Sure, it's only nine days between WWE events, as Greatest Royal Rumble just happened in Saudi Arabia. And WWE has its next PPV ready to go. On Sunday, May 6, WWE is hosting Backlash, a dual-branded event featuring the stars of both Raw and Smackdown. Coming to you live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, Backlash will stream live over the WWE Network and be available on PPV.Unlike Greatest Royal Rumble, Backlash will be on at a more familiar time at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT, with a Kickoff Show airing one hour prior, which you can watch on YouTube live. There should be at least one match on the Kickoff Show, but nothing has been announced as of this writing. Hopefully, WWE will put a cruiserweight match on the pre-show, as they've been a fantastic way to start these events.Building on stories from both the Monday and Tuesday night shows, Backlash will feature some of WWE's top stars battling it out in the ring. Most notably, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura will face each other for a third time--with the past two being Wrestlemania 34 and Greatest Royal Rumble. If I were a betting man, I'd place a large sum of money on someone getting punched in the crotch, as that's happened the past two times these men have fought. Additionally, Miz will try once again to reclaim his Intercontinental Championship from Seth Rollins but in a one-on-one match. The same can be said for Alexa Bliss, who will taking on her former best friend, Nia Jax, in order to win back the Raw Women's Championship.It seems the main event for the evening will be Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe. Since his return from injury, Joe has been interrupting Reigns' promos essentially telling him to stop whining. Although Joe recently made the jump to Smackdown--and Reigns is on Raw--this rivalry isn't over, and Joe is looking to punish Reigns. The match card hasn't been finalized yet, but here are the six confirmed matches for Backlash.Backlash Match CardBraun Strowman & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Sami ZaynDaniel Bryan vs. Big CassJeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton (For the United States Championship)Carmella (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (For the Smackdown Women's Championship)Nia Jax (c) vs. Alexa Bliss (For the Raw Women's Championship)Seth Rollins (c) vs. The Miz (For the Intercontinental Championship)AJ Styles (c) and Shinsuke Nakamura (No DQ Match for the WWE Championship)Roman Reigns vs. Samoa JoeCome back to GameSpot on Sunday, May 6 for live coverage of the show.Info from Gamespot.com

Avengers: Infinity War has set another box office record. After posting the biggest-ever opening weekend, the movie has now crossed $1 billion globally. The movie opened on April 25 in overseas markets and launched in the UK on April 26, the US on April 27, and in Russia on May 3. It crossed $1 billion on Saturday, becoming the fastest in film history to make the mark.In total, Infinity War has now made $1.16 billion worldwide to date, according to GameSpot sister site CNET. The movie opens in China--the second-biggest movie market on the planet--on May 11, so box office results only stand to improve further still.Infinity War is now the 34th movie ever to pass $1 billion, joining the likes of Avatar, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Frozen, Skyfall, and Minions.In the US and Canada, Infinity War is expected to make $112.5 million this weekend, according to a box office report from Entertainment Weekly. That would firmly place it again in the No. 1 spot, but it would fall short of second-weekend record-holder Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which made $149.2 million during its second weekend.The $112.5 million that Infinity War is expected to make this weekend represents a dropoff of 56 percent from its opening weekend. That decline is significantly more than The Force Awakens (40 percent) and Black Panther (45 percent).Rounding out the top five films domestically this weekend included Overboard ($14.8 million), A Quiet Place ($7.6 million), I Feel Pretty ($4.9 million), and Rampage ($4.6 million). You can see the full Top 10 list below, as rounded up and compiled by EW.May 4-6 US/Canada Box OfficeAvengers: Infinity War — $112.5 millionOverboard — $14.8 millionA Quiet Place — $7.6 millionI Feel Pretty — $4.9 millionRampage — $4.6 millionTully — $3.2 millionBlack Panther — $3.2 millionTruth or Dare — $1.9 millionSuper Troopers 2 — $1.82 millionBad Samaritan — $1.76 millionInfo from Gamespot.com

The next Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story, opens in theatres over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend--and it's expected to be a big hit. Now, movie ticketing site Fandango has announced that ticket pre-sales for Solo are outpacing the juggernaut Black Panther.Advance ticket sales for Solo went on sale on Star Wars Day (May 4), and over the first 24 hours, the number of tickets sold outpaced Black Panther's, according to THR. Only Avengers: Infinity War has done better on Fandango this year, apparently.Fandango also released the results of a Star Wars survey where 85 percent of respondents said Solo is one of their favourite characters in the Star Wars universe. 76 percent of respondents said they were eager to see Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich play the iconic smuggler, while 73 percent said they were amped to see Donald Glover play Lando.In addition to the ticket pre-sales news, a new TV spot for Solo has been released. Titled "Ride," the 30-second spot shows Solo looking for a co-pilot--you can guess how that goes. We also see more of Glover as Lando, and he looks like he's nailing the role.Solo is expected to bring in $160 million or more in the US and Canada over its four-day opening weekend later this month. That would put it past the current Memorial Day weekend record-holder, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, which made $139.8 million in the US and Canada for its opening back in 2007.Solo, which is directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard, opens on May 25 in the US. In addition to Ehrenreich and Glover, the film stars Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and Paul Bettany. Info from Gamespot.com

