Reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones made headlines recently when he pondered a future in WWE, once he’s done with MMA. “I think it’s inevitable,” he told Sports Illustrated. “I’ve always respected WWE, and I feel like the sports can be so similar.”
Should that come to pass, it sounds like he will be met with open arms by some within the wrestling company. While promoting the news that Wrestlemania 37 would be coming to the brand new SoFi Stadium in California, WWE superstar Roman Reigns had plenty of say about the potential of Jones becoming a professional wrestler.
“He’s definitely got tools. I mean, there’s no doubt he’s a bad man, no doubt,” Reigns told GameSpot and a small group of other press during the event. “But obviously what we do is a little bit different than the octagon. And it’s going to be a different travel schedule and different demands. But I definitely think he’s got a great name. He’s got a great work ethic. And he had a great, huge career still going in MMA. So I would absolutely say keep your eye on the ball from now, Jon. Don’t worry about WWE. But I definitely think there could be a future for him if he can put in the time and transition and develop the skills that we use.”
Should Jones end up in WWE, though, Reigns knows exactly who he should be matched against: himself. “Someone like Jon Jones, I mean, if you’re going to step in the WWE ring, you’re most likely going to want to be in there with the big dog,” the former WWE Champion teased.
Perhaps Reigns is planting the seeds now for a match at Wrestlemania 37, which will air live on pay-per-view and the WWE Network on March 28, 2021.
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Pokemon Home is live on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, which means you can now transfer Pokemon from Bank to Sword and Shield (if you have a paid premium plan). While not every old Pokemon can be brought over into the Gen 8 games, a few more non-Galar-native monsters can now be added to your collection, including a handful of Legendaries.
35 Pokemon that weren’t previously obtainable in Sword and Shield can be transferred into the titles from Pokemon Home. These include the other two starters from Pokemon Red and Blue–Bulbasaur and Squirtle–as well as the three starter Pokemon from Sun and Moon: Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio.
On top of that, a few Legendaries and Mythical Pokemon can be brought into Sword and Shield via Pokemon Home, including Mewtwo, Celebi, Jirachi, and Meltan. You can also use Home to bring in regional forms that weren’t previously obtainable in the Gen 8 games, such as Alolan Vulpix and Kantonian Ponyta. You can see the full list of non-Galar Pokemon that can be transferred into Sword and Shield (courtesy of Pokemon fansite Serebii) below.
Another Mythical Pokemon you can bring into Sword and Shield via Home is Mew, but there’s another way to obtain it in the Gen 8 games. The Poke Ball Plus accessory that was released alongside Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee in 2018 comes with a free Mew, and you can use that to transfer the Mythical Pokemon into Sword and Shield (if you haven’t already redeemed it in one of the Let’s Go titles). We explain how to get Mew in Sword and Shield here.
While you can argue that the battle royale craze is reaching its peak, it remains one of the biggest genres in games today. BR games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and even PUBG are still some of the most-played games out there. And with rumors brewing around Call of Duty: Modern Warfare getting a standalone BR mode, it certainly looks like the genre is here to stay.
But what can we expect from battle royale games in 2020? It’s a new year, and that means there’s gotta be innovations and experiences on the way, right? Whether it’s Activision paving the way with whatever these rumors are around a new CoD battle royale, or a new contender introducing a flurry of new mechanics we didn’t know we wanted until now, 2020 could potentially be another exciting year for BR games. Still, we can’t help but dream and wonder about all the specific things we hope will happen.
Below you can find everything that the GameSpot team wants to see in a new BR game in 2020. We detail what we want to see change about certain aspects of the genre at large, its various modes, and the customization options in between. You’ll notice that some of our points are in opposition to one other, but these are the individual opinions of those on the team and we each share different views on how battle royale should evolve and change. What do you want to see in a new battle royale game in 2020? Don’t hesitate to shout your thoughts and feelings out in the comments section!
Battle Royale Needs Better Storytelling
While battle royale games are all about the combat, there are periods where developers spice things up with in-world events and storylines that play out on the battlefield. With new trailers and ominous blog posts hinting at a growing story, it drives players to jump back into the fray to uncover bits of passive storytelling to piece together a deeper message. It can be a fun exercise in worldbuilding, and seeing more developers take the premise of the nonsensical battle royale set-up seriously is certainly fun. However, there’s a big problem I have with trying to enjoy these moments. This is all happening in a massive deathmatch where EVERYONE is waiting for the chance to snipe opponents who are distracted by static clues left on a wall.
