Chinese actor Donnie Yen will join Keanu Reeves in the upcoming John Wick 4 according to a report from Deadline.
Yen will reportedly play an old friend of Wick in the film; no other details are yet available about the character. Yen himself is one of China’s most popular action stars. He’s best known for his four-film Ip Man series, which tells the semi-fictional life story of real-life Wing Chun practitioner Ip Man. Yen has logged some time stateside, as well, most notably as blind martial artist Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Yen also appeared in xXx: Return of Xander Cage.
“We are very lucky to have Donnie Yen join the franchise,” said director Chad Stahelski in an official statement. “I am looking forward to working with him in this exciting new role.”
“Donnie Yen will bring a vibrant and powerful energy to the franchise. We were determined to bring him on board to John Wick 4 and are thrilled for the opportunity to have such a major talent to collaborate with Keanu,” said producer Basil Iwanyk.
In addition to Yen and Reeves, Stahelski recently tapped Japanese-British pop star and actress Rina Sawayama for a role in the film. Stahelski is directing in addition to producing. Shay Hatten and Michael Finch are taking over writing duties from series writer Derek Kolstad for the film. John Wick 4 is currently set to release on May 27, 2022.
Watch live streams, videos, and more from GameSpot’s summer event. Check it out
Elite Dangerous has received another large update for its Odyssey expansion, which has been plagued with bugs and performance issues. Since its launch, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey has received tons of player complaints, causing the DLC to have a “mostly negative” rating on Steam with over 4,500 reviews The CEO of Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous, has since apologized for the issues and said that fixing them is of the utmost priority for the developer.
This is the second big update since Elite Dangerous: Odyssey released on PC on May 19, with both updates mainly focused on bugs and performance issues. The DLC was highly anticipated among fans of the series as it introduced the ability to step outside of your spaceship and explore the galaxy in first-person view. While this isn’t the last update for Odyssey, the comments of the Steam post with the patch notes seem generally positive, so it’s a step in the right direction.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Now Playing: Elite Dangerous: Odyssey Reveal Trailer | Game Awards 2020
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is currently only on PC, with console versions coming later. The patch itself addresses stability, rendering, and optimization issues, in addition to adjusting the out-of-ship UI. You can read the full patch notes on Steam or below:
A number of stability improvements have been made.
The Alphekka system has been updated to contain an eclipsing binary of Class A and Class G stars.
Corrected erroneous planet names in Sharur and Tau Ceti.
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey
AI
Ranged AI will now draw their pistol when investigating, rather than their rifle.
An issue has been fixed whereby AI would be watching the player for an extended time after reckless discharge warning.
AI reinforcements will no longer appear at Offline settlements if the power is restored and the alarms raised.
An issue has been fixed whereby turrets were functioning improperly.
Audio
Organics ambiences have been fixed so they attenuate correctly over distance.
Mix tweaks for Helmet radio comms effect and suit voice have been made – softened harsh high frequencies
Mix improvements and fix for impressionistic layers being audible outside of the concourse have been made – Will only be audible when in a Concourse.
A reduction to reverb for self-hit notification sounds has been made.
Mining rigs audio now switches off correctly when a settlement is unpowered.
In game music will now dip when close to a grenade explosion.
A reduction to how much the tutorial voice over dips in relation to the in game music has been made.
Mix tweaks on ship launch/land have been made.
Mix tweaks to radio chatter when on foot have been made.
SRV scanner sounds now remain audible when in turret mode.
A fix for missing ambience when hovering over a metal planet in the System Map has been made.
Improvements to landing audio have been made – when docked, the powering down audio will synchronise better with touching down.
Taxi pilots will now say ‘goodbye’ at more sensible times instead of 15 seconds of awkward silence prior to being able to disembark.
A fix for suit sudio which informs you that ‘recharge is complete’ when you run out of suit energy has been made.
A fix for engine landing sounds not playing as a passenger in a wing after being in supercruise has been made.
Some foley has been added when switching tool mode for Powerlink and Scanner tools.
Character
An issue has been fixed which caused third person reload and melee animations on certain weapons to never complete.
An issue has been fixed which was present when firing the shotgun in ADS.
An issue has been fixed whereby an incorrect emissive value was present on certain NPC shoulders.
An issue has been fixed whereby certain suits were missing a backpack and torch.