The newest Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story, hasn't had the most conventional development and production process. Just 11 months ago, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired by Lucasfilm, with Oscar-winner Ron Howard later coming aboard to take over. In a new interview, Howard discusses coming onto the project so late in the process and what it means to him to work on a franchise as large, established, and popular as Star Wars.Starting off, Howard confirmed that what he heard was that Lord and Miller clashed with Lucasfilm over the direction of Solo. He said the two parties had "creative differences." Howard added that it's never ideal when a top-level change like this is made during production, but he sounded optimistic about the film's prospects all the same.Asked about his first day on set, Howard said it was "chaotic," and that he was feeling both anxious and "pumped up" at the same time. His first scene behind the camera was a "big action" sequence involving Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and Lando (Donald Glover), and he felt "really good" about how the day went. But when did he finally feel like he was in the galaxy far, far away? "Let me just tell you; 'When you get a fist bump and a full-body hug from Chewbacca; it's an experience I wish ever movie-maker could have. I realised [then] that I was in the galaxy far away but it was going to be OK."Howard never worked in the Star Wars universe before Solo, but he did star in Star Wars creator George Lucas' 1973 Oscar nominated movie American Graffiti alongside Harrison Ford. Also in the interview, Howard talks about how he was bewildered by Lucas' ideas for the original Star Wars, which was released in 1977. Check out the full interview in the embed above.Solo opens on May 25. It's expected to have a record-breaking opening weekend. Advance tickets are on sale now, and early signs show they are pacing ahead of Black Panther's.Info from Gamespot.com

WWE's Backlash is happening right now, and it's only been nine days since the last event: Greatest Royal Rumble. Backlash is happening on the WWE Network, and this dual-branded PPV will feature stars from both Raw and Smackdown and will have two battles between wrestlers from different brands. The show consists of eight matches, one of which took place on the Kickoff Show.Backlash comes to the WWE Network today at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT with the Kickoff Show starting one hour earlier. The PPV will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. If you don't have the WWE Network, you can sign up for one month free, and if it isn't up your alley, you can cancel as there is no commitment to the network.There are two main event-quality matches closing out the evening. The first is AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a "No Disqualification" match for the WWE Championship. Also, there is Smackdown's Samoa Joe taking on Raw's Roman Reigns. GameSpot spoke to Joe recently, and he said, "After [the match] is done, I will have ended him, and hopefully, when I end people, it won't be like how he ended The Undertaker. I'm feeling pretty confident about my chances." You can learn more about the show by checking out our predictions, as well as why Nakamura works so well as a heel.Here is the card for the event:Bayley vs. Ruby Riott (Kickoff Match)Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Sami ZaynDaniel Bryan vs. Big CassJeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton (For the United States Championship)Carmella (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (For the Smackdown Women's Championship)Nia Jax (c) vs. Alexa Bliss (For the Raw Women's Championship)Seth Rollins (c) vs. The Miz (For the Intercontinental Championship)AJ Styles (c) and Shinsuke Nakamura (No DQ Match for the WWE Championship)Roman Reigns vs. Samoa JoeIn case you're not caught up, don't worry; we put the final results in spoiler blocks.Kickoff ShowBayley vs. Ruby RiottRiott pins Bayley at 10:04.Main CardSeth Rollins (c) vs. The Miz (For the Intercontinental Championship)Rollins pins Miz at 20:29.Nia Jax (c) vs. Alexa Bliss (For the Raw Women's Championship)Jax wins by pin at 10:16.Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton (For the United States Championship)Hardy wins by pin at 11:45.Daniel Bryan vs. Big CassBryan submits Cass at 7:43.Carmella (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (For the Smackdown Women's Championship)Match in progressUpdatingInfo from Gamespot.com

Westworld Season 2, Episode 3, "Virtù e Fortuna," featured the biggest battle in Westworld history, a sitar cover of The White Stripes' 2003 hit "Seven Nation Army," and some of the funniest moments in the whole series. But best of all, it finally showed us something new.It wasn't Shogun World, like we've been waiting to see since Westworld Season 1. But it was a new park: India World, or Empire World, or whatever it winds up being called, which appears to be set during the British Empire occupation of India, the time of big beige hats, Bengal tiger hunts, and elephant gun safaris. And the characters there, whoever they may be, had just as bad a time as those in Westworld when Ford kicked off his final game.This cold open also demonstrated where that tiger seen in the Season 2 premiere came from, and by the end we learned that the mysterious woman--a guest who clearly knows her way around the place--survived to claw her way out of the water. No doubt she'll pop up again, also judging by the way she conspicuously kept fretting over her notebook. The camera lingered on it enough times in this episode's opening that you have to wonder what it contains.There's a lot of meaning to be mined from the episode title, "Virtù e Fortuna." It's derived from a 16th century political treatise by Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat and political theorist (whose name is the source of the term "Machiavellian," meaning "cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics or in advancing one's career"). Essentially, virtue and fortune are two opposing and competing forces--fortune representing the whims of fate, while virtue is the