More details have emerged about the online Lord of the Rings game that was announced last year. Amazon Game Studios announced that it’s partnering with Leyou Technologies and its Athlon Games label to create a free-to-play Lord of the Rings MMO.
The game is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings literary trilogy–the books, not the movies–so it may feature some familiar faces. However, no story details are available at this stage, though Amazon did confirm that this project–which has no release date–is separate from Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show. That program takes place in the Second Age, which is long before the events of the books.
“The game will give fans around the globe a new, immersive game experience for epic exploration of the vast world of Tolkien,” Amazon said in a press release.
The untitled Lord of the Rings MMO is being made for console and PC, and Amazon will market and publish the game everywhere in the world except China; Leyou will handle it there.
The game is being developed by the same internal Amazon studio that’s working on its 17th Century MMO New World. People working on the Lord of the Rings game include veterans who worked on big online games such as Destiny, Planetside, WoW, Everquest, Defiance, and Rift.
It appears plans may have changed for the Lord of the Rings MMO, as it was initially reported that the game is set in Middle-earth “a long time” before the events of The Lord of the Rings. The game was believed to cover “lands, people, and creatures never before seen” in the Tolkien universe, but now it seems things might have shifted.
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO will seemingly compete directly with the existing Lord of the Rings MMO, The Lord of the Rings Online, which launched all the way back in 2007, and is also based on the books, not the movies. The game is still in operation to this day, though its ownership has changed hands. That game never made the jump to console, however, while Amazon plans to release its game on console. Amazon’s game has no release date, which suggests it’s not coming soon. That means it could potentially release on the Xbox Scarlett and PlayStation 5, though this is only conjecture.
Middle-earth Enterprises, which controls the non-literary rights to Tolkien’s work, is involved with and excited about Amazon’s new game.
“Who among us hasn’t wanted to take part in an epic adventure,” Middle-earth Enterprises brand and licensing boss Fredrica Drotos said in a statement. “More than 60 years after the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, we’re delighted that Amazon Game Studios has partnered with Leyou to bring their respective expertise to build a much anticipated game that will immerse us in the beloved, epic world of Middle-earth, envisioned by Professor Tolkien.”
Leyou Technologies owns Digital Extremes (Warframe) and Splash Damage (Gears of War 4 multiplayer), while it previously invested millions of dollars into Halo and Call of Duty co-developer Certain Affinity.
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The Nintendo Switch Lite has finally been officially announced and if you’re like us, you’re already counting up how many of your Nintendo Switch accessories will work with your new preordered handheld. Don’t worry though, we’re way ahead of you and put together a list of the best accessories that will work with the Nintendo Switch Lite.
Marvel’s War of the Realms crossover has ended, but several key characters have been given major power boosts as the Marvel Universe returns to normal.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for War of the Realms #6 and War of the Realms Omega #1!
The core War of the Realms miniseries recently wrapped with Thor finally returning to full strength, reforging Mjolnir and becoming the new All-Father of Asgard in his father’s place. But as it turns out, he’s not the only character to gain new powers and new enchanted weapons in the aftermath of this massive war.
The Nintendo Switch Lite was announced today, and it features a true, honest-to-goodness D-Pad. The fact that the original Switch’s Joy-Con controllers do not has been point of contention for fans since its launch in 2017, as the four separate directional buttons aren’t as ideal as a true D-Pad for 2D games, retro games, and much more.
The Switch Lite will be released on September 20, 2019, for $199.99 USD and is designed specifically for handheld play. That means no kickstand, no dock, and no support for video output to TV whatsoever. While the addition of a D-pad is a boon to many fans, some may find themselves wondering “why now?” or “why hasn’t the Switch added them yet?”
Disney and Lucasfilm have revealed the Sith Trooper from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a new trooper that features a “modern and more menacing look befitting its namesake.”
At San Diego Comic-Con 2019 from July 18-21, Lucasfilm will be celebrating the history and future of stormtrooper design with an exhibit that includes nine screen-used costumes of an Imperial stormtrooper, TIE pilot, death trooper, shoretrooper, biker scout, First Order stormtrooper, First Order TIE pilot, Captain Phasma, and the brand-new Sith Trooper.
It’s a big weekend for wrestling events. On Saturday, AEW’s Fight for the Fallen will air on B/R Live, and on Sunday, WWE will host its annual Extreme Rules PPV on the WWE Network. It’s going to be a fantastic weekend for wrestling fans.
On Sunday, July 14, you can watch Extreme Rules for yourself on PPV through your local satellite or cable provider. However, the WWE Network allows new subscribers to sign up for the service for one month free, without any obligation. So you can sign up, watch Extreme Rules for free, then cancel if you’re not into the network. Simple as that. Below, you’ll find the start time for the main card of the PPV.
