E3 2019 is going to be a big year for Xbox at E3, it seems. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said on a recent podcast that Microsoft's showing at E3 this year will be "as big" as it's ever been for Xbox, and one reason why might be because Sony is dropping out of E3.Speaking to Major Nelson, Spencer started off by saying, "This is going to be a fun E3 for us." He recalled an internal Microsoft conversation about E3 after the "news" that dropped last year about E3, which is presumably a reference to Sony skipping the show."There was some news about E3 back in the fall. We had a discussion internally about, 'Should we go big?' 'Should we save some money?' 'What does that mean?' We decided, no [we're not going to save money], we're going to do our thing," Spencer said. "We're going to go and be as big at E3 as we've ever been. I love that opportunity."Right now, with about five months to go before E3 2019, Microsoft is in the midst of thinking about how and who the company can get to come on stage, Spencer said. The company is also talking about if the company wants to talk about titles and products coming in the short-term versus the long-term. Spencer said he personally likes to be transparent, but he's also mindful of being careful not to announce something too early.Spencer didn't get into specifics, but he said the content lineup from Xbox for E3 2019 is already "great." The company also plans to talk about the future of Xbox and more about what the Xbox brand means--beyond console. The Xbox is a console, but there are "millions" of people who spend time and money on Xbox outside of the console family through PC and mobile, Spencer pointed out. At E3, he wants to let people know that they don't need to own an Xbox to be part of the Xbox community.Also in the interview, Spencer talked about Xbox's position in 2019, saying the groundwork that Microsoft put down in recent years will really begin to pay off this year. Quoting George W. Bush, Spencer said, "This is a year where it's not strategery--we're going to roll up our sleeves and we're going to show. I love that. Now it's go time."One of the new platforms Microsoft has in the works for gaming is Project xCloud, which is the working title for the company's game-streaming service. It's already up and running, and Spencer said he was using it during his travels at the end of 2018. It'll probably be "years" before streaming becomes the primary way people play games, but the technology is coming together, Spencer said.Additionally, Spencer discussed Microsoft's recent spree of studio purchases. One of the reasons Microsoft bought and set up a total of seven studios in six months was to create a catalog of titles that "surprise and delight" fans, and release on a "regular cadence." Microsoft has been criticised in recent years for not having enough compelling first-party content, and Spencer acknowledged that Microsoft's first-party lineup is "so different" than what it's been over the past five years. He also shared an anecdote from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who apparently said he's eager and happy about Microsoft investing so heavily in teams that will make exclusive content for Xbox going forward.One of Microsoft's announcements at E3 2019 could be a new console. Spencer has already confirmed that Microsoft is working on multiple new consoles. According to Brad Sams, one is a disc-free streaming box and another is a console more powerful than the Xbox One X.E3 2019 takes place June 11-13, 2019 in Los Angeles. While Sony is backing away, the show is expected to be a very big one full of surprises and reveals of all kinds. Info from Gamespot.com

Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder has revealed his next film project--and it's not another superhero movie. Snyder, who stepped away from making movies after a family tragedy, has confirmed his next movie is a zombie horror thriller called Army of the Dead.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Snyder will direct and produce the film, which is set to air on Netflix. He's making the movie with his wife Deborah Snyder through their production company, Stone Quarry. The script was written by Joby Harold, though Snyder is said to have come up with the core idea."The adventure is set amid a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, during which a man assembles a group of mercenaries to take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantined zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted," The Hollywood Reporter summarised.Warner Bros. initially picked up the rights to the movie back in 2007, but now it's actually happening at its new home at Netflix. Shooting is pegged to begin this summer, and the production budget is said to be around $90 million.When he worked on Batman v. Superman, Snyder had to work within an existing superhero framework. Now he doesn't. "There are no handcuffs on me at all with this one," Snyder told THR.There is no word on the cast or release date for Army of the Dead, but keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest. Snyder also directed 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, and Man of Steel. He was directing Justice League until his daughter committed suicide, at which point Joss Whedon came in to finish the film.Info from Gamespot.com

