The move comes after an announcement on Tuesday, January 28, in which Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc.–MoviePass’ parent company–confirmed plans to allow for the liquidation of all its assets. The company found that “after considering strategic alternatives,” MoviePass no longer seemed viable as a business to continue. With bankruptcy moving forward, a trustee will be assigned to clean out MoviePass, Helios and Matheson Analytics, and all other affiliated companies in the coming months.
“As a result of filing the Petition, a Chapter 7 trustee will be appointed by the bankruptcy court to administer the estate of the company and to perform the duties set forth in Section 704 of the Code,” the filing said.
MoviePass put an end to its subscription service in September 2019, with the service’s parent company looking for financial assistance at the time. During the closing of MoviePass, Helios and Matheson Analytics stated there was a possibility the service could make a return. However, the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing all but ensures that MoviePass will not make a comeback for the foreseeable future.
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Developer Motion Twin has announced that new DLC is coming to its rogue-lite Metroidvania game, Dead Cells. Titled The Bad Seed, Dead Cells players will be able to pick it up for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on February 11 for $5 USD.
The Bad Seed adds two new territories to explore, The Swamp and The Arboretum. Both are alternatives to the Courtyard/Toxic Sewers and The Ramparts/Ossuary/Ancient Sewers in the original game, with the new boss designed to be on par with The Concierge. This is intended to spice up early game runs for those who have played through the core game already. The DLC also adds new weapons (including a massive scythe), enemies, and artefacts. The 1.6 update will also be arriving on consoles at the same time.
Prepare to die all over again when The Bad Seed launches next month.
Daniel Starkey praised Dead Cells in GameSpot’s review, giving it 9/10 and saying, “Dead Cells is a phenomenal effort to blend together some very disparate genres into a tight, cohesive whole. It’s one of the better examples of how to remix ideas without losing their individual strengths”.
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PC gaming can be expensive, especially when you’ve already dropped a fat stack of cash on that slick gaming PC sitting under your desk. Thankfully, there are plenty of sales on accessories, and the latest is from Amazon. The latest Deal of the Day discounts a wide range of PC accessories, including gaming headsets, keyboards, and mice.
Razer’s Seiren X USB streaming microphone has its price slashed from $100 to $55. It features a supercardioid pickup pattern, which means it excels at picking up sound in a specific direction and works well for streaming. It comes with a built-in shock mount, which should help alleviate audio issues if bumped or on the same surface as a vibrating phone.
In addition to all the PC accessories, a number of memory cards and adapters are featured. You can see them in the full sale on Amazon, but if you want to see all of the PC gaming peripherals, then check out our list below.
Super Bowl weekend is nearly here, and as is tradition, EA Sports is gearing up to use the latest Madden game to predict the outcome of the Super Bowl. Apart from the Madden simulation, there’s a nice discount on the game itself this week. For a limited time, Madden NFL 20 is on sale for 50% off on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, dropping its price to $30 from $60. This offer is mostly digital, available in the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live, and EA’s Origin, but you can also find the same discount at GameStop.
The standard edition is cheapest and just includes the base game, but the Superstar and Ultimate Superstar editions are discounted as well to $40 and $50, respectively, on consoles. These special editions come with bonus in-game content, including Gold Team Fantasy Packs and Small or Large Training Quick Sell Packs. The special editions are even cheaper on Origin, going for $32 and $40, respectively.
The latest installment in the long-running football series earned an 8/10 in GameSpot’s Madden NFL 20 review, with critic Eddie Makuch praising its new X-Factor abilities, week-to-week challenges, and more.
“Madden NFL 20 is an improved version of the annualized professional football series that excels in some areas and leaves something to be desired in others,” he wrote. “The new QB1 career mode–which includes a barebones NCAA football experience–overall feels like a half-baked idea that doesn’t deliver anything meaningful or interesting. When it comes to the on-the-field action, however, the new X-Factor and Superstar abilities shake up the familiar gameplay formula to give seasoned players and newcomers alike a fresh way to scheme plays and orchestrate strategy on both sides of the ball.”
Dirt Rally 2.0 is heading back to the series’ roots with the upcoming Colin McRae: Flat Out pack. The nostalgia-tinged DLC is due out on March 24, 2020 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and will be free for all season pass owners.
