Since bringing the weekly series Dynamite to TNT, All Elite Wrestling has been on a roll. Its premiere on TNT was the biggest premiere on WarnerMedia TV in five years. The show has been extremely popular with wrestling fans, introducing new wrestlers and new championship titles to fight for on a week-to-week basis.In addition to the Women's Championship and the Tag Team Championships, AEW may be adding a new title to its list in the future. During a media conference for the Full Gear PPV, executive vice president of AEW Cody Rhodes discussed whether or not there will be a new title for the up-and-coming wrestlers. "It's very possible in the next month or so there will be a prize of some sorts for the guys rising through the ranks… I would never consider it a midcard title."Cody explained he never considered his Intercontinental Championship run in WWE a midcard run. And he wants every title within AEW on the same level, saying he wants to make sure Riho and the AEW Women's Championship, and SCU and the Tag Team Championships are as well respected as Jericho and the AEW World Championship.For fans, the term "midcard" does have a stigma as "not as important as the main event," but Cody wants to make a change. As for what the name of this possible title will be, that's a mystery for now. However, looking at other companies and thinking about how to make create a title that can be on the same level as everything else, AEW may want to go the route of a Jr. Heavyweight Championship/Cruiserweight--for competitors smaller in size like Marko Stunt, Darby Allin, or Fénix--or go with a 6-Man Tag Team Championship--catering to three man teams or stables like Jurassic Express or current Tag Team Champions SCU, which are actually a three-man team or the Elite combination of Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks.Stay tuned to AEW Dynamite in the coming weeks, which airs on TNT on Wednesday nights, as an announcement may come before the end of the year. Additionally, the final AEW PPV of the year, Full Gear, airs on November 9, and you can find out how to watch it here.Info from Gamespot.com

Endings are never easy but for The Shining, they're a whole different level of complicated. Back in 1980 when Stanley Kubrick adapted the classic Stephen King novel, a rift infamously arose between the filmmaker and the writer. It came about for more than one reason, but one of the biggest and most obvious was the major changes Kubrick had made in the original story's finale. In Kubrick's world, the Torrance family (minus father Jack who had been driven insane) were able to escape The Overlook Hotel with the Hotel still standing, while in the book the hotel was leveled by a massive explosion.The issue wasn't as simple or as literal as whether or not the hotel got demolished, but what King believed to be Kubrick's willful misinterpretation of the intent of the novel. In King's view, destroying the hotel was critical to really buttoning The Shining's thesis: The idea that the horror is, primarily, the responsibility and the result of choices made by the characters, rather than something that happens to them by forces outside of their control.Unsurprisingly, creating a follow up to The Shining presents an interesting challenge with regard to the ending, but it's a challenge that Mike Flanagan was more than willing to take on when adapting King's follow up novel, Doctor Sleep, for the big screen. So how did he do it and what, exactly, happened in Doctor Sleep's final cinematic moments? Let's break it down.Major Spoilers from both the movie and the novel versions of Doctor Sleep bellow! Proceed with caution!The first thing you'll notice as a Shining fan going into the last act of Doctor Sleep in the theater is that The Overlook is decidedly still around. Sure, it's been boarded up and abandoned--left to rot, as Dan says--but it did not blow up or burn down. But for whatever King must feel about Kubrick's version of his novel, he was fully in support of Flanagan's Doctor Sleep adaptation "living within the canon" Kubrick set forth, according to Flanagan himself. But that didn't make the process of pitching a new ending any less daunting.Selling a return to the Overlook Hotel wasn't the tricky thing--it was nailing down the final moments for Dan himself. In King's novel, Dan survives the final fight with the True Knot and is given an epilogue where he's celebrating 15 years of sobriety, a battle he's been fighting through most of his adult life. But in Flanagan's version, things don't go so smoothly.For the movie, finishing Dan's story was all about finding a sense of balance between King and Kubric--and for that, Flanagan understood that Dan had to die. Or, specifically, Dan had to die in the way that King had originally written his father Jack to die: By setting off a massive explosion that destroys the Overlook from the boiler room. This comes after Dan and Abra team up to strategically destroy the True Knot until only Rose the Hat is left to chase them, when they decide to lead her to the Overlook for the final battle.During their last fight, Dan is forced to "unlock" the ghosts of the Overlook which have followed him since childhood. With a trick he learned from his ghostly mentor, Dick Hallorann, he's been sealing them away in special mental boxes to keep himself sane--boxes that other psychics like Abra and Rose are able to sense and manipulate by looking into his mind. Rose's greed and obsession eventually the best of her and she mistakenly enters Dan's mind, rather than Abra's, where he's able to trap her and unleash the spirits--everyone from the "come play with us" twins to the horrifying woman from Room 237 to rip Rose apart.But naturally, once those ghosts have been set free, they don't just go away. Even with Rose gone, Dan and Abra are forced to fight for their lives--or succumb to the insanity of the Overlook once and for all. Dan very nearly loses himself the same way Jack did--but, heroically (and tragically) comes to just enough to realize what he has to do to save Abra and end the Overlook's nightmare once and for all.It was a daunting task, to say the least, Flanagan explained while speaking with GameSpot. "When I showed it to King, it was one of the things I was the most afraid of. Because we talked about the Overlook, we talked about all that. He blessed all that," Flanagan said. "We never talked about the ending. I think he kind of assumed it would be the same ending as the novel.So when he read the draft he was like, 'That's Jack's ending.' And I was like, 'Yeah. Yeah, it is.' And he said, 'I love it.'"For Flanagan, it was less about changing the ending to surprise viewers who might also be familiar with the source material and more about "reaching beyond" the ending of the story. "I knew we'd have to change it just because we're going back to the hotel. But what if I could reach past the Kubrick film and go all the way back to the ending from The Shining? And if I pulled Jack's ending, the ending that King never got, the one Kubrick never made. And I could take Jack's story from the end of The Shining and give it to Dan, that felt like there was a symmetry to that that I just loved," he explained. "It was like, 'Okay, well, if I'm going to change it, I'm going to give Dan the ending King always wanted for his dad.' For better or worse. I was very happy with it. It felt like the right way to say goodbye to him."As for Abra, she's not completely left in the wind. She's able to return to her mother and, like Dan himself who grew up "mentored" by the ghost of Dick Hallorann, still see the ghost of Dan who appears to her to explain that death isn't the end after all. Sure, it may be considerably less celebratory than getting a 15-year chip at an AA meeting, but it's not exactly sad. "I'm kind of into [examinations of] grief," Flanagan laughed, by way of explanation. "It's kind of my thing."Doctor Sleep is in theaters now. Info from Gamespot.com

