Some moviegoers want to experience everything a film like Annabelle Comes Home has to offer without a hint of knowledge ahead of time. Others would rather know: Does the movie have an after-credits scene?Here's your answer: No, when we saw Annabelle Comes Home, there was no extra scene during or after the credits. We stayed through the movie's premiere until the lights turned on to make sure.It's a fair question, though--as part of the Conjuring connected universe of horror movies, Annabelle Comes Home has tons of connections to other Conjuring movies. With The Conjuring 3 and The Crooked Man still to come, it's not a stretch to guess that Annabelle Comes Home might have included a teaser for future Conjuring films.Unfortunately, that's not the case--once the credits start rolling, what you've seen is all you get. Thankfully, Annabelle Comes Home is a fun ride on its own; in our review, we said that "Annabelle Comes Home has just the right mix of horror and humor, predictable structure and shocking jump scares, terrifying ghouls and relatable characters that a scary summer blockbuster should. It doesn't break the mold--Midsommar, this is not--but it's not trying to. And if you're a fan of the Conjuring series, you'll walk out of the theater satisfied."Annabelle Comes Home hits theaters today, June 26. Let us know what you thought of the latest Conjuring spin-off in the comments below. Info from Gamespot.com

Toy Story 4 currently has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 84 on Metacritic, which makes it universally acclaimed. It made $118 million in its first weekend, which set a record for the franchise. But something about this fourth outing rings hollow. In the process of putting a bow on things (assuming this is the last Toy Story film), Pixar has simplified the story to its detriment.To explain what is wrong with Toy Story 4, and why it retroactively mars the prior three films in the franchise, we must first establish a good-faith premise: that these films aspire to be more than "just kid films." If these were "just kid films," they would not have endured, across generations, for close to 25 years. They would not elicit uncontrollable weeping from adults.Beneath the main conceit of toys coming to life, the first three movies wrestled with deeper, more existential questions. Woody, Buzz, and company were toys, first and foremost, designed and conceived from the outset to be played with and loved by children. This is the reason why they freeze or go limp when humans are present; their toy nature overrides all other impulses, even that of self-preservation.Toys universally desire to be owned and loved. It's why Sid's toys don't just hop over the fence and say, "Screw this." On some level, they have no choice but to love Sid despite his mistreatment, because they are his. Even when they break the rules at the end of the first movie, it's to correct Sid's treatment of them. There's no effort or plans to escape from the house. They only break the rules to help everybody, so that they can continue to live under Sid's care.And when Woody convinces Buzz that he's better off as a toy than as a space ranger, he makes his meaning plain: Bringing a child joy is the peak of a toy's existence. Hs speech is framed in such a way that we accept it as a truth:"Being a toy is a lot better than being a Space Ranger.. look, over in that house is a kid who thinks you are the greatest, and it's not because you're a Space Ranger, pal, it's because you're a toy! You are his toy!"Then, Toy Story 2 went deeper. It asked some uncomfortable questions: What happens to these toys if their owners grow up and give them away, or if they never get sold in the first place? We get our answer in the form of two hard luck cases: Jessie is scarred by Emily's abandonment of her, and the Prospector turns resentful and duplicitous because he was never sold and never loved in the first place.And what's more, Jessie and Prospector may have lived with this for decades (assuming they were made in the 1950s, when Woody's Round-Up was on TV), and they still desire to be loved. It's a dark but logical extension of what we learned in the first film: because toys were made to do this, they will always desire to do it. As Jessie says, just because the owners forget the toys, doesn't mean that the toys forget their owners.This evolves into the central question that Woody must answer: does he want to become a museum toy, which means he'll be loved and adored by children through glass? Or does he want to go back to Andy? Will he be satisfied with a limited, distant love that lasts forever, or will he risk destruction and oblivion for the intense, genuine love that Andy offers, if only temporarily? Woody makes a decision:"I can't stop Andy from growing up, but I wouldn't miss it for the world." This is so brave--to risk everything for a chance at real, genuine love. And the parallels that can be made to ourselves are obvious: do we live timidly or do we live boldly? Do we open ourselves up for love, knowing we may get our hearts broken, or do we close ourselves off?Toy Story 3 deals with the fallout of Woody's decision. Andy is now 17 years old, and Woody is resigned to a life in the attic. He reiterates that a toy's job is to be there for the child (even a grown child) when he or she needs him. He even suggests an optimistic possibility--that perhaps, one day, Andy will have children, and those children will play with Andy's old, forgotten toys.Of course, it doesn't work out that way. The other toys get accidentally thrown to the curb. And notice what their reaction is afterward: They don't give up and abandon their purpose, they donate themselves to daycare so they can continue serving their instincts. Even Lotso, the villain of the third movie, has this urge to seek out children. When he's replaced by Daisy, he takes over Sunnyside Daycare to ensure that he'll always be played with. Every toy in the first three movies gravitated to the same end goal.Even if the toy ends up alone, or in a dumpster, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.At the end of Toy Story 3, Andy gives his toys to Bonnie, a young kid who will love and play with them after Andy's gone to college. It's a happy ending--sort of. We all die, and eventually, we know these toys will get thrown out or burned in an incinerator. But not today. For now, they're staving off the inevitable. For now, they're loved again. And they must live every precious day to the fullest.To recap: We've been told, in multiple ways, that toys' overriding desire is to bring children joy. If they are deprived of this, they will seek it out, even for decades, until they find it. Their love is unconditional; even when they're abandoned or broken, they still remember their owners.And given the chance to experience this connection more superficially, either in a children's museum or at a daycare where relationships are temporary, a toy would be justified to decline it; it's a poor substitute for the genuine thing. Even if the toy ends up alone, or in a dumpster, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. It's analogous to any loving relationship where one person gives more than he or she receives. It's unconditional, and despite the drawbacks, it's worth it.Toy Story 4 throws all of this away.When Toys Become PeopleIt turns out that toys