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Ghost of Tsushima is one of the best-looking games on the PS4, thanks to both the developers’ full mastery of the PS4 and some absolutely beautiful art direction. Now, the game’s lead concept artist has given fans a breakdown of some of the art behind the game, and how the team at Sucker Punch realized some of these concepts in-game.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, lead concept artist Ian Jun Wei Chiew has shared many of the images created during the development of Ghost of Tsushima, and talked through its inspirations and how it translated into the game. “We began by exposing ourselves to as much research and content as we could on the Kamakura era, Japanese culture, old samurai films and the Invasion of Tsushima, which led to the final designs of our characters, outfits, landscape, architecture, etc.,” he writes.

“A lot of the references we gathered were from museum exhibits and photos taken by teams that the studio sent out to Tsushima as well as the main island of JapanThe artist digs into the design processes around each character, too. For Jin, he writes, “we needed someone that can fulfill the fantasy of hiding in the shadows, but still having a look that feels like it was inspired by some of his samurai armor and aesthetic.”

The environments, meanwhile, are a mix of realistic and stylized: “we always had to think about what to keep historically accurate, and when to break away.”

We’ve rounded up some of our favorites from the blog below, but it’s worth reading over the full thing to see more and read Ian Jun Wei Chiew’s thoughts on each part of the process.

Gallery

An artbook for the game, The Art of Ghost of Tsushima, releases on December 1. You can preorder on Amazon.

Ghost of Tsushima recently received a major update, which added a co-op mode to the game. Sucker Punch is currently seeking writers with an interest in Japan, so it’s likely that we’ll see more from Tsushima.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Microsoft’s next-generation strategy is not traditional. Microsoft kinda doesn’t care if you even buy a new Xbox Series X or S console because the company also releases its games on PC and mobile, while it also has Xbox customers on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has now shared some additional insight on this unique strategy.

Speaking to GameReactor, Spencer said Microsoft wants to create Xbox customers, and that doesn’t necessarily mean on a dedicated gaming console.

“Our high-level goal inside of our team, of how we measure ourselves, is how many people are playing on Xbox,” Spencer said. “And when we say ‘playing on Xbox’ it doesn’t mean an Xbox console. It means somebody who is logging in and playing a part of our ecosystem, whether first-party or third-party. And it could be on an Android phone. It could be on a Switch. It could be on a PC. That’s how we think about it.”

Microsoft also has a presence on PlayStation, as it publishes Minecraft on Sony’s consoles. Because of how massively successful Minecraft is, Spencer said he believes Microsoft is in fact one of the biggest publishers on PlayStation.

Game consoles usually do not make any money, and if they do, it’s not a lot compared to the much more lucrative games and services. This is why Microsoft is pushing Xbox Game Pass so hard. Creating more subscribers gives Microsoft a regular and recurring revenue stream.

Even with this strategy, the Xbox Series X and S consoles are expected to be very popular this holiday. Spencer said he predicts shortages as Microsoft will sell every console it can make. “I am going to predict that we are both going to sell every console we build in 2020,” he said.

Also in the interview, Spencer said spoke at a high level of about creating exclusive games. He said exclusives can be a great way to drive adoption of a particular platform or ecosystem, but his larger goal is to bring games to as many people as possible.

“I believe that in my core. I love this art form of video games, the interactivity, and the community around it. Both the social discussions, the camaraderie that you and I might feel as we are doing a Destiny strike together, and so on. I love the fact that games can bridge political lines, geographical lines, socioeconomic lines, and religious lines,” Spencer said. “So, when I think about games, I want games to be played by as many people as possible, that is part of our strategy at Xbox.”

The Xbox Series X and S consoles will launch on November 10, priced at $500 and $300 respectively.

Battlestar Galactica is coming to the big screen, THR reports, with longtime X-Men movie producer Simon Kinberg attached to write and produce. Kinberg joined the X-Men universe co-writing X-Men: The Last Stand, and has continued with the franchise in a variety of roles–producer, writer, and director–right up through 2020’s The New Mutants. Now he’s onto a new franchise that starts far, far away from planet Earth. Kinberg joins producer Dylan Clark, who has been attached to the film for years.

“Battlestar Galactica is one of the holy grails of science fiction,” Kinberg said in an official statement via The Hollywood Reporter. “I couldn’t be more excited about bringing something new to the franchise, while honoring what’s made it so iconic and enduring. I’m so grateful that Dylan and my partners at Universal have trusted me with this incredible universe.”

