The huge success of Sony's Spider-Man spin-off Venom ensured that we will be getting more movies featuring heroes and villains from the Spidey universe. Venom 2 is on the way, but next up will be Morbius. Production on the movie has now started and a first image has been released from the set.The picture was posted on Twitter by star Jared Leto. It doesn't exactly reveal much, as Leto is largely obscured by a clapperboard. But we can see that he has the long hair and pale skin of Morbius the Living Vampire from Marvel's comic books--check it out below.1 week down...11 to go...🧛‍♀️🧛‍♀️Get Ready 💪#MORBIUS @MorbiusMovie pic.twitter.com/3Tm9CGGKFz — JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) March 5, 2019Morbius is directed by Daniel Espinosa, who previously helmed the sci-fi horror movie Life and the Denzel Washington thriller Safe House. The cast also includes former Doctor Who star Matt Smith, Stephen Dorff (True Detective), and Jared Harris (The Terror). It releases on July 31, 2020.The character of Morbius first appeared in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #101 back in 1971. The character was created by the legendary Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. The antihero character was originally a biochemist named Michael Morbius who was dying of an unknown blood disease. He created what he thought was a cure using the biochemisty of vampire bats; however, the side effects caused him to crave blood and become a vampire.While Morbius is the only other Spider-Man spin-off with a set release date, here are several more in development. Tom Hardy is expected to return for Venom 2, although it was recently reported that director Rubin Fleischer might not be back. In addition, there are movies based on the characters of Silk, Kraven, Black Cat, and Silver Sable in the works. Info from Gamespot.com

Last week, Xbox owners were treated to a huge sale on Ubisoft games, and this week, PlayStation owners will have their chance to snag many of the publisher's best titles at a discount. Square Enix also has a major sale going on, with titles from some of their biggest series, like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and Just Cause, marked down. And as always, you'll save even more money on many of these titles if you're a PS Plus member. (Note: These deals are limited to US customers.)Several worthwhile games stand out among Ubisoft's offerings. All editions of Assassin's Creed Odyssey are marked down 57%, with the standard edition listed for just $25.79. Watch Dogs 2: Gold Edition is selling for just $30 (70% off). A bundle with both South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole is marked down to $40 (50% off), and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands is available for just $20 (60% off).Over 100 Square Enix titles have had their price slashed this week. Considered one of the best games in the series, Dragon Quest XI's Edition of Light is selling for just $30 (50% off) and comes with a few sweet bonuses. Life is Strange's complete first season is just $4 (80% off) and absolutely worth playing if you love choice-heavy, story-driven games. Several Final Fantasy titles are marked down too--most notably, Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition is available for just $25 (50% off) with exciting new updates, all DLC, and bonus items. I Am Setsuna is an emotional, nostalgic JRPG inspired by genre classic Chrono Trigger, and you can pick it up for just $20 (50% off) as well.This week's PSN deals are available to claim until March 12 at 8 AM PST / 11 AM EST. See more of our picks from PSN's current sale below, and browse the full selection of discounted games in the PlayStation Store.PSN's best weekly deals (March 5 - 12)Assassin's Creed Odyssey -- $25.79Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Deluxe Edition -- $34.39Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Gold Edition -- $43Assassin's Creed Odyssey -- Ultimate Edition -- $51.59The Crew 2 - Deluxe Edition -- $28Dragon Quest XI - Digital Edition of Light -- $30Far Cry 4 -- $16Far Cry 4 + Far Cry Primal Bundle -- $28Final Fantasy XV - Royal Edition -- $25Hitman Go -- $1.59I Am Setsuna -- $20Just Cause 4 -- $30Life is Strange -- Complete Season -- $4Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Complete Season -- $5.09Lost Sphear -- $25Secret of Mana -- $20South Park: The Video Game Collection -- $40Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Croft Edition -- $45Star Ocean: Till the End of Time -- $10.49Tom Clancy's The Division - Gold Edition -- $27Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands -- $20Watch Dogs 2 - Gold Edition -- $30Info from Gamespot.com

While the world built in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is unlike just about anything comic book movie fans have seen unfold on the big screen, there was a time when the movie was almost even weirder. In fact, it almost included yet another Spider-Person.Speaking to GameSpot for the digital and Blu-ray release of the film, co-director Rodney Rothman teased the potential of Australian Spider-Man, who would have put a ticking clock on the glitching danger that Peter B. Parker and his fellow Spideys faced. "Australian Spider-Man was there and made a point of saying he had arrived a whole twenty-four hours earlier because he's a whole day ahead," Rothman explained. "And then he glitched to death and turned to a pile of dust in front of everyone and then they were like, 'Oh we have twenty-four hours to live,' because this guy was dead."Turning into a pile of dust sounds like it was definitely inspired by Avengers: Infinity War, which would have been a truly funny nod to work into Spider-Verse. Then again, it's hard to know how the death of Australian Spider-Man would have fit into the movie, given that Gwen Stacy arrived a week earlier than the rest of the Spider-People. If they could only stay there for 24 hours, she definitely would have been dusted by that point.Still, while Spider-Verse was loaded with superheroes, Rothman thinks there's definitely room to work more Spideys into the story. "Going forward, if there are more movies, I'm sure there will be more surprises," he said.And thankfully, when it comes to potential future films, the sky is the limit for the creative team. When asked about whether they ever considered featuring former Spider-Man movie stars Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield in Spider-Verse, producer Chris Miller admitted that possibility was discussed and could still happen. "It was something that we definitely talked about, more than once, and decided that ultimately, there are many more opportunities in the future," he said.Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is on digital now and Blu-ray follows on March 19.Info from Gamespot.com

With about three months to go before E3 2019, Xbox rumours are already heating up. Microsoft has previously confirmed it is working on multiple new Xbox consoles, and now its plans appear to be coming into focus.There is a lot of information out there about the new Xbox consoles, so we're rounding up all the rumours and speculation into this post to help make sense of the matter. Bear in mind that while the sources for each rumour have proven reliable in the past, everything mentioned here is unconfirmed, and as with all rumours, plans are subject to change. Microsoft's official stance is that it does not comment on rumour and speculation. With that caveat out of the way...A Disc-Free Xbox OneRumoured for many months already, and discussed at a conceptual level for years, the disc-free Xbox One is said to be codenamed Xbox Maverick. Windows Central reported that this system will actually be called "Xbox One S All-Digital Edition." Pre-orders for the console are said to open in April, with the console then scheduled to go on sale in May around the world.This would be a first for Microsoft, as all previous Xbox hardware featured a disc drive. Pricing hasn't been mentioned in any reports yet, but dropping the disc drive would presumably lower the cost. In fact, it's believed that the disc-free Xbox One would be the cheapest Xbox One offering to date.Also unclear at this stage is if the disc-free Xbox One would contain any further changes to the Xbox One hardware or design. WindowsCentral posted a Photoshopped mock-up of what an Xbox One without a disc drive might look like--check it out here.The video game industry, like film, TV, and music before it, is increasingly trending toward the digital space and away from physical media. Microsoft itself is pushing further into the digital space with its new streaming service Project xCloud, which according to Brad Sams, will enter a trial phase later this year. Another Microsoft digital subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, is proving popular already with millions of people signing up. It's clear digital is important to Microsoft going forward.All-digital hardware has been attempted before, as Sony launched the PSP Go back in 2009--but it failed. It's been a decade since that trial, and general internet availability and speed has improved since then. Still, there are parts of the world where access to internet is limited, and other places where speeds are less-than-great (hello, Australia!). For those who prefer physical media, Microsoft will continue to make Xbox One consoles with disc-drives, so there is no need to worry about an all-digital future taking over, at least not yet.The Disc-To-Digital ProgramA key component of Microsoft's disc-free Xbox One plans is what's being referred to as the "disc-to-digital" program. As part of this, users can trade in their console discs for a digital license for games they already own. The disc-to-digital program is expected to launch around the same time as the disc-free Xbox One console's release in May, or a little earlier, Brad Sams reported. People will be able to visit the Microsoft Store and Best Buy (and potentially others) to swap their discs for digital licenses. The specifics about how this will work remain unclear.Retailers might not be very happy about this news, especially GameStop, whose "buy-sell-trade" business model hinges on physical media remaining popular. But no one is asking players to care about the health of retailers; if this is the way the business is going, retailers will need to adapt. For its part, GameStop has diversified its offerings substantially of late to focus more on digital options and physical content like Funko Pop! toys and other physical merchandise. A New Fortnite Xbox OneMicrosoft already offers an Xbox One hardware bundle that comes with Fortnite and various extras, but the company is reportedly planning to push even further on the battle royale game. A new Xbox One featuring a design inspired by Fortnite is coming, according to Windows Central, though the site didn't have any further information about the system and if it will be an Xbox One S, X, or the new disc-free edition.Next-Gen ConsolesMicrosoft is reportedly working on multiple new Xbox One consoles in development under the "Scarlett" umbrella. The first is codenamed Anaconda, according to Brad Sams, and is the new high-power Xbox One to follow the Xbox One X that was released in November 2017. The other, codenamed Lockhart, is said to be the budget-oriented offering.At E3 2019 in June, Microsoft is expected to discuss both of these consoles, though it's unclear at this stage how deep into specifics the company plans to get. Sams reported that Microsoft's idea with the new consoles is to "make next-gen gaming available to wider audiences with a lower price of entry." The consoles aren't expected to be released until Fall 