Controls
Bound ‘Select Next Grenade Type’ for presets that use keyboard inputs ( Tab ).New controls with bindings for presets that use keyboard inputs have been added:
Use Medkit ( 6 )
Use Energy Cells ( 7 )
Select Frag Grenade ( 8 )
Select EMP Grenade ( 9 )
Select Shield Grenade ( 0 )
Clear Stolen Profile ( – )
Cosmetics
Emissive paintjobs have been re-balanced for ships, to bring them closer to how they looked before the Odyssey update.
Emissive paintjobs have also been balanced for the SRV.
Mining decals for ships (CG rewards) have been visually improved.
Various inconsistencies have been fixed with some paintjobs for the Federal Corvette.
Cockpit string lights have been rebalanced to make them appear to glow in light and dark environments.
Added fixed items for flight suit helmet.
Fixed issues with decals not working on shoulder pads.
Crashes/Stability
Fixed an issue seen with saved games and flight suit livery.
Fixed user crashes associated to mission object location spawning.
Fixed quitting on foot tutorial for an existing Horizons player, causing the main menu to get stuck and unable to enter the game or tutorial.
Exploration
Players will now be able to plot hyperspace routes involving neutron boosts.
Fixed an issue whereby the genus filter would show when a planet has nothing to filter.
Interactions
Fixed an issue whereby Landing Pad lights did not turn off at offline and offline damaged settlements.
Fixed an issue whereby AI were being spawned incorrectly at offline and offline damaged settlements.
Lighting & VFX
A fix has been made for the brightness discrepancy of the galaxy background when the Player is in the cockpit vs when they are viewing it externally (e.g. 3rd person/vanity camera)
A fix has been made for the prismatic shields displaying as the wrong colour (they were previously blue, and will now appear green once again)
Lights now correctly turn off on the landing pad when a Settlement is offline.
A fix has been added for Lagrange clouds sometimes appearing black.
Additional improvements and fixes to all fog volumes including Megaship, Thargoid, Thargoid Barnacle, Guardian Listening Post and Planet Port Fog have been made.
A fix has been made for incorrect steam VFX placement in a room.
A fix has been made for odd visual trails that could appear when breaking a motherlode asteroid.
The addition of a de-pressurisation VFX has been made for when the Player de-pressurises a building or room.
Visual improvements to floodlight cones in hangars have been made.
Visual improvements to the Thargoid Imprint Lighting have been made.
Visual improvements to the Lighting at Legacy Elite Bases have been made.
Menus
Fixed humanoid outfitting store saying ‘select vehicle’.
Added rotate, zoom and cycle controls to livery.
Fixed crime icons persisting after the fine is paid off.
Fixed issues with the contacts pop-up being active on returning from outfitting, accessed via tech broker and it not providing functionality. Now on returning you are taken to base station services.
Fixed the quick access wheel being usable while using the Camera Suite.
Fixed an issue where the transaction panel wouldn’t update when opening it.
Missions
Fixed a number of instances where missions wouldn’t display some of their useful information. This primarily affected Horizons missions. This information should now be present once again.
Information that is generally similar across the same type of mission, such as the tips and hints on how to complete it, will now be found in the dedicated help pop-up. This can be accessed via the question mark button in all mission contract views, or accessed via a keybinding when talking to a mission provider.
More robust mission settings for menus, to ensure that settings that should not persist, do not.
Fixed an issue preventing players from handing in missions
Mission providers will stop requesting missions, unless you are on foot.
Fixed an issue whereby the second player to join an instance would be unable to start their mission.
Multicrew/Wings
Fixed an issue whereby if the host player created/joined a wing while in an SRV or Fighter, they would be have an extra multicrew power pip when they returned to the mothership.
Fixed an issue whereby if a guest player deployed into or boarded an SRV, they would get a power pip in the mothership.
Powerpips are now only granted to guest players in the mothership or fighters and are rescinded when players leave the ship by any means.
Organics/Geologicals and Scatter
An addition has been made to the Electricae shader to ensure it has an emissive core.
Microresource and rock shaders have been updated to new PBR ones.
A fiix has been made for Crystalline Shard mineable assets not spawning.
A fix has been made for Mineables on Legacy organics/geologicals spawning in incorrect locations/with incorrect rotations.
Visual improvements have been made to the Electricae organic and it’s emissive core.
Optimisation
Optimisations for Vendors and NPCs in Social Spaces have been made.
Optimisations for Miner and Scientist NPCs in Settlements have been made.
Optimisations for hair styles for all characters have been made.
Optimisations for suits for all characters have been made.