control you wrest over your own destiny. Yes, I read the Wikipedia, and the Cliff's Notes.Obviously, there are plenty of ways to apply that to Westworld. But these ideas proved most relevant this week for Maeve, Hector, and Sizemore, who shared some fascinating creator-on-creations conversations in "Virtù e Fortuna." Hector gave us some valuable context when he revealed that, essentially, the awoken hosts get to choose what they believe in. "When I awoke in the place where you play God, I realized Isabella was a lie, just words in my head," he tells Sizemore. But while Maeve and Dolores must have had the same realization about their attachments--Maeve, her daughter, and Dolores, her father--they choose to cling to those relics of their past, fake lives anyway. They wrest their destinies away from the whims of fate, and choose what's important to them.Sizemore only undermines that epiphany slightly when he reveals that for all their breakthroughs, the hosts are still sticking to his script. Elsewhere in Westworld Season 2, Episode 3, Dolores and Teddy's storyline intersected with Bernard and Charlotte's. The timelines remained muddled this week, with a brief scene set in the "present" before Bernard flashed back to the aftermath of the party a couple of weeks earlier (guess that "time displacement" we learned about in the premiere is no joke).We learned that Charlotte survived for those two weeks as well, though how much both she and Bernard know about Abernathy's current whereabouts isn't made clear. It seems someone must have delivered him outside the park, since Delos finally sent in the big guns, but we don't yet know whether that was Bernard or Charlotte--or whether some other circumstances of which we're still unaware interfered in the whole scheme.The last we saw in the aftermath of the fighting, Charlotte had made off with Abernathy, her Delos security minions leaving Dolores with two bullet wounds as a parting gift. What happens after that, we'll have to wait and see. Dolores's actions this episode are pretty puzzling. Her crusade hasn't been limited to killing guests by any means, but her wholesale betrayal and massacre of the troops at Fort Forlorn Hope seemed gratuitous, even by Wyatt's standards. Clearly Teddy agreed, which is why he let their remnants go, sowing the seeds of what's sure to become a conflict between him and Dolores.For Dolores's part, she's taking the whole "robot Jesus" thing pretty seriously. Clearly she's judging her fellow hosts and deciding who does and doesn't deserve to reach The Valley Beyond. And the two sides of her identity--the farmer's daughter Dolores and the villainous Wyatt--are taking turns behind the wheel, it seems.The battle itself may have been the biggest in Westworld history, but it wasn't exactly Game of Thrones. Delos security forces didn't seem all that impressive walking slowly toward the fort, and Angela ended it all pretty succinctly with that well-placed shot. The more exciting side to this fight came from Bernard's attempts to decrypt whatever massive file Abernathy's hiding. By the end it seemed he'd succeeded, though we didn't get to see what exactly the file was. And if you looked closely at the screen, you could see the words "one time use key;" so whatever Bernard uncovered, it probably won't be there at all when Charlotte cracks into Abernathy's thick skull later. It makes her line when they meet again later--"What about you, Bernard? Do you have any idea where Peter Abernathy might have gone?"--seem even more ripe with hidden meanings. The one downside to Dolores's transformation into Wyatt is that her proselytizing has become pretty insufferable. Seeing her and Bernard talk openly about their existences as hosts was neat, but almost everything that's come out of Dolores's mouth this season has been steeped in dogma. It makes it harder to root for her than, say, Maeve in her search for her daughter. Maybe that's intentional, and Westworld is turning Dolores into the villain--or maybe we'll grow to like her again by the end of Season 2. Whatever she finds in Sweetwater--her next destination--hopefully it brings her back down to earth.Even then, the biggest tease in Westworld Season 2, Episode 3, surely came at the very end, when what appeared to be a katana-wielding ninja charged at Maeve in the show's first snowy environment. We still haven't really seen Shogun World yet--boy, they're really dragging this out, aren't they?--but there's always next week.Info from Gamespot.com

In its present state, Final Fantasy XV is very different from the game we had at its 2016 launch. After several updates and content drops, which included a number of quality-of-life improvements, new missions, monsters, and world events--along with four DLC episodes--the fifteenth core entry in the JRPG has continued to evolve in its post-launch period. And the developers still see plenty of room for more growth moving forward.During PAX East 2018, the creative team behind FFXV announced four brand new episodes focusing on Ardyn, Aranea, Luna, and Noctis--which aim to close out the game's main story. Moreover, the developers plan to move forward with making mod tools for the PC version available. They hope this will allow players to implement new events and missions, along with a healthy helping of weird side-content.Speaking with GameSpot, episode director Takefumi Terada and live services manager Shigefumi Tanaka spoke about their respect for the community its feedback, along with their hopes on closing out FFXV's main story.There's been a lot of enthusiasm from the community about experiencing the game on PC, even more so now that the new updates are coming. What are your thoughts on the response the PC version has had?Shigefumi Tanaka: Yeah, when developing the PC version, it wasn't just a straight one-on-one port. We were going from the ground up, working really closely within our available skillset, putting the features in there.. We put in a lot of effort and then made sure it appealed to our PC audience. I think that is something that has resonated well with them, which was reflected in the feedback we have gotten so far.The level editor is gonna give the players ability to create little events on their own. Technically, you could have situations where