2020.According to Sams, the Anaconda console will be priced in line with Sony's PlayStation 5 (which is rumoured but hasn't been announced yet), while Lockhart will cost less.Specs are unknown for Anaconda and Lockhart, but Sams reported that both consoles will have solid-state storage, which would be a big improvement over the Xbox One X's hard disk drive.Sams speculates that specs for the new wave of consoles is expected to not be as important as it was with the Xbox One X, a console that can already deliver 4K/60FPS gaming. He suggests that the most significant change will be on the software side. A new technology called GameCore OS will enable Microsoft to bring Xbox One and PC development more closely together, apparently.According to Sams, Microsoft may attempt to launch GameCore OS for all of the Xbox One family of devices. However, it's unknown at this stage if this will unlock what Sams called "true forward and backwards compatibility."With Microsoft said to be pushing more into the PC development space (Halo Infinite is coming to Xbox One and PC), some may question if this will hurt Microsoft's ability to sell consoles. As Sams reminds us, games--not hardware--is where the money is made. The margin profile of game sales are known to be better than hardware, where margins are low or even non-existent in some cases in history."That is not where you make money," Phil Spencer told GeekWire about consoles. "The business inside of games is really selling games, and selling access to games and content in means like that is the fundamental business. So if you open it up, the more often people can play, the more they're enjoying the art form. It increases the size of the business."xCloud And Game PassOne of Microsoft's most exciting and ambitious new technologies is the game-streaming service Project xCloud. Microsoft's long-term vision is to bring Xbox to every internet-connected screen, whether that be a TV, console, or the mobile phone in your pocket. According to Sams, xCloud--or whatever name Microsoft decides to give it--will enter the trial phase later this year. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that, during his holiday travels at the end of 2018, he was already playing streaming games on his phone as he jetted around, so it's definitely coming together.Nothing is certain yet, but it's not hard to envision a future where Xbox Game Pass becomes an xCloud offering where people can stream games wherever they are, on whatever device they have. That's exciting to think about. But there are numerous unanswered questions like whether the service will be available worldwide (PlayStation Now is notably unavailable in Australia), and if it will require Xbox Live Gold or not. Whatever the case, it may finally be time that streaming takes off, as Microsoft is joined by the likes of Google, Amazon, Verizon, and other tech juggernauts in having announced or rumoured to have game-streaming services in the pipeline.Next StepsBrad Sams reports that Microsoft will begin to discuss its next-generation plans with partners at the Game Developers Conference later this month in San Francisco. The show is aimed at developers and business executives, so whether or not these discussions take place behind-closed-doors or publicly remains to be seen. At the consumer-facing E3 show in June, the company will reportedly formally unveil the new consoles and discuss its plans at a high level.What are you hoping to see from Microsoft for the next generation of consoles? Let us know in the comments below!Info from Gamespot.com

The PlayStation Classic released December 3, 2018, and was met with disappointment from many fans who felt the console didn't run as smoothly as it should--especially given the $100 launch price. Compared to Nintendo's NES and SNES Classics, which cost $60 and $80 respectively and practically flew off the shelves, the PlayStation Classic struggled with sales and has steadily been dropping in price ever since. Just a few months after its release, the mini console has dropped $60 and is now selling for only $40 at Walmart and Best Buy.The PlayStation Classic is a miniature recreation of the original PlayStation console and comes pre-loaded with 20 classic PS1 games. The system also comes with an HDMI cable to connect to your TV, two wired controllers, and a virtual memory card.As always, people on Twitter had the best reaction to the retro console dropping in price again.pic.twitter.com/tuvqEVxDln — Masker Rage (@MaskedMuscle) March 5, 2019pic.twitter.com/tlivyKG1WO — キルロイ (@RhysWilde) March 5, 2019pic.twitter.com/x9ElqZgRV5 — Carlos!? (@KASKADE916) March 5, 2019We'll let you decide for yourself how you feel about it. If you have a soft spot for the original PlayStation and its games and have been waiting for this console to become cheaper, this may be a great time to pick it up, as there's no knowing how long this price will last and whether it will drop again. However, you may want to check out our full review of the PlayStation Classic before purchasing, as GameSpot's Peter Brown was less than impressed with the console. "The PS Classic doesn't feel like a celebration of PlayStation's formative years the way Nintendo's systems do," he wrote. "Nor is it a smart adaptation of a capable emulator working behind the scenes."Buy the PlayStation ClassicWalmart -- $40Best Buy -- $40PlayStation Classic Full 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

