Critically-acclaimed indie platformer, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, is making its way to the Nintendo Switch–and it’s coming a lot sooner than you would think. Publisher 505 Games, in partnership with independent production hub Turn Me Up Games, announced that the game will be available on Nintendo’s platform from May 28.
It wouldn’t be a Switch release without some exclusive features, and in bringing the game to Nintendo’s console-handheld hybrid, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons will include local co-op, a first for the game. Additionally, the Switch version will ship with bonus content including commentary by director Josef Fares and a gallery of concept art. The game will cost $14.99 / £9.99 / €11.38.
During 2014’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Games Awards show, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons took home the Best Game Innovation Award trophy.
In our Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons review, we said that while the game’s length left a lot to be desired, “It’s not enough to detract from what is a great achievement: an ambitious, emotionally affecting adventure that’s short, but oh so sweet.”
Stephen King’s classic horror novel, Pet Sematary, had another big-screen adaptation earlier this year, and in June, it will be available to own. Details for the home release were recently revealed, and there are a few special features on both the digital and physical copies of the movie.
On June 25, Pet Sematary will get a digital release on storefronts like iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, and more. The film will see its 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD release a couple weeks later on July 9. The home releases will contain over 90 minutes of special features.
There are deleted and extended scenes as well as an alternate ending to the film. The home release also contains numerous featurettes about putting the film together and talking about the themes of Pet Sematary and bringing the novel back to the big screen. There are also three videos with the “Night Terrors” label, but there are no indicators as to what those special features are about.
If you’re looking to pre-order the movie, digitally or physically, here are some places to pick it up.
Below, you’ll find all the special features solicited for the upcoming June and July home release for Pet Sematary. All these special features are available in all formats for the movie: Digital, 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD.
Pet Sematary Special Features
Alternate Ending
Deleted and Extended Scenes
Night Terrors: Family Haunting Visions (Louis, Rachel, and Ellie)
The Tale of Timmy Baterman
Beyond the Deadfall
Chapter One: Resurrection – Directors, screenwriters and cast discuss bringing this classic back to life
Chapter Two: The Final Resting Place—A deeper look into finding the right location for the terror to unfold
Chapter Three: The Road to Sorrow— Inside the film’s tragic themes and creating the iconic cat “Church”
Chapter Four: Death Comes home—Unearth the creepy elements behind the climax and final scenes of the film
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It’s been four long years since Square Enix announced it was going to remake Final Fantasy 7. Since that E3 2015 reveal, we’ve only been privy to brief glimpses of gameplay, the most substantial of which is the recent trailer (seen above) revealed during Sony’s May 9 State of Play stream. At the end of that trailer, the words “more to come in June” appeared onscreen. Is Final Fantasy 7 confirmed to be at E3? Not yet, but the insinuation that it will make an appearance during Square Enix’s E3 broadcast is hard to ignore.
Assuming that Final Fantasy 7 will be featured during that livestream and that it might also be on the show floor, we’ve put our heads together and come up with a list of topics and details we hope to learn more about. But before diving into that, let’s revisit what we already know about the highly anticipated remake.
What We Know So Far
Broadly speaking, we know that the remake will be a complete overhaul of the 1997 game. It’s being recreated from the ground up to tell roughly the same story, featuring the same locations and characters, but it will be presented in a modern fashion, as a third-person game with a free roaming camera and real-time combat, similar to Final Fantasy 15.
The trailers released thus far primarily focused on Midgar, the city run by the nefarious power company, Shinra Corporation. With the recent trailer taken into account, we’ve now seen familiar sights like the slums, the subway system, and the inside of the reactors that line the edge of the city.
Needless to say, the modern look of the Final Fantasy 7 remake looks a lot different than the 1997 original. Every environment and character has been recreated to modern standards, which in the years prior to the remake’s announcement was cited by developers as a task too hard to accomplish given the scale of the game. This is likely the reason why the remake in progress will come in multiple episodes–the number of which is still a closely guarded secret–rather than as one big release.
