Rock of Ages developer Ace Team has unveiled their new game, The Eternal Cylinder, as part of The Guerrilla Collective showcase. It’s a open-world survival game set on an alien planet, and you’ll play as a herd of creatures (called Trebhums) that need to survive not only the other creatures you’ll encounter, but also a giant rolling cylinder that pops up and rolls right through the game world.
There are shades of Maxis’ Spore here, as you have to grow and evolve over the course of the game to deal with the harsh procedurally-generated environments you encounter. While you’ll be weak to begin with, the creatures you’re controlling will gain new abilities and ways to adapt as you play, and will mutate in a way that grants them new skills. The game will feature real-time environmental destruction, so when the Cylinder rolls over a tree, for instance, it will stay broken.
The game is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC via the Epic Games Store later this year, and it’s designed so that if you play through more than once you’ll have a different experience each time. The debut trailer is below.
We’ve also got some fresh screenshots below, showing off the game’s weird art style, which will be familiar to fans of Ace Team’s other work. There will be multiple different biomes in the game, although only three have been named so far–the Savannah, the Tundra, and the Desert.
An exact release date for The Eternal Cylinder has not been set yet. An open beta will run on PC later this year, which you can sign up for on the game’s website.
Today, WWE’s latest event is coming to the Performance Center. The Backlash PPV will feature some of the company’s top talent battling-it-out over the course of the evening. There will be plenty of championships on the line, including the Universal and WWE Championships.
If you’re interested in checking it out, even if it’s in the middle of the show, you can sign up for the WWE Network–which costs $10 a month. Check out the match card below, so you know what to expect coming up tonight.
Match card:
Edge vs. Randy Orton
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Bobby Lashley (WWE Championship)
Braun Strowman (c) vs. The Miz & John Morrison (Universal Championship Handicap Match)
Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax (Raw Women’s Championship)
Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus
Bayley & Sasha Banks (c) vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics (Women’s Tag Team Championship)
Apollo Crews (c) vs. Andrade (United States Championship)
The Street Profits (c) vs. The Viking Raiders (Raw Tag Team Championship)
Below, you’ll find all the live results as they happen during the course of the evening, so make sure to keep checking back throughout the PPV.
If you want to dive deeper into the weird world of wrestling, check out GameSpot’s weekly podcast Wrestle Buddies. Each week, Mat Elfring and Chris E. Hayner talk about the fun side of wrestling, from silly gimmicks to their favorite PPVs. Also, they occasionally interview wrestlers. New episodes arrive every Thursday, and you can check it out on Spotify, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.
The PlayStation brand has carved out its own identity over the last few decades, in no small part because of the iconic line of PlayStation controllers. From the very start the PlayStation design was influential, having popularized elements like dual shoulder buttons and a handlebar design. But the company has continued to drive trends with elements like vibration, pressure-sensitive buttons, and a touchpad.
Not every experiment was a success, however. The much-derided boomerang controller never even made it to market, and its replacement, the Sixaxis, removed a popular feature. The path of the PlayStation controller has been a rocky one, and we outline all of it in the video above as we look ahead to the PlayStation 5 controller, the DualSense.
New consoles are always expensive, and this trend is expected to continue with the release of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 this year. But it might not be the only next-gen system Microsoft will offer. A popular and enduring rumor is that Microsoft will also release a lower-spec, less-expensive model aimed at the more mass-market audience known by the codename Lockhart. This is a great idea–and it’s a much more interesting topic to consider now that Sony has revealed its own second, presumably less expensive digital-only PS5.
In fact, the name of Microsoft’s next-gen console strategy is officially just called “Xbox,” and the “Series X” label is the specific model name. You can think of this like the iPhone–there’s the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone XE, and iPhone XR that all live under the iPhone umbrella.
For Xbox, I don’t see the announcement of a cheaper next-gen Xbox as a matter of if but when. Xbox boss Phil Spencer told GameSpot that it might release additional next-gen Xbox SKUs, and I’m betting Lockhart is one of them. “Obviously, in the name ‘Series X,’ it gives us freedom to do other things with that name so that we can create descriptors when we need to,” Spencer said in December 2019, all but confirming multiple next-gen Xbox consoles are coming.
It makes sense that we haven’t heard anything official about the Lockhart machine yet because Microsoft understandably wants to focus on its most powerful model to lead the way. It’s critical that Microsoft focuses on this new console instead of another option because hyping the more powerful machine gives Microsoft the ability to go toe-to-toe with the PlayStation 5. That’s a key part of Microsoft’s strategy this generation as it attempts to climb back after the struggles of the Xbox One era.
It’s been reported for months that Lockhart is a real console, but sources have yet to confirm if Microsoft actually plans to release the system or if it is only an idea at this stage. As is typical, plans can change and often do, and the COVID-19 pandemic might have led to further tweaks to the plan.