other characters than Ignis can say, "I've come up with a recipe" and little bits of like that. Just the fact that we're gonna be letting players choose their way of enjoying the game [through custom content] is something that we're looking forward to seeing. For us, we just want to provide the platform for players to take advantage of all the mod tools that are gonna be released from us, and then have them just go wild with it, have fun and, just really enjoy their own experiences.Is Mod support something you're maybe keeping in mind for future Final Fantasy titles but also maybe some other SquareEnix games as well?ST: I think it's something we always consider if it's right for that particular game and that particular project. I think we're gonna be really interested in seeing what those fan reactions are, too. Once the tools are all out there and we get to see how it plays out, we'll see how we want to proceed with it. In general, I think most Square Enix titles don't really open themselves up to mods officially. It's a first in many ways. I think this will be maybe setting a new standard or maybe at least sending up a new type of gameplay ideas for us in the future.Mods are usually something you see from Western developed games. Do you feel like you've learned a lot from how those types of games are developed over the years, and how to apply the most interesting ideas to your projects?ST: Generally, our business is not just putting out games for the Japanese market. We've always had a global vision, especially with FFXV. With that said, that's probably one of the reasons--major reasons, actually--why when we decided to do the Windows edition, [we decided] we're gonna be supporting mods on it. Moving forward, we're gonna always have a goal in our mindset. Whatever makes the most sense in that regard, I think, that's how we're gonna approach the development. Yeah, probably gonna be natural progression into the way we think and the way how we approach.What's interesting about Final Fantasy XV is that it's changed a lot over the time sice the game first released. It's the first mainline Final Fantasy game that's not an MMO to receive such sizable content post-launch. What has it been like for you to re-examine a main entry like this after release?Takefumi Terada: For an offline [Final Fantasy] game like this, to be continuing to update it after launch is really unusual. Even our general audience in Japan are always really interested in the thinking behind it, and why we're doing it like this. Up until launch, it is more of a traditional approach where the dev team made the game that they wanted the players to play and said, "Here it is." Once the players got their hands on it, they played it, and we heard a lot of feedback, we heard their comments, what they like, what they didn't like, things like that, and then it gave us an opportunity to respond to all the voices in the feedback.That's why we went, "Okay, now, we're gonna add this feature or we're gonna do this." It's been a cycle where at first, it was the dev team wanting to put the game out that they believed was the one that they wanted people to play, doing our user feedback and saying, "All right. We wanna respond to that." Now, there's two-way communication between the players and the dev team. It's been how things have progressed.Did the extended development period of Final Fantasy XV--formerly FF Versus XIII--also influence the decision to re-examine XV? Given that the dev team had many ideas that may have stayed out of the released product.TT: It all stems from the user feedback that we got from people who purchased FF15 on day one and their immediate responses. Then as we see all the responses and the voices, we look back and we're like, "All right. Maybe there's this thing we could have used." Because it was a long development discussion, there were a lot of things we saw, but it wasn't necessarily the objective to put all those things out there. It was more about starting from the fan feedback and saying, "Okay. What can work for that? Oh, we had this. Maybe we could try using that or playing that."A lot of fans were surprised by the announcement of the next round of DLC episodes for the game at PAX East. The response to the previous set was very enthusiastic as well. Looking back, were you happy with how those DLC episodes turned out?TT: From a development standpoint, it got better and better in terms of the things that we wanted to achieve. We felt we could improve the quality of episode as it went on. That was due to us working together for so long. While comrades had its own dedicated team working on their own piece of the game, the DLC episodes--Episode Gladiolus, Episode Prompto, Episode Ignis, and Episode Duscae--had the same time as the scale of the games increased. Once one project was done, we'd go to the next one. Some of the things that they couldn't achieve in the previous one, they'd apply those new learnings and they try new approaches for the next one.Is there something in particular from the previous episodes that you wanted to implement into the game, but couldn't?TT: There's probably some things that we could apply to the next set. One thing in particular that stands out right now is that there wasn't any character progression in terms of leveling up in skills and things like that in the previous episodes. They were largely static and situational when it came to growth. That might be one feature that we can work its way into the next four.What's interesting is that the Final Fantasy XV game we have now is very different from the game we had at launch. The focus clearly is on expanding the world, which is really exciting to see for a Final Fantasy fan. Are you interested in seeing where it goes from here even after the release of the next episodes?ST: As far as the next DLC goes, it's really about giving the theme of the ultimate grand finale. Right now, we don't have any plans post Episode Noctis. That is the official close of this journey of FFXV. On the other side of that, in terms of providing more story content, what the team is doing is working alongside the live services team in trying to put out content that keeps general activity in-game going. From a day-to-day level, the active users will have as many