Cyberpunk 2077 New Teaser Debuts, Starring Keanu Reeves

A new Cyberpunk 2077 teaser has debuted during Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and it’s got Keanu Reeves–the real Keanu, not the character he’s playing–in it. Geoff Keighley captured the trailer and has shared it on Twitter.

The trailer, narrated by Keanu and set to Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy, gives us a glimpse at the world of 2077. “In 2077, what makes someone a criminal?,” Reeves asks. “Getting caught.”

If you’ve ever wanted to hear Keanu Reeves encourage you to seize the day, and then set it on fire, look no further.

The trailer doesn’t feature any gameplay footage, but instead focuses on the game’s tone.

Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Silverhand in the game, and reportedly loved working on it. As the game approaches release on November 19, CD Projekt Red is working extended hours to finish development.

Cyberpunk 2077 will launch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It will also be playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but upgraded versions for those consoles will not arrive until later.

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Jake Gyllenhaal And Oscar Isaac To Star In Movie About The Making Of The Godfather

A new movie about the making of The Godfather has cast two of its lead roles. Oscar Isaac will play Francis Coppola and Jake Gyllenhaal will play studio head Robert Evans, according to a report from Deadline.

Coppola and Evans famously clashed over the making of the 1972 movie, which would go on to be a massive hit, winning three Oscars–including Best Picture–and spawning two sequels.

The new movie, which is called Francis And The Godfather, will be directed by Oscar-winner Barry Levinson (Rain Man, The Natural).

As Deadline reminds us, while The Godfather has gone on to be remembered as an iconic American film, it was never a sure thing that the movie would even be made. Coppola was only 31 years old when he was working on the movie, which was an expensive shoot in New York City.

Coppola and Evans are said to have clashed on a number of items, including the casting of Marlon Brando as the mob boss Don Corleone. Brando would go on to win Best Actor for the role. Another factor at play was that the actual mob was not very excited about their stories being told in a major Hollywood movie.

In other news about The Godfather, the third instalment in the series, which was originally released in 1990, is getting a brand-new edit and coming to theaters and digitally this December under the title The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.

Borat 2 Trailer Coming Soon, Watch The Teaser Now

The first trailer for Borat 2 will be released on October 1, it was confirmed through an ad for the movie that aired during the NBA Finals this evening.

The TV spot released during the basketball game shows Sacha Baron Cohen returning to his Borat character and reprising his catchphrases, “Very nice!” and “High five!” Check it out below.

The ad for Borat 2 also provides a first look at a scene in a cabin where Borat and a man are trying to kill the virus with a frying pan. We also see Borat at some kind of shipping store, high-fiving the clerk, and we can only imagine what’s going on there.

As reported, Borat 2 will come to Amazon Prime, so you’ll need a subscription to watch the movie. The film is scheduled for release on October 23. The film’s late-October release date is reportedly an intentional move before the November US election to help reach and influence young people.

2006’s Borat made $262 million worldwide at the box office. Cohen’s follow-up movies, Bruno and The Dictator, did not perform as well at the box office. More recently, Cohen created the Showtime political parody show Who Is America?

South Park: “The Pandemic Special” Review

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for South Park: “The Pandemic Special”!

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Normally Comedy Central would be kicking off a new season of South Park right about now. But whether because of the logistics of producing new episodes during a pandemic or just 2020 being the year that broke satire, there’s no new season on the horizon. But there is “The Pandemic Special” to tide us over until things get back to normal. This standalone installment makes history as both the first South Park special and the first hourlong episode of the series. Unfortunately, it winds up feeling less like a classic South Park adventure than a weird coda to Season 23 no one asked for.

Again, it’s tough to conjure enough scenarios stranger than the reality of life in 2020, so it was always going to be an uphill battle for Trey Parker, Matt Stone and their team to find a new angle on current events. Their solution is basically to bet it all on Randy Marsh. Though once the show’s most dependably hilarious character, Randy has pretty well worn out his welcome in the last couple years thanks to the played-out Tegridy Farms subplot. Sadly, Randy doesn’t seem any closer to giving up the marijuana business. The people of South Park need their Pandemic Special, and he’s the only one that can deliver.

