Amazon’s series adapting the classic Geena Davis and Tom Hanks comedy A League of Their Own has cast Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) in its version of the Jimmy Dugan role. The casting news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
This new adaptation will be an hourlong, live-action series that will not 1:1 revisit the 1992 film. For example, Offerman–arguably pretty much everyone’s favorite deadpan comic actor–will play Casey “Dove” Porter, the coach of the team at the center of the show. Dove was “thought to be the next Major League Baseball star, but blew his arm out after three years.” Similar to the movie, which saw Hanks play a similarly fated Jimmy Dugan, Dove aims to make his comeback by coaching the all-female Rockford Peaches into winning the championship banner.
The series will star Abbi Jacobson (Broad City)–who co-created and will executive produce alongside Will Graham–Chanté Adams (Roxanne Roxanne), D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), Gbemisola Ikumelo (Brain in Gear), Kelly McCormack (Letterkenny), Roberta Colindrez (Birdman), and Priscilla Delgado (Julieta). This new version promises to bring the familiar story to a new generation “with new characters and their own fresh, modern vision on a timeless story of big dreams, friendship, love, and, of course, baseball,” according to co-head of TV for Amazon Studios Vernon Sanders.
Battlefield 2042 will feature some impressive tech, particularly to up the player count to 128. However, it seems the upcoming military first-person shooter may not have ray tracing support when it drops on PC this October.
In a press release, Nvidia announced that Battlefield 2042 will take advantage of the card manufacturer’s DLSS and Reflex features found in its GeForce 20- and 30-series GPUs. Nvidia didn’t mention ray tracing here.
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In fact, Nvidia only mentions ray tracing when calling out Doom Eternal, which just received DLSS and ray tracing support via a new patch. We’ve reached out to EA for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
DLSS (deep learning super sampling) is a rendering technique used to improve performance without a significant reduction to image quality. It’s a feature that’s only available on Nvidia GPUs like the 30-series cards, which are still incredibly difficult to find and/or extremely expensive to purchase.
Battlefield 2042 launches on October 22 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Be sure to check out our Battlefield 2042 preorder guide to learn about the various bonuses and editions available.
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Microsoft has released the latest Xbox system update to select members of its Xbox Insider program. The update doesn’t make any significant changes but does fix a number of issues and updates the list of known issues.
The Xbox system update will be available for members of the Xbox Insiders program in the Alpha Ring today, fixing a number of small issues. The update fixes an issue where the Netflix app wouldn’t launch for some users, some games wouldn’t launch even after being reinstalled, and an issue where some consoles couldn’t connect to the network.
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Xbox also recently announced that the Xbox Cloud Streaming service is now available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in more regions across iOS devices, Windows 10 PCs, MacOS, and Android devices. The service is also now being powered by Xbox Series X technology, allowing for faster loading and higher quality game streaming.
You can read the full Xbox update patch notes here or below:
System Update Details:
OS version released: XB_FLT_2108CO22000.1595.210628-2200
Available: 2 p.m. PT – June 30, 2021
Mandatory: 3 a.m. PT – July 1, 2021
Fixes Implemented
Thanks to the hard work of Xbox engineers, we are happy to announce the following fixes have been implemented for this build:
Apps
Fixed an issue where the Netflix app was failing to launch for some users.
Installation
Fixed an issue where some titles would fail to launch even after being re-installed.
Networking
Fixes to address some consoles not being able to connect to the network after a recent update.
System
Fixed an issue where some consoles would reboot when powered on from standby.
Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.
Note: Users participating in Preview may see “odd” text across the console, for more information go here.
Known Issues
We understand some issues have been listed in previous Xbox Insider Release Notes. These items aren’t being ignored, but it will take Xbox engineers more time to find a solution.
We’re still tracking these known issues:
Audio
Some users have reported that they are not hearing any audio with Dolby Atmos enabled.
Dolby Vision for Gaming
Some TVs do not support Dolby Vision at 120 Hz currently and will fall back to either 60 Hz or HDR. We are working closely with TV manufactures to update firmware support for Dolby Vision capabilities. Go to Settings>General>TV & Display Options>4K TV details and look for “Your TV setup supports Dolby Vision”.
Users may notice that some titles such as Mass Effect: Legendary Edition might stop supporting Dolby Vision for Gaming after the initial release. This is expected while the feature is in Preview.
Some users have reported Dolby Vision for gaming not performing as expected.
Note: If you encounter an issue, please make sure to check the following:
Ensure the TV has the latest firmware
Use the Xbox-provided HDMI cable that was included with the console
Connect the TV directly to the Xbox and try to see if the problem still persists (i.e. remove any AVRs, Soundbars, HDMI boxes, etc.)
Edge (New)
The new version of the browser is not available for Alpha users at this time. When the browser does become available for Preview to Alpha we will be sure to let users know.