ways to enjoy the game as possible.That's why we're doing the Mods and all the great updates like user treasures and things like that--to give some kind of connection with players around the world. Even though it's not a multiplayer experience, it still gives the feeling of you being involved in something bigger, and just that two-way approach in terms of providing more story content but also just providing things on a more day-to-day level for people to just enjoy and create their own customized experience is how we're looking at the remainder on this XV timeline.It seems like mods are going to be the thing to keep the game going after the official content is done. Is there any type of mod in particular you're looking forward to seeing from fans?ST: Well, the golfing bit that we snuck into [our PAX East presentation] is one of those examples--which again is totally possible to make with the tools. Those left field things that people might come up with, we just want to see what people can really do with it.TT: I think from my point of view, I want to see things that people come up that we on the dev team are always thinking about doing. Usually for us, we'll make stuff and give it to the players. We'd love for people to come up with things that will surprise us, and we'd be like, "Damn, that's good." That would be a loud and really cool moment of excitement for us.Info from Gamespot.com

In 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV came at a time when open-world games were a dime a dozen. With the open-world framework set by GTA III, where player agency inside a large and expansive setting is given all the focus, Rockstar Games' big return to the criminal underworld of Liberty City had to overcome some high expectations and other competitors that advanced the genre even further. Though GTA IV found remarkable critical and commercial success, many fans found the game's more grounded and subdued tone to be somewhat jarring, especially compared to GTA San Andreas' outlandish, over-the-top campaign.When you look at GTA IV in the broader sense, it was more interested in immersing players into the atmosphere of Liberty City. With a larger cast of characters, along with several new systems to learn while exploring a more dense city, the new setting offered the most dynamic space in a GTA game at the time. And now celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2018, we're taking a look back at Rockstar's seminal sequel and how its more realistic take and focus on immersing players into its dense city opened doors for many other open-world games thereafter--setting the stage for Rockstar's biggest success, GTA V.As the first GTA game on PS3 and Xbox 360, the developers at Rockstar North opted to switch things up for its return to Liberty City. Powered by the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE for short), which made its debut with the budget-release Rockstar Games Presents: Table Tennis, Grand Theft Auto IV was the first AAA game to use the publisher's new tech. In addition to featuring the Euphoria physics-engine, it offered far more detail in movement and animations, along with stronger visual fidelity and design. This gave the game a drastically different look and feel compared to the previous entries, presenting more detail in geography and aesthetic across the city's various locales across the four boroughs of Liberty City.While the familiar iconography, social commentary, and open-world action from previous games were still present--albeit in a more subdued light--GTA IV's plot centers around the immigrant experience of Niko Bellic, establishing a fresh start for the series. Traveling from eastern Europe, the Serbian War veteran sought a new life in Liberty City, while also trying to find the man responsible for betraying him many years before. Though GTA III was set in Liberty City, this game's incarnation of the setting was entirely revamped. This put players and Niko Bellic on equal footing, both outsiders to a new setting they had to make their mark in.GTA IV has its share of high-stakes shootouts and elaborate high-speed chases, including the now-infamous Three Leaf Clover bank heist mission--which went on to serve as the basis for GTA V's heist missions--but it never goes completely beyond the realm of belief. To do so would go counter to the tone of the main story and the style it went for. Respectively, GTA IV forgoes a lot of dumb action in favor of actually getting you to spend time with the many supporting characters in Niko's story."Choosing to spend some time with secondary characters leads to some surprising moments of humanity and friendship, which is somewhat unexpected for a GTA game."Early on, Niko's ne'er-do-well cousin Roman gives him a cellphone, which acts as the game's main communication and contextual gameplay tool. Along with calling in taxies and emergency service vehicles--allowing you to take on side-jobs as a driver or even track down local criminals by hijacking service vehicles--it also opens up relationships with Niko's closest allies. During your off time, you can take part in seemingly frivolous activities, such as going to cabarets, drinking at local bars, or visiting a strip club. Most importantly, you could even take part in a few games of bowling, which turns out to be a favorite among Niko's circle of friends--particularly Roman.In some cases, characters will contact Niko directly to hang out for happy hour, or for genuine dates with potential love interests. These encounters, while mostly optional, do have some greater payoff, such as extra bodyguards and access to better resources. For instance, Dwayne Forge, a former crime lord and ex-con, will contact players to hang out. Despite having tremendous pull in the criminal underworld, he lives a largely lonesome life in a perpetual state of depression. Hanging out with Dwayne will encourage him to loosen up and open up about his past. Choosing to spend some time with secondary characters leads to some surprising moments of humanity and friendship, which is somewhat unexpected for a GTA game. It turned out that the game wasn't all about mayhem and crime after all. It was refreshing to see your time being rewarded with something cool in a GTA game, without having to fire a single