can overcome the desire to want an owner. When Bo Peep is given away, she sits on an antique shelf for years. And finally, she gets tired of waiting for an owner, and she sets out on her own. She builds a vehicle for herself and teams up with other abandoned "lost toys," and she finds personal satisfaction and fulfillment in her new, wandering life, helping other toys in need. At the end of the movie, Woody takes a page out of her book and decides to pursue his love interest; he stays with Bo Peep rather than going back to Bonnie.Put aside that Woody has a closer companionship with Buzz than he ever did with Bo, and this ending still flies in the face of everything we've learned, so far, about a toy's nature. By allowing toys the option of walking away, Toy Story 4 undercuts the poignancy of the earlier films.When Woody told Buzz that being a toy was better than being a space ranger? It turns out he was wrong. Buzz could have just walked away. Sid's toys could have done the same. They're just suffering from a massive case of Stockholm Syndrome; they probably could have even killed Sid if they wanted to.In Toy Story 2, it turns out that Jessie and The Prospector's biggest problem was that they weren't self-actualized, and they lacked a go-getter's attitude; they could have found purpose in their lives by leaning on each other. In Toy Story 3, it turns out that the toys didn't need to give themselves away to Sunnyside. They could have gotten all the emotional fulfillment they needed by escaping into the woods and bonding with each other. According to Toy Story 4, the difficult choices of the prior films, between real, temporary love and shallow but everlasting existence, were binary fallacies. There was an Option C the entire time: to basically cut the children out of the equation. Bo and her ragtag crew of lost toys still want to be played with, but the terms and conditions of the arrangement as established by the other movies have radically shifted. Here, lost toys do just fine helping other toys find kids, while themselves being played with only sporadically--and sometimes even broken, in Bo's case. "Some kids play rougher than others." (Dark stuff, right?)The previously established no-win scenario--the difficult choice between love and security--is what made these films so resonant in the first place; they played on our deepest, primal fears of being alone, being in danger, and growing old. Woody no longer has to choose or risk anything; he can fall in love with another toy and find emotional fulfillment away from humans. He never has to risk the incinerator. The narrative tension is gone.It's not that this is narratively impossible. After all, we were never explicitly told that toys couldn't escape their initial, functional purpose. But the prior films' implications strongly indicated that they were trapped. By allowing them to become little autonomous humans in plastic bodies, Pixar was able to give Woody an unearned and damaging happy ending. It came at the cost of the franchise's poignancy and central message. The limitation inherent to being a toy created the characters' central dilemma, and by eliminating that limitation, Pixar has decimated the narrative stakes.Maybe, if there's a Toy Story 5 on the horizon, Woody will walk this decision back. He'll go back to Bonnie or another human, and he'll realize that he can't find true fulfillment with a fellow toy, because, after all, they're toys--not people. But if this is truly the final film, then the story ends in a simpler, safer, less complex place than it originally began. It's only a tale of toys that magically come to life, and it doesn't mean anything more than that, which is a shame.Read next: Why Pixar Decided To Make Toy Story 4 After Toy Story 3's Perfect Ending Info from Gamespot.com

The God of War reboot for PlayStation nearly cut Atreus, and now game director has confirmed that there were discussions about doing away with the main hero as well. In an appearance at Gamelab in Spain this week, Barlog said people were telling him that Kratos had to go."Early in discussion, people were saying we had to get rid of Kratos," Barlog said, as reported by Eurogamer. "It was like, 'He's annoying, he's done.'"Barlog went on to say that Kratos was purposefully designed at the start of the series to be unlikeable. Some people on the team thought it was time for him to go, Barlog said. Developers suggested they create a new protagonist. In the end, Barlog got his way in part because he came up with a story about Kratos' evolution and rescuing himself from his dark desires. Kratos does star in the new God of War for PS4, and his relationship with Atreus was among the most meaningful and interesting elements of the title. "It took a lot of convincing to make them think it was a good idea," Barlog said about bringing Kratos back.As we already knew, some people at Sony Santa Monica also wanted to cut Atreus as well. Barlog said it came down to budget concerns, with animators and programmers finding it difficult to "make sense of" Atreus' part in the story, according to Eurogamer. Barlog said he went as far as to write another story without Atreus "as a back-up."God of War launched in April 2018 and it was a smashing success; by Sony's latest count, it has sold more than 10 million copies. Despite its massive success, there are no expansions coming.For more on God of War, you can check out the GameSpot Audio Logs episode where Barlog breaks down one of the most impactful scenes that almost didn't happen. Check it out in the video embed above.Info from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Black Ops developer Treyarch has responded to a Kotaku report in which numerous developers reveal what they describe as a brutal work environment. Studio heads Dan Bunting and Mark Gordon released an email to staff in the wake of the report, informing employees that they are planning "significant improvements" for work-life balance.The email goes on to state that Treyarch plans to improve working conditions through "better project planning, streamlined production processes, and rigorous decision-making timelines." Bunting and Gordon added that they are committed to "increased transparency."The studio heads encouraged developers to speak with their managers if they have concerns, and if that doesn't work, they should reach out to Bunting and Gordon."Game development is a wildly complex art and it requires a diverse set of people and skill sets to do it successfully. It's important for all of us to foster a studio culture that treats all team members with respect," the pair said.In the report, which is titled "The Human Cost Of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4," numerous current and former developers shine a light on how Treyarch's contract employees, in particular those working in quality assurance (QA), say they are treated as second-class.The developers say they are informed not to speak with developers from other units and that they have to park in a separate parking lot. They also reported working extended hours; around 70 hours per week.In addition to complaints about crunch and general workplace conditions, the report reveals key details about the development of Black Ops 4. It's reported that management decided to cancel the game's campaign mode in early 2018. This was a tough blow for the