biteho.com

Persia talks about Halo 3 finally coming to PC on July 14. The update will be live at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST and will also include changes to the game’s battle pass: you will be able to select rewards instead of earning them at certain tiers. With Halo 3 on the PC roster, this just leaves Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4 to join the collection at a later date. The full series is available on the Master Chief Collection on Xbox One.

Persia also goes over 2K Games’ recent announcement that Mafia: Definite Edition has been delayed. The release date has been shifted from August 28 to September 25, after complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Developer Hangar 13 and 2K want to ensure the quality of the remaster by delaying the game but promised to show off gameplay on July 23 to hold fans over for the extra month.

Lastly, Persia talks about a new job listing from Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games, which suggests a new 3D title may be in production. Yacht Club is known for retro-style, 2D games like the upcoming Shovel Knight Dig and Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. We don’t currently know anything about this 3D title, but the listing also mentions the use of a custom engine.

We are in the final week of #PlayForAll, where we’ve been bringing you all of the news and action this summer has to offer while raising money for #BlackLivesMatter and COVID-19 relief efforts. Although our summer coverage will be coming to a close, there will still be ways for you to support these cause through to the end of July. Snag all of your Play For All merch at store.gamespot.com, and the proceeds will be donated to our causes.

This is your Save State for Tuesday, July 7.

Jurassic World Dominion is about to start filming again in the UK, becoming one of the first major studio movies to resume production amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Only two weeks into filming back in March, Universal pulled the plug and announced that production would stop due to ongoing concerns about the global pandemic. With filming set to begin again this week, director Colin Trevorrow spoke to Empire about the challenges of getting back to work under new health protocols.

Even before the lockdowns, Dominion was the “biggest creative challenge of our lives,” Trevorrow said. He clarified that the VFX team was able to stay working on the project during lockdown for the scenes that were filmed before the production paused.

“The shooting schedule really worked to our advantage–the first four weeks we put to film were mostly sequences with dinosaurs in them,” he said. “So that allowed us to get a head start on VFX and workshop some of the newer elements without the pressure of a looming deadline.”

Universal is said to have spent $5 million on new health and safety measures for Dominion, and Trevorrow said he feels “confident our guidelines will keep us safe.” The challenge, he said, will be to find ways to allow the actors and other key creatives to express themselves in this new environment.

“The hard part will be constructing a creative environment within all the precautions. Once the cameras roll, we have to forget our world and live in the world of the movie. That may take some practice,” he said.

“We’re all fired up to get back to work. This is what we do, and we’re all eager to get back out there and do it,” Trevorrow added.

Before this, star Bryce Dallas Howard spoke about how she feels confident going back to work given the extra precautions that are in place. “They are going above and beyond. We would never go back to work if we didn’t feel safe. And, you know, we’re taking it a day at a time and I’m very grateful to have a job,” she said.

In addition to Howard, Jurassic World: Dominion brings back Chris Pratt in his starring role, while the stars of the earlier Jurassic Park movies–Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum–are returning in major roles as opposed to cameos. In addition, the character Dodgson is returning, but with a new actor.

Two years after launch, Ubisoft’s open-world racer The Crew 2 continues to receive updates. The latest one is pretty substantial and arrives on July 8 for PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One. The full patch notes have been outlined below.

Summer in Hollywood is The Crew 2’s sixth free update. It packages tons of stuff in it, including new cars, modes, vanity items, and more. For the next five weeks, Summer in Hollywood will also introduce some special themed events and live summits that will change up the overall look of The Crew 2. You can check out the announcement trailer below.

Some of the events that will be introduced include sci-fi-themed races and vehicles drenched in neon, ’70s-tinged overlays with music and vehicles to match, and more. Ubisoft shared a roadmap of what Summer in Hollywood’s next five weeks will bring to The Crew 2, which you can view below.

Ubisoft also outlined the patch notes, below, that will accompany the Summer in Hollywood update once it goes live. It’s approximately 23 GB on all platforms and makes several quality-of-life changes ranging from physics adjustments to sprucing up the main menu’s look and much more.

Full The Crew 2 Patch Notes

Features

• Vanity Items:
  • 48 new vanity items added to be released on a weekly basis through the shop or as Live Summit rewards:
    • 9 Custom Nitros
    • 2 Horns
    • 8 Window Tints
    • 6 2D Emotes
    • 6 Smokes
    • 10 Tires
    • 7 Underglows
• Summit
  • 17 New Live Summits added with their associated activities & rewards:

Main Menu

• New main menu look, themed for Summer in Hollywood.
• New boot menu video for Summer in Hollywood.

