17 Mini Series You Can Binge With 19 Episodes Or Less

Crash Bandicoot 4 Will Not Have Microtransactions

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time will not have microtransactions, developer Toys For Bob clarified in a tweet. This comes after speculation that the game might have them because the Microsoft Store listing for the game states it “offers in-app purchases.” This label may have been caused by the Totally Tubular Skins, which are included with the game but listed as a separate item on the store.

We’re seeing confusion about #MTX in @CrashBandicoot 4 and want to be 💎 clear: There are NO MICROTRANSACTIONS in #Crash4. As a bonus, the Totally Tubular skins are included in all digital versions of the game.

— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) June 30, 2020

Crash Bandicoot 4 picks up after the end of Crash Bandicoot: Warped as Neo Cortex, Dr. N. Tropy, and Uka Uka make another attempt at multiverse domination. In an interview with GameSpot, producer Lou Studdert spoke about the game’s new art style, the new reality bending Quantum masks, and the new playable characters.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time releases on PS4 and Xbox One on October 2, 2020. You can learn about the game and its pre-order bonuses in our Crash Bandicoot 4 pre-order guide.

GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

YouTube TV’s Live Streaming Service Raises Its Prices

The live streaming service YouTube TV, which is owned by Google, is set to increase the monthly price to its service. Starting today, it will cost new customers $65 a month. Those who already have YouTube TV will not see the price change on their statements until on or after July 30.

The service has been making many changes this year, and the cost increase will reflect the improvements to the service, according to YouTube. “We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members,” the company said in a blog post. “That said, this new price reflects the rising cost of content and we also believe it reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live TV. YouTube TV is the only streaming service that includes a DVR with unlimited storage space, plus 6 accounts per household each with its own unique recommendations, and 3 concurrent streams. It’s all included in the base cost of YouTube TV, with no contract and no hidden fees.”

Earlier this year, YouTube announced it was adding more channels from the ViacomCBS family–GameSpot’s parent company. Today, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, and VH1 were added to the service. Later, BET Her, MTV2, MTV Classic, Nick Jr., NickToons, and TeenNick will also be added.

New features have also arrived to the service including one that allows users to jump to different segments on certain news programs on the streaming service. There is also unlimited DVR, a new Dark Mode, and the option to mark a show as “watched.” Finally, the Live Guide got an overhall.

To learn more about the specifics of YouTube TV and all the live TV streaming services, check out GameSpot’s best streaming services breakdown.

The Mandalorian: Lucasfilm Announces New Books and Comics

The world of The Mandalorian is about to get much bigger. Not only is the Star Wars series returning for a second season on Disney+ this fall, Lucasfilm Press has revealed a new publishing initiative aimed at further fleshing out the characters and worlds of The Mandalorian.

This new Mandalorian-centric publishing initiative was announced on StarWars.com, with the site revealing a number of new fiction and nonfiction books. Among these is The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Season 1), written by Phil Szostak and featuring a wealth of concept art and behind-the-scenes details from the series. You can check out the cover to The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Season 1) below:

Art by Doug Chiang. (Image Credit: Lucasfilm Press)

This publishing initiative will include several new stories tied to the events of The Mandalorian. Among these is an untitled novel from The Burning Dark writer Adam Christopher and new comic book series from both Marvel Comics and IDW Publishing. Lucasfilm will also release several YA and junior reader books, along with The Mandalorian: The Ultimate Visual Guide by Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo.

Currently, no plot details have been revealed for these new fiction projects, and it’s unclear when these stories will take place and whether they’ll explore the show’s main protagonist, bounty hunter Din Djarin, or other characters like ex-Rebel trooper Cara Dune or Imperial warlord Moff Gideon. No doubt more announcements will be coming later in 2020, particularly as we get closer to the release of The Mandalorian: Season 2.

This news comes as Lucasfilm Press is also gearing up for an ambitious publishing initiative called Star Wars: High Republic. Set 200 years before the Star Wars movies, The High Republic will showcase the Jedi at the height of their power and explore the impact of an instigating event known as The Great Disaster. You can read an exclusive excerpt of Charles Soule’s novel Star Wars: The High Republic – Light of the Jedi.

No doubt The Mandalorian: Season 2 will pave the way for even more companion books. Season 2 will reportedly include Clone wars favorites like Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano and Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze. If you need a recap, here’s Ahsoka’s story leading up to the era of The Mandalorian.