developers, as their previous game, Black Ops 3, reportedly saw a big shift in direction, too; a planned open-world design was dropped in favor of a standard linear story.Black Ops 4's campaign was to feature a new spin on co-op and multiplayer with two players fighting against a pair of other human characters. One example of a gameplay scenario is one side would try to protect a journalist with the other side trying to kill them.With the campaign mode canceled, Treyarch decided to release its own spin on battle royale in a mode that would go on to be known as Blackout. Development on the battle royale mode reportedly did not begin until nine months before release. "That mode came together by the seat of its pants. It's kind of a miracle that it did," one developer said.In a change to the normal Call of Duty development schedule, Treyarch is said to be developing 2020's Call of Duty title which is believed to be a new Black Ops title set in the Cold War. According to Kotaku, other Activision studios Raven Software and Sledgehammer were lined up to take the lead on a Call of Duty title set in Vietnam, but management decided to put Treyarch on the game as its lead and make it a Black Ops title. The title is said to launch in holiday 2020 as a cross-gen release for current and next-gen consoles.2019's Call of Duty game is Modern Warfare from developer Infinity Ward. It's a soft reboot of the series, and it launches at the end of October on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Info from Gamespot.com

Final Fantasy XIV Online currently offers cross-play support between PlayStation 4 and PC, but one of the reasons the game hasn't released on Xbox One yet is because Microsoft apparently won't allow cross-play. Game director Naoki Yoshida told wccftech that he recently spoke with Xbox boss Phil Spencer and informed him that Square Enix is "prepared to do cross-play any any time." However, Microsoft isn't budging, it seems."Two months ago, I discussed with Phil Spencer. I have explained this before but we are prepared to do crossplay at any time," Yoshida explained.According to Yoshida, things like in-game chat and social networking in the form of creating and joining guilds are essential for MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV Online. "I would like to have Microsoft change their regulations," Yoshida said.Yoshida told GameSpot in March that Final Fantasy XIV needs to support cross-play to have its playerbases united and offer the best experience. That's currently possible on PS4 and PC, but not with other systems, which has presumably kept the game off Xbox and Nintendo systems so far.Sony, as well as Nintendo, is beginning to allow cross-play with competing platforms for games like Fortnite and Rocket League, so it seems more likely than ever that Final Fantasy XIV comes to new platforms."Talks with platform-holders has been going on," Yoshida said about Microsoft, Nintendo, and Google. "The fundamental philosophy with Final Fantasy XIV is we want it on labels with cross-platform play with any devices, hardware possible," Yoshida said through a translator. "So as long as the regulations with the counterpart hardware companies ... we can actually pass that, then the possibility, the chance is quite high [of Final Fantasy XIV coming to Xbox and Nintendo systems].The next expansion for Final Fantasy XIV Online is Shadowbringers, which launches on July 2. Square Enix is going big to promote the game, bringing on Tom Holland and Hannibal Buress for commercials hyping the expansion.Info from Gamespot.com

Mario is a video game icon not only because he's a plucky and affable dude, but because he's the face behind some of the best platformers of all time. Nintendo has carefully guided his adventures for decades, but something happened in 2015: It gave players the keys to design and share stages in Wii U's Super Mario Maker, and the Mario we thought we knew took on a whole new light. He was no longer a laidback high-jumping hero; Mario became a hardened speed demon, a death-defying daredevil forced into unruly gauntlets crafted by evil geniuses who know his every hop, skip, and jump like the back of their hand.With the Wii U and 3DS versions of Mario Maker abandoned by Nintendo at this point, Super Mario Maker 2 on Switch brings us back to that heady time from years past. The game itself is largely familiar, though the more you play and create, the more you notice all of the little additions tucked inside and appreciate how they elevate the potential for creativity in new ways. Mario Maker 2 is a robust level creation tool and a fantastic open-ended platformer that will no doubt spur a new era of competition among players and creators alike.Due to the fact that so much of Mario Maker 2's potential success lies in the hands of its players, we are going to give the community time to acclimate and a chance to show us what it's made of at large before weighing in with our final verdict. But so far, it's amazing what the right players can do when given the tools to craft Mario's world.The intuitive drag-and-drop system is back--you don't, however, have the luxury of a built-in Switch stylus, so consider buying or devising one before getting into the game as using your finger alone can cause you to occasionally misplace objects. You can create while your Switch is docked, though ultimately that should be a last resort considering how quickly you can place objects in handheld mode, even with the lack of stylus. Picking and placing ingredients for your level, or painting wide swaths of land, is a quick and painless process, and there are intuitive means of copying, pasting, and undoing your work as needed. You are once again given access to the components of games including Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, along with their numerous enemies, objects, and mechanisms. You select a game theme and work within that toolset, but you can easily switch to another one on the fly and retain most of your work--only occasional elements aren't transferable.The big exception is the newly included set based on Super Mario 3D World, which can only be used in isolation. Lest you mistake the "3D" aspect to suggest you're breaking free from side-scrolling Mario, you aren't--you're just given access to unique elements from that game, such as the never-not-strange Cat Mario power-up. Far from being the only notable addition, the sum total of which are too numerous to list here, the Cat Mario suit is up there with the ability to make slopes, craft custom scrolling for stages, and set level-clear conditions as one of the most impactful additions to the Mario Maker formula. That's just judging by our pre-launch experience, but time will tell what seemingly average element gets twisted into a diabolical weapon in the hands of the craftiest creators. In Mario Maker 2, as in the original, even the smallest variable can have a huge ripple effectFor new creators, there's the chance of becoming overwhelmed with the number of options available at the start, but that's where Yamamura's Dojo comes in. Yamamura is a pigeon, but a very wise and insightful pigeon at that. If you need help wrapping your head around the basic concepts that go into conceiving and creating a level, Yamamura's your bird. His catalog of 45 lessons (divided into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced sets) walk you through everything from laying tracts of land and placing Goombas to the more philosophical side of level creation, even navigating the meta side of being a creator unleashing their work for others to judge.These lessons will help get a novice creator up to speed, and the fact that there's nothing holding back knowledgeable designers from the start was a smart move by Nintendo, too. As mentioned, the limited pool of creators has thus far made some truly impressive stages that utilize Mario Maker 2's robust toolset well. The overall level of logic inherent to a Mario game remains largely the same--no digging under the hood to rewrite traditional cause-and-effect rules, for example--but the spirit of Mario Maker 2 comes alive when familiar elements are combined by masterful players, often in ways that Nintendo would never employ in a traditional Mario game.So far, that unexpected creativity often manifests itself in oddball stages packed with an unreasonable number of enemies, diabolical platforming tests that demand superhuman reflexes, or clever contraptions that move Mario and key items around an environment with calculated chain reactions. Not every stage is a winner, but because the fundamental controls and elements of the world are tried-and-true, it's rare that you run into a custom stage worth getting upset about. Ultimately, dozens (soon to be hundreds, if not thousands) of alternative stages are seconds away, a convenience that's easy to take for granted. It's not an understatement to say that the speed at which you can browse, download, and play levels are key factors that make exploring Mario Maker 2 so easy and enjoyable.Discoverability plays a part in what levels you find, and beyond basic lists such as popular, new, and trending courses, there's a detailed search function that lets you narrow stage selection by attributes like theme and difficulty. You can also sort by tags that indicate the type of stage at hand, be it an auto-scrolling level or puzzle-centric challenge. After playing, you can leave feedback on the level for other players to consider--a simple but meaningful chance to contribute to the community and learn from your peers. This is all to say that Mario Maker 2's online stage selection is both organized and catered to the wider player base. You don't have to involve yourself in every aspect of it if you just want to play a bunch of random Mario levels, but it's great to see that you can become deeply involved with your fellow makers if you desire.One of the hotly contested elements pre-launch was online multiplayer, which comes in both co-op and competitive forms. Nintendo's initial plans to limit these modes to random matchmaking drew the ire of some fans who quite reasonably expected to be able to play with their friends. Nintendo has since made it clear that feature will come, just not in time for launch. While we'd like to weigh in on the current stage of playing alongside strangers, this is a key feature that we were unable to test as needed prior to launch. Keep an eye out for the full review after launch for our analysis of the game's multiplayer components, including the co-op level creator mode.The other major addition to Mario Maker 2 is a proper story mode, a campaign of 100 Nintendo-made levels ostensibly designed to show you the breadth of the game's potential, so far as Nintendo's creators see it, anyway. The story is typical Mario fare set in an overworld with NPCs and a few fun surprises, taking things a few steps further than The Super Mario Challenge from the 3DS Mario Maker. It's not an amazing addition in light of the countless levels sure to come from other players, but it's an enjoyable alternative if you prefer a more coordinated campaign. There's the slight missed opportunity to give you creative tools as a means of solving purpose-built puzzles, to give you that hands-on learning in a practical scenario, but they are given to you as options to overcome stages that you repeatedly fail. It's not as if there's a drought of custom stages online, even before release, though Nintendo's batch of stages are nice to have if you want to dig into stages handmade by the developers themselves.With the story mode and dozens of custom-built stages under my belt, I'm anxiously waiting for the floodgates to open upon Mario Maker's 2 release. What I've played so far has proven, once again, that the Mario series is worth all the admiration it gets, and Mario Maker 2 is an excellent tool for picking it apart by pushing its enemies, mechanisms, and Mario, to their limit. I've yet to make a stage of my own that I think is worthy of sending out to other players, but I'm committed to getting there. Whether exploring the full potential of a single element or throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, I've got the itch to join the creator's club. And thankfully, even if you aren't an instant success (like me), Mario Maker 2 makes the learning process intuitive and enjoyable. Info from Gamespot.com

In the fall of 1945, in the pages of the New Yorker, Edmund Wilson lambasted H.P. Lovecraft as a peddler of "hack-work" who was, in short, "not a good writer." His most cutting (and famous) remark has dogged the author's legacy since: "The only real horror in most of these fictions," Wilson quipped, "is the horror of bad taste and bad art." I was reminded of the quote as I played The Sinking City, a supernatural-horror mystery game inspired by Lovecraft's fiction. Faced with this game's crude visuals, monotonous storytelling, and graceless mechanics, I knew exactly how Wilson felt.The Sinking City is a pastiche of Lovecraft lore that draws heavily on the characters, settings, and themes of some of his most celebrated stories. The game especially draws from "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," about a young man's perilous visit to a mysterious port town on the coast of New England overrun by a race of fish-people. You are Charles Reed, a shell-shocked veteran turned sullen private investigator, newly arrived in the fictitious town of Oakmont, Massachusetts to learn more about the disturbing visions that have been troubling you since the war. The town, however, is beset by its own eerie problems, and naturally you are tasked, the moment you step foot in the place, to solve these and others as you look to uncover the truth.From the outset, the game presumes a lot of interest in Oakmont and the various political machinations of its inhabitants. You'll hear all about warring families, fraught racial tensions between factions of mutated denizens, long-vanished naval expeditions, unexplained natural disasters, plundered historical artifacts, arcane regional dialects, infestations of deadly critters from the sea, and a whole suite of murders, extortions, mutilations, and conspiracies--and that's all just in the first two missions. This information is conveyed in long, dull expository monologues and conversations that are entirely one-sided and feel endless. These interminable data-dumps are grueling to click through and are the primary means of proceeding through your investigations. The order in which you choose to ask questions is irrelevant, and there's nothing you can do to alter or vary these talks at all.Your missions are a series of convoluted, interconnected cases, a