Supernatural star Jared Padelecki is trading in one CW drama for another as his new upcoming project, a reboot of the '90s TV show Walker, Texas Ranger, officially finds a home at the network, Deadline reports. Apparently, after hunting down the paranormal for over a decade as Sam Winchester, it's time to start focusing on a far more terrestrial brand of crime.In addition to serving as an executive producer, Padelecki will star as Cordell Walker, originally played by Chuck Norris. The show, much like other recent 90s revivals like Magnum P.I. and MacGyver, is set to be a full reboot, starting the Walker mythology over completely from scratch. However, despite the reboot status, we can assume that it will follow closely in the cowboy boot-shaped footsteps of its predecessor with Walker personified as a ranger who plays by his own rules, even when said rules put him at odds with both his family and the law.Supernatural, Padelecki's current project, is wrapping up its 15th and final season on The CW. As one of the network's longest running and most beloved projects leaving such a massive hole in the programming line up, it's likely that Walker, Texas Ranger will garner itself a prime spot in next year's roster of shows. However, no information about Walker's premiere date has been set. Info from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Sword and Shield arrive on Nintendo Switch next month, but before then, developer Game Freak is releasing another RPG for the hybrid system. Little Town Hero hits the Switch Eshop next week, and ahead of its release, the studio has put out a video that further details the game's unique battle system.Unlike a traditional RPG, you don't equip weapons and armor to do battle against monsters in Little Town Hero; rather, you fight them using "ideas." These fall into three categories: those that attack, those that defend, and those that "do something special." The video likens this system to a card game. You have a limited number of ideas at your disposal, so you'll need to use them strategically in order to come out victorious.Your ideas are initially formed as "Izzits," and you'll need to expend power to turn them into "Dazzits" in order use them against a foe. Depending on where you are in town, you'll also be able to enlist the help of bystanders during battle. These villagers can either attack the monsters or give you a buff. You'll find "gimmicks" scattered around town as well that you can take advantage of; in the video, protagonist Axe comes across a cannon that he fires at a monstrous sheep.In another departure from other RPGs, Little Town Hero also doesn't have experience points in a traditional sense; rather, you'll earn Eureka Points when you successfully defeat a monster. These can then be spent to power up your ideas across a skill tree. You can take a closer look at the combat system in the video above.Little Town Hero launches on the Switch Eshop on October 16. Pokemon Sword and Shield, meanwhile, arrive on November 15. The Pokemon Company recently revealed another new Pokemon debuting in the games: Galarian Ponyta, which will be exclusive to Pokemon Shield. You can see all the other new Gen 8 Pokemon revealed so far in our gallery.Info from Gamespot.com

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is uneven and conflicted. On one hand it's a natural sequel to 2017's Ghost Recon Wildlands, offering a near-identical core gameplay loop of open-world espionage and shooting. On the other hand, Breakpoint is a messy hodgepodge of disparate ideas, pulling various aspects from other Ubisoft games and shoehorning them in, half-baked and out of place. Ghost Recon's identity as a tactical shooter has evaporated and been replaced by a confused patchwork of elements and mechanics from other, better games. Its defining characteristic boils down to just how generic and stale the whole thing is.The addition of loot and an ever-increasing gear score fits into the standard template of Ubisoft's recent open-world games, whether it's The Division 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, or even Far Cry New Dawn. Breakpoint fulfills its quota by including these light RPG mechanics, but the implementation of its loot grind feels like a severe afterthought. There are numerous pieces of armor to find and equip as you explore the fictional island of Auroa. The numbers attached to each one will raise or lower your gear score, but the effect this has on gameplay is entirely inconsequential. Rare loot might include small buffs like a 2% increase in stamina or a 1% increase to movement speed, yet the effects of these buffs are negligible, and armor doesn't affect your damage resistance in any perceivable way. A level 5 beanie offers as much protection as a level 75 helmet, so these numbers only exist to raise a gear score that's nothing more than a flimsy representation of your progress. You're supposed to feel good about that number rising, but it's difficult to care when there are no tangible benefits to picking one piece of armor over another. You just end up opting for whatever has the higher rating without any meaningful consideration.Choosing which weapon to roll with requires slightly more deliberation, although this is mainly due to your preference for specific weapon types as opposed to the number attached to each. Breakpoint features the usual assortment of assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, and sniper rifles, and these firearms function similarly to armour, with rare weapons receiving miniscule buffs to aspects like reload speed and recoil reduction. Again, the impact these stats have on gameplay is paltry at best, especially because shooting in Breakpoint is still geared towards landing headshots for an instant kill. This is a holdover from Wildlands and the series' early beginnings as a somewhat "authentic" tactical shooter. The most heavily armored grunts in Breakpoint take two shots to the head to kill--one to take off their helmet, and another to finish the job--but every other enemy can be extinguished with a single bullet.Weapons feel impactful as a result of this, successfully capturing the rush of being an elite special ops soldier that can take out four or five enemy combatants in a matter of seconds. But this also means the rarity of weapons and the gear score attached to them is ultimately meaningless. You can wander into an area recommended for players with a gear score of 140 with a significantly lower score and still kill every enemy without breaking a sweat. This amount of freedom would be commendable if it didn't shine a derisive light on how shallow the RPG mechanics are.The only enemies in the game that require a specific gear score to defeat are the killer drones dotted across the island. Encounters with these unmanned killing machines are few and far between, but because they don't have heads and aren't made of flesh and blood, they can be bullet sponges. Facing off against one of these drones is the only time the number next to your weapon actually matters, and even then they're easier to destroy by using the rocket launchers, grenades, and mines found in your inventory, which don't even have numbers attached to them. It's another example of how Breakpoint isn't a coherent match with Ghost Recon's sensibilities, which are still reflected in the way headshots function, and the trivial impact that loot has on gameplay makes the constant switching and dismantling of each piece of gear an unnecessary timesink.Breakpoint's paper-thin survival mechanics are similarly underdeveloped, hinting at a tense experience that never comes to fruition. You carry a flask that you can refill in lakes, rivers, and even in someone's backyard swimming pool for that sweet tasty chlorine. Water is used to replenish any lost stamina you've misplaced by over-exerting--usually by rolling down a hillside because Auroa is nearly bereft of flat ground. The island consists of diverse biomes including verdant woodlands, snow-capped mountain tops, and muggy swamps, but the common throughline in each environment is the presence of craggy cliffs and hillsides.As a result, traversing on foot revolves around spending a lot of time sliding down undulating slopes. This quickly drains your stamina, sending you into an uncontrollable roll that inflicts damage with each nick and bump. Health regenerates over time, but if you suffer either a minor or major injury and don't want to hobble everywhere, you need to use a syringe for instant pain relief or spend longer wrapping yourself up in bandages. Syringes are finite, yet you have an infinite supply of bandages that almost make the mechanic moot. There are never any anxious moments of desperation as you find yourself hindered with an empty medicine box. It's easy enough to wrap yourself up after a tumble, and injuries in combat are rare enough that having to find a safe spot to pause is not something you have to consider very often. There are also bivouacs spread out across the map that are used as fast travel points and rest areas where you can apply specific buffs by eating, drinking, or aiming your gun at the sky to somehow improve its accuracy. You don't have to gather food because it's always available, and there's some light crafting on the docket if you have the materials to restock your supply of explosives and gadgets.Much like the loot, these light survival mechanics aren't fleshed out enough to warrant any engagement beyond the limited amount you're forced into. The story revolves around your character being stranded alone, trapped deep behind enemy lines. You're outmanned and outgunned against an elite force equipped with a stolen fleet of devastating, unmanned killing machines. Stealth is encouraged, so much so that when you're prone you can cover yourself in mud and foliage to blend into the environment and remain undetected. Each of these elements places an emphasis on survival, but Breakpoint constantly skirts around the edges, never committing to mechanics that would extend beyond the feeble survival aspects already included. The plane-like Azraël drone occasionally flies overhead, ready and raring to rain fiery destruction down upon your helpless human body. Yet all this means is that you'll sometimes have to