The Modern Warfare series has always been about the messiness of modern war--the fundamentally different rules of engagement that come with a battle that has no set battlefield. When the fight could be anywhere at any time, where do you draw the line between doing what's right and doing what has to be done?Throughout Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's campaign, that line is chemical weapons. It's a safe line to draw; people are largely in agreement that chemical weapons are beyond horrific. But there are other horrors of war, some of which Modern Warfare depicts, starkly, in strong but uncomfortable missions. Just when it could really make a point about any other aspect of modern war, it pulls back. Modern Warfare makes old observations and presents them with new flourishes. Those new flourishes do make for a good campaign and solid multiplayer. But it's when Modern Warfare asks you to think harder that it falls short.CampaignIn one of the game's most distressing levels, you play Farah, a young girl in a fictional war-torn Middle Eastern country as she hides from both a Russian terrorist and the deadly gas his cohorts have unleashed on her town. To escape, you have to kill a man twice your size with his own gun. It's a deeply uncomfortable experience. But the flashback serves to illustrate why Farah, now the leader of a group of freedom fighters, refuses to use chemical weapons or associate with anyone who does. It is a hard line she won't cross, even though she's had to face a lot of ugliness in the course of defending her country.In many ways, Farah is Modern Warfare's moral compass. There are a few key players in Modern Warfare's proxy war, and everyone you play as--Sgt. Kyle Garrick from the UK, rogue American soldier Alex "Echo 3-1," and sometimes Farah herself--abides by her one rule. Outside of that, though, the rules are much murkier. In getting pulled into a war between the Russian terrorists, a separatist group from Farah's country, and the freedom fighters, US and UK military personnel disagree on how best to proceed with the situation--matters of disobeying orders, sacrificing some lives to save others, taking civilian hostages, and even torture. And on these matters, the moral compass is Captain Price.A returning face from the original Modern Warfare and undeniably a problematic fave, Captain Price is the seasoned badass who takes the lead in most Garrick missions. Early levels with Price are among the best. As a rash and impatient Garrick, you follow Price's directions in order to save as many people as possible from terrorists--though more than once that means watching as innocent people die while you wait to make the best possible move.These missions range from large-scale, high-octane firefights to a carefully planned raid on a terrorist hideout with less than a dozen enemies total. You direct a woman through an embassy under siege using security cameras to make sure her path is clear. You quietly search a compound for an enemy using night vision goggles as Price watches overhead, shooting out lights to keep you hidden. Price guides you through the different approaches you need for each mission, and his mentorship--both in the mechanical skills you need to be successful and the hard choices you have to make along the way--makes these missions memorable.While Alex's missions don't stick out quite as much in a gameplay sense, he gets a sniping level reminiscent of the original Modern Warfare's "All Ghillied Up"--though with more enemies--and otherwise a few cool gadgets. His dynamic with Farah is strong, though. He follows Farah's lead on her turf and on her terms because he believes in the cause, and they share mutual respect.It's disappointing, though, that Farah doesn't play more of a role. While she is a key part of Alex's missions and the driving force behind much of the story, you only play as her a few times. On top of the childhood flashback, there is an even more disturbing flashback later on in which you see the full extent of Farah's resolve. Experiencing her suffering this way borders on unnecessary, as it's already established in Alex's missions that she's a respected leader and a strong-willed person in general. While I liked Alex, I would have rather just played as Farah in those missions than get to know her character largely through her trauma.I already liked and respected Farah without that context, and despite some questionable decisions, I liked each of the main characters and their small but crucial differences in working toward the same goals. Farah and Alex are principled, whereas Garrick and Price are results-driven. Alex goes so far as to disobey orders in favor of doing what's right, and when he's told that would be illegal, he responds, "I'm pretty sure everything we do is illegal." To Alex, it's a criticism; to Price and Garrick, it's an excuse.That tension builds up over the course of the campaign, and because the characters are likable, it's easy to at least consider each one's view of what's right. But in the end, all you get is a vague "we all did what we had to do" sentiment rather than anything more substantial or interesting. Quite a bit of what you had to do--as Garrick, as Alex, and as Farah--was unpleasant or distressing, but the questions raised by your actions aren't interrogated further, especially the questionable side of Price's approach. Modern Warfare's ending isn't bad, but it is a safe one, leaving you to think on the harder questions yourself.If anything, Modern Warfare lets Farah down with the bizarre and much-discussed inclusion of white phosphorus as a killstreak in multiplayer. Given how strong the campaign's emphasis is on chemical weapons being a reprehensible war crime, it's tone-deaf to include one in multiplayer, even though one could argue--much like Alex does--that pretty much all of it is illegal at the end of the day.MultiplayerOutside of any thematic contradictions, Modern Warfare's multiplayer is up to par, with a variety of game types for different kinds of players. Across all the modes, maps move away from the obvious three-lane structure in favor of nooks, crannies, and tons of cover; there's generally a balance of close-quarters and long-range approaches. The standard, highly customizable toolkit for your chosen loadouts returns, with a good selection of perks to suit different game types and playstyles. Modern Warfare largely stays within the strong foundations of Call of Duty multiplayer without pushing them much, with the exception of the excellent Realism mode.Undeniably the highlight of Modern Warfare's multiplayer, Realism mode is somewhere between the familiar Core and Hardcore modes, bridging the gulf between them. Oddly enough, in a mode called "Realism," you can take more damage than in Hardcore, and your health regenerates like it does in Core. But Realism removes the HUD entirely, going beyond Hardcore to strip out the kill feed on top of everything else. In order to confirm a kill, you have to listen for the sound effect that plays upon death, and you also have to listen for NPCs over the comms alerting you to available killstreaks and enemy intel. It's a fantastic balance for those who want more of a chance to survive a scrap, rather than dying in one or two shots like in Hardcore, but with the rest of the challenge intact. It's a smart, satisfying evolution, and as a stubborn Hardcore-only player, it's one I could see myself playing exclusively going forward.While none of the new game types are earth-shattering, some are better additions than others. TDM 20, a 10v10 version of the classic 6v6 Team Deathmatch mode, is the least inventive or warranted of them, instead functioning as a more bloated version of regular TDM with bigger maps that can make getting back into the action an overly long process. One of the two maps I've tried, Euphrates Bridge, also suffers from balance problems on top of that; of the two spawns, one is much closer to the bridge dividing the map, and the closer side was almost guaranteed victory in every match I played. My team once managed to flip the spawn mid-match after struggling against snipers on the bridge for a while, and from there we were able to gain the lead relatively easily.Gunfight is the antithesis of TDM 20. It's a one-life, 2v2 mode in which your loadout rotates each round, and the goal is to kill your two opponents with the means available to you before they get you first. Gunfight features small maps with two main routes on each, and quick coordination with your partner--a "you go left, I'll go right" at the beginning, plus callouts over voice chat if things go haywire--can make or break the fight. With a relatively level playing field, battles are often exhilaratingly close, and it's hard to get discouraged by a loss since rounds go by so quickly. There's also a version where you start without any weapons and have to find a gun in the map, which is a fun scramble before the frenzy of Gunfight itself. Either way, the more arcadey bent to Gunfight keeps things light and makes both versions a great addition to the multiplayer suite, if not a huge draw.Ground War is somewhere in the middle. Maps