bit like LA Noire, in which evidence must be gathered, suspects must be "interrogated" (that is, listened to), and conclusions must be drawn. These moments are punctuated by rudimentary moral dilemmas, such as whether a perpetrator ought to face justice or be allowed to walk free in light of extenuating circumstances. The length of these missions is irritatingly protracted by how far apart relevant clues, characters, and other mandatory waypoints tend to be from one another, as well as by backtracking, repetitive searching, and an overall lack of clarity about where you need to go next and what you're meant to do there. Oakmont is an open world, and it is enormous--way too huge, plainly, for how little one section is differentiated from another and how little there is in it worth seeing.By contrast, there is a frankly huge number of game mechanics--so many that the tutorial is mapped to one of the controller keys. One of the game's more unwieldy features is the "Mind Palace," which takes the form of an ungainly submenu cluttered with information collected from clues retrieved and interviews conducted during a mission. You have to combine different pieces of information with related facts, which in my experience was achieved mainly by sticking them together at random until I found two that fit. By connecting the pieces successfully, you create inferences, which can then be connected to reach conclusions. It's simplistic, vague, and a poor approximation of the process of solving a real mystery.Some of this information must be unearthed from archives, which can be found in various places around town, such as the newspaper office and the hospital. Searching the archive for info about a particular event or incident involves selecting search criteria from among different categories, including the period of time, people involved, and location, based on your best guess of what might be relevant to the matter at hand. For example, if you want to learn about an expedition to discover the origin of an outbreak of mass hysteria, you can narrow your search to when the expedition took place and from which port the ship embarked. None of this info is visualized or actually browsable in any meaningful way, and the archives are as robust as a bill of fare. Like so much in this game, it seems designed to give you something to do, but it feels like busywork, with no clear purpose.Your hero has certain supernatural powers, and from time to time you must avail yourself of them in the course of an investigation. You can use "retrocognition" to witness a glimpse of the past--a blurry, blue-tinted silhouette of whatever event happens to be on your itinerary--and, if you can correctly guess the order of these past events chronologically, you'll find out some revelation about the case at hand. Another power works as a kind of Batman: Arkham-style Detective Mode, allowing you to see things that aren't visible to the naked eye; yet another allows you to accept guidance from ghostly figures, who will kindly point you in the right direction. None of these powers make for dynamic gameplay, and aesthetically they tend to be lumpy, lurid, and goofy. Your supernatural gifts mostly amount to a lot of shimmering gelatinous blurs.And there's more. You can drive a motorboat, clumsily--the boat turns slowly and gets stuck on junk all the time. There's a very simplistic, entirely pointless crafting system, which seems to follow no logic at all--coil springs and alcohol can be combined to craft a health kit, even though just finding health kits lying around would surely do. You have a camera, for reasons that were not quite clear to me, and you can take pictures of things. There is a meter that tracks your sanity, which falls if you spend too much time around monsters--though it only makes your vision a bit blurry.This drab, lifeless town lacks any of the slow-burn dread or looming menace of the towns in Lovecraft's stories. Wandering through, you might encounter small spider-like creatures, called Wylebeasts, which you can dispatch by negotiating the awkward, clunky combat system to execute a pistol or melee attack. Or you might encounter a more formidable foe: loading screens, which are even more treacherous. The game loads if you walk into a building. It loads if you prompt a cutscene or chat with a passerby. It loads if you walk too fast and see more of this unsightly town than it can handle revealing to you. Between missions, or after dying, these loading screens can last several minutes, after which a message to "press any button to continue" appears rather unobtrusively.There's tension in Lovecraft's fiction between the terrifying and the absurd, and of course tales of fish-people and nefarious amphibian monsters are bound to at least verge on the ridiculous. The Sinking City has a tenuous control of tone; it frequently seems less nightmarish than farcical. Grim encounters with the darkly macabre, depicted without the requisite gravitas, elicit laughter rather than fear, and ironically the game's stern humorlessness makes it all the harder to take seriously. Finding the fresh corpse of a local sailor with a pair of axes buried in his chest, your hero simply muses, "You've got to be out of your head to do this to a man," delivered with roughly the feeling of a mundane answering machine message. These sights ought to be harrowing. Instead, they're just flat--or worse, silly.The Sinking City has a tenuous control of tone; it frequently seems less nightmarish than farcical.The Sinking City's problems aren't only technical, but conceptual. It's one thing to clip through objects that are meant to be impassable; it's another to feel, when the game seems to be working, that its design is inelegant, or that its writing lacks wit. Despite the outrageously long conversations you're asked to endure, characterizations are paper thin--what's said conveys plot but expresses no psychological shading. A brewing conflict between different species of human-animal hybrids, while containing some of the overtones of allegorical prejudice found in The Shadow Over Innsmouth, shys from engaging seriously with Lovecraft's noted racism.It's hard to resent a game as unapologetically dweeby as The Sinking City. It's an old-fashioned, bookish mystery rooted in the mythology and mysteries of a pulpy, cult-favorite mid-century American novelist--an effort not without charm, to be sure. But no matter how fond your affection for H.P. Lovecraft and the idea of a wide-eyed, slow-burn literary adventure, the poor design, cliched writing, and lumbering pace make this far more tedious than delightful, let alone unsettling or terrifying.Info from Gamespot.com