Optimisation of fire VFX in rooms has been made.
A small optimisation pass has been made to remove unused fog volumes.
Additional fixe and improvements have been made to the occlusion culling system.
Fixed the station body schematic being misaligned with the station.
Updated culling for interior spaces improving performance around settlements and stations.
POIs
Improved LOD popping on some wreckage props at POIs.
Fixed missing medium and high threat difficult values for the abandoned SRV salvage POI, which would prevent the salvage mission from being completable.
Rendering
A fix has been made for sorting issues seen with glass and character hair
A fix has been made for SRV dust appearing black – correct colour is now applied
A fix has been made for the occlusion volumes not processing correctly in the social space at certain times
A fix has been made for the occlusion volumes on assets, such as the airlock not updating correctly at certain times
The ability to create softer blends between surfaces has been added
An update has been made to long and thin rectangle lights, to have specular highlights that are more consistent with their shape
A fix has been made for some particle effects occasionally obtaining a visual hard edge
A fix has been made for the Player flashlight flickering in varying degrees based on graphics setting
A fix has been made for “puddle” material at the Thargoid Imprint not displaying correctly
Visual improvements and shader updates to the cockpit lights have been made
A fix has been made for incorrect lighting of some planets in the system map
Server
A fix has been made for players being able to take shuttles to ports on high gravity planets
Added stricter checks for validity of shuttle destinations to prevent players becoming stranded
A fix has been made to allow reaching Soldier or Exo-Biologist Elite rank to grant permit access to Shinrarta Dezhra
FA fix has been made to address an issue with some conflict zones prompting a relog error
The faction impact of NPC on foot murder events has been adjusted to balance against other player actions
A fix has been made for missing helmet options for flight suits
Suit packs will now all show the overview icon rather than specific components
Rank unlock suit components will now have the correct icons
Shuttle names will now persist when relogging
An issue has been fixed which was causing some players to be unable to hand in missions at mission boards
Certain settings were previously not including players sat on the CZ respawn screen within the BGS event at the end of a conflict zone, which may have been affecting people’s ability to unlock the engineer Hero Ferrari
Additional telemetry for disconnections to assist with diagnostics have been added
Faction conflicts have been fixed so that control of the asset at stake is correctly awarded to the faction that won the conflict.
Settlements (new for Odyssey)
Fixed a gap present on the exterior of a Research building
Fixed a gap present on the exterior of a Power building, and a LOD issue on the PWR decal
Fix for collect missions at Human_Small_Extraction_02 sometimes requiring the player to enter an authority 1 building making it impossible to complete it lawfully
Removed unnecessary trespass volume at the large mining rig
Removed the ’02’ decal from drill rigs at Mining Settlements, so that not all drills are labelled 02
Further occlusion improvements around doors
Corrected Room Geometry around the exterior of Industrial buildings that caused errors with culling
Settlements (legacy)
Fixed offset ramps at Legacy Settlements
Engineer bases now have scatter rocks spawning nearer to them (but not intersecting with buildings/structures)
Added emergency stairwells to the Engineer Base landing pads, so players cannot get themselves trapped
Fixed a building intersection issue at Colonel Bris Dekker’s Engineer Base
Fixed a wall texture issue at some hangars in various Engineer Bases
Fixed a black cube appearing at Zacariah Nemo’s Engineer Base
Removed errant rock from Felicity Farseer’s Engineer Base
Rebalanced materials for INRA sites
Fixed z-fighting present on the building next to the generator in the SRV training mission
Ships
Fixed emissive values on Alliance ships engines causing them to turn black
Fixed a typo on the back door of the Cobra MkIII and Cobra MkIV
Various hitcheck improvements have been made for the Type-9 Heavy
Fixed low resolution textures present in the Viper MkIV cockpit
Camera suite camera orientation fixes have been made for the Viper Mk IV
Social Spaces
Core Dynamics/Federation Corvette and Gutamaya/Imperial Cutter now only advertise in their respective superpower social areas
Fixed graphic alpha issue with the vertical Santi advert
Terrain & Planets
Fixed an issue that would cause some distant planet terrain to get darker and shinier
Thargoids
Thargoid probe shaders have been updated to new PBR ones
UI
Map UI – A new panel to display Organic Data has been added. This is available in the System Map and Planetary Map.
In the outfitting UI, when equipping a stored module into an empty slot, the transactions pop-up does not now show (except when installing a clean module onto a hot ship’s empty slot).
