biteho.com

Monster Hunter World‘s big Iceborne expansion arrives on PS4 and Xbox One this September, but PC players will need to wait a little longer to jump into the DLC. Capcom had previously said Iceborne will release on the platform sometime this winter, but now the publisher has narrowed that window down to a specific month.

On the official Monster Hunter Twitter account, Capcom confirmed that Iceborne will launch for PC via Steam early next year, in January 2020. No specific date was pinned down just yet, but at least we now know when we can expect the expansion to arrive on the platform, and it won’t be too far behind the PS4 and Xbox One versions.

Iceborne takes players to an arctic region known as Hoarfrost Reach, which is home to a variety of new and returning monsters, including the Tigrex and the Glavenus (which now has an intimidating new subspecies). In addition to new monsters to hunt and gear to craft, Iceborne features a new Gathering Hub that boasts some welcome improvements. This time, you’ll be able to decorate your room with different pieces of furniture and other decor, and a future update will let other players visit your room.

The expansion also introduces a few other welcome gameplay tweaks. Now, the difficulty will scale for two-player teams. Your Palico companions will also be able to wield some new gadgets such as the Shieldspire Stooge, which is a “mobile decoy” that will draw a monster’s attention. You can read more details about the gameplay tweaks on Capcom’s blog.

Iceborne launches for PS4 and Xbox One on September 6 for $40. Capcom is also offering a digital deluxe edition that includes a new Yukumo armor set along with a few other items for your hunter. You’ll need to own a copy of the base game in order to play the Iceborne expansion, but Capcom is releasing a new Monster Hunter World Master Edition that bundles both together for $60.

With the Game of Thrones spin-off show due to start shooting soon and Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series in pre-production, fantasy TV and cinema remains big business. One project that has been in development for several years is a movie based on the classic fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. It has now been reported that Game Night’s Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley are in line to direct the D&D movie.

According to Deadline, Goldstein and Daley are in negotiations for the job. They will replace The Lego Movie’s Chris McKay, who has been attached since February 2018, but will now make the Chris Pratt sci-fi thriller Ghost Draft. Goldstein and Daley also wrote the screenplay to the Marvel hit Spider-Man: Homecoming and were two of the many directors attached to DC’s Flash movie before exiting that much-delayed project.

The Dungeons & Dragons reboot currently has a release date of November 21, 2021, although given the early stage of development, this could easily change. An earlier Dungeons & Dragons movie was released in 2001, but it was a commercial failure and poorly received by critics.

As for the Lord of the Rings series, Amazon recently revealed its production team. It includes Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona, who will helm the first two episodes, and a writing team that includes writers from shows such as Breaking Bad, Hannibal, Stranger Things, and Game of Thrones. Although a release date has not been announced yet, we know that the show is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy of books and Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations.

Papa Roach, the nu-metal band known for their hit song “Last Resort,” is accused of using stolen art from a video game for one of its tour posters without the permission from the developers.Papa Roach’s official Facebook page posted a picture of a tour poster used to promote the band’s recent performance at the South Side Ballroom in Dallas, Texas. The poster features a reddish fish monster looking at her phone with Papa roach and opener Asking Alexandria’s name on the front. The name of the venue is also printed along the bottom.

The only problem is that the poster isn’t an original work made for Papa Roach’s “Who Do You Trust?” U.S.A. tour. Instead, as noted by Twitter user Vlad Calu, the poster appears to be lifted and slightly edited from an official poster for the game Monster Prom by artist Ástor Alexander for the website, The Yetee.

Monster Prom is a 2018 visual novel developed by Beautiful Glitch. Styled after Japanese dating sims, Monster Prom lets players romantically pursue six different monsters to date.

Monster Prom creative director, Julián Quijano, spoke with Kotaku about the poster incident and said that while the incident provided, “some good laughs, silly puns and a funny story to tell,” art theft is sadly incredibly common in the entertainment industry.