bullet.As Niko becomes more accustomed to living in Liberty City, his disdain for American life grows--sharing his thoughts with others about awful US television and the growing influence of social media. The radio stations of Liberty City blare late-2000s music and political commentary, and news stories keep you aware of the local goings-on around town, even referencing your own antics. That's not to say that its commentary is totally on the money, however. Much of the humor and style it tries to play off for laughs hasn't aged all that well--such as scenes with gay stereotypes and off-color racial humor. Granted, GTA has never been totally on the mark with its social critiques, but it does however have a strong sense of time.Prior to GTA IV, the natural thing for other games to do was to offer more content, more action, and a bigger space to take part in. While other open-world games certainly did that well, such as the GTA clone-turned-full-blown-parody Saints Row, GTA IV focused on offering more active content to dive into. In comparison to San Andreas, the size of Liberty City's four boroughs are smaller, but it's far more dense with activity. Compared to previous games, GTA IV did a far better job of rewarding you for messing around and taking on side activities. Whether it was hanging out with friends or exploring the city to find several unmarked quests that led to some of the game's most humorous and darkest missions, there was an incredible amount of thought placed into the core design of the world and how you could choose to spend your time in it.GTA IV came at a time when open-world games were increasingly common, and it approached things in a way that made it stand out from the rest. Sometime after GTA IV's launch, Rockstar released two DLC episodes--The Lost and Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony--which introduced new missions and playable events that eventually lightened the tone. Along with offering more extravagant action set-pieces and a larger arsenal of weapons in the style of the previous games, these expansions also offered alternate perspectives to the main story--another aspect further expanded upon in GTA V.When looking at Grand Theft Auto IV in the broader picture of the series, the general vibe it tends to give off can make it feel a bit self-serious. Still, there's something endearing--and even commendable--about how Rockstar stuck with it, and showing that you can still have a fun time exploring the city while learning more about the people in it. 10 years later, Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City still features some of the series' finest moments of storytelling. And given that it's coming from a series that focused on tons of dumb moments full of violent nonsense, that's a remarkable achievement in its own right.Info from Gamespot.com

Eventually, streaming services are going to run out of new titles to add. Until that happens, though, Amazon Prime Video has plenty to keep you occupied in May. The streaming service may not have the robust collection of originals Netflix continues to build, but it's library of beloved movies and TV shows is only getting bigger.Among the titles arriving in May are five Rocky movies and a slew of James Bond films. Other films being added this month include A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Brady Bunch Movie, Bad News Bears, Cool World, and Beast of Burden--just to name a few of so many.Likewise, a bunch of new TV seasons will also be available to stream. Among the shows arriving are the original UK version of The Office, Orphan Black, Howard's End, and Rocky and Bullwinkle. And while Amazon may not have as much original output as Netflix or Hulu, the streamer's Picnic at Hanging Rock series premieres on May 25.For a full list of everything being added to Amazon Prime Video in May, take a look below. Then make sure to look at everything coming and going on Netflix this month. Arriving on Amazon Prime Video in MayMay 13 Ways to Get a Husband40 Days and 40 NightsA Very Brady SequelA.I. Artificial IntelligenceAn Inconvenient TruthAristocratsBaby BoomBack to SchoolBad News BearsBanishedBarefootBeyond BordersBlameBrother NatureBull DurhamCharles II - The Power and The PassionCool WorldCyborgDaniel DerondaDavid CopperfieldDesperate RomanticsDiamonds Are ForeverDr. NoEight Men OutElizabethtownEvolutionFoxfireFrailtyFrom Russia with LoveGatorGhost TownGoatGoldfingerHoly AirHot BoyzImmigration TangoInsomniaIron Eagle IV: On the AttackIvanhoeJane Eyre, 1983Jane Erye, 2006KaliforniaLife in SquaresLittle DorritLive and Let DieLorna DooneLove in A Cold ClimateLove Is A GunManhunterMansfield ParkMartin ChuzzlewitMen with BroomsMiddlemarchMurder on the Orient ExpressNever Say Never AgainNew Rose HotelNinja MastersOliver Twist, 1985Oliver Twist, 2007OctopussyOur Mutual FriendOutcastPerfect ScorePerfume: Story of a MurdererPride and PrejudicePsychopathsRace for Your Life, Charlie BrownRockyRocky IIRocky IIIRocky IVRocky VSabrinaSaturday ChurchSchool TiesSense and Sensibility, 1981Sense and Sensibility, 2008Set UpSinbadStarting Out in the EveningStrategic Air CommandTess of the D'UrbervillesThe BenchwarmersThe BenefactorThe BoxThe Brady Bunch MovieThe BuccaneersThe Counterfeit TraitorThe CrowThe Elephant ManThe Golden CompassThe HangmanThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the GalaxyThe House I Live InThe Hurt LockerThe Last CastleThe Legend of Bagger VanceThe Lost WorldThe Man with the Golden GunThe OfficeThe Pickwick PapersThe SaintThe Spy Who Loved MeThe Tenant of Wildfell HallThe Way We Live NowThiefThirst StreetThunderballTom JonesTwistedUntamed HeartVanity FairWild ThornberrysWish Upon a StarWonder BoysYou Only Live TwiceMay 4Last Flag FlyingMay 5Diablo Guardian: Season 1WarriorMay 11Rocky & Bullwinkle: Season 1May 12BaywatchOrphan Black: Season 5Still MineMay 15How to Be a Latin LoverMay 18Pro Beach Volleyball Tour (Live through May 20)You Are Wanted: Season 2May 22Dino Dana: Season 2Beast of BurdenMay 25Picnic at Hanging Rock: Season 1May 27Just Getting StartedThe Wedding PlanMay 29Howards End: Season 1Info from Gamespot.com