In Loadouts UI, old stats which were wrongly being left visible when the stat data changes has been fixed.
In Loadouts UI, we have changed the way that engineer mod information is updated, to avoid flickering when browsing mods.
The humanoid mod stat ranges for jump assist stats have been changed to reflect the actual maximum values.
Exhaustion time multiplier value into rate [0,1] for “exhaustion rate” mod stat has been converted.
Map UI – Fixed misalignment and jitter issues of the focused/current/selected object markers
Loadout UI – The title in the respawn flow can now fill the screen, so will not go multiline and prevent the loadout from being cutoff.
Mission UI – Added “showIllegal” to the mission board mission listings, which tints the icon purple.
An issue has been fixed whereby the setting for the rolepanel was not being read and so would always appear, even when it was not intended to.
Boarding Panel – Storage status now displays new strings and icons.
Boarding Panel – Added a third button to be used for restocking supplies.
Map UI – Fixed ab issue which stopped the faction state from updating with the selected system’s info.
Mission UI – Fixed the header always using the mission board header.
Mission UI – Fixed an issue whereby the starport service will remember the last board selection, so you could open passenger lounge / community goals in the social space.
Map UI – Selecting a bookmark and then plotting a route will now plot a route to that bookmark location, instead of just the system it is in.
Map UI – Selection and Quick Select input scheme has been updated to allow targeting with mouse, then using controller/keyboard held input.
Map UI – Added ability to hold down on a location button (bookmarks, mission, ships) to plot a route to the location. This only works on normal galaxy and system map modes (not apex/conflict/carrier)
Map UI – Updated the bookmark empty state.
Map UI – The bookmark empty state will no longer change position based on the category title.
Map UI – Players can now hold down left click on lists (filters, marker display etc) in the map modes to quickly toggle them on/off. This only works with mouse control.
Map UI – When a filter is updated, the datastore is updated instead of recreated, fixing a visual bug when selecting them.
Map UI – Fixed issue with commodities closing the LHS if the player would pick an option that is too far down in the list.
Cargo Transfer – Fixed text truncation in German version of the cargo transfer popups.
Fixed avatar in On-foot Commander panel, so that it now displays a full body image of the Commander instead of an incredibly uncomfortable close-up mugshot.
The ‘Back’ input button functionality will no longer be missing from various UIs
The player should now be able to use the Back/Cancel button (B on gamepad) to back out of power contact and fleet carrier vendor contact in the station services UI.
Fixed an issue with large combat bond voucher values not displaying properly because of uint32 cap
Fixed an issue where the incorrect markers were being displayed in the terminal facility list
Added UI data store properties to create the extra column in the humanoid inventory panel to display storage values
Fixed text strings for replacing vehicle filter with suits/weapons in store UI
Fixed icons for item filter/owned item for humanoid store so that it doesn’t display the ship vector icon
Fixed the clock icon misaligned with estimated departure in fleet carrier navigation menu
Fixed missing icons states indicating that the player Commander was muted/talking/unmuted
Removed watermark icons from the dropship information in the ‘Conflict Zone Vendor Summary Panel’ and centered the faction name text.
Removed icons from pick up and drop off location for Apex Shuttle in the Access UI to match those of Frontline Solutions.
Fixed alignment issues with background visuals for mission hub UI popup
Planetary Level Organics UI is now functional.
Fixed the no-battery warning message text to be more in line with humanoid terminology. Power Limit Exceeded -> Battery Depleted
Fixed the DSS view to use the same camera transform as the probe launcher, so that the UI does not go out of sync
A fix for the Gamma slider not updating in-game gamma values has been implemented
Known Issues
An issue with chest, upper arm and shoulder suit parts not appearing for female avatars is currently being investigated.
An issue with some environmental assets being culled incorrectly around the exterior of 2 specific buildings is being investigated.
Watch live streams, videos, and more from GameSpot’s summer event. Check it out
Amazon Prime Day has been officially confirmed for June 21-22, which means there are just a few more weeks until the retailer’s biggest sale outside of Black Friday. Prime Day is a massive two-day event stacked with deals, especially across the tech and gaming space, which makes it the perfect time to shop for a new PC monitor. From extravagant ultrawide displays to lighting fast HD ones, you should have many Prime Day monitor deals to browse this year, and we’ll be here to round up the best ones for gamers.
