The battle royale genre, or mode depending on how you think about it, continues to be immensely popular. Franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield have introduced battle royale modes, while battle royale games themselves like Fortnite and Apex Legends continue to dominate. One franchise that isn't jumping on the battle royale bandwagon for now is Gears of War.Multiplayer director Ryan Cleven told GameSpot that Gears 5 won't have a battle royale mode at launch. Developer The Coalition are "big fans" of battle royale as a genre, he said, adding that the studio will listen to feedback from fans and consider what to add after release."Gears 5 does not include a battle royale mode," Cleven said. "We're big fans of the battle royale genre, but we would want to ensure we bring a battle royale mode to Gears in a meaningful way. We're actively listening to our Gears community and will look to further evolve our game modes based on player feedback post-launch."The Coalition boss Rod Fergusson previously explained to IGN that the studio doesn't want to "chase" the battle royale genre just for the sake of getting in on the bandwagon. Meanwhile, Cleven told IGN, "As a fan of the genre I would love to see it, but bringing the intimate combat of Gears to the open kind of organic encounters of a battle royale is difficult. They're two very different modes of combat. It's not that it’s impossible. It's just to do it right would require really focusing on it."While Gears 5 doesn't have battle royale, the game features a series of other modes. These include the standard Versus multiplayer, along with Horde, Escape, and campaign--all of which can be played with friends. Not only that, but there is cross-play support between Xbox One and PC for them.Gears 5 launches in September, but The Coalition is inviting people to play early to test the Versus multiplayer mode through technical tests. The first was held last weekend, and the second one begins July 26. Info from Gamespot.com

It turns out, that sort of out-of-place Natalie Portman cameo in Avengers: Endgame was a little more important than we might have guessed. Portman, who hasn't played a major role in any MCU movie since 2013's Thor: The Dark World, is making her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reprising her role as Jane Foster in Thor: Love And Thunder. There's one major caveat to go with her return, though: she'll be wielding Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.Director Taika Waititi took the stage at San Diego Comic-Con during the massive Marvel Studios panel to surprise fans. Moderator Jessica Chobot prompted Waititi with a question about what comic book storylines had inspired him, which Waititi was quick to answer. "When we were shooting Ragnarok, I was reading Jason Aaron's Mighty Thor, and it introduces female Thor [Jane Foster]. So, there's only one person who can do that."Natalie Portman herself then took the stage to massive applause, before being handed her own replica Mjolnir to really drive Jane's new MCU status quo home."This feels pretty good," Portman laughed, "I've always had a little hammer envy."Jane's turn as Thor came after Thor Odinson was rendered unworthy by a cosmically aware Nick Fury (don't ask), who confirmed that a villain named Gor the God Butcher, who believed all gods in the universe were fundamentally horrible and wrong, was "right." By whispering that simple phrase: "Gor was right," Thor found himself experiencing such a crisis of confidence that he could no longer lift Mjolnir.Thankfully, Mjolnir's powers have some strings attached, if you remember its inscription--"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." During Thor's crisis, Jane, who had actually been battling fatal cancer, was able to lift the hammer and become imbued with the powers. As a deity, Jane's cancer was also "cured," but only while she was in her Thor form, creating a dangerous catch-22 when she would revert back to her mortal self.It's unclear what the set up for Jane's transformation in the MCU will actually be, since as far as we know she has been in perfect health, but with Doctor Strange 2's introduction of the multiverse, it seems like anything and everything is possible.Thor: Love And Thunder will hit theaters on November 5, 2021. Info from Gamespot.com