The huge success of the Fast & Furious series has meant that not only are there at least two more movies in the main franchise to come, we're also getting the first spin-off this year. Hobbs and Shaw sees Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham reprise their roles, and it arrives in August. However, Johnson has now confirmed that he won't appear in the next main Fast & Furious film.In an interview with MTV News, Johnson explained that Fast 9 is about to start shooting ahead of its 2020 release date, and that neither he or Statham will feature in it. "The plan has always been for the Fast and Furious universe to grow and expand," he said, via Collider. "As of now, we're not in Fast 9 because they're getting ready to start shooting. But who knows with Fast 10 and down the road, you never know. Because look, at the end of the day, the truth is, there's unfinished business between Hobbs and Dom. It's unfinished.”Dom is the character played by star and series producer Vin Diesel. While Johnson is clearly referring to the movie's plot, it also links to the reported feud between the two actors during the shooting of 2017's The Fate of the Furious. Johnson accused an unnnamed male co-star of not being a "true professional," and later revealed he had "an important face-to-face" confrontation with Diesel during production. In April, he cast doubt on whether he would act with anytime soon.Fast 9 is set to hit theaters on April 10 2020, and will be directed by Justin Lin, who has made four of the previous movies. Last week, Diesel confirmed that production will start in London next month. Fast 10 is currently scheduled for a 2021 release.Hobbs and Shaw releases on August 2 this year and is directed by Deadpool 2's David Leitch. Earlier this month, a first image of Idris Elba's villainous character Brixton was released.Info from Gamespot.com

A follow-up to 2010's Rage is one of the last titles I expected to be announced at E3 2018. Rage isn't a bad game per se--it was just an experience that didn't quite hit the same highs of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein. Regardless, Rage 2 arrives later this year as a joint development between id Software and Just Cause 3's Avalanche Studios. It's still too soon to come to any definitive conclusions about Rage 2 as a whole, as the game was in pre-beta when I played it. That said, of the two hours I spent in the game, the combat was a highlight while the title's open world left me with a few misgivings.The demo did start on a fairly high note. Almost as if taking a queue from Borderlands' transition to Borderlands 2, Rage 2 seems to have a bigger focus on developing its characters in comparison to its predecessor. You get to pick the gender of your character, Walker, for one, and they actually do speak to the people you encounter. "You as Walker is a very classic story, but the bulk of the story really does come from [other characters]," id Software Studio Director Tim Willits said. The town I started in did feel somewhat alive, as the bustle of crowds provided a backdrop to the snippets of conversations I'd overhear as Walker strolled by. I was able to glean bits and pieces of world building as I found my way to the mayor's office; most of which was trivial, but much more preferable to getting a long-winded info dump via cutscene.Then I actually got out into Rage 2's open world, and the demo started to lose me. Much like its predecessor, Rage 2 is nice to look at. But I didn't want to explore it. The driving mechanics weren't all that easy to use--think the unwieldy vehicles in Borderlands 2--which made traversal over the demo's steep peaks, wide chasms, and blocked bridges into an ordeal. Sure, I never once encountered a loading screen, but when you're not enjoying your time going from one mission to the next, it still feels like you're waiting for something boring to pass so you can get back to the action. Getting the chance to fly the gyrocopter certainly helped alleviate my frustrations, but I left the demo with no confirmation as to when you'll unlock it in the main game. I did see some cliffs and canyons that might have been cool to navigate with a grapple hook or wingsuit--which are staples of the Just Cause series--but Willits said neither piece of equipment would be crossing over into Rage 2.With how much Rage 2's world feels like Borderlands 2, I can't help but think the game would play better as a co-op experience as well. There's only so much you can do in the open world, both driving and combat-wise, by yourself and having at least one other player to talk to would help fill the long stretches of silence I experienced in Rage 2 outside of the cities and hubs. However, Willits confirmed Rage 2 is an entirely single-player campaign. He did tease Rage 2 would include "a few community things" but did not say what those might be. "We wanted to focus on core combat, we wanted to focus on creating a really great world, and that's where we ended up," he said.However, despite these negatives, my time with Rage 2 wasn't all bad. I love what I got to experience of the game's combat. In spite of Avalanche's influences, Rage 2 plays very much like an id Software game. The shooting mechanics are fast and fluid. It takes a few minutes to master Walker's double jump, omnidirectional dash, and slide, but the movements are easy enough to pick up. Once you do, you're able to pull off pretty spectacularly brutal kills with your vast collection of weapons, all of which destroy in the same enjoyably gruesome manner as the firearms in 2016's Doom.When Rage 2's movement and weapons are combined with its other special abilities--Shatter, Vortex, Barrier, Slam, and Overdrive--you become an unstoppable superhero. At first, the close-quarter combat scenarios give you ample opportunities to try out different combinations. You might deal with a group of enemies by using Shatter to crush them against your own Barrier, or throwing out Vortex to drag them all into one spot before leaping up and careening down into them with a crushing Slam. It's