are sprawling, with five control points to capture and one safe zone for each team on either end. Unlike in TDM 20, you can pretty easily get back to the fight after dying by respawning at any capture point your team owns, or on vehicles or your teammates (provided they're not actively in a fight). Having objective points is also helpful for keeping such a large game type--it supports 64 players currently--more structured than the free-for-all of TDM. That said, matches can drag on a bit too long, as there isn't anything to break up the constant tug-of-war for capture points.There's also a night vision mode, NVG, for a different take on the same maps, and by its nature it makes things a bit more tense. It pretty much plays the same as the other game types, but you don't aim down sights in night vision--you have a laser, and that laser is easy to spot. You have to be extra cautious when lining up your shots, paying close attention to sightlines and who might see where your beam is coming from. Like in the campaign, the threatening glow of these beams cutting through the darkness looks excellent, and the slight change of pace NVG affords is enough to keep it interesting and distinct from the daytime modes.Spec OpsOn paper, Spec Ops is a co-op mode where you and a team complete a set of objectives and are rewarded with some story. You can choose one of several roles at the onset, each with its own ultimate ability--there's a medic, for instance, that can revive fallen teammates--and as a group, you have to work together to overcome enemies while gaining intel, heading to specific objective points, and so on.In practice, my team of four could barely complete a handful of the objectives on both of the missions we attempted during the review event, and it only got marginally better as I continued to play for the review. This is largely due to frustrating enemy spawning--enemies seem to generate endlessly from all directions, and it's all too easy to get overwhelmed by them. To add insult to injury, there are also no clear waves. It's just enemies, from everywhere, at all times. After struggling to fight them off, reviving each other was we each inevitably died, we would end up running out of ammo and dying for good.Experimentation in Spec Ops isn't rewarded, either. Trying different strategies--stealth, dividing and conquering, new loadouts--doesn't really change how many enemies swarm you, so brute force ends up being the best way to actually complete a mission. Even when you do succeed, you don't feel like you got better--you feel like you got lucky. Cooperating with teammates largely comes down to asking for revives or reviving someone else in turn, rather than actually coordinating to improve your chances of victory.The PS4-exclusive Survival mode fares better. It plays more like Zombies, with kills converted into dollars that you can use to buy upgrades, and it has traditional waves rather than a barrage of enemies. There's a 30-second reprieve between each wave, during which you can upgrade your weapons, refill ammo, or otherwise just steel yourself for the next wave. Mini-boss-like enemies appear during specific waves, too, so if you die at wave 5 in one game, you can go into the next more prepared for wave 5, armed with knowledge and a more powerful gun.The pitfalls of Spec Ops don't detract from what Modern Warfare does well, though. Realism mode is an excellent addition to the slate, and although not all the new multiplayer modes are great, Gunfight and the Night Vision playlist are refreshing standouts. And while the campaign ends up playing it safe in the end, it's still a memorable one, and it lays a strong foundation for where the Modern Warfare series could go from here. Info from Gamespot.com

Television network AMC and its newly-established subsidiary AMC Games have announced a brand-new flight passenger simulation titled Airplane Mode, scheduled to launch sometime in 2020 for PC.Airplane Mode puts you in the passenger seat of a flight attendee, where you'll sit through a "real-time, six-hour commercial airline flight [across the Atlantic]--in Coach," according to the game's Steam page. Every flight will reportedly feature randomized events to build "the most realistic flight simulation ever created down to every last detail--from the design of your seat and the seatback in front of you, to the contents of your carry-on bag and smartphone hard drive, to the behaviors of cabin crew and other passengers, and more."An Airplane Mode livestream is slated to go live on November 12 at 2 AM AST / 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET / 4 PM BST for the annual Desert Bus For Hope charity event. AMC shared a teaser trailer, which can be viewed below.AMC's vice president of gaming, Clayton Neuman, expressed enthusiasm for backing solo developer Hosni Auji's first mainstream project. "AMC has always been committed to bringing visionaries' passion projects to life--on-screen and now in games, and we're thrilled to launch this new label with the debut of Hosni Auji's Airplane Mode," Neuman said in a press release. "The game is as insightful as it is absurd; a meditation on the life between destinations, and one that we will be proud to bring to players worldwide next year."AMC Games may be the television network's official branding for its indie publishing label, but the company has partnered with other third-party publishers on a handful of AMC-related projects. This includes adding The Walking Dead's Negan to Tekken 7, assisting with The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, and several other titles based on the company's Walking Dead property.Info from Gamespot.com

Showtime's Halo TV series is about to begin production and is adding more to its cast. In addition to the already-cast Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, three new roles have been confirmed.Danny Sapani (Doctor Who, Black Panther), Olive Gray (Fleabag), and Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders) have been cast for the 2021 Showtime series, the network has announced. Sapani will take on the role of Captain Jacob Keyes--a war hero and father working with his daughter and ex-wife. Gray will plan Dr. Miranda Keyes, a UNSC commander who has dedicated her life to understanding culture and technology. Finally, Murphy will play Makee, a woman who was orphaned and raised by the alien Covenant to hate humanity.The cast is assembled. The table reads are complete. Production on the @Showtime Halo series is about to begin! pic.twitter.com/KNrPLYx260 — Halo on Showtime (@SHO_Halo) November 8, 2019The trio will also join Natasha McElhone playing Cortana and Dr. Catherine Halsey, Bokeem Woodbine playing Soren-066, Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, and others.The creators of the series are trying to satisfy Halo gaming fans as well. "The good news is we've been working very closely with 343 [Studios] through the entire development process," Showtime Networks co-president Gary Levine explained during the TCA press tour. "And they are there both as a resource to tell us stuff we don't know and also to make sure we're not violating anything big in the canon. So we're doing this with total confidence that the fans are going to embrace what we're doing."Halo is expected to air on Showtime sometime in 2021.Disclosure: Showtime is owned by CBS, the parent company of GameSpot.Info from Gamespot.com