It’s unclear how Alexander’s poster went on to be used for a Papa Roach tour poster. IGN reached out to Papa Roach’s agent for an explanation but didn’t receive a response.

A closer look at Papa Roach’s Facebook post, which is still up on the band’s Facebook page, shows the poster is actually a screen capture from an Instagram story posted by the South Side Ballroom music venue. IGN also reached out to South Side Ballroom to ask if this poster was created by the venue for the tour, but have yet to hear back.

Papa Roach’s concert in Dallas was held on July 27, and their next concert will be in Atlanta, Georgia. There’s been no reports of Papa Roach reusing this poster for other shows on tour; nor have there been other reported instances of video game art being used for their tour posters.

Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

The Joker is getting his own live-action movie this fall. And unlike last time DC gave an iconic Batman villain their own film, hopefully this one will be good. Director Todd Phillips and actor Joaquin Phoenix are teaming up to explore the one story that’s never been definitively told in the comics – the origin of the Joker.Read on for a breakdown of everything we know so far about the Joker movie, from the film’s release date to its trailers to its connections to past Batman movies and more.

Be sure to also check out everything we know about Star War: Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker and everything we know about The Batman.

DC Extended Universe: Every Upcoming Movie

Joker Movie Release Date

Joker is the next DC movie slated to hit theaters. Production wrapped back in December 2018. Following an August 2019 premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, Joker is scheduled for wide release on October 4, 2019.

That’s good news for fans currently starved for new DC movies, as the only other DC theatrical release in 2019 has been Shazam!

Joker Trailer

Phillips offered a very early glimpse of Joker back in October 2018, releasing a short bit of test footage featuring Phoenix in full makeup and costume. The first theatrical poster and trailer for Joker followed in April 2019, debuting at CinemaCon and then being released online. Watch it below:

You can also watch our trailer breakdown here:

We’re assuming Warner Bros. will debut at least one more trailer in the lead-up to Joker’s October release. With the teaser revealing little about the plot of the movie, many fans are hungry for a closer look at this origin story and its portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime.

Joker: The Cast and Crew

Joker is directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover) and written by Phillips and Scott Silver (The Fighter). The film is produced by Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff.

Martin Scorsese was originally attached to produce, in part because Phillips and Silver’s script is heavily inspired by classic Scorsese fare like Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and The King of Comedy. Early rumors even suggested Scorsese might direct the film with Leonardo DiCaprio starring. However, this didn’t come to be, and Scorsese ultimately left the project early in pre-production.

Instead, Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) is playing Arthur Fleck/The Joker. This will be Phoenix’s first appearance in a superhero movie, with the sequel-averse actor describing the standalone format as a major draw. Phoenix said in July 2018, “It feels unique, it is its own world in some ways, and maybe, mostly, it scares the f—ing s–t out of me or something. It might as well be the thing that scares you the most.”

The cast also includes Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2) as single mother/Arthur’s love interest Sophie Dumond, Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) as Arthur’s mother Penny, and Robert De Niro as talk show host Murray Franklin. De Niro’s character is said to be heavily inspired by the one he played in The King of Comedy, and he’ll be directly involved in Arthur’s villainous transformation.

How DC’s Movies Have Improved on the Comics

Joker will include several characters familiar to Batman fans. Brett Cullen is playing Thomas Wayne, albeit a darker version of the character than normally seen in film. Alec Baldwin was originally cast in the role but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Also appearing are Douglas Hodge as Alfred Pennyworth, Dante Pereira-Olson as a young Bruce Wayne, Marc Maron as Arthur’s agent, Ted Marco, Brian Tyree Henry as a nurse, Bryan Callen as a stripper and Bill Camp and Shea Whigham as GCPD officers. Josh Pais has been cast in an unknown role.

Joker: The Plot

Joker serves as a period piece and an origin story for the titular villain. The movie is set in 1981 and explores how struggling comedian Arthur Fleck grapples with mental illness and becomes the most feared supervillain in Gotham City.