gloriously fun, especially when you manage to chain three or more abilities at once, and maybe throw in a few slides, well-timed dashes, or perfect shots as well.However, as my time with the demo went on, these spectacular moments were occasionally interrupted with fights that took place in larger, more open spaces where the special abilities' short range meant they couldn't be effective. In these instances, I'd typically start a fight in a cool, explosive way before having to fall into a more traditional FPS pattern of dashing from cover to cover while firing the assault rifle at enemies as they came into range. After smashing into an encampment like a superpowered juggernaut, it was disappointing to resort to something slower and more methodical while in open spaces. Carefully measuring a shot doesn't feel very Rage-like. I wanted more fights like what I found at the demo's start, where enemies were trapped in a room or maze-like structure with Walker as she murderously roared at the top of her lungs and dished out constant servings of explosive destruction. Those battles were fantastic, and I really hope the full game is built around more moments like them.Rage 2 is scheduled to launch on May 14 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. You'll net a few freebies for pre-ordering the game.Info from Gamespot.com

Far Cry: New Dawn takes the open-world FPS series into a near-future nuclear post-apocalypse that finds you roaming around a new kind of Hope County. Many of Far Cry 5's locations and characters are back, but they're ravaged by a society gone awry. As we discovered in the game's reveal, New Dawn introduces new enemies dubbed the Highwaymen, a Mad Max-like faction led by twin sisters who survive by stealing resources from self-sustaining societies.You can find out more about how the game plays in our preview, which looks at New Dawn's RPG elements and base-building system. But we also had a chance had a chance to speak to narrative director James Nadiger about the game's inception, the ideas behind its concepts, and the design of its new villains.GameSpot: The first question that came to my mind when New Dawn was revealed was: How long has this been in the works? It follows on from Far Cry 5's ending, so you must have this iteration planned for quite a while?James Nadiger: It's officially been in development for only about a year and a half (Editor's note: Far Cry 5 was released 10 months ago at the time of writing). When we were coming up with the ending of Far Cry 5, which was centered around Joseph and his doomsday cult, we made the decision to end that game on an actual doomsday. We all got super excited about it because it also gave us an opportunity to bring Far Cry into the post-apocalypse space, which is something that we've wanted to do for a long time. I think it's a very Far Cry environment.The reveal of Far Cry 5 gave us the impression that it was going to be dealing with a lot of political overtones because of the setting, the nature of the cult, and the timing with the US political climate--though that wasn't really fully explored in the actual game. Each Far Cry game is different, of course, but was there an active decision to really distance New Dawn from anything like that?No, absolutely not, because we were in development before 5 was released. We really were just focused on making the game that we wanted to make, take it to an apocalypse space.One of the things I enjoyed about Far Cry 5 was that it encouraged this new mode of exploring the world at your own pace and gradually uncovering narrative beats piece by piece. Do you have any insight into that decision to move away from Ubisoft's traditional method of creating open worlds?I think Far Cry, at its best, is always about player choice, and so early on the decision was made to just put the player in control of that choice from the get-go and give them the map all at once. If you just wanna find stuff on your own, you go and it's there, we have signs on the road to point you to animals, we have people you can talk to for little hints. We just felt that was the best, most organic way to create our Far Cry worlds.You're using an altered Hope County as the primary map again, but I was surprised by the new Expedition missions that take you to all these different spaces across the US. It seems like both a narrative tool to sort of explore the wider effects of the apocalypse, as well as creating some interesting spaces that wouldn't otherwise work in the main game. But what was the primary design motivation?To be honest, they probably happened simultaneously, because we're really excited that for the first time in Far Cry the story and the fantasy wasn't confined to just one country or just one time and place. The collapse happened everywhere, and at the same time, we wanted these sort of big gameplay-focussed maps, almost like the fortresses from Far Cry 4, or about the size of a Far Cry Arcade map. So we realized we could take little trips around the country with some solid gameplay, which have repeatable things, like Outposts. Every time you play it, it gets harder, and the challenges remix. And if you explore the notes, or if you're stealthing and you're hearing the Highwaymen in those parts of the world talk, you get little glimpses of what happened in these spaces.Tell me about the villains in Far Cry New Dawn, about their inception. How did you come to create the twins?Sure. It came from, well, at Ubisoft we tend to go world first, so as we were building sort of what our apocalypse would look like, we found overwhelmingly there were two ways to get by in this world. If you were on a piece of land that you could turn into farms again and hunt again, then