Battlestar Galactica began life in the late 1970s as a product of Star Wars‘ popularity. It told the story of humans in the distant future fighting a long war with the robotic Cylons over the Twelve Colonies of Mankind as they escaped in search of the mythical planet Earth on the last remaining battleship, the titular Battlestar Galactica. The 2005 series, which ran on Syfy for five seasons, made humanity the creator of the Cylons and thus the architect of its own destruction.

What began as a television knockoff of a theatrical movie is completing the circle to become a feature-length film of its own. But if you’re concerned about how Battlestar Galactica might fit into a film-sized can, don’t worry–a television reboot is also on the way. Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail is executive producing a second reboot of the television series for NBC’s Peacock streaming service.

Kinberg is a busy guy. In addition to Battlestar Galactica, he has a spy thriller called The 355 on ther way, along with the Apple TV+ series Invasion.

Reggie Fils-Aime is staying busy in his post-Nintendo life. After announcing his retirement from Nintendo in February 2019, Fils-Aime joined the GameStop board of directors in March 2020. He then launched an excellent podcast in May. That same month, Fils-Aime joined the board of directors at the toys and games company Spin Master, Now he’s got another job: Fils-Aime has joined the board of directors at the boating company Brunswick, which makes the famous Sea Ray boat and the Mercury Marine engines.

“As a highly respected and seasoned executive, Reggie’s experience in consumer-facing initiatives and digital technology will make him a valued addition to our strong and experienced board of directors. We look forward to benefiting from Reggie’s expertise as we continue to develop deeper relationships with our customers,” Brunswick’s chairman of the board, Manuel Fernandez, said in a statement.

In its announcement, Brunswick noted that Fils-Aime, throughout his career, has “revitalized brands and reshaped various industries,” which is a good sign to why they’ve hired him. Fils-Aime worked at Nintendo for 15 years, and before that, he held executive-level and leadership positions at VH1, Pizza Hut, and Procter & Gamble.

Brunswick’s government filing announcing Fils-Aime’s hiring notes that it has not yet determined which committee Fils-Aime will serve on for the board of directors. It also states that Fils-Aime’s pay will be “consistent with that provided to all Brunswick’s non-employee directors.”

As for what Nintendo is up to these days, the company is celebrating the 35th anniversary of Mario and gearing up for the launch of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity very soon for Nintendo Switch. An upgraded version of the Switch is rumored for release in early 2021.

In September, Microsoft announced one of the biggest gaming acquisitions in history when it revealed its intentions to purchase ZeniMax, and its subsidiary Bethesda, for a cool $7.5 billion. People understandably have a lot of questions about the deal–like if The Elder Scrolls 6 will come to PlayStation 5–and so far, Microsoft has only given vague answers about the future.

It turns out there is a very good reason for that. Xbox boss Phil Spencer told GameReactor that he cannot say much of substance about the deal due to legal requirements. Technically speaking, Microsoft has only announced its intention to purchase ZeniMax; the deal to buy the company is not expected to close until early 2021. While Spencer said he does not foresee any issues in the regulatory process to approve the deal, it remains “illegal” for him to discuss specifics right now.

“First of all, I would like to say that we haven’t acquired ZeniMax. We have announced our intention to acquire ZeniMax. It is going through regulatory approval and we don’t see any issues there. We expect early in 2021 the deal will close,” he said. “But I say that because I want people to know, I’m not sitting down with Todd Howard and Robert Altman and planning their future. Because I’m currently not allowed to do that, that would be illegal.”

Right now, Spencer said he is focused on getting the deal done, and not on going through ZeniMax’s portfolio and outlining the future of each franchise and studio.

That being said, Spencer mentioned that his long-term plan for ZeniMax is for all of its studios to “create the best games they ever created.” Spencer recalled a conversation he had with Bethesda boss Todd Howard when they were discussing the potential sale.

“We looked each other in the eyes and we said, ‘Okay, what are we really gonna do here?’ And he said, ‘I wanna build the best games that I’ve ever built and I want the support of Microsoft to be able to do that.’ And I say the same thing about the studios at Arkane and id Software and Machine Games. I want them to do the most amazing work and support them in doing that.”