Ape Out is, at heart, a game about jazz. The soundtrack is crafted by your improvised actions as you careen a runaway ape through the game’s levels, leaving a path of destruction and bloodshed in your wake. It’s high energy and exciting, even if, by the end, it feels like you’re playing the same basic tunes over and over.It's a very simple game, at least in terms of how it's played--You're an ape, and you must run through each level without getting blown up or shot three times by human enemies. The camera is positioned above you, giving you a Hotline Miami-esque omnipotence when it comes to where your enemies are positioned. You can push enemies, who will splat and die if they hit a solid object, or you can grab them, at which point they'll fire at least one shot from their gun straight forward, hopefully into another person. A grabbed enemy can be thrown with more precision, which is especially handy if they're wearing an explosive pack, which will blow up and take out anything within its blast radius. You'll spend most of your time running forward, smacking enemies as you go, occasionally snaking away to avoid a mob or stopping to rip a steel door off its hinges.But the way Ape Out elevates its relatively straightforward gameplay loop is by evoking the feeling of creating music, thanks to Matt Boch's captivating procedural soundtrack, which generates a drum-heavy percussion beat under the action. During lulls, the music fades to a calm, but when the action gets frenetic the drums and cymbal crashes kick in hard, and there are occasional horns and contextual changes depending on what's happening in any given stage. Additionally, the levels are presented as though they were albums, with each new subsection representing a track, complete with transitions from Side A to Side B at the midway point. It's a fascinating system which gives those moments where you're in the middle of a killing spree a significant extra kick. It's a repetitive game--you're ultimately doing the same thing continually over the whole course of the game--but it can also be quite propulsive and thrilling, especially when you're on a good run.The stages themselves are starkly designed, with limited color palettes and simple geometric shapes. The ape itself is a single orange shape, and enemies are demarcated by a handful of different designs. There's a slight film grain effect over the action that gives everything a subtle jittery quality, and the album motif is even baked into the loading screens, which make the faint scratching noises of a vinyl record that is left on the turntable after the music has finished. The game’s greatest strength is how defined and consistent this aesthetic is. The unique art blends perfectly with the soundtrack, making the game's violence a bit more palatable than it might have otherwise been, and its boldness pulls you into the action very well.It's great that Ape Out has so much style and flair, because it's essential to your investment due to the game's lack of variety. There are slight variations in how each level operates--the third album, for instance, features combustible liquids that can create walls of fire if you throw an explosives expert into them, and in the second (and best) album there are windows that riot police can rappel through--but they never dramatically alter how you need to play the game. A few new enemy types pop up, but the methods you use to deal with them never really change. There are a handful of good sections where the lights go out and you need to track enemy movements based on the beams of their flashlights, and they highlight how much the game could have benefited from more interesting gimmicks and variety. It’s a shame that Ape Out isn’t more playful, because whenever new ideas are introduced, they’re always welcome--there just aren’t that many of them. The game is short, yet some levels still feel superfluous and samey. I kept hoping a level would come along that would fundamentally change how I had to play, but this never happened.Levels are semi-procedurally generated, so while some landmarks and choke-points will always pop up in roughly the same spot, the exact layout and enemy placements will change. This means that you'll sometimes find yourself in situations where a huge number of enemies swarm you at once, and properly defending yourself is all but impossible. Several times I encountered enemies wearing explosive vests and found that avoiding both their blast radius and gunfire from another enemy was frustrating and futile. The game isn't too difficult on the default difficulty, although there are occasional spikes when a level is a bit longer, which gives enemies more time to put bullets into you.Ape Out is a game that draws you in with its strong aesthetic style and flair, but it feels short on ideas. When you're barrelling through a room, knocking multiple enemies into walls and watching them explode into puddles of blood, it can be quite exciting. But the game never really rises above being a mild thrill, and a lack the variety means that it’s too repetitive to truly make a strong impact. Ape Out isn't as creative with its level designs and challenges as it is with its soundtrack and art, but as it stands it’s a pleasant, jazzy way to spend a few hours. Info from Gamespot.com

With Microsoft set to finally, maybe, talk about Halo Infinite at E3 this year, fans are understandably eager and excited to learn more about the long-in-development next Halo. One rumour about the game making the rounds is that Halo Infinite will be a "next-gen" game that skips Xbox One.That's not going to happen, Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor says. Responding to someone on Twitter who mentioned this rumour, O'Connor said, "I have no idea what leak you're talking about, but Halo Infinite will be released for Xbox One and appropriately spec'd PCs."I have no idea what leak you're talking about, but Halo Infinite will be released for Xbox One and appropriately spec'd PCs. — Frank O'Connor (@franklez) March 5, 2019The rumour in question may be based on comments from noted Microsoft insider Brad Sams. He recently said on his YouTube show that Microsoft focused on showing Infinite's engine, SlipSpace, at E3 last year and not the game because the game itself looked ... too