you would be able to rebuild. But if you came from a place where that wasn't possible, you became sort of a bandit. If you couldn't grow things or build things, you have to take things, and so the twins come from that background. They were just kids when the bombs dropped, they were in the ruins of a city, and so their dad created the Highwaymen, and they became sort of modern day pirates. They were taught from a young age that the ends justify the means, and that's how they grew up, that anything is justified as long as you just stay alive for one more day. Then they've just gone across the country just hoovering up things.So it's kind of a city versus country thing? Being a product of the environment you grew up in, basically?No, it's just the idea of makeshift, as well, cities don't exist, stores don't exist, and so after a certain amount of time in the years between the collapse and now, there's just nothing there. You have to keep on the road, and some people fled these desolate areas, and then put down roots, because they had the knowledge, they were able to rebuild a life, and some people, again, just take things and move on. We're in the most lawless frontier we've ever done, because sort of the rules of society that we take for granted, they no longer apply.Okay, so tell me more about the actual characterization of the sisters. Why twins? Why women? Why African-American? What were the decisions behind that?We've wanted to have a woman as a Far Cry villain for some time, that was one thing. Then our creative director, J.S. [Jean-Sebastien Decant], was really keen on the idea of having a duo, so that became the twins, because it allowed us to sort of shake up the usual Far Cry dynamic of a one-on-one conversation. So not only are they dealing with you, you get to get brought into their world a little bit, and you see how they have each other's backs, but you also see the different ways that they'll react to you as you start to become more and more of a thorn in their side.In terms of their casting, once we sort of came up with the idea of the Highwaymen, and that these fearsome twin sisters that would lead them, we sent out an open casting just to see what kind of performances we could get back. We really needed two people who could share those scenes, and there were a lot of talented people, but it was Leslie Miller, who plays Lou. She auditioned with a lot of other women, but she was always sort of the anchor that kept everything together. Then separately we had Cara Ricketts, who plays Mickey. We'd worked with her before on Primal. It was another performer that you can just throw anything at her and she just nails it, and when we put them together, their chemistry was instant. We had Lou that was violent and unpredictable, and we had Mickey who had this extreme confidence in just owning a situation. We're just very happy.I'm disappointed to hear they're not actually cool twins who exist.No, sadly. We looked, but it just wasn't right. It's hard to describe, but you just know when you've got something.The reception to Mickey and Lou after the reveal was pretty positive, and a lot of people were a little upset when they actually found out that you weren't playing as them. Is that something that surprised you?A little bit. Far Cry, I think, is always interesting in the way that the players and the fans have relationships with the villains. Even though they're violent, or they do super questionable things, there's a lot of people that are very fond of them, and even though it's ultimately your destiny to go up against them, there's this affection for them. But no, I'm very happy with the reception that the twins got.So playing as them or teaming up with them was never a consideration.No. They were always meant to be the villains.Why do you think Far Cry needs the "crazy" villain?I think it's just part of our DNA. The goal is to never create "crazy" for crazy's sake. I think we want every villain to stand alone, and to be like a real person, or real persons in the case of the twins. But I think what unites all the villains, whether a little more out there or sort of grounded like Joseph, is that they are convinced that what they do is the only sane response to the world around them, and they'll have a chance to convince you the player that what they're doing is right. But yeah.Can you ever see a Far Cry without the larger-than-life villain? Can a Far Cry game work without that aspect?I can't talk about the future of Far Cry beyond New Dawn, but every time we start a new game everything's on the table, and we sort of see what we have to work with.Far Cry: New Dawn releases February 15 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.Info from Gamespot.com

January is dead, long live February. The shortest and sweetest month is set to bring an all new line-up of free PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games for PlayStation Plus members. Sony has announced the offerings, so check out what will be coming as of February 5.The February offerings include the competitive melee action game For Honor and the full first season of Hitman. That latter game has an extra layer of value since the recently released Hitman 2 lets you play the older game's maps inside the newer game, as long as you own it. February PS Plus also includes Divekick and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PS3, along with Gunhouse and Rogue Aces for Vita. Divekick has cross-buy with Vita, and both Vita games have cross-buy with PS4. Sony also announced it is expanding the PS Plus Cloud storage from 10 GB to 100 GB starting in February.Remember, you still have some time left to grab the PS Plus games for January. Those include the the extreme