It might seem like the fighting game market of the current day is crowded with games looking to stand out, but it’s nothing compared to the early '90s. While Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat ruled the roost, everyone was trying to find a way to set their game apart. Among the competition was SNK’s Samurai Shodown, a weapons-based fighting game that emphasized careful movement, high damage, and rewarding patient, careful reading and reacting to your foe’s attacks--along with some fountains of blood from downed opponents for good measure. Over 25 years later, history is repeating itself as a new Samurai Shodown draws its blade, offering many of the same things that made it great all those years ago--only now it feels even fresher.The Samurai Shodown series is one of SNK’s most beloved properties, but also among its most inconsistent; the series has had some very high highs (Samurai Shodown II, Samurai Shodown V Special) and extremely low lows (Samurai Shodown III, Samurai Shodown Sen). Thankfully, the developers at SNK have understood the franchise’s mixed legacy, and worked to really focus on what makes Samurai Shodown special in the world of fighting games: the thrill of being in a high-stakes, life-or-death struggle where one wrong step could take you from a comfortable lead to lying on the ground with a sword in your gut.If you haven’t played Samurai Shodown before, the first thing you’ll notice is the relative simplicity of the game’s controls. You have four attack buttons (three strengths of weapon attacks and a kick), each of which has a very distinct feel when pressed; you’ll really feel the weight of a heavy slash’s slow, powerful arc as opposed to the quick hilt-smash of a light slash. Combinations of the buttons allow you to perform dodges, overhead slashes, and throws and even a special desperation-style mode. Special moves vary for each character, but are almost all easy-to-perform semi-circle, half-circle, and Dragon Punch-style inputs.Playing around with the various characters and seeing their unique moves and abilities really establishes just how good everything feels to control. The various attack weights feel substantial, and even basic standing, crouching, and dashing moves are a lot of fun to see executed onscreen as blades whoosh around in beautiful arcs--to say nothing of the flashy special moves. Simply doing things with your chosen fighter feels inherently enjoyable, even if you’re just getting the grasp of their moveset.Pressing buttons mindlessly might feel good, but you’ll soon discover that restraint is of the essence. Samurai Shodown was known in its heyday for extremely high damage, and if you’re coming off other fighting games, you’ll have a bit of a shock once you see how much life a well-placed heavy sword strike can chop off. Strong moves hit hard, and if you leave an opening for your opponent to take advantage of, you can very quickly find your life bar melting like butter in a frying pan under the pressure of their blade. If you try to go in furiously swinging, you’ll likely find yourself left open to a very, very painful counterattack as you’re stuck recovering from that heavy sword slash you just whiffed.To offset the high damage, there are a lot of defensive options that you can utilize. There’s good old-fashioned high and low blocking, but there’s also a special “Just Defend” block you can execute right as the opponent’s attack is about to hit that will very briefly stun them. There’s also a dodge attack, a universal parry, and multiple means to disarm your foes, leaving them weaponless and at a severe disadvantage. (Be careful, though--some characters are more capable when disarmed than others!) You also have forward/backward recovery when knocked down, allowing you to avoid a lot of pressure when getting up if used well.The big, flashy attacks and myriad defensive options combine to make a game with a much different focus than most other fighting games currently out there. Rather than mixups and combo strings (you’ll only rarely see double-digit combo hit counts), Samurai Shodown heavily emphasizes pacing, carefully reading and reacting to your opponent, and patiently waiting for the ideal opportunity to capitalize on your foe’s vulnerability. There’s not a lot of complex layered-on systems here, but that doesn’t matter; this isn’t about lengthy combos or executing multiple super attacks, this is about finding out how to make your opponent dead in the most effective way possible.The core gameplay, great as it is, is only part of a bigger package--one that might be a bit disappointing to those looking for a strong single-player experience. The roster is small in comparison to some other fighters, but it offers a lot of variety. Fans will appreciate seeing old favorite characters like wild-haired samurai Haohmaru, determined Ainu warrior girl Nakoruru, and even somewhat more obscure picks like the multi-sword-wielding Yoshitora and ethereal trickster Shiki. The game also introduces new characters to the franchise: hard-drinking, razor-sharp shipwright Darli Dagger, clumsy but deceptively cunning Wu-Ruixiang, and the bird-themed, aerial-attack-heavy Yashamaru.The big, flashy attacks and myriad defensive options combine to make a game with a much different focus than most other fighting games currently out there.But even though there's plenty of characters, the story mode is pretty weak, giving each character only an intro, ending, and few simplistic cutscenes, along with a final boss who doesn’t seem to have anything to do with a lot of the cast. (Said final boss can also be incredibly challenging if you don’t find an AI exploit with your chosen character--the term “SNK Final Boss Syndrome” exists for a reason.) There are training modes, along with gauntlet (fight every character) and survival (fight a bunch of characters on a limited lifebar), but beyond that, you’re going to need to either invite a friend over or hop online to truly enjoy what Samurai Shodown has to offer.[Editor's note: As of this writing, the online is just going live, so we’re currently trying out network combat and the online-enabled Dojo mode. We'll be finalizing this review once we've had more time with the online offerings.]Samurai Shodown is a great reboot. It captures what made the original fun and unique, but also at a time when high-damage, high-stakes fighters like this are a rarity, making its combat feel both fresh and familiar. Its accessibility and easy-to-grasp gameplay belie a lot of strategic depth that makes for very intense, bloody struggles. While the single-player experience is a bit lacking, it doesn’t drag down the whole significantly. We’ll update soon with more about the online experience, but for now, Samurai Shodown is a fighting experience well worth taking up the sword for.Info from Gamespot.com

New Zealand director Taiki Waititi is one of the most in-demand filmmakers currently working. Following the success of Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi has produced the TV spin-off from his vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows, directed the soon-to-be-released World War II satire Jojo Rabbit, and is also set to helm the long-awaited live-action movie version of Akira. It's now been reported that he's involved with a new animated Flash Gordon film.According to Deadline, Waititi has been brought on board to "crack" a new version of Flash Gordon. The site states that Waititi won't necessarily direct or write the movie, but is involved in the early development stages. A new Flash Gordon movie has been in the works for several years, with both Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman) and Julius Avery (Overlord) attached a various stages.Flash Gordon is an intergalactic adventurer who first appeared in comic strips in 1934. There were TV adaptations in 1954 and 2007, and a Hollywood movie in 1980. Although the film was a critical and commercial failure, it has since become a cult favorite.Waititi was first announced as the director of Akira in 2017, and the movie was given an official release date last month. The adaptation will hit theaters on May 21, 2021. Waititi has previously explained that he won't be making a direct adaptation of the 1990 anime movie, but would instead be going back to original manga it was based on. Info from Gamespot.com

