Sonic the Hedgehog is such an iconic character that it’s surprising it’s taken until 2020 for a Sonic movie to be made. The blue-furred turbo-charged Hedgehog first appeared in Sega’s classic platform game in 1991 and has since been featured in a wide variety of games for different platforms, as well as cartoons, comic books, and, erm, curry. And finally, in a few months time, he will make his big screen debut.
The ball started rolling on the Sonic movie in 2013, when Sony Pictures acquired the film rights to the franchise from Sega. Development started the following year, but the project stalled when Sony put it in turnaround, meaning it stopped working on the project and instead looked to sell it on to a different studio. Luckily, Paramount picked it up, and production finally began in August 2018.
The movie is a live-action film, that features a CGI Sonic alongside a human cast. Of course, the history of popular video games being turned into a movies is not a wildly successful one. From Super Mario Brothers and Street Fighter to Hitman and Assassin’s Creed, what makes a game so popular rarely translates into a great cinema. And let’s face it, Sonic the Hedgehog has already had a few well-publicised bumps along the way, and the movie is still three months from release.
Nevertheless, hopes are reasonably high for Sonic’s first cinematic outing. In terms of audience awareness, there are few pop-culture characters more famous around the world, and while the games themselves don’t necessarily lend themselves to a strong storyline, we’re hopeful that some of that sense of addictive fun makes it to the screen. We’ll find out soon enough–in the meantime, here’s everything we to date about the Sonic the Hedgehog movie.
The NPD Group has released its monthly games report for October 2019, revealing which games and consoles sold the best in the United States throughout what is traditionally one of the most prolific months of the calendar year.
Hardware, software, and accessories combined to generate $1.03 billion in spending, running behind October 2018’s $1.57 billion. NPD analyst Mat Piscatella surmises that this is because fewer big games were released this October, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare also launching two weeks later in the month than last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Despite this drop-off, however, October 2019 still holds the second-highest total for an October this decade.
Hardware sales continue last month’s decline, dropping 41% compared to October 2018. This is expected with both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One coming to the end of their life cycles. $182 million was spent on hardware during the month, but the Nintendo Switch did see some growth. Nintendo’s machine was the best-selling console in October once again, and is still the best-selling console so far this year.
In terms of software, October saw $620 million in spending, a 37% drop compared to last year. Unsurprisingly, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the month’s best-selling game for the 12th year in a row, while also exceeding every other 2019 release to claim its crown as the year’s best-selling game so far.
Since Red Dead Redemption 2‘s release on PC a few weeks ago, Rockstar has been working diligently to improve upon the game’s performance and stability, especially when it comes to a stuttering issue affecting certain Nvidia GPUs and four- and six-core CPUs. Those who have managed to get it running smoothly have noticed another problem, however: the passage of time is seemingly tied to your framerate.
Those who played Dark Souls 2 on PC may be familiar with this specific bug. From Software’s PC port ran at 60fps compared to the console version’s 30fps, which caused weapon durability to degrade twice as fast. Red Dead Redemption 2 stumbles into a similar problem if you’re running the PC version at a higher framerate than the console version allowed.
Reddit user Jimmyoneshot discovered the link, and other players have expressed how the passage of time appears to differ depending on your framerate. Some players have noticed that the day/night cycle progresses much faster on PC, with the time of day changing multiple times on long journeys. Others have also noted how weather conditions like rain and lightning will come and go in the blink of an eye.
This becomes a significant issue when you factor in Arthur Morgan’s cores. Red Dead Redemption 2 keeps track of its protagonist’s health and fitness as represented by the three cores of health, stamina, and Dead Eye. Eating too much without exercise will make Arthur gain weight and increase his stamina consumption, whereas he’ll become gaunt if you don’t eat enough, which negatively affects his health regeneration. Players started to notice that each core seems to drain much faster on PC, so Jimmyoneshot decided to perform a few tests.
They created two saves at the beginning of chapter two, locking the framerate to 30fps in one save and leaving the other with their usual 100-130fps settings. They then played a full in-game day, completing the same story missions while eating four steaks at the same point during the day on both. When playing at a higher framerate, Arthur lost 0.75 of his weight by the next day, compared to the 1.5 he gained when locked at 30fps.
Losing weight four times as fast as usual isn’t an ideal situation, but the bug’s recent exposure should hopefully lead to an imminent fix on Rockstar’s part.
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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Video Review
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Welcome back to the mountains! We’re leaving soon, I promise. You’ll start off this episode with a lengthy cutscene involving Heartman, and when you’re eventually done, you’ll have two critical deliveries waiting for you at the terminal.
We’re going to visit three preppers–I’m sorry, scientists, who are thankfully all quite close to each other. There’ll be a couple of retrievals along the way, but nothing back-breaking. This episode definitely isn’t as long as Episode 6!
Grab both sets of cargo. One set will be 8 small boxes, another will be a bomb, so prepare yourself to be *extra* careful. I decided to carry the bomb on my back, and put the rest in a floating carrier–you don’t want the excess weight throwing you off.
I would recommend grabbing some thermal pads to help you deal with the snow, as well as a good handful of container repair sprays to repair cargo later–things are going to deteriorate very fast in this weather. Climbing gear and some Level 2 PCCs to help you continue building infrastructure and get around are no-brainers, as are power gloves and the all-terrain skeleton.
Gear up, and head southeast! First stop: The Geologist.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is just the third Star Wars title of this console generation–it follows the first and second Battlefront games for PS4, Xbox One and PC, the same systems that Fallen Order is available on. The game, made by Titanfall and Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment, puts you in the Force-sensitive boots of Jedi warrior Cal Kestis and sends you out into a post-Revenge of the Sith version of the Star Wars universe.