Games
We’ve received reports that controller input is not working when a game is launched.
Workaround: Reboot the console and relaunch the game.
Guide
We are investigating reports of the audio mixer being unable to adjust chat/game audio levels.
HDMI-CEC
We’ve received some reports that HDMI-CEC is not working correctly.
Note: Ensure that your TV supports HDMI-CEC and is also enabled before filing feedback.
Home
Some users have reported that the icon for a disc-based title is not appearing on the dashboard.
My Games & Apps
Titles in collection may incorrectly appear with a “trial” tag.
TV/Display
Some users may power on their console from standby after last using some media applications and their TV will not display a signal.
Workaround: Perform a hard reboot (hold the power button for 5-10 seconds) on the console.
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Horror streaming platform Shudder is currently running its “Summer of Chills,” with 12 exclusive films streaming throughout the summer. July is set to bring a quartet new shockers to the platform, plus some classic catalogue tiles.
July’s line-up of new horror kicks off on July 8 with Son, in which a woman comes to terms with terrifying changes in her child after he is kidnapped. It’s directed by Ivan Kavanagh, who previously made the seriously scary 2014 horror The Canal. That’s followed on July 15 by The Call, which unites two genre veterans–Saw’s Tobin Bell and Insidious’s Lin Shaye–as a sinister old couple of who trap a group of friends in their house.
July 22 sees the release of Kandisha, the new movie from acclaimed French duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside, Livid). It’s about a woman who summons a powerful demon to exact a bloody vengeance, but soon finds that the evil entity is out-of-control. Finally, The Boy Behind the Door arrives on July 29, and focuses on a kidnapped boy who faces unimaginable terror when he attempts to rescue his friend.
There’s also a wealth of scary must-watch classic horror hitting Shudder in July. Michael Mann’s serial killer masterpiece Manhunter features Brian Cox as the first screen version of Hannibal Lector, while Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark is one of the ’80s best vampire movies. There’s two ’80s favorites from the legendary George Romero–Day of the Dead and Creepshow–plus Joe Dante’s much-loved 1978 creature feature Piranha. Finally, fans of weird horror should check out the bizarre and brilliant Messiah of Evil from 1973, directed by Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, who subsequently wrote American Graffiti and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
New to Shudder in July 2021
July 1
Manhunter
Near Dark
Burnt Offerings
Creepshow
Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
July 6
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
Terror Train
Death Ship
July 7
Pledge Night
Sorority House Massacre
Day of the Dead
Horsehead
July 8
July 12
Messiah of Evil
Carnival of Souls
Piranha
Straight Edge Kegger
July 13
White Girl
Separation
Everly
July 15
July 19
She’s Allergic to Cats
Here Comes Hell
Vigilante
July 20
Mass Hysteria
ROT
Etheria: The Series
They Remain
Der Bunker
July 22
July 27
July 29
The Boy Behind the Door
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One of the coolest parts about remasters and remakes of games is that the mod community is often revitalized, and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is no exception. Not content with the third-person perspective of the trilogy, one enterprising player has created a mod that converts the exploration sections of all three games into first-person.
Called First Person Mode on NexusMods, the mod was made by user “Jade” and specifically focuses on any section of the game that doesn’t involve combat. That means that you can use this to go explore the Citadel or do anything that doesn’t require Shepard to pull out a gun. It’ll also revert to third-person perspective if you enter into a conversation, but the ability to take in the incredibly rich non-combat areas of the trilogy from Shepard’s perspective is still fantastic.
Gallery
In order to install it, you’ll need a PC copy of Mass Effect Legendary Edition as well as the ME3Tweaks Mod Manager. Then you can install the First Person Mode mod from NexusMods and get exploring. From the looks of the images on the mod’s page, it really changes the impact of the environments–not least because you won’t have Shepard cluttering up the screen. You can see some of those images in the gallery above.
“The Nexus Event” could have some major consequences for the future of the MCU.
Loki Episode 4, “The Nexus Event” unveiled some devastating truths about the TVA and its members, both for us the audience and for the characters themselves. Last week, Sylvie dropped the bombshell that the agents of the TVA are actually just brainwashed variants and this week, we explored exactly what that meant.
Of course, that didn’t happen until the whole Lamentis debacle was finally solved. If you remember from the final moments of last week’s episode, we last left Loki and Sylvie staring their own imminent demise in the face as the planet collapsed around them. Thankfully, Mobius was able to swoop in and save them in time, but only because of a powerful and confusing spike of nexus energy.
This then sparked a chain of events that left the TVA crumbling, its agents in disarray, and the fabric of reality itself–well, you get the idea here. Things are not looking good for space and time, though maybe not in the way you’d might expect. Things aren’t splintering off into a multiversal web (at least, not yet) but revelations are happening, and none of them are good.