As expected from a show by Damon Lindelof--co-creator of Lost and The Leftovers--HBO's Watchmen sequel series is full of mysteries that have us speculating, guessing, and theorizing week after week. One of those mysteries is what exactly is going on with Adrian Veidt--AKA Ozymandias--a familiar Watchmen character being played in the show by Jeremy Irons. This week, Lindelof appears to have just put one mystery surrounding the character to bed.Be warned: There are spoilers for Watchmen's first three episodes ahead.On the newly released first episode of HBO's official Watchmen podcast, host Craig Mazin--yes, the writer and producer of HBO's acclaimed Chernobyl miniseries--interviews Lindelof about Watchmen's first three episodes, "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice," "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship," and "She Was Killed by Space Junk." While questioning Lindelof about the Adrian Veidt storyline, Mazin laid out all the questions he has, from where Ozymandias is to the source of his many servants, who appear to all be clones.The entire discussion is worth listening to, so definitely put the podcast on during your commute if you're into the show so far. However, there's one specific thing Lindelof said about the Veidt storyline that we consider the most significant:"Now let me say, after three episodes, if you are worried, A, that's the intention. You should be worried. You should be worried as to like, why--what is this all for? Is it even real? Because it feels like it might be a little bit tonally aberrant," Lindelof says. "It's not--these are not parallel storylines, they are in fact converging lines that are moving towards one another."The reason that's significant is it sounds like Lindelof is addressing one specific fan theory: that the Veidt storyline is not happening in parallel with the rest of the show, but is in fact taking place over a much longer period of time, similar to the way Westworld Season 1 featured two separate storylines that took place in different time periods before eventually converging at the end of the season. Similarly, Lindelof appears to be stating that Veidt's storyline and the one featuring Laurie Blake and Angela are "not parallel," but will eventually "converge." Lindelof also promises that the show will answer all the other questions you have about Veidt, as well as those involving other mysteries, like what exactly is going on with Angela's grandfather, Will."Not only do we know where all of it's going, but I think, again, one of the things that was on that list that I was telling you about, of adjectives [I wanted to describe the show], was 'self-contained,'" Lindelof says, describing how he felt the original Watchmen comics definitively answered most of the mysteries and questions it presented, while still leaving some things ambiguous, like what Laurie would do next, and what would happen with Rorschach's journal."There's this sort of degree of ambiguity in terms of the way that it ends, and yet it also simultaneously feels immensely satisfying," he continues. "All this by way of saying is, every question that you just asked--where is Adrian Veidt, what's his relationship with the Game Warden, what's up with the cakes, where is he and what's he doing, where do all these clones, what have you, these beings, where do they come from, why is he obsessed with Doctor Manhattan--all of those things are answered very, very definitively." Lindelof also discusses why they kept Veidt's identity a "secret" until the third episode. Partially, it had to do with not wanting the show to be definitively labeled a Watchmen sequel. Another concern was continuing the original books' sense of mystery:"People forget--they didn't reveal who Rorschach was until halfway through the comic books' run. He was a guy who actually appears in the first issue as seemingly like a vagabond or a homeless guy holding this 'end is nigh' sign," the showrunner said. "And so, 'Who is that?'--that question--'Who is that?' is a big part of Watchmen to me too. And so we were trying to sort of replicate that fundamental idea as well."No doubt Watchmen has many more mysteries in store for us. The show airs Sundays on HBO, and we're here every week to break each episode down, catch all the Easter eggs we can spot, and more.Info from Gamespot.com

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tim Burton's Batman, Lego has unveiled a new elaborate replica of the distinct and quite memorable Batmobile from the film. While I haven't had a chance to build it myself, the finished product is easily one of the most gorgeous Lego builds I've ever seen. The Lego DC Super Heroes 1989 Batmobile will be available on Black Friday directly from Lego and at retailers that carry Lego products for $250.Lego DC Super Heroes 1989 Batmobile | $250 See at Lego The massive 3,306-piece set measures at 23 inches long, 8 inches wide, and roughly 4 inches tall when built. Impressively, the Batmobile has the same curved design that made Bruce Wayne's ride pop in the 1989 movie.You'll probably want to think twice before taking the Batmobile apart after completing the build. On top of being marketed as one of Lego's more challenging sets to put together, it has a number of cool features that will make it a cool build to display. The cockpit slides open to reveal two seats, and if you turn the turbine exhaust, a pair of machine guns pop-up. The wraparound windshield adds some bonus style to an already slick-looking build.The all-new exclusive 1989 Batmobile. Designed to defeat evil. Destined to be a collectible.https://t.co/vmeKivpmRR pic.twitter.com/Vtj433s2uV — LEGO (@LEGO_Group) November 7, 2019If you have kids, they'll probably want to zoom it around across the kitchen floor like a race car (can't blame them). But if you manage to keep it away from them (a tall order and a tad mean), it comes with a rotating display stand complete with some facts and specifications about this unique Batmobile.One you stop gawking at the Batmobile itself, you'll be able to tell that it comes with three figures, each of which were updated for the new set: Batman, Joker, and Vicki Vale. Black Friday 2019 Deals & News Black Friday 2019: The Best Xbox One Deals So Far Black Friday 2019: The Best PS4 Deals So Far Best Buy Black Friday 2019 Ad: Best Gaming, Tech, And Entertainment Deals Black Friday 2019: When Does It Start, Deals To Expect, And More Target Black Friday 2019 Ad: Best Gaming, Tech, And Entertainment Deals At Target Amazon's Early Black Friday Deals Are Live Info from Gamespot.com

With Diablo 4, Blizzard seems to be taking a page from live-service games that have cropped up with increasing frequency in the seven years since the release of Diablo 3. Diablo 4 supports a shared world in which you'll see and even fight alongside other players who aren't in your party, much in the way you might in an MMO or a live game like Destiny. The game will support PvP areas that let you battle against other players. And it'll maintain some of Diablo 3's features that made the game replayable over the long term.As Blizzard detailed at BlizzCon 2019, Diablo 4 is adding a few new elements--and bringing back some old ones. Lead systems designer David Kim told GameSpot that what has him most excited for Diablo 4 is the chance to improve the franchise's replayability."The stuff that we're going to be exploring there is to make sure that whenever someone comes back after a break, it's kind of a fresh [type of experience] with new things to explore…." Kim said.A lot of what will and won't be in Diablo 4 still sounds like it's up in the air, with Blizzard working on content and systems while taking feedback from the player community. For instance, the playable build at BlizzCon showed three returning character classes: Diablo 3's Barbarian, and the Sorceress and Druid from Diablo 2. Kim and lead lighting designer Sean Murphy said the team isn't sure what other classes might make a return or if they'll add new classes; the developer is waiting to see what people want before making those decisions.Another feature not yet set in stone is Adventure mode, the replayable endgame mode that appeared in Diablo 3. It's coming back, but Kim said what form it will take or how exactly it'll work is something that's still being determined."We'll have something like Adventure mode, but we don't know exactly what that is yet, but we'll have the replayable content that you can play forever in the world, and we do want to up the game there a little bit," Kim explained. "So in the endgame, we want not only that dungeon-running experience, which is also fun and great too, but we also want to up the stuff that's going on in the world too, for variety, for additional challenges, things like that."Adventure mode's influence can be felt in the rest of Diablo 4 with the game's new focus on public spaces that include additional players beyond just you and your party. In Diablo 4 hands-on demo available at BlizzCon, it was possible to run into other players in open spaces outside of dungeons, like in an MMO or live game. Diablo 4 includes public events and world bosses you can take on with other players even if you're not grouped up with them.Murphy said that Blizzard is still working on finding a balance between including other players in public spaces to make the world of Sanctuary feel more alive and populous, without sacrificing the developer's focus on a darker, more horrific tone for Diablo 4. He said the demo on the show floor was pretty indicative of what the game will feel like--there will be people around that you run into from time to time, but there won't be so many that they undercut