Will you be picking up any of these new Star Wars books? Let us know in the comments below.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

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

Animal Crossing – Here’s How Swimming Works

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘s first free summer content update arrives on July 3. Not only will the update bring back another returning character, Pascal, it will also introduce the ability to swim, and Nintendo has explained how that will work.

Much like in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you’ll need to have a wetsuit to swim in New Horizons. Following the summer update, you’ll find wetsuits for sale in Nook’s Cranny alongside the other tools. After you purchase one, simply put it on and you’ll be able to take a dip in the ocean around your island.

While swimming, you’ll also be able to dive underwater and catch new sea creatures like sea stars and garden eels, which you can then donate to Blathers to display in the museum. If you find a scallop while diving, the aforementioned Pascal will pop up, and you can trade it to him for a new mermaid DIY recipe (and a kernel of otter wisdom).

A second free summer update for New Horizons is coming this August. Nintendo hasn’t revealed what that update will contain, but the graphic that accompanied the announcement featured fireworks. Longtime Animal Crossing fans will remember that there would be a fireworks show every Sunday evening in August in previous games, so it appears the fireworks show will be making a return as well.

In the meantime, players in the Northern Hemisphere can still find summer shells, a limited-time seasonal material that can be used to craft summer-themed DIY recipes. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can also still claim an exclusive free rug for Animal Crossing.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Get Anime Movies, TV Shows Up To 70% Off, Including Dragon Ball Z And More

It’s Anime Month at the Microsoft Store once again, which means you can save up to 70% on popular anime films and TV shows that you can watch on Xbox One or PC. The sale is going on all month long, and if you spend at least $40 on any anime in the sale, you’ll get 4,000 MS Rewards points. That comes out to about $4, but when you’re getting it on top of steep discounts, who’s complaining?

The sale notably includes all seasons of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, with both English and Japanese audio available for the latter. If you’re just getting into one of these shows, there’s a nice incentive for just buying the first season. If you buy season 1 of Dragon Ball Z ($14) or Dragon Ball Super ($8), you’ll get the second season for free. This freebie offer is only available until July 6.

While the selection for Microsoft’s latest anime sale isn’t as great as we’ve seen in previous sales, there are still some gems here worth snagging if you’re looking for new anime to watch. The movie selection includes A Silent Voice, a love story about a woman who is deaf, for $7, and Penguin Highway, a sci-fi story that begins with penguins appearing everywhere inexplicably, for $6 (you can also rent it for $2). Several Naruto movies are also up for grabs, including Road to Ninja ($9) and Naruto Shippuden: The Movie ($8). On the TV side of things, you can grab Death Note: The Complete Series on sale for $30 (normally $50), along with seasons of Inuyasha, Sailor Moon, and Bleach for steep discounts.

You can check out more of our picks below and see the full sale at the Microsoft Store. Of course, if you’re a regular anime watcher, you might already be subscribed to streaming services that include some of these movies or shows, so it’s worth checking out what you can already stream before purchasing. If you’re considering subscribing to one but not sure which service is right for you, we have a handy guide to the best anime streaming services, including Funimation, Crunchyroll, and more.

Best anime movie deals

Best anime TV show deals

Gambit Movie Dreams Come True In This Fan Made Short Film

Those crushed by Hollywood’s repeated empty promises to make a movie based on the Marvel comic book character Gambit, may enjoy a brief taste of the playing card-throwing, trench coat-wearing, some sort of accent-having mutant antihero in a new fan made short film, Play For Keeps.

Actor Nick Bateman, who plays Gambit in the 20-min short, posted the video to his YouTube account recently, but the short incorporates footage from a teaser that Bateman and director Jensen Noen released in 2017. That teaser sees Bateman as Gambit, narrating the character’s motivation in voiceover before he fights Krzysztof Soszynski as Daken. (Like Gambit could ever beat someone related to Wolverine in a fight. Are you kidding me?)

Play For Keeps introduces Ellen Hollman as Rogue, a mutant who drains the powers and energy of others with skin-to-skin contact and Anna Butkevych as Magik, a teleporting demon sorceress. Many have been excited to see how Magik will be portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy in Josh Boone’s long-delayed New Mutants film–still slated for an August 28 release, fingers crossed–but Butkevych does a solid job here.

The short sees Gambit abducted by Magik after a heist, and he is brought to a poker game filled with nefarious characters. There’s a tension throughout, and it is a tension of anticipating every line will be cringe-level bad. So it’s a cool surprise when most of the short turns out to be good!