While some early Prime Day TV deals are already live, there aren’t any official Prime Day gaming monitor deals yet, but there are still some solid monitor discounts popping up at Amazon ahead of Prime Day. That’s a good thing for those who aren’t subscribed to Amazon Prime, as you don’t need to sign up to take advantage of the great deals available now. But if you want to shop Prime Day 2021, you’ll have to sign up for the free 30-day trial–or brush up on the other ways you can get Amazon Prime for free–ahead of the festivities.
The gaming monitor deals already on offer feature some great picks, including the popular Alienware AW3420DW 34-inch curved monitor and standout LG 27GL850-B 27-inch monitor, which is still one of the best 1440p gaming monitors out there. You can expect to see more Prime Day monitor deals as we get closer to June 21, and we’ll continue updating this page with the best offers as we see them go live.
LG’s 27-inch GL850 was one of the best monitors to launch in 2019 and remains a firm favorite today, and it’s not hard to see why. It delivers the sweet spot of resolution and refresh rate, with a 1440p and 144Hz panel that supports both AMD FreeSync and has Nvidia G-Sync certification. The Nano-IPS panel delivers rich colors with high accuracy, with a 10-bit supported color gamut and 125% sRGB coverage. There’s minimal HDR support (no VESA certifications here), but that’s a small concession for a monitor with this many features for such a low price.
So many 1440p monitors stick to the standard 27-inch display size, but if you’re looking for something a bit bigger, then LG has a great alternative with its 32GN650-B. This is quite a different monitor from the 27GN850 though–for starters, it uses a VA panel instead of IPS, which will be great if you usually play games in darker rooms where its deeper contrast can stand out. It does feature AMD FreeSync support but doesn’t have Nvidia G-Sync certification (you can still toggle on manually, but it might not work too well). That said, with its 165Hz refresh rate you’ll be more than capable of keeping up with fast online action, and at this size, you can enjoy immersive single-player games too.
If you’re content with sticking to 1080p but want a display with a bit more color accuracy, then Alienware’s AW2521HF might fit the bill. It utilizes an IPS panel to achieve 125% sRGB coverage, allows for refresh rates up to 240Hz, and features AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility. That’s a lot for a 25-inch panel, but its premium qualities extend to the space grey chassis with customizable lighting on the back. You’re paying extra for all these features, but it’s tough to argue when a monitor performs this well while also looking this good.
Sometimes you just need a monitor that is all about speed, and that’s exactly what the Dell S2421HGF hones in on. It’s a 1080p display with a TN panel, which means you won’t be getting the crispest image or best color accuracy out of the box. What you will be getting, however, is a panel that’s one of the fastest out there in terms of pixel response times, ensuring you’re getting the best possible experience for fast-paced online shooters or similarly competitive games. It’s also a great pick-up if you’re just looking for a solid monitor on a tighter budget, especially considering Dell’s standout build quality at this price point.
Ultrawide displays can be extremely expensive, but there’s an argument to be made for Alienware’s AW3420DW finding a good middle ground. It’s a 34-inch display with a resolution of 3440×1440, which gives you a high pixel density across its curved screen. The IPS panel is fast, too, with a refresh rate of 144Hz and all the color accuracy you’d expect from this panel type. It omits HDR entirely (which is down to the age of this model) but given how hit or miss that feature can be and what premium it attaches to the price, you might not see this as a disadvantage–especially when you’re paying under $900 for one of the best ultrawide monitors on the market.
Great ultrawide monitors don’t need to cost the same as (or more than) two individual ones anymore. The Gigabyte G34WQC is one such option, cramming 3440×1440 pixels into a 34-inch display with a VA panel. That means both a great pixel density rating and great contrast, which should work well if you’re planning to play games in dimmer environments. Better still is the 165Hz refresh rate and curved display that lets you keep an eye on all the details while it’s fluidly flowing by. This monitor supports HDR, too, with VESA DisplayHDR400 certification ensuring a better-than-average experience with it turned on. At less than $450, there’s a lot to love here.
Another great budget pick for ultrawide monitors is the Acer Nitro XV340CK, which features many similarities to the Gigabyte G34WQC but with some key differences. For starters, this is an IPS panel instead of a VA one, which means better color accuracy but worse black levels. The Acer Nitro does come with HDR10 support but lacks any VESA certifications like the Gigabyte. Both, however, feature the same 3440×1440 resolution in a 34-inch body, as well as a refresh rate of 144Hz. There’s a difference in price, too, with the Acer Nitro on sale for just $400. Having competition like this in the ultrawide space is great, especially at this price point.
