Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Sequel Details Teased Again By Narrative Director

Spoiler Warning: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has been continuing on the story from its campaign through its multiplayer modes, and it’s gone in some surprising directions. The biggest reveal so far has been that Alex, who we last saw in the campaign preparing to sacrifice himself to explode a facility, is still alive.

But while this might make it seem like Infinity Ward is trying to wrap up all the game’s loose ends, a tweet from narrative director Taylor Kurosaki suggests that the series won’t be done with Alex by the time a sequel arrives. Responding to a user who said that he wished Alex would be brought back for the sequel, Kurosaki responded “who says we won’t?”

This isn’t the first time Kurosaki has suggested that there’s more to explore in a sequel, and it could still, ultimately, not mean anything–a Modern Warfare follow-up has not been announced yet. But it feels more likely than ever, particularly since Modern Warfare sold so well.

Aside from the Black Ops series, the Call of Duty series has not produced a sequel in some time, with Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, Infinite Warfare, and WW2 all being original stories (and Modern Warfare sitting somewhere between a reboot and a prequel). The Modern Warfare series is the most celebrated Call of Duty sub-brand, though, so it would make sense for Infinity Ward to stick with it.

Call of Duty recently expanded with the free-to-play battle royale shooter Call of Duty: Warzone. The game will try Fortnite-style events to keep players coming back each month.

Now Playing: Call Of Duty: Warzone Video Review

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This Epic Call Of Duty: Warzone Play Looks Like Something From A Michael Bay Movie

Call of Duty: Warzone players continue to impress with their skill and creativity on the battlefield. The latest example comes from Reddit user u/drulander, who recently posted a video of an epic sequence that looks like something straight out of a Michael Bay action movie.

In the video, u/drulander gets into a firefight on a rooftop, landing some shots on an enemy but not enough to take them down. The slippery opponent jumps off the building, and u/drulander is quick to follow as part of a daring, high-stakes move. It all works out, as they nail the opponent in mid air before deploying their own parachute and landing safely. But it doesn’t end there.

u/drulander then takes out a thermal-scoped sniper rifle and, with great skill and precision, takes down the pilot of a helicopter on their first shot. The shot lands, and the helicopter crashes into the building, bursting into flames like something you’d see in a big action movie.

You can watch the whole sequence in the video embed above.

Warzone recently launched its big Season 3 update, bringing new maps, a new Operator, and many other changes to the battle royale game. You can check out the full Season 3 patch notes here.

Now Playing: Call Of Duty: Warzone Video Review

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Bob Ross Is Getting His Own Streaming Channel

In a time where we all need a little extra positivity Bob Ross is still coming to the rescue, 25 years after his death. Cinedigm have partnered with Bob Ross Inc to bring around 380 episodes of The Joy Of Painting to a new streaming channel, Variety reported.

The channel will be operating as a free stream supported by ads, and has already launched for Samsung smart TVs, on the Samsung TV Plus service. It’ll soon begin to roll out to other services operating on a similar model, with Roku coming next on May 18.

The Bob Ross Channel will air episodes of The Joy Of Painting back-to-back, giving viewers a chance to experience the beloved artist’s full catalogue.

Bob Ross hosted 31 seasons of The Joy Of Painting between 1984 and 1994, just before his passing from lymphoma in 1995. While the soothing series was popular in its day, Bob Ross has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, including a marathon Twitch stream that attracted over 5.6 million viewers. You can still catch Bob Ross episodes on Twitch, where they regularly attract thousands of viewers.

Ross’s soothing manner and low-pressure approach to painting have endeared audiences to him over the years, and thanks to new platforms like the Bob Ross Channel, that legacy can continue on long past his passing.

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Rachel McAdams Would Be Down To Play Regina George In A Mean Girls Sequel

If by some miracle a Mean Girls sequel with the original characters ever happened, we know Rachel McAdams would be keen for it. While no sequel is officially in the works that we know of, McAdams has expressed interest in the concept of playing Regina in a later stage in her life, Entertainment Weekly reports.

During a COVID-19 charity livestream, the actress answered a question from a fan asking if she would ever reprise the iconic role. “It would be fun to play Regina George later in her life and see where life took her,” McAdams said.

This isn’t the first time Rachel McAdams has mused on a potential Mean Girls sequel. In a 2016 interview she said, “we got to have a reunion at a photoshoot a couple of years ago and it wasn’t enough.” She speculated then that Regina could be a mom who “had a few babies who are plotting your demise in the womb.”

While there was a Mean Girls 2 released in 2011, it was a sequel only in name, with all new characters and only one of the original cast members (Tim Meadows, who played Principal Duvall) returning.

The original movie was written by Tina Fey, who’s since taken the franchise in directions that don’t seem to involve plans for a direct sequel. In 2018 Fey adapted it into a musical that premiered on Broadway, and earlier this year announced that she would be adapting the musical back into a film.

If nothing else, hopefully the new movie will have room for cameos from the original cast.

Call Of Duty: Warzone Will Introduce Fortnite-Style Events

Call of Duty: Warzone is planning to take a page out of Fortnite‘s book. Narrative director Taylor Kurosaki told VentureBeat that Infinity Ward is planning to introduce Fortnite-style events in the battle royale game to help keep the experience feeling fresh and worth coming back to again and again.

