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Clear your schedule for two hours So Sony held true to its promise to launch theGod of Wardocumentary early this morning, and it’s worth watching. Clocking in at nearly two hours, the doc basically follows the effort to re-imagineGod of Warwith a completely new Norse theme, focusing heavily on director Cory Barlog and the cast (including new Kratos actor Christopher Judge). You also get a bit of Iceland footage to see where their inspiration came from, a glimpse into the personal lives of the staff, and a decent rundown of what goes into making a big-budget game....

Wrong three letter channel acronym with a B in it. Last summer yielded some hits and misses in ye olde Stephen King adaptation department. Obviously, we hadIt.Andy Muschietti’s adaptation was refreshing, well directed and ideated creatively, and–most importantly–a hit with audiences. It had a modest budget and a hefty box office tally. King properties were hot again. Of course, that was on the heel’s ofan awful adaptation / continuation ofThe Dark Towerthat bowed in August....

Gun, ghosts, and grime I’m looking forward toHunt: Showdown. Crytek’s first-person bounty hunting game has players stalking supernatural prey in grimy, haunting environments. Its combination of twisted creatures and organic player-versus-player engagements speaks to me on an almost primal level. Though it’ll probably be a while untilHunt: Showdownreleases in earnest, developer Crytek announced that eager hunters would have a chance to stalk their otherworldly queries a bit earlier than expected. According to producer Fatih Özbayram, the game will come to Steam’s Early Access platform because the studio “[believes] strongly that community-driven development is crucial to creating a great online multiplayer experience....

How did I get off the track? WithThe Good Life’sKickstarter campaign still on-going, director Swery will be holding a Reddit AMA this Thursday to let fans get any questions in about the game. Running from 8:30 to 10:30 am PST, it won’t be limited to just his upcoming game, but literally anything you want to know. WillD4ever get a conclusion? What does FK in the coffee mean? Do you love me, Swery?...

Selected artists in this competition will get paid, at least Never underestimate the power of fan art. Need proof that fan creations can score you a gig? Look no further than the upcomingDetective Pikachufilm, which hired a fan artist during pre-production (perKotaku). ThroughTalenthouse, production studios Legendary and Warner Bros. are looking for artists to collaborate with in promoting the film, whichrecently got quite the prolific trailer. This will be in the form of a competition, or an “art activation campaign,” that will select five pieces of art and reward $2,000 to the artists for each piece selected....

Even if you’re not yet playingHades 2via Early Access, you may get in on the experience by way of your earholes. Supergiant Games has uploaded theentire soundtrack to YouTubeso you can get a listen. I’ve been playingHades 2for the past week or so. I’m not sure how much I should give away, but suffice it to say, there’s a song in there that you experience on every run. It’s called “Coral Crown” and it is quite the earworm....

During the dark days of 2021’s lockdown, out-of-work actors Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls set out to produce and direct a version of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet shot entirely in the incredibly violent world ofGTA V Online.As of late 2024, I still don’t know if they succeeded at their initial task, but it seems as if they’ve succeeded in creating something special with Grand Theft Hamlet, a documentary about their adventure in making the movie....

Some of the Pokemon designs are uncomfortably close to reality (at least from a safe distance) I vividly remember kids at school lugging around posters of the original 150 Pokemon (some were even laminated!), and as the seriesnearsthe 900-‘mon mark, it feels like the right time to see what kind of Pokemon designs can bubble up out of a well-trained AI. As shown in this experiment fromMax Woolf, who’s a data scientist at BuzzFeed, it’s possible to create some funny, weird, andeerily accurateneural-net pocket monsters....

There’s no defending this PUBGgotC4 added as a throwable explosivelast week, and I called it “a frag grenade with a very long fuse.” That’s accurate, and that’s the way most players are using it. C4 has a 25-meter blast radius and causes damage through walls, but it also takes 16 seconds to detonate. The obvious strategy is to throw it, flush opponents out of cover, and spray at them while they scramble....

Bargain hunting After last week’sbig E3 saleon PlayStation Network, you might be all deal’d out. I’m nearly there myself, but the regularly-scheduled flash sales must go on. Sony is running a fresh saleover the weekendwith games likeHyper Light Drifter($7.99),Thumper($7.99), andSteamWorld Heist($7.49). There’s also a decent list of PS3 deals and even some love for PlayStation Vita owners with old PSP favorites likeMega Man Maverick Hunter X($2.99) andPower Stone Collection($2.99). It’s bittersweet seeingDemon’s Soulspop up for a mere eight bucks knowing theservers are now offline....

The thin end of the wedge? Warner Bros. Interactive hasofficially secured a patenton its “Nemesis” mechanic, first introduced in 2014’sLord of the Rings-adjacent adventureMiddle-earth: Shadows of Mordorand its 2017 sequelMiddle-earth: Shadow of War. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office notes that the patent goes into effect on February 23, with an option to extend until 2035. Developed by Monolith Productions, the Nemesis system is a mechanic whereby NPC characters recall interactions with the player, and thus react or grow accordingly for further possible encounters....

Other highlights include Tekken 7, Darksiders III Xbox Game Pass continues to be a wicked deal, and thanks to news out of today’s X019 event, that list continues to grow. Microsoft just announced that50new games are coming to the service, a laundry list that includes titles that launch today and “throughout 2020.”Rage 2is easily the most notable “today” addition, but the rest of the list is pretty insane.Darksiders IIIis a perfect Game Pass offering given that it’s semi-recent and has a huge “on the fence” polarized feel to it, but the biggest pluses in my mind are the10Final Fantasytitles....

This comes directly from the development team [Update:Square Enix has provided a full text breakdown of theFinal Fantasy XIV Endwalkerleveling plan.You can read it here.] Final Fantasy XIVEndwalkerleveling is going to be just as straightforward once the expansion is out, but there’s something you should knowahead of the expansion’s launch. TheFFXIVteam is now warning players that if you’remidwayto leveling a specific job (or more importantly, if you’re right on the cusp and are about to ding): you should push them over the edge before the expansion....