Extreme Rules start times:
4 PM PT
6 PM C
7 PM ET
12 AM BST (July 15)
9 AM AET (July 15)
Like all WWE events, there will be a Kickoff Show on the Network starting one hour prior. Normally, there is at least one match on the pre-show, but as of this writing, that has not been announced yet.
In total, there are ten matches on the card, seven of which are title matches. There are a few very interesting stipulations on the card. While this is an Extreme Rules PPV, there is only one match on the entire card with that stipulation. However, to make things a bit more interesting, it is a mixed-tag “Winners Take All” bout. Raw’s champions Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins take on “Mr. Main Event” Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans. If Evans pins Lynch, then both she and Corbin win both titles, and vice versa and every combination of that scenario.
Also on the card is the handicap match between Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. If Bliss or Cross pins Bayley, they both become the champion. We haven’t had a co-championship reign in WWE for quite some time, so that could be very interesting.
Below, you’ll find the full match card for Extreme Rules, and make sure to come back to GameSpot this Sunday for live coverage of the event.
Extreme Rules Match Card:
Aleister Black vs. Cesaro
The Revival (c) vs. The Usos (Raw Tag Team Championship)
Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley (Last Man Standing Match)
Drew Gulak (c) vs. Tony Nese (Cruiserweight Championship)
Ricochet (c) vs. AJ Styles (United States Championship)
Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) vs. Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Heavy Machinery (Smackdown Tag Team Championship)
July marks the start of the Summer 2019 anime season, which will continue until the end of September. There aren’t too many heavy hitters in the US this summer (with the likes of Food Wars: Season 4 and My Hero Academia: Season 4 scheduled for the fall), but there are still quite a few excellent titles to enjoy and a couple of surprise gems as well.
In the following guide, we outline the eight anime you should consider adding to your queue this season. We’ve chosen shows and movies that debut in US theaters or premiere on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hidive, Prime Video, Netflix, or Hulu during the summer.
We’ve done our best to keep this guide as diverse as possible, but most of the best anime this season are based on Weekly Shonen Jump manga or pull from shonen tropes, so expect to see a few similarities in terms of narrative structure. This is the first time a movie has made one of our guides, though, and we’ve included two brand-new original anime series that aren’t based on any existing light novels, manga, or video games. So yes, you’ll find a lot of shonen stories here, but there’s sci-fi, coming-of-age slice of life, magical girl, mecha, and historical fiction as well.
If your itch for more anime isn’t satisfied by the time you finish this guide, consider checking out our other anime guides for 2019. The links to each are listed below. We also covered Anime Expo 2019 and have compiled a list of our 10 favorite anime and anime-like games seen at the convention, nine of which are scheduled to come out this year.
Perhaps the most anticipated title in the Summer 2019 lineup, Dr. Stone is managing to meet the high expectations that fans have had for it. Dr. Stone is yet another Weekly Shonen Jump series in the evolving shonen demographic that wants to see more introspective characters that solve problems without fighting, incorporate darker themes in their stories, and have more nuanced villains. Think along the same lines as The Promised Neverland.
The story of Dr. Stone begins in the present day, with average-performing but physically fit high school student Taiju confiding in his best friend, science-loving Senku, that he’s going to confess to Yuzuriha, the girl he’s had a crush on for five years. However, just before Taiju is able to express his love, a strange light shines over the entire Earth and encases every human in stone. As time passes, Taiju is able to stay conscious through his desire to confess while Senku simply counts the seconds. 3,000 years later, the two manage to free themselves. The two decide to work together to find a way to undo everyone else’s petrification as well as recreate every scientific breakthrough that mankind has ever made in order to rebuild their society.
In terms of anticipation, Fire Force is right up there with Dr. Stone. My Hero Academia fans who are anxiously awaiting Season 4 will most likely enjoy this firefighting shonen series, which contains plenty of superpowered battles and an easy-to-love protagonist with aspirations of being a hero. Plus, the animations for Fire Force–especially when fire, flames, or sparks are concerned–are absolutely gorgeous to look at.
Created by the author behind Soul Eater, Fire Force takes place in a world where a strange phenomenon has affected certain individuals. Those in the first generation affected eventually spontaneously combust and become mindless demonic Infernals, while the second generation can control fire, and the third can produce fire and are flame-resistant. Shinra Kusakabe is a third generation able to channel fire through his legs to move at supersonic speeds. Blamed for the death of his mother and younger brother, who died in a house fire, Shinra joins an elite firefighting unit that subdues Infernals in order to find the one responsible for his family’s death.
Despite all the buzz around Dr. Stone and Fire Force, Astra Lost in Space is shaping up to be my favorite anime of the season with one of the strongest opening episodes I’ve seen in any science-fiction TV series. In the span of a single episode, the series establishes the personality of all its characters (all of whom I deeply love already), sets up an intriguing storyline, and builds a futuristic setting without any clunky exposition. It’s incredibly rare for a science-fiction or fantasy story to handle world-building so well in a first episode, and it gives me high hopes for the rest of the series.