Sometimes all it takes is a tweet. One of the many big announcements to come out of Marvel Studios' San Diego Comic-Con panel was the casting of Simu Liu in the lead for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings. But it seems that Liu's starring role didn't come out of nowhere--it might have started with a tweet that the Kim's Convenience actor sent to Marvel last year.Although the Shang-Chi movie was officially announced at the SDCC panel, it was first reported that Marvel was planning a movie based on the Asian superhero in December 2018. Liu clearly knew that he was right for the role, so fired off this tweet shortly after the news broke:OK @Marvel, are we gonna talk or what #ShangChi — Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) December 3, 2018Nearly seven months later, it was confirmed that Liu was indeed playing Shang-Chi. The actor was quick to remind fans where it all started, with this reply to his original tweet:Well shit. — Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) July 21, 2019Of course, we don't know the background to the first tweet and the conversations that happened in the time between. But it's exciting to think that a tweet to Marvel is all it takes if you're the right choice for the role.Shang-Chi will also star Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) and be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who also helmed Brie Larson's breakthrough film Short Term 12. It hits theaters on February 12, 2021.At the SDCC panel, Marvel boss Kevin Feige also announced Black Widow and The Eternals in 2020, followed by Doctor Strange 2: In The Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder in 2021. The new Thor film will see Natalie Portman reprising her role as Jane Foster, who in this movie will become the Goddess of Thunder. There was also a big surprise at the very end of the panel when Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali was announced as the title character in a new Blade movie.For a full recap of the panel, check out our rundown on everything announced at the Marvel Studios panel.May 1, 2020 -- Black WidowFall 2020 -- Falcon and Winter SoldierNovember 6, 2020 -- The EternalsFebruary 12, 2021 -- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 RingsSpring 2021 -- WandaVisionMay 7, 2021 -- Doctor Strange 2: In The Multiverse of MadnessSpring 2021 -- LokiSummer 2021 -- "What If?" animated seriesFall 2021 -- HawkeyeNovember 5, 2021 -- Thor: Love and ThunderInfo from Gamespot.com

Avengers: Endgame was a box office powerhouse when it released back in April, dragging in a near record-breaking amount of money--but despite its monster opening, the movie wasn't quite able to take the box office earnings record from another enormous movie: director James Cameron's Avatar. According to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, that situation as changed, however, with Disney announcing at San Diego Comic-Con that Endgame has overtaken Avatar's box office record.There's a catch, though."I literally just heard from our folks at Disney Distribution that Avengers: Endgame will be the biggest film of all time," Feige said during the Marvel Studios panel in Comic-Con's Hall H. "You have to shout out to [Avatar director] James Cameron--if you adjust for inflation he still holds that title, but right now, thanks to you folks in Hall H, Avengers: Endgame is the biggest film of all time."That means that in straight numbers, Endgame has surpassed Avatar's total box office take of $2.78 billion. But as Feige mentioned, the world was different in 2009, when Avatar was released, and inflation means that $2.78 billion was worth more then than it is now.You might also recall that Disney and Marvel Studios worked pretty hard to get that record out of Cameron's hands. The company returned Endgame to theaters on June 28 so it could soak up even more money. Before its "farewell" tour, Endgame had only raked in $2.74 billion. Still, a record is a record, and Disney fought to take this one.There's plenty more news coming out of Marvel's Hall H panel, and you can find full coverage of all of it on our Comic-Con hub.Info from Gamespot.com

Following its release in the United States and other parts of the world back in May, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will release in Australia and New Zealand on August 1. Ahead of that, Microsoft has started to take pre-orders as of today, 22 July, in ANZ regions.The All-Digital Edition is aimed at people who are looking to move on from discs and save money. There is no disc drive with this model, and because of that, Microsoft is selling it for only $350 AUD. The console has a 1 TB hard drive.The console comes with digital copies of Minecraft, Forza Horizon 3, and Sea of Thieves. It also includes a one-month Xbox Live Gold membership. You can pre-order it right now from a variety of outlets, including the Microsoft Store, JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is part of the Xbox One family, alongside the standard, disc-supporting versions of the system like the Xbox One S and Xbox One X. Looking ahead, Microsoft's next-generation console, Project Scarlett, does have a disc drive.In America, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is currently marked down to $200 USD.The all-digital Xbox One is generating some amount of controversy. One of the world's biggest video game retailers, GameStop, does not sell the system, presumably due in part to its lack of disc drive. The retailer continues to speak with Microsoft about how the two companies may be able to work together to sell it, but as of yet, that hasn't happened. Info from Gamespot.com