A modern retelling of Gambit would need a serious update to ’80s comic book ideas of theft, charm, and gambling or risk falling flat in front contemporary audiences. But Play For Keeps succeeds in dropping you into a comic book world that’s just believable enough to be 20-minutes of fun.

Dreams Will be Playable in VR Next Month

Dreams is getting a free update to make it compatible with PlayStation VR. The update will arrive on July 22 and will include tutorials on how to start making new creations in PS VR.

Media Molecule’s latest project, Dreams, is less of a game and more of a creation tool where players can make their own games, movies, images, music, and much more. In July, the range of tools available to players in Dreams will be expanded with a new VR update that lets players create and enjoy VR content.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/30/dreams-ps-vr-update”]

Dreams VR will let players use the PlayStation Move Controllers and begin sculpting VR creations. The update will come with a variety of how-to’s so players can learn new skills and some of the more next-level techniques in VR.

Media Molecule has also created its own set of VR experiences for Dreams players as a showcase of what the update can do. One of those experiences is Box Blaster which is a VR shooting experience inside Dreams.

Players won’t need VR to create PS VR experiences. Non-PS VR users can access the same update as VR owners.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/20/spyro-in-dreams”]

Alongside VR updates, there will also be a new slate of accessibility features like comfort mode, vignette strength, static sky, and more.

Dreams VR will arrive on July 22. Check out IGN’s Dreams review for more coverage.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

17 Mini Series You Can Binge With 19 Episodes Or Less

17 Mini Series You Can Binge With 19 Episodes Or Less – GameSpot

“/>

By Meg Downey on June 30, 2020 at 1:10PM PDT

]]>

No time for a multi-season epic? These one-and-done mini and anthology series are the perfect length to stream.

As much as we all love sweeping, expansive, multi-season epics like Westworld or Game Of Thrones, sometimes it’s better to be realistic. Even while stuck at home, not everyone has the time (or, more realistically, the focus) to mainline dozens of hours of TV. And that’s totally okay–because with streaming services like HBO Max, Hulu, and Netflix, you have access to plenty of 10-episode-or-less mini series to stream, ranging from true crime documentaries to thrilling prestige fantasies and everything in between. Sure, the subject matter may not always be the lightest fair, but you can knock them out in a day or two before moving right on to the next–no massive time commitment or long-term memory required.

Of course, if you’re looking for something that you can definitely finish in one sitting, take a look at our recommendations for streaming cosmic and psychological horror movies, as well as the best action movies currently available on Netflix!

How have you been spending your free time while you quarantine at home? Is your favorite mini series on the list? Let us know in the comments below!

]]>

1. Sharp Objects

Watch On HBO

Based on the Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) novel of the same name, Sharp Objects blends a murder mystery with brutal family drama as journalist Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) returns to her backwater Missouri town to investigate the deaths of two young girls.

]]>

2. True Detective

Watch On HBO

An anthology made up of three unrelated, eight-episode seasons, True Detective always focuses on, well, detectives. Two of them per season, trying to work through a specific crime that has been haunting them for years. We recommend you go through Season 1 but then skip Season 2 in favor of Season 3.

]]>

3. Maniac

Watch On Netflix

Directed by the co-creator of True Detective Season 1, Cary Fukunaga, Maniac is an experimental mind-trip that sends two strangers (Emma Stone and Jonah Hill) through a psychedelic drug trial aimed at developing a pill that will replace all conventional forms of talk therapy. Needless to say, the results are a mixed bag for the subjects.

]]>

4. Chernobyl

Watch On HBO

A dramatized version of the catastrophic meltdown of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat in the Ukranian SSR, this show is as bleak as they come–but it’s also beautiful. Atmospheric, tense, and unflinchingly difficult to watch at points, it’s probably not the best to binge before bed.

]]>

5. Band of Brothers

Watch On HBO

Another historical drama, Band of Brothers is one of the most famous World War II stories ever adapted to TV. It focuses on the 101st Airborne division’s Easy Company, who were sent in as paratroopers before D-Day and then remained in the European Theater through the end of the war. Even if WWII stories aren’t your usual cup of tea, this one is worth your time if only for the amazing cast of real-life characters it introduces.

]]>

6. The Haunting Of Hill House

Watch On Netflix

We may be several months out from proper spooky season, but being terrified never goes out of style. The Haunting Of Hill House will both scare the hell out of you and probably make you cry in just 10 episodes.