lie down and wait for it to pass before you can continue with what you were originally doing. You can see the inkling of some interesting ideas here, but Breakpoint never capitalizes on these and is ultimately a generic pastiche of what's come before.The gameplay loop is almost identical to Wildlands': You send a drone into the sky, survey an enemy base, and mark targets before infiltrating in whichever manner you see fit. Navigating through a heavily fortified compound without being seen is still inherently satisfying. Each one is usually designed in a way so there are a number of enemies obscured from your drone's vision. You might be able to pick off a handful of guards from a distance using a silenced sniper rifle, but at some point you'll have to enter and find the rest. The only thing impeding your stealthy espionage is the fact you can't move sideways while prone. Instead, you end up with these awkward animations because you can only turn at right angles. Taking cover is overly cumbersome, too. You do it automatically, but what the game deems as cover is inconsistent from one low wall to the next, and even if you do manage to get behind an object, whether you can shoot over it or not is another question. Though this would be a bigger problem if the AI were the least bit competent.Enemies in Breakpoint are mind-numbingly dumb to the point where playing on the highest difficulty doesn't present a significantly harder challenge. Their reaction to a buddy getting shot in front of them is often one of confusion; they'll stand still in the open instead of scurrying for cover. They don't fare much better in the midst of combat, either, running between the same two pieces of cover without engaging you or seemingly forgetting you exist. Occasionally they might try to flank your blindside, but more often than not their strategy boils down to charging directly at you, making it incredibly easy to line up your shots and dispatch a few in a row. Bottlenecks like corridors and doorways are by far their worst enemy, though. Sit down one end of a straight corridor and it doesn't take long for the bodies to pile up. You can even shoot the ground at the entrance to a base and kill each enemy who comes to investigate. Factor in the disappointing fact that enemies don't so much as flinch when getting shot in the body, and none of this is conducive to enjoyable combat.Shooting other players in the Ghost War PvP mode fares better since real people tend to have their wits about them compared to the AI. Unlike Wildlands, Breakpoint cleverly unifies progression across both single- and multiplayer. All of your weapons and skills carry over, and any rewards you unlock can be brought back into single-player, too. Elimination and Sabotage make up the game modes on offer, the former ending when one team is eliminated, while the latter functions in much the same way with an additional win condition based on one team successfully planting and destroying a bomb. Matches generally turn into long-range sniper battles due to each map's wide-open spaces and the fact that a single shot from a sniper is enough to kill somebody. The best matches in Ghost War are tense affairs, especially since you only have a single life unless a teammate can perform a successful revive. The issues with Breakpoint's cumbersome cover mechanics and awkward prone movement are only exacerbated in multiplayer, however.It can also be difficult just getting into a match of Ghost War due to relatively frequent server issues. Breakpoint is an always-online game, even if you're playing alone in single-player. The servers have run into a few problems since the game's full release, and it's incredibly frustrating to be kicked back to the main menu and have to restart a mission all over again when you're not even engaging with the multiplayer portion of the game. If you do want to do so, the servers are running smoothly, and you can get some like-minded friends together, there's definitely some fun to be had in Breakpoint's four-person co-op. Silently clearing a base of its enemies is more gratifying with four people. You can plan ahead, simultaneously approach the compound through different entrances, and time sync shots together. It's more chaotic with strangers but you can jump into matches with random players if you fancy a taste of open-world chaos.There is, however, some dissonance between co-op and the story painting you as a lone soldier, although this is much more egregious in Breakpoint's social hub. You can play the whole game solo, but mission givers all hang out in this homely cave where you'll also find 50 or so other players. Your character is literally called Nomad, and yet you're in a space with a bunch of other Nomads, all standing around the same NPC like it's an MMO. And the story's not great either way. Jon Bernthal elevates every scene he's in, chewing up the scenery to deliver simmering monologues befitting a villain with a dubious moral code. The writing is mostly cheesy, though, with some flat voice acting and predictable twists. The inventor of the island's killer drones develops a minor Oppenheimer complex when he realises his creations can be used to kill innocent people, but this aspect isn't explored beyond surface level, and that applies to the rest of the narrative too.Much like the loot, the light survival mechanics aren't fleshed out enough to warrant any engagement beyond the limited amount you're forced into.The presence of the social hub and the effect it has on diminishing the story would've been worse if the story were better. As it is, the social hub seems to exist to guide players towards Breakpoint's myriad microtransactions. Maybe that's an overly cynical viewpoint, but why else would you gather players in an open space other than to encourage them to show off by purchasing fancy new cosmetics? You can buy tattoos, shirts, masks, hats, weapons, vehicles, and more. Purchasing in-game money also comes in denominations that ensure you're always spending more than you need. You don't have to engage with any of this stuff, and it's easy enough to ignore, but this microtransaction structure is predatory by design.It would make sense if the addition of loot were in service of guiding people to spend real money on better guns, but even then the stats are so meaningless it would take a lot of convincing. There's some surprising fun to be had stealthily infiltrating enemy compounds and playing with friends, but Breakpoint is still a generic and distinctly sub-par game. It's essentially every Ubisoft open-world game rolled into one, failing to excel in any one area or establish its own identity. Breakpoint is a messy, confused game and a ghost of the series' former self.Info from Gamespot.com

Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix continue to outpace the competition in the North American box office as Joker enters its second weekend, Variety reports. Early estimates are projecting $50 million at 4,374 theaters nationwide. This comes after a record-breaking opening weekend, despite concerns of violence causing the film to be pulled from several theatrical chains. Joker Coverage Does Joker Have A Post-Credits Scene? Joker Movie: 17 Easter Eggs And References You Might Have Missed Joker Review: The Antihero Comic Book Movies Need Joker Spoiler Review & Breakdown Why Joker Feels Dangerous The news is less optimistic for the new Ang Lee and Will Smith joint, Gemini Man, which pits Smith against a fully rendered CGI clone of his younger self. Gemini Man is coming in significantly under expectations with $19 million projected at 3,642 theaters nationwide.In our review, GameSpot's Chris Hayner called Gemini Man bland, and lacking in depth and development for its characters. "At the end of the day, though, it's the story and forgettable characters that keep Gemini Man from being something special," Hayner wrote. "Lee knew what he was making with Gemini Man, and it shows. It's a movie-length technology sizzle reel. This is a film meant to show audiences just how far the medium has come. From filming at 120 FPS in 4K, to digitally building a clone of the movie's star to make them fight in a series of over-the-top action sequences, there's a lot to marvel at in Gemini Man. But the visuals can also border on uncanny, and Gemini Man just doesn't have the story to back that action up."Meanwhile, GameSpot's Mike Rougeau called Joker "a new, complex version of a familiar character that we've never seen before," and "the dark anti-hero origin story that comic book movies deserve."Info from Gamespot.com

Konami Gaming, Inc., a subsidiary of Konami that deals in designing and manufacturing casino games and technology, will be at this weekend's Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas with a brand new Silent Hill "game," but as you've probably figured out by now, it's not really a game, it's a video slot machine. It's called Silent Hill: Escape and it looks, sadly, like this:Details on Silent Hill: Escape are scarce, but does it really matter? According to Yahoo! Finance, Silent Hill: Escape is a "for-wager slot experience" and one of the first to debut on Konami's new video slot cabinet, which features a 49-inch "J" curve 4K UHD display.Tom Jingoli, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Konami Gaming, Inc., calls their new cabinet "a first glimpse at great things to come from Konami."Konami isn't new to the gambling business, and this isn't even the first Silent Hill-branded machine designed for casinos. There was the Silent Hill pachislot machine from 2015, developed by Konami subsidiary Takasago and released just a few months after Konami cancelled the highly-anticipated Silent Hills. Konami also broke fans' hearts with a Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater slot machine in 2016, which featured scenes from the 2004 game redone with stunning, updated graphics.In better, but still bittersweet Silent Hill-adjacent news, a popular modder recently dug into the still-delisted P.T. and made a number of terrifying new discoveries about the Silent Hills teaser. And just a few days ago, another group of modders uploaded a prototype version of Silent Hill 2 for fans, modders, and those interested in video game preservation to explore. We might never get another quality Silent Hill game, but it's safe to say the fanbase is still going strong.Info from Gamespot.com