Amazon Warehouse currently has the display down to $380, but you can pick up an Acer-certified refurbished Nitro XV340CK for just $350 at eBay right now.
Paramount+ is getting a new, less-expensive subscription tier for those who aren’t already overwhelmed by the sheer number of streaming services. The new tier goes live on Monday, June 7.
If you subscribe to Paramount+ right now, you have two options. If you’re feeling premium, you can pay $10/month or $100/year to get access to the “Commercial Free” plan, which includes ad-free streaming and live television with limited commercial interruptions. If you don’t mind more ads, you can pay $6 per month or $60 per year for ad-supported streaming and the same live television access. Starting Monday, though, ViacomCBS is replacing that lower tier with a new option.
The $6 “Limited Commercials” plan will disappear, and a new $5 “Essential” plan will replace it. This plan keeps the same ad-supported streaming but drops the access to live television.
If you want to grab that cheaper streaming plan that includes live TV, you have until Monday to subscribe at the $6 tier. As long as you stay subscribed, you’ll be able to access live TV at that lower price point. If you subscribe or re-subscribe later, though, the Limited Commercials plan will be unavailable.
If you’re wondering whether or not to take advantage of that price, you’ll want to check out our list of the best horror shows and movies on the service. You can also look forward to the upcoming Rugrats revival, the Mark Wahlberg sci-fi thriller Infinite, and the in-development Pet Sematary sequel. Paramount+ began as CBS All Access, but was rebranded last fall.
Watch live streams, videos, and more from GameSpot’s summer event. Check it out
There are some really awesome deals today that you don’t want to miss out on. The Amazon free credit offer is one of the best deals you’ll find for Prime Day. The PlayStation Plus discount is the best Sony Days of Play deal we’ve seen so far, And the Civilization 6 bundle is the best Humble Choice package of 2021. Check out these deals and more below.
Buy a $40 Amazon Gift Card, Get Free $10 Amazon Credit
If you buy a $40 Amazon gift card (for yourself, let’s say), you’ll get $10 of free Amazon credit deposited into your account. If you shop regularly at Amazon, that basically amounts to free money. Really, if you have $40 lying around, there’s no reason not to do it. The only catch is that the credit expires if you don’t use it by August 7. I’d recommend you spend it on Prime Day. Note that you can select an eGift Card delivered instantly instead of a physical gift card.
The Sony Days of Play Sale is already under way, but the most useful of these deals just launched today. The PS Plus membership is necessary to play online, but it also offers perks like new free games every month (this month includes Star Wars Squadrons), exclusive discounts at the PlayStation Store, and access to the very impressive PS Plus Collection for PS5 owners. The PS Plus Collection includes games like God of War, Persona 5, The Last of Us Remastered, Days Gone, Final Fantasy XV, Mortal Kombat, Ratchet & Clank, and more, many of them optimized for 60fps gameplay on the PS5 console.
Civilization 6 Platinum Edition + 11 PC Games for Only $10
The new Humble Choice bundle might be the best one we’ve seen for 2021. You get the entire Civilization 6 Platinum Edition collection, along with 11 other indie games, all for a mere $10 when you sign up for a Humble Choice Premium subscription (sign up for only 1 month and cancel afterwards if you just want this deal). The Platinum Edition includes both Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm expansions, which beefs the base game up considerably, as well as all the other smaller skin and faction packs that have been released. That alone sells for $40 or more elsewhere.
65.6 Feet (2 x 32.8 Feet) of Bluetooth RGB LED Strip Lights for $19.19
You won’t find 65 feet of LED strip lights for a mere $19 at your local brick and mortar electronics store. These lights do feature some extra functionality, like color changing, music-sync, and app control via bluetooth. If you’re in the market for some cheap yet good looking bling, you can’t do much better than this. This strips cannot be cut shorter and spliced, so it’s probably too long as accent lighting for your gaming monitor, but it’s definitely long enough to light up your entire gaming desk area or home entertainment center. This kit includes two rolls of 32.8ft strips.
Audible Premium Plus normally costs $14.95 per month. It’s already a very reasonable deal for the amount of audiobooks you have access to, but there’s an even better deal for new customers ahead of Amazon Prime Day. For the first four months you can save over 50% off. The only caveat: you’ll need to be an Amazon Prime member to take advantaqe of this deal. In addition, you’ll be eligible for one free book credit each month for a total of four credits; each credit can be used to redeem an audiobook of your choice that you can keep indefinitely.