Apex Legends
To put it plainly, the very conceit of battle royale gets in the way of the larger storytelling. While I appreciate the efforts devs make in trying to get their story across–I really do–there needs to be a better way of getting it across in a BR game. I can only imagine the number of kills someone got from distracted players trying to soak up the story, which likely leaves the deceased players frustrated for wasting their time. So far, Fortnite has been the model that games like PUBG and Apex Legends follow. While Epic Games leverages social media and livestreams to draw people into the game, frequently, the payoff can feel diminished when you’re stuck in the blitz of the free-for-all. What I would really like to see is for games to play more with the concept of the BR game type, keeping players more in the moment, while also drawing their eye to the larger story that’s in motion.
I would love to have more dynamic moments of storytelling during a good match of Fortnite or PUBG where the game itself somehow challenges me to question why exactly am I here, and why am I engaging in this brutal combat for ultimately nothing. I haven’t quite felt this sensation yet in a BR game, even when games like Fortnite embrace how self-aware it is with their dimension-hopping antics with guest appearances like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars. Apex Legends seems to be onto something though with its recent event focusing on Revenant, which didn’t focus too much on static details and more on subverting expectations from what the fans expected. Still, I hope that the storytelling in BR games will see some improvements and innovations in the future now that the genre is here to stay. | Alessandro Fillari, Editor
A Bite-Sized BR Game That Moves Faster
My matches in PUBG often consisted of me perched up on the back of a toilet tank, like some bathroom gargoyle, waiting with sweaty palms and an itchy trigger finger for my next victim to storm in through the door, so I could unload an entire clip of my gun in the small hope they’d meet their demise in a place no human wants to die. Battle royale tends to be a waiting game. A test of patience. Two things I don’t get down with.
Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds
In most cases, after waiting for 20 minutes straight, I’m usually the one found dead in the bathroom–that says more about me as a player and my skills than the game, I know. I then just have to wait in another lobby, drop from a plane, scramble for shelter, and a gun (if I’m lucky), and hope for the best. I see the thrill in this format, and I do like it, but I’d like an alternative. I’d like something smaller, faster, and to the point.
Sure, I could just play a normal deathmatch from any other shooter, right? But I’d be losing out on the excitement of the more roguelike elements of it all. So basically, I want a quick match version of battle royale. Something I could fly into, through a warehouse window, and pick something up and go guns blazing. | Kurt Indovina, Host
Single-Player Practice Rounds And Tutorials
Since battle royale games have gotten big in the last few years, I have yet to play a single one. It sucks to admit, but I’m so intimidated by the high-pressure reflexes and skills they demand. Despite being a fan of competitive shooters, I cannot handle the stress of just dropping onto an island so ill-prepared for the practical situations and firefights BR games want me to excel at–much less the possibility of disappointing my friends or randos during a team match due to my incompetence. So that’s why I’m hoping that the next big BR game that comes along has an in-depth practice mode that lets you play exhibition rounds with AI combatants.
I understand that most of the fun of battle royale comes from its brutal and impulsive challenge with live players. But all I’m asking for is a mode that helps you get comfortable with how they play and the tense moments that organically emerge during a match. And it would be all the better if it could offer in-depth onboarding tutorials too. I’ve had to avoid BR games for years now, but if one can provide a practice mode that goes beyond just a simple firing range, I’d be more than eager to give the genre a shot. Seriously, someone, please do this. | Matt Espineli, Editor
“A Game Within A Game” And A Social Hub (Basically, Sword Art Battle Royale)
Apex Legends proved that a fascinating narrative could live within a battle royale game; its characters with their own backstories and the actual matches tied into the game’s world in a sensible way. The way it’s framed as the “Apex Games” kind of takes the edge off the idea of people killing each other to survive, but that’s more-or-less ancillary to Apex Legends as a whole. What if instead, you have a character who is playing a BR game in their own world, essentially you (the player) being one more step removed from the savagery of the killing fields. Honestly, this is my roundabout way of justifying the call for a battle royale that’s like the Sword Art or Gun Gale Online manga/anime.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Hear me out: this premise could lead towards introducing a hub area to the genre where players can hang out, engage in minigames, customize their avatars, and socialize in between actual matches. Social hubs are key parts of games like Destiny and The Division, which are open-world loot shooters, but integrating that idea into a BR game would be a nice touch. It could help occupy your time between matches as you wait for them to fill up, instead of flipping through menus of gun skins and outfits. If you take me up on this Sword Art/Gun Gale idea, maybe some slice-of-life elements can be added to fill the world outside of battle royale, which could then lead to narrative opportunities that evolve over time or with new seasons of content. And a good anime-inspired art style would seal the deal, thank you. | Michael Higham, Associate Editor
Slow Down!!