There's a good chance you've played--or at least been intrigued by--The Witcher 3. There's also a good chance you missed out on Geralt of Rivia's first outing. Now's the perfect time to right that wrong by grabbing a free copy of the game that started it all. Right now, GOG is handing out free copies of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition to anyone who plays games on PC.Since there's no such thing as a free lunch, you will have to jump through a hoop or two before you can hit that download button. For starters, you have to install Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. It's free to play, so that's not a huge deal. And if you've dabbled in the card-playing mini-game in The Witcher 3, you'll know it's an enjoyable pastime on its own. You can download it here.Once you've installed Gwent, click here to access your free copy of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition. Note that to get your free game, you must also subscribe you to the GOG.com newsletter (you can unsubscribe any time). You also get a free Gwent Card Keg, which will come in handy if you plan to continue playing Gwent.Now you can install your copy of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition and play the game that kickstarted Geralt's monster hunting career when it launched in 2007. In GameSpot's Witcher review, Brett Todd wrote, "Memorable story, immersive combat, fascinating characters--what's not to like? A few fit-and-finish issues mean that The Witcher isn't quite an all-time classic RPG. Regardless, it's awfully, awfully close, warts and all, and it provides a new benchmark for future developers that are looking to lift their games out of the done-to-death elf-and-orc ghetto."Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.Info from Gamespot.com

To celebrate Golden Week, Square Enix has dropped prices on a number of PC games, notably on many entries in the Final Fantasy series. Below are the standouts from Square Enix's sale, but you can find the full list here.To start with, you can get Mini Ninjas for free. To take advantage of this offer, just add it to your cart and use promo code MINININJAS at checkout. From GameSpot's Mini Ninjas review: "This action adventure is low on gruesome assassinations and high on lighthearted fun, but that doesn't mean fans of stealth-kill simulators, or anyone else for that matter, should skip over it."Just about every Final Fantasy game available on PC right now is currently available for half off. Core installments III - VI are $8, while the later games range from $6 to $10 each. Those are great prices on some of the best RPGs in history--even if you don't prefer the art style changes Square Enix made to some of the games.In non-Final Fantasy news, Dragon Quest Heroes and its sequel are also on sale for between $20 and $30, and a handful of other more niche titles are on sale as well.Final Fantasy III -- $8 (was $16)Final Fantasy IV: The After Years -- $8 (was $16)Final Fantasy V -- $8 (was $16)Final Fantasy VI -- $8 (was $16)Final Fantasy VII -- $6 (was $12)Final Fantasy VIII -- $6 (was $12)Final Fantasy IX -- $10 (was $21)Final Fantasy X/X2 HD Remaster -- $15 (was $30)Final Fantasy XIII -- $10 (was $20)Final Fantasy XIII-2 -- $10 (was $20)Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII -- $10 (was $20)World of Final Fantasy -- $28 (was $40)Dragon Quest Heroes -- $20 (was $40)Dragon Quest Heroes II -- $30 (was $60)Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.Info from Gamespot.com

Avengers: Infinity War leaves viewers wanting more, and it follows up with a brief post-credits sequence that hints at what's coming next. But directors Joe and Anthony Russo considered breaking with Marvel Studios tradition and having no post-credits scene at all. Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow.The film ends with the villainous Thanos ultimately accomplishing his goal: obtaining the remaining Infinity Stones, slotting them into his golden glove, and snapping his fingers to wipe out half of all life in the universe. It's a particularly dour ending, especially given that we see his action wiping out several Marvel heroes big and small, including Spider-Man, Black Panther, Star-Lord, and many others. The directors thought about leaving it on that dark note."We debated having no tags in this movie," Joe Russo told Entertainment Weekly. Anthony added, "Part of it was because we knew the ending was a complicated ending, a difficult ending, and we wanted that ending to be very definitive. We didn't want to complicate it with other ideas. So there is one tag that puts a small button it, but that’s it."That small button leaves viewers with a tiny bit of hope. After witnessing the purge, Nick Fury and Maria Hill start to fade away themselves, but not before Fury sends out an emergency distress signal. The logo that appears is a clear nod to Captain Marvel, a powerful hero in the Marvel universe whose movie is due out next March. She's presumably the cavalry coming to help turn the tide, and her standalone movie will explain what she's been doing in the meantime.You can check out more of what's likely to come from Captain Marvel as Infinity War barrels toward breaking even more box office records. That only makes sense, as this movie has been years in the making and is one of the Marvel films to have the most substantial impact on the cinematic universe, with several changes even aside from the mass slaughter.Info from Gamespot.com