In the year 2063, a group of high school students is set to begin summer camp–which in the future means staying on another planet without adult supervision for five days. After being dropped off, however, a mysterious sphere attacks and transports them into space over 5000 light years away. Managing to board an abandoned spacecraft, the group quickly realize they are months away from reaching their home sector of space and only have enough food and water for a few days. In order to survive, they’ll need to jump from planet to planet and scavenge for supplies on alien worlds they know little about.
After premiering in Japan, the long-awaited Carole & Tuesday anime is finally coming to the US this summer. A musical comedy, Carole & Tuesday is a beautiful collaboration of Eastern and Western art, featuring enchanting Japanese-style animation and magnificent performances by talented English-speaking singer-songwriters. The series is helmed by the director behind Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy and features a diverse cast–including a black woman as one of the two stars.
Taking place in the future on a terraformed Mars, the anime follows the musical journey of the titular heroines: Carole Stanley and Tuesday Simmons. Carole is an orphan constantly moving between jobs she’s being fired from while trying to carve out a career for herself as a musician who plays keyboard. Tuesday is a pampered rich girl who’s fed up with her easy life and runs away from home to be a guitarist. Though the two are from completely different socioeconomic backgrounds, Carole and Tuesday forge a bond through their shared desire to create music and decide to pursue their dreams together as a singer-songwriter duo.
O Maidens in Your Savage Season tackles perhaps the most awkward part of growing up–learning about sex and managing sexual urges and thoughts–but does so in a pretty hilarious and relatable way. The first episode contains one of the funniest masturbation scenes I’ve ever seen, though I’m still trying to figure out if I was tearing up from laughter or because I could so easily empathize with the awkwardness of these teenagers as they shamefully try to hide their urges and kinks from others. Don’t be mistaken, O Maidens in Your Savage Season is good but it also jumps into the year or two in most people’s lives that we’d all rather forget. The story behind this anime is an emotional rollercoaster. For context, the writer also worked on Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and directed/wrote Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms.
O Maidens in Your Savage Season focuses on the changing relationships among the literary club at a high school after one of the members expresses a desire to have sex before she dies. After being spoken out loud, all of the girls in the club begin to realize they’ve–consciously or not–had the same desire. Of course, teenagers being teenagers, this want of sex is mixed with exploding hormones, a longing for acceptance by peers, and a yearning for love. In their pursuits to claim what they most want, these girls will break and mend friendships, awaken gay desires, forge healthy relationships (and a few unhealthy ones), and claw their way into adulthood.
Studio Trigger’s theatrical debut, Promare, is coming to the US this summer. In GameSpot’s Promare review, I wrote, “Promare’s plot does stumble, most notably when it comes to how it builds its world and fleshes out the main cast, but it takes enough cues from what made Kill la Kill such a hit to then go out and tell its own take on why discrimination is bad and why everyone should learn to love their fellow person. Galo’s origin story of becoming a firefighting superhero is framed with over-the-top action pieces, comedy, and well-timed pieces of music, and though he delivers an incredible finishing blow in the epic final battle, it’s his evolving rivalry with Lio that gives the movie its satisfying ending.”
Similarly to Fire Force, Promare sees a subset of the population develop fire-based abilities. However, instead of devolving into mindless beasts, Promare’s Burnish are just regular people trying to live their lives and not accidentally hurt anyone. However, a subgroup called the Mad Burnish do enough damage that a special firefighting unit is put together to don mech suits and battle against the pyrokinetic terrorists. The newest member of this team, Galo, aims to extinguish all of the world’s fires and won’t stop until he’s saved his city from the Burnish threat. His actions lead to a confrontation with Mad Burnish’s leader, Lio Fotia.
An original anime series, Granbelm mixes together narrative beats from both magical girl and mecha anime to craft a story that looks good. The anime is helmed by the director behind Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World and its story is penned by the writer for A Place Further than the Universe. I’m not a huge fan of the expositional dumps when it comes to explaining the lore of Granbelm’s world, but the action scenes are all pretty top-notch, and main character Mangetsu Kohinata has a great shonen protagonist battle cry.
Granbelm takes place in a world where magic was once commonplace. However, when humanity began abusing magic for war, seven mages gave their lives to seal all of the magic away forever. In the present day, Mangetsu Kohinata accidentally stumbles into the pocket dimension where all that magic is still stored and learns she’s one of the living descendants of the mages that sealed it away–and thus one of the few people in the world who can still utilize magic. Before she knows it, she is flung into a war between all the other living descendants where the victor will be able to claim the sealed magic for themselves. Each descendant is able to magically transform through the power they wield and summon powerful mecha to channel their unique abilities into more powerful attacks.
