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While a keyboard and mouse are generally considered a better option for games where precision is needed, accessories brand KontrolFreek aims to improve the precision of controller gaming with its line of Precision Rings. Originally launched in 2019 with two resistance options, hard and medium, KontrolFreek’s Precision Rings are tiny circular foam pieces that slip around the thumbsticks on your PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch controller to provide more resistance to your movements, which is particularly helpful in shooters when you need to take careful aim. Now, KontrolFreek is expanding the line with a new soft option, which provides less resistance than the medium and hard versions.

$13

Fortunately, you’ll be able to try which firmness is right for you without buying them all separately, as KontrolFreek is also releasing a variety pack with all three strengths. The mixed pack sells for $13 on Amazon and comes with six Precision Rings, two of each strength. Meanwhile, the soft rings are available in a pack of their own with four rings for $12. You can also buy them for slightly cheaper directly from KontrolFreek, though only orders over $25 qualify for free shipping.

Ahead of this announcement, I got the chance to try out all three Precision Ring options. The rings slip easily around each of your thumbsticks, settling into the little groove below. Fortunately, they’re easy to remove as well, but take care that you don’t pull on them too hard–I did manage to break one of mine. Once a ring is added to each thumbstick, you’ll feel much more resistance as you try to move the stick in any direction. The difference between each level of resistance is extremely subtle, but I found myself preferring the new soft rings as they allowed for slightly better movement. However, I still found that using the Precision Rings on their own with the default thumbsticks made me feel as though I couldn’t maneuver or turn as fast, though my aim and precision was improved.

However, KontrolFreek does recommend pairing the Precision Rings with another of its popular accessories, the Performance Thumbsticks. Available in a variety of colors and sizes, these third-party thumbsticks literally attach to the top of the default thumbsticks and offer a better grip due to their non-slip rubber surface. By increasing the height of thumbsticks, you’re also getting a more ergonomic grip on the controller, reducing stress on your thumb, hand, and wrist. You can attach both the Precision Rings and Performance Thumbsticks to a controller, and I found that this is indeed the ideal combination. Not only does your hand feel like it’s in a more natural position; it also gives the thumbstick more space to move around, so the Precision Rings feel less stiff than they do when used on their own.

I was much happier with my ability to maneuver around when using the Performance Thumbsticks and Precision Rings together, but you may still need to increase your movement speed in the game’s settings to find the perfect level of sensitivity for you. In terms of performance, I was satisfied with how the rings improved my accuracy in games–aiming for headshots in Resident Evil 2 felt noticeably easier with fewer misses, and firing quick shots in succession in Control seemed to take down enemies faster as I was hitting them every time. The Precision Rings cushion the thumbsticks and make them quieter to use as well.

One concern that did cross my mind with the Performance Thumbsticks is the potential for them to leave scratches on the default thumbsticks underneath as you remove them. They come off fairly easily but require a bit more effort to remove than the rings do. If you decide to start using these, you should be aware of that risk–I wouldn’t suggest removing and adding them back on a daily basis.

The bottom line

Ultimately, the KontrolFreek Precision Rings are great accessories to have on hand if you play a lot of shooters, though it’s hard to recommend them without picking up the Performance Thumbsticks as well, which come with the potential risk of minor thumbstick damage. At just $13, the variety pack is worth it for the price, and you’ll get to try out all three resistance strengths to figure out what feels best for you. The Precision Rings take some getting used to, but if you’re someone who struggles to aim with a controller, the benefits are likely worth it.

You can check out both the Precision Rings and Performance Thumbsticks at Amazon below and visit KontrolFreek’s Amazon store page for more of the brand’s gear.

The long-in-development Dungeons & Dragons movie has reportedly added Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Page to its cast. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Page has only recently closed the deal, which sees him joining an ever-growing cast of impressive names.

Page joins Justice Smith (Detective Pikachu) and Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious), who were announced as new cast members for the movie earlier this month. Chris Pine (Wonder Woman 1984) was cast back in December.