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On paper, the idea of Randy being the secret culprit behind COVID-19 sounds like a great premise. And there are certainly some memorable moments along the way. It’s fun seeing this episode tie back to Season 23’s China storyline and revealing Randy’s debauched antics with Mickey Mouse. You have to love the constant digs at people who refuse to wear their masks/chin diapers properly. And Randy’s attempt at “engineering” a vaccine is certainly classic Randy Marsh. But those moments notwithstanding, this whole storyline is a meandering mess. There’s too much self-aware dialogue, too many random plot twists (like the secondary mustache pandemic) and not much in the way of payoff in the end.

“The Pandemic Special” actually succeeds more when it pivots to the periphery of the coronavirus storyline to tackle other timely issues like police reform and the psychological toll social distancing is taking on children. Those two ideas dovetail nicely in a bleakly hilarious subplot about South Park’s defunded police department being contracted out as teachers. Here the special shows a much sharper set of fangs. South Park has rarely been more timely or relevant in the last few years than when it tackles gun violence, and this episode is no exception. This oddball premise winds up serving as a perfect examination of how poorly trained, over-armed police officers only make bad situations worse. It’s that perfect double-edged sword of hilarious satire that hits all too close to home.

It should also be said that “The Pandemic Special” makes excellent use of President Garrison. Garrison has pretty much receded into the background of the series lately, which is just as well. But this episode proves that he can still click when used properly and sparingly. Garrison only pops up for a brief interlude in the middle and a surprise return at the very end, and both scenes add an extra touch of darkness to an already pretty bleak installment of the series. Plus, the Mr. Slave callback is a standout in an episode full of references to older seasons.

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Despite having more than double the runtime of a normal episode, “The Pandemic Special” winds up making the same mistake as too many recent episodes – it’s less than the sum of its parts. The plot is messy and never quite builds to a satisfying finale. President Garrison’s abrupt return helps smooth over some of the rough edges and end things on an appropriately dark note. But that doesn’t change the fact that “The Pandemic Special” is a haphazard mashup of 2020 topics and really needed some fine-tuning and streamlining. If anything, it’s a shame we aren’t getting a more traditional season anytime soon. Spread out over the course of several episodes, these individual pieces might have had more room to breathe and grow.

Daily Deals: Score an Alienware RTX 2070 Gaming Laptop for Only $1199

Alienware is offering its lowest price ever on an RTX 2070 equipped Alienware gaming laptop. This deal actually went live yesterday evening and sold out quickly. Fortunately, it’s back in stock again today for a very limited time. There’s a new RTX 3008 equipped config up on Amazon, and it’s a good one. In other deal news, the Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing Edition is back in stock at Gamestop, and the first Amazon Prime Day 2020 deal is already available. For more details, check our What to Expect for Amazon Prime Day 2020 article.

Deals for September 30

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Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.

Twitch Rolls Out Soundtrack Beta To Give Streamers Rights-Cleared Music

Licensed music has been an issue for many streamers in the past, with takedown notices coming from rights holders and making certain games complicated to stream or post videos of. It’s made streaming games with big licensed soundtracks, like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, difficult. Twitch is testing a solution to this issue, an app called Soundtrack By Twitch that will allow streamers to play license-cleared music in their streams.

In a blog post, Twitch has detailed Soundtrack, which has an interface very similar to Spotify. “Soundtrack gives you a curated collection of rights-cleared music and integrates with your streaming software to separate your audio sources, allowing you to keep your channel safe while you create compelling content and grow as a creator,” the post says.

Artists currently available, according to the blog, include Above & Beyond, mxmtoon, Porter Robinson, RAC, SwuM, “and many more”. Claude Von Stroke, Cloudchord, Chrome Sparks, and Tia Nomore are also listed on the Soundtrack website.

The current beta is compatible with OBS Studio v26.0 or later, and compatibility with Twitch Studio and Streamlabs OBS is planned. Streamers can join a waitlist now, and invites to the program will be sent out over email.