sports game Steep and Portal Knights on PS4, Zone of the Enders HD and Amplitude on PS3, Super Mutant Alien Assault on Vita, and Fallen Legion: Flames of the Rebellion on PS4/Vita.And with that, the PlayStation 3 and Vita games are bowing out of the monthly rotation. Sony previously announced that it will no longer include PS3 and Vita as of March 8, which means February's games on those platforms are the last we'll see. Fare thee well, older platforms. This will probably mean the total games included in the monthly rotation will be reduced, though Sony could still surprise us with some change of plans. The PS4 games will be available through March 5.PlayStation Plus Games For February 2019PS4For HonorHitman Season 1Gunhouse (Cross-Buy)Rogue Aces (Cross-Buy)PS3Divekick (Cross-Buy)Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsPS VitaGunhouse (Cross-Buy)Rogue Aces (Cross-Buy)Divekick (Cross-Buy)Info from Gamespot.com

We've known for some time that the February 2019 lineup of PlayStation Plus games would mark the final month in which subscribers received freebies for PS3 and Vita. Going forward, each month will consist solely of free PS4 games. Seemingly to compensate users for this change, Sony is making some changes to another perk offered through PS Plus.Starting in early February (an exact date was not specified), PS Plus members will have access to 100 GB of cloud storage of save games, a tenfold increase over the existing 10 GB limit. Unfortunately, there was no word on further changes to cloud saves, such as enabling auto-uploads and downloads on more than just your main console.Sony did not say if this is the extent of its plans to make up for dropping PS3 and Vita games. Even for PS4 users without either of those systems, this change is a loss. It's not uncommon for the monthly freebies to offer cross-buy support with PS4 versions of them, giving the current-gen system even more than the two free games that are explicitly intended for it. That's the case in February; claiming both Vita games will get you access to their PS4 versions.For the final month, the PS3/Vita lineup is going out strong, thanks largely to the inclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4. On the PS4 side, users can look forward to For Honor and the first season of Hitman. Those games will be available from February 5 until March 5, while the PS3/Vita games will stick around until March 8.While free games are the highlight of PS Plus and receive much of the attention, cloud saves, access to online multiplayer on PS4, and exclusive game sales are among the other perks for subscribing. Still, the lost of two-thirds of the free game lineup is notable, though Sony has provided no indication it intends to lower the service's price.Info from Gamespot.com

The DC universe is changing so quickly, that it's easy to forget about the projects that were announced several years ago. Back when Ben Affleck was still definitely playing Batman and before the commercial and critical failure of Justice League, War for the Planet the Apes director Matt Reeves was hired to make a standalone Batman movie. It's been some time since we heard anything new about the project, but now Reeves has confirmed that the film is very much happening.In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Reeves stated that he was "deeply embedded in getting Batman on its feet," and hinted at what fans can approach from his Batman movie when it arrives. "It's very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale," he said. "It's told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it's going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It's more Batman in his detective mode than we've seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He's supposed to be the world's greatest detective, and that's not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been."I'd love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it's going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation."Reeves also confirmed that the title is still The Batman, although he did concede that this might change. He also stated that while the movie did not currently have an official release date, he thought it would probably arrive in the "late spring or summer" of 2021.Finally, Reeves was asked about what villains we'll see in the next movie--and it sounds like Batman will face multiple adversaries. "There will be a Rogues Gallery," he said. "The casting process will begin shortly. We're starting to put together our battle plan. I'm doing another pass on the script and we'll begin some long-lead stuff to start developing conceptual things."The movie was originally set to be directed and written by Ben Affleck, and was first announced back in 2016. Affleck ultimately stepped down as director when Reeves joined, and while he has never officially quit his role as the Caped Crusader, it is thought to be unlikely that he will play the character again. In June it was reported that Reeves' movie will focus on a younger Batman.In related news, the first teaser for the upcoming DC movie Birds of Prey was released this week. The film is now in production ahead of a 2020 release and stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, plus Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, and Ewan McGregor. Info from Gamespot.com