the feeling that Sanctuary is a dangerous place filled with terrors.And then there's seasonal content. Diablo 3's seasons helped keep the game fresh over the last seven years, and Kim said seasons are something Diablo 4 will also employ to keep the game replayable. Unlike Adventure mode or public events, though, seasons will focus on adding new experiences to the game."The main goal will be to change up the play experience from season to season," he said. "So one example I can talk about is, what if there were brand new legendary items coming into seasons? And then there's also some subset of all legendary items that are more powerful in different seasons, that way you can kind of explore different combinations that you've never played with before. With that said, this is just a legendary item-specific example, but we want to try to do this across the board in as many places as possible."Legendary items sound as though they'll provide another reason to keep coming back to the game. They'll provide more options in the gear chase, and along with the return of skill trees after their absence in Diablo 3, should work to give you more customization options that change how you play.The system of item sets from Diablo 3 will still make a return, but they'll have something of a different role as you work for better equipment while you play, Kim said."We want to have sets as kind of optional choices," he said. "So players who want to have a simpler choice or players who are just getting into the game, not really sure what combinations are really good, they can use sets as a starting point to see, 'Oh, I can do this with items and that with items,' and kind of learn that process. But in the end game, we would want a scenario where a majority of the players are customizing every single slot to their liking, so that even if we are both playing the exact same class and exact same build, like we're both playing the Bleed Barb, your build is very different from mine because of the choices that you've made versus the choices that I have made."The last big new inclusion to Diablo 4 is something that was supposed to come to Diablo 3 but never made it: a player-versus-player mode. Like Adventure mode, it's a feature Blizzard is still experimenting with, and seems to be taking influence from the games that Diablo has inspired over the years, in order to add more things to do and more reasons to log in."Currently, we are planning on having specific areas of the world where you can choose to PvP if you want to, and the other thing is, we are also exploring some PvP modes that would work really well in Diablo," Kim said. "So the goal is, we want to have that mixed PvE and PvP type of experience, because everyone knows the PvE, killing swarms of monsters, that's where kind of the core fun of Diablo is at. We haven't found something that we really love yet, but once we do, of course, we're going to tell everyone about it."There's still a long way to go before we see Diablo 4 in a completed state, despite its BlizzCon demo looking pretty solid. Blizzard hasn't set a release date yet, and as Kim and Murphy noted, a lot of the game's features are still in their early stages of development. But it appears that Blizzard's focus on replayability is set to shake up the Diablo formula from what we've seen in the past, giving players plenty of reasons to stick with it after its release.Info from Gamespot.com

Norman Reedus' character in Death Stranding, Sam Porter Bridges, is said to suffer from a condition called aphenphosmphobia. While it's clear there is something bothering Sam, the name of the condition itself is only mentioned in passing, so if you didn't catch it, it can be easy to pass off as part of the larger fictional world-building.But it isn't a fictional condition. Aphenphosmphobia is a real phobia, and as you play through Death Stranding, it becomes more clear how it affects Sam, where he might have developed it, and how it fits into the themes and motifs of the story. We won't spoil that for you now, but we can explain the meaning of aphenphosmphobia, and what it is.What Is Aphenphosmphobia? Symptoms and CausesAphenphosmphobia is a phobia, or extreme and irrational fear, of intimacy. That includes physical touch, which is why Sam reels from hugs or even simple handshakes in Death Stranding. But it is also a fear of "emotional bonds," according to a website called Phobia Guru. Symptoms of Aphenphosmphobia range from increased heart rate to physical pain in reaction to intimacy--a literal "fight or flight" response. Death Stranding Guides Death Stranding BT Survival Guide: Early Tips For Overcoming These Dangerous Enemies Death Stranding: How Long Does It Take To Beat? Death Stranding Walkthrough, Guides, And Tips It's important that Sam, the one who fears developing bonds with other humans, is the one tasked with forging bonds across Death Stranding's fractured America. It becomes part of his emotional development as a character, but it's also an interesting starting place for the player, who might begin their journey unsure of how to affect change in the game's world right away or if the connections they're tasked with making will really matter. One of the causes of Aphenphosmphobia is an intense fear of abandonment, which translates into a reluctance to start relationships for fear they will eventually crumble. That becomes thematically important in Death Stranding."Reconnecting America" sounds like a monumental task, but as our Death Stranding review puts it, the type of human connection required for that is Death Stranding's most "remarkable achievement." Info from Gamespot.com

Remember the Disney Vault? It was the House of Mouse's cute way of keeping their glorious animated movies out of your hands, only releasing certain films for a limited time in retail stores of return engagements in movie theaters. You either bought them during this window or you had to wait until it was released again, which usually took years. However, with the streaming service Disney+, the vault is gone.When Disney+ arrives on November 12, the vast majority of Disney movies that have been locked away will be available to stream on Day One. That means you don't have to wait around for a Blu-ray release of Robin Hood in order to watch it. You can stream it on Tuesday.The new streaming service officially goes live at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET on November 12, and you can get a reminder from Twitter when the service launches. Sadly, those in Europe will have to wait until Spring 2020 to join in on the fun. While Disney+ will cost $7--or $13 a month bundled with ESPN+ and an ad-supported version of Hulu--certain Verizon customers can get it for a year for the low, low price of $0.There is plenty to watch on launch day for Disney+, including a ton of Marvel movies and TV shows, animated series you may have forgotten about, all the Star Wars stuff on the service, and even Avengers: Endgame. Below, you'll find the complete list for Disney animated movies available to watch on Disney+.Disney animated classics on Disney+101 DalmatiansThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. ToadAladdinAlice in WonderlandAtlantis: The Lost EmpireThe AristocatsBambiBeauty and the BeastThe Black CauldronBrother BearCinderellaDumboThe Emperor’s New GrooveFantasiaFantasia 2000The Fox and the HoundThe Great Mouse DetectiveHerculesHome on the RangeThe Hunchback of Notre DameThe Jungle BookLady and the TrampLilo & StitchThe Lion KingThe Little MermaidThe Many Adventures of Winnie the PoohMoanaMulanThe Nightmare Before ChristmasOliver & CompanyPeter PanPinocchioPocahontasThe Princess and the FrogThe RescuersThe Rescuers Down UnderRobin HoodSleeping BeautySnow White and the Seven DwarfsSteamboat WillieThe Sword in the StoneTreasure PlanetInfo from Gamespot.com