This is an issue that streaming platforms seem to be increasingly aware of–Facebook Gaming also recently licensed a bunch of music for streamers. Microsoft, meanwhile, closed down its streaming service Mixer earlier this year.

Now Playing: Top New Video Games Out On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Month — October 2020

Google’s New Chromecast Is Launching Without An Official Stadia App

The saga of Stadia, Google’s streaming game service that still hasn’t released in many regions around the world, keeps getting stranger. Google has just released a new Chromecast for TVs, and while it comes with over 6500 apps, Stadia isn’t one of them right now.

The Verge got their hands on the new Chromecast, which comes with Google TV, and found that there was no official Stadia app at launch. While they were able to get Stadia working through sideloading, it’s not an ideal solution, and it means that using Google’s service on this Google product at launch is inconvenient.

According to The Verge, the device will be updated to support Stadia officially in “the first half” of 2021. Stadia is officially supported by the Chromecast Ultra, which makes its lack of inclusion here especially confusing. The only way to get the Ultra now is through the Stadia Premiere Edition kit, strangely enough.

The Verge speculates that this might have something to do with the Android TV operating system that the new Chromecast runs on, and the higher expectations for latency and clarity players have when gaming on a television.

Stadia currently doesn’t have an official iOS app, either, although someone has found a way to get the service working on an iPhone.

While the Stadia has had some clear issues, game streaming does not appear to be going anywhere–Microsoft’s purchase of ZeniMax, for instance, was likely motivated by a desire to get their hands on Bethesda’s Orion streaming technology, as well as their games.

Now Playing: Hitman 3 – Official Stadia Announcement Trailer

Gran Turismo 7 Is Targeting 4K And 60FPS On PS5

Gran Turismo 7 is coming to the PlayStation 5, and it’ll make use of the system’s unique features. Now, some more details about the game have been revealed on PlayStation’s website, revealing some of the game’s performance targets.

According to the site update, Gran Turismo 7 will use ray tracing to achieve a high visual quality, and it will support 4K and HDR while targeting a frame rate of 60fps. The Gran Turismo series has always aimed for high visual quality, and it seems that GT7 will continue this trend.

A release date has not been announced for GT7 yet, now have there been any hands-on opportunities. The site specifically says that a 60fps frame rate is being “targeted”, so we’ll see how the final game holds up.

Other listed features include fast loading thanks to the PS5’s ultra-high speed SSD, use of the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers for realistic brake pedal weight and ABS vibrations, and haptic feedback to match road surfaces. The PS5’s 3D audio capabilities will also come into play.

The PlayStation 5 will be available starting on November 12. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Now Playing: Gran Turismo 7 Gameplay | Sony PS5 Reveal Event

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Nintendo Reminds You To Charge Your Switch At Least Every Six Months For Battery Health

Portable consoles featuring internal batteries need to be charged occasionally to maintain the health of the battery, as a drained battery left for a long time can run into problems. Nintendo has reminded people of this fact with a tweet about the Switch, and it’s gone viral.

The Japanese Nintendo support information account made the tweet below on September 28. It translates to “The battery built into the game console may become unchargeable if it has not been charged or used for too long. Please charge it once every six months.”

This is an issue that few owners of the system have likely thought about, but it’s also a solid reminder for the health of the older systems that are gathering dust on shelves and in cupboards, from the Game Boy Advance SP to the Nintendo 3DS. Owners of the Sony PSP have recently found that their units have suffered from swelling batteries that have rendered them unusable–especially since PSP batteries are in short supply these days.

This is more likely to be an issue for Switch Lite users than owners of the standard Switch–the console will charge when placed into the dock, after all.

Most players would be keeping their system charged, though–22.4 million Animal Crossing sales suggests that the Switch’s owner base is quite active.

The Switch has two major Nintendo-published exclusives coming later this year: Pikmin 3 Deluxe on October 30 and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on November 20. The next fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will also be revealed very soon, which should be a very good reason for fans to make sure their system is charged.

Now Playing: Top New Video Games Out On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Month — October 2020