Dungeons & Dragons doesn’t yet have a release date, its plot is still being kept a secret, and none of these new cast members have even had their roles disclosed. Other than it being a safe bet that the film is going to be a fantasy with some dungeons and dragons in it, it’s still anyone’s guess what the movie will have in store. However, this is not exactly a shock since an earlier Dungeons & Dragons movie was released in 2000 starring Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons, but the movie was both a commercial and critical failure–so it’s also safe to assume this new movie’s creators want to come correct. What’s also not a shock is that there is a flurry of activity around the movie this year, since way back in 2017 The Hollywood Reporter was indicating the D&D movie was set for a 2021 release date.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the team behind the recent sleeper hit Game Night, are set to direct the Dungeons & Dragons movie. The pair have also reportedly written a new version of the script based on a previous draft by Michael Gilio (Kwik Stop).

Retired gaming executive Reggie Fils-Aime was the face of Nintendo in much of the West for 15 years, and he says that the success of the company’s Switch console made him feel better about retiring. In a recent interview with Gamertag Radio, the former president of Nintendo of America compared the moment that he first saw the Switch prototype to the moment that he first saw other Nintendo consoles in action, particularly the DS and the Wii. “The magic was there,” he said.

“The system was solving for a key player complaint,” Fils-Aime said. “That complaint is, I’m having fun, I’m playing my game, and now I need to stop because I have to go to work, or I have to go to school, I can’t take my game with me…No, the success of the Switch was not a surprise, and candidly, knowing that it was going to be successful is what helped make my retirement decision easy, because I knew the company was going to be in great shape for at least a few years.”

Indeed, the Switch has been a massive sales success for Nintendo, with over 80 million units sold. n the same interview, Fils-Aime downplayed the concept of “console wars,” noting that executives of the big gaming companies often meet together to discuss the future of the business. He also stressed the need for increased diversity and representation in the industry, as well as revealing that he may write a book soon.

The upcoming animated HBO Max show Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai has cast three of its main voice actors. It’s been reported by Variety that Ming-Na Wen, BD Wong, and Matthew Rhys have all joined the cast.

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is a spin-off from Joe Dante and Steven Spielberg’s classic 1984 horror comedy Gremlins and its 1990 sequel. Wen (Agents of SHIELD) will play Fong Wing, the mom of the show’s young main character Sam, while Wong (Jurassic World) plays his dad Hon. Rhys will voice the show’s main villain Riley Green, a power-hungry English businessman.

The series is a prequel to the movies, and is set in 1920s Shanghai. It focuses on Sam, who grows up to be the elderly shopkeeper from the first movie, and his friendship with the mogwai Gizmo as they embark on a series of adventures. Green is attempting to capture Gizmo and harness the creature’s powers.

The showrunner on Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is Tze Chun, who previously worked on DC’s Gotham and the ABC’s fantasy series Once Upon a Time. It’s produced by Spielberg’s Amblin Television. The series doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but Variety states that it has been in production since 2019, so a 2021 release is possible.

In related news, Chris Columbus, who wrote the original movie, recently revealed that he had written a script for a third Gremlins movie. “I would love to do it,” he sad. “I wrote a script, so there is an existing script. I would still do it the same way–I would do it as tangible puppets, not CGI.”

By now you’ve probably heard that Rod Serling’s classic series: Twilight Zone has correctly guessed a handful of predictions. The series explored a range of topics such as space travel, technology, and the social evils of the time; And while the many plotlines have predictive accuracy, Serling didn’t get everything right. Greg breaks down 11 Twilight Zone predictions that haven’t come true yet.

Before the two-night Wrestlemania event arrives in April, there are a couple of PPVs on the road to WWE’s biggest event of the year, and the first stop is Elimination Chamber. On February 21, championships will be defended and WWE’s top wrestlers will face each other in one of the company’s most diabolic contraptions: The Elimination Chamber.

This Sunday, the next WWE PPV will put six people inside the steel structure, releasing them one by one in this elimination match. In addition to that, there will be various other matches, many of which will be for championships, and the only way to watch it is on the WWE Network.

The show will once again take place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, home to the Thunderdome. Check out the start times for the event below, and per usual, UK viewers will have the worst start time.

Start time:

• 4 PM PT
• 6 PM CT
• 7 PM ET
• 12 AM GMT
• 11 AM AEDT

There will also be a Kickoff Show which you can watch for free on YouTube and Twitter, and that starts one hour prior to the main card times listed above.

How to watch:

The best way to check out this year’s Elimination Chamber is by watching it on the WWE Network. The streaming service costs $10 a month and will allow you to watch the Rumble live. Aside from live events, the WWE Network has a huge catalog of episodes of Raw, Smackdown, NXT, WCW Nitro, and even original series.