good."They didn't want to show off any part of the game because it actually looked pretty damn good and they didn't want to make current-gen stuff look bad," Sams said.In the video, Sams never says Halo Infinite won't be released on Xbox One, but you can imagine people making that connection regardless.Microsoft is rumoured to announce new Xbox hardware at E3 this year, so that is also likely contributing to the worry about Halo Infinite not coming to the Xbox One hardware on the market today. However, none of the credible reports out there today are suggesting that will happen.The Xbox One is now considered a "family" of devices. For example, games that play on the mega-powerful Xbox One X also work on the lower-power Xbox One S. Presumably this kind of compatibility between hardware options will continue with the new Xbox hardware set to be revealed at E3 in June. A disc-free Xbox One will be released in May, according to a new report. This kind of compatibility between generations of hardware has been commonplace and generally accepted in the mobile phone market for years, so it seems games are finally catching up.Halo Infinite will be the first new mainline Halo game since 2015's Halo 5: Guardians. It's rumoured to be a launch title for the new Xbox hardware, and that would be notable given 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved was the only time a Halo game was released as a launch title for new Xbox hardware; in that case it was for the original Xbox. The new Xbox consoles are reportedly scheduled to launch in Fall 2020.In other news, Sams also reported on his show that Halo: The Master Chief Collection may finally soon be announced for PC. For lots more on all the ongoing Xbox rumours, check out this roundup of all the big news. Info from Gamespot.com

The first trailer for Midsommar, the next film Hereditary writer-director Ari Aster, has arrived--and it's scary, shocking, and filled with Pagan mythology.There isn't a whole lot to go on, but in the trailer we learn there is a nine-day festival that happens once every 90 years that may not be what it seems. Attendees are given some kind of ayahuasca-like psychedelic drug that "opens you up to the influence," but what that is remains unclear. It's a chilling trailer that seems to contain many teases and references to some of the horror that awaits those who attend the festival. In one scene, we see people opening up a bear and removing its guts. We can only imagine why. Midsommar stars Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family), Jack Reynor (Glassland), William Jackson Harper (The Good Place), and Will Poulter (Black Mirror). The movie hits theatres this summer.Aster also wrote and directed 2018's Hereditary starring Toni Collette. The movie was praised by critics, including here at GameSpot where reviewer Michael Rougeau called it an excellent horror film.Info from Gamespot.com

Niantic has kicked off a new in-game event in Pokemon Go. The Battle Showdown is now live until March 12, and it gives players a chance to catch two new Shiny Pokemon.Throughout the Battle Showdown event, Fighting-type Pokemon such as Mankey, Machop, Makuhita, and Meditite will spawn more frequently in the wild than they normally do. Additionally, players will be able to find Shiny versions of Mankey and Machop for the first time.On top of increased Fighting Pokemon spawns, Niantic is offering a handful of different bonuses during the event. First, players will receive twice the normal amount of Stardust for catching Pokemon, as well as for battling, and participating in Raids. You'll also get twice the normal amount of XP for Gym Badges.Finally, you'll be able to take home up to five rewards each day for battling other players, and up to three for challenging team leaders, including Rare Candy. You can read more details about the Battle Showdown event on the official Pokemon Go website.In addition to the Battle Showdown event, Niantic has permanently added Power-Up Punch to the game. Poliwrath, Hitmonchan, Kangaskhan, Medicham, Lucario, and certain other Pokemon will now be able to learn the Fighting-type move.In other Pokemon Go news, a new Legendary Pokemon, Dialga, is now available in Raid Battles until March 28. Meanwhile, the game's next Community Day event is schedule for March 23 and will feature the Gen 3 starter Treecko.Info from Gamespot.com

In 2010, Kirby's Epic Yarn spun the traditional formula of Dream Land's favorite hero on its head, reimaging Kirby stuck in a world made entirely of yarn, buttons, and zippers. Extra Epic Yarn ports Kirby's sidescrolling platforming adventure from Wii to 3DS and stitches on a few new features and modes for good measure. Most of Extra Epic Yarn plays as you might remember the original game--and it still looks just as good--but the port's additions craft new, enjoyable ways for you to approach its content.Kirby does not have his trademark abilities in Patch Land, so you need to rely on his new knitted form to find unorthodox ways of overcoming obstacles and vanquishing foes. To attack, for example, Kirby throws out a whip of yarn to unravel enemies before wrapping the material up into a ball that can be thrown. There are also moments within levels where Kirby will take on a new shape, which briefly alters gameplay--when Kirby is a fighter jet, for example, Extra Epic Yarn becomes a fixed shooter.Epic Yarn recaptures the charming simplicity of Kirby's earliest adventures, while also reimagining Dream Land's hero in a fun new way with its yarn-based aesthetics. The game retains the franchise's focus on simple platforming challenges populated throughout cleverly designed levels as well. Extra Epic Yarn adds on to this formula by including craft-focused variations of some of Kirby's traditional transformations in the platforming sections. Certain items on each stage transform Kirby