While Marvel’s current Wolverine comic is set firmly within the new Dawn of X status quo, Black, White & Blood is a standalone anthology series that explores various untold stories throughout Wolverine’s long life. The first issue will feature three short stories – a Weapon X tale from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Adam Kubert, a Wolverine and Nick Fury-centric spy-ops story from Matthew Rosenberg and artist Joshua Cassara and a tale set in the era of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men from writer/artist Declan Shalvey.
In terms of visual style, Wolverine: Black, White & Blood is similar to DC’s Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red series. Unlike that digital-first book, however, Black, White & Blood will ship monthly and be released simultaneously in print and digital formats. Future creators will include Vita Ayala, Chris Claremont, Saladin Ahmed, Donny Cates, Ed Brisson, Kelly Thompson, Greg Land, Salvador Larroca, Kev Walker, Chris Bachalo and Leonard Kirk.
“I can’t stress how exciting it is getting all of these pages from the absolutely killer level of talent assembled for this book,” series editor Mark Basso told Marvel.com. “It’s become a hype cliché, but you’ve really never seen anything quite like this from Marvel Comics. And you’ve only seen a fraction of the first issue…”
“This is a real career highlight for me,” said Shalvey. “I’ve written Old Man Logan, I’ve drawn RETURN OF WOLVERINE, but getting to write and draw Wolverine in a moody, stripped down story is a real jewel in my crown, as it were. Not only that, but to showcase my work in black and white with the added tool of a stylized red really opens up interesting storytelling possibilities. I get to take a stab (pun intended) at one of my absolute favorite characters and depict him in a more definitive way.”
Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #1 will be released in November 2020.
It’s been 30 years since the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie hit theaters–and 30 years since the Ninja Turtles became a band. Since then, the franchise has never slowed down, with a slew of sequels, reboot movies, animated shows, and an unending supply of toys. Now, as fans celebrate the anniversary of that first film, NECA is honoring it with two new action figure releases.
These new figures come on the heels of the company’s Musical Mutagen Tour set that paid tribute to the Coming Out of Their Shells album and was available as a Comic-Con@Home exclusive. These new offerings, which you can see below, are two-packs of the four turtles as first seen in the 1990 film. These figures were previously released at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 as an exclusive four-pack and later sold individually at GameStop.
In one pack, Leonardo and Donatello are paired, while Raphael and Michelangelo make up the other. As tends to be standard with NECA figures, each of the turtles comes with a number of accessories, as well as alternate hands and bandanas allowing you to pose them however you’d like. Naturally, they also each come with a slice of pizza.
As previously mentioned, these packs are Walmart exclusives, though NECA tells GameSpot the company “is looking into other options for collectors who have yet to find them in-store or online.” The two-packs retail for $50 and are available now.
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Leonardo
Leonardo is packaged with Donatello. The figure comes with two ninjatō swords, an additional set of hands, and two different bandanas–one that falls over his left shoulder, one that falls over his right.
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Leonardo
And how could we forget? Yes, each turtle comes with a slice of pizza. Do not try to eat them, though.
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Leonardo
The attention to detail on these turtles is impressive. The molds look exactly as the turtles appeared in the first movie, with each turtle getting a signature facial expression. Naturally, Leo’s is “serious.” And, if we’re being honest, kind of judgy.
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Donatello
Like Leo, Donatello comes with a spare set of hands, two extra bandanas, and a slice of pizza. He also comes equipped with his trademark bo.
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Donatello
Donatello’s expression is decidedly sarcastic.
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Leonardo and Donatello
Together, Don and Leo make up the first two-pack in the series.
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Raphael
Like his brothers, Raphael comes with a spare set of hands, a slice of pizza, and two extra bandanas. He also some with his signature sais, which fit nicely in his belt.
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Raphael
It should come as no surprise that Raphael’s expression is one of anger.
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Michelangelo
Michelangelo also comes with a slide of pizza, extra bandanas, and a spare set of hands–which allow him to give a thumbs up.
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Michelangelo
What expression would you have expected from Michelangelo other than pure amusement?
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Raphael and Michelangelo
Together, Raph and Mike make up the other two-pack. They are also complete opposites, one couldn’t be more upset and the other is simply giddy.