Marvel Studios shared a lot of its Phase 4 plans this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, including The Eternals, a Doctor Strange sequel, a new Thor movie, and more, but the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise was nowhere to be seen.Vol. 3 is still on the way, director James Gunn has confirmed. But it's not coming soon. He said it'll happen after he finishes The Suicide Squad, which he's writing and directing for rival studio Warner Bros.Sorry to disappoint. Guardians Vol. 3 IS happening, but I am finishing The Suicide Squad first. ❤️ https://t.co/gFodDqiDvl — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 21, 2019Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige said at Comic-Con that there simply was not enough time to announce or discuss all of the MCU plans in the future. What isn't clear, however, is if Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is part of Phase 4 or Phase 5.Disney fired Gunn from his writer-director job for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after old tweets of his resurfaced. Disney later hired him back, though this upheaval likely led to a delay. Warner Bros. hired Gunn to write and direct The Suicide Squad during the Disney turmoil. The Phase 4 release rollout can be seen below, including movies and Disney+ TV shows. For a full recap of the panel, check out our rundown on everything announced at the Marvel Studios panel.May 1, 2020 -- Black WidowFall 2020 -- Falcon and Winter SoldierNovember 6, 2020 -- The EternalsFebruary 12, 2021 -- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 RingsSpring 2021 -- WandaVisionMay 7, 2021 -- Doctor Strange 2: In The Multiverse of MadnessSpring 2021 -- LokiSummer 2021 -- "What If?" animated seriesFall 2021 -- HawkeyeNovember 5, 2021 -- Thor: Love and ThunderInfo from Gamespot.com

The next big Nintendo Switch role-playing game, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, releases this Friday, July 26. If you're interested in the game and want to save a little scratch, Walmart has an offer you may want to consider. The retailer will reportedly sell the Switch-exclusive for $49.94 USD on release day this Friday. This is an in-store deal only, it appears.It's a pretty good deal, as Three Houses is a full-price game, normally going for $60 USD. You can visit the Three Houses page on Walmart's website to learn more, though again, it appears this offer is only available in-store. Walmart is reportedly offering the same $49.94 USD deal on the recently released Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for Nintendo Switch. If you don't have a local Walmart near you, it's still worth keeping an eye on online prices at both Amazon and Walmart, which have been offering brand-new games for $49.94 USD quite often recently. It's possible the in-store deal may extend to the website eventually.News: Fire Emblem: Three Houses will be $49.94 via Wal-Mart starting Friday in Store. Marvel Ultimate 3 also $49.94. pic.twitter.com/LwNKqDpFv1 — Cheap Ass Gamer (@videogamedeals) July 22, 2019Three Houses represents the Fire Emblem franchise's debut on Nintendo Switch, though a number of its most notable characters--including Marth, Roy, and Ike--are featured in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.The turn-based tactical role-playing game was originally scheduled to release in spring 2019, but the game was later delayed until summer.Fire Emblem: Three Houses takes you to a continent called Fódlan, where the Church of Seiros exists at the center of it all. Similar to previous Fire Emblem entries, your customizable character is an advisor. However, you're a professor at the Officer's Academy this time around, with your warriors--who are divided into three houses based on their respective nation--as your students.For more on Three Houses, check out all of GameSpot's previous written and video content.Info from Gamespot.com

Death Stranding, the ambitious and odd PlayStation 4 game, is one of 2019's most-anticipated titles. Now, game director Hideo Kojima has revealed its box art and the special-edition SteelBook version. Kojima revealed the new art during a San Diego Comic-Con panel where he spoke about Death Stranding alongside his friend, the movie director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives).Twitter user kalai_chik was in attendance at the Comic-Con panel and posted images of the box art and SteelBook case on Twitter. They both depict Sam, the main character played by The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus. Not only that, but Kojima brought with him the life-sized BB Pod statue that comes with the $200 USD collector's edition of Death Stranding. Kojima apparently said he was stopped by Customs coming into the USA because of the baby statue.You can see all the images below.Official box art for #DeathStranding pic.twitter.com/gwo4fou88u — Kalai 📸 SDCC (@kalai_chik) July 21, 2019Steel box for #DeathStranding. Hideo says he made it himself. #HideoKojima pic.twitter.com/ChDkBXKdnR — Kalai 📸 SDCC (@kalai_chik) July 21, 2019He brought the baby from #DeathStranding and was stopped at customs wondering what he was trying to bring into America. #HideoKojima pic.twitter.com/zFM1eLPxye — Kalai 📸 SDCC (@kalai_chik) July 21, 2019Also during the panel, Kojima said it was originally recommended to him that he cast Keanu Reeves in a role in Death Stranding, but the famed game director went with his friend Mads Mikkelsen instead.Death Stranding launches in November for PS4. A report said the game might also release on Sony's forthcoming PlayStation 5, but nothing is confirmed at this stage.For more on Death Stranding, check out GameSpot's Death Stranding pre-order guide that covers the game's release date, special edition, bonuses and more. Info from Gamespot.com