The movie is breaking from DC’s traditional approach in more ways than one. For one thing, it’s the first live-action, R-rated Batman movie. For another, apart from 1989’s Batman, Joker has never received a real name or a definitive origin story in the comics, movies or TV series. Classic comics like Batman: The Killing Joke and Batman: Zero Year have hinted at Joker’s past, but even those stories tend to be shrouded in doubt and treat Joker himself as an unreliable narrator.

The Many Origin Stories of the Joker

Phillips has said Joker won’t be drawing from the comics for its depiction of the character, instead telling an original story. This isn’t 100% true, as several Batman comics have played with the idea of Joker being a failed comedian before becoming a villain. But for the most part, Joker will blazing its own trail. Indeed, the movie seems intent on mirroring Batman’s origin story in some key ways.

Also, don’t expect the film to explore the Batman/Joker dynamic. It’s set well before Bruce Wayne’s adulthood. In fact, Bruce’s father Thomas is a major character in the film, with the implication that the movie will explore the Wayne family’s dark secrets and the role they played in making a villain like Joker possible.

Joker: Is It Part of the DCEU?

There’s been some confusion over what connection, if any, Joker has to DC’s previous superhero movies. However, Phillips has been adamant that Joker is not tied to any other Batman movie. It’s not a part of the DCEU, nor is it connected to earlier movies like 1989’s Batman or 2008’s The Dark Knight. It’s a completely standalone project that explores Joker’s origin in a way that probably wouldn’t be allowed in a larger, shared universe setting. And Phillips has also been clear that Joker won’t be getting a sequel or spawning a larger franchise.

Joker First Look Photos

Joker is the first real example of DC’s willingness to make lower-budget, standalone DC movies alongside new films set in the shared universe established by pictures like 2016’s Batman v Superman and 2017’s Justice League.

Interestingly, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice established that the Waynes were murdered in 1981, the same year Joker takes place. Despite this, Phoenix’s Joker is a different incarnation of the character than the one played by Jared Leto in 2016’s Suicide Squad. If nothing else, Phoenix’s Joker is clearly far too old to be the same guy seen in Suicide Squad.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

It’s been over six months since the Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium first went up for pre-order on Amazon, and the book has since been plagued by multiple delays that led some to believe it may not come out at all. But luckily for any fans who submitted their pre-order requests as far back as January, the guide is finally arriving on people’s doorsteps. You can order a copy for yourself today, and it’s even 34% off right now, selling for $33.09 with free shipping on Amazon. Its list price is $50.

Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium

$33.09 ($50)

See it at Amazon

Dubbed “the ultimate Dark Souls reference book,” the Dark Souls compendium is a stunning hardcover book with pages printed on premium art paper. Inside, you’ll find everything you need to know about the critically acclaimed trilogy, from in-depth lore to detailed, illustrated maps and a chronicle of every piece of NPC dialogue in the three games. The book also includes a bookmark ribbon and four art prints you can hang on your walls.

German publisher Future Press, which has produced collector’s edition guides for other games like Bloodborne and Horizon Zero Dawn, took to Twitter to clear up some of the confusion around the Dark Souls compendium’s shipping delays. On April 29, Future Press tweeted that all copies were being printed on a high-quality printer in Europe, causing an initial delay to ensure quality control. Then, on July 15, the publisher updated its followers that the books were being held for two weeks by US customs for inspection. Finally, on July 23, Future Press confirmed that the books are now in stock at Amazon, despite conflicting information in Amazon’s listing and in emails some people have received.

And fortunately, people are corroborating that claim, with many reporting that their copies have finally arrived.

So whether you’ve been on the fence about pre-ordering or are hearing about the compendium for the first time, it finally seems safe to place your order. There’s no knowing how long it will be discounted at Amazon, where prices fluctuate frequently, so there’s no better time to snag a copy for yourself or even a friend or family member (early Christmas present, perhaps?). Let us know in the comments down below–will you be picking up the Dark Souls Compendium now that it’s finally shipping?