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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles two-packs are available at Walmart for $50 each.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
It’s been five months since the GameSpot offices closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that means I’ve been sitting a lot more than usual, whether I’m working, gaming, reading, or engaging in pretty much any other activity inside my tiny apartment. All that sitting has led to some major back pain and stiffness, and when I finally have time for gaming at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is sit on my couch for a few more hours.
That’s why I was intrigued to learn about the Moon Pod, an “anti-gravity” beanbag that claims to work wonders for “stress, anxiety, and all-day deep relaxation.” I was also told the Moon Pod is popular with console gamers, providing a comfortable low-to-ground option that lets you sit closer to the TV. As someone who primarily games on PS4 or my docked Switch, I was immediately interested, especially with UI text screens seemingly getting smaller and harder to read from afar these days.
The Moon Pod brand offers a range of different products, with its flagship product being the Moon Pod itself. The beanbag is filled with high-density beads that are meant to “mimic the sensations of Flotation Therapy,” i.e. give you a feeling of weightlessness. It comes with a cover to compress the beanbag and give it its pod-like shape, and the cover is made of a soft, stretchy fabric to accommodate any movement. In addition to reducing stress levels, the Moon Pod claims to relieve back and neck pain by providing ergonomic support and adaptive flexibility. If that all sounds too good to be true, there’s a major catch: The Moon Pod alone sells for $300, and if you’re interested in any of its accessories, you’ll pay even more.
I was given the opportunity to test out some of Moon Pod’s products over the past week: the Moon Pod itself and an accessory called the Crescent, a backrest that heightens the Moon Pod’s ergonomics.
The setup
As mentioned previously, the Moon Pod and its accessories all come with a washable fabric cover to contain the beanbag itself. Squeezing the Moon Pod into said cover was quite a feat and felt like trying to pull on a pair of jeans that are way too small for you. It took about 15 minutes for me to set up the Moon Pod and the Crescent by myself–having someone to assist you would certainly make the process easier.
At 4 sq. feet, the Moon Pod takes up a decent amount of space in a small apartment. (Photo credit: Jenae Sitzes/GameSpot)
The size
The Moon Pod weighs in at 12 pounds and measures around 4 feet long and 1.5 feet wide with no one sitting in it. While not that heavy, it is a bit awkward to carry around due to its size, and you probably won’t want to move it around much once you’ve found a place for it. If space is at a premium in your home, be sure to consider whether you have somewhere to put it that’s easily accessible yet out of the way when you’re not using it. In my tiny living room that already has a sectional couch in it, the Moon Pod takes up a decent amount of space, which I’m willing to deal with due to how often I play games on my TV.
The ergonomics
I’ll be honest: The first time I sat in the Moon Pod, I couldn’t move for about 20 minutes due to how comfortable it felt. I truly did feel weightless, with every curve of my back and neck supported. The dense filling is firm enough that you’re supported entirely off the ground, but just flexible enough to adjust to any position you want.
What I like most about the Moon Pod is that it’s conducive to pretty much any sitting activity. You can sit upright at a nearly 90-degree angle, ideal for looking straight ahead at your TV, or you can lean back more for reading or working on a laptop. You can also lay entirely back to take a nap. Any way you adjust, you can feel the beanbag shifting to support your new position, and it’s a new level of comfort I haven’t experienced with a traditional chair.
The Moon Pod, the Crescent, and a footrest known as the Lunar Lift. All of this would cost you several hundred dollars, but boy is it comfortable. (Photo credit: Moon Pod)
Having the Crescent backrest pillow, which works in conjunction with the Moon Pod to provide support for your head, neck, and shoulders, greatly increases this beanbag’s ergonomics. The Moon Pod on its own feels fantastic, but your head and neck may start to get tired after a few hours of gaming. The Crescent cradles your head and supports your shoulders so well that I still felt comfortable after day-long gaming sessions.
The price
At $300, the Moon Pod is ridiculously expensive, and so is everything else in the Moon Pod range of products. The Crescent back pillow costs $129 on its own, and a larger, two-person option, the Super Moon Pod, sells for a whopping $500.