Hobbies

• [Fixed] Action names & descriptions are broken when accessing Hobbies from the Summit menu.
• [Fixed]  Incorrect vehicle type listed when language changed to Arabic.
• [Fixed] A to B Actions can be completed by using the Photo Mode timeline.
• [Fixed] Number of Stars displayed in animation when first accessing the Hobbies menu, is not the same as the Total Stars Earned number.
• [Improved] Visual Parts Actions now require fewer parts, and are easier to complete.
• [Improved] The “Live Battle Influencer” Action has been changed to “Live Battle Money,” and now requires the player to earn Bucks to progress rather than Followers to make it fairer to those at ICON 9999.
  • Any previously unlocked Stars from this Action will be kept, but progress will be completely reset. Tiers unlocked for a second time will still award new Stars.

Vehicles

• 24 New Vehicles added:
  • Shop additions:
    • Koenigsegg One:1 (2014) – Hypercar (available July 8)
    • Porsche 911 Carrera 4S (2020) – Street Race (available July 8)
    • Volkswagen Beetle (1967) – Street Race (available July 15)
    • Volkswagen Kombi 21 Window Bus (1966) – Street Race (available July 15)
    • Elite Bundle 5 (available July 15)
    • Porsche 935 2.0 Coupé “Baby” (1977) – Touring Car
    • Nissan R390 GT1 Road Version (1998) – Hypercar
    • Ducati draXter (2016) – Street Race Bike
  • LIVE Summit rewards:
  • Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Rift (2017) – Street Race (Summit beg. July 8)
• [Fixed] Incorrect power gauge animation on Bugatti Veyron.
• [Fixed] Maserati MC12 tachometer & speedometer needles transparent/barely visible.
• [Fixed] Yellow neon underglow cannot be applied to Mazda RX 7 Drift Edition.

Physics

• [Fixed] Wheelie is detected after fast fav from Motocross to Monster Truck.
• [Fixed] Ground vehicles can move forwards and accelerate to 719 km/h in reverse gear.

3C/Handling

• [Improved] Reduced Air Nitro acceleration on all disciplines by 50%, except MT & MX which have a smaller reduction of 15%.
• [Improved] Enhanced MX handling featuring new tire-model, improved suspensions and rider animations. New follow cameras have also been implemented, for a smoother feel and better track readability.
• [Fixed] A water glitch can be seen in underwater tunnels while driving hovercrafts and boats.

World (Visual and Audio)

• Events:
  • 7 brand-new events added, to be released in PvE progressively alongside the corresponding special themed LIVE Summits.
• [Fixed] Players are able to hop over walls with TC Bikes on Miami Race Track and on The Giants Chaebung Cup.
• [Fixed] MT event Wreck and Havoc lists “Get -1 Points” as objective.
• [Fixed] Some bridges have Off-Road physics.
• [Fixed] Floating objects near Little Eagle.

Miscellaneous

• [Add] New themed weathers available in Photo Mode.

Technical

• [Fixed] Actvities tab UI overlaps with other tabs, when skipping over it in the Main Menu.
• [Fixed] Black dot appears after using Photo Mode or LIVE Replay.

Audio

• [Improved] In the audio options, sliders sound changes in volume for each channel.

GameSpot’s Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming–is ongoing. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Rocket League is currently celebrating its fifth anniversary with an in-game event, as the game was released on July 7, 2015. Developer Psyonix has plenty of reason to celebrate, as they’ve also announced some astonishing figures showing just how many people have played the game.

An infograph released to the game’s site has revealed that since launch, 75 million different people have played the game. That’s a huge figure, higher than the total sales figures of the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

The game has racked this number up not just through people buying the game, but also across free-to-play weekends, Xbox Game Pass, and its initial launch on PlayStation Plus. It also likely covers people who have played local multiplayer, although those figures would be harder to track if guest accounts are used.

The infograph, below, also explains that 5 billion matches have been played, and a total of 29 billion goals scored–that’s an average of nearly six goals per match. It contains a breakdown of significant dates for the game, plus some information about player habits and the most downloaded community training packs.

For more on Rocket League, this article from Aron Garst explores a community of players that has dived deep into the game’s ice hockey mode.

Now Playing: Rocket League With Naomi Kyle!

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Scary Movie debuted in 2000, earning $278 million on a $19 million budget and kickstarting a wave of parody films, few of which reviewed well or enjoyed quite the same level of success. Now, in a new retrospective oral history with Variety, many of the people involved have reflected on the film’s influences, the movie’s style of comedy, and how unpleasant the Weinsteins were to work with.

According to the report, Miramax wanted the rights to the movie because it parodied their property Scream, and they did not want anyone else to be able to do that. Co-writer Marlon Wayans calls the Weinsteins an “evil regime,” stating that “they do what they want to do how they do it–and it can be rude and quite disrespectful.”