Just days after EA quietly announced Plants Vs. Zombies 3, the publisher has now begun whispering about what looks to be a new Garden Warfare. Over the weekend the company sent out invites to a playtest for a "new PvZ shooter" codenamed "Picnic.""You are invited to participate in the new PvZ shooter (codename Picnic) playtest on Xbox One or PS4," said EA's email, which was sent to a GameSpot employee, among select other members of EA's playtesting program. "Made by the team that created PvZ: Garden Warfare, the Picnic closed alpha will give players a first glimpse into the new game."EA has previously listed a new Plants Vs. Zombies shooter for release this fall. Another mainline PvZ game was announced a few days ago, too: Plants Vs. Zombies 3 is currently in the pre-alpha testing phase, though a final release date has not been confirmed.The first Garden Warfare spin-off launched for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC in 2014, five years after the original Plants Vs Zombies was first released. A sequel then followed in 2016.Info from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Go's July Community Day may be over, but a new event is now underway in the hit Pokemon mobile game. Right now, players around the world can catch a Pikachu wearing a straw hat as part of a special One Piece collaboration event, but you'll need to act quickly, as the Pokemon will only be available for a limited time.The special straw hat Pikachu will appear in the wild until 1 PM local time on July 29. Additionally, Niantic will be offering matching straw hat avatar items for your trainer through the in-game Style Shop. Meanwhile, players in Japan will be able to visit statues of Luffy and other One Piece characters across Kumamoto Prefecture, which will serve as special PokeStops. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go website.In addition to the One Piece collaboration event, Armored Mewtwo is still appearing in Raid Battles around the world for a few more days. The Legendary Psychic Pokemon will serve as a five-star Raid boss until July 31. This version differs from a standard Mewtwo in a few ways. Not only is it donning the armor it wears in the new Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution movie, it also boasts different stats and a different movepool than a typical Mewtwo.In other Pokemon Go news, Niantic recently rolled out a new update that completely overhauled the game's appraisal system. Now when you appraise a Pokemon, you'll see details about when and where you captured the monsters, as well as a clear overview of its Attack, Defense, and HP stats, with a one- to three-star rating signifying its overall potential. You can see the full patch notes for the update on the App Store.Intriguingly, the patch notes for the newest Pokemon Go update also mention Team Rocket, suggesting the villainous team will begin appearing in the game soon. It appears players will be able to battle Team Rocket grunts and capture the "Shadow" Pokemon they leave behind. It's unclear how this will work in Pokemon Go, but a similar mechanic appeared in Pokemon Colosseum for GameCube, which tasked players with rescuing dark Shadow Pokemon from villains and then "purifying" them by using them in battle.Info from Gamespot.com

Overwatch has been teasing an impending announcement, and all signs pointed to it being Sigma, the rumored Hero 31. That has been confirmed today, with a story trailer that sheds more light on the mysterious scientist.Hero 31 is indeed Sigma, though "hero" is a pretty loose term. The trailer makes him seem downright supervillainous, complete with an ambitious experiment gone horribly wrong. It isn't long before Sigma's mind is severely disturbed and he's monologuing about harnessing the power of the universe. It seems like a safe guess that he's not exactly on the side of the good guys.The trailer didn't indicate when exactly we'll see Sigma become a playable character, but the wait between the story trailer for Baptiste, the last hero to join the roster, and when he became playable was very short. That means Sigma's arrival could be imminent.Meanwhile, Blizzard is testing a new Role Queue feature that revises competitive matchmaking. Rather than simply pick a hero, you pick a role type and you're matched into a game with two of each type. The feature will roll out into a beta on August 13. The game is also hosting its ongoing Summer Games event, with special summer-themed cosmetics and skins.Info from Gamespot.com