While there have been no new developments since it was first announced at D23, there's finally some movement on the She-Hulk TV show, which is in the works for the Disney+ streaming service. Marvel Studios has reportedly found the writer to develop the show and lead its writers' room.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rick and Morty alum Jessica Gao has been chosen to develop She-Hulk for Disney+. Among Gao's credits is the Pickle Rick episode of Rick and Morty, which she wrote. Other shows she's worked on include Comedy Central's Corporate and HBO's Silicon Valley.Gao's hiring points to a more comedic tone for the series than you might have imagined. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed at D23 that the show would at least somewhat follow comic book continuity, with the She-Hulk in question being Jennifer Walters. In the comics, Walters is a lawyer and the cousin of Bruce Banner, who retains her personality and intelligence when she turns into She-Hulk.No other details about She-Hulk have been revealed just yet, but it's only one of a handful of Marvel Cinematic Universe shows being developed for Disney+. It was also announced at D23 that Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight would be getting their own standalone shows, joining the likes of Hawkeye, Loki, WandaVision, and The Falcon and Winter Soldier--which is currently filming.Disney+ launches in the United States on November 12. Make sure to take a look at every Marvel and Star Wars title available on Day One, plus a look back at the best '80s movies you'll be able to stream. Info from Gamespot.com

It'll likely be a huge holiday season for the Nintendo Switch, namely because of the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield. Chances are, you have someone on your holiday shopping list who wants a Nintendo Switch or Switch Lite (or maybe that person is you). We're here to help you fulfill holiday wishes by rounding up all of the best Nintendo Switch console and accessory deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And as more retailers release their Black Friday ads, we'll include the best discounts here.Let's break the disappointing news right out of the gate. Judging by the early Black Friday ads we've seen, the Nintendo Switch won't be getting a nice discount or even a particularly amazing bundle this holiday season. Instead, Nintendo has provided retailers with the same Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Switch bundle from last Black Friday. And yes, it still includes the launch model Switch, not the updated Switch with better battery life that hit stores a few months back. While the Switch Lite is prominently featured in ads, so far it's just that: an ad for the $200 handheld-only Switch, with no discount to speak of.That doesn't mean there won't be great deals on Switch accessories, though. In fact, we've already seen countless accessories featured in the various Black Friday ads that have dropped, and you can expect even more accessory deals as retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and GameStop release their Black Friday ads. And if Best Buy's ad is any indication, there will also be some seriously awesome Switch game deals. Black Friday 2019 Deals & News Black Friday 2019: The Best Xbox One Deals So Far Black Friday 2019: The Best PS4 Deals So Far Best Buy Black Friday 2019 Ad: Best Gaming, Tech, And Entertainment Deals Black Friday 2019: When Does It Start, Deals To Expect, And More Target Black Friday 2019 Ad: Best Gaming, Tech, And Entertainment Deals At Target Amazon's Early Black Friday Deals Are Live Best Black Friday Nintendo Switch console dealsNintendo Switch with free digital copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and screen protector | $300This Switch bundle was offered in 2018, and on the surface, it's a pretty good deal. You get the Switch and an awesome game that regularly goes for around $50 these days. However, please note this isn't the updated Switch with better battery life; it's the launch model. If you love Mario Kart and aren't concerned about the longer battery life, this is a solid offer; otherwise, you may be better off just buying the newer model for the same price and waiting for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to go on sale. We're highlighting Best Buy's bundle here because the retailer is throwing in a screen protector, but expect this bundle to be available at most major retailers as it's an official Nintendo offer. Perhaps one smart retailer will throw in more than just a screen protector. See at Best Buy Nintendo Switch (new model) with carrying case and charging dock with $90 Kohl's Cash | $320 ($345)If you're not eager to grab Nintendo's official bundle, we know Kohl's will have its own bundle that does, in fact, feature the updated Switch with better battery life. For $320, you'll get the Switch, a carrying case ($20 value), and the popular PowerA Joy-Con Charging Dock ($25 value). The real draw here is that you'll get $90 Kohl's Cash to spend in the weeks following Black Friday.Best Black Friday Nintendo Switch accessory dealsNintendo Switch Joy-Con (L/R) Neon Red/Blue or Gray | $60 ($80)An extra pair of Joy-Con controllers normally sets you back $80, and even though you get "two" controllers, that's still pricey. Thankfully, Switch Joy-Cons will be on sale for $60 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target this Black Friday. You can choose between neon red/blue or gray. See at Amazon PowerA wired controllers | $15 ($25)Like Joy-Cons, Switch Pro controllers are expensive, but there are some reasonable third-party options like PowerA's lineup of wired controllers. Using the same layout as the Pro controller but with a slightly smaller form factor, PowerA's wired controllers are pretty darn good and come in three awesome designs: Zelda, Super Mario, and a Pikachu-yellow Pokemon theme. All three will be discounted to $15 during Best Buy's Black Friday sale. See Zelda-themed controller See Mario-themed controller See Pokemon-themed controller Poke Ball Plus | $20 ($50)While the Poke Ball Plus initially launched as an alternative controller for Pokemon: Let's Go, it will also be compatible with Pokemon Sword and Shield, allowing you to "hold" one of your Pokemon and take it with you on the go (presumably to rack up experience points or earn extra items). However, it won't function as a controller for Pokemon Sword and Shield the same way it did for Pokemon: Let's Go. The Poke Ball Plus also comes with Mew, a mythical Pokemon that can be transferred into Pokemon: Let's Go. The accessory is normally $50, but all the major retailers will have it for $20 during Black Friday. See at Amazon Nintendo Switch Elite Edition Starter Kit | $15 ($25)If you're buying a Nintendo Switch this holiday season, you should be in the market for a case, too. This starter kit comes with a carrying case, USB-C cable, silicone Joy-Con covers, and a microfiber cleaning cloth. It'll be discounted to $15 at Best Buy. See at Best Buy Insignia Power Pack for Switch/Switch Lite | $12.50 ($25)For those who like traveling with their Switch (and who doesn't?), a car charger is a great accessory to have. This Insignia pack comes with a car charger, a USB-C cable, and an extra AC adapter. Having a second AC adapter is handy, as you won't have to unplug your AC adapter from your dock every time you want to take your Switch on a trip. See at Best Buy Info from Gamespot.com

America is broken, and it's up to you to put it back together again. It's a tall order. A lot of people believe in it, but you're not sure you do. It'll take a lot of lonely, dangerous walks and exceptionally heavy lifting, and it's not really clear what America means in the first place. For some reason, you set out anyway, trudging through wetlands and rocky hills on foot, not fully knowing or understanding where you're going. Other than the monsters you can't quite see, there's not really anyone else around most of the time--just you and your thoughts, one foot in front of the other.On one level, Death Stranding is about America. But your actual goal in setting out across the country is to help people, bring them together, and forge connections, not for the vague concept of America but for the sake of helping the people within it. Death Stranding is unrelenting in its earnestness and optimism--certainly not without its critiques of America, nor without its challenges and setbacks, but inherently hopeful nonetheless. It is a dense, complex, slow game with a plot that really goes places, but at its core, it never stops being about the sheer power and purpose we can find in human connection, and that is its most remarkable achievement.Hands Across AmericaRebuilding the country is as simple as getting every far-flung city, outpost, and individual onto one network, the bones of which were laid down by a pseudo-government organization called Bridges. As Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus), all you have to do to win people over is bring them packages; most people never go outside due to mysterious monsters called BTs, but unlike most people, Sam can sense them enough to sneak past them and get important cargo to its destination.Deliveries can be arduous. You're