However, this will be one of the final months for the network, as WWE’s content is moving entirely to Peacock beginning with this year’s Wrestlemania.

Matches for Elimination Chamber are still coming together, and one or two more matches may be added to the card before Sunday. Check out what has been booked below.

Match card:

• Drew McIntyre vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus (Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship)
• Kevin Owens vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro vs. Jey Uso vs. Sami Zayn vs. King Corbin (SmackDown Elimination Chamber match)
• Roman Reigns vs. Winner of Smackdown Elimination Chamber match (Universal Championship)
• Bobby Lashley vs. Keith Lee vs. Riddle (United States Championship)
• Asuka vs. Lacey Evans* (Raw Women’s Championship)

*This match is most likely not going to happen. Evans said on Raw that she’s pregnant, which could be part of the story, but there are rumors popping up online that Evans is for real pregnant. If true, someone else will take Evans’ place for the match that evening.

Predictions:

If you want to hear some predictions, make sure to check out a bonus episode of GameSpot’s wrestling podcast Wrestle Buddies, where hosts Mat Elfring and Chris E. Hayner discuss who they think will be the winners and losers of the upcoming PPV. New episodes of Wrestle Buddies are typically released every Thursday on the podcast platform or app of your choice, including Spotify, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts. You can also keep up to date with the podcast by following it on Twitter.

Make sure to come back to GameSpot on Sunday, February 21 for live coverage of Elimination Chamber featuring results and more.

The crew making the stunt movie Jackass 4 is trying to get star Bam Margera help after he posted a series of videos and other documentation that suggested he was going through a mental health crisis. Variety reports that there is “currently an effort to get Margera help” amid his latest breakdown, which the actor said was due to a bipolar condition.

In a series of videos on Instagram, that have since been deleted, Margera lashed out at the production team and said nasty things about the film after he parted ways from it. However, Margera has since said that he has manic bipolar disorder and that he now believes in the film.

“It’s going to be f**king awesome, and it’s going to be in a way where everyone wins in the end. So I love everybody,” Margera said in a recent video, adding that he was taking time away to see a specialist for his health.

Margera was said to be filming Jackass 4–with a wellness coach overseeing his involvement–before he disappeared from set. It was later discovered that Margera took himself to a rehab center in Florida to address his health.

Jackass 4, like many other movie productions, has faced setbacks and delays due to COVID-19, but it’s still planned to release on September 3.

The Jackass film franchise is a spin-off of the the MTV series, which was co-created by Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze, the latter of whom would go on to earn an Oscar nomination for Being John Malkovich and then win an Oscar for the Joaquin Phoenix movie Her.

Specific details are unknown at this point, but if history is any indication, you can expect Jackass 4 to focus on Knoxville and his friends performing all manner of dangerous and awkward stunts played for laughs and shock value. The fourth Jackass movie was announced in December 2019.

The first Jackass movie debuted in 2002 with numerous sequels coming thereafter. In total, the franchise has grossed more than $335 million at the box office. The Jackass films were directed by Jeff Tremaine, who also directed the Bad Grandpa movie starring Knoxville. Tremaine returned to direct Jackass 4 as well.

One of the most compelling comeback stories in gaming, No Man’s Sky, continues to grow and evolve with new content. The latest update, Companions, is coming soon, and it allows players to tame and adopt creatures from across the galaxy.

Once you successfully bond with one of the critters, you can summon them wherever you are. There are also extra-cute baby versions of alien creatures. “They will need your care as they grow from spawn to maturity,” reads a line from the update’s description.

Players can play with their pets, feed them, and give them attention to advance their level of bonding. Creature Pellets is the name of the new pet food that you can feed them.

Your adopted pets can prove to be very helpful on your adventures.

“Keeping your animal companion well cared for brings a host of practical benefits, including: scanning for resources; marking hazards; providing torchlight; hunting hostile creatures; locating buildings; digging up valuable treasures; and deploying their own shoulder-mounted mining lasers,” the developers said.

The alien creatures have a neural link with your player’s exosuit, so you can understand what they are thinking and what they want. “Companions may share their feelings towards their owner, comment on the lifeforms and geography they encounter, or simply express their inner world,” according to the developer.

The FAQ page for the Companions update also states that you can have up to six and you can rename them whenever you want. The creatures can also be outfitted with special decorative accessories. Additionally, the creatures can lay eggs, which you must incubate in your exosuit.