There's nothing quite like the bright, beautiful, and sometimes distraught world of Indivisible. It's one that wears its Southeast/South Asian influences on its sleeve, and pulls you into places you want to be in with characters you want to be around. Developer Lab Zero blends several genre elements to create a system of combat and platforming that flows seamlessly between Indivisible's seemingly disparate parts. It has so much going for it that it's disappointing when heartfelt exchanges and pivotal moments lack the gravitas they deserve or are simply glossed over. While Indivisible has trouble following through narratively, I can't shake its enjoyable moments and the sense of cultural visibility it gives a region I'm connected to.Your journey across Indivisible's world revolves around Ajna, the hard-headed but full-hearted protagonist who perpetually stumbles into revelations about her true nature. She makes new friends along the way who either have mutual goals in mind or don't need much convincing to join her cause. Other than brief surprise, no one seems to bat an eye at the fact that they get physically absorbed into Ajna's consciousness--a separate plane of existence that acts as a sort of hub area--only to be summoned in battle or in conversation. You'll have to concede having deeper explanations other than Ajna's supernatural powers and third-eye chakra which are connected to the ominous villain Kala, goddess of destruction and creation.A diverse cast of characters and a creative combat system make Indivisible's fights stand out.Although a handful of key characters are central to the story, you assemble a party of four from a large and varied roster that's built up rather quickly. You assign a party member to a position in combat that corresponds with a face button; this is how you actively send them in to deal damage in real-time during an offensive phase and have them individually defend when enemies initiate attacks. Getting the hang of Indivisible's hybrid of turn-based and real-time mechanics opens you up to inventive ways of combining different characters' movesets and timing their specific attacks at the right time. It's easy to see how Lab Zero channels elements of its previous game, Skullgirls--there's a slight fighting game touch with combos, directional attacks, guard breaks, perfect blocks, and air juggling attacks. You also build up a meter, called Iddhi, which represents Ajna and friends' ability to go into overdrive for executing powerful special attacks. Battles tend to move fast, and this layered combat system makes you eager to get into the next fight.It's not necessary to learn every character as it's viable to stick with a handful of your favorites to cycle between for certain situations (they all level alongside Ajna so no one gets left behind). But as great as combat can be, you'll be disappointed to know that its wonderful complexities are squandered by a lack of challenge towards the end of the game. Your party becomes so powerful that simple button mashing will get you by most, if not all, enemies and bosses. You'll continually recruit new members in the late-game, too, but with little reason to get in tune with their mechanics. Combat's biggest enemy is the lack of difficulty right when the stakes should be the highest.Fighting is only half of Indivisible, gameplay-wise, though--it's partly a 2D side-scrolling adventure that draws from Metroidvania-style exploration. As you accumulate new tools and powers, so too does your means of traversal. Ajna starts with an axe that she uses to propel herself upward to higher ledges, but she'll soon be pole-vaulting, pogo-sticking, and monkey-swinging with a spear to avoid hazards and reach new areas. Her own superpowers eventually let you dash across wide gaps, jump to greater heights, and break through walls. What makes all these mechanics fun to use is that you face a variety of obstacles that force you to think about the clever ways you need to string together your toolset and abilities to overcome these platforming challenges.Unlike combat, platforming steadily ramps up to a satisfying difficulty towards the end, but it's never frustrating since you only face light punishment for death. Rather than loading a previous save, you get brought back to a generously placed checkpoint should you fail a sequence. What's more, a number of boss battles merge the two gameplay styles and test you to juggle both at a rapid pace. That could sound like the game biting off more than it can chew, but the pace at which you transition between the two phases keep things moving seamlessly.From one location to another, Indivisible's imaginative art style gives you an unmistakable sense of where you are and the things that happen there. I'm still thinking about the rough streets of Tai Krung City, which come to life through neon signage, quirky apartment setups, lavish clubs, and sketchy alleyways. Even the grimy, oppressive Iron Kingdom clearly communicates a hardship among the common folk who inhabit the cobblestone roads, and you feel the bustle of the markets that occupy the colorful seaside town of Port Maerifa. That rich sense of style extends to each of the characters, who are beautifully realized in expressive, hand-drawn artwork. It's an evolution of the imaginative style and designs from Skullgirls, and it helps distinguish each member of the wide, diverse cast.Excellent platforming scenarios challenge you to use all your tools and powers.Indivisible's sensational soundtrack tops off the joy of exploration and complements the feelings you get from soaking in the beautiful visuals. The infectious tunes solidify the personality of Indivisible's locations, a favorite among the tracks being the song that plays in Tai Krung City--its steel drums and upstroke guitar riffs hook you, but its somber melody reflects the town's dreary side. And the energetic tempo and horn section of the club area's song propels you to keep going, especially when it doubles as the battle theme. The Pacific Islander-influenced region of Kaanul features a theme with catchy woodwind instrumentation and a solemn string section. Indivisible's soundtrack is very much part of the atmosphere it aims to build, and it's one that's worth listening to on its own.I want to love Indivisible unconditionally; it has so many great pieces, and it's a special thing to feel seen. I'm happy to have a game that's distinctly Southeast Asian, giving some earnest representation to a part of the world I belong to and one I'm even more curious about now.Indivisible roots itself in broad-reaching concepts from Southeast/South Asian mythologies and history. Every in-game region's introduction is written in Sanskrit. Mount Sumeru, the critical location for which Indivisible starts and concludes, is derived from the sacred mountain in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology that harnesses all things physical and spiritual. An important character, Thorani, who treats Ajna as one of her own, calls her luksao, the Thai word for daughter. You can also spot smaller pop culture references, too--special shout out to the Jollibee reference in Tai Krung City, and a charming wannabe-Kamen Rider stand-in. Even down to character names, there are so many more connections to draw. While Indivisible doesn't necessarily explore these cultures in any particular depth or in more meaningful ways, it gives the stage to a diverse region to tell a simple story of personal growth, self-acceptance, and sacrifice.I wonder how the three-piece chickenjoy and halo-halo are at Jolly Katydid.With that said, while Indivisible has the foundation to portray something powerful it doesn't exactly follow through. Many of Indivisible's major story beats lack the necessary impact they need to stick with you and get you fully invested in Ajna's fight to save the world. While there's an assortment of likeable personalities and quips between characters, and the voice acting performances shine, many dialogue sequences don't reflect the gravity of the situations that unfold. For example, Ajna internalizes life-altering events in ways that frame them as frustrations to her rather than tragedies. And when she inadvertently causes destruction, it's largely brushed off as an accident with consequences that aren't communicated. Characters are quick to change their minds about things without portraying the process through which they came to their conclusions, undermining possible emotional stakes.There are key moments when other characters push back and confront others to think harder about what they're doing. Whether it's characters who open themselves up to feel any sort of positive emotion, go through a sincere redemption arc, or provide unquestioning support, you can identify the times Indivisible gets it right. I can't help but wish that the story contained these highlights more often than not.I want to love Indivisible unconditionally; it has so many great pieces, and it's a special thing to feel seen. I'm happy to have a game that's distinctly Southeast Asian, giving some earnest representation to a part of the world I belong to and one I'm even more curious about now. As a whole, it sometimes doesn't come together; it's missing weight to its narrative and the challenges necessary to flex its wonderful combat system. But it stands out as an RPG that's doing something genuinely different, and it brings joy to its clever platforming with the tune of an infectious soundtrack. For all its faults, Indivisible has its heart in the right place.Info from Gamespot.com