Though not a huge savings, we have an exclusive promo code right now that lets you take an additional $15 off the price, getting you the Moon Pod for $284 with free shipping. Use promo code GAMESPOT15 at checkout for the discount.
So is Moon Pod worth the money?
That depends on how well the Moon Pod holds up over time, which remains to be seen; I haven’t had enough time with the beanbag myself to know. Rick Broida, a senior commerce editor at our sister site CNET, reported a negative experience with the Moon Pod longterm, saying that it started to get compressed and no longer hold its shape within six months. Moon Pod claims its products will last for “years” and suggests washing the outer cover if you start to feel the Moon Pod sagging.
Of course, the weight of the user may also make a difference in how well your Moon Pod holds up over time. According to Moon Pod, the beanbag can support up to 300 pounds and is comfortable for those up to 6’8″ tall.
I plan to continue using the Moon Pod over the next six months or so and will update this story once I get a sense for myself how well this thing will hold up. At this point, what I know for sure is the Moon Pod has already worked wonders for my back and will make the rest of this pandemic lockdown a little easier to bear. If you’ve also been aching for a more ergonomic gaming and work setup, Moon Pod might just be the solution you’ve been looking for–if you’re willing to shell out some serious cash.
If you’re not looking to spend that much money to get your ergonomic fix, you could also consider getting a gaming chair, which tends to offer more support than a standard office chair due to its built-in lumbar support and more. We recently rounded up the best budget gaming chairs under $200, and the list includes a few options that work well for console gaming, including the X Rocker Drift floor chair and the Homall gaming recliner.
Disclaimer: Moon Pod provided free samples of the Moon Pod beanbag and Crescent backrest for the purposes of this review.
A movie based on Campo Santo’s adventure game Firewatch is in the works. It’s being produced by Snoot Entertainment, the indie publishing label behind Blindspotting, Little Monsters, and others.
Snoot Entertainment co-founders Jess Wu Calder and Keith Calder will serve as producers. Campo Santo co-founders Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman will also produce. No other details, such as casting announcements or tentative release window, have been revealed.
Firewatch is the title that put Campo Santo, an indie studio comprised of former Telltale Games developers, on the map. Set in 1989 Wyoming, Firewatch follows the fire lookout Henry as he builds a complicated relationship with his ever-distant supervisor Delilah. Strange things start happening in the forests, and it’s up to Delilah and Henry to uncover the truth behind the unsettling occurrences.
The Calder’s briefly spoke of their Firewatch adoration with The Hollywood Reporter, saying they’re excited to bring it to the big screen.
“Firewatch is a stunning accomplishment, a beautiful and heartbreaking piece of art,” Calder said. “I’m delighted that Sean and Jake are letting us ruin their perfect video game by turning it into a movie and/or TV show.”
“Jess and Keith are hard-working and visionary film producers with impeccable taste in video games,” Vanaman said. “Not unlike when we met Joe Drake and the team at Good Universe [a California-based film production company behind The Disaster Artist] in 2016, we knew in our first conversation with Jess and Keith that they’d make great partners. We have no doubt in their expertise, their taste and their passion and assume that our experience as so-so game developers will make us first-rate producer partners.”
This isn’t the first report of Firewatch getting the movie treatment. Back in 2016, THR reported that Campo Santo and Good Universe reached a deal to adapt the game to the movie screen. This new announcement seems to solidify this years-old partnership.
Fall Guys developer Mediatonic is taking advantage of the hype around its battle royale to raise funds for charity. The London-based developer is holding a contest to see which company will donate the most in order to get a cosmetic in game.
“The thirst from brands has been unreal… so we’re turning it into something positive,” the official Fall Guys account tweeted. The company who donates the most to UK-based non-profit Special Effect, a charity focused on helping players with physical disabilities, will get to have its cosmetic implemented into the battle royale. The winner will be announced in two weeks.
