In a joint statement to Gamesindustry.biz, German industry association game and Gamescom venue Koelnmesse said it’s possible there still could be an in-person event. Gamescom will be held as a digital event from August 25 to 29 at the bare minimum, and the organizers will make a decision in May to determine if it will take place in its normal home of Cologne, Germany. Regardless, they’re preparing to expand digital coverage to reach more viewers.
“If an on-site event is possible, there will also be more information at that stage with regard to which changes need to be made in order to fully ensure the health of all visitors,” the organizers added.
Gamescom is typically the second stage of summer game announcements, with publishers saving a few big games for their press conferences in August instead of E3.
Gamescom sees far more in-person attendees each year than E3, the latter of which was previously planned for June. Though E3 2020 itself was canceled, several publishers such as Ubisoft, Square Enix, and Microsoft are preparing their own digital press-conference-like events to deliver game announcements and news.
E3 2021 is also not expected to be affected by this year’s cancellation, though the list of participants has shrunk recently. Large publishers such as Electronic Arts and Sony were already planning to skip E3 2020 before it was canceled.
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Sports are canceled. It’s a massive bummer for millions of people looking to root for their favorite team or sports player to win the match/game/fight, but there is another way to get your sports fix in this time of sportslessness. ESPN+ has thousands of hours of sports-related content to help scratch that sports-itch (you should get that looked at, by the way).
If you’re having sports-withdrawals, I recommend getting yourself set up with an ESPN+ subscription. There’s just so much there. It’s almost overwhelming. Today I’m going to make a personal recommendation for you to check out some of the classic boxing matches available on-demand.
Boxing has mostly been overshadowed by the rapid rise of mixed martial-arts. In fact, ESPN+ has thousands of UFC matches, as well as exclusive pay-per-view events, so if you’re a UFC fan, you won’t be disappointed. But today I want to recommend checking out the classic boxing available to stream on ESPN+.
Foreman vs. Ali: The Rumble in the Jungle
Image: Wikipedia
Muhammad Ali is the greatest boxer of all time, and his fights are legendary. There’s the Thrilla in Manilla, pitting Ali against Joe Frazier in the Philippines and is largely considered one of the best boxing matches of all time. Then there’s Ali/Liston 2, a controversial fight from 1965 that produced one of the most iconic sports photos of all time. Those should also be watched (basically all the Ali fights are worth checking out), but Rumble in the Jungle hits the sweet spot for length of watch and seeing Ali in peak form.
He employed his legendary “rope a dope” technique, and for much of the fight it looks as though Ali is headed for an embarrassing loss, as he’s literally up against the ropes for much of the match. However, it was a calculated strategy to wear down Foreman, focusing his hits where they would maximize energy loss and minimize points scored. Once Foreman is sufficiently tired, Ali springs into action and it’s amazing to watch.
Tyson vs. Spinks
Image: Wikipedia
Where Foreman vs. Ali was a battle of calculated strategy, Tyson vs. Spinks is a match of pure brutality. At the time of the fight, both Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks were undefeated. Tyson had possession of three belts: World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, and the International Boxing Federation, but Spinks was considered the lineal boxing champion. At the time, the purse was the largest ever offered for a professional boxing match, with Spinks guaranteed a $14 million prize just for showing up.
What’s most interesting about this fight, to me, isn’t that it lasted a mere 91 seconds before Tyson’s brutal onslaught sent Spinks to the mat, but rather you can see in Spinks’ eyes he’s already lost before Tyson even made it to the ring. As Tyson’s industrial entrance theme rattled the Atlantic City Convention Hall, more noise than song, Spinks looked like a man questioning whether or not $14 million was worth taking a flurry of devastating punches from one of the sport’s fastest, hardest-hitting, and most brutal ringsmen to ever lace up a pair of gloves.
A minute and a half after the bell, Spinks earned his $14 million, and never fought again.
Boxing is just one small part of the overall ESPN+ package, and while there are dozens of famous historic matches to watch from legends like Rocky Marciano and even Jack Dempsey, there’s a ton of modern coverage, too. That’s in addition to the 30 for 30 documentaries, original shows, rebroadcasts of NHL hockey, MLS and other professional leagues, E60 segments and more. If you’re jonesing for sports right now, an ESPN+ subscription is just $4.99 a month, or you can bundle it with Disney+/Hulu for $12.99. It’s a treasure trove of sports content.