Brace yourselves, gamers: The biggest shopping event of the summer is going down in just a few weeks. Amazon has officially announced the dates and times for Prime Day 2019, its annual sitewide sale akin to Black Friday. Prime Day 2019 will begin July 15 at 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET / 8 AM BST / 5 PM AET and run for exactly 48 hours, ending on July 17 at midnight PT. Last year's sale ran for 36 hours, so this year's Prime Day will be the longest-running yet. And that doesn't even account for all the pre-Prime Day deals that are likely to pop up between now and July 15. In fact, some deals are already going live, including a huge markdown on this 43-inch full HD Toshiba Fire TV and discounts on Prime Video rentals, like Us for $3 and Captain Marvel for $4. First of all, to take advantage of Amazon Prime Day 2019, you'll have to be a Prime member. Amazon's annual premium membership comes with a one-month free trial; after that, it costs $119 a year (or $13 per month). If you're a currently enrolled student, you can take advantage of Prime Student, which has a six-month free trial and afterward costs only $59 a year (or $6.49 per month). Besides access to Prime Day deals, Prime membership has plenty of benefits year-round, including free two-day (or faster) shipping, unlimited Prime Video access, automatic Twitch Prime membership (which offers free monthly PC games and in-game loot), music streaming, and more. If you're not ready to commit to the full package, you can still sign up for a free one-month trial to participate in Prime Day--just make sure to cancel after.Unlike most everyday sales, Prime Day includes a few different types of deals to be aware of before the event rolls around. Besides the Prime Day-exclusive deals that will be available during the entire 48 hours (or until they go out of stock), there will also be Early Access deals available in the days leading up to Prime Day to get people excited. These deals will most likely showcase Amazon devices such as the Echo Show and Fire TV Stick. Spotlight Deals will run for 24 hours, and Lightning Deals, which tend to be the best, are available for only a short time and have a limited stock--sometimes, they'll sell out within minutes. We'll keep you updated on the best Lightning Deals via GameSpot Deals on Twitter, so be sure to give that a follow and check back often during Prime Day.Even though you can't see lines out the door and people shoving their way through crowds to fill their cart, Prime Day is as hectic as Black Friday, which can cause the site to crash and products to sell out faster than you can blink. While we can't predict how Amazon's servers will hold up during Prime Day 2019, we can make your shopping experience a bit easier by curating the best game and console deals so you're aware of all the options. We'll be covering the best PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC game and console deals, as well as discounts on VR hardware, tabletop games, Funko Pops, and more, right here at GameSpot. Whether you're shopping for yourself or getting in some early holiday shopping, Prime Day 2019 will be an excellent chance to grab anything that's been sitting on your wishlist. Info from Gamespot.com

The Wii U has been a dormant part of the Nintendo hardware lineup, in favor of the newer and much more successful Nintendo Switch. But it isn't entirely dead and gone yet, as the company still issues occasional firmware updates. Like one this week, in the year 2019.The Nintendo Support site doesn't list the update yet, but Nintendo Everything reports that the firmware update brings the system up to version 5.5.4. The update doesn't mention what exactly it does, but it likely adds "improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience." That has been the trend for Wii U updates since the last major feature addition in 2014. The last system update came in September 2018.It's unsurprising that Nintendo hasn't paid much attention to the Wii U since the Nintendo Switch launched. Two years into the Switch, the newer system has already almost tripled the hardware sales of the Wii U, and nearly doubled its software sales. Nintendo has made a habit of re-releasing overlooked Wii U games on the Nintendo Switch, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.Third parties have moved on as well. Though curiously, the still-massive 100-million install base for the Wii means it still gets some attention where the Wii U doesn't. Ubisoft's Just Dance 2020, for example, is slated for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Wii.Info from Gamespot.com

Amazon has finally announced that Prime Day 2019, its big annual members' sale, will run on July 15 and 16, but the savings are starting a little early with this deal on a Toshiba Smart TV. Usually retailing for $300, the Toshiba 43-inch 1080p Smart Fire TV is on sale now for just $180 for Prime members. The deal is counting down to expire on Monday, July 15, when Prime Day officially kicks off.SEE IT AT AMAZON »The Toshiba Fire TV Edition integrates Amazon's Fire smart platform for apps and voice control functionality with Alexa. It has built-in ethernet and wi-fi connectivity and three HDMI ports, making it a great, self-contained media center for all your gaming and streaming needs. Although it doesn't go up to 4K resolution for the absolute latest in graphics, a 1080p 60Hz TV of this size for $180 is a steal.Prime Day has quickly become one of the biggest shopping events of the year. This year's sale is the longest-running yet and will last a full 48 hours, up from 36 hours in 2018. In the meantime, we've got some general tips to help you get the most out of Prime Day; plus, check back during the sale for all the best gaming and entertainment deals. Info from Gamespot.com

Bond 25 might have suffered a somewhat troubled production so far, but filming is well and truly underway. While we're yet to receive a proper trailer or even a final title, production company Eon has now released a behind-the-scenes video for the new film.The teaser, which you can watch below, gives us a first glimpse at Daniel Craig's fifth (and likely final) adventure as James Bond. Alongside Craig in the trailer is director Cary Fukunaga, Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), and Lashana Lynch (Nomi).Filming of Bond 25 hit a snag earlier in June when a controlled explosion went wrong on set, injuring one person. Craig also needed about two weeks of downtime to recover from an ankle injury and surgery sustained while filming in Jamaica. Despite that, the production team said at the time that the movie will not be delayed.James Bond 25, or whatever it ends up being called, hits theatres in April 2020. In addition to Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Lea Seydoux will all reprise their roles for the 25th James Bond movie. Wright and Ben Whishaw also return, while Rami Malek has joined the movie as the villain.Bond 25's story begins with Bond no longer on active service but instead enjoying himself in Jamaica. "His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help," reads a line from the film's official description. "The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."The movie was initially going to be directed by Danny Boyle, but he left due to "creative differences." True Detective's Cary Fukunaga replaced Boyle before the film was delayed first from October 2019 to February 2020 and then again to April 3, 2020.Info from Gamespot.com