When Todd Phillips was announced as the director of a standalone R-rated Joker movie, there was some surprise amongst DC fans. Was the man behind the hugely successful Hangover series and the Will Ferrell/Owen Wilson frat comedy Old School the right man to tackle a dark, gritty look at the origins of perhaps the most iconic comic book villain of all time? But buried far back in Phillips' filmography is another movie that provides more insight into why he would be drawn to Joker. And now Joker is in theaters, it provides a fascinating contrast. That film is Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies.Hated was Phillip's first movie. It's a 53-minute documentary that he made while attending New York University, and was finished in 1994. It follows the notorious punk singer GG Allin and his band; while Allin's music remained underground throughout his life, his on-and-off stage behaviour helped created much notoriety and inspired a small but dedicated fanbase.On a seemingly nightly-basis Allin would perform naked, fight with the audience, defecate on stage, cut himself, and quickly leave the venue before the police arrived. Hated follows Allin, his bass playing brother Merle, and the rest of the Murder Junkies on a US tour, and intercuts wild performance footage with interviews with the band, fans, Allin's former schoomates and teachers, plus footage from various news reports and TV appearances at the time. The movie ends with footage from Allin's funeral; he died of a drug overdose in June 1993, before the film was completed.Unlike most student films, Hated managed to secure distribution; it hit VHS in the late-'90s and DVD a decade later, and has gained a small reputation as a jaw-dropping must-watch film for fans of punk music and extreme cinema. But for most audiences, Phillips is the man who helped The Hangover earn $467 million at the box office. He made a star of Bradley Cooper. Hated was seemingly left as a barely-remembered artefact from another era.Even now, it's not as if the millions of comic book fans currently packing theaters are going to be seeking out a 25-year-old micro-budget documentary about a punk singer very few people have ever heard of. But it's fascinating to see how much of GG Allin's personality, his view of himself, his role as an entertainer, and his opinions of humanity can be applied to Joker.Hated opens with a quote: "GG Allin is an entertainer with a message to a sick society. He makes us look at it for what we really are." This is attributed to the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who Allin visited and befriended in prison, but it could easily be applied to the portrayal of Joker in Phillips's latest film. The "sick society" of Gotham is right there on screen within the opening minutes, from the garbage strike, to the mutant rats, to Arthur Fleck's struggles with social care and his difficulty holding down a job. Arthur is also a would-be entertainer, and his behaviour throughout the movie is very much portrayed as a product of this society.It is Arthur's attempts to make it as a stand-up comedian that draw some of the biggest parallels with Hated. GG Allin might have been a touring musician with fans, but he is as far away from being a conventional "entertainer" as Arthur is. The feelings of deep unease and dread that Phillips evokes in the scene in which Arthur makes his stage debut in a comedy club are similar to those as we watch Allin in front of audiences in Hated. In particular the two sequences in which Allin performs solo at the mic, both of which end in violence as he attacks his audience.The anger that GG unleashes on stage is still bottled within Arthur at this point, but in both ultimately seem to blame society--rather than themselves--for the way they behave. "The government chain you down so never get out of their grip," Allin says. "Someone like me can do whatever they want. That's the only way to f***ing live."But while Arthur's attempts to make it as a regular comedian are doomed to failure, it's as the anonymous killer of three bankers that ultimately creates a terrifying, dedicated fanbase. His clown-faced acolytes view society as evil and corrupt and, inspired by the murderous actions of their "leader," look to bring it down. In Hated, we hear that GG's fans are his "troops," who are drawn to the negative rage that they see spilling out on stage each night. As a former Murder Junkies guitarist "Chicken" John says in the movie: "He just seems to attract the people with the worst attitudes in life. They flock to him like a magnet. If he had any kind of sense, he'd rally these people like troops, like a bogus religion." Sound familiar?There is also a striking similarity between the scenes in both movies in which their subjects appear on talk shows, for the amusement of a sneering, patronising host. In Joker, Arthur Fleck fulfills in his dream by appearing as a guest on Tonight with Murray Franklin. But he's not there to showcase his comedy, he's there as a figure of fun, as Franklin mocks his inability to tell a joke or, indeed, function socially.GG made perhaps his biggest mainstream appearance when he appeared on an episode of Geraldo Rivera's show in the early '90s, along with his brother Merle and various fans. In the clips that appears in Hated, Rivera prods at Allin, trying to provoke a reaction, asking why he felt the need to "defecate in front of a live audience." Thankfully, GG doesn't respond by admitting murder--unlike Arthur--but his message to the audience is not so different: "There are no limits and no laws, and I'll breakdown every barrier out it front of me till the day I die."Allin's death is also something that hangs over the entire movie. The singer frequently spoke about killing himself in front of an audience, announcing various dates that would be the day he dies. One of the most shocking moments in Hated is where he attacks a woman who asks him why he doesn't just kill himself sooner.Of course, this was just talk, and Allin died from a heroin overdose one night after a particularly violent New York gig. But the idea of a public suicide is one that feeds right through to Joker, the idea of using a public platform for this most final of acts. In the build-up to his appearance on Murray Franklin's show, we see Arthur practicing what he will say when introduced on air, before he pulls out a gun and pretends to blow his brains out. On the night itself, Arthur turns the gun on Franklin rather than himself, but an argument could be made that this is the moment where Arthur "dies" and Joker takes over.Ultimately, Joker is a fictional movie based on a comic book, while Hated is a real-life portrayal of a deeply troubled man whose behaviour towards others--and himself--is hard to condone. As shockingly funny as Hated frequently is, GG was a violent abuser, who went to prison for assaulting a female acquaintance in 1989, and while Joker touches on various issues of mental health, it still takes place within the familiar context of a comic book movie. GG and Arthur are both products of a terrible upbringing, but this hardly makes them unique; a difficult childhood leading to an equally troubled life in adulthood is sadly all too common.Nevertheless, it's clear that what drew Phillips to GG Allin in the early '90s has much in common with his treatment of Joker 2 over two decades later. As Slate recently reported, Phillips himself made reference to Hated while talking about Joker at Toronto International Film Festival, and the director also introduced a Hated screening in New York in 2014. Unlike many comic book movies directors, Phillips wasn't hired for a movie that was already in development. He had already turned down the opportunity to make more conventional superhero films, and specifically pitched Warner with his idea for a standalone Joker movie, which he believed should be a grittier, more grounded take on familiar pop culture material.Phillips might now be 46, but for better or worse, that punk rock spirit and fascination with dangerous outsiders remains. As Phillips himself says about GG and his fans in Hated: "I don't know if GG was born this way, or if society created him, but I do know the Murder Junkies and their fans are exceptional. They represent a part of American that most people would rather not think about, an alienated directionless minority that appears to have found its voice in a punk rocker with a death wish." Or a murderous clown ready to lay siege to the city of Gotham.Info from Gamespot.com

Restoring the place which harbors your fondest childhood memories is a cute and almost noble goal. In Concrete Genie you get to take something drab and dead and bring it back to life with colour, love, and warmth. It's a very simple and short experience that focuses mainly on light puzzling, 3D platforming, and a little stealth, but its charm and general sense of playfulness really make it a worthwhile adventure.In Concrete Genie you play as Ash, a boy who dreams of bringing his former home, a fishing port called Denksa, back to life. The town has been corrupted by an oil spill and negative emotions, and is now a desolate maze-like neighbourhood by the water. Ash's love of art and memories of better days draw him to the run-down area, despite his parents' warnings. Unfortunately for Ash, his bullies also enjoy running amok in the ghost town; they tear up his art book and push him into a cable car bound for Denska lighthouse (known for housing a ghost), starting him on a new journey.Small drawings of the genies Ash drew as a child are scattered around the city and, when combined with the power of the lighthouse ghost, bring his paintings to life. These friendly genies bid him to use his artistic talents to paint the town using a new magic brush, which restores the electric lights in the area. He sets to work, using his vibrant artworks to push back the darkness infecting the town. The premise doesn't make a tonne of sense, but its message and execution are sweet and full of heart, much like the rest of the game.Ash is determined to restore Denska to its former glory and each area of the town, including the lighthouse, has hanging fairy lights over some parts of buildings. Painting these areas will clear the dark vines that block your path to the next section. Mechanically, painting is more like placing large dynamic stickers rather than using your own brush strokes. You choose whether you want to paint something like a rainbow or a flower, use either motion controls or the right stick to choose its location, then drag across the screen to determine the general size and shape of the object.Concrete Genie fills in the rest, adding fine details that can vary depending on the sticker. Flowers may create extra grass, and trees can grow additional branches, but it all works to make whatever