He also recalls finding out that he was fired off Scary Movie 3 ahead of the movie’s production. “We probably could have sued or whatever, but part of us was like, ‘All you can do is allow us to create something new,'” he says. “I could write a book on that whole thing, honestly. They definitely still owe us money, lots of money. What they did was really bad business.”

Marlon’s brother Keenen Ivory Wayans directed the film, and Shawn Wayans was a co-writer. Marlon and Shawn also featured as actors in the film. Marlon says that other Wayans family members were on set, too. “The nephews will always tell us when they don’t think something’s funny,” Marlon says. “It’s cool for the youth to let them learn as well. They’ll learn what I grew up on with Keenen. I was on set since I was 11 years old.”

Anna Faris made her Hollywood debut in the film, and has some interesting memories of how she flew to Burbank and slept on a friend’s couch ahead of the audition after sending in a tape. “I started the audition with my mom recording me on one of those big, old VHS cameras hoisted on her shoulder,” she recalls. ‘And then with the second scene I went to my neighbors and I was like, “My mom can’t do this audition with me because it’s way too raunchy. Can you film it for me?'”

When the movie actually debuted, she again wanted to spare her mom from one of the film’s more graphic scenes. “I had to tell my mom to go to the bathroom before the sperm-spraying scene,” she says. Faris stayed with the franchise for some of the sequels, and admits that there were moments where she was hurt while filming. “In Scary Movie 3, there’s an airplane cart that lands on my face and we shot that the last day,” she remembers. “As that cart slammed into my face, I thought, ‘F*** these people. I’m about to break my f***ing nose.”

In the piece, Marlon Wayans, producer Bo Zenga, and actor Jon Abrahams also reflect on the parts of the movie that have aged poorly, or would not allow the movie to be made today without some changes. “I think it would be difficult to greenlight,” Wayans says. But at the same time, he stands by a lot of the movie’s humor. “I think anybody can do a joke about anything and it’s just who’s telling the joke and what’s your intention? Is your intention to humiliate, or is your intention to make people laugh? Our intention is always to make people laugh.”

Abrahams recalls a scene where he drops his pants to reveal giant throbbing blue testicles, and how the crew demanded they use a double because the audience would not want to see his butt. “I remember them being very kind in the confines of really outrageous comedy stuff,” he says. “I just can’t see how that would fly in these times.” Zenga reflects on a few elements that might or might not get a pass in a modern movie. “Anna getting knocked about might get through if it was really sold as, ‘Hey, it’s a comedy,” he says. “There’s a lot of gay humor that I don’t think would make it into a movie today. I don’t know if you could put an erect penis going through the wall and killing someone today.”

There’s plenty more insight into the film in the article. If you saw Scary Movie 20 years ago and still have fond memories of that period of blockbuster cinema, it’s a fun reflection on a movie that likely hasn’t aged well.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

According to a new report from Variety, actor Jude Law is in talks to play Captain Hook in Disney’s new Peter Pan movie, named Peter Pan & Wendy. The site reports that the deal is not closed, so things could change.

Law would follow other big-name actors such as Dustin Hoffman and Jason Isaacs who have portrayed the villainous character over the years.

David Lowery, who previously directed Disney’s 2016 fantasy movie Pete’s Dragon, is attached to direct Peter Pan & Wendy. He also co-wrote the script with his Pete’s Dragon co-writer Toby Halbrooks.

Sources told Variety that Peter Pan & Wendy is expected to be released in theatres as opposed to Disney Plus. Variety reporter Justin Kroll, who broke the news, also mentioned that Will Smith passed on the role of Captain Hook. Smith, of course, starred in Disney’s hugely successful live-action Aladdin movie as the Genie.

It’s still early days for the new movie, and there is no word yet on who will play Peter Pan and Wendy. As for Law, he has earned two Academy Award nominations over the years for his roles in Cold Mountain (Best Actor in a Leading Role) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (Best Actor in a Supporting Role).

In addition to Peter Pan & Wendy, should he get the role, Law is also attached to star again as Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3 and Watson in Sherlock Holmes 3 with Robert Downey Jr.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Where so many VR games still fall back on restricted controls, the PlayStation VR-exclusive Iron Man VR asks you to learn and master its unique flight controls if you really want to feel like a Marvel superhero. Getting comfortable in Tony Stark’s iron skin makes you feel like you know what it’s like to “be” Iron Man in a way no standard game could. At the same time, the game around that core mechanic feels overly thin. With reused environments, recycled mission objectives, and a predictable story that overstays its welcome, Iron Man VR quickly loses its luster.

For better and for worse, Iron Man VR tells a complete ripped-from-the-page Marvel comic storyline. Tony Stark squares off with a mysterious new villain, the Ghost, who uses an army of old Stark Industries drones to systematically terrorize him and his company. The Ghost invokes Stark’s past of making weapons and selling them indiscriminately, forcing him to reckon with his past self as well.