evaluated on your deliveries across a few categories, but the condition of the cargo can make or break a run, and there are a lot of factors working against you. The landscape can be extremely punishing, from expanses of exhaustingly rocky hills to rivers that are too deep and wide to cross unaided. On top of BTs, you also have to contend with Timefall, a kind of rain that rapidly accelerates aging and deterioration for most of the things it touches. Extended exposure to Timefall can damage or completely ruin your cargo, as can slipping and falling, getting hit by an enemy, or, in some cases, just being a little too rough with it. Even the smallest rocks can trip you up, too. In order to keep your footing, you need to pay close attention to where you're stepping, keeping your balance with the triggers while on rough terrain or when carrying a lot of stuff.Once you reach your destination, though, you're showered with praise. The recipient will likely thank you to your face (albeit as a hologram), and then they'll give you a series of social media-style likes. You're inundated with a multi-page results screen itemizing all the likes you received for the delivery and in which categories, plus an overall rating for the delivery itself, no matter how small--it's positive reinforcement turned up to 11. These likes then funnel into each of the delivery categories like experience points, and as you level up, you can carry more weight or better maintain your balance, among other benefits. Deliveries also feed into a connection rating with each city, outpost, or person, and as that increases, you acquire better gear and sometimes gifts to reward your efforts further.In short, you give a lot and get a lot in return. There is a relatively small number of mandatory deliveries to advance the story, but there's a seemingly unlimited number of optional deliveries, and I often found myself picking up orders destined for any place that was on my way. It's a cycle that's easy to get swept up in; no matter how difficult a delivery or how far the distance, you will at least be met with gratitude, likely feel fulfilled from having completed a tough delivery, and often given a tool to make future deliveries a bit easier. Most importantly, though, increasing your bonds with people is how you get them on the network, and the network is what elevates this core loop beyond the simple satisfaction of completing tasks and getting rewards.The chiral network is a kind of souped-up internet that allows you to 3D print objects, which is incredibly useful and a strong incentive in itself. When at a terminal connected to the chiral network, you can print ladders and ropes for traversal, new boots as yours wear out, repair spray for damaged containers, and basically anything else you need to safely deliver cargo so long as you have a blueprint for it. You can also print a portable printer that builds structures for you out in open areas covered by the network--things like bridges, watchtowers, and generators, the latter of which are critical as you start to use battery-powered exoskeletons and vehicles.The chiral network also grants you access to the online component of the game, which is absolutely essential. You never see other players in the flesh, but their impact is all around you; once an area is on the network, you can see structures and objects left behind by other players in the course of their own journeys, plus helpful signs they've put down just for those who come after them. You can pick up someone else's lost cargo and deliver it for them, too, knowing that someone else may find yours at some point and do you the same kindness.In Death Stranding's best moments, the relief and gratitude you can feel toward someone you don't even know is an unrivaled multiplayer experience. At one point in my playthrough, I was being chased by MULEs, human enemies who love to steal cargo. I was on a bike, tasked with a time-sensitive delivery, almost out of battery and totally unequipped to deal with external threats. In my panic, I drove my bike into a ravine. As I slowly made my way up and out of it, I watched as my bike's battery dipped into the red, and I dreaded getting stuck with all my cargo and no vehicle, still quite a ways away from my destination. I rounded a corner and found myself in the charging area of a generator placed by another player, as if they'd known I'd need it in that exact spot at that exact moment. They probably just put it there because they needed a quick charge, but to me, it was a lifeline.You can give and receive likes for these player-to-player structures, and just like with standard deliveries, it's a strong incentive to do something helpful for someone else. In the earlier sections of the game, I was using other people's structures far more than I was leaving behind help for others. But I wanted to pay it forward and know that my help was appreciated, so I started going out of my way to build structures I myself didn't really need; the map shows the online structures in your instance, making it easier to spot areas you could fill in for others. At first, the likes system seems like a pretty obvious commentary on social media and our dependence on external validation. But it's not so much a critique as it is a positive spin on a very human need for acceptance, and the system does a remarkable job of urging you to do your best for those around you, NPCs and real people alike. Feeling truly appreciated can be a rare occurrence in life, and it's powerful in its simplicity here.The Super BB MethodThe first few hours of the game are the slowest, and a large part of that is because you don't have access to the online component right away. It's an incredibly lonely stretch of time during which you mostly just walk; the work you do early on is especially laborious in the absence of advanced gear, and it serves to give you an appreciation for other players and better gear as you move forward.Even as the gameplay opens up, you continue to get a lot of story exposition with almost no explanation. It can all seem kind of goofy at first, and you can get lost in the metaphors; every city you need to add to the chiral network has "knot" in its name, for example, and they are all referred to as "knots" on a strand that connects the country. There's bizarre and unwarranted product placement in the form of Monster Energy drinks and the show Ride with Norman Reedus. Guillermo del Toro's likeness is used for a kind of dorky character called Deadman, and there's a woman named Fragile in a game about delivering packages.But the story really does go deeper than that. In keeping with the theme of human connection, each of the core characters you meet and work with has their own story to tell. They all have a unique perspective on death that lends them an equally unique perspective on life, and unravelling their characters, down to the true origins of their often literal names, contributes to the overall tapestry of Death Stranding's take on the human experience. As they open up to Sam, Sam opens up to them in turn, developing into a distinct character in his own right out of the reserved, emotionless man he appears to be at the start. I grew to love Sam, Fragile, and Heartman especially, and even the characters I didn't like as much add to the game's overall message about hope and love in the face of adversity.By far my favorite character--and the most important one--is BB. BBs are infants in pods that can detect the presence of BTs, and they're issued to porters like Sam to help them navigate dangerous territory. You're told to treat BBs like equipment, not real babies, but it's impossible to think of your BB that way. It's full of personality, giggling when happy and crying when stressed out; it even gives you likes from time to time. There aren't many children left in Death Stranding's isolated, fearful world, but BB is your reminder that the future is counting on you, regardless of how you feel about America itself. The love that grows between Sam and BB is nothing short of heartwarming.Connecting with this story, just as with connecting with NPCs and other players, can take work. It's not a story that immediately clicks on a surface level, and the dramatic mystery and off-the-wall science don't make too much sense at first blush. But it's an emotional story first and foremost, and making sense of things--while entirely possible, particularly if you read the letters and interviews that detail small bits of lore as you go--is not as important as reflecting on how it makes you