The Division 2's release date of March 15 is fast approaching, but you'll soon be able to play even before then. The game's private beta starts soon on PS4, Xbox One, and PC--here are all the details.The beta starts on February 7 at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM GMT / 8 PM AET, and lasts for precisely four days. Luckily, you can preload the trial 24 hours before its scheduled start time.As you'd expect, publisher Ubisoft says the beta will include a taste of what to expect in the final game. Two main missions are playable, along with five side missions and "additional activities in the open world." Three new Dark Zones will show off The Division 2's brand of PvPvE action, while you can sample the more organized PvP gameplay in a Conflict game mode named Skirmish.Additionally, one slice of endgame content is included in the beta: an Invaded mission will unlock on February 8 at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM GMT / 8 PM AET. The test period will otherwise cap players' progress at level 30.The Division 2 continues the story of a society-disrupting pandemic but moves from the first game's setting in New York City to the US capital, Washington DC. The sequel brings back the realistic loot-driven RPG elements from the first game, with more focus on player choice to impact the world. The PvP aspect of the game, Dark Zones, have also changed.The Division 2 on PC will be using the newly launched Epic Games Store for distribution rather than Steam, and Ubisoft recently revealed its system requirements. Check out our pre-order guide for more details.Info from Gamespot.com

Apparently, nearly a week before it became public knowledge, the FaceTime bug was reported to Apple by a young Fortnite player from Arizona. Apple support seemingly just didn't take the issue very seriously until the problem became more well-known.According to the Wall Street Journal, 14-year-old Grant Thompson was trying to set up a FaceTime group conversation with some of his friends for a few rounds of Fortnite when he noticed the bug. Thompson told his mom and the two tried to contact Apple support about the issue, first through Twitter and Facebook and then via phone call and fax. Upon discovering that they needed a developer account to report the bug, the two managed to contact Apple's security team via email. However, Apple did not reward Thompson for his discovery--as the company usually does for those who report major issues with its software--and seemingly did not seriously address the FaceTime bug until it became public knowledge.My teen found a major security flaw in Apple’s new iOS. He can listen in to your iPhone/iPad without your approval. I have video. Submitted bug report to @AppleSupport...waiting to hear back to provide details. Scary stuff! #apple #bugreport @foxnews — MGT7 (@MGT7500) January 21, 2019For those unaware, the bug in question allowed someone to call another user through FaceTime and secretly hear the receiver's audio without the recipient knowing. The bug impacted all iOS devices, including iPhones. Apple has reported that a fix is coming within the next week, but, for now, group FaceTime calls--identified as the vulnerability that allows someone to take advantage of the bug--have been disabled. According to a few reports, however, you can still take advantage of the exploit. The only sure way to protect yourself is to disable FaceTime on all of your iOS devices.Thankfully, disabling FaceTime is a fairly easy endeavor. Just make sure you do so on all of your iOS and Mac products. All you need to do is go into your FaceTime settings and turn the application off. If you're having trouble, GameSpot's sister site CNET has put together a step-by-step guide for how to turn FaceTime off on iOS and Mac devices.Info from Gamespot.com

The end of Vikings Season 5 has come and it promised to be a truly bloody affair. After preparing for the ultimate war for Kattegat, the sons of Ragnar are ready to face each other once again in an episode fittingly titled "Ragnarok," an event in Norse mythology that included the death of many massive figures, from Odin and Thor to Freyr and Loki. It's also the title of a Marvel movie, but that's another kind of Viking altogether.It's only fitting that after deciding he's actually a god that Ragnarok would come for Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) and his brothers. And as the clip above, which GameSpot is sharing exclusively, the reigning king of Kattegat is ready for anything his brothers are prepared to unleash on him."My fellow gods, at last, allowed me to see my fate," he said after learning the other sons of Ragnar were coming for him. "Now all of my brothers are against me. Now I know I'm the chosen one."With only one season left before Vikings ends, it's hard to believe that all of Ragnar's sons will make it out of this episode alive. Of course, there's also Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick). Ivar is still driven to kill the woman who murdered his mother, and after the death of Bishop Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), there's no way she's going to remain on the sidelines of whatever is to come.The Season 5 finale of Vikings airs Wednesday, June 30, at 9 PM ET/PT on History. Info from Gamespot.com

