Disney’s Mulan Remake Gets Spectacular Full Trailer

While this year’s Dumbo was a box office disappointment, the huge success of Aladdin and The Lion King proved that there is still plenty of interest in Disney’s live-action remakes of its animated classics. Next up is Mulan, which releases in March 2020. The full trailer has now been released.

While July’s first Mulan teaser mostly showcased the movie’s visuals and action, the new trailer lays out more of the plot too. Mulan is a teenage girl in ancient China who disguises herself as a man to take her aging father’s place in the Imperial army, who must fight against invaders. It looks absolutely spectacular, with some huge battle scenes and martial arts action, plus the inspiring story of a young girl standing up for her family. Check it out below.

Unlike recent Disney live-action movies, Mulan will take a slightly different approach in that it’s not a direct adaptation of the 1998 animated movie. It also takes influence from the original 6th Century poem “The Ballad of Mulan,” and director Niki Caro has confirmed that that the movie won’t contain any songs. And before you ask, Eddie Murphy’s talking dragon Mushu will be absent too.

Mulan stars Liu Yifei in the lead role, and the cast also includes a number of high profile Asian stars, such as Donnie Yen, Jet Li, and Gong Li. It hits theaters on March 27, 2020.

The only other Disney live-action remake with a confirmed release date is the 101 Dalmatians spin-off Cruella, which will star Emma Stone and releases in May 2021. But there are plenty more in the works, including The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and a sequel to The Jungle Book.

Now Playing: Disney’s Mulan – Official Trailer

Control Was Developed With A Modest $30 Million Budget

Despite near-universal praise from critics, Remedy Entertainment’s Control didn’t quite top the charts when it was released back in August of this year. Remedy CEO Tero Virtala isn’t particularly worried, however, as he says Remedy is pleased with how the game is selling.

In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Virtala revealed that the sci-fi shooter was developed over the course of three years with a modest budget of just under $30 million. “We don’t quite require the same huge lifetime numbers as many other games with bigger development budgets,” Virtala explained. “Therefore, even though Control didn’t have chart-topping sales right from the get-go, we are in a good position with steady sales. We always take the long view here.”

Virtala pointed to the longevity of digital distribution as one of the reasons launch sales aren’t as important as they used to be. “Nowadays, the majority of sales for many games are generated over a long period of time in digital stores–and Control continues to sell, which is good,” he continued. “We are bringing more free and paid content to the game. It has the proven high-quality and uniqueness, and the word-of-mouth that keeps growing. There is still a big audience out there that hasn’t yet heard of Control. These are all factors that support the longer-term sales.”

Virtala expressed his satisfaction with Control’s success, especially considering it’s a new IP that was mostly self-funded. The game’s director, Mikael Kasurinen, echoed this sentiment, adding that Remedy is “extremely proud of Control, not just from the perspective of quality and creativity, but also in how we changed the culture of production and development. We haven’t done a game as fast since Max Payne 2.

“What makes it even more impressive is that Control involves a lot of new technology, a new approach to the world structure, and is also not a sequel–a rarity nowadays.”

With two story add-ons due in 2020, Remedy isn’t done with Control just yet either.

Now Playing: Control – Spoiler Chat

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Vanquish And Bayonetta 4K 60fps Remasters Are Coming To Xbox One

Earlier today, a listing on the Microsoft Store let slip that Vanquish is coming to Xbox One. Now, further listings have revealed that both Vanquish and Bayonetta are coming to the console with enhanced 4K visuals at 60fps on Xbox One X. The frenetic PlatinumGames action titles will be available separately or as part of a celebratory 10th-anniversary bundle on February 18, 2020.

Details are sparse, and no prices are currently showing on the store, but the listing does note that both games are remastered for the first time on Xbox One. Bayonetta and Vanquish were, of course, originally released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at the beginning of the decade, and have been available to play via Xbox One’s backwards compatibility for a while now. Neither game is enhanced for Xbox One X, though, so these new releases fill in that gap by bumping the resolution up to 4K at 60fps with some other visual upgrades.

In all likelihood, the two action titles have been ported from their belated 2017 PC releases, which both support the same visual enhancements. The screenshots included on the Microsoft store page are even identical to those put out prior to the PC version’s launch.

With both games seemingly on their way to Xbox One, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to suggest PlayStation 4 versions are on the horizon, too.

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Rocket League’s Loot Boxes Are Gone, And The Community Is Not Happy

Rocket League, the popular car-soccer game, recently pledged to remove loot boxes in favor or a more transparent “Blueprint” system, which lets you see what you’re getting and choose whether to spend your credits building it. The Blueprint update has now arrived, and developer Psyonix has published extensive patch notes alongside it. All Keys and Decryptors have been turned into Credits and Bonus Gifts, Crates have been turned into Unrevealed Blueprints, and a new Item Shop offers a rotating selection of goods.