I was a PUBG diehard back in its heyday, and I thrived on doing nothing for, like, 20 minutes. Holing up in a shack somewhere with nothing but a SCAR and a dream, waiting to see whose circle luck would hold out and who would have to move, was actually exhilarating. My squad would goof off and chat until, inevitably, one of us would yell at the others to shut up because maybe there was a gunshot from the southeast. It was a lot of fun.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 – Blackout
With Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode, we got PUBG with the kinks ironed out. I absolutely loved Blackout, especially because Call of Duty players are used to going fast as heck, and I got eight kills one round just by sitting in a barn where a care package dropped as everyone rushed it (and went on to win the round with all their loot). This style of battle royale was designed for patience, and that made every victory so much sweeter.
I like Apex Legends, I really do. But everyone I know wants to drop spicy, and that’s just not my thing. It’s a much faster-paced game, and it therefore does not leave me enough time to loot and sit there. And in this go-go-go world, I’d appreciate a game that lets me escape to a place where I can actually rest for a minute–and where getting one kill at the very end is all the effort I need to put forth to feel accomplished. | Kallie Plagge, Reviews Editor
Loadouts Over Looting
It’s battle royale blasphemy to say the looting phase should be scrapped. But no one likes landing with a bunch of opponents, finding nothing but scopes and extended magazines, and getting quickly gunned down by the first person who happened to find a weapon.
If we’re looking at what’s out there now, Apex Legends at least gives you some abilities to use until you can get fully equipped. But what if those Legends also dropped in fully armed? An assault rifle fits nicely in Bangalore’s veteran hands; a Sentinel sniper complements Wraith and Revenant’s stealthy approach. If the characters weren’t assigned specific weapons at the start of a game, perhaps Call of Duty-style loadouts could be implemented. Looting could be reserved for picking up shields and attachments.
Dropping in with weapons could really mean not “dropping in” at all–it would lead to every squad landing in a bunch and immediately shooting each other. To compensate, squads could simply spawn randomly around the map. Perhaps that change also goes against the battle royale spirit, but isn’t that kind of change the exact thing that would spice up the genre? | Tony Wilson, Video Producer
More Than Murders
When Apex Legends launched, it became my new go-to battle royale game–not because the shooting was tight or that the map was well-designed–although both were true–but because of all the other little things it brought to the genre. Much has been made about the excellent ping system that makes communicating with teammates fluid and easy, and the game’s verticality, its introduction of hero characters, and its class roles expanded on the usual BR formula. The thing about Apex Legends is that it just feels like there’s more to do in any given match than just catching opponents and shooting them, and that got me thinking about all the different ways I could play any given match.
Tetris 99
We’ve seen a few interesting ideas come into the genre, but not a lot of them have stuck. The Darwin Project, for instance, impressed me when it hit early access a few years ago because of the inclusion of The Director, a flying camera controlled by a player that both added a viewpoint for spectating and gave viewers a way to affect the match, by voting on in-game events that added obstacles for the contenders. The short-lived reality show-like BR game SOS included mechanics that pushed players not to just be good fighters, but to also be good performers for the people watching–and included ways to win a match by being entertaining instead of just cracking headshots. And honestly, the one BR game I’ve sunk more time into than any other is Tetris 99 because of the way it takes a creative approach to the battle royale idea, putting a lot of the emphasis of the game experience on outlasting other players rather than outflanking them.
Apart from gimmicky seasonal events and the occasional Fortnite concert, battle royale is mostly all the same thing right now, and I’m ready for the genre to introduce new ideas, the same way first- and third-person shooters at large have evolved over time. More options for spectating and streaming would obviously help, and I want to see more interesting thinking about the way you play a BR game that goes beyond figuring out which guns to use in which situations. | Phil Hornshaw, Editor
Actual Character Creation & Customization
Any Destiny players out there know that making your character look fabulous is often half the fun. But in most battle royale games, the cost of looking good is unusually prohibitive–if the option even exists at all. In PUBG, for example, good luck indulging your high fashion sense without dropping tons of cash (and even then, your options are limited). The same goes for Apex, whose customization is prohibited further by the fact that you’re working with existing characters.
Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds
Tying cosmetics to microtransactions is nothing new. But it would be nice for a BR game to feature an actual, robust character creation tool that allowed you to make an avatar that looks the way you want–and then outfit it with swanky gear without breaking the bank. | Mike Rougeau, Entertainment Managing Editor
Billie Eilish is making the title song for the 007 movie No Time To Die, and now the singer has posted a brief teaser for it. The song is called “No Time To Die” after the movie, and it was written and performed by Eilish.
The full track will premiere on February 13 at 4 PM PT, but you can listen to a teaser below. It’s eerie and moody, not unlike many of Eilish’s tracks. Have a listen below:
Eilish wrote the song alongside her brother and frequent collaborator, Finneas. This marks a special occasion for the 007 series as Eilish is the youngest artist in history to write and perform the Bond theme song.
Eilish joins a group of iconic performers to write music for the James Bond series, which includes the likes of Chris Cornell, Paul McCartney, Jack White, Alicia Keys, Sam Smith, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Adele, Duran Duran, and more. The score for the film will be composed by the legendary Hans Zimmer.
No Time To Die is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective). The film stars Daniel Craig as Bond, Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, and Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swan. Joining them for the first time will be Rami Malek, Billy Magnussen, and Ana de Armas.
No Time to Die arrives in theater in April 8.
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“So I’m not sure if even in two years I’d be — I don’t know what I’m doing in f***ing two days,” Waititi said to Variety. When asked if that means the film won’t happen, he replied, “I think eventually it will happen. I’m just not sure if I’ll be doing it.”
The filmmaker has a stacked slate ahead of him. He said he’s currently taking his time editing the Michael Fassbender comedy Next Goal Wins, but still hopes to release it by the end of 2020. After that, he’ll direct Thor: Love and Thunder, which is set for release on November 5, 2021. It was reported by Variety that screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson has been brought on to help with the Thor script before production begins in August. And somewhere during all of this, Waititi will play a role in The Suicide Squad. That film’s director, James Gunn, said on Twitter in early February that filming will be completed in less than a month.
Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who highly recommends the What We Do in the Shadows TV series that Waititi directs. First season is on Hulu, second season airs on FX in April. But watch the movie first it’s free on Hoopla or Kanopy using your library card or school email. You have no excuse. Also, watch Flight of the Conchords. You know what, just watch everything.
Things are looking up for the X-Men lately. They have a new island nation of their own and have managed to overcome death itself (Thanks, Goldballs!). Still, we can’t help but wonder how things will inevitably go wrong for Professor X and the nation of Krakoa. Thanks to X-Men #7, we may have our answer.
Read on to learn how the X-Men may have just created their worst enemy, but beware of spoilers for X-Men #7!
Marvel’s Dawn of X relaunch has taken a dark turn of late, showing the many moral compromises necessary to keep the nation of Krakoa safe. The very existence of X-Force flies in the face of one of the three fundamental laws of Krakoa – Murder No Man. But perhaps no compromise casts a deeper stain on Xavier and Magneto’s creation than the fate of the precognitive mutant Destiny. And now that mistake may cost them everything.
Destiny played a small but pivotal role in 2019’s House of X and Powers of X. As a mutant with the power to see the future, she alone was able to sense Moira MacTaggert’s unique status in time. When Moira devoted her third life cycle to creating a cure for the mutant gene, it was Destiny who orchestrated Moira’s murder and ordered her to spend the remainder of her lives helping mutants, lest she suffer an even worse fate next time around.
The end of Moira’s third life. Art by Pepe Larraz. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
Moira has done as Destiny asked. Now in her tenth life cycle, she’s guided Xavier and Magneto as they’ve built Krakoa and established a better future for the mutant race. However, she’s done so from the shadows. No one else is aware Moira is still alive, much less that she’s died and been reborn in utero nine times.