“That’s exactly the kind of thing that we’re working on, that we have planned,” Kurosaki said about Warzone introducing events that change the experience. “It’s all going to fit into this macro that we’ve established in Modern Warfare, and that we’ve continued into Warzone. If you know who the players are in Modern Warfare, it’ll all make sense, and it’ll all feel appropriate to the universe.”

Fortnite regularly mixes things up inside of its game, including meteors that have crashed onto the map, in-game concerts featuring some of the world’s biggest acts, and of course the biggest one of all: a total blackout that lasted two days.

It remains to be seen if Warzone will make live, dynamic changes to the Verdansk map like Fortnite has, or if the developers are planning live events of a different nature. Kurosaki said in the VentureBeat interview that he wants Warzone to unfold like an episodic TV series.

“A lot of the time, when the showrunners of the Sopranos or Lost or something like that are setting out to tell a story, they’re not exactly sure how many seasons the show is going to be on the air,” he said. “We know where we’re going, and we know where we’re starting from. The question just remains, how long will it take us to get to our conclusion? That’s kind of up to our fans.”

Kurosaki teased that Warzone fans can look forward to additional story details coming to light through Warzone, including how Alex–the new Season 3 operator–survived the events of Modern Warfare’s campaign. “Our fans are super-hungry for more story,” Kurosaki said. “They want to know how Alex got out of the gas lab at the end of the campaign. They want to unlock the mystery.”

Go to VentureBeat to read the full interview.

Now Playing: Call Of Duty: Warzone Video Review

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Super Troopers 3 Writer Shares An Update

The cult comedy Super Troopers debuted in 2001, and it took 17 years for the sequel to arrive back in April 2018. A third installment is on the way, and now one of the writers has given an update on how the project is coming along.

Replying to a comment on Instagram, writer Erik Stolhanske said, “We’re ✍️ it … 🐇”

Deciphering this internet speak, we can deduce that the team at comedy troupe Broken Lizard–which produced the first two movies–are writing the third entry fast.

Super Troopers 2 was partially funded on Indiegogo, where it raised $4.6 million USD. Fox Searchlight distributed the movie, which would go on to make $31 million USD worldwide.

Broken Lizard member Jay Chandrasekhar, who directed Super Troopers 1 and 2, revealed the third movie at San Diego Comic-Con 2018. It’s called Super Troopers 3: Winter Soldiers, and Chandrasekhar said it won’t be crowdfunded this time around. “We needed a favor from our fans on the last one. They delivered. I don’t know that we need to make them pay for the next one,” he explained during Comic-Con that year, as reported by Vulture.

There is no word yet on the plot for the third Super Troopers movie, but it’ll surely be absurd. Another lingering question is who will distribute the film. Disney now owns Fox Searchlight, which has been rebranded as Searchlight Pictures, and Super Troopers is definitely not family friendly content. Disney will continue to release R-rated Deadpool movies, too, so perhaps Super Troopers can live on at the House of Mouse.

Broken Lizard consists of Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Erik Stolhanske, and Paul Sotor, all of whom starred in the Super Troopers films. The comedy troupe also made the comedies Club Dread (2004), Beerfest (2006), and The Slammin’ Salmon (2009), among others.

Now Playing: Super Troopers 2 Review!

Top New Games Releasing On Switch, PS4, And PC This Week — April 19-25, 2020

New Releases highlights the top new game releases coming soon, and two of this week’s picks were only just announced: Picross S4 and XCOM: Chimera Squad. Meanwhile, ’80s movie buffs can get their nostalgia fix with Predator: Hunting Grounds, and ’90s RPG players can revisit Trials of Mana. Nintendo Switch also gets its own port of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto.

Picross S4 — April 23

Available on: Switch

The latest in the nonogram series has nearly 500 puzzles to solve across standard, Mega, Color, and Clip Modes. What’s more, you can unlock giant bonus puzzles if you link your saves from Picross S, S2, or S3–one for each game, to be exact. Sadly, the series still doesn’t offer touchscreen controls, though.

XCOM: Chimera Squad — April 24

Available on: PC

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Chimera Squad is a spin-off of XCOM 2, and it changes up the formula in several ways. For one, your squad includes human and alien soldiers thanks to a new alliance. Those squad members are discrete characters with unique abilities, and they each get their own turn in combat, rather than a macro-phase for you and the enemy’s full team. Perhaps the biggest change, however, is the removal of permadeath: if a soldier bleeds out, you can simply restart a mission. It’ll cost just $10 / £9 on launch day, but beware that the price jumps up on May 1.

More Coverage:

Predator: Hunting Grounds — April 24

Available on: PS4, PC

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XCOM isn’t the only alien adventure coming this week. Hunting Grounds pits four player-controlled soldiers against a lone Predator player. They can choose to hunt the fireteam as a Scout, Hunter, or Berserker Predator, each with their own abilities and alien weapons. The soldiers also have their own classes and loadouts, which they’ll need if they hope to complete their objectives and survive in the jungle.