It’s a substantial change, and already many players are taking to Reddit to complain about how pricing works in the game, noting that customization upgrades are now prohibitively expensive and much harder to get your hands on. A thread on Reddit is cataloging complaints from players about prices; as of now, it has 1700 replies. Elsewhere, users are noting examples of items, like the Pyrrhos exotic wheels, that have been massively marked up.

As one post sums it up, if you’d bought 23 keys before, you’d get 23 items; now a single item might cost the same in credits as 23 keys would have cost. It remains to be seen whether this system will see changes based on user feedback, or if Blueprint trading will lessen the issue for the community. For now, though, it seems that the change has made cosmetic items in Rocket League more expensive, albeit also more transparent.

Rocket League released in 2015, and is available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. Psyonix was bought out by Epic back in July 2019.

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GTFO, The Survival Horror Shooter From Payday’s Lead Designer, Is Launching Very Soon

GTFO, the new shooter from Payday lead designer Ul Andersson and his team at 10 Chambers Collective, has a release date. The game will release on December 9 at 12 PM PT through Early Access on Steam.

On Early Access, players will be able to get a taste of the first-person shooter that also features survival horror elements and team-based gameplay. You play as a prisoner trapped in a horrible world filled with nasty creatures trying to kill you.

The conceit with GTFO is a system called “The Rundown.” This includes timed-based challenges that reset with new game updates, so players only have a limited window to take part. This sounds similar in nature to how Hitman‘s Elusive contracts work. Some missions, called Expeditions in GTFO, might be available for 1-2 weeks, while others may be available for months.

Take a look at the video below to learn more about how The Rundown works.

The Early Access period is expected to run for one year, during which time 10 Chambers will gather feedback and further tune and refine the game. For more on GTFO, head to the game’s Steam page. You can also watch GameSpot’s preview above, in which we describe the game as a fear-filled Left 4 Dead.

Now Playing: GTFO Is A Hardcore Fear-Filled Left 4 Dead

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Vanquish Remaster Is Coming to Xbox One in 2020

A remastered version of Vanquish for Xbox One has appeared with a 2020 release date.

It seems that Sega is releasing a remaster of the 2010 third-person shooter Vanquish for Xbox One on February 18, 2020. There’s been no official announcement yet but the game is now listed on the Microsoft store (via ResetEra).

The listing says that the game will have 4K graphics and run at 60fps on Xbox One X. The PC version of the game that was released back in 2017 also supported 4K 60fps.

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Xbox Onesie Returns, And This Time It’s On Sale For Everyone

Microsoft is bringing back the Xbox Onesie, the wacky article of clothing that helps you stay warm and cozy while playing games. The new version of the Onesie, which is officially called the “Xbox Hooded Union Suit,” is now in green as opposed to the white version of the original.

The new Onesie will be available from the Xbox Gear Store beginning on December 5. Stock will be “limited” so if you’re interested you may want to act quickly. Pricing was not announced.

The Xbox Onesie was created by Xbox Australia in 2016 as a unique marketing ploy that ended up gathering a lot of traction and interest among fans. Microsoft updated the design in 2017 to promote the release of Forza Motorsport 7. Up until now, the only way to get the Onesie was to win a contest, but the launch in the Xbox Gear Store this week will open it up to a wider audience.

The Xbox Onesie features enlarged pockets to fit Xbox controllers and other remotes. It also has a pouch for your phone, and leg and arm sleeves that roll up for a better fit. The hood is oversized to leave space for a headset.

In other Xbox news, Phil Spencer is already using the next-generation Xbox Scarlett console at home. On top of that, rumours have re-emerged that Microsoft is working on a cheaper, less powerful, and disc-free Scarlett console under the codename Lockhart.

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Xbox Boss Is Already Using Project Scarlett At Home, As Rumors Of Cheaper, Disc-Free Console Swirl

Microsoft’s new Xbox console, codenamed Project Scarlett, is set to launch to the public in Holiday 2020. Some people inside Xbox are already using the console at home, however.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer said on Twitter that he brought his Project Scarlett console home this week. “It’s become my primary console, playing my games, connecting with the community, and yes, using my Elite Series 2 controller, having a blast,” he said. “2020 is going to be an incredible year.”

Project Scarlett is due to launch next holiday but Microsoft has yet to announce key details like price, release date, launch lineup, and final specs. The console will be more powerful than the Xbox One X, and it will feature a solid-state drive that should help games load faster.

In other news, The Verge, Brad Sams, and Kotaku all reported this week that Microsoft is working on a second Project Scarlett console that will be less powerful and less expensive.

Project Scarlett is said to be the overarching name for Microsoft’s next-generation console strategy. Anaconda is reportedly the name of the more powerful next-generation console, with Lockhart serving as the less-power next-generation console. In essence, it’s believed that Anaconda is the successor to the Xbox One X with Lockhart standing as the next Xbox One S.

A Microsoft representative said, “We do not comment on rumors or speculation.”

Plans can change, so it’s possible that even if Microsoft is indeed considering a less powerful, cheaper Xbox Scarlett, the company won’t actually release it. Or it will. For now, all that is completely official is that at least one next-generation console from Microsoft is coming next year.

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