One of the best video game movies to date, right behind Detective Pikachu, is now available. Sonic the Hedgehog follows the titular character as he escapes his home planet, comes to Earth, befriends a cop, and spends his time running from Dr. Robotnik while trying to collect his magic rings in San Francisco.
The movie was an exceptional amount of fun with plenty of Easter eggs for fans of the video game series. In GameSpot’s Sonic review, Phil Hornshaw said, “As video game adaptations go, Sonic the Hedgehog is among the stronger ones. It’s smart enough to stand on its own, making use of longstanding aspects of Sega’s supersonic mascot and his franchise, while making sure that what really shines through are its characters. That restraint goes a long way to making Sonic the Hedgehog a light, funny movie, and while it definitely skews young, longtime Sonic fans should have just as much fun finally seeing the Blue Blur on the big screen.”
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as police officers Mike and Marcus, respectively, on one last mission as they deal with getting older, working with younger officers, and of course, watching things blow up. It wouldn’t be a Bad Boys movie without a slow motion rotoscope as things blow up.
In GameSpot’s Bad Boys For Life review, Chris E. Hayner said, “Ultimately, Bad Boys for Life is better than practically anyone could expect. While it would have been easy to rely on the nostalgia of seeing the iconic trio of Smith, Lawrence, and explosions on-screen together again, the new film strives to be so much more and manages to pull it off. And what’s more, it also provides a blueprint for what the franchise could become in the future, should audiences want to see more.”
Below, you’ll find everything new coming out on the digital market this week through services like Google Play Movies, Vudu, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, and more. All of them are available now. And if you’re looking for more ways to kill time while you’re at home, check out some great Blu-ray deals.
The week’s new releases
Buy now
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If you enjoyed the recently-released Netflix original series V-Wars or October Faction, you’ll be disappointed to know that they’ve both been canceled, according to a report from Variety. Neither of these shows had been on the service for more than four months.
Debuting in early December, V-Wars was based on the IDW comic series of the same name. The Netflix original follows scientist Dr. Luther Swann and his friend Michael Fayne, as they deal with a deadly outbreak that turns people into vampires. As this is happening, a war between humans and vampires breaks out. The series starred Ian Somerhalder and Adrian Holmes. The first season consisted of 10 episodes.
Additionally, October Faction has been cancelled, after debuting in January. The series follows a couple, Fred and Deloris Allen, that spends their days hunting monsters, and they become members of a secret organization. Starring Tamara Taylor and J.C. MacKenzie, the first season consisted of 10 episodes as well.
This news arrives just as the fantasy-horror series Locke & Key gets greenlit for a second season. The official Locke & Key Twitter account revealed the information in a short video to excite fans. In his review of Season 1, GameSpot’s Michael Rougeau said, “if the Netflix version is your first introduction to Locke and Key and you don’t mind some cheesy writing, you’ll probably enjoy the show just fine, without all the baggage of the high expectations that fans have been lugging around for the decade-plus since Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s masterful horror comics series debuted.”
Dwayne Johnson has confirmed that a sequel to 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is in active development.
Screen Rant reports that Johnson, who starred alongside Jason Statham in the Fast & Furious spin-off last year, firmed up early sequel plans while responding to his fans on a recent Instagram Live Q&A.
“We are developing now the next film, the next [Hobbs & Shaw] movie, and I’m pretty excited about it,” the actor confirmed. “[We] just gotta figure out the creative right now, and the direction we’re going to go.”
In our review of Hobbs & Shaw, we said the film proves the “franchise still has places to go and people to see” despite being “the most removed stylistically and thematically from the first Fast & the Furious.” We praised Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, and Vanessa Kirby for ensuring that there’s still fun to be had in a F&F movie “not centred around cars or racing.”
“I’d love to see Ryan Reynolds come into the next Hobbs & Shaw. I think he would be a great team member,” Johnson previously told IGN. “I’d love to see Kevin Hart come into the next Hobbs & Shaw. The goal in this one was to set up what the future teams would look like. And who I felt people would find it really appealing to see Hobbs with and create this new unique team.”