Amazon Music Unlimited is Amazon’s premium music subscription service similar to Pandora Premium or Spotify. Stream millions of songs to your mobile device, PC, Echo devices, Alexa compatible speakers, and much more. It’s normally $7.99/month for Amazon Prime members but new (Prime) customers can sign up for four months for absolutely free. For those of you who already subscribe to the service, make sure you sign up for the free HD upgrade.
If you’re looking for a solid USB microphone for your Twitch or YouTube streaming needs and you don’t want to spend a ton of money, the Blue Snowball iCE offers the best bang for the buck. It’s one of the best mics you’ll find for under $50, it’s compact, includes its own integrated stand, and looks great to boot. It’s $50 everywhere else, but Walmart currently has it for 30% off.
Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out the IGN Deals articles and subscribe to the IGN Deals Twitter page.
Martial arts star Donnie Yen is joining the cast of John Wick 4, Deadline reports.
Longtime John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski has brought Yen onboard to play a friend of John Wick’s who has a similar history and shares the same enemies.
Yen is known for his numerous martial arts roles in movies like the Ip Man franchise, where he played the titular Wing Chun master who would go on to train Bruce Lee. His appearance as Sky in Jet Li’s Hero is regarded as his breakout success, pitting him against Li’s protagonist in a rain-soaked sword vs. spear fight.
More recently, Yen appeared as the blind Guardian of the Whills, Chirrut Imwe, in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and in 2020’s live-action Mulan remake. Before his bigger acting roles, he starred in numerous Chinese films (including a co-starring role in Once Upon a Time in China II alongside Jet Li), founded a production company, and choreographed action in films like Blade II, which earned him a cameo role.
Yen will join Keanu Reeves and Japanese-British pop star Rina Sawayama in a lead role of her own. The film begins production this summer, with filming scheduled to take place in France, Germany, and Japan.
“We are very lucky to have Donnie Yen join the franchise,” Stahelski told Deadline. “I am looking forward to working with him in this exciting new role.”
It’s possible that 2K Games’ E3 announcements have been leaked on Reddit, and that they include a Borderlands spin-off featuring Tiny Tina, a new Marvel game, and a very early development action game.
According to a Reddit post that received a nod on Twitter from Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, 2K’s E3 announcements may include a Borderlands universe title codenamed Daffodil, potentially dubbed either Wonderlands or Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (both of which are already trademarked by 2K). It’s said to be in a similar gameplay style to other Borderlands games and features playable “multiclass heroes.”
Update 6/3/21 4:30 pm PT: Schreier has since tweeted again that the 2K leak is real but isn’t “sure all of it is going to be at E3.”
Another potentially leaked announcement is a new game from Firaxis said to be a turn-based action game using Marvel characters. According to the leaker’s source, it was described as “XCOM with Marvel Heroes” and may feature some “famous actors” voicing characters.
Also in the leak is something the source called “Codename Volt,” an action game that “seems to be in really early development” and was described as “Cthulu meets Saints Row.” It was unclear as to what studio was developing this game, though the leaker pointed out that last year a different leak revealed Hangar13 was working on an “open-world sci-fi title with supernatural elements,” which may be it.
Finally, there’s the unsurprising NBA 2K22, with Dirk Nowitzki on the cover (though other athletes could also appear on other editions).
For now, these are all just rumors sadly. 2K has said officially that they have a total of 21 games planned for release between now and March, four of which are “immersive core releases” and two of which are from new franchises. One of those new franchises is being made by Gearbox, though a Tiny Tina spin-off probably wouldn’t count as a new franchise in this case, so it’s possible there maybe something else in the cards.
Whatever the case, we’ll get a chance to see what 2K’s plans really turn out to be during E3 2021 and its adjacent events, all of which you can find our coverage of as a part of IGN’s Summer of Gaming.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
There was a time not too long ago where some games never left Japan. It didn’t matter if they were the next entry in a beloved series or some genre-twisting mashup. Monster World IV was one such game on the Sega Mega Drive, the last in a well-known series that for whatever reason never made it to the American Genesis like its predecessors did. Remade and released now as Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, this formerly 16-bit classic retains everything that fans loved about the series back in 1994. Unfortunately, it is no longer 1994, and this dedication to old-school platforming fundamentals makes Asha’s adventure a museum piece rather than a triumphant resurgence.