With Project Scarlett launching late next year, the Xbox One is nearing the end of its lifespan, which means current Xbox models are slowly starting to dip in price. If you've been looking to pick up an Xbox One S for yourself or someone else, now may be the best time to do it (at least until the holidays), as it'll cost you only $175 to pick up the console this week if you claim MassGenie's latest Power Deal. From now until July 29 (or until the deal sells out), the Xbox One S will be discounted at that price, and only 200 units are available as part of the deal, so don't wait if you're interested.See Xbox One S deal at MassGenieIn case you've never ordered anything from MassGenie before, here's how it works: Either click the Power Deal button on the product page (ignore the countdown clock; it resets every 24 hours) or hit the button above. You'll be asked to either log in or create a free account (there's no guest checkout for Power Deals). After that, you'll be redirected to checkout to fill out your billing and shipping information, and you'll see promo code MXBOXOS1TB automatically applied, dropping the price to $175.That discount puts it a full $75 cheaper than the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which is essentially the same console without a disc drive to play physical discs. The Xbox One S supports HDR and 4K video streaming (assuming you have a 4K TV), although games played on the Xbox One S will be displayed in upscaled 4K rather than native 4K, the latter of which is limited to the Xbox One X.It's also worth mentioning you can currently get a $50 Xbox gift card for only $42.50 at MassGenie now through July 31 (or until sold out). You'll receive the digital code via email, and it'll also be the tracking ID in your order history. The gift card can be used on digital games, movies, TV shows, and more on Xbox and Windows.These deals come on the heels of Amazon Prime Day, which offered a wide range of Xbox One deals last week (although this is still one of the best prices on a standalone Xbox One S we've seen). If you're interested in an Xbox One X, you can still get one for only $314 for a limited time at Google Express. Plus, be sure to check out more leftover Prime Day deals still available.Info from Gamespot.com

San Diego Comic-Con was filled with surprises, from the announcement of a massive slate of films and TV shows from Marvel Studios to new trailers for things like The Witcher and Westworld Season 3. One of the most exciting moments, though, came during the Batwoman panel. It was revealed that in the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, which will encompass the five Arrow-verse shows, original Batman TV series star Burt Ward will appear.Speaking to GameSpot after the panel, Marc Guggenheim, who serves as executive producer on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, was positively giddy about the announcement. "We assembled a writers room with all of the showrunners of the five shows," he said. "We broke out the story, obviously, but we also made a list. What's the cool stuff we want to see? Burt was at the top of the list."Still, wanting to get the original Boy Wonder onto the show and casting him are two very different things. The situation brought to mind advice Guggenheim remembered from an Arrow-verse crew member, though. "Here's the thing, [Joseph Patrick] Finn, who's the line producer of The Flash but was also the original line producer on Arrow, he always had a saying, 'If you don't ask, you don't get,'" Guggenheim explains. "Under that heading, we're like, 'You know what? We don't know if Burt is up for it. We don't know if he's available or interested. But if you don't ask, you don't get.'"To their surprise, that was all it took for Ward to agree to appear in the crossover. "We were thrilled, beyond thrilled. It's so exciting," Guggenheim said. "We're just so happy."As for who he will play in the episode, that's where things get interesting. It's already been revealed that Legends of Tomorrow star Brandon Routh will play a version of Superman in the crossover--a role he also played in 2006's Superman Returns.So will Ward play Robin? Guggenheim played coy when asked directly. "It's a cameo where I'm going to leave [whether or not he's Dick Grayson] to the audience, but I think you'll know when you see it," he said. "You won't be wondering." It sure sounds like he's going to play Dick Grayson one last time and we can't wait.The CW's Arrow-verse shows return in October, with the crossover beginning later this fall.Info from Gamespot.com