Like Insomniac’s Spider-Man, Iron Man VR is an original variation of existing Iron Man stories, with vague allusions to moments that comic book and MCU fans will know, which makes it easy for any Marvel fan to jump in and follow along. It’s a bit too familiar, though. Retreading themes and issues you’ve already seen Iron Man work through in both the comics and films, Stark’s struggles, both internal and the threats he faces on the battlefield, feel a bit stale. And though there’s a complicated, long-winded plot, you can identify every twist from a mile away.

Much of that story is told in briefings at home-base playgrounds between each level. Before each mission, you get a chance to walk around spaces like Stark’s mansion and, occasionally, other spots like the bridge of a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, picking up books, doing pull-ups, and generally interacting with the world. You also have the ability to upgrade your armor and customize your loadout on a holographic image of the Iron Man suit, which is neat, if a little slower than a plain menu. These areas are generally well made, but they’re filled with small trifles that are interesting for only a few seconds. Since you find yourself in the same area over and over, it becomes easier and easier to skip. By the end, I was tired of the downtime, even when there were new toys to play with.

Iron Man VR is, at its core, a flight combat sim. Most levels put you in large spherical arenas–cityscapes and craggy canyons–blasting robot drones out of the sky using Iron Man’s signature moves, like repulsor blasts and the Unibeam, along with a host of other smart missiles, guns, and bombs. Though there are additional objectives like defending a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier or preventing supervillain Living Laser from stealing valuable minerals from a mine, the vast majority of your tasks are ultimately giant virtual shooting galleries with some extra flourishes.

Luckily, the coolest part of becoming Iron Man is the act of flying. You control both your movement and shooting using the PlayStation Move controllers, which are mapped to Iron Man’s gauntlets. Iron Man has thrusters in the palms of his hands; you propel yourself by aiming those jets and pressing the triggers. As an example: To fly forward, you face the palms of Iron Man’s gauntlet behind you, so the thrusters propel you forward. When flying forward, you can use head tracking to tweak your trajectory. It’s unlike any movement mechanic I’ve used in a game, and allows for some creative maneuvering that allows you to take advantage of the fact that you can move in any direction at any time. Rocket headed your way? Point your hands in the air and blast down, then look up to counter with one of your own.

You also shoot with your hands. You alternate between Iron Man’s standard repulsor blast, which you fire by shooting with your palms up, and a pair of secondary weapons like missiles and smart bombs, which you shoot with your palms down. You also have a chargeable dashing punch. All these moves are regulated with cooldowns, so you need to switch among them to keep fighting. Since all of the weapons are motion-aimed and you’re fighting in a 360-degree space, learning situational awareness and how to use your weapons efficiently makes a relatively simple shooter into something much more exciting.

Likewise, the fact that learning to fly takes time makes it interesting. Iron Man VR pushes you to learn an entirely foreign means of controlling a game, and then hone that skill so that you can dodge enemy fire coming from all sides and chase down supervillains before they can escape. There’s a surprising amount of nuance to even basic maneuvers like turning and following a winding path, so getting the hang of it takes a little time. It can definitely get frustrating at first if you’re unfamiliar with the Move wands. When you get the hang of it, though, flying and shooting with your hands feels natural and pulls you in.

It’s clear that the act of flying is Iron Man VR’s driving force…. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many ways to take advantage of those unique controls.

Though the controls feel inspired, there are some problems. Flying around–twisting and turning to dodge enemies and direct your movement–will likely trigger discomfort in players with a low tolerance for VR. I generally consider myself fairly resistant to VR motion sickness, but I still found myself heating up and getting uncomfortable. The free movement also makes it easy to twist yourself up in the PSVR’s cabling. Even with an indicator letting you know when you should untangle yourself, it’s a bit of a hazard.

In addition to the cable issue, the PS4 and PlayStation VR show their age in Iron Man VR. On my standard PS4, every level opened with a load screen–more than a minute–and many levels had cutscenes or asides that triggered similar loads. Though it’s a great chance to rest your eyes, standing and waiting for a game to load in VR very quickly breaks your connection to the experience.

It’s clear that the act of flying is Iron Man VR’s driving force. Every story mission ends with a score and ranking, pushing you to replay and improve, and each map has multiple types of optional time trials for anyone who just wants to spend more time in the armor. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many ways to take advantage of those unique controls. Aside from a single chase sequence and a story-heavy “horror ride” level, there is very little variation in the gameplay. With only a handful of weapons and enemy types, even the unique controls cannot stave off the redundancy. You’ll also replay many levels more than once over the course of the story, intensifying the feeling that you’ve seen and done everything the game has to offer long before the credits roll.