if you manage to whip them up, allowing him to attack and occasionally navigate a stage in a new way. For instance, Nylon (Tornado) Kirby can spin at high enough speeds to pull apart any enemy or damage bosses, but the attack can also be used to briefly hover through the air. These new abilities are not necessary to completing any level, but several of them allow Kirby to more easily attack and jump at the same time, which adds a nice flow to the platforming. And like previous Kirby titles, you can stick with one you enjoy and bring it from one stage to the next.It would have been nice to see Kirby's transformations inspire new puzzles in Extra Epic Yarn. Every stage--as far as I can tell--has been faithfully replicated, so there's not one puzzle you can't figure out without a transformation. It feels like a lost opportunity to implement a more creative application of Kirby's new powers.On top of new transformations, Extra Epic Yarn also adds Devilish mode, which is the game's version of a hard difficulty. In Devilish mode, a small devil will follow Kirby and try to attack him. Striking back will cause the devil to scurry off, but it will return eventually and you'll have to hit it again if you want to get rid of it. And you do want to get rid of it. Unlike Normal mode, Kirby can be unwound in Devilish mode from taking too many hits, which forces you to start a stage from the very beginning. Devilish mode can present quite the challenge on later stages, where longer levels present more opportunities for a misplaced jump or slow attack. The new mode never becomes frustrating, though, thanks in large part to the implementation of the aforementioned transformation abilities. Devilish mode might not have worked in the more methodical Epic Yarn, but the ability to do quick, sweeping attacks while on the move with Kirby's transformations allows for Extra Epic Yarn to be more action-oriented. It's still tough at times, but as someone who thought Epic Yarn was too easy, Devilish mode introduces the challenge I want in a second playthrough.Extra Epic Yarn also adds two new minigames which put you in control of either Meta Knight or King Dedede. Meta Knight Slash & Bead has you cut your way through stages as you collect beads, doing your best to slice through as many enemies as quickly as possible to earn more time. Dedede Gogogo is a much faster-paced variation of the same formula, pushing you to sprint through a stage instead of fight your way through it. Each minigame only has four stages, all of which only last a few minutes. Both work as enjoyable distractions when you want to take a break from the campaign--similar to Samurai Kirby and Megaton Punch in previous titles.Epic Yarn recaptures the charming simplicity of Kirby's earliest adventures, while also reimagining Dream Land's hero in a fun new way with its craft-focused aesthetics.One last change that comes in Extra Epic Yarn is the loss of motion controls, which were used in certain story levels in the original game on Wii and Wii U. You only notice the motion controls are gone in a few infrequent instances: the sections where Kirby turns himself into a train. Before, you laid out the train's path by pointing at the screen and dragging where you wanted the track to go. In the 3DS port, you use the control stick or d-pad, which is just harder to do. It's possible, sure, but I can't help but think incorporating stylus support in those sections would have made them easier.Extra Epic Yarn brings new life to a Kirby game that's nearly a decade old. Everything there is to love about Epic Yarn is still here, but the addition of traditional transformation abilities and challenging Devilish mode provide options for anyone looking for a different or more difficult platforming experience. The two new minigames aren't game-changing additions, but they're both fun to complete and provide a change of pace if you ever need a break from the campaign. Whether you're looking to relive Kirby's adventure into Patch Land or want to pick up the game for the first time, Extra Epic Yarn provides hours of good fun, all wrapped up in charming, craft-influenced visuals. This 3DS port is the best version of the game, hands down.Info from Gamespot.com

A new month is now officially underway, and Niantic is rolling out a new set of Field Research tasks in Pokemon Go. Just as before, players will be able to encounter select Legendary Pokemon by completing enough of these tasks, but this time around there will be three new possibilities: Regirock, Regice, and Registeel.The Regi trio join the previously available Legendary beasts Entei, Raikou, and Suicune as well as the Pokemon Gold and Silver mascots Ho-Oh and Lugia as a potential reward for achieving a Research Breakthrough. If you complete enough of this month's Field Research tasks, you'll earn an encounter with one of the aforementioned Legendaries, giving you a rare opportunity to capture them outside of Raid Battles.Unlike Special Research quests, which are distributed by Professor Willow, Field Research tasks are obtained by spinning the Photo Disc at Poke Stops. The first task you complete each day will reward you with a stamp, and if you collect seven stamp, you'll achieve a Research Breakthrough and earn an encounter with a rare Pokemon.Along with the new Field Research tasks, a new Legendary Pokemon is now available in Pokemon Go: Dialga. The Temporal Pokemon has replaced Palkia in Raid Battles and will appear around the world until March 28. The elusive Gen 2 Pokemon Smeargle has also made its Go debut alongside the game's new AR photo mode.The next Pokemon Go Community Day event takes place on March 23. This time, the featured Pokemon will be Treecko, one of the three starters from Ruby and Sapphire. Additionally, players will be able to hatch Pokemon Eggs at a quarter of their usual distance during the event.Info from Gamespot.com