What we do know is that Microsoft’s vision for Xbox is all about giving players options. Currently, you can buy games outright, subscribe to Xbox Game Pass for a Netflix-style all-you-can-eat experience, stream games with xCloud, and play across Xbox and PC with cross-save and cross-progression. Microsoft has been forward-thinking and consumer-friendly in this regard. The next step could be to offer a less expensive next-gen Xbox with some capability removed but still standing as an attractive option.
Not everyone needs or wants the highest-spec machine, and the expected $500 price point of the Series X might be out of reach for a portion of the gaming crowd, especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is where the Lockhart system could fill the gap.
Microsoft has been on this path of offering variety and choice for more than a decade. In 2009, Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg spoke about how the one-size-fits-all solution was no longer viable. “There are different sets of consumers who want different levels of experience at different price points,” Greenberg told Eurogamer at the time. “A big part of that is having a console on the market that’s at a mass-market price-point. Consumers who are new to the experience, or who want a more casual experience, don’t have to pay a premium for features they would probably never use.”
It’s interesting to look back at this interview today because this trend continued with the Xbox One era. Microsoft offered all types of options–the Xbox One, the Xbox One S, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, and the Xbox One X. It stands to reason that this will continue to be the case for the next-generation of Xbox consoles that kicks off with the Series X this year.
With the lower price point, the Lockhart console won’t offer the same features or capabilities as its super-sized sibling. Unconfirmed reports claim the Lockhart Xbox will have a solid-state drive and focus on gaming with resolutions up to 1440p instead of 4K as can be the case on Series X. The Verge reported that Lockhart will have a next-gen CPU, but it will feature slower clock speeds than the Series X. Also, Microsoft is reportedly planning to drop the disc drive on the Lockhart console, not unlike the experiment of the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition. None of these details have been confirmed, but the smart money is that it will have comparatively weaker specs than the Series X to facilitate the lower price point.
The Lockhart console might not have all the bells and whistles of the Series X, but that’s totally fine because price is the most important factor for sales in the marketplace, especially during holiday shopping periods. Microsoft’s most powerful consoles never sell the best, anyway. In the Xbox One era, Microsoft released the more powerful Xbox One X–the most powerful console still to this day–knowing full well that it would not be the top-seller in the family of Xbox consoles. Phil Spencer told Gizmodo that it was releasing the Xbox One X to give people the option to have the fastest and most powerful console if they wanted it while the lower-price Xbox One S would be the market-leader in terms of sales. “We’ll sell more Ses than we do Xes, no doubt about that,” Spencer said. “But the person that plays a lot is looking for the best experience, and we wanted to deliver that.”
I foresee a future where the idea of a “family of devices” in the game console market is nothing novel–we’re already there, in fact. Microsoft has been doing this for more than a decade, and Sony and Nintendo, too, offer different versions of their hardware to reach the widest audience. Outside of gaming, Apple has already popularized the idea of a “family of devices” with its various iPhone models that give users options depending on affordability, speed, and power.
With the rise of digital services and streaming, some have wondered how much longer platform-holders will keep making consoles. It’s my belief that dedicated gaming hardware is here to stay, at least for the next decade. The latest data shows that 31 percent of US households don’t have broadband in 2020, so Microsoft is smart to embrace a strategy that gives consumers options. That’s already what’s happening–Microsoft currently sells Xbox consoles at all different price points and feature sets. Not only that, but with Xbox Game Pass and xCloud, Microsoft doesn’t even necessarily need you to buy a console any longer.
Potentially complicating the hardware situation in 2020 are issues with the supply chain related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Just recently, Phil Spencer said he anticipates that Microsoft will be “able to get enough units” for launch, but it’s unclear here whether he’s solely talking about the Xbox Series X or the total supply for however many systems it might have coming. Whether or not the lower-price next-gen Xbox launches this holiday with the Series X or later on, the console is coming.
In GameSpot’s 2019 profile of Phil Spencer, he confirmed that Microsoft wants to give players all kinds of options for their console buying, and a cheaper system is surely part of that plan.
“The number of people that are actually buying a console every generation isn’t growing dramatically, if at all,” Spencer said. “At one point you have to recognize that, okay, you can’t just lead with one device. You can’t just say, here’s an Xbox. I’m going to go sell this device to every single person and that’s what they’re going to play on. That just doesn’t work.”
I don’t particularly like the idea of the cheaper Lockhart system doing away with the disc drive. Given the aforementioned broadband concerns, a console without a disc drive might not be a viable or desirable option for some people. Not only that, but cutting the disc drive from the only lower-price next-gen Xbox option doesn’t come across as particularly consumer-friendly for a company that does so much in the area of options and choice.
On Xbox One, it’s a different situation. While the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition technically has an MSRP of $50 less than the Xbox One S that does have a disc drive, the S model is regularly discounted to bring it closer to the All-Digital Edition price. This gives people the option to choose, and it would be sad to see that go away with the next-gen Xbox. Nothing is confirmed at this stage, so we’ll have to wait to hear more from Microsoft about its official plans for a lower-price next-gen Xbox.