Here are 8 important things to note in this episode, from Easter Eggs to references and nods to the MCU at large.
The Lord of the Rings Online has introduced two new servers, and they have the best, most appropriate names. The new servers are called Shadowfax and Treebeard, while developer Standing Stone Games is also rolling out new difficulty options. All of this is exclusive to VIP subscribers, so free-to-play users need to upgrade to get started.
The Shadowfax server–named after the iconic Middle-earth horse who runs like the wind–lets you level faster by offering +50% XP, legendary item XP, and mount XP, as well as +20% virtue XP. The Treebeard server–named after the very slow and deliberate Ent–is a slower-paced offering featuring -60% reduced XP.
Additionally, these new servers include a Landscape Difficulty option that allows players to choose how difficult or easy they want the experience to be. You can visit Berthdan near the Prancing Pony in West Bree to make a choice between normal and Deadly +6. The higher the difficulty, the more challenging enemies will become. You can change the difficulty level at any time by speaking with Berthdan, but there are rewards for sticking with it.
“If you begin a higher level difficulty prior to reaching level 11 and stick with a high level difficulty you will get rewarded for reaching levels 50 and 130,” developer Standing Stone Games said.
What’s more, players can earn new titles based on the new difficulty options. You’ll get two titles for hitting level 50 and 130 on Hard+ and two more if you reach the same levels on Deadly+. “You MUST activate your desired difficulty prior to reaching level 11, and maintain that difficulty or higher until you earn your title. A Deed can be found in-game to track your progress,” the developer said.
The Lord of the Rings Online has also added new “Eye of Sauron” effects that are meant to simulate the harsh reality of what happens when the great eye sees you.
“Once the Eye of Sauron is upon you, your progress will be hindered by several random effects for the next minute or so. Players will get an XP and Virtue XP boost for running on higher difficulties, starting at +10% XP up to +20% XP and +1% up to +5% Virtue XP,” Standing Stone said.
The Lord of the Rings Online has been operating non-stop since 2007, though development changed hands from Turbine to Standing Stone Games. It was set to get a major competitor from Amazon’s own Lord of the Rings MMO, but that game was canceled.
Smallville actor Allison Mack has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in the NXIVM cult, according to Reuters. Mack was facing a minimum sentence of 15 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
She was one of the highest ranking members of convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere’s cult-like group, which recruited women as sex slaves. Last fall, Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison.
Her and Raniere’s rulings make for a real-life coda to the HBO docuseries The Vow, which premiered in August 2020 and chronicles the emotional toll and trauma caused by self-improvement group NXIVM–which was a cover organization for a sex-slavery sorority that blackmailed, starved, and branded its members. In October, HBO renewed the series for Season 2, which was already expected to focus on Raniere’s trial while continuing to look inside his inner circle and ongoing supporters.
Mack, who has been under house arrest at her family home in Orange County for more than three years, recently asked a federal judge to forgo jail time for her crimes in connection with NXIVM.
“It is now of paramount importance for me to say, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry,” Mack’s letter states (via Variety). “I threw myself into the teachings of Keith Raniere with everything I had. I believed, whole-heartedly, that his mentorship was leading me to a better, more enlightened version of myself. I devoted my loyalty, my resources, and, ultimately, my life to him. This was the biggest mistake and regret of my life.”
Marvel chief Kevin Feige has confirmed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in production.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the Black Widow Global Fan Event in Los Angeles this week, Feige revealed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had officially entered production at Atlanta’s Pinewood Studios on Tuesday. He kept details largely under wraps, though he did promise they’re making a movie that the late Chadwick Boseman would be proud of.
“It’s clearly very emotional without Chad,” Feige said, referencing the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman in August 2020. “But everyone is also very excited to bring the world of Wakanda back to the public and back to the fans. We’re going to do it in a way that would make Chad proud.”
Letitia Wright (Shuri), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Winston Duke (M’Baku), and Angela Bassett (Ramonda) are all expected to reprise their roles, with Wright reportedly taking on a larger role in the sequel in light of Boseman’s death, while Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico, Sin Nombre) has been cast as one of the sequel’s unspecified villains.
This Kingdom of Wakanda series will be part of Disney’s five-year overall exclusive television deal with Coogler’s Proximity Media. Danai Gurira is the first actress confirmed to be starring in the series, as well as the feature film sequel. She will be reprising her role as Okoye, the Dora Milaje general.
Editor’s Note: To better explain myself, I do have to talk about the story of Doki Doki Literature Club, so if you have yet to play it and don’t want to be spoiled, this is your warning to turn back. As an additional note: If you haven’t played Doki Doki Literature Club, please read the content warnings for the game. This game is great–easily one of my favorite horror games out there–but it goes to some dark places. Just know what you’re getting into beforehand.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is now out, enhancing the original psychological horror game with HD visuals and adding new story content and an image gallery. The release also marks the first time you can play the game on console, as DDLC Plus is available on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC.