Following Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Machine Games' reboot series is seeing another round of some significant changes in the next spin-off. In Wolfenstein: Youngblood, the emphasis is still on slaying Nazis and their scumbag allies in gruesome fashion, however, it moves away from the linear, story-driven style of previous games, and instead leans closer to an open-ended co-op shooter. Now focusing on the hero BJ Blaskowitz's twin daughters as they dismantle fascist, white supremacist rule in 1980s France, you and a partner have greater control in choosing the next stop on your violent warpath.Machine Games executive producer Jerk Gustafsson recently spoke with GameSpot about the making of the standalone co-op focused spin-off. In addition to detailing the collaboration with Dishonored dev Arkane Studios, he elaborated on what the move to the 1980s means for the series timeline. Also, in light of the current political climate, he shared his thoughts on the changing reception of Wolfenstein at large, and how the series grapples with politics.Editor's note: This interview has been edited for clarity and readability.Can you walk us through the origins of Youngblood? On the surface, it looks like a standalone game in the vein of The Old Blood, but there seems to be a lot more going on than what people are expecting.Jerk Gustafsson: Yeah, there was a little back and forth on what we should do after New Colossus, to be honest. Initially, we talked about doing a smaller thing in between our bigger games like we did with The Old Blood, but when we got this opportunity to work with Arkane Studios, and we decided to go bigger. As you know, Arkane Studios released the Death of the Outsider in Fall 2017 and then we released The New Colossus after that. We talked with the guys over at Arkane and we decided to do something together. It was a collaboration for the game, but to also learn from each other and gain more experience as developers. So, I think that's where we decided to go a little bit bigger, do co-op, and have a little bit more of an open-ended structure with Youngblood.It was all about trying to broaden our experience a little bit. It's similar to the Cyberpilot VR game. To some extent, we're trying to work a little bit outside our comfort zone. We have been doing the single-player, very heavily story-driven experience for a while now. So it's been a long time with this. We feel very comfortable with what we've done after all these years, of course, but it was exciting for us actually to do something different.Would you say that this is a bigger game than The New Colossus?That can be a difficult question to answer. I would say in terms of gameplay time, yes, it probably is bigger. There are more things you can do now compared to the previous games, and I'm pretty sure players will stay in the game for a longer period of time. It is bigger in terms of content, in that sense, but the story and the main campaign itself had to be tighter. Not only with the cutscenes, but also in tone. When I look at people playing, and when I play myself, we are at a higher number [of hours] now than where we were with The New Colossus. So yes, it probably is bigger.With the focus on co-op and open-ended structure, was it a challenge trying to set expectations for fans? Especially since Youngblood won't be released at full price.Yeah, we did have some concerns regarding that. In the beginning, we had planned to just do something in between, but it turned out to be bigger than we expected. The price for this game was also a result of the development time, as it was shorter [than previous games]. The fact that I have been able to together with the guys at Arkane as well, and that we have been able to produce so much content in this, in this short period of time is an amazing and accomplishment from our teams.Though the story in the campaign is a bit shorter, the gameplay experience is, at least what we have seen, bigger than New Colossus. So with the game we have now, I don't know if we would have set that price if we knew what it's going to be. So it's a bit hard to answer at this. But I'm very happy that we can do it because it is great value for your money, and especially with the buddy pass, where you can play with your friend completely for free. You will get a lot out of this game and I really hope that people will enjoy it.Working with Arkane Studios must have been exciting, as they have a clear strength for making immersive sims that have some very sophisticated level design. Was this experience sort of eye-opening for you?Yeah, I think so. But it also goes both ways as well. I think this game gave us the opportunity to learn a lot from each other, and their level design and their expertise within the field is really, really strong. We have grown on it from this, it definitely helped us to become a better game developer. We have a lot more that we can improve upon for the future, but they have allowed us to take that next step in terms of level design specifically. Arkane Studios have contributed [to] several aspects of the game and they are a great team. So I am extremely honored that we had the opportunity to work with them. I'm very happy with the result.Speaking to the larger Wolfenstein series, it's been interesting seeing how people react to it due to the current political climate in the states. As it's a series about fighting nazis and the larger influence of fascism, it's always been political. In light of the reception that The New Colossus had, did you and the developers feel inclined to cover this topic on a deeper level?Well, I can't really say that it hasn't affected us, because it has. The game is definitely political when you have Nazis, but we have always tried to stick with the timeline that we had envisioned [beginning with The New Order]. We have this Wolfenstein timeline, the lore of it, and we want to stick to that as much as possible. Even though I agree that it becomes more political in many ways due to real life, we never set out to do a political statement in any way. I get this question a lot and I read some comments [from readers] after an interview, and I said the same thing that I'm saying to you now. Though one comment I saw on a feed was like, "why can't you just say that you hate white people?" For me, we have to also understand and accept that there are people that will react like that. We will continue to see these type of comments, but for me, there's no logic to them in any way.So it's a hard question even though I have answered it so many times. I still don't really know exactly what to say, but we want to make an entertaining game, and we want to tell a story about fighting this absolute evil in the world, and that evil is represented by the Hitler regime and the Nazis. That's where we are basically.I think a lot of it has to do to the fact that The New Colossus released at such a different time compared to The New Order. I wonder if certain scenes would have landed as hard as they did if it came out three years earlier or if the political climate was different.Yeah, it was a huge difference, actually. There were so many discussions and so many talking points around that at the time, and the timing was the reason for that as well. So, yeah, absolutely, and I think the way it affected us. It never happened in that way for New Order, as an example. So that was a big difference for us. Absolutely. That's what I mean by when I say that it definitely has affected us in ways. But we still really try to do our thing. We have our timeline, we have our storyline that we want to follow and we are trying to stick to that as much as possible. I don't think Youngblood looks different based on that. I can't say that for certain of course, but I think it would look the same even if we have done YoungBlood after New Order, for instance. I think it's more of a thing that affects us on the side.What's really interesting about this particular take on Wolfenstein is that it has such a strong emphasis on story, despite having its roots in classic FPS design that featured very little narrative. We see a lot of these moments in the last two games that really hit hard and that can surprise, particularly the scene with an extremely unflattering look at Hitler in New Colossus. Will we see him back again in Youngblood?Actually, Hitler is already dead in Youngblood. This is also part of the entire timeline, and it's actually what we were thinking about and when we wrote the story for Youngblood as well. We asked ourselves if we should mention that Hitler is dead, or that BJ had already killed Hitler. There is a story to tell about that. When you look at the games that have been released over the years within the Wolfenstein universe, BJ has already killed Hitler once back in the early nineties, so it's something that has been established in that timeline. It's another story we can tell in the future [for our timeline] if we get the opportunity. As for Youngblood, he's not alive anymore in the 80s--he is dead. But I'm really happy that you liked that scene. That was a tough scene to work with. It took a long time for us to get that together.Looking back on The New Colossus, what were some of the big lessons you learned from that game on a gameplay level, and how did you want to try and do things differently for Youngblood?Oh yes, one of the big things we were not really prepared for when it came to the feedback was in regards to the difficulty of the game. We had a few places where the difficulty spikes were just too hard. We do have a lot of difficult, challenging levels, and I myself I really appreciate games that can offer that, but one of the things about New Colossus that I wish I could go back and redo was to make sure that it was a little bit more even. It's a little bit too much, and it really shows. We didn't have the opportunity to react as fast enough to it. And I think we have a lot there when it comes to the work for Youngblood, hopefully at least.I think that I would, of course, point to the core of Youngblood. It comes with so many things and since the core forced us to think differently [with the level design and co-op], we actually have managed to tackle that. It's not only about the core as well, because the core also led us to add AI combined which was also a great challenge for us. So in combination with the things we're doing with the more open-ended structure and the progression in general, it's a lot of changes that we have done outside of our comfort zone. I'm very proud that we have accomplished in this much in such a short time. Info from Gamespot.com