Lastly, we know many of the lead creatives behind the remake, and their names will look familiar to fans of the original, and Final Fantasy at large. Yoshinori Kitase, the director and co-writer of the original Final Fantasy 7, will sit in the producer’s chair this time around, leaving the directorial duties split between series veterans Naoki Hamaguchi and Tetsuya Nomura. Nomura will also lead the art and design teams. Kitase’s former writing partner Kazushige Nojima is back to pen the story once more, and last but not least, Final Fantasy’s legendary maestro Nobuo Uematsu is reprising his role as the composer for the remake’s new soundtrack.
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Final Fantasy VII Remake – Announcement Trailer E3 2015
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Nothing! All we can say for certain is that Final Fantasy 7 fans can try to attend a concert before the convention in LA on Sunday, June 9. We also know that something will be said during the month of June and that Square Enix will have a broadcast filled with announcements during the show, but there’s been no confirmation that the June tease and the E3 presentation are connected. If they aren’t, we’ll be as shocked as you.
What We Hope To See At E3
Given that Midgar has been the focal point of every trailer shown so far, it would be great to see a bit more of the world beyond the city. Final Fantasy 7’s massive world map is (or at least was) home to a wide variety of natural environments and locales like towns and villages, all of which were important pieces of the overall experience and identity of the world, and which yet remain a mystery so far as the remake is concerned.
There are also numerous characters that have yet to make an appearance, so fingers crossed that we get to see the likes of Cait Sith and Vincent, and maybe even the ghastly remains of Jenova. More than just see what they look like, it would also be nice to get a sense of what they will sound like, especially given the divided opinions on Barrett’s voice after the most recent trailer.
Square Enix would also do well to dive into combat a bit more, to explain how the skill-giving Materia will work and how their behaviors may have changed following the shift from turn-based to real-time combat. You also can’t talk about Final Fantasy 7’s combat without mentioning summons, the show-stopping and combat-halting spells that call forth punishing mythical beasts and spirits to pummel your enemies. Perhaps we can look to Final Fantasy 15 to imagine how these might work, but it would be better if Square Enix could just show us during E3 to dispel rumors and speculation altogether.
While there are a ton of questions to be answered when it comes to gameplay and the translation of old mechanics into modern systems, most people just want to know one thing: when will Final Fantasy 7 Remake be released? Second to that: how many episodes are Square Enix planning to make?
Truth be told, if all we got was a release date, I feel like most people would be satisfied. After all, Final Fantasy 7 may be the most requested video game remake of all time, and to reveal too many of its distinguishing features could ruin some of the surprises that await fans returning to the game more than 20 years after its release.
Join GameSpot as we celebrate gaming history and give recognition to the most influential games of the 21st century. These aren’t the best games, and they aren’t necessarily games that you need to rush out and play today, but there’s no question that they left an indelible impact on game developers, players, and in some cases, society at large.
League of Legends exploded onto the scene in 2009 as the start-up brainchild of Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck, poised to disrupt an esports market that would end up being helmed by two heavyweights–Dota 2 and StarCraft. The idea that a bunch of enthusiastic DOTA fans were responsible for what is now the game’s biggest competition may come as a surprise to the uninitiated, but the humble beginnings of League of Legends can be traced all the way through to two college roommates essentially wanting to turn a Warcraft III mod into a standalone title.
Now, League of Legends is synonymous with esports and the MOBA genre. While companies like Valve and Blizzard were forces to be reckoned with in the pre-2010 era, there’s now no question that Riot Games and its lone video game are essentially household names. Whether it’s a new champion, a new in-game event, or Mid-Season Invitational which drew 19.8 million concurrent viewers last year, everyone who has even a passing interest in the game stops and stares.
The 2019 Mid-Season Invitational
Starcraft is often credited with the birth of esports but Riot Games were instrumental in ensuring that there was an appeal to translate to a mainstream audience. We’re talking merchandising, booking out stadium shows, international gauntlets and tournaments pitting fan-favorite players against each other. We’re talking sponsorships outside of the tech sphere, ranging from underwear to energy drinks. By drawing on the cult of personality that the League of Legends esports scene has built around some of its top players, Riot Games and the teams fielding these players have brought a whole new audience to the MOBA genre that other competitors have been unable to capitalize on.