]]>

7. Evil Genius

Watch On Netflix

Evil Genius bills itself as “the true story of America’s most diabolical bank heist” and it delivers. With just four episodes, this true crime docu-series will have you on the edge of your seat–especially if you’re too young to remember the actual events of the “pizza bomber” case as it played out in real time back in 2003. Go in knowing as little as possible and enjoy the ride.

]]>

8. Wild Wild Country

Watch On Netflix

One of the first Netflix docu-series to really make waves, Wild Wild Country is six episodes of twists and turns you will never see coming, following the story of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the community of Rajneeshpuram in the state of Oregon.

]]>

9. Tiger King

Watch On Netflix

Do we really need to explain this one? Sure, March may feel like it was a decade ago, given how 2020 has gone, but Netflix’s Tiger King earned it’s meme status with a story you really have to see to believe. Don’t let all the goofy social media jokes fool you, though–this one isn’t for the faint of heart.

]]>

10. The Young Pope

Watch On HBO

Jude Law becomes the, well, young pope–surprise!–after a series of unfortunate events disrupt the normal election proceedings. He’s the first American to hold the position and, if you couldn’t guess, this makes for all sorts of devious, political intrigue in the Catholic church.

]]>

11. The Night Of

Watch On HBO

Crime drama The Night Of was actually based on the first season of British crime series, Criminal Justice, spun into a stand-alone eight episode series for HBO. It chronicles a college student (Riz Ahmed) trying to prove his innocence when accused of murder.

]]>

12. The Assassination Of Gianni Versace

Watch On FX on Hulu

FX’s anthology series American Crime Story has earned universal acclaim for both of its seasons, but if you can only pick one, The Assassination Of Gianni Versace is the way to go. With nine episodes and a power house performance by Darren Criss, this is a heart pounding, horrifying dramatization of a real life murder case that will leave you overwhelmed in the best way.

]]>

13. Catch-22

Watch On Hulu

Based on the Joseph Heller novel you may have had to read in high school, Catch-22 is Hulu’s six-episode entry into the historical mini series game. With its black comedy and fantastic performances by George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, and Kyle Chandler, it’s one that shouldn’t be missed–it’s bleak, to be sure, but may serve as a pick-me-up after you watch some of the even darker entries on this list.

]]>

14. The Alienist

Watch On Amazon

A 10-episode psychological thriller, The Alienist is set in the late 1800s and centered around an early psychiatrist (also known as an alienist) played by Daniel Brühl (Captain America: Civil War), as he attempts to profile a murderer responsible for a string of grisly killings.

]]>

15. Fosse/Verdon

Watch On FX on Hulu

Biographical drama Fosse/Verdon chronicles the life of director/choreographer Bob Fosse (chances are if you’ve seen a broadway musical, you’re at least a little familiar with him) and his complicated, dramatic relationship with dancer/actor Gwen Verdon. Basically it’s Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams serving up some of the best performances of their careers in style–what’s not to love?

]]>

16. Devs

Watch On FX on Hulu

We here at GameSpot love Devs–we even broke down every single episode and then spoke with creator Alex Garland to answer some of our burning questions, so this recommendation should come as no surprise. If you’ve been sleeping on this sci-fi masterpiece, it’s time to wake up. The story of a tech company attempting to unlock the secrets of existence with quantum computing, all eight episodes are streaming on Hulu.

]]>

17. Watchmen

Watch On HBO

When HBO first announced it would be premiering a Watchmen TV show, reactions were justifiably skeptical–after all, the graphic novel has not had the best history when it comes to being adapted. But this nine-episode limited series is one for the history books–literally. Set in a world long after the events of the 1980s graphic novel story, Watchmen is both a thrilling comic book TV show and a scathing indictment of American history. If you can only watch one show on this list, make it this one.

]]>

Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company

Month: June 2020

Crash Bandicoot 4 Will Not Have Microtransactions

YouTube TV’s Live Streaming Service Raises Its Prices

The Mandalorian: Lucasfilm Announces New Books and Comics

Animal Crossing – Here’s How Swimming Works

Get Anime Movies, TV Shows Up To 70% Off, Including Dragon Ball Z And More

Best anime movie deals

Best anime TV show deals

Gambit Movie Dreams Come True In This Fan Made Short Film

Dreams Will be Playable in VR Next Month

17 Mini Series You Can Binge With 19 Episodes Or Less