🔥 BATTLE OF THE BRANDS 🔥 The thirst from brands has been unreal… so we’re turning it into something positive! Prize: Your brand inside Fall Guys as a costume! 👉 To enter: Reply to this tweet with the highest amount of money you would be willing to donate to @SpecialEffect
The thirst really has been unreal as brands have already started to donate and propose its own designs. Rivals of Aether developer Dan Fornace offered $10,000 dollars to include two characters from his fighting game. Warframe developer Digital Extremes offered $20,000 to include its design and the Rivals of Aether design.
Other esports, hardware, and gaming companies have started to make offers of its own. Fall Guys had over 2 million players on PC in its first week so companies are eager to get an advertising slot in the game. Just look at this bidet company jumping into the fight.
Fall Guys has become an overnight sensation with new skins, like Team Fortess 2’s Scout, the Bullet Kin from Enter the Gungeon, and the banana from My Friend Pedro skins already making appearances. It’s clear that these skins are going to be a hot commodity for some time.
After a year to get its feet wet and establish its identity within the battle royale genre, Apex Legends went through a flurry of changes in Season 4: Assimilation and Season 5: Fortune’s Favor. In comparison, Season 6: Boosted seems to be a smaller step for Respawn’s battle royale game. There are still plenty of in-game changes and new pieces of content, but Respawn looks to be taking a break from radically altering Apex Legends and is instead taking stock of how to improve the game going forward.
When I spoke to Apex Legends lead game designer Carlos Pineda, he told me that players should expect Season 6 to be “a little bit bigger” than Season 2: Battle Charge and Season 3: Meltdown. However, the changes probably won’t be as drastic as Season 4 and Season 5–Season 6 falls somewhere in-between.
“We have some meta changes, not quite as big as Seasons 4 and 5, but Seasons 4 and 5 were targeted at these pain points that people had been complaining about for a while–a lot of our conversations since December have revolved around that,” Pineda said. “And Seasons 4 and 5 hit a lot of those so with Season 6 we believe we’re in a bit of a better spot so we should just take it easy for a little bit and see how all the changes settle out and begin to see where any new pain points might arise in order to patch them.”
In comparison to earlier seasons, Season 4 and Season 5 saw huge changes to Apex Legends. So far, Year 2 has implemented massive character overhauls, with substantial nerfs to characters like Wattson and Wraith and huge buffs to characters like Bloodhound and Revenant. Some characters saw their abilities get slightly altered, like Lifeline and Octane, with Mirage’s abilities being outright reworked.
Season 6: Boosted, meanwhile, adds a new character (Rampart), weapon (the Volt), and makes some map changes to World’s Edge–they’re noticeable but not as substantial as a giant tower in the middle of the map further splitting the battleground into two distinctive halves. The changes seem akin to Kings Canyon’s transformation at the start of Season 2, which improved squad movement between landmarks with new means of getting around.
“I spoke to map designer Alex Graner and the thing he really wanted to push through with this map change was more rotation options for people,” Pineda said. “Because there were certain chokes that never got used–it basically felt like the chokes were too chokey and did too good a job of funneling people. In opening these new cut throughs and adding additional geysers here and there and taking the train out to put cover around the tracks, all of that space suddenly becomes usable for moving around the map. So hopefully, people don’t feel as trapped when they’re moving around.”
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Apex Legends – Official Season 6 “Boosted” Cinematic Launch Trailer
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The new changes to World’s Edge seem to be the most substantial adjustments being made in Season 6–I’m intrigued to see how the addition of crafting materials may decrease the amount of time a squad needs to spend between looting and getting into the fight as well as how the new blast walls may change how squads view rotation lanes. Season 6’s new character and weapon don’t seem as substantial. Both look really cool but Rampart and the Volt don’t appear to be game changers. Rampart is a defender who fortifies her squad’s position by diverting other squads away from it. The Volt’s standout property is being the first energy SMG, so its bullets behave differently from the heavy ammo Prowler and light ammo Alternator and R-99.
“Specifically, I think [The Volt] is a little bit faster fire rate and it’s a little bit more manageable than the R-99,” Pineda said. “I would say it’s more comparable to the Alternator. It’s a little easier to control and because it’s an energy weapon, the bullets tend to go faster and farther so you can actually hit people at a higher distance. You get a little bit more versatility out of it in comparison to the other SMGs.”