While April’s PlayStation Plus freebies for PS4 leaked early, Microsoft’s Games with Gold lineup announcement arrived at basically the latest possible moment. As always, the newest batch of four games will be staggered across the month, with the first two games unlocking tomorrow, April 1. Xbox One users get to keep Games with Gold free games in their library as long as they have an active Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
Slightly Mad Studio’s 2017 racing sim Project Cars 2 will be free throughout the whole month of April. Project Cars 2 features a staggering collection of more than 180 vehicles to choose from and 140 tracks across 60 locations. The realistic sim earned a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Project Cars 2 review for its fine-tuned physics, dynamic weather system, and sheer variety of racing formats, which includes off-road contests with rallycross cars.
Xbox 360 title Fable Anniversary is also up for grabs on April 1. A remastered version of the original entry in the Microsoft series, the action-RPG also earned a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Fable Anniversary review. While the original Fable never truly lived up to its pre-release hype, it’s still a fun game that’s worth checking out if you’ve never visited Albion. Fable Anniversary will be free for subscribers through April 15.
Come mid-month, members will be able to pick up Knights of Pen and Paper Bundle and Toybox Turbos. Knights of Pen and Paper bundle includes both of the well-received games in the series, which feature gorgeous pixel art and interesting turn-based combat. Meanwhile, Toybox Turbos is a top-down tabletop racing game with 35 customizable vehicles and 18 zany tracks.
The Coalition is preparing the next big update for Gears 5, which will introduce Operation 3: Gridiron. The extensive patch notes for PC and Xbox One cover everything coming in the update, from new character drops, achievements, and changes to ranked playlists.
The biggest deal is the arrival of new additions to the roster: Cole, Clayton, Myrrah, and the Theron Guard. As a former Thrashball player, Cole gives the update its gridiron namesake. In response to player feedback, the studio has reduced the requirements to unlock the new characters. They’ll only take half as much character XP to earn as previous ones–30,000 down from 60,000–and they will no longer need to fulfill challenge requirements. Previous Operations characters will retain their old requirements, out of fairness to those who already earned or bought them.
If you’d rather just unlock all the new characters at once, you can buy the Gridiron Bundle for $20. That will grant you the four new additions, the Hot Rod weapon skin set, 1000 iron, and 30 days of boost. You can always buy individual characters for 500 iron apiece.
The update will also introduce a new Escape Hive, called the Barracks, and changes to ranked playlists. You can check out the full patch notes below.
Ranked: Users now need to be level 30 or above to play in Ranked unless joining as part of a Level 30+ player’s squad
Ranked: Split-screen users can no longer play in Ranked, except for 2v2 Gnashers
Bot behavior improvements across every difficulty
Bots will less frequently follow the same path/clump together in packs
Bots will less frequently use long-range weapons in situations where short range weapons are appropriate (and vice versa)
Bots will now make use of cover more frequently
Beginner bots will now roadie-run when appropriate
Bots will no longer backfill for players in TDM Quickplay
Round timeouts will no longer cause King of the Hill matches to end on the first round
Meatshields should now more consistently protect the user from explosive damage
Improved consistency of finishing off DBNO opponents with melee when holding a meatshield
Addressed an issue where pulling back on the analog stick at certain angles could sometimes cause cover slides to not be cancelled
Addressed an issue that could cause cover slip animations to sometimes not replicate smoothly between clients, making them appear like they are moving at much higher speeds
Players can no longer be chainsawed mid-roll
Players will no longer receive a prolonged stagger if hit with melee by a player slightly above them.