Riot Games stepped onto the competitive esports scene around the time that Starcraft II was gaining momentum. However, where Starcraft II had to deal with a tiered release date in terms of the content like its various campaigns and the gradual integration of multiplayer accessibility, League of Legends exited a relatively short beta period with all guns blazing. And, unlike the model that was being relied on by Valve and Blizzard at the time, where second-party tournaments were the name of the game, League of Legends had its competitive esports nature in-built when it came to everything from matchmaking to the evolving meta that was governing the title.
League of Legends had its competitive esports nature in-built when it came to everything from matchmaking to the evolving meta that was governing the title.
Upon release, the title was praised by critics for its game design ethos and characters, which are now features of League that have taken on a life of their own in the form of ore codexes of a density that rivals established MMOs, cosmetic lines with accompanying music videos and original songs, and engaging in-game events created both for home enjoyment and for the spectator stage.
Outside of gaming, the fact that a MOBA has garnered Emmy nominations is impressive in itself. League of Legends has been nominated for mainstream accolades not necessarily for triumphs of design that are part of the gameplay mechanics, but for the wealth of creative material built by Riot Games around its existing product. From anime-inspired trailers to K-pop crossovers, League of Legends has consistently had its finger on the pulse of what’s hot (and selling like hotcakes), and it’s managed to execute on concepts like through said Emmy-nominated multimedia projects which have served to expand the title’s reach beyond the gaming sphere.
The League of Legends K-pop group, K/DA
In general, League of Legends has spawned a wave of competitors since it cemented itself on the MOBA scene. Arena of Valor is one such title that comes to mind, which ironically was fronted at the time by Tencent, who is now the majority shareholder in Riot Games. Mobile MOBAs featuring bad rip-offs of League characters were a dime a dozen on any online store, some more shameless than others. However, all these imitations really served to do was cement League’s status as the superior product. There was absolutely no way for these other titles to execute on player-centric initiatives the way that Riot’s product had: technical limitations aside, League of Legends was already more than just a video game at that point. It was an entire brand, from international tournaments to in-jokes to larger-than-life media personalities whose own identities were intrinsically associated with the game as a product.
Arguably, a lot of League of Legends’ success came from them having the distance to observe their competitors before essentially pivoting away from what they were doing. Riot Games’ original ethos with its title, which has persevered to this day, is a focus on player and community feedback. League was both competitive and casual play rolled into one, with Riot heading up every aspect of the commercial and competitive sides of the game as a unified product. Instead of waiting weeks for a patch in Dota 2 or Starcraft at the time, League players could expect patches as soon as the community saw a problem. The game quickly evolved and iterated, and even though it’s gone through some huge design changes since release, these have always been done in consultation with the community, with the team at Riot happy to roll back anything that might not be working.
This rapport with the community would serve Riot Games well over the years to come, and the community itself would reap those rewards; many community initiatives born from the passion of fans turned into features that Riot would then implement into the League of Legends product. Things like detailed match statistics were first provided by OP.GG, which has now become LCS Stats. The original League of Legends wikia provided the framework by which Riot now deals with its interlocking lore and displays it. The League community was, and still is, full of people who managed and ran third-party infrastructure that eventually became critical to the influence of the game. The title inspired fans to not only consume it but also to contribute to it, including the now-famous example of Chinese region superfans doing their own illegal broadcasts before Riot officially taking them on board.
That being said, while Riot Games has grown in profile alongside its sizeable community, the company itself has also grown in notoriety. Current and ex-Rioters have spoken out against the company’s toxic corporate culture in the past year or so, which has led to victims coming forward about sexism, harassment, and toxic workplace attitudes. While the company has tried to make strides towards addressing concerns after immense public pressure. It’s not as simple as wanting to implement a diversity initiative at the company; just a few weeks after employees filed lawsuits stating that Riot is in violation of the California Equal Pay Act, there has now also been walkout in protest of the forced arbitration clauses in Riot employment agreements. Riot’s internal issues have started to bleed over into a lot of how League of Legends is covered in mainstream media and how it’s talked about, and this has definitely affected the perception of the esport in a way that it’s still currently recovering from.