It's been a couple of weeks, but Target has finally put a new set of video games on sale. That's good news for console gamers in particular, because you can get many of the recent big games for up to 50% off their regular prices. Below, you'll find our picks for the best deals available this week at Target. The sale ends May 5.PS4 and Xbox One gamesOver on PS4 and Xbox One, you can get Call of Duty: WWII on sale for $50. If you'd rather hunt monsters and craft gear with their parts, you can do that in Monster Hunter World for $45.It seems like NBA 2K18 and WWE 2K18 are always on sale these days, and that remains true this week at Target; they're down to $40 and $30, respectively. If you don't have Grand Theft Auto V on PS4 or Xbox One yet, you can get it on sale for $30. Assassin's Creed Origins is half off, at $30. The online shooter Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition is down to $40.Fighting game fans may want to jump on Dragon Ball FighterZ since it's on sale for $50, or Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, on sale for $30. RPG nuts can grab Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom for $50 or Persona 5 for $30.Assassin's Creed Origins -- $30 (was $60)Burnout Paradise Remastered -- $30 (was $40)Call of Duty: WWII -- $50 (was $60)Destiny 2 -- $30 (was $60)Dragon Ball FighterZ -- $50 (was $60)The Evil Within 2 -- $30 (was $60)Grand Theft Auto V -- $30 (was $60)Just Dance 2018 -- $35 (was $60)Mafia III -- $15 (was $20)Monster Hunter World -- $45 (was $60)NBA 2K18 -- $40 (was $60)Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom -- $50 (was $60)Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition -- $40 (was $60)Persona 5 -- $30 (was $50)Resident Evil 7: Gold Edition -- $30 (was $50)Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition -- $30 (was $40)Nintendo Switch gamesNot as many Switch games are on sale, but the discounts are impressive for the ones that are. For anyone who wants to see Mario and Peach use heavy firepower, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is on sale for $30. Just Dance 2018, on sale for $35, will get you off the couch and moving around. And for those who like playing board games but don't like cleaning up the parts when you're done, Monopoly is on sale for $20.Just Dance 2018 -- $35 (was $60)Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle -- $30 (was $60)Monopoly -- $20 (was $40)WWE 2K18 -- $30 (was $40)Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.Info from Gamespot.com

When it comes to big retailers, you never know what kind of gaming deals you'll see from week to week. Sometimes they only put a handful of unexciting games on sale. Other times they'll offer deep discounts on tons of fantastic games. This week's sale at Best Buy definitely falls into the latter category. You can get some of the best recent PS4 games for far less than their normal prices. Note that Xbox One versions, when available, are also on sale for the same price. Below, you'll find our picks for the best PS4 game deals at Best Buy for the week ending May 5.First, we should mention you'll save more money on these deals if you're a Gamers Club Unlocked member. GCU members get 20% off all video game pre-orders and new (non-used) games. Better yet, the discount stacks on top of any sale that's going on. A two-year subscription costs $30, but considering you'll save $12 on each game that's regularly priced at $60, it pays for itself after just a few purchases. You can subscribe here.Now for the specific deals. You can get Monster Hunter World for $45 ($36) and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands for $20 ($16). PlayStation 4 exclusives are well represented in this sale. You can get Horizon: Zero Dawn for $40 ($32), the remastered version of Shadow of the Colossus for $30 ($24), and the ultra-challenging game Nioh for $20 ($16). A bunch of PlayStation VR games are also on sale, including Skyrm VR for $40 ($32) and Doom VFR for $20 ($16).Here are some of the sale's standout games, but you can find the full list here.Assassin's Creed Origins -- $30 ($24 with GCU)Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package -- $30 ($24)Destiny 2 -- $10 ($8)Doom -- $20 ($16)Doom VFR -- $20 ($16)The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrm VR for $40 ($32)Everybody's Golf -- $20 ($16)Far Cry 5 -- $50 ($40)Final Fantasy XV -- $20 ($16)Gran Turismo Sport -- $40 ($32)Horizon: Zero Dawn -- $40 ($32)The Last Guardian -- $20 ($16)Monster Hunter World -- $45 ($36)Nioh -- $20 ($16)Shadow of the Colossus -- $30 ($24)Tekken 7 -- $20 ($16)Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands -- $20 ($16)Uncharted: The Lost Legacy -- $30 ($24)Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus -- $30 ($24)Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.Info from Gamespot.com

The PlayStation Store is flush with sales at the moment. In addition to the Golden Week sale and the Totally Digital sale--both of which last through May 8--it's also running a May the 4th sale to celebrate all things Star Wars. To that end, you can save a bunch of money on Star Wars games over on the PlayStation Store this week thanks to the . (PC players can find similar sales on Steam and Humble as well). To celebrate this sci-fi holiday, Sony has taken a lightsaber and sliced the prices of many Star Wars games in half.On PlayStation 4, you can buy Star Wars Battlefront II for $36 (or $30 with PS Plus). This is as good of a deal as we've seen on this game, which features a single-player campaign and a robust set of multiplayer modes. For a more kid-friendly take on the series, you can buy Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens for $10, also half off.Star Wars fans from the PS2 era may want to check out a couple of classics you can play now on PS4. Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter ($5) is a spacefaring game that takes place between Episodes I and II. Star Wars Bounty Hunter ($5) has you play as Jango Fett, who's on the trail of a dark Jedi. Both games feature 1080p upscaled graphics, along with Trophies, remote play, and most of the other bells and whistles that come with PS4 games. Or you can buy the Star Wars Throwback Pack, which includes both of those games plus Star Wars: Racer Revenge, for $12.Or, to go back even further, you can spend $5 on Super Star Wars, an action platformer that originally launched on SNES. Additionally, all manner of Star Wars pinball games and tables are on sale this week. You can go with Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball for $5, or go all in and get 10 tables in Star Wars Pinball Season 1 Bundle for $12.A number of Star Wars PS3 and Vita/PSP games are also on sale, so check out the full list for more deals.PS4 Star Wars games on saleLego Star Wars: The Force Awakens -- $10Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball -- $5Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter -- $5Star Wars Battlefront II -- $36 ($30 with PS Plus)Star Wars Bounty Hunter -- $5Star Wars Pinball Season 1 Bundle -- $12Star Wars Throwback Pack -- $12Super Star Wars -- $5Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.Info from Gamespot.com