you're creating far more impressive. The artwork is made of light and genuinely quite beautiful--if a little overbearingly bright at times. Much like projected light art or bright neon signs, they work well in moderation but can get overly busy. You do have to go quite overboard to create something that's actually ugly, which makes the act of painting the town really satisfying--you get to watch a boring dull environment become something quite pretty with very minimal effort.To light up the hanging lights, any painting will do. This means that sometimes, for simplicity's sake, I used the same art over and over again, covering the walls with butterflies or stars out of laziness. Occasionally, you may need to paint something specific, but even then it can get a little repetitive. All of the paintable objects come from your sketchbook the aforementioned bullies tore apart, and these pages are scattered all over Denska.Sometimes you might not have the page you need yet, but setting out to find them gives you a genuine reason to explore the environment and fortunately, it's really fun to do so. Ash is just a kid and doesn't have superpowers, so he can't jump particularly high or survive large falls, but he does have a spirited spring in his step. Clambering up the sides of buildings is quick and efficient while still feeling grounded and not at all floaty. Even if you do fall to your death, you're immediately returned to where you fell from, and daredevil actions like sliding down power lines make getting around enjoyable without fear of punishment. There's a really nice fluidity to his movements, which emboldens you to explore every nook and cranny to hunt down your strewn pages.Along the way, you'll also find spots to create new genies, which will in turn help you solve puzzles and access new areas. These genies have set colours which allow them to solve different elemental puzzles--red genies can burn down a tarp, for example, whereas blue ones can blow on specific objects, and yellow ones generate electricity to power various doors and switches. The downside to the puzzles is calling one genie to solve a problem calls all who are available to come, so often there's not much active work on your part to solve them--Instead, the genies come along and, aside from a few exceptions, they'll just solve it on their own. As genies are still technically paintings that exist on the walls they were painted on, they can only travel on connected walls and are locked in their own areas. This means you may need to have found the painting spot for the type of genie you need first, but this still isn't very difficult. You also have a fair amount of control over how your genies will look, depending on how many genie design pages you’ve collected. The choices you make can impact their personalities, which can make interacting with them incredibly endearing--it's also very easy to make some hot mess genies, but they don't seem to mind their appearance. The interactions between Ash and the genies are very sweet--you can hang out with them, play games together, and paint things for them. Keeping your genies happy also makes them more likely to help you solve puzzles and provides you with Super Paint, which is required to paint over some surfaces, so the whole interaction with the genies feeds back into the positivity of the game.Concrete Genie takes a surprising turn in the final act, when combat suddenly makes an appearance. As a part of the narrative, it makes sense and is an enjoyable twist, but because it's such a short-lived mechanic it feels under-developed. Like the elements of the genies, you are granted three different elemental attacks that need to be used to take down different shields. The half-hour dedicated to combat, mostly involving boss fights, doesn't give much opportunity for you to experiment with it. I'm still not sure if all the attacks did damage or whether some just caused status effects because there wasn't enough time or enemies to organically work it out.When you're granted combat, you also gain new movement abilities, which include paint skating. This means you no longer have to run so much and can instead essentially skate on magical painted shoes. It makes getting around even more fluid than it was before, and unlike your ability to shoot elements, you get to keep this one even after the main story is completed. Because it's introduced fairly late into the game, it makes jumping back in after the story to clean up collectibles really enjoyable. The game itself only takes about six hours to complete on an initial playthrough, and once it's "over" you really do want to play more. But even with the 10 or so hours I spent finding all the secrets and collectibles, it still feels like some concepts could still have been explored to a greater degree.Most of what Concrete Genie has to offer is fun and beautiful in a sort of childlike way. The game is not particularly difficult, and overcoming a puzzle or combat scenario isn't always satisfying. But it's ultimately still an endearing experience throughout. There's plenty of enjoyment to be found just from the act of exploring, and little hidden secrets along the way help make it worthwhile; I just wish Concrete Genie had more adventure waiting for me. Info from Gamespot.com

Dragon Age lead franchise writer David Gaider is making a new and intriguing-looking musical adventure game Chorus. As it turns out, the veteran game developer--who left BioWare years ago--has been thinking about making a musical game for a long time.In an appearance at the GameSpot Theatre today at PAX Aus about his new game and studio, Gaider said he in fact pitched musical DLC for Dragon Age during his time at BioWare. The musical Dragon Age DLC could have taken place inside the metaphysical Dragon Age realm called The Fade, he said. It was a semi-serious, semi-joking pitch, Gaider said, but whatever the case, it never happened.Gaider is now getting to realize that dream. His new game, Chorus, is a musical adventure game where they big story beats play out through song. Gaider is working on Chorus with Summerfall managing director Liam Esler (former Obsidian, Beamdog developer), while prolific voice actress Laura Bailey (Uncharted, Gears of War) is voicing the main character.Voice acting legend Troy Baker is the Voice Director for Chorus, while Grammy nominated composer (Austin Wintory) is the composer for the game. In short, Summerfall has assembled a truly all-star cast for Chorus.Summerfall is looking for $600,000 USD on Fig to fund Chrous, and you can visit the crowdfunding page to learn more about the numerous backer benefits and more.Read next: Dragon Age Writer Reveals A New Game, And It Is Completely DifferentPAX Aus runs October 11-13 in Melbourne, and GameSpot is on hand at the show all weekend to bring you news and further coverage. For more, check out a rundown of all the panels in the GameSpot Theatre.Info from Gamespot.com

Contrary to popular belief, professional wrestling wasn't always scripted or predetermined. Over a century ago, it was still "real." Two men would get in a ring and have a legitimate athletic contest with a winner and a loser.The shenanigans came later, when the promoters realized that by fixing all the matches, they could ensure that they promoted the most reliable, talented, and charismatic performers in their stable. And over time, this match fixing evolved into the current-day kayfabe we see today, with its larger-than-life characters and theatrical presentation.But as unrealistic as modern professional wrestling can often seem, the core idea behind it remains the same: that when you book the matches and you book and how they end, it should be a near-guarantee that the audience will go home happy. And that's why it's impossible to view the main event of 2019's WWE Hell in a Cell as anything other than a massive failure, on multiple levels.The live audience booed the result, and continued booing even after the lights came up for everyone to go home. Many in the crowd chanted chanted "AEW," the name of the new rival wrestling promotion on the block. And wrestling Twitter set itself ablaze, ranking the main event as one of WWE's worst in recent memory. To briefly summarize the match that has fans in an uproar: Seth Rollins, the current WWE Universal Champion, took on Bray Wyatt in a title match at the Hell in a Cell PPV on October 6. Rollins is the good "babyface" of the feud, and Wyatt is the evil "heel" of the feud.Regardless, Wyatt is getting lots of cheers, because his new character, "The Fiend," is the coolest looking thing to come out of WWE in quite some time. Fans also see Wyatt as a likeable underdog. From 2012-2018, his character was a backwoods cult leader with a silver-tongue. And although he was pegged for great success, Bray Wyatt never received the push or definitive win necessary to becoming a next-level performer. Would this new Fiend character finally break through where his prior character couldn't?The title match took place inside Hell in a Cell. A match stipulation innovated by long-time booker/manager Jim Cornette, Hell in a Cell was inspired by the steel cages of the Memphis territory days, which encompassed the immediate area outside the ring. Cornette added a roof to the cage like the ones in NWA WarGames, and the result was Hell in a Cell.A wrestler wins the match by pinfall or submission; there are no disqualifications. The no disqualification rule prevents any sort of screwy finish, such as when a champion gets himself disqualified in order to retain a title, while the cage itself prevents people from fleeing the ring and forfeiting. Traditionally, a Hell in a Call took place at the end of a feud, when one wrestler's cowardly tendencies could longer be tolerated, or because the acrimony between two wrestlers had reached such a fever pitch, that they seemed ready to kill each other. But in 2009, WWE created an annual pay-per-view called "Hell in a Cell," where at least one one of the show's matches would take place inside of the structure. And thus, the match to end all matches, the most dangerous possible stipulation for when feuds got intensely personal, slowly became 'that thing we do during October.' If the feud hadn't reached the animosity necessary