The $7.5 billion that Microsoft paid to acquire Bethesda represents the second-largest gaming acquisition in history, only behind Tencent’s $8.6 billion acquisition of Clash of Clans developer Supercell.

A big question many have about future Bethesda games is if they will be released on consoles and platforms that rival Microsoft’s. Spencer has said the deals that were already in place for games that have been announced will be honored, but the future is less certain. Publishing arrangements for specific titles will be determined on a case-by-case basis, Spencer has suggested.

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Earlier in the year, the feature film My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising released in theaters, just a month before the COVID-19 pandemic hit America. But if you missed the chance to see it in theaters, you’re in luck as there is a Heroes Rising home release on October 27.

For the American voice actors behind your favorite characters, getting into the mindset of their roles for the movie wasn’t as easy as you think. “What was tricky about this movie was that this movie is set a little bit ahead of the current continuity of the anime,” Clifford Chapin, who voices Bakugo in the film and on the anime, told GameSpot. “Possibly in Season 5, or maybe even later, it’s not completely clear exactly where in the timeline is landing. And if anything was tricky about it, it was navigating the growth of the characters that we haven’t yet gotten to experience [on the TV series]. So knowing that this is set at a further time, knowing that there was further character growth–for our characters–past what we’ve already worked on and recorded on in the normal series. And being faithful to those characters still, but also faithful to where they’re supposed to be then.

“So with Bakugo, the beginning of the movie might have been almost more challenging than the rest of the movie for me because they’re hanging out in a building where they’re deploying people for little odd jobs and such,” Chapin continued. “And Bakugo is so much more relaxed than in the series where he’s always ready sort of to fight and be aggressive. He’s a lot more conversational, or he’s a lot more relaxed with the other characters, and approaching them not in a point of aggression. But in a point of like, well, I’m just doing what I’m doing. That was almost the biggest challenge for the character in that that film.”

As for Justin Briner, who voices Deku in the movie and on the TV series, the most challenging moment was maintaining his energy for a project he was exceptionally excited about: “I was so enthusiastic about the material that I didn’t want to let everything go at once,” Briner explained. “I’m glad that I had directors that were able to shepherd me on the way.”

When auditioning for the role on the anime series, Briner felt that Deku was where his strengths lay–Chapin felt the same way about Briner. However, it wasn’t just the characters Briner felt attracted to: it was the world as well. “I loved that the world felt very lived in. The first thing you’re faced with is this difficult relationship between Deku and Bakugo and how there are downsides to this superhero society and weird conditionings,” Briner said. “Superpowers aside, this is something that there is a real kid out there dealing with struggling with his self esteem or self worth etc. So I thought like if I could help to tell that kind of story and inhabit this character and and make it honest and truthful and really cool to that that would be just a great experience.”

You can pick up the home release of Heroes Rising on Blu-ray, DVD, and digitally on October 27. The home release includes the feature-length movie, promo videos, and a behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast. In GameSpot’s review of My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, Jordan Ramée said, “The movie takes the time to contend that being a hero doesn’t always mean beating up bad guys, while also delivering on a satisfying multitude of well-animated fights.”

Adam Sandler is back at it again with yet another Netflix movie. On Twitter, the streaming service announced that Sandler will star in an upcoming adaptation of the novel Spaceman of Bohemia, which was written by Czech author Jaroslav Kalfař in 2017. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin, Peter Kiernann, and Michael Parets will be producing via their Free Association company, alongside Tim Headington, Lia Buman, and Max Silva for Tango Entertainment.

The novel is a self-proclaimed “intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery.” It tells the story of Jakub Procházka, an orphan boy raised by his grandparents in the Czech countryside, who goes to rise in the scientific field to become the country’s first astronauts.

Other details are still sparse, though Johan Renck has been announced as the director for the still-untitled project. Renck is a prolific music-video director, having worked with artists including David Bowie, Madonna, and UK’s The Streets. He’s also directed for many television shows such as Breaking Bad, Halt and Catch Fire, and also The Walking Dead. So, his pedigree indicates this will most likely not be another Sandler Netflix comedy.

Word also came out recently about another Netflix Sandler–most likely–drama, Hustle. In that film, Sandler plays a down-on-his-luck NBA basketball scout who finds an incredible talent overseas and fights for his chances to join a team. Given that earlier this year Netflix signed a deal with Sandler to make more movies with him, it’s safe to assume there are still more announcements on the way.