The PlayStation Classic didn't impress many fans when it released in December 2018, and its price quickly dropped from $100 to $60 USD less than a month after it hit the market. Ever since, Sony's retro console has continued to drop in price and hit what may be its lowest price yet, $20, during Amazon Prime Day 2019. Now, it seems Best Buy has decided to keep that deal going, as the retailer has once again dropped the price of the PlayStation Classic to $20 this week. [Update: Target is now offering the PS Classic for $20 too.]See PS Classic at Best Buy See PS Classic at TargetPlayStation Classic launched following the massive success of Nintendo's NES and SNES Classics, but failed to capture the same level of hype due to several disappointing aspects of the mini console, such as its limited quantity of games and sub-par graphics. "The debate over the selected games aside, using the PS Classic feels like partaking in a rough recreation of the original PlayStation experience," wrote GameSpot's Peter Brown in his PS Classic review. "And if you've spent any time with Nintendo's Classic consoles, you'll see the user experience here for what it is: just good enough. The PS Classic doesn't feel like a celebration of PlayStation's formative years the way Nintendo's systems do. Nor is it a smart adaptation of a capable emulator working behind the scenes."That said, $20 is a considerably lower asking price than $100 or even $60. For fans of the original PlayStation and its games, such as Tekken 3, Metal Gear Solid, or Resident Evil, the PS Classic might finally be worth it. In addition to the mini console, you'll also receive an HDMI cable, two wired controllers, and a virtual memory card. Check out the full list of pre-loaded games included below.PlayStation Classic game listBattle Arena ToshindenCool Boarders 2Destruction DerbyFinal Fantasy VIIGrand Theft AutoIntelligent QubeJumping FlashMetal Gear SolidMr DrillerOddworld: Abe’s OddyseeRaymanResident Evil Director’s CutRevelations: PersonaRidge Racer Type 4Super Puzzle Fighter II TurboSyphon FilterTekken 3Tom Clancy’s Rainbow SixTwisted MetalWild ArmsInfo from Gamespot.com