EA has confirmed a new event is coming to Apex Legends ahead of the battle royale game’s third season. The publisher made the announcement during its latest earnings call, where it also revealed that Apex Legends: Season 2 is performing beyond expectations.

According to VG247, Respawn will debut an in-game event in Apex Legends that will “bring new content and deliver one of the most fan-requested features.” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the event will release “in the next few weeks.” No other details were provided, but if the event is scheduled to release fairly soon, it’s possible we’ll be given more concrete details before long.

Fans have requested numerous features for Apex Legends, so it’s difficult to deduce what Wilson might be teasing. The most common requests are typically the addition of Titans–as Apex Legends is a part of the same universe as Titanfall and Titanfall 2–or a singles mode where players compete without a team. It’s possible either one could happen, especially if the event turns out to be limited-time–meaning Respawn wouldn’t be required to devote long-term resources towards balancing the mode.

Also during the call, Wilson said that Apex Legends: Season 3 is “shaping up to be even bigger” than Season 2, though it will utilize a similar schedule of content drops and patch releases. Season 3 is currently scheduled to begin in the second quarter of the fiscal year, so sometime between now and the end of September. Apex Legends Season 2 battle pass is scheduled to end in the final days of September, so it’s probably safe to assume Season 3 will begin then. Wilson also reiterated that EA plans on porting Apex Legends to mobile devices, though he did not share when that might be.

Apex Legends is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. In our Apex Legends review, Phil Hornshaw wrote, “Apex Legends is a mix of smart shooter ideas that makes for a competitive, team-based game that gets at all the best parts of battle royale while addressing a lot of the weaknesses. Respawn’s intense focus on team play makes Apex more than just a worthy addition to the genre; it’s an indicator of where battle royale should go in the future.”

The Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters this week, and ahead of that, reviews have started to appear online. To help you get an idea about if the film is worth your time and money, we’ve rounded up review scores and opinions from various outlets. GameSpot reviewer Chris E. Hayner said it is “wildly entertaining and loaded with the kind of thrills you come to expect from Fast & Furious movies”

Hobbs & Shaw stars Dwayne Johnson as former federal Agent Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham as mercenary-for-hire Owen Shaw. The pair are forced to become reluctant allies to take on genetically modified ex-MI6 agent Brixton Lore, played by Idris Elba. It’s directed by David Leitch, who made Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde, as well as co-directing the first John Wick movie.

You can see a rundown of Hobbs & Shaw reviews below, while more information on the film’s critical reception can be found on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

• Directed By: David Leitch
• Written By: Chris Morgan, Drew Pearce
• Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren
• Release Date: August 2 (United States)

GameSpot

“Ultimately, Hobbs & Shaw is probably the movie you want it to be. It’s funny with massive-scale action, the likes of which you rarely see outside of this franchise. It’s loaded with car chases, explosions, and fight scenes in which every character should repeatedly die. It’s just unfortunate that the pieces of the film that aren’t soaked in action don’t add up. This movie could have been incredible. Instead, it’s just a lot of adrenaline-fueled fun. Sometimes, though, that’s more than enough.” — Chris E Hayner [Full review]

The Wrap

“Hobbs & Shaw generally doesn’t reinvent any wheels in the franchise. But it does underscore the undeniable chemistry between bonafide action figures Johnson and Statham in a film that doesn’t try to be anything more than a frivolous blockbuster, but with heart.” — Candice Frederick [Full review]

Indiewire

“Overloaded with hit-or-miss action sequences, a half-baked supervillain, and paint-by-numbers plotting about a virus with the potential to destroy the world, Hobbs & Shaw often struggles to surmount the low bar of today’s blockbuster standards. But at the center of it, Johnson and Statham inhabit a higher plane, with such alluring chemistry as their hatred pulls them together it’s a wonder they don’t just get a room.” — Eric Kohn [Full review]