If you turn your Xbox One on right now and face nothing but a black screen, it's not just you. Microsoft has confirmed that some kind of problem is impacting the system right now, and in an update, it says it should be fixed soon. [Update: Microsoft now says all of the ongoing problems have been fixed. "The issues surrounding Xbox One console startup, sign-in, title update errors, and our status page have now been resolved," it said on Twitter. "Thank you for sticking with us while our teams addressed these issues and we appreciate the reports. As always, we're here and we're listening."]"We are aware of reports of Xbox One console startup, title update and sign-in errors," Microsoft said in a tweet. "We will keep everyone informed once we have more information to share. Thank you all for your patience." A subsequent tweet adds, "Our engineers are actively investigating and working on the issues outlined in our initial post."The usual source for additional details, the Xbox Live status page, was itself inaccessible for a time, which Microsoft also acknowledged. It has since come back online and lists "signing into Xbox Live" as the issue with Xbox Live's core services, along with some encouraging news: "We are seeing indications that we are on the path to recovery with the Xbox Live sign-in issues, and we expect to be back up and running shortly."While Microsoft's tweet makes this sound like a somewhat run-of-the-mill, if inconvenient, error, it appears to actually be much worse in some cases. When I booted up my Xbox One, the notification telling me my user account had automatically logged in came up, but the screen was otherwise completely black. While I was able to eventually bring up the guide, the system didn't respond to any further inputs, though I could see that it was downloading an update for one game.In addition to this, other users are seemingly unable to sign in to Xbox Live, preventing access to some games and online multiplayer. We'll report back as more information becomes available.Info from Gamespot.com

Dan Gilroy made a huge splash when his directorial debut, Nightcrawler, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews. After a sophomore slump in Roman J. Israel, Esq., Gilroy is back with a vengeance by going full horror with Velvet Buzzsaw, a bonkers supernatural slasher disguised as an art film where instead of horny teens, it’s pretentious and greedy art snobs getting murdered.Gilroy returns to the morally compromised Los Angeles, only instead of dark and gloomy city streets, Velvet Buzzsaw is a gleaming and colorful satire of the art world. We begin at an art show where we are introduced to a parade of zany and ridiculous characters that are completely unaware of their ridiculousness. Jake Gyllenhaal reunites with Gilroy to play Morf Vandewalt, a powerful art critic that never turns off his criticisms. Josephina (Zawe Ashton) is a receptionist with ambitions working under the commanding punk artist turned gallery owner, Rodora (Rene Russo). Jon Dondon (Tom Sturridge) left Rhodora's teaching to become her biggest rival. There's also the art advisor with wealthy clients, Gretchen (Toni Collette). Rounding up the main cast is John Malkovich as a once great artist whose newfound sobriety ruined his artistic vision, and the one good-hearted and normal member of the ensemble, Coco (Natalia Dyer), a receptionist who keeps getting hired by people right before they die.It’s a stellar cast (even Daveed Diggs and Billy Magnussen show up) filled with terrible people waiting to be slaughtered. After an old man dies in Josephina’s building, she snoops into his apartment and finds hundreds of paintings made by the dead man. As with every other character in the film, the deceased man had a ridiculous name, Ventryl Dease, and apparently, he really wanted his paintings to be destroyed once he died. Why? Well, for one they are creepy as hell. Fiery pits of hell surrounding screaming children with blacked out eyes, twisted limbs and other hellish images surround the sinister apartment. Gilroy and cinematographer Robert Elswit find beauty in the macabre, with striking city vistas and sinister interior shots, and of course, every murder looks like a work of art--there’s even a crime scene that gets mistaken for an exhibit.There is a sense of levity and a real satirical tone to Velvet Buzzsaw, especially in the first act, which takes pleasure in showing how insane and preposterous the art world is. Each character is crazier and more terrible than the last, and as if their lives weren’t crazy enough, the various art installations seen in the movie range from creepy to outright hysterical--there’s a particularly funny installation in the form of a robot called Hoboman, who says nonsensical sentences like “I once built a railroad.” If Dan Gilroy had wanted to stop the film right there and just make it a comedy about awful people being funny, it would have worked. But then the murders happen…After finding the creepy paintings, the ambitious would-be art agent Josephina does the logical thing and steals a few of them. When Morf declares the paintings to be masterpieces and Rhoroda expresses her desire to help sell them for a profit, more and more characters join in one way or another, getting intense acclaim and vast profits in the process by being close to the disturbing paintings. Of course, the disturbing paintings aren’t only that, as Rhodora and the greediness gang discover a sinister and possibly supernatural history tied to Dease’s art, which then start *checks notes* literally killing people.Gilroy, who also wrote the script, takes full advantage of the over-the-top world of obnoxious art snobs and mixes it with the camp of a slasher film that results in a film with some relevant and articulate comments on the art world, told with the subtlety of a knife to the throat, all played with morbid humor that somehow works like gangbusters. The death scenes are numerous, each more absurd and gorier than the last. Killed by monkeys from a painting? Check. An exhibit where you stick your hand in a hole and suddenly your arm is cut in the bloodiest way? Check. A soundproofed room that suddenly starts torturing you with negative criticism? Sure, why not! Nothing is too preposterous or weird for Dan Gilroy, and the film is better for it.Speaking of weird and preposterous, Jake Gyllenhaal is game for all of the film’s craziness and is fantastic at playing the snobby Morf, who can’t seem to be able to speak without