Outside of the US, Codemasters’ long-running off-road series started back in 1998 as Colin McRae Rally, before eventually becoming Colin McRae: Dirt in 2007. Following the rally star’s untimely death in the same year, McRae’s name eventually stopped appearing in the title after the release of Dirt 3.
The Flat Out pack selects some of the highlights of McRae’s career by letting you relive 40 of his greatest moments in Dirt Rally 2.0’s Scenarios mode. The DLC also introduces his iconic Subaru Impreza Rally S4 and Subaru Legacy RS to the game, along with 12 new routes that undulate through Scotland’s Perth and Kinross.
In 2017 social media was peppered with images of tourists riding around Tokyo streets in go-karts and dressed up as various Mario characters, strongly resembling the likes of Mario Kart. With the service being unlicensed (and in some cases dangerous), Nintendo quickly stepped in and sued Mari Mobility (formerly Maricar) for their Street Kart service, initially winning in 2018. After an unsuccessful appeal and an attempt to clean up their act, the situation has become far worse.
After rebranding and swapping out all Nintendo references with various superhero ones, Mari Mobility hoped to reduce the damages owed to Nintendo, a sum of 10 million yen (around $92,000). The appeal has backfired, however, with Mari Mobility losing and ordered to pay five times the damages, now totalling 50 million yen ($458,000), according to the Japanese website Inside Games (via Kotaku).
Apart from getting rid of the Mario costumes and branding, Mari Mobility also covered up images on its website showing past inclusions, while also updating its official blurb to make it very clear that it is done using Nintendo’s brand. “We at Street Kart is providing our service as usual. Street Kart is fully complied [sic] through local governing laws in Japan. Street Kart is in no way a reflection of Nintendo, the game ‘Mario Kart’. (We do not provide rental of costumes of Mario Series.),” the website now reads.
This was obviously not enough for the court, and Nintendo has been rigorous in defending its IP. In a statement following the ruling, Nintendo stressed that it will continue defending violations of its intellectual property that damages the brands it has built up over numerous years.
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Here’s some great news for your wallet on this hump day: Best Buy just kicked off a 24-hour flash sale, and it offers some fantastic discounts on a wide range of electronics, including 4K TVs, gaming laptops, Apple AirPods, consoles, and much more. The sale is live only until 10 PM PT / 1 AM ET tonight, so be sure to check it out and snag the deals you want today. To save you some time, we’ve rounded up some of the best tech and gaming deals below, and you can also click through to see the full sale at Best Buy for more browsing.
Sony 65-inch X900F Series Smart 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR
$1000 ($1,500)
Best Buy’s flash sale includes quite a few 4K HDR TV deals, conveniently timed around a certain major sports event happening on February 2. If you are looking for a new TV to watch the Super Bowl and/or everyday gaming, you’ve got some great options here, including Sony’s 65-inch X900F Series 4K smart TV. Our sister site CNET reviewed this TV and found it to have excellent image quality, solid video processing, and more. Its integration with Google Assistant is notable as well.
TCL 75-inch 4 Series 2160p Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR
$650 ($900)
I personally own a TCL Roku 4K TV and find it to be a great option for both streaming shows and gaming. In Best Buy’s flash sale, you can snag the 75-inch model for $250 off, dropping your price to $650. You can’t beat that value for a screen this size, although the image quality isn’t as good as other 4K TVs on the market, according to CNET. For budget shoppers, however, you’re still getting plenty of bang for your buck.
Samsung 65-inch 7 Series 2160p Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR
$550 ($700)
Another affordable 4K UHD TV is marked down at Best Buy right now: Samsung’s 65-inch 7 Series TV. With 2160p resolution and vibrant Ultra HD image quality, this LED screen also includes three HDMI and 2 USB inputs to plug in all your devices.
Dell 17.3-inch Gaming Laptop
$1,150 ($1,550)
This Dell 17.3-inch gaming laptop is $400 off and includes 16GB of system memory, a 1TB hard drive, and 256GB solid-state drive for plenty of storage space and speed. It also features Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics and a 9th-gen Intel Core i7-9750H mobile processor.