Fortnite recently received the 9.30 patch, and now the first 9.30 content update is live on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. As developer Epic's patch notes detail, this week's update not only marks the start of the 14 Days of Summer event, it also introduces yet another new gun to the game and makes some balance adjustments to a handful of existing weapons and items. Additionally, some vaulted weapons are now available again, including the Pump Shotgun, while a variety of limited-time modes, or LTMs, will be making brief comebacks.Fortnite has received some unique weapons over the past few seasons, but this week's addition to the arsenal is a classic: the Revolver, which Epic describes as "simple, reliable, [and] powerful." It comes in Epic and Legendary variants and can be found as floor loot or in chests, vending machines, supply drops, or Loot Carriers.To make room for the Revolver, Epic has vaulted a handful of older weapons, namely the Impulse Grenades, Rift-to-Go, Pirate Cannon, and rare Tactical Assault Rifle. The developer has also slightly reduced the availability of the Flint Knock Pistol and the Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle, while a few other weapons have gotten balance adjustments. The Drum Gun's fire rate was reduced from 9 to 8, while the Heavy Assault Rifle's damage was slightly increased. Supply Llamas have also been adjusted; there will now be five per match rather than three, and they now hold 350 of each material rather than 200.Epic has also unvaulted a few weapons as part of the aforementioned 14 Days of Fortnite event. The uncommon and rare Pump Shotguns are now back, as are Shockwave Grenades and the Suppressed SMG. Epic has said it will unvault a different weapon for 24 hours every day of the 14 Days of Summer event. You can find the patch notes for Battle Royale mode below, while the full patch notes are available on Epic's website.Epic is offering lots of other daily content during the 14 Days of Summer event. Players will have a new challenge to complete and reward to unlock every day, and there will be a new outfit and other items for purchase from Fortnite's in-game shop. (The first challenge asks you to dance at different beach parties.) Finally, a new limited-time mode will be featured every day, and they and include the John Wick crossover LTM, Wick's Bounty, as well as a handful of new modes like Splashdown Squads, which has players trying to eliminate each other with water balloons.Fortnite: Battle Royale 9.30 Content Update Patch NotesWeapons & ItemsRevolver Available in Epic and Legendary variants.Fires Medium Ammo.Holds 6 rounds.63 / 66 damage per shot.Headshot multiplier of 2.Available from Floor loot, Chests, Vending Machines, Supply Drops, and Loot Carriers.Vaulted Rare Tactical Assault Rifle With the unvaulting of the Suppressed Submachine Gun, we wanted to make sure loot distribution in this class of item was well distributed.Impulse GrenadesRift-To-GoPirate CannonUnvaulted Uncommon and Rare Pump Shotgun Available in floor loot and Vending MachinesThere’s been a lot of feedback around the Tactical Shotgun and Combat Shotgun effectiveness, and so we’re experimenting with a world where the Pump Shotgun joins the current shotgun lineup.Shockwave GrenadeSuppressed SMG We feel the Suppressed Submachine Gun can fill a complementary role to the Burst Submachine Gun as a viable alternative.Common, Uncommon, and Rare RevolverTactical Shotgun Availability from floor loot reduced from 8.19% to 5.4%Headshot Multiplier increased from 2 to 2.25Burst SMG Availability adjustments Availability from floor loot reduced from 5.03% to 3.1%Availability from chests reduced from 18.66% to 10.32%Balance adjustments Base accuracy increased by 13.6%Jumping accuracy penalty reduced from 15% to 5%Sprinting accuracy penalty reduced from 30% to 20%Base damage increased from 23/24/25 to 24/25/26The Burst SMG was dropping a bit too frequently for the role it was intended to fill. Additionally, it was underperforming when compared to similar items.SemiAuto Sniper Rifle Availability from floor loot reduced from 0.65% to 0.44%Availability from chests reduced from 5.1% to 3.4%FlintKnock Pistol Availability from floor loot reduced from 1.97% to 1.32%Infantry Rifle Increased the Epic and Legendary Infantry Rifle clip size from 8 to 10Minigun Increased player damage from 18/19 to 20/21DrumGun Reduced clip size from 50 to 40Reduced fire rate from 9 to 8Since the unvaulting, the Drum Gun has outperformed in unintended areas. This adjustment should help create more counterplay in combat.Heavy Assault Rifle Increased damage from 36/38/40 to 38/40/42The Heavy Assault Rifle usage rates aren’t quite where we’d like. This adjustment to Damage is intended to offset some of the downsides of the weapon.GameplaySupply LlamaIncreased the material count from 200 of each to 350 of eachIncreased the total number of Llamas per match from 3 to 5Info from Gamespot.com

Every week, you can watch new movies on Netflix and other streaming services; however, the new content being released isn't new if it's not an original series. If you want to watch a new movie from the comfort of your own home, you have to buy them through a digital market or at a brick and motor store. This week, there are a few big releases you may want to check out for yourself.While it's true we live in an age where everything gets remade, sometimes, those remakes are better than the original, and that's just the case for 2019's Pet Sematary. Based on the Stephen King book of the same name, the movie follows a family from Boston who moves to Maine, and they find a ancient cemetery in the woods. Said cemetery has some supernatural elements to it, and from there, horror. In the review of the movie, GameSpot's Rafael Motamayor said, "In an age where every film is getting a remake or a reboot, Pet Sematary might actually be better than the original. It's terrifying, twisted, heartbreaking, morbidly funny, and a hell of a fun time." You'll find a link to buy it digitally below. A physical release is still a few weeks away.Additionally, Dumbo gets a physical release this week. It was a fine movie, but not something you need to rush out and grab. However, the special features on the home release are pretty solid. There are deleted scenes, a blooper reel, a "making of" featurette, and an Easter eggs feature as well, giving some great insight into all the planning of this movie. Below, you'll find a highlighted lighted list of everything coming out this week.DigitalPet Semetary -- Get it on VuduLittle -- Get it on VuduThe Best of Enemies -- Get it on VuduAfter -- Get it on VuduPhysicalDumbo -- Get it at AmazonDumbo Steelbook -- Get it at Best BuyCinderella Steelbook -- Get it at Best BuyThe Poison Rose -- Get it at AmazonSome links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.Info from Gamespot.com