There are a lot of extremely smart ideas in Apex Legends that improve on the systems that make up the common battle royale formula. Apex's inventory system makes it easy to navigate all the game's weapons and attachments, which would otherwise be confusing; its respawn system allows smart, brave, and lucky teams to save their dead squadmates from the great beyond; and the character system gives everyone on a team a specific set of abilities to help out their squad.But the best thing Apex Legends brings to battle royale is its ping system, which gives players an extremely effective way to communicate even without actually speaking to each other.The ping system makes team communication in Apex incredibly easy and fluid, whether you're playing with friends or with random people you squad up with. You can mark enemy locations, suggest where the team should go, and point out weapons and attachments your teammates might need. Having those markers show up in-game makes it easy to get your point across to other players, and in some cases, is even more effective than actually talking to your team. It's also highly accessible to players who might not otherwise have the means or ability to speak to teammates.Others have taken notice of how useful Apex Legends' ping system is. Epic Games introduced a similar system to Fortnite in the game's latest update, making it a little easier for squads to talk to each other in the game. That might be considered an acknowledgment of how popular Apex has become in just a few weeks since its release, as well as how intelligent and useful the system can be.Fortnite isn't the only game that should take a page from Apex's communication capabilities. Another recently released Electronic Arts game could greatly benefit from implementing something similar: Anthem. In fact, BioWare could seriously improve many of Anthem's problems immediately by adding a ping system of its own. It's actually something that should become standard in the shared-world shooter genre.BioWare means for Anthem to be a squad-based shooter in which players are constantly working together to beat hordes of enemies. There's more to it than just shooting: Anthem has four classes of its javelin mech suits you can choose from when you start a mission, and each has its own special capabilities. Using your abilities in concert with other players can create combos that do extra damage, inflict status effects on enemies, and give you special bonuses like dealing extra damage or spreading those effects to even more bad guys. Especially at high levels, combos and team coordination are pretty important.But like most shared-world shooters, such as Destiny 2 or The Division 2, it's very easy to go through most or even all of Anthem without talking to anybody. The game supports matchmaking all the way through it, which means you can drop into any mission with a group of three other randoms. And anybody who's spent even a few minutes in a game like this knows that almost nobody talks to each other. Like most online games, chats are often filled with annoying or even toxic people, so even those players interested in actually cooperating usually remain silent. If you're not in a party chat with other players, chances are, you're not communicating with them--especially since Anthem offers no text chat. Your only options are voice and a few character emotes.That's annoying in most cooperative shooters, but it's especially problematic in Anthem. You can play BioWare's shooter solo, but that's not the way it was designed or intended. Play with other people you don't know, however, and it feels like you're just blasting away at things without any real organization between you and your teammates. It's even worse in those missions when Anthem expects you to solve a puzzle. Nobody talks, nobody knows what anyone else is doing, and everyone just floats around trying different things until, seemingly, someone has the good sense to look up the solution online and input it.It's not hard to imagine how Apex's ping system would instantly mitigate all of these issues in Anthem, and make it a much more fun and cooperative game besides. Even just the ability to call out and mark enemies or call out locations for combos would go a long way. Anthem's combos require a Primer ability, which sets up the combo, and a Detonator ability, which triggers it; a ping system would make it very easy to tell your teammates which kind of ability you need and where. Since the javelin class that does the detonating also matters in executing the combo, pings would make it a lot easier to make a plan and execute it.That's to say nothing of the benefits of being able to ping puzzles to work together on solutions, and its myriad potential uses in Anthem's freeplay mode, when you can just fly around with some pals getting into trouble and searching for loot out in the world. Marking locations, suggesting destinations, warning teammates about threats or showing them things they should stop and pick up--it all could be easily communicated with a system similar to Apex Legends'.Respawn Entertainment has created a pretty major and extremely useful innovation for the shooter genre with its ping system, and it's something that even more games are surely going to emulate. And if the shared-world shooter genre is going to expand, it absolutely should capitalize on this idea. Pings in Destiny 2 or The Division likely would improve them in a lot of the same ways as Anthem could be, and lots of others kinds of games would benefit from similar communication tools. It might be tough to find ways to squeeze a ping button into those games' current control schemes, but the huge benefits of better communication would be worth reshuffling them.Now that Apex Legends has cracked the code, imagining a similar game without a smart, easy, highly accessible way to communicate with other players is a little tougher. Games like Anthem that are serious about teamwork and cooperation should implement something similar as soon as possible. The ping system can make teamwork-based games smarter, more accessible, and most importantly, a lot more fun.Info from Gamespot.com