feel.You have plenty of opportunities to do that, too. In the quiet moments of travel, usually as you near your destination, music might start to play. The soundtrack, which is largely composed of one band--Low Roar--is phenomenal, the kind of contemplative folk-ish music that suits a trip alone through a meadow or down a mountain. Because the act of walking is so involved, it's not a time to detach completely and zone out; it's a time to feel your feelings or at least consider what's next in your travels.Fight, But Not To The DeathYou can just as soon be ripped out of that headspace, though, by a shift to the haunting music that signals BT territory. The otherworldly growls of BTs as they close in on you can be terrifying, and early on, your best bet is to freeze in your tracks and hold your breath for as long as you can so you can quietly sneak by them. But there are times when you have to fight a BT in its true form, and for that, you have specialized weapons to take them down. These BTs aren't the ethereal humanoid shapes that float above the ground but huge eldritch horrors that screech under clouds of blood. The combat is mechanically simple--you mostly have to move around a bit and hit them before they hit you--but the sequences are visually and aurally arresting.You don't get a gun that works on live enemies until 25 or so hours in, but even then, it's non-lethal. You are actively guided away from killing in Death Stranding, because when people die, their bodies basically go nuclear and level cities, leaving nothing but craters and BTs in their wake. On top of that, the main human enemies are MULEs, former porters just like Sam that have been corrupted by an automated world--they've essentially become addicted to snatching cargo in their desperation to have a job and a purpose as more and more people become replaced by machines. They're not evil, and killing them seems like, well, overkill; it's easy enough to knock them out with the nonlethal methods you continue to unlock as the game progresses. I didn't kill a single one in my playthrough, though punching them is satisfying.While BTs and MULEs are a concern when delivering cargo, there's also Mads Mikkelsen's character, a man who's introduced through memories Sam sees when he connects to BB's pod. He gets his own dedicated segments that punctuate hours of simple deliveries, and these highly contained, much shorter sections are striking in their art direction and juxtaposition to the rest of the game. It's not immediately clear what he is, whether it's an enemy, potential friend, or something else entirely, but he's captivating in his ambiguity.The most cartoonish enemy is Troy Baker's Higgs, a terrorist whose depravity seems to know no bounds. Of all the characters, Higgs is the weakest, with far less nuance to him than anyone else in the cast. He's really just there as a Big Bad to motivate you in a more traditional video game sense than delivering packages and helping people, but he and his band of faceless terrorists are more a means to an end than full-fledged villains. He's the catalyst for some of the major BT fights, and in the end, perhaps an extreme reminder that it's possible to stay hopeful even when things are darkest.Death Stranding argues in both its story and its gameplay that adversity itself is what makes things worth doing and life worth living.Death Stranding is a hard game to absorb. There are many intertwining threads to its plot, and silly names, corny moments, and heavy exposition belie an otherwise very simple message. That comes through much more clearly in the game's more mundane moments, when you find a desperately-needed ladder left behind by another player or receive a letter from an NPC thanking you for your efforts. It's positive without ignoring pain; in fact, it argues in both its story and its gameplay that adversity itself is what makes things worth doing and life worth living. It's a game that requires patience, compassion, and love, and it's also one we really need right now.Info from Gamespot.com

Stranger Things Season 4 is coming. We may not have any real idea when, unfortunately, but it has been announced and, based on a tweet sent out by the official writer's room twitter account, some level of production or pre-production has officially started. And in true Stranger Things fashion, the first episode of Season 4 is an 80s-flavored pop culture reference: A nod to the classic X-Men villains, The Hellfire Club.looking for new members... are you in? pic.twitter.com/P1xAWNUPss — Stranger Writers (@strangerwriters) November 7, 2019For the uninitiated, The Hellfire Club was introduced in 1980 as part of Chris Claremont and John Byrne's now-legendary run on the main X-Men title. A secret society of mutants, the Hellfire Club's goals are usually economic and political. They function somewhat like a mutant Illuminati, with membership passed down through generations of the wealthy elite, working in the shadows to extend their influence and power. Famously, they worked to kidnap Jean Grey, a powerful psychic (who's story bears some pretty obvious connections to Eleven) only to have their plans blow up in their faces upon the revelation that Jean was, in fact, the human conduit for The Phoenix, an uncontrollable cosmic entity.Of course, there's no real way to be absolutely certain if the actual comic book Hellfire Club will have any bearing on Season 4, given how things were left off in Season 3. We've still got to deal with Hopper's "death" and subsequent (or at least, probable) abduction by the Russians and the fact that El's apparently lost her powers and moved out of Hawkins with the Byers family.Whatever happens, given how little we know right now, it seems like investigating the X-Men angle is as good a call as any. Time to dust off your comics and start spinning up some theories while we anxiously await more news. Info from Gamespot.com

Chapter 2 of Fortnite rolls on with another batch of challenges to complete in the hit battle royale game. This week's set is called The Lowdown, and as has been the trend this season, if you complete enough of the tasks, you'll unlock a special loading screen that contains a clue pointing to another hidden letter that you'll need to find for a later challenge. This week, you'll need to search for the hidden N found in the Lowdown loading screen. If you need help finding it, we're here to show you where to go.Where Is The Hidden N Location?As the challenge states, the clue that will lead you to the hidden N's location is somewhere in the Lowdown loading screen, which you'll unlock after completing eight of this week's challenges. The loading screen in question shows a group of characters having a clandestine meeting inside what looks to be a hangar. The N can be seen in background on the left side of the screen, above a walkway.The hangar depicted in the loading screen is actually one of the EGO outposts that are scattered around the island. Specifically, it's the one just southwest of Holly Hedges--that's where you'll need to go to retrieve the letter. How To Complete The ChallengeOnce you know where the N is hidden, you'll need to trek to the EGO outpost near Holly Hedges and actually collect it. Enter the hangar, make your way up the walkway, and the letter will appear above a barrel, just as in the Lowdown loading screen. Interact with the N when prompted to collect it and complete the challenge.As usual, there's one caveat before you can find the letter--you'll first need to unlock its corresponding challenge, which means you'll need to complete all the other missions in the Lowdown set before the N will appear on the map. Most are straightforward but will likely require the aid of a partner, so be sure to attempt them in squads. Two of the challenges also involve visiting EGO outposts, so check out our EGO outpost locations guide for help with those.Three more hidden letters still remain before you can spell out "FORTNITE" and unlock this season's special skin. If you need help tracking down any previous letters, you can find maps and guides leading you to the rest in our ongoing Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges roundup. Fortnite News Fortnite Hidden N Location: Where To Search Hidden N In Lowdown Loading Screen Fortnite EGO Locations: Where To Visit Different EGO Outposts For Lowdown Challenge Fortnite Hidden T Location: Where To Search T Hidden In Dockyard Deals Loading Screen Fortnite Hidden "R" Location: Where To Search Letter R In Forged In Slurp Loading Screen Info from Gamespot.com