More Coverage:

Trials of Mana — April 24

Available on: PS4, PC, Switch

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The original Trials of Mana first launched in 1995, but it never came to the West until recently. While the action-RPG has been fully recreated in 3D, you’ll still carry out battles in real time in the field. Trials features six characters, each with their own stories that weave together. You form a party of three at the start, so you’ll have to replay the adventure to see all parts of the story.

More Coverage:

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto — April 24

Available on: Switch

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As the name implies, this arena fighter stars Naruto’s son and a new generation of ninjas. On top of all those new characters, Road to Boruto also includes all the previously released DLC packs. Switch is getting the complete package that previously launched for other consoles.

More Coverage:

Unfortunately, this episode of New Releases doesn’t have anything for Xbox One owners, but that won’t be the case next week. We’ll be digging into the Xbox One and PC launch of Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, plus the return of the COG soldiers with Gears Tactics.

Now Playing: Top New Games Out On Switch, PS4, And PC This Week — April 19-25, 2020

Halo Infinite: See How They Captured Bullets Flying Overhead In This Cool Weapons Video

Microsoft continues to share a behind-the-scenes look at the development of Halo Infinite. Developer 343 Industries has posted its latest sound design video, this one focusing on how the audio team went about capturing the sounds of bullets flying overhead.

As the incredible video below shows, the 343 audio team actually crouched down behind a barrier as a professional marksman fired live rounds overhead. The audio team had numerous microphones on-hand to capture all the whizzes and ricochets.

343 stressed that this audio session was conducted in a “controlled environment” to keep people safe. Have a listen for yourself and try to pick out all the different types of bullet sounds you can make out.

This is at least the second Halo Infinite weapon sound video we’ve seen so far. The first, which was published earlier this year, showcased the team firing all different types of weapons for use in the next-generation Halo game. Yet another video showed the team using a propane cannon to capture sounds of explosions. The team also showed off how they recorded a Chevy El Camino, helicopters, and jet engines for the sounds of vehicles in Halo Infinite. And who could forget this delightful video featuring a pug whose guttural gruffs will be heard in Halo Infinite.

Halo Infinite releases in Holiday 2020 as a launch title for Microsoft’s next-generation console, Xbox Series X, as well as PC. The game will also be playable on Xbox One as well as the other variations of the next-generation Xbox that might be coming.

These behind-the-scenes videos are excellent, but many Halo fans are wondering when 343 will show gameplay for Halo Infinite or share any specifics about the game. With Halo Infinite launching later this year, that should happened soon (we hope).

Now Playing: Halo Infinite Master Chief Trailer | Microsoft Press Conference E3 2019

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Facebook Is About To Launch An All-Inclusive Gaming App

Facebook has announced plans to release a new app focused on gaming, The New York Times has reported. The app was originally meant to be released in June, but has been pushed up, and will now be available on April 20 on Android phones.

The new app, Facebook Gaming, is aimed at the 700 million monthly Facebook users who have engaged with the network’s game content. The app will have a big focus on streamers, whether you’re watching them or streaming content yourself, thanks to a “Go Live” feature that will make it easy to stream mobile games. It will also let you play Facebook games like Words with Friends and Uno through the app.

The app will also allow users to access gaming communities and groups, so if you’re mostly using Facebook to keep up with your Animal Crossing turnip trading groups, it could be a good alternative to the main app. An iOS version will also be released at a later date once it has been approved by Apple.

According to Fidji Simo, who is quoted in the New York Times report and heads up the Facebook app, the social media giant is investing in gaming as they see it “as a form of entertainment that really connects people.” She adds: “It’s entertainment that’s not just a form of passive consumption but entertainment that is interactive and brings people together.”

The app will not feature advertising at launch, but will instead make money from a “star” system that lets viewers tip streamers, which Facebook will take a cut from. New monetization strategies will be rolled out in the future.

Now Playing: The Biggest Games To Play In 2020 And Beyond

Anime Expo, North America’s Biggest Anime Convention, Has Been Cancelled

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has caused many of the biggest pop culture events in the world to be cancelled or indefinitely postponed. While the fate of some events was still unsure, it’s now been confirmed that Anime Expo will not go ahead in July this year, the announcement coming only days after pop culture behemoth San Diego Comic Con was officially cancelled.

“With the COVID-19 situation continually changing, as well as more restrictions in place worldwide and in our host city Los Angeles, we can’t in good faith move forward with this year’s event. We know it will affect all of you differently and we did not come to this decision lightly,” a statement from Anime Expo reads.

“It remains our goal to provide fans and industry partners from around the world with a safe space to come together to celebrate and share our love of anime,” the statement continues. “We are committed to bringing you the best of the best next year as we return to Los Angeles for our 30th anniversary on July 2-5, 2021!”

Those who have already bought tickets for this year’s event, originally scheduled for July 2-5, have the option of either receiving a refund or redeeming a ticket for next year’s event instead.

The Los Angeles-based convention has long been a home to some of the country’s best cosplay, though you can still relive the best costumes of previous years right here.

Now Playing: The Best Cosplay At Anime Expo 2019