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That said, if you haven’t played DDLC yet, I advise you to play DDLC Plus on PC for the optimal experience. The story doesn’t change–you’ll experience the same haunting narrative, juxtaposed with friendly and colorful visual novel imagery, regardless of where you play–but a bit of the horror in the game’s twist is lost on consoles. The scares just work better on PC.
For those who have not played Doki Doki Literature Club and don’t care about spoilers, let me catch you up to speed. In DDLC, you play as a teenager who joins their high school literature club at the prompting of their childhood friend, Sayori. Alongside klutzy yet cheerful Sayori, the club is composed of cute yet tough Natsuki, quiet yet passionate Yuri, and always helpful president Monika.
Monika decides every member should compose poems to share with one another so the club can grow closer. If you use words and themes for your poems that appeal to Sayori, Natsuki, or Yuri, they’ll grow romantically attracted to you. As the days go on, Monika mentions that you never spend time with her and lets slip details that she, as a video game character, shouldn’t know–like how you can save your game to preserve your progress.
After some time, Monika begins messing with Doki Doki Literature Club’s code in order to make the other characters seem less appealing. Sayori’s depression suddenly becomes full-on suicidal thoughts, Yuri’s self-deprecating nature inexplicably transforms into an insatiable cutting fetish, and Natsuki’s aggressive deposition gives way to a standoffish, verbally abusive attitude. As the girl’s new personalities influence their coded goal as video game heroines that must love the player character, they begin to pursue your affections in increasingly violent ways, forcing Monika to delete them one by one so that the game can keep going. Eventually, it’s just you and her. She then admits that she knows your character isn’t real and begins talking to you, the player, and corrupting DDLC’s code so that you can no longer restart the game. It’s just you and her now, forever staring into each other’s eyes through the screen. Creepy.
That is until you go into the game’s code and–like Monika did to Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri–you delete Monika.
When played out, this whole experience is incredibly unnerving. At first glance, Doki Doki Literature Club looks like your standard, cutesy rom-com visual novel. The game then slowly drip feeds you clues that something is up with your fellow club members and that Monika is responsible. But nothing quite prepares you for the reveal that Monika is fully sentient, knows your real name (or, at least, your username), and has somehow reached beyond the game to corrupt your hardware so that she, a lowly side character, can find some happiness and be with you, the person she loves.
It’s a shame what Monika does to Yuri–the shy bookworm did nothing wrong.
It’s a horror that works because of its surprise. You don’t expect the game to break the fourth wall, and having it seem like Monika actually has control over the game makes her feel very much alive. It’s terrifying in the most awesome way–and it’s sold on the fact that you actually have to leave the game, open the “My Computer” folder on your desktop, go to the game’s files, scroll through until you get to the “Characters” folder, find Monika’s file, and find a way to delete it from your computer. It’s what you would do to kill an unresponsive program or app, but in the context of DDLC, you’re killing an artificial intelligence that’s holding you hostage.
Or at least, that’s how it feels on PC. Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch aren’t structured like computers. So to mirror the experience, the console versions of DDLC Plus play out on a fake PC desktop. When Monika takes over, you exit to this fake desktop, open “Files,” and then just go to Monika and delete her.
And DDLC loses a lot of its horror in this scenario. For one, it spoils a bit of its surprise right off the bat, hinting that you’ll need to use this fake PC desktop for something at some point. No such hint on PC–why would you question your own desktop that you see everyday?
Just Monika.
But more importantly, this set-up removes the feeling that Monika is taking over your life. On PC, the need to leave the game and go into the computer or Steam’s files makes it seem like Monika is actively taking over your hardware and you have to fight her to stop her from escaping–an idea planted in your head when the game flashes a strange message partway through the story that one of the programs tried to escape, but failed. I never once felt fear playing DDLC Plus on Switch, as Monika was always confined to the game. She never did anything to change Nintendo’s hardware. So the entire time, she didn’t feel alive–she was just an interesting gimmick in a psychological horror game.
Doki Doki Literature Club’s horror is effective because the game is built to take advantage of how PC hardware and software works to really sell the haunting realization of its twist. It’s an incredibly clever segment of gameplay, and an important aspect to fully appreciating the psychological horror of its story. The console versions lose something because they don’t take advantage of how Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch hardware and software each uniquely work to break the fourth wall and bring the horror into the real world. These versions instead try to emulate the PC experience, which makes it feel fake and thus less scary. So even though Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is an effective horror game wherever you play it, the full impact of its psychological twist is lost on consoles. If you’re going to pick it up, grab it on PC.