Bethesda has some big content updates in store for Fallout 76 this year, starting with this month's Wild Appalachia expansion. That is slated to kick off on March 12 and will introduce some new content to the online RPG, most notably a Brewing and Distilling system, which the developer further has further detailed in its latest Inside the Vault post.As part of a new quest called Wasted on Nukashine, players will be able to construct a Brewing Station for their CAMP. As you can imagine, the Brewing Station will give you the ability to craft a variety of different alcoholic drinks, from beer to various wines. These will provide a temporary buff when drunk, but Bethesda warns that they will also "bring a drawback and, just like real life, will result in a mild hangover."Depending on what type of drink you're trying to make, you'll be able to increase their potency by letting them ferment longer. Wines and Spirits in particular will require a longer fermentation time than other drinks, but they can also change from "fresh" to "vintage" if aged long enough, imbuing them with additional properties.In addition to the Brewing and Distilling system, Wild Appalachia will introduce two new quests over the next several months: Shear Terror and Ever Upwards. The former focuses on mythical monsters, while the latter has you join the Pioneer Scouts and earn merit badges.In addition to that, Bethesda is holding the limited-time Fasnacht Parade event beginning March 19, which will give players a chance to earn "unique rewards." The previously teased Survival PvP mode is also slated to arrive on March 26 and will drop all the restrictions around player encounters, making for a much tenser experience.Info from Gamespot.com

Game designer and writer Chris Avellone has announced that he's finished up work on Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. He's also working on a secret project that may be announced in the next month.Avellone is known as the writer behind several story-driven video games, including one of the most popular Star Wars titles ever made: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords. His more recent work includes Divinity: Original Sin II, Prey, and Into the Breach--the first of which made our top 10 games of 2017 list and the latter of which is one of our favorites for 2018. Avellone was also on the writing team at Obsidian for Fallout: New Vegas and he was the lead storyteller for Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Other than Jedi Fallen Order and his secret, unannounced project, Avellone's future work also includes Dying Light 2.I can't say 100% b/c of NDAs, but the ones I can say: I just finished up work with Jedi: The Fallen Order - and beyond that, there's another big bomb dropping in a month! Er, I mean, maybe. Ahem.— Chris Avellone (@ChrisAvellone) March 1, 2019Jedi Fallen Order is being made by Respawn, the developer behind the first-person shooter Titanfall 2 and battle royale game Apex Legends. Respawn CEO Vince Zampella officially announced the upcoming Star Wars game at E3 2018. He described Jedi Fallen Order as a dark story that transpires between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. You'll take on the role of a Jedi Padawan that escaped Order 66, and, armed with a lightsaber, explore an Empire-ruled galaxy. Exact details haven't been announced yet, but there are certain characters, places, and storylines we hope to see unfold in Jedi Fallen Order.EA has announced that more details about Jedi Fallen Order will be revealed at this year's Star Wars Celebration. The event is scheduled April 11-15, with the Jedi Fallen Order reveal set for Saturday, April 13 during a special panel. Hopefully, during the Star Wars Celebration, we'll get some more information about the new season for The Clone Wars. The animated series is getting a surprise seventh season--after being cancelled in 2014--but there hasn't been much talk about it since the Comic-Con 2018 announcement that the show was coming back.Jedi Fallen Order is currently scheduled for Fall 2019. Previous announcements stated the release date would specifically align with the holiday season, but an EA financial report may have implied that the game could be coming out earlier than that. That same report revealed that EA has new Plants vs. Zombies and Need for Speed games planned as well.Info from Gamespot.com

With Halo Infinite coming to E3 2019 later this year, it appears this will finally be the year we learn more about the long-awaited follow-up to 2015's Halo 5: Guardians.Ahead of the big show, a fan has create a mock-up for what they imagine the Halo Infinite menu screen could look like. This is only a concept. It's not real. But it did catch the attention of Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor, who said it is "very cool." The video was made by GoBroPros YouTube channel. It is a sleek menu screen that borrows some of the sensibilities from the menu screens of Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5; have a look:Halo Infinite, which is in development for Xbox One and PC, is said to be a "spiritual reboot" of the series, but it's not exactly clear what that means at this point. It is rumoured to be a launch title for the next wave of Xbox hardware that Microsoft will supposedly announce at E3.Intriguingly, a report from Brad Sams claims Halo Infinite will have RPG mechanics of some kind. There is also a report that claims Microsoft will release Halo Infinite's multiplayer and single-player separately.Info from Gamespot.com