for this sort of extreme match, it didn't matter. It was October, which meant that the title match needed to be inside of the Cell.So that was the first problem. When built properly, a Hell in a Cell match could be the final chapter of a long, angry feud, with escalating, dangerous stipulations. But Wyatt sneaking up on and spooking Rollins for three weeks did not equate to a match this extreme. This was the first match between Rollins and this brand new character (Rollin has fought Wyatt, but not his Fiend alter-ego). It was only the second match for the Fiend. Where do they go from here?Also concerning: Seth Rollins just won the title from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam on August 11. This was a landmark victory; Rollins won cleanly to a man who has lost only a handful of times in his entire professional wrestling career, and almost never without his opponent cheating. To have Rollins lose the belt so quickly would cheapen the value of this win, and by proxy, cheapen Lesnar as well.So WWE's writers were left with a no-win scenario heading into SummerSlam. Did they hand The Fiend his first loss in his second match (which would make narrative sense) but toss six months of brilliant character work into the garbage? Or did they give Wyatt a too-soon win and title reign that wouldn't make much narrative sense but would keep the audience happy in the short-term?For much of the match, it seemed like WWE was going for the latter, wiser option. The company has rocketed wrestlers to the main event before, and it can work if the performer is talented enough to hang tough. Wyatt withstood multiple Curb Stomps (Rollins' finishing move), steel chair shots, and more. Wyatt, however, would not stay down. It was a little cartoony, but worked in a Michael Myers-ish sort of way—so long as Wyatt ultimately made the comeback and scored the win. It wasn't ideal, but WWE could work on this in the aftermath. Rollins didn't win. Wyatt didn't win. Instead, the WWE writers booked an ending that made no one happy: A referee stopped the match because it was getting too violent. Seth Rollins had just smashed a sledgehammer onto a pile of steel chairs covering Wyatt's head when the referee called for the bell.A lack of a finish defeats the entire purpose of having the Cell; a definitive finish is the entire point of the match. Also part of the Cell's mythos is the violence. To ask that the Cell match be violent, but not too violent, is a tricky line to draw, especially if it's not clearly defined.And that's ultimately the takeaway. Much of the criticism has been around the closing seconds of the match. But what has been lost in entire debacle is that the match was doomed to fail from the start.It's often been observed that wrestling fans are an impossible bunch to please—people will complain no matter what the finish is. But in this case, the finish was the result of poor matchmaking, and of the WWE writers trying to fix something broken from the moment the match was booked. They were given an impossible task: to keep the title on Rollins and also have Wyatt emerge from the match looking strong. There is no logical, reasonable way to do that in a no disqualification match, where all conventional "challenger wins, but champion retains" finishes don't exist.The Friday, October 11 episode of Smackdown is the first night of the WWE Draft. The best thing that could possibly happen, at this stage, is for Rollins and Wyatt to go to different brands. WWE needs to leave well enough alone; rehabilitate the Fiend character to be an unstoppable threat, who doesn't need to be saved by the referee, before having these two fight again—maybe at WrestleMania, this time with a definitive winner?In the meantime, there's enough blame to go around. Sure, blame WWE for picking a terrible option out of a number of bad ones. But there's a larger discussion that needs to be had about booking stipulation-themed PPVs and building feuds in a logical manner—for making sure the storytelling elements of a match stipulation coincide with the dynamic between the two competitors. Instead of asking how WWE could have booked the match better, fans should be asking why the match had to exist in the first place.Info from Gamespot.com

Blizzard recently found itself embroiled in controversy when it banned a professional Hearthstone player and rescinded his thousands of dollars in prize money after they expressed support for the Hong Kong protests in China.The player, blitzchung, made his statement during a victory interview--and this was in violation of "rules he acknowledged and understood, and this is why we took action," Blizzard's president J. Allen Brack said in a statement.Brack went on to say its decision was not driven by its relationship with its partners in China. "The specific views expressed by blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision," Brack said.The executive went on to say that Blizzard enforces rules about what can and cannot be said during player interviews to "keep the focus on the game and on the tournament." For this reason--and this reason alone--Blizzard decided to take action against blitzchung."If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same," Brack said.While Blizzard is standing by its decision to punish, Brack acknowledged that the company made some mistakes in how it handled the situation and specifically how it determined the penalties against blitzchung. "We've had a chance to pause, to listen to our community, and to reflect on what we could have done better. In hindsight, our process wasn't adequate, and we reacted too quickly," Blizzard said."We want to ensure that we maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all our players, and that our rules and processes are clear. All of this is in service of another important Blizzard value--Play Nice; Play Fair."Brack said that blitzchung competed in the Hearthstone tournament in a fair manner, and as such, he still should have been paid the prize money he earned. "We now believe he should receive his prizing," Brack said.However, Brack said "playing fair" encompasses conduct during match play and after, which would include his Hong Kong comments from the post-match interview.In terms of his suspension, Brack said a six-month ban is "more appropriate" than the one-year suspension that was announced earlier. "There is a consequence for taking the conversation away from the purpose of the event and disrupting or derailing the broadcast," Brack said.The shoutcasters were also caught up in the controversy, and Blizzard is banning them as well for steering the conversation away from the game. "With regard to the casters, remember their purpose is to keep the event focused on the tournament. That didn't happen here, and we are setting their suspension to six months as well," Brack said."One of our goals at Blizzard is to make sure that every player, everywhere in the world, regardless of political views, religious beliefs, race, gender, or any other consideration always feels safe and welcome both competing in and playing our games."After Blizzard announced its action against blitzchung, whose real name is Ng Wai Chung, the response was fierce, with gamers calling for boycotts and some deleting their accounts. US Senators criticized the move as censorship, some Blizzard employees staged their own protest, and host personalities like Brian Kibler announced they would no longer shoutcast Hearthstone events. Most recently Hearthstone's first ever World Champion, James Kostesich aka "Firebat," called the penalty ridiculous and unreasonable.Blizzard's big fan convention, BlizzCon, is scheduled to November. A group of gamers are organizing a protest over the Hong Kong situation at the event.Full Blizzard Statement:"Hello Blizzard Community . . .I want to take a few minutes to talk to all of you about the Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament this past weekend. On Monday, we made the decision to take action against a player named blitzchung and two shoutcasters after the player shared his views on what’s happening in Hong Kong on our official broadcast channel.At Blizzard, our vision is “to bring the world together through epic entertainment.” And we have core values that apply here: Think Globally; Lead Responsibly; and importantly, Every Voice Matters, encouraging everybody to share their point of view. The actions that we took over the weekend are causing people to question if we are still committed to these values. We absolutely are and I will explain.Our esports programs are an expression of our vision and our values. Esports exist to create opportunities for players from around the world, from different cultures, and from different backgrounds, to come together to compete and share their passion for gaming. It is extremely important to us to protect these channels and the purpose they serve: to bring the world together through epic entertainment, celebrate our players, and build diverse and inclusive communities.As to how those values apply in this case:First, our official esports tournament broadcast was used as a platform for a winner of this event to share his views with the world.We interview competitors who are at the top of their craft to share how they feel. We want to experience that moment with them. Hearing their excitement is a powerful way to bring us together.Over the weekend, blitzchung used his segment to make a statement about the situation in Hong Kong—in violation of rules he acknowledged and understood, and this is why we took action.Every Voice Matters, and we strongly encourage everyone in our community to share their viewpoints in the many places available to express themselves. However, the official broadcast needs to be about the tournament and to be a place where all are welcome. In support of that, we want to keep the official channels focused on the game.Second, what is the role of shoutcasters for these broadcasts?We hire shoutcasters to amplify the excitement of the game. They elevate the watchability and help the esports viewing experience stay focused on the tournament and our amazing players.Third, were our actions based on the content of the message?Part of Thinking Globally, Leading Responsibly, and Every Voice Matters