All of Season 6’s new content is detailed in full in the patch notes for the update if you’re looking to see everything that’s changed. Apex Legends Season 6: Boosted is scheduled to begin later today at 10 PM PT, which is August 18 at 1 AM ET.
Gary Whitta, the founder of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons talk show Animal Talking, is starting a new talk show within Mediatonic’s Fall Guys. He’s taking a break from Animal Talking in order to produce new celebrity-focused interviews.
“Animal Talking may be taking a break but the chat never stops!” Whitta tweeted. “Stand by for an all-new celebrity talk show debuting soon, co-hosted by me and Kate Stark! No one from yellow team allowed — sorry I don’t make the rules, Fall Guys does.”
It’s not clear how Whitta and co-host Kate Stark will host a new talk show within Fall Guys. Unlike Animal Crossing, it has no lobby or waiting area for avatars to sit and chat. The show might take advantage of Fall Guys’ game show features or be a simple Twitch stream where the two hosts talk over gameplay. I’m all for the two streamers acting as game show hosts while celebrities like T-Pain fail on Slime Climb.
Whitta started Animal Talking “accidentally” before the show took off. It included big names like Sting, Elijah Wood, and even Danny Trejo as a correspondent for its first two seasons.
Fall Guys developer Mediatonic has plans to develop the wacky battle royale into more of a game show experience with deeper Twitch integration. Streamers will undoubtably rush to be the most popular Fall Guys streamer as new mini games come out.
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The Division 2‘s servers are scheduled to shut down on August 18 at 12:30 AM PT / 3:30 AM ET for three hours on all platforms as a maintenance update gets applied, the studio has confirmed.
While no file size has been announced, the update seems to be relatively small at the current moment and only fixes two issues. These are clan XP not properly updating and ironing out DELTA-03 errors when equipping Exotics. Should more updates be necessary, developer Massive Entertainment confirmed additional patch notes will be published on its forums as the maintenance progresses.
The Division 2 Patch Notes (August 18)
Fixed an issue causing clan XP to not update properly.
Fixed an issue that could cause DELTA-03 errors when equipping an Exotic weapon.
The Division 2 recently received an update that fixed issues with the progression of Global Events, Morozova’s Phase 6 not initiating, and more. And last month, The Division 2’s 10.1 Update–which addressed various bug fixes and balance adjustments–introduced tons of changes to loot, including tweaking the attributes and stats of item drops, increasing the minimum item power on higher difficulties, and giving players the ability to swap their abilities while they’re on cooldown, among other things.
For many of us, months of lockdown and quarantine has provided the time to finish projects, learn new skills, or perhaps just sit around watching lots of Netflix. For author George R.R. Martin, it’s meant one thing–working on much anticipated six novel in the fantasy series that Game of Thrones was adapted from. In his latest blog update, Martin has revealed just how tedious his life has got while he tries to finish the book, titled The Winds of Winter.
Martin revealed that his life has entered a routine that revolves around food, drink, and writing–the first two being provided by assistants which he refers to as “minions.” “My life up here is very boring, it must be said,” he said. “Truth be told, I hardly can be said to have a life. Everyone morning I wake up and go straight to the computer, where my minion brings me coffee (I am utterly useless and incoherent without my morning coffee) and juice, and sometimes a light breakfast. Then I start to write. Sometimes I stay at it until dark.
“Other days I break off in late afternoon to answer emails or return urgent phone calls. My assistant brings me food and drink from time to time. When I finally break off for the day, usually around sunset, there’s dinner. Then we watch television or screen a movie.”
Martin doesn’t reveal how close he is to finishing The Winds of Winter, but in any case, fans have learnt not to trust promised delivery dates. The most recent update on that occurred back in June, when he stated he hoped the novel would be finished by the next summer. However, he did also state, “It’s going to be a huge book, and I still have a long way to go.”
Although Game of Thrones finished last year on TV, there is a spin-off show in the works. House of the Dragon will be set 300 years before the events of the main series, and will focus on the rise of House Targaryen. The series will consist of 10 episodes, and HBO programming chief Casey Bloys previously stated that he was hopeful we would see it in 2022. For more check out Game Spot’s guide to everything we know about House of the Dragon.
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