A historical anime, Vinland Saga will appeal to those who enjoy series like Dororo, 91 Days, and Golden Kamuy. Vinland Saga is a bloody tale that cleverly utilizes fiction to fill in the gaps surrounding King Cnut the Great’s real historical rise to power. Like other historical anime, Vinland Saga is a slow burn. But it’s a phenomenal revenge-focused narrative that takes its time to build up its world before jumping into the main story. Oh, and its protagonists are anti-slavery, which I shouldn’t have to point out as a big plus, but that’s just the reality of the anime industry right now.
Set at the start of the 11th century, Vinland Saga focuses on the expanding conflict between England and the Danish invaders (Vikings) that defined the time period in northern Europe. The anime actually begins with a prologue, utilizing its first several episodes to explain how protagonist Thorfinn became the skilled fighter he is in the main story, as well as why he has such a burning vengeance to kill his commander. It’s an excellent narrative choice that adds a hefty level of suspense for first-time viewers who haven’t read the source material. Go into this anime as blind as you can. You won’t regret it.
The Legendary Pokemon Mewtwo has returned to Pokemon Go for a limited time. Following Groudon‘s departure from the game, the powerful Psychic-type is back again in Raid Battles through the end of July, and this time around, it’s donning some special armor.
To coincide with the Japanese release of Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution, a CG remake of the first Pokemon movie, every Mewtwo you encounter in Raids will be wearing its armor from the film. This marks the first time Armored Mewtwo has appeared in any Pokemon game, so you won’t want to miss your chance to catch one. Along with its different appearance, Armored Mewtwo has more defensive stats and is capable is knowing different moves than its standard form.
Armored Mewtwo will appear in five-star Raids until 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST on July 31, so you’ll have until then to add one to your collection. Despite its different stats and appearance, the Pokemon is still a pure Psychic-type, so your best bet is to bring along Dark, Ghost, and Bug Pokemon such as Darkrai, Giratina, and Scizor when you challenge it in battle. If your team manages to defeat Mewtwo, everyone who participated in the Raid will earn a chance to catch it.
Mewtwo isn’t the only Legendary making an encore appearance in Pokemon Go this month. As a reward for completing enough Global Challenges during the recent Pokemon Go Fest event in Dortmund, Germany, Niantic is bringing Entei back for a special Raid Day on Sunday, July 14. The Legendary will appear in five-star Raids from 4-7 PM local time, and you’ll be able to capture its Shiny form if you can come across one.
With The NPD Group publishing an updated list of this console generation’s best-selling games in the United States, it’s unsurprising that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V remains one of the most downloaded games. Sony has revealed June’s top PS4 downloads in the U.S. and while GTA V does make the list, 2K Sports’ NBA 2K19 reigns supreme on the platform.
Nintendo made a big splash with the announcement of the Switch Lite, which is a handheld-only version of original system’s model. While this means that it’ll be limited in some aspects–no docking or detachable Joy-Con, among other things–it comes at a lower cost and a slightly smaller design. And what you can immediately see in the first photos of the Switch Lite, is a traditional directional pad.
Below, we compiled some of the important specs and features for both the original Switch and new Switch Lite for a simple comparison between the two.
Switch (original)
Switch Lite
Screen Size
6.2 inches
5.5 inches
Resolution
720p (undocked)
720p
Dimensions (H x W x D)
4″ x 9.4″ x 0.55″
3.6″ x 8.2″ x 0.55″
Weight
0.88 lbs / 399 g
0.61 lbs / 277 g
Battery Life Range
2.5 – 6.5 hours
3 – 7 hours
Graphics Processor
Custom Nvidia Tegra GPU
Custom Nvidia Tegra GPU
Internal Memory
32 GB
32 GB
Detachable Joy-Con
Yes
No
TV Mode / Docking
Yes
No
HD Rumble
Yes
No
Kickstand
Yes
No
Amiibo Support
Yes
Yes
Price
$300
$200
So, while you don’t get some notable features, like HD rumble or the bigger screen, the Switch Lite comes as a cheaper, more portable option with slightly better battery life–it’s attractive for those who would primarily play in handheld mode. However, by design, there will be a few games that won’t work with the new Switch Lite, such as the Nintendo Labo Kits; in the case of something like 1-2 Switch, you’d need to sync a separate pair of Joy-Con.
In addition to the Switch Lite reveal, Nintendo said that it has plans for a method to transfer files, useful for existing Switch owners who would move to the new system, though there aren’t any details on it quite yet. If you’re excited about the new Switch D-pad and want to see it on a Joy-Con for the original model, you might be disappointed. Those hoping for a sort of “Switch Pro” model with higher-end features should note that the Switch Lite is the only new version planned for this year. For everything else you need to know about the new system, check out our Switch Lite FAQ.