For more on No Man’s Sky Companions, check out the trailer below and the full patch notes at the bottom of this post.

ANIMAL COMPANIONS

• Creatures that have been fed can now be interacted with to access options for milking, riding and adoption.
• Players may adopt up to six creatures at any one time. New companion slots are available to be purchased with nanites.
• Your companions can be renamed, and then customised with a new range of accessories and decals.
• Some accessories, such as the torch or mining lasers, will be used by your companion as they explore the planet.
• Each companion has their own personality, which will influence how they behave and think. Some species are more likely to have certain traits than others, but each creature is unique.
• The creature harness has a neural link with the Exosuit, enabling rudimentary translation of your new companion’s thoughts and wishes.
• Companions will assist their owners during planetary exploration, but have needs of their own. They will periodically require food or attention if they are to thrive.
• Companions will need to be cared for over a long period of time in order to win their trust.
• While exploring, companions will assist their owners in a number of ways, including: scouting for resources and buildings; digging up minerals and special items; hunting other creatures; and marking hazards.
• As well as acting on their own initiative, companions may be given specific instructions via gestures from the Quick Menu.
• VR players can point directly to send their companion to a destination.

COMPANION EGGS

• Creatures that have been well-cared for will lay eggs.
• After a short time, creature eggs will hatch into a brand new creature, related to but distinct from the parent creature.
• Baby creatures have different proportions from adult creatures and will grow to maturity over time.
• Players may trade eggs from their prized companions with other players.
• Creature eggs can be taken to the Egg Sequencer aboard the Space Anomaly.
• The Egg Sequencer allows players to remix the genetic material of their growing eggs to produce unique, never-before-seen creatures.
• Overdosing eggs in the Sequencer may cause dramatic creature reconfigurations…

CREATURE IMPROVEMENTS

• New creature and companion-related titles have been added to the Appearance Modifier.
• The construction cost of Creature Pellets has been increased.
• The stack size of Creature Pellets has been increased.
• Creatures no longer require advanced bait to unlock harvesting functions – any creature that has been fed may now be milked.
• Giant creatures can now be ridden.
• Creature locomotion animations have been improved.
• The particle effects emanating from creature dung have been improved.
• Discovered creatures now have a different shaped icon in the Analysis Visor, to better distinguish them from undiscovered creatures.
• Creature icons in the Analysis visor have been offset to improve their appearance.

UI IMPROVEMENTS

• Players using a mouse and keyboard can now use hotkeys to directly select options in dialogue menus and interactions.
• Players using a gamepad can now use the analogue sticks rather than the cursor to move between options in dialogue menus and interactions.

OPTIMISATIONS

• Warp and loading times on PS4 have been significantly improved.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue that caused freighter ‘wings’ to be hidden.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an invalid system/base to appear in the teleport destinations list.
• Fixed an issue that caused the gloves to be out of focus in the Appearance Modifier.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players using Windows 10 to incorrectly report a network disconnect.
• Autowalk is now cancelled automatically when the player manually moves forwards or backwards.
• The creature feeding Nexus mission has been rebalanced to account for changes to the taming process.
• Concrete base parts now require Silicate Powder rather than Carbon to build.
• Fixed an issue in the Galaxy Map that caused the Distance To Core text to be vertically clipped, resulting in a comma that looked like a period.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players to upload/download an excessive number of creative discoveries.
• Fixed an issue that caused Cronus’ food to have an extremely bright glow.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Orbital Exocraft Materialiser to have an overly bright glow.
• Fixed an issue that caused base specialist terminals to snap incorrectly in specific large rooms.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an increase in load times while attempting to download base data from other players.
• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect text to appear when harvesting food substances from some unusual creatures.
• Fixed a VR issue that caused the Exosuit backpack to be invisible in the inventory if the player’s body was turned off.
• Fixed an animation issue with the player weapons in VR.
• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect UI scaling in VR.
• Fixed a VR issue that could cause UI screens to move while the UI was closing.
• Fixed a rare hang that could occur when taking a screenshot in Photo Mode on PC.
• Fixed a networking crash on Xbox platforms.
• Fixed an issue that could cause very large save files to crash during loading on PS4.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when the leader of a herd died.
• Fixed a number of memory related crashes on PS5.
• Fixed an audio related crash on PS5.
• Fixed a rendering crash on PS5.
• Fixed a crash related to the preview of summoned objects (eg starships).

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