Players can no longer end up in an unarmed state by trading and dropping weapons at the same time
Fixed an issue that allowed a player to ignore being into a DBNO state by being grenade tagged by a Smoke or Flashbang by entering the slide animation
Fixed an issue where a player grenade tagged in the back could no longer take cover
Fixed an issue that could cause severe server corrections if a player initiates a swat turn or roll immediately after having a cover move blocked by a player
Fixed an issue that could cause a Retro Lancer charge to cancel instantly if performed shortly after cancelling/finishing the initial one
Resolved an issue where, sometimes, players could teleport if staggered while wall-bouncing
Fixed an issue that allowed sidearms to be traded after dropping both primary weapons, which could also cause the player to end up in an unarmed state
Fixed an issue that caused the Lancer GL to be stuck in grenade firing mode with no laser if the user pauses while holding the grenade firing button
Escape specific weapon tuning updates (on top of the additional changes listed in Horde Weapon Tuning)
Longshot: Increased headshot damage
EMBAR: Increased headshot damage
Boltok: Increased starting magazine size from 1 to 2
Snub: Increased starting magazine size from 1 to 3
Talon: Increased stating magazine size from 1 to 3
Jackbot now has HUD indications for when he is flash banged
Jackbot can now be more reliably revived when near a boss
Reduced Imago enforcer damage per bullet to 15 (was 20) to reduce instances of players being instantly downed with 5 modifiers enabled and up
Fixed an issue where the Dropshot may break or be unable to fire when Hijacking a Dropshot Scion
Fixed an exploit that allowed players to drop grenades and have Keegan pick them up to gain 7 with the Grenade Pouch card
Horde Frenzy: Fixed an issue that could cause the last boss wave to sometimes only have 2 mini bosses on Exhibit
The Detour: Leeches will no longer sometimes die immediately after spawning in the last wave of reinforcements
The Trap: Players can no longer get stuck in the top of the door if they are in the doorway when it closes
Players will now see the outline of a Flock update in real time when marked but not visible to the player (ie. seen through a wall)
Players that die will their Ultimate is active will no longer have their Ultimate fully recharged after being revived
Crawlers will no longer initiate self destruction after spawning in as reinforcement in Escape
Sires will no longer initiate a Sire Grab when a player is on a different elevation
Maps and Tiles
Icebound: The mantle cover on top of the slides have returned for Horde only. This will provide a more comfortable defensive position in the towers for players
Icebound: The side windows in the trading post are now always blocked off except for Horde. These changes are to reduce rifle suppression towards the spawn areas and allow more traversal across the map
Icebound: The blizzard is now denser and lasts for 30 seconds rather than 15. This change is to allow more opportunities to traverse across the map. In Horde, the timing remains the same but the blizzard will also be denser.
Icebound: The blizzard still triggers every 2 minutes for all PVP modes except for Gridiron. In Gridiron, the blizzard triggers at the 1-minute mark and will only trigger that one time per round
Allfather’s Arena: Fixed an issue where users could end up on top of cover
Vasgar: Spectator camera will no longer shake when players are moving against certain high cover pieces
The Pit: Fixed an issue where rolling onto a slide could cause sporadic movement
Tiles: Fixed an issue that could cause a Pouncer’s tail to get caught and stretch
Tiles: General improvements to some tiles to improve cover, reduce clipping or address camera issues
Tiles: Fixed an issue that could cause a player to fall through the map when tagged with a flash grenade while in a struggle with a Sire
PC
Keyboard and Mouse: Returning to the previous menu via back/thumb button on the mutator selection screen for matchmaking now responds consistently to input
Split-Screen: Setting dynamic shadows to ultra will no longer add a layer of fog/atmosphere over player two’s screen
Fixed an issue causing Escape Map The Hive’s ambient lights to be too dark, causing players to be unable to see properly
Other
Accessibility: Numerous improvements and bug fixes for the Narrator feature
Accessibility: Toggle Aim will now reset to off when putting accessibility options to default
Audio: Reduced volume of Escape Snatcher intro
Audio: Team announcer will now announce when pistols are placed in loadout
Audio: Fixed an audio starvation issue when multiple Trishots are being fired
UI: Fixed an issue causing players to see a black screen instead of an Omen on death if they are killed before transitioning to the end of the match
UI: Free For All weapon icons are now more accurately aligned to their in-game location on the overhead
UI: Player column on the right no longer cuts into the overhead map
UI: Fortification health and ammo bars will no longer extend beyond the limit
UI: Completing a match with Tac-Com open will no longer cause the MVP screen to appeari n Tac-Com
Campaign: Fixed an issue that could cause Del to fall out of world in an Act 2 cinematic under very specific conditions, blocking progression
Campaign: Fixed an issue where suiciding as the player kills the Act 2 boss will cause cinematic audio to play when the checkpoint is restarted
Co-Op Campaign: Fixed an issue that could cause the game to enter a broken state if a user loaded in while reloading the checkpoint during the first combat encounter
Co-Op Campaign: Fixed an issue that could cause Jack’s abilities and components to be missing / unusable when players stop playing as Jack
Campaign Lobby: Host can now select Customization when opening the menu from the Campaign Lobby while a second controller is signed in locally
Split Screen: Split screen players can now see each other’s Gears Allies card.