While it’s near impossible to set aside the recent reports when discussing Riot, League of Legends’ legacy is a different story. It’s obvious that the game helped put esports on the map for a lot of mainstream audiences before the explosion of titles like Fortnite and PUBG. From record viewership numbers on Twitch to hosting one of the biggest esports events ever at Madison Square Garden in 2016, Riot Games’ prodigal son has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2009. In doing so, it’s changed the way that people experience and access esports, taking fans from the days of bootleg broadcasts of regional streams to an international gauntlet of iconic stadiums at every year’s World Championships. Blizzard and Valve, the top dogs when Riot Games entered the scene, are now playing catch-up to the well-oiled Ferrari that is the League of Legends production model, and it shows.
Valve has released a new mobile Steam Chat app, letting you keep in touch with your friends and game invites without the desktop client. The free app is now available on the App Store and Google Play.
The announcement boasts that the mobile app lets you use several of the desktop client features, including a fully featured friends list, and rich chat with videos, tweets, GIFs, and emoticons. You can also manage your list with invite links, get notifications and game invites, and manage your group chats.
Valve invited feedback but says it’s already working on updates and new features for the app, including voice chat. The company also notes that since Steam Chat is moving to its own dedicated app, the overall Steam Mobile app will focus its next updates on account security with more options for Steam Guard.
Recently Steam has had its PC storefront dominance challenged by the emergence of the Epic Games Store, which has been securing exclusivity periods for some high-profile PC game launches like Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Meanwhile, Valve is preparing to launch its annual Steam Summer Sale.
Astro has made a name for itself as a high-end manufacturer of gaming headsets over the years. You may see esports pros and streamers using the Astro A40 or A50 headsets and MixAmps, but Astro recently delved into pro-grade controllers with its C40 TR (“tournament ready”) gamepad. It’s a controller officially licensed by Sony that can be used wirelessly through a packaged USB dongle and wired via micro USB for both PlayStation 4 and PC.
The C40 TR is designed similarly to Astro’s audio lineup and specifically caters to the enthusiast by virtue of its $200 price tag and roster of features. By and large, the idea of having a high-end controller like this is to have a distinct advantage in competitive games, particularly shooters, thanks to the extra programmable buttons and fine-tuned ergonomics.
To put the C40 TR through its paces, I used it for around 10 hours of total play time bouncing between Warframe and Apex Legends, and a little bit of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle to see how the d-pad holds up for fighting games. The controller boasts one specific feature that no other gamepad has: the ability to swap between having the DualShock- and Xbox-style analog stick configurations. Testing included using the two different stick positions to get a feel for how well they fared in relation to the rest of the controller’s ergonomic design.
There are several third-party “elite-style” PS4 controllers out there right now and I spent time with a few of them. You can check out my Scuf Vantage review, another $200 (wireless) option for PS4 that connects via Bluetooth and has its own host of customizable features. I also have a breakdown of Scuf’s previous controllers, the Infinity 4PS and Impact, as well as in-depth looks at the European-exclusive Razer Raiju and Nacon Revolution controllers.
After the commercial disappointment of 2015’s Terminator Genisys, there was some suggestion that it might be a long time before we saw another movie in the long-running sci-fi franchise. But that’s not to be the case, and the sixth film in the series, Terminator: Dark Fate, arrives in November. The movie’s trailer will be revealed tomorrow, May 23, but ahead of that we have the first poster.
