With event cancelations due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic still rolling it, the future is looking mighty uncertain for some of the big mainstays of the pop culture convention world. San Diego Comic-Con recently canceled for the first time in its fifty-year history alongside Anime Expo, one of the largest anime conventions in the United States. Now, Star Wars Celebration is fielding the possibility of canceling their event, which is scheduled to be held in August.Celebration released this statement via email today for fans, confirming that, as of right now, the event is still scheduled to take place as planned, but due to the fluid nature of the current situation, decisions are still being made.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Nintendo will reportedly not broadcast a Nintendo Direct this June. According to Venturebeat, the company will have to delay its annual summer presentation due to development complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eurogamer says its sources have corroborated the report, and the Direct is now expected to air "late in the summer."If true, this would mark the first time since 2013 that Nintendo has not aired a Nintendo Direct in June. The company has used the pre-recorded presentations in lieu of a live press conference to deliver its E3 announcements. GameSpot has reached out to Nintendo for comment.Nintendo was reportedly going to make some major announcements during this year's June Direct. The company had previously said it would reveal Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's next DLC fighter, a character from Arms, this June, presumably during the Direct. It's unclear if that announcement will be postponed or delivered through some different means.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Following the massive April 28 update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone, developer Infinity Ward has pushed out another patch for the multiplayer games.This one is comparatively much smaller, but it still introduces some significant changes. First off, the new Most Wanted Contracts that came to the game on April 28 have now been removed, just two days later. They are replaced by the Bounty Contracts that were in the game earlier. Most Wanted Contracts allowed players to put a bounty on themselves, earning significant rewards for surviving. It's not immediately clear why they were removed so soon.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Microsoft has shared the first images of Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST on PC for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. As a caveat, the images are work-in-progress, so they might not necessarily be representative of what the games look like upon release.You can check out the images in the gallery below--be sure to click the images to see them in full HD. The images were published on the Halo Waypoint blog.It will still be some time before Halo 3 and ODST are released into The Master Chief Collection. Microsoft is currently testing Halo 2: Anniversary on PC, and the developer said it "shouldn't be too much longer" before the game releases for everyone.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The International, which is one of the largest professional video game tournaments in existence, has been delayed. In a statement, Valve said it won't be able to hold the Dota 2 event on schedule to due to the COVID-19 crisis.Valve said it made its decision after "extensive consideration" of the global pandemic. The company was looking at other, later dates to hold the event, but it now believes The International may not return until 2021."Given the highly volatile landscape for local gathering restrictions, virus trajectory, and global travel policies, we don't expect to have enough confidence to communicate firm dates in the near future," Valve said.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Within the wave of news amid the official announcement of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, developers at Ubisoft did their own breakdown of the reveal trailer. The four-minute cinematic trailer showcases the game's Viking era setting, story premise, and what's to come from gameplay. However, there are plenty of key details that the trailer doesn't spell out.In the video below, you can watch creative director Ashraf Ismail and narrative director Darby McDevitt talking through the trailer with Ubisoft news editor Youssef Maguid. They gave broader context for specific scenes and spoke about the approach for depicting Vikings with their culture and history in mind, and how the trailer also contains gameplay details. There's also a hint as to how the new protagonist Eivor might be connected to the Assassins.We have this next game in the storied franchise covered from all angles; be sure to read our own interview with Assassin's Creed Valhalla narrative director Darby McDevitt for an even deeper dive into the game's story. While a male protagonist is portrayed in the trailer, Assassin's Creed Valhalla will let players choose between a male and female lead. There are also a few details on how Assassin's Creed Valhalla uses next-gen console features.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has commented on the impact of COVID-19 on Microsoft's plans to launch the Xbox Series X and new games on schedule.Speaking to CNBC, Spencer said he feels confident that the Xbox Series X hardware will be able to launch on time this Holiday period. He said there was "some impact to schedules" for the hardware, but his team has been able to overcome those. Overall, Spencer said Microsoft is in line with its expectations for where it would be at this point in the year as it relates to the Xbox Series X hardware.As for games, however, that's a different story. Spencer said the nature of large-scale game development means that the work-from-home setup may lead to production slowdown.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

In April, CD Projekt Red confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 crossed a major milestone when most of the world's major ratings groups assigned ratings to the much-anticipated title. This includes Australia's Classification Board, which is known for its strict ratings (remember South Park: The Stick of Truth and its crying koala censors?)CD Projekt Red's Kuba Kutrzuba tells GameSpot that Cyberpunk 2077 has received an R 18+ rating in Australia, which is classified as "high impact." The game will feature sex, violence, and references to sexual violence. The big news here, however, is that Cyberpunk 2077 has not been refused classification, which was the case for Saints Row IV and State of Decay, among others. Those games needed to re-submit with edits to get approved for release. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

There are 80 bugs to catch throughout the year in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but none of them are as tricky to find as the mole cricket. It is the only bug in the entire game that requires you to play with sound on, and you won't be able to see it when it's around. It's not the most profitable bug out there, but it's still important for your Critterpedia, so here's how to find and catch one.How To Catch A Mole CricketRequires: 1x shovel, 1x net, sound onTo catch a mole cricket, you'll have to listen for, well, cricket noises. As you walk around your island, a friend's island, or a Mystery Tour island, you might hear a rapid chirping sound. Walk around and listen for it to get louder; when the sound is at its loudest, you should take out your shovel and start digging in the immediate area. It will probably take a few tries, but once you find the spot, the mole cricket will pop out of the ground as you dig the hole. When this happens, quickly switch to your net and catch it.Unfortunately, there's no easy way to catch a mole cricket if you're hard of hearing or can't play with sound; you would just have to keep digging around your island until one pops out of the ground. You can, however, limit the areas a mole cricket could spawn by laying down paths, planting flowers, and placing items on the ground.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