Like the retro original, Asha in Monster World carries on mechanically from previous Monster World games but presents a brand-new journey with only a few ties to the ongoing story. Asha was born with a gift to sense spirits, and their cries for help serve as a call to adventure. Over the course of around five hours, Asha saves a quartet of helpful sprites that series fans may remember from Wonder Boy in Monster World and foils the shadowy plot to contain them. It’s a simple tale that works for a colorful platformer like this, providing good motivation without getting in the way of the action.
Improving a classic like this seems like a slam dunk, and general nostalgia for the 1990s has produced a bunch of remasters and remakes that breathe new life into old favorites. In the case of Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, a new coat of paint can’t hide simplistic gameplay and outdated mechanics.
Asha in Monster World is a straightforward action game featuring a hero whose moveset consists of a single sword swing, a rechargeable “magic hit” for extra damage, a shield for defense, and aerial attacks that go up and down. The only other interactions in each level come from Asha’s floating puffball of a pet, a fantastical creature known as a Pepelogoo that Asha can throw to retrieve items located off-screen, push buttons, or climb up plumes of lava. Grabbing onto its feet is also the only way to perform a double jump. It’s a wide variety of moves when compared to other Genesis action games, but it’s crushingly limited compared to most similar games we see nowadays.
Take the double jump in particular: Monster World’s four levels take full advantage of this extra height once Asha learns the move, laying out paths that need you to make several in a row to proceed. In most games, this means simply hitting the jump button twice, but in Asha’s adventure, there’s an extra button press and a time buffer whenever she needs the Pepelogoo to give her some added distance. The creature also evolves over time and gets too heavy for Asha, forcing her to stand still as she holds onto her pet instead of running around freely.
To modern eyes, all this fiddling with Pepelogoo to accomplish jumps that almost any other platforming hero could easily clear feels less like interesting design and more like a simple waste of time, and it’s not the only instance of this. The levels have plenty of examples of backtracking for simplistic puzzles, rote memorization, and times where a needed key spawns directly next to a locked door. These are the type of gameplay elements that games left behind for a reason, and they’re the biggest cause of why Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World doesn’t stand up to modern scrutiny.
The physical edition of Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World comes with an English edition of the 1994 game. It’s a great bonus, and it’s a shame that not everyone has access to it. It’s only when playing each version side by side can you see how faithful the developers are to the original. It’s a shot-for-shot remake in the vein of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, only with a layer of cartoony cel-shading instead of pixels.
Different people will prefer different styles, but the original presentation put me more in the right mindset for what was to come. The new graphical treatment might set expectations for a game that’s evolved from its original era, and that makes simple things like the lack of mid-level checkpoints and limited healing items all the more frustrating.
If you do happen to prefer the newer look of the Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap remake and the spiritual sequel Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, it’s worth noting that Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World’s modern graphics are a significant downgrade from both of those games. The bright colors and simple designs all mirror the classic well, but there’s no style to the translation. The simplicity makes Asha’s world look like a cheap Wonder Boy knockoff rather than a long-lost entry in the series.
Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom for the new version, which does include a few colorful cutscenes that expand on important moments in the story in fun ways. NPC dialogue scrolls at a much more reasonable pace when compared to the original, which makes the forward-thinking meta humor in the town square all the more enjoyable. The soundtrack is also improved with many renditions of a main theme, although it can get repetitive on some of the longer levels.
While it’s early days yet, we sure do like the cut of Far Cry 6’s jib so far. We’ve found the best discounted deal on this forthcoming FPS, just in case you feel the same way. We’ve also sourced some cheap consoles, wheels and an array of must-own titles that all deserve a place in your collection!
Welcoooome to Nintendo Voice Chat! Nintendo hasn’t pulled the curtain back on the highly-rumored Switch Pro, but the company did finally reveal its plans for E3 2021! Join Casey DeFreitas, Seth Macy, Logan Plant, and NVC newcomer Jada Griffin as they lay out expectations and hopes for the 40-minute Nintendo Direct that’s less than two weeks away. Plus, after a recent lawsuit, the panel discusses the place ROMs hold in video games. Stick around for WarioWare, Knockout City, and Question Block!
You can listen to NVC on your preferred platform every Thursday at 3pm PT/6pm ET. Have a question for Question Block? Write to us at [email protected] and we may pick your question! Also, make sure to join the Nintendo Voice Chat Podcast Forums on Facebook. We’re all pretty active there and often pull Question Block questions and comments straight from the community.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Logan Plant is the Production Assistant for NVC. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.