is recognizing that we have players and fans in almost every country in the world. Our goal is to help players connect in areas of commonality, like their passion for our games, and create a sense of shared community.The specific views expressed by blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.We have these rules to keep the focus on the game and on the tournament to the benefit of a global audience, and that was the only consideration in the actions we took.If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same.OK, what could Blizzard have done better, and where do we go from here?Over the past few days, many players, casters, esports fans, and employees have expressed concerns about how we determined the penalties. We’ve had a chance to pause, to listen to our community, and to reflect on what we could have done better. In hindsight, our process wasn’t adequate, and we reacted too quickly.We want to ensure that we maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all our players, and that our rules and processes are clear. All of this is in service of another important Blizzard value—Play Nice; Play Fair.In the tournament itself blitzchung *played* fair. We now believe he should receive his prizing. We understand that for some this is not about the prize, and perhaps for others it is disrespectful to even discuss it. That is not our intention.But playing fair also includes appropriate pre-and post-match conduct, especially when a player accepts recognition for winning in a broadcast. When we think about the suspension, six months for blitzchung is more appropriate, after which time he can compete in the Hearthstone pro circuit again if he so chooses. There is a consequence for taking the conversation away from the purpose of the event and disrupting or derailing the broadcast.With regard to the casters, remember their purpose is to keep the event focused on the tournament. That didn’t happen here, and we are setting their suspension to six months as well.Moving forward, we will continue to apply tournament rules to ensure our official broadcasts remain focused on the game and are not a platform for divisive social or political views.One of our goals at Blizzard is to make sure that every player, everywhere in the world, regardless of political views, religious beliefs, race, gender, or any other consideration always feels safe and welcome both competing in and playing our games.At Blizzard, we are always listening and finding ways to improve—it is part of our culture. Thank you for your patience with us as we continue to learn.Sincerely,J. Allen BrackPresident of Blizzard Entertainment" Info from Gamespot.com

If you're fortunate enough to have a barcade in your neck of the woods, you have probably seen it: a huge, imposing pair of arcade cabinets with "Killer Queen" emblazoned on the marquee in blue and gold. Maybe you've even seen or played a versus session, with five players gathered around each screen attempting to work together and clutch sweet, sweet victory. Killer Queen is ideal for arcades, it's a unique game built around the camaraderie of being together in a public space--a vibe that's difficult to translate to the often solitary online experience PCs and consoles offer.Enter Killer Queen Black, the first appearance of Killer Queen beyond the dimly-lit neon lights of modern social arcades. While it isn't a 1:1 port of the arcade original, Killer Queen Black nonetheless delivers a tremendously fun and engaging multiplayer experience, whether you're playing with a bunch of friends at home or joining in random battles online.It's important to realize that Killer Queen in any form is, fundamentally, a multiplayer experience. That means that if you don't plan to play with local friends or take the game online, there is little that it will offer you beyond a brief tutorial mode and the ability to play with CPU-controlled teammates and enemies. But when you do get a party started, Killer Queen Black realizes its full fun and frenetic potential.Killer Queen Black has you playing in two teams of four players (down from five in the arcade original), with one player assuming the role of the insectoid Queen and three being worker drones who aid her. Each player has an important role; while the Queen is the team's anchor and has access to powerful attack skills, the infinitely-respawning drones can pick up berries, ride snails, and upgrade in special pods to gain super-speed or become weapon- and shield-bearing warriors. Victory is achieved in one of three ways: by killing the other team's Queen three times, collecting and storing enough berries to fill your team's base, or riding a sluggish snail to your team's goalposts.The game's varied roles and three means of victory offer up a lot of interesting strategies. Do the drones all opt to forfeit the ability to carry berries and ride the snail to gain weapons to go on an all-out offense? Or maybe only a couple should grab gear while one tries to bait the opposing Queen by riding the snail? Maybe your team's Queen can dodge and counterattack enemies, distracting the opposing team and claiming their power-stations while your drone friends hoard berries or inch the snail to the goal. You can even put yourself in the snail's jaws to stymie a riding opponent, allowing your weapon-wielding teammates an opportunity to kill off threats. There are many possibilities, and while a lot is always going on at any one time in Killer Queen Black, learning its basic rules and controls is easy enough that most anyone can jump in and quickly enjoy the strategic depth the gameplay has to offer.Graphically, Killer Queen Black has received a significant overhaul from the arcade original. The arcade game employed a detailed retro-pixel art style, and that carries over to Black. However, the detail on the characters, animations, and background elements is significantly improved, adding a lot to the atmosphere of Killer Queen's strange humanoid-insect world. As a result it's not too tough to follow the action, even on the Switch's comparatively smaller handheld screen, Along with the graphical overhaul comes some all-new maps, many of which emphasize the clever use of screen-wrapping to enhance strategic play by letting you quickly move from end of the screen to the other.There are many ways to enjoy the game's multiplayer modes. You can link a pair of Switches together via a local network for eight-player action, you can hop online in a custom room with friends or an assemblage of random players--you can even take a local team of up to four players online to battle against another group online.In our testing, online play was generally smooth sailing, though it was pretty easy to tell when players' connections weren't ideal; you could see their character jumping abruptly around the map as the game struggled to catch up with their location. (To its credit, the game tries its best to match you with others based on region.) There's online voice chat for each team to coordinate strategy--though, if you don't have access to voice chat (a likelihood for the Switch version), you can also communicate through a simple emote and emphasis system that draws attention to places on the map. If there's one major gripe about online, it's a lack of options; you can turn certain maps on and off, but that's about it. With only six maps in the base game (that often repeat multiple times during a five-round set), the scenery starts to feel a stale pretty quickly.Minor gripes aside, Killer Queen Black is the very definition of a great multiplayer game: easy to learn, fun to jump into, and packed with the sort of clutch moments that make you jump up and cheer. The satisfaction of spur-of-the-moment decisions, like sniping a Queen from the other side of the map with a carefully-timed laser gun blast, knocking an attacker pursuing your Queen off-kilter with a thrown berry, or eagerly shoving yourself in a snail's mouth pixels from the enemy goal in order to buy your teammates time to complete your berry hoard is consistently engaging. If you're looking for a unique, competitive multiplayer experience for online or local group play, Killer Queen Black is the bee's knees.Info from Gamespot.com

John Wick is an orchestrator of death. He efficiently uses both the tools and space around him in a fight, delicately flowing between enemies and intelligently picking them off. John Wick Hex effortlessly replicates the slick violence of the films, allowing you to embody the feared assassin in combat scenarios that are both challenging and satisfying to overcome. It also introduces a fast-paced spin on traditional turn-based action, letting you think and act like the elusive Baba Yaga while also looking as refined and controlled as he is.At the core of John Wick Hex is an overhead timeline, which records actions both you and enemies take. Each action takes a set amount of time, represented plainly in the timeline to give you a clear view of when you’re taking a shot versus when you have to dodge an incoming one, for example. After each turn, the action you’ve made plays out in real-time, only pausing if a new enemy enters your line of sight or if you take damage to let you adjust accordingly. You’re always aware of how the action is going to play out when it starts moving again, which lets you plan ahead and position yourself for your next turn.The choices you make in combat are vital, though. Sometimes an enemy might be quicker on the draw than you, forcing you to decide between potentially taking a hit or throwing your gun to stun them in time. This has its own set of consequences. If the enemy is too far, you’ve now disarmed yourself with too much ground to cover for a close-quarters takedown, or left yourself vulnerable to the surprise appearance of another foe. Each turn is a new step in a moving puzzle, rewarding careful consideration of positioning, sight lines, and resource management with a graceful flow of murder.Aside from health, you have to consider both ammunition and a resource called focus. John Wick is great with a gun, but Hex limits the number of bullets you can carry at a time to force you to experiment with new weapons that you find. Knowing how many bullets you have in the magazine before a fight helps