Razer Blade Stealth 13.3-inch Gaming Laptop
$1,500 ($1,800)
The Razer Blade Stealth is one of the best gaming laptops you can buy in 2020. It’s thin and light enough for everyday usage, including a nice minimalist design, and while gaming performance isn’t as good as other machines, you can invest in an external GPU to help it function as a more powerful gaming laptop when you’re at home. If you’re looking for a machine for both gaming and taking on the go, the Razer Blade Stealth wins in convenience and portability.
Xbox One X with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Deluxe Edition
$350 ($500)
Xbox Series X is launching this holiday season, but if you’re looking for a new console between now and then, you can get one of the best bundles at a lower price right now. The Xbox One X bundle with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is down to its Black Friday price of $350, and Best Buy is even throwing in an extra Xbox One controller to sweeten the deal.
Apple AirPods with Charging Case (latest model)
$129 ($160)
Apple’s official wireless earbuds are extremely pricey, but Best Buy has slashed $31 off the price, bringing your cost down to $129 (note that Amazon is price-matching this deal as well). You’ll get four free months of Apple Music as well, if you’re a new subscriber.
JBL Soundbar System with 10-inch Wireless Subwoofer and Digital Amplifier
$280 ($500)
Upgrade your living room’s audio with this JBL soundbar system, which also comes with a 10-inch wireless subwoofer and a digital amplifier. The bundle is nearly 50% off, and it’ll provide high-quality sound for games, movies, music, and more.
Bose Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones II (Rose Gold)
$265 ($350)
Bose headphones are popular for a reason–well, multiple reasons. They’re extremely comfortable, the audio quality is fantastic, and the soundproof mode is like magic, completely blocking out surrounding noises if you want it to. These headphones also include built-in Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, pair wirelessly with your devices, and have a battery life of up to 20 hours.
The beginning of 2020 was meant to have so many big launches, especially in the run up to March and April. But with Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Remake and more being pushed back, there’s a definite void left in their wake. PS Plus for February is here to take that sting away, with a total of three PlayStation 4 games available through the subscription: BioShock The Collection, The Sims 4, and Firewall Zero Hour.
BioShock: The Collection includes the original BioShock, its direct sequel BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite in their remastered forms, along with all their DLC. Although a new BioShock is still a long way off, each of these is great in its own right, and well worth a playthrough.
The Sims 4 is the latest entry in EA’s long-running simulation franchise. In our original 6/10 review though, The Sims 4 was criticized for its cramped structure and removal of several series features, but has since endured with numerous expansions and content packs.
Firewall Zero Hour is exclusively for PSVR, where you and three other players can tackle tactically demanding shooter situations via online multiplayer. It supports the PSVR Aim controller for increased precision, but can be played with standard Move controllers too.
The “Fighters Pass Vol. 2” costs $30, an increase from the first Fighters Pass which was $25. But that pass included five fighters, while the second one includes six, so it still represents an equivalent savings. Individual fighters have been priced at $6 apiece. Purchasing the Fighters Pass also grants you a new Mii costume based on the Ancient Soldier gear from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and you can start using it immediately.
Like the first one, we don’t know the identities of the six fighters that will be added yet. Each Challenger Pack is listed individually with an estimated release date of 12/31/2021, but can’t be purchased yet. When the season pass was announced, game director Masahiro Sakurai said all the fighters will be released by the end of 2021. We expect it to follow a similar model to the first season pass, with characters being revealed and then released one at a time.
Sakurai said during the presentation that he understands that players may have reservations about buying into a DLC pass without knowing the exact contents, and he would be grateful if fans understand why the characters aren’t revealed just yet.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is reportedly in final negotiations to join the cast of The Matrix 4.
Variety reports Chopra Jonas is currently closing in on a deal to join the star-studded ensemble of the fourth film in The Matrix franchise, though details about her prospective character are being kept under wraps.
Over the years, Chopra Jonas has gained recognition for portraying a range of characters in over 60 films. In her US TV debut, she starred as the lead on ABC drama Quantico, playing FBI field agent Alex Parrish, for which she received a People’s Choice Award. Since then, she has appeared in supporting roles in Hollywood comedies, such as Baywatch and Isn’t It Romantic. Most of her current projects are in pre-production, including Netflix’s superhero film We Can Be Heroes, directed by Robert Rodriguez.