The poster is a striking and simple one. It shows Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, the iconic main character of the first two Terminator movies, walking down a desert road carrying a gun with a blazing sun behind her. Dark Fate will be a direct sequel to 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, ignoring the three movies in-between, and the poster’s somewhat awkward tagline hammers this home: “Welcome to the day after Judgment Day.” Check it out below:
Hamilton isn’t the only original cast member set to feature in Dark Fate– Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the T-800. The new stars includes Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049), Gabriel Luna (Agents of SHIELD), Diego Boneta (Pretty Little Liars), and Colombian star Natalia Reyes in her first Hollywood movie. The movie is directed by Deadpool’s Tim Miller and produced by James Cameron, who created the franchise and helmed the first two movies. It releases on November 1. For more, check out this recent batch of images from the film.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Movies, Cameron spoke about working alongside Miller and what fans could expect from this latest Terminator movie. “Tim’s a very willful and opinionated director, and he’s got his own ideas for the film,” he said. “I’m kind of like the Pips–he’s Gladys. I said, ‘I can’t be involved in this film at all if Arnold [Schwarzenegger] is not in it.’ Fans are going to want to see [Linda Hamilton] again, and they’re going to want to see the real Sarah Connor and what time and dealing with these tragic futures has done to her.”
“It’s hardened her even more, but in a way that made her much stronger,” Cameron explained. “Maybe less likable, but stronger. And ultimately, she becomes a really important character in passing the baton to the new characters that come in. It’s a very female-centric film, which I’m glad Tim embraced those themes.”
Following up on its previous May offerings, Microsoft has announced another set of eight games coming to Xbox Game Pass subscription service throughout the rest of the month and early June. The games coming to Xbox One over the next few weeks include some indie classics, big franchises, and even a couple of day-one launches.
First on May 23, the service will add Metal Gear Survive and The Banner Saga. The first is an alternate take on the Metal Gear universe with light horror elements, while the latter is a strategy game set against a backdrop of viking legend.
Then on May 29, the shooter Void Bastards will launch and become immediately available on Game Pass same-day. May 30 will bring another launch day game, the exploration game Outer Wilds. That day will also add the multiplayer horror game Dead by Daylight.
Those all join other recent May offerings that include Wolfenstein 2, Wargroove, Tacoma, and more. Microsoft tends to announce Game Pass offerings about three weeks at a time, so we’re likely to see the rest of the June lineup later. That could mean reveals to come at Microsoft’s E3 press conference.
Game Pass offers an all-you-can-eat subscription to a library of more than 100 games for $10 per month. All first-party Xbox One games, like Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4, are included on launch day. If you’d like to give the service a try, you can sample the first month for just one buck. There’s still a little more time to get the extended offer, which includes three months for $1.
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker is the final part in the trilogy that kicked off with 2015’s The Force Awakens, and it releases in December. The first trailer arrived in April and gave fans a taste of what to expect from the movie, which is directed by JJ Abrams. Now a new batch of images has been released.
The images come via Vanity Fair, which has published an extensive feature about The Rise of Skywalker. They reveal some of the movie’s new characters, alongside familiar faces. In terms of new villains, there’s the amazing-looking “masked scoundrel” Zorri Bliss (Keri Russell) on the planet Kijimi, and First Order leader Allegiant General Pryde (Richard E. Grant) pictured alongside General Hux.
The good guys are represented by Jannah (Naomi Ackie), seen riding a creature called an Orbak alongside Finn, plus a group of Aki-Aki, who are natives of the planet Pasaana. Over at Vanity Fair’s site you can also see new pictures of Rey, Kylo, Lando, Chewie, R2-D2, and Luke. Check out the images of the new characters below.
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 19. Abrams returned to direct after helming 2015’s The Force Awakens, although he wasn’t the first choice of director. Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow was initially hired, but he left the movie in September 2017.
The film stars Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Mark Hamill as Luke, and Billy Dee Williams as Lando. It will also include an appearance from Carrie Fisher. Although Fisher died before production began, she will appear in footage originally shot for 2017’s The Last Jedi. For more, check out everything we know about Star Wars Episode IX.
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker isn’t the only new Star Wars release that fans have to look forward to this year. It has also been confirmed that the live-action TV show The Mandalorian will be available on the streaming service Disney+ when it launches on November 12.
