best possible film.”

Karukoski also confirmed that the producers invited the Estate to view the Tolkien movie before its premiere, but representatives reportedly declined. Karukoski said he is hopeful that members of the Estate see the movie someday.

The Tolkien Estate is led by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son, the 94-year-old Christopher Tolkien. He told French newspaper Le Monde in 2012 that “the commercialisation [of Tolkien’s work] has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing.” In the same interview, Christopher Tolkien said of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, “They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people aged 15 to 25.”

Going further back, Tolkien himself was skeptical and hesitant about the commercialization of his work, and specifically the prospect of selling the Lord of the Rings movie rights to Disney in the ’60s. He said he had a “heartfelt loathing” for Disney movies, and he said Walt Disney himself was “hopelessly corrupted” by profit-seeking.

Fox Searchlight, the production company behind Tolkien (which is now owned by Disney), said in a statement that it “has the utmost respect and admiration for Mr. Tolkien and his phenomenal contribution to literature.”

Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men series) plays the adult Tolkien, while Lily Collins (To The Bone, Stuck In Love) plays Tolkien’s wife, Edith Bratt.

Middle-earth Enterprises, which is the rights-owner of Tolkien’s work separate from the Tolkien Estate, is by comparison more enthusiastic about commercial deals related to The Lord of the Rings than the Estate. Just this year, it announced a partnership with Daedalic Entertainment for a new Lord of the Rings game about Gollum. Additionally, Electronic Arts remains a Lord of the Rings licensee, as does WB Games and Lord of the Rings Online developer Standing Stone Games.

While the Tolkien Estate might not be involved with the Tolkien movie, the group does support some commercial endeavors. The Estate recently partnered with Amazon on the new Lord of the Rings TV show coming to the retailer’s streaming service.

Tolkien opens in theaters on May 10. Reviews have started to show up online–here’s a breakdown of what the critics are saying.

A new Minecraft game is in the works, it appears, and it might not be what you expect. The company today posted a teaser video for what looks like a Minecraft augmented reality game.

The brief teaser video shows some kind of Minecraft AR game similar to Pokemon Go or Harry Potter: Wizards Unite with its blending of real and virtual world elements. Whatever it is, it looks like it’ll be announced on the Minecraft website on May 17. Check out the teaser below, and yes, the man (who looks strikingly like Xbox pioneer J. Allard) does not appear to give the woman back her phone. We don’t know why.

At E3 2015, Microsoft showcased a stunning Minecraft experience for the company’s AR HoloLens headset. But given that the new teaser video doesn’t show anyone wearing an AR headset, it looks like the Minecraft AR game could be more akin to the aforementioned Niantic games in its headset-free blending of the real and digital worlds.

According to noted Microsoft insider Brad Sams, who has accurately reported on unannounced Microsoft stories before, the Minecraft AR game is code-named “Genoa.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told The New York Times in 2015 that one of the reasons Microsoft spent $2.5 billion to acquire Minecraft and developer Mojang was due to the potential benefits of marrying Minecraft and augmented reality. “Let’s have a game that, in fact, will fundamentally help us change new categories,” Nadella said. “HoloLens was very much in the works [when Microsoft announced the deal in 2015], and we knew it.”

The May 17 reveal date for the new Minecraft AR game is not random. It presumably aligns with the Minecraft 10-year anniversary celebration scheduled for the same day. Minecraft’s creator, Markus “Notch” Persson, is being excluded from the event over his “comments and opinions.”

The official Minecraft Twitter account cheekily reacted to the Minecraft AR news today with the thinking face emoji.

In addition to the rumored new Minecraft AR game, Microsoft is working on a Minecraft dungeon-crawler called Minecraft Dungeons. The title, which doesn’t have a release date, appears to take a more linear approach rather than the open-ended sandbox nature of the mainline game.

Minecraft remains one of the most popular games on Earth. By Microsoft’s latest count, it had 91 million monthly players, which is many millions more than Fortnite has.