Reviews have gone up alongside the release of the game, including our own 8/10 take. “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the latest game in the canon, is one of the better offerings specifically because it tries to look beyond the trappings of Star Wars,” our critic Phil Hornshaw says. “It’s not just another Jedi power fantasy, although wielding the Force with skill and resolve will certainly make you feel powerful. Like the best Star Wars games, it’s one that adds to the ideas of the films and other material, exploring new corners of the galaxy while focusing on the core themes of the franchise: knowing yourself, fighting your own darkness, and braving adversity with the help of friends.”
Other reviews have also mostly been positive so far, with most outlets praising this as a return to form for Star Wars, which hasn’t received a substantial single-player game in some time. There’s also some consensus, though, that the game can feel a bit rough or become frustrating in some sections.
We’ve rounded up a few of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s reviews below. For more, be sure to check out GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic for a look at what even more critics made of the game.
Game: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Release date: November 15
Price: $60 / £50 / $68 AUD
GameSpot – 8/10
“But especially as it wears on, Fallen Order becomes perhaps the strongest conception of what playing as a Jedi Knight ought to really be like. It’s true that Fallen Order borrows liberally from other action games, but those elements work together with Respawn’s combat and environment design, and a story that finds humanity in the Force and in its characters, to hone in on what makes the world of Star Wars worthy of revisiting again and again. Even with some rough edges, Fallen Order represents one of the most compelling game additions to the Star Wars franchise in years.” – Phil Hornshaw [Full Review]
IGN – 9/10
“It’s been ages since we got a great single-player Star Wars action game, but Jedi: Fallen Order makes up for a lot of lost time. A strong cast sells a dark story while keeping things fun and loyal to Star Wars lore, and fast, challenging combat mixes with energetic platforming, decent puzzles, and diverse locations to explore for an all-around amazing game.” – Brian Shea [Full Review]
Game Informer – 8.75/10
“Despite these numerous little problems, Respawn’s maiden voyage with Star Wars is largely a success. I couldn’t put this game down, both for the thrill of exploring and wanting to see where the story took me next. The inspirations taken from Dark Souls, Uncharted, and Metroid Prime unite to create something unique that just happens to work incredibly well for this beloved license. Like most starships in this universe, Jedi: Fallen Order could use a little polish, but the rust doesn’t hold it back from roaring with excitement.” – Andrew Reiner [Full Review]
Gamesradar+ – 4/5
“There’s plenty to like about Fallen Order, but it should come with the caveat that it’s slightly rougher than I was expecting. I’ve played the entire game on PS4 Pro and glitches and framerate stuttering have cropped up enough to warrant mentioning. One patch has already been released before launch, and EA has told us that another is on the way, but it did give my initial playthrough a rougher-than-ideal feel.” – Ben Tyrer [Full Review]
USGamer – 3.5/5
“Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order comes painfully close to being the best action game of the year, but it ultimately falls short due to pacing problems and a host of technical issues. Still, this is the first step into a larger world for a franchise that has persistently struggled since its acquisition by EA.” – Kat Bailey [Full Review]
Eurogamer – No Score
“I’ll admit crunching a Souls-like in less than four days is an unnatural and grueling experience: I imagine if I’d played Fallen Order over several months, I would have been less frustrated, but probably still bored. It’s such a shame, as Fallen Order has an incredible gameplay experience at its core, with fantastic environments and well-directed action sequences. Yet it’s unable to sustain this thanks to some fundamental design problems.” – Emma Kent [Full Review]
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
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Star Wars Jedi:Fallen Order is upon us, having launched on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It’s also a Friday, so odds are that if you’re a huge fan and you’re not playing, it’s because you have to head into the office or school. Perhaps you’ll play all weekend, and find yourself wishing that you could keep going on Monday–not everyone was lucky enough to get an early copy. Luckily, Respawn has you covered–assuming that your boss is very gullible.
Respawn has tweeted out a “sick note” from BD-1, Cal Kestis’s droid companion from the new Jedi action game. Our robot translation skills are a little rusty so we’re not sure exactly what it says, and odds are your boss won’t either. If you’re a big Star Wars fan, though, perhaps they’ll sympathize.
Feeling unwell today? Head feeling a bit Force-sensitive right now? Maybe even coming down with a bad case of the Kashyyyks? Please present this note to whoever needs it, excusing you from any duties expected of you through 11/15. Get some rest. 😉 pic.twitter.com/y47FIceWY4
If you’re wondering whether Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is worth staying home for, check out our 8/10 review of the game. Our critic Phil Hornshaw says that it “represents one of the most compelling game additions to the Star Wars franchise in years.” Whenever you get a chance to play, make sure you check out our starter tips, and follow our advice on which skills you should unlock first.
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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – How To Get The Double-Bladed Lightsaber Early
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There’s absolutely no need to reiterate the enduring popularity of the MOBA in a world where League of Legends consistently draws in the biggest crowds and the most dedicated player base. But Bleeding Edge is a good reminder of how mechanics that were once deemed complex and inaccessible are now a mainstay in the inventory of core gaming components.
To be clear: Bleeding Edge is not a MOBA. But during a quick hands-on at X019 in London I found that, thanks to its close-quarters nature, it feels notably closer to the likes of LoL and Smite rather than hero shooters such as Overwatch. Each tussle and tangle has the feeling of deliberate, skillful chaos that’s unique to MOBAs, with your disengage and escape skills being as vital as your damage abilities.