After dropping the first official trailer for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Ashraf Ismail, the creative director of the new Assassin's Creed title, has released a tweet in response to fan confusion on the pronunciation of the main character’s name.Its spelled Eivor and pronounced Ay-vor🤓 — Ashraf Ismail (@AshrafAIsmail) April 30, 2020The next Assassin's Creed will allow players to play as either a male or female Viking. However, unlike in Odyssey, both genders will share the name Eivor. Eivor is a fierce Viking raider raised on tales of battle and glory. Players will lead a group of Norsemen that have been driven from their home in Norway by endless wars and dwindling resources in the ninth century CE. After crossing the North Sea and traveling to England, players will need to carve out a new future for their clan on the foreign land and fight against the forces of England.Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Stadia in Holiday 2020. The Xbox versions will support the new Smart Delivery feature, giving Xbox One purchasers access to the Xbox Series X version as a free automatic upgrade when the console launches.Info from Gamespot.com

A listing for The Last of Us: Part II on the PlayStation website reveals some key details about the much-anticipated PS4-exclusive pertaining to its file size and installation details.Players who buy the game digitally may need to clear up some space on their hard drives, as The Last of Us: Part II will require at least 100 GB of free space. This makes it the biggest-ever PlayStation exclusive, surpassing the file sizes of God of War, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man, according to GamesRadar.The PlayStation listing also specifies that those picking up a physical copy of The Last of Us: Part II will receive a box that includes two discs. It's thought that, like with Final Fantasy VII Remake and Red Dead Redemption 2 before it, the first disc is for installing the game and the second is for playing.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The third year of Destiny 2 saw some changes in the way Bungie approached the live game's seasonal content. Throughout this year, seasons have seen new story beats and activities show up for a few months, then disappear with the start of a new season. Bungie is changing parts of that approach in the game's fourth year, allowing you to play seasonal activities for longer.Bungie detailed the shift in its latest This Week at Bungie blog post. Starting with Season 12, which will mark the start of Destiny 2's Year 4, Bungie will make seasonal activities, story quests, and rewards persist through the entire year.That's in contrast to the approach Bungie tried in Year 3 with its current batch of seasons. In another blog post, director Luke Smith explained that Bungie hoped to make Destiny feel like an evolving experience with its current approach. Storylines unfold over seasons, which give rise to specific activities. Those storylines wrap up at the end of the season and set up the story for the next, and the specific activities that go with each season--and their various loot rewards--vanish as well.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Gears of War, as a series, has always required tactical planning. Understanding how to read a battlefield to find ideal cover and a path to outflanking your opponent is just as essential as your trusty Lancer assault rifle. Still, it's surprising just how well the series translates to a turn-based strategy RPG. Gears Tactics captures the chaotic, gory roller coaster energy generated by the shooters, even as your focus turns from playing a cog to maintaining the machine.Technically, Tactics is a prequel, as it takes place before the events of the original series, but it really feels like a throwaway story from the expanded canon. Though connections to the overarching Gears saga, particularly Gears 5, abound--your unit is led by Gabe Diaz, Kait's dad--Gears Tactics' story is simple and mostly detached from the larger franchise.So while the plot takes a back seat, Gears Tactics cleverly twists the formula of the modern strategy RPG, creating scenarios that fit the Gears mold. All the XCOM-inspired mechanics are there: action points that can be used to move or attack, half- and full-cover, defensive "overwatch" positioning. If you've ever so much as thought the word "tactics game," the flow will feel comfortable.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Snowpiercer TV show has been a long time coming. Based on the 2013 movie directed by Bong Joon-ho, the series was first announced way back in 2015, but since then, it's had various behind-the-scenes troubles and wasn't officially greenlit until 2018. But the show finally arrives next month, and now we know how it connects to the film.TNT has released a timeline that reveals that the series is set eight years before the movie. The show takes place seven years after the Extinction Event, which is the environmental catastrophe that turned the world into a frozen wasteland. In addition, the timeline also includes various Snowpiercer comic books. Three comics were published at the time of the movie--Escape, The Explorers, and Terminus--and these will be joined by the new three-part series Snowpiercer: The Prequel. Check the timeline out below:Snowpiercer timelineThe Snowpiercer TV show stars Jennifer Connelly (Alita: Battle Angel), Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Blindspotting), Mickey Summer (American Made), Annalise Basso (Slender Man), Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead), and Timothy V. Murphy (Sons of Anarchy). It premieres on TNT on May 17, having moved up from May 31.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It's the last episode of New Releases for April, and some war games have been itching to finally deploy. We've got Gears Tactics, Sakura Wars, and the Xbox One and PC versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered to check out. It's also the return of a retro classic with Streets of Rage 4. If you've been itching to get behind the wheel of a vehicle recently, you can check out SnowRunner too.Gears Tactics -- April 28Available on: PCGears Tactics turns the Gears of War shooter formula into a tactics game, giving you a squad of customizable COGs who will carry out your orders against the Locust. It's not just cannon fodder they'll be facing, though: expect to encounter big Brumaks and Corpsers during the campaign too. Tactics is coming Game Pass for PC on launch day, but the Xbox One version will launch later this year.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com