Entertainment Weekly

“If you can ever be too fast or too furious, too banter-y or too bald, that’s a vanishing point that goes unrecognized in Hobbs & Shaw — a testosterone motherlode so relentlessly, ridiculously adrenalized, it doesn’t so much unfold as steadily defibrillate you.” — Leah Greenblatt [Full review]

The Hollywood Reporter

“Hobbs & Shaw can be a great deal of fun much of the time. The two leads’ highly competitive shtick is more amusing than not — the insults fly hot and heavy — as are the outrageously adverse predicaments over which they invariably manage to gain an upper hand. Director Leitch figuratively winks at the audience and elbows it in the ribs as he has his characters break the laws of physics time and time again..” — Todd McCarthy [Full review]

The AV Club

“The sincere dopiness never sits well with the wiseass, self-mocking tone that Leitch adopts in the early, more energetic stretches of the film. The difference between being too smart for one’s own good and not being smart enough can be perilously thin. ” —Ignatiy Vishnevetsky [Full review]

ScreenCrush

“Hobbs & Shaw is the movie version of a replacement-level player. It is adequate, but not exceptional. It’s the baseline version of what one of these movies should be, now that they’re not about undercover cops chasing thieves anymore..” — Matt Singer [Full review]

The immensely-popular Pokemon Go has surpassed another impressive milestone. According to Pokemon website Serebii, the mobile game has been downloaded more than one billion times since its July 2016 launch.

Serebii caught a Japanese Pokemon Go advertisement released by the Pokemon Company. The video notes that the augumented reality game has been downloaded more than one billion times worldwide.

Pokemon Go’s rising numbers aren’t too surprising. Two months after market introduction, the game was downloaded 500 million times by September 2016. By February 2017, developer Niantic announced that Pokemon Go surpassed 650 million downloads. 800 million downloads was the last figure Niantic announced back in May 2018 before jumping over the one billion download mark.

The announcement comes off the heels of new features being introduced to Pokemon Go. A shiny version of Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald legendary Rayquaza is now catchable until September 2. Team Rocket finally made its debut, bringing along sShadow Pokemon as the evil corporation took over PokeStops. And with August right around the corner, Niantic confirmed that Saturday, August 3, is the next Pokemon Go Community Day.

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

Sorry, but you can’t access this content!

Hearthstone‘s upcoming Saviors of Uldum expansion is introducing a lot of interesting new cards that are sure to shake up the meta-game. But during its final card reveal livestream, Blizzard introduced one of the coolest and (according to its engineers) most complicated cards yet: the Legendary Zephrys the Great.

Zephrys is a 2-Mana 3/2 Legendary minion that grants you a wish for “the perfect card.” Under the hood, that means the game is examining all the public factors in your game, and offering you three options for cards that might help. If you happen to need to clear the board, he might offer you some area-of-effect spells. If your board is already solid, maybe he’ll offer you a buff.

It’s a simple concept, but it was apparently extremely hard to implement. Game Designer Chadd Nervig said on Twitter that “the amount of effort that went into bringing you this one individual card absolutely dwarfs all other cards.” He also pointed out that Zephrys is even smart enough to hand you lethal damage to finish a match before you necessarily realize why it’s offering a particular card.

In follow-up tweets, Nervig explained that Zephrys only looks at all the public info in a game–like how many cards are in your hand, minions on the board, and Mana crystals–but not private info like what you or your opponents’ cards are. Also, for obvious game balance reasons, Zephrys won’t ever offer you a way to replay him, like a bounce-back effect. It also comes with a limitation in that your deck can’t have any duplicates. This is commonly known in Hearthstone as a “singleton” or “Reno” deck.

As a Legendary card, Zephrys will be difficult to pull from random packs and expensive to craft. But as a value-generator that’s smarter than the average card, it’s probably a smart pick to be among your first crafted cards for Uldum.

For more cards from Hearthstone’s Saviors of Uldum expansion, including our own reveal of the powerful puzzle Mogu Cultist, check out our full gallery of all the cards coming in the expansion. Saviors of Uldum launches on August 6.