Potentially throwing a wrench into the works for Microsoft’s strategy is what Sony announced recently–a PlayStation 5 with no disc drive. The system boasts the same power as the standard PS5, it just doesn’t have a disc drive. If the rumors are true that Microsoft’s cheaper Xbox Series X model without a disc drive has worse specs than the regular Xbox Series X, this could pose a competitive issue for Xbox.
New console launches are exciting–it’s fun to get your hands on a shiny new piece of hardware and boot it up for the first time. But Microsoft is not releasing any Xbox Series X exclusives for the first couple years of the console, so the existing hardware you own today will play Halo Infinite, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and the rumored Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War without requiring you to upgrade. But if you do want to buy into next-gen gaming, Microsoft seems poised to once more give players options–and that’s great.
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The wait for the next James Bond movie will be a bit shorter than expected. After it was delayed until November due to COVID-19, No Time to Die has now been shifted forward and will release five days sooner than expected in the United States.
As announced in the tweet below, No Time to Die’s release date is now November 20 in the US. As per usual for a 007 movie, it’ll be out prior to that in the UK, where it debuts on November 12 (as previously scheduled).
No Time to Die was originally expected to be out this past April, but it was among the many movies to have their release dates moved back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some films are still shifting around, with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet having just been pushed back two weeks to July 31.
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Revealed at GamesCom 2019, Ghostrunner made a big splash with its vibrant, slick cyberpunk aesthetic and fast gameplay. Blending the style and tone of games like Cyberpunk 2077, Hotline Miami, and Mirror’s Edge, it puts you in the role of a resurrected warrior known as the Ghostrunner. The protagonist must navigate a dystopian far-future city to learn more about his past and gain the strength to fight the ruler, known only as The Keymaster.
Coming from developers One More Level Games, 3D Realms, and Slipgate Ironworks, Ghostrunner is an incredibly stylish action game set in a cyberpunk dystopia. In the newly revealed gameplay trailer, we saw the reveal of gameplay set in cyberspace, along with some new foes who can use tactics to get the jump on the Ghostrunner. Before the reveal, I got the chance to dive into a new preview build of the game, which showed off the increased scope of the game.
With the means to travel between the real world and cyberspace, the protagonist also possesses some fast moves and killer attacks. He’s incredibly skilled in the ways of combat, yet the trade-off is that he’s also incredibly vulnerable. In a similar vein to Hotline Miami, you can die in one hit, which will send you back to previous checkpoints in each stage. To play Ghostrunner is to always stay on guard while maneuvering throughout the levels. Yet, there’s a certain grace in how you’re able to dodge enemy bullets, wall-run to your target, and pull of chain attacks against groups of enemies. Blending platforming and fast hack-and-slash gameplay, Ghostrunner presents each battle as a combat puzzle, where you’ll need to figure out the most efficient and quick way to dispatch the enemies in the arena.
While previous demos showed off the familiar dark alleys and rain-slick surfaces you’d come to expect in a cyberpunk game, the new footage revealed aspects of the game not yet known, such as the many sections set in a VR world. In these sections, the Ghostrunner will learn more about his abilities while exploring the bright and visually stunning world of cyberspace. These areas are also where you’ll be able to gain new powers and test them against enemies before heading back into the real world. One of the new skills that the Ghostrunner can get is called Tempest, allowing him to use a force push-style ability to knock back enemies. The tempest skill can also deflect enemy bullets, which can come in handy against some of the more aggressive sharpshooters you’ll encounter in the game.
As you make your way through the city, new enemies are introduced to switch things up when you get too comfortable in the flow of the game. These enemies include heavy guards that wield giant energy shields and close-range brawlers that will leap towards you for a fast kill. Just when you get used to the flow, the game has a way of reminding you that you can die in a single hit with its approach to the combat puzzle design–which just made me want to dive in again to perfect my effortless run through the dystopian city.
Set for release this year on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, Ghostrunner is shaping up to a fun and stylish take on the increasingly popular genre of cyberpunk games.
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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It’s been about 10 years since Skate 3 and it seems like the calls for Skate 4 have never died out. Well, on July 28, we get the full release of Skater XL which draws much inspiration from the skating sim style. It’s been in early access since December 2018 and we’ve been able to play it, but the official launch will feature more content.
During the Future Games Show, we saw the first look at an all new skate park called Easy Day High School. It’s a large school ground based on California campuses and incorporates 25 real world skate spots in the level itself. You can see a tour of the location from game director Dain Hedgpeth in the gameplay video below.
In Skater XL, the two analogue sticks control the feet of your skater. Instead of predetermined animations to pull of tricks, it’s all physics-based with the skateboard reacting to the analogue stick motions.
Skater XL comes out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. For more E3-style news from this week’s big game reveal streams, be sure to check out our stories 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.