Players can no longer force a Swarm model on COG team and vice versa
Fixed severe clipping when grenade tagging a meatshield
Fixed an issue that allowed other weapons to Chainsaw if a player dropped a Lancer while chainsawing
Explosions in water will now produce splash VFX on Multiplayer Maps
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Back in February, the Nintendo Switch version of The Outer Worldswas delayed because of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as port developer Virtuous has offices in Singapore and China. The pandemic continues, but the Switch port has a new release date this June.
The Outer Worlds will release for Nintendo Switch on June 5, and it will be available as both a digital download and a physical cartridge. The physical version, which was not originally planned, will require an additional patch on launch day that will take up to 6 GB of space, and it adds higher-resolution textures and other gameplay improvements.
“We appreciate your dedication to the Board,” Obsidian said in an in-character update post on its website. “And remember: it’s not the best choice, it’s Spacer’s Choice!”
The Outer Worlds first came to Xbox One, PS4, and PC in October 2019. The game was in development prior to the studio’s acquisition by Microsoft, and it isn’t clear if a potential follow-up would also release for these systems or would only be on Xbox and PC platforms.
Despite the Switch delay, The Outer Worlds had already managed to sell 2 million units by February. The shorter role-playing shooter drew clear influence from the Fallout series — for which Obsidian created Fallout: New Vegas — and it received a warm reception. In GameSpot’s The Outer Worlds review, Edmond Tran was particularly fond on the game’s storytelling, world, and art design.
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After experiencing technical issues that delayed the PS4 and PC versions of the Resident Evil Resistance beta past their Xbox One counterpart, the beta is now live on all platforms. It will run until Resident Evil 3 launches on April 3.
Game director Al Yang shared the news on his Twitter page, adding that players will need to download the game’s latest update if they still cannot play the game online.
The Resident Evil Resistance Open Beta is now live again on PS4 and Steam! Please make sure you grab the latest update if you still have problems connecting to a match! Sorry again for the delay and huge thanks to the community for helping us test out our open beta build! https://t.co/S7RMlpWyx2
The beta’s launch comes just a few days before Resident Evil 3 releases on the same systems. All copies of Resident Evil 3 come with Resident Evil Resistance as a free bonus, regardless of whether they are digital or physical. It was originally announced as a completely separate game, but was revealed as a freebie when Resident Evil 3 was revealed in January. It is the only way to get Resident Evil Resistance.
Resident Evil Resistance is a non-canonical asymmetric multiplayer game starring a group of survivors who must escape from a mastermind’s facility as traps and monsters are thrown at them. One player controls the villain and can carefully plan how to attack the group, but if they manage to escape, the match is over.
The multiplayer component could help to make Resident Evil 3 a more compelling buy, but we have mixed feelings right now. In GameSpot’s Resident Evil 3 remake review in progress, Alessandro Fillari found the game’s best moments were early on and it couldn’t keep up its tension for the entire six-hour runtime. A full review will be available once we have played more of Resident Evil Resistance, and you can learn how to pre-order the game with our launch guide.
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Four years after it released to lukewarm reviews, Snyder has returned to Batman V Superman, hosting a live watch party with commentary on social media app Vero. For those who missed the livestream, The Hollywood Reporter caught some of the most interesting tidbits from the viewing.
During this postmortem-style stream, Snyder addressed some of the criticisms that have been leveled at the movie since its release–including the infamous Martha moment. Snyder pointed out that the Martha moment is more about Batman’s humanity than it is about their mothers simply having the same name, the moment is intended as a catalyst for him to empathize with Superman.
Another moment that received criticism was the similarity of the Wayne Tower’s collapse to 9/11 imagery. Snyder has said that this was purposeful, in order to evoke an emotional reaction and draw comparisons to the kind of trauma it would cause for Bruce Wayne.
Throughout the film, Superman is framed with religious iconography, beginning with the Day of the Dead sequence. This all comes to a head with the kryptonite spear Batman creates to kill Superman, echoing the Spear of Destiny that was used to pierce Jesus’ side as he hung on the cross. Without the religious parallels however, it seems strange for the technologically advanced Batman to choose such a primitive weapon.
Other interesting tidbits include the fact that Wonder Woman could have been set in various other wars–the filmmakers had discussed earlier wars that could have begun her story, such as the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856, or even the American Civil War.
After the movie was over, Snyder finished by saying the film should get a sequel. Combined with some sneaky references to his intended cut of Justice League, the Snyder Cut movement is about to get excited all over again.
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