you manage how many enemies you think you can dispatch before needing to find a new one, which in turn helps you move efficiently from one kill to the next, collecting dropped firearms in the process. It’s a satisfying balance; I constantly had to adapt to the firing speeds and effective ranges of new weapons, which in turn changed the way I advanced on or retreated from a fight.Focus governs most of your actions outside basic movement and shooting. Everything from performing an instant melee takedown to reloading your weapon requires some focus points, making it the backbone to most of your available repertoire. Although it can be replenished easily enough, finding space in a fight to do so without taking too much damage is tough, encouraging you to only bite off as much as you can chew and space your enemies out to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Your successes and failures are governed but how well you’re able to manage both ammunition and your distribution of resources, with Hex focusing less on hit percentages and random rolls and more on the choices you make and your ability to anticipate how things will play out.Levels are designed to challenge your understanding of movement and its inherent risks, too, stuffing you into long, cramped corridors laden with doors that enemies can spawn through at any point. Sight lines are obscured to keep you guessing about who's just around the corner; a reckless roll could put you in the firing line of a group of previously hidden enemies. Each step you take towards the exit of each level has to be a calculated one, taking into account acute angles of doorways and the benefits of elevation from overhead balconies.When you hit a stride with this balancing act, John Wick Hex feels like it’s almost moving in real time. Your decisions will start feeling instinctive, with moves playing out as if you’re beholden to a ticking clock. Hex is tuned to make you feel like you’re always one step ahead. Because you have a beat or two to react to new enemies before they make their moves, you'll often feel like your reaction times are split seconds ahead of them--so long as you're thinking carefully. But it’s equally unforgiving if you’re too bold. If you don’t learn how to break sight lines while moving, you’ll quickly find your timeline overwhelmed with enemy actions that you can’t address entirely. Hex is a power fantasy with the odds ever so slightly tilted in your favor, but it’s also a game that wants you to understand the fine margins that John Wick operates within during every fight.With such dynamic and engrossing combat at its center, it’s disappointing that John Wick Hex’s original story fails to live up to the same standard. It takes place well before the events of the first film--when John was the most dangerous weapon the High Table had in their employ, and before he ever met his wife--with John searching for series stalwarts Winston and Charon, reprised by Ian McShane and Lance Reddick respectively (Keanu Reeves' likeness is used in the game's stylized cartoonish aesthetic, but John Wick has no dialogue to speak of). Hex, a new villain to the series, has kidnapped the pair in an attempt to dismantle the High Table in a fit of revenge, inviting the wrath of John Wick as he ruthlessly hunts him down over a variety of locales, like neon-soaked night clubs with harsh electronic music and silent, snow-slicked forests which quickly become drenched in bright pink streaks of blood from fallen foes.While the narrative gives the game a reason to bounce from one location to the next, it never taps into the intriguing layer of lore that sits on top of the high-octane action from the films. You’ll learn nothing new about the High Table or their seedy, mysterious Continental hotels, and even less about John’s time before giving up his assassin lifestyle in pursuit of something quieter. Hex’s revenge tale also fails to establish any interesting backstory or lasting impression on the franchise, making the story feel meaningless in the grander scheme of things.It’s a disappointing thread that ties together the exceptional gameplay, which faithfully captures the feeling of being John Wick in a strategic and pulsating formula. John Wick Hex has turn-based gameplay at a pace you’ve likely not experienced before, and it intricately balances its systems to give you a sense of being an expert hitman while also making it feel earned. It’s a slick and well-oiled game that succeeds in giving you a new, engrossing way to experience John Wick and its signature brand of chaotic action. Info from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Go's next Community Day is just around the corner. This month's event takes place around the world this Saturday, October 12, and as usual, it'll give players a brief window of time to catch a rare Pokemon and take advantage of other in-game bonuses.Each Pokemon Go Community Day typically only runs for three hours, but the event details tend to vary month by month. To help you prepare for this month's event, we've rounded up everything you need to know about October's Community Day below, from its start times and featured Pokemon to the special event-exclusive move you'll have a chance to learn. Pokemon Go News Pokemon Go Teasing New Team Rocket Characters Pokemon Go Finally Adds Mime Jr. As Part Of A New Event Pokemon Go Giratina Guide - Counters, Shiny Giratina, And How To Catch Tips Pokemon Go October 2019 Community Day Announced, Features Trapinch Pokemon Go: How To Get Unova Stones And Evolve Gen 5 Pokemon What Is October's Featured Pokemon?Each Community Day stars one specific "featured Pokemon," which will spawn in the wild much more often than normal for the duration of the event. This month, the featured Pokemon is Trapinch, the termite-like Ground-type from Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. Not only will Trapinch be much easier to find throughout October's Community Day, you'll also have your first chance to encounter a Shiny Trapinch in the game. These, however, will be rare, so if you're hoping to catch a Shiny Trapinch, you'll need to be persistent.What Is October's Special Community Day Move?We have some news that we know you’ll dig! Earth Power is the exclusive move for Trapinch #PokemonGOCommunityDay! Time to shake things up! pic.twitter.com/y293puZgEJ — Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) October 9, 2019In addition to increased Pokemon spawns, each Community Day gives you a chance to earn a special event-exclusive move. Typically, if you can evolve the featured Pokemon into its final form by the end of the event, it'll automatically know an attack that it couldn't otherwise learn in Pokemon Go.This month, the special move is the Ground-type attack Earth Power. If you can evolve a Trapinch all the way into a Flygon up to an hour after the Community Day ends, the Pokemon will know Earth Power. This applies to any Trapinch you evolve, even if you've caught it prior to the event. However, Flygon will only learn Earth Power if it evolves during the designated window of time--so if you catch a Trapinch during the event but don't evolve it until the following day, it will not learn the attack.What Time Does October's Community Day Start?Much like last month's event, October's Community Day will take place early in the day, from 11 AM to 2 PM local time. That means you'll have until 3 PM local time to evolve Trapinch and learn the aforementioned Community Day move.What Other Bonuses Are Available?On top of increased Pokemon spawns and the special event-exclusive move, you'll be able to take advantage of a few other bonuses during October's Community Day. First, you'll earn triple the normal amount of XP when you capture Pokemon during the event. This applies to any monster you catch, not just the featured Pokemon. As usual, Lure Modules will also last for an extended period of time. Any that you use during the event will remain active for three hours rather than the usual 30 minutes.Info from Gamespot.com

The latest free game on the Epic Games Store is quite the change of pace from Minit, last week's offering. From today until Thursday, October 17, you can grab Surviving Mars and the Space Race DLC on the house.Developed by Haemimont Games and published by Stellaris developer Paradox Interactive, Surviving Mars released in 2018. A city-building simulation game, Surviving Mars tasks players with creating a thriving colony on the harsh Red Planet. At the start of each run, you choose a space agency, get your finances in order, and then choose a spot for your colony to take shape. Given the setting and title, it's no surprise Surviving Mars has a survival bent to it. It's a challenge to keep your workers alive amidst brutal weather conditions and unforeseen obstacles.Surviving Mars, like Kerbal Space Program, applies real-world science to its simulation gameplay, a fact that makes it a unique and compelling entry in the city-building genre. Critic Daniel Starkey gave the game an 8/10 in GameSpot's Surviving Mars review. Starkey praised the science behind the game, the wide array of ways to approach each situation, and the consequences that arise as a result of your choices. "Surviving Mars, above else, is about hope. So many strategy games hold to their gameplay, eschewing any overarching themes or messages," Starkey wrote. "But, as corny as it sounds, for those who believe in the majesty of spaceflight, for those who are keen to marvel at how pernicious our plucky little species can be, Surviving Mars is SimCity with soul."The Space Race DLC introduces rival AI colonies, each of whom are trying to become a Mars superpower.Surviving Mars' launch on the Epic Games Store as part of the Epic Free Games program comes on the heels of the announcement of the game's sequel, Surviving the Aftermath. Entering Early Access on the Epic Games Store and Xbox Game Preview later this year, Surviving the Aftermath is a post-apocalyptic city-building sim.All you need is a free Epic account to claim Surviving Mars and Space Race. Make sure to add these to your library before October 17, as they will be replaced by next week's free offerings, Observer and Alan Wake's American Nightmare.Get Surviving Mars free at EpicInfo from Gamespot.com