That arrangement has worked so far, but there’s a big catch. Now that Xavier has the technology to resurrect dead mutants, there’s theoretically no reason he couldn’t bring Destiny back to life. In fact, the prospect of seeing her wife resurrected is the only reason Mystique has been cooperating with Xavier and Magneto. But Destiny’s resurrection is something Moira fears above all else. She refuses to allow any precognitive mutants to live on Krakoa, for fear her secrets will be exposed and a target will be painted on her back. What’s the point of all this hard work if someone can assassinate Moira and reset the X-Men timeline back to square one?
Art by RB Silva. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
In order to safeguard Krakoa, Xavier and Magneto have elected to deny Irene Adler her second chance at life. But that hasn’t stopped them from dangling the prospect of Destiny’s resurrection like a carrot on a stick in order to force Mystique to toe the line. X-Men #7 shows Mystique risking her life by returning to Orchis’ orbital space station. There she discovers the X-Men failed in their mission to stop the creation of the futuristic Sentinel Nimrod. Xavier and Magneto order Mystique to return again and assassinate Orchis scientist Dr. Gregor before Nimrod is completed, telling Mystique she has to “earn” Destiny’s resurrection.
After reluctantly agreeing, Mystique reflects back on a conversation she and Destiny shared years before. Destiny warned her wife that an island would be created and Mystique would be offered a new home, only to be denied the one thing she craved most. Destiny urged Mystique to do everything in her power to bring her back. And if that fails, Destiny made one simple request – “Burn that place to the ground.”
Art by Matteo Buffagni. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
Mystique may have been confused by that conversation at the time, but now she understands what her wife was trying to tell her. Xavier and Magneto are never going to resurrect Destiny, leaving Mystique with no recourse but to destroy the home they worked so long and hard to build. It’s not as if Mystique doesn’t have a track record of throwing the X-Men under a bus for the sake of her own selfish desires. And in this case, can you really blame her?
X-Men #7 strongly hints Mystique will become one of the major antagonists in Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men run, potentially bringing an end to the new mutant nation. We could even see her defecting to Orchis, as recent chapters of X-Men have shown that organization has found its own pathway to immortality. Maybe they can offer Mystique the one thing Professor Xavier is unwilling to provide.
On this week’s episode of IGN’s weekly PlayStation show, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Lucy O’Brien, Ryan McCaffrey, and Tom Marks to take a look at PS4’s exciting 2020 lineup of exclusives.
Kicking off with Dreams, Jonathon and Lucy are joined by Abbie Heppe and Siobhan Reddy of Media Molecule to discuss Dreams’ imminent launch, its early access beta period, and its encouraging community.
Then, the rest of the cast dives into Ryan’s MLB The Show 20 preview, thoughts on FF7 Remake, The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Predator: Hunting Grounds, and much more!
The hugely popular first-person shooter CrossFire is becoming a movie. Variety reports that Sony Pictures has landed the rights to make a movie based on Smilegate’s shooter, which by some accounts and definitions is the world’s most popular FPS.
Fast & Furious producer Neal Moritz is producing the movie, which is written by Chuck Hogan. Hogan wrote the Benghazi movie 13 Hours. He also wrote the book Prince of Thieves, which Ben Affleck adapted into the Oscar-nominated movie The Town.
Tencent Pictures, the movie arm of the Chinese internet giant that owns shares in numerous video game developers, is co-financing and co-producing the movie. The film was actually announced back in 2015, but as is often the case in Hollywood, things can move slowly.
CrossFire launched in 2007 and has become an immensely popular game thanks in part to its growth in Asia. Smilegate reports that CrossFire has more than 650 million registered users and has reached 8 million peak concurrent players, which makes it the biggest game in the world.
There is no word on the plot, the cast, or a director for the CrossFire movie, while it’s also unknown if the movie will be released internationally or only in Asia where the game is more popular. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
Disney’s Aladdin remake is reportedly moving forward on its sequel and writers John Gatins and Andrea Berloff have been hired to write the script.
In August, one of the Aladdin remake’s producers said that Disney was looking into a sequel. Now, Variety reported that these producers had spent the past six months trying to work out the sequel’s story and have supposedly settled on a new idea instead of simply adapting the original animated movie’s sequels.
The producers are also hoping that actors Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott will return, but there won’t be any deals made until a script is completed. It’s not known at this time if the first film’s director, Guy Ritchie, is being pursued.
This would be the fourth of Disney’s recent live-action adaptations to receive a sequel. Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent have already received sequels in theaters, and Disney officially announced a Jungle Book sequel to be directed by Jon Favreau.