criticisms. Even before having sex or at a funeral, he is commenting and critiquing his environment while constantly posing his hand under his chin, looking for new snarky lines. Meanwhile his Nightcrawler co-star Rene Russo perfectly captures the greed of doing anything for the almighty dollar, and Zawe Ashton is outstanding as Josephina, who has the widest turn from sympathetic to ruthless and greedy.Velvet Buzzsaw may seem like a critique on greediness and our relationship to art on the surface, but what Dan Gilroy has created in nothing short of a surreal, campy and bonkers and entertaining ride through hell.Velvet Buzzsaw is available on Netflix on February 1.The GoodThe wacky performances.Jake Gyllenhaal is unchained.The balls on this film for going as crazy as it does!Most bonkers deaths since the roller coaster in Final Destination.Info from Gamespot.com

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate isn't the only Switch game receiving a major update this week. Nintendo is also rolling out a new patch for Mario Tennis Aces. The update is slated to arrive on January 31 and will make a range of balance adjustments, kick off another Co-Op Challenge, and add a new playable character: Boom Boom.Beginning February 1, players will be able to unlock the classic Super Mario Bros. 3 mid-boss by competing in the game's Online Tournament mode; everyone else, meanwhile, will unlock him automatically after March 1. You can get a look at Boom Boom in action in the trailer above.In addition to Boom Boom, Nintendo is bringing back the Boo Hunt Co-Op Challenge until March 2, giving players another opportunity to unlock special alternate costumes for Boo. This particular challenge uses Swing Mode and has players teaming up online to hit the ball at as many Boos within the time limit.Beyond that, Nintendo is adding a Hosted Match mode for online and LAN play. AI is also being improved, and a number of characters are receiving balance adjustment. You can read about all of the changes in the full patch notes.A number of new characters have been added to Mario Tennis Aces since the game's launch, including Shy Guy, Diddy Kong, Petey Piranha, and most recently Luma, who arrived at the beginning of January. The game's next free character will be Pauline, and she'll be available in March.Info from Gamespot.com

The Los Angeles Rams will take on the New England Patriots at the Super Bowl this weekend. But for many viewers, Super Bowl Sunday is about the spectacle. The year's biggest game, biggest half-time show, and of course, the biggest commercials. Advertising during the Super Bowl guarantees a massive audience and the prestige of sharing airtime with some of the most iconic ads ever created.This year, companies like Amazon, Doritos, and Budweiser have already begun to show off teasers for ads that will air on February 3. Some of these are versions of the final ads themselves, but many are Internet-ready ads for the ads that we'll see during the big game. Check out all that we know about for sure below. We also expect to see some movie trailers, including a likely look at some upcoming Marvel films.Amazon AlexaAmazon is advertising its Alexa virtual assistant with a series of ads, centered around a fictional Beta Testing program reserved strictly for celebrities like Harrison Ford. If anyone knows how to deal with smart-aleck robots, it's him.Avacados from MexicoWho doesn't love some guac to go with those chips? Avacados from Mexico, a marketing group for the tree fruit import business, created a commercial using that mainstay of advertising success: cute dogs.Bon & Viv Spiked SeltzerIn one of the more high-concept ads we've seen so far, a group of mermaids pitch their spiked seltzer, Shark Tank style, to a gang of actual sharks.Bubly Flavored WaterSinger Michael Bublé has riffed on his very adjective-like name before, and now the crooner is playing at being a bit miffed at the similarity with the flavored water brand Bubly.BudweiserThe self-proclaimed King of Beers has become somewhat known for its Super Bowl commercials, so of course it's planning to show up this year. This year it's tipping its hat to sustainable energy, promoting its use of wind power with the help of its iconic clydesdale horses and (why not?) a cute dog.DoritosPerpetual football snack Doritos uses all that tortilla money to bring Backstreet back (alright), as the 1990s heartthrobs give Chance the Rapper a shot at joining their crew. We've only seen teasers so far so the big day will likely bring a longer ad spot.M&MsChristina Applegate stars in a teaser for the little candy confections, as a frustrated woman locked out of her car by someone--or something--on the inside.Planters PeanutsA brief teaser for Planters shows the company's monocled mascot tossing peanuts into the mouth of baseball great Alex Rodriguez.SkittlesSkittles is very consciously making a point of not showing an ad during the game, instead advertising that it is hosting a full-blown Broadway musical. It stars Michael C. Hall and will play to an actual live audience in New York concurrent with the Super Bowl itself, with ticket proceeds and a matching donation going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.Stella ArtoisIn an ad for Stella Artois beer, fictional characters known for their associations with particular alcoholic beverages decide on a change of pace and instead order a Stella. Those include Carrie Bradshaw of Sex in the City eschewing her cosmo and The Dude rejecting a White Russian. This ad strategy may have backfired slightly for Stella, though, as the initial vague teaser starring Jeff Bridges raised hopes for a Big Lebowski sequel. Sorry, fans of The Dude.Info from Gamespot.com