March 2019 – Page 5

Josh Brolin, who plays Thanos in the upcoming Avengers film, has responded to the outrageous Ant-Man fan theory which has been making the rounds on social media.

If you have been excited about Avengers: Endgame, you may have come across a particularly inventive theory on how the smallest Avenger could take out Thanos without even fighting.

The theory postulates that Ant-Man could shrink down and approach Thanos… from the rear. Once nestled securely in Thanos’ butt, all Ant-Man would need to do is hit the gas, turn himself giant-sized, and Thanos would meet a particularly messy end.

In response to the theory, Brolin made a post on Instagram, revealing just how the Mad Titan would flush the competition, should the need arise. “The tension around what ‘Endgame’ is going to bring,” Brolin said, “I can feel it, as you can see. Can you?”

Valve Confirms Its Own VR Headset, Valve Index To Launch In May

It’s been a long time coming, considering the leaked images and rumors, but today Valve finally revealed its virtual reality headset, the Valve Index. A page dedicated to the Index went live on Steam, Valve’s PC games distribution platform. The page includes the first official image of the VR headset.

As of now, there isn’t much information since no details on price, technical specifications, or its functionality have been given. Index does have a release window, though: May 2019. Judging from the official teaser image, it’ll have at least two built-in sensors (or cameras) on the headset itself, and what appears to be IPD and viewing distance adjustment notches. No indication has been made about whether or not the SteamVR Knuckle controllers will be a part of Index, although an updated prototype was shown last year.

The first look at the Valve Index VR headset.

Valve previously partnered with HTC for the development of Vive the headset and integrating it into the Steam ecosystem. Valve Index isn’t the only new thing coming to VR gaming this year; Oculus announced two new headsets slated for Spring 2019 release. The Oculus Rift S will be an upgraded version of the Rift that’ll feature built-in tracking sensors, a higher resolution, and a more ergonomic head strap. Those looking to go completely untethered will want to lookout for the Oculus Quest, a standalone VR headset powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Both Oculus headsets will launch at $400 USD.

Valve Is Slowing Artifact Updates To Handle The Game’s Larger Issues

Valve has announced it will slow down on pushing out updates for Artifact in order to start focusing on the digital card game’s larger issues. The company published a blog post on Steam explaining its reasoning.

“Obviously, things didn’t turn out how we hoped,” Valve game programmer Jeep Barnett wrote. “Artifact represents the largest discrepancy between our expectations for how one of our games would be received and the actual outcome. But we don’t think that players misunderstand our game, or that they’re playing it wrong. Artifact now represents an opportunity for us to improve our craft and use that knowledge to build better games.”

“It has become clear that there are deep-rooted issues with the game and that our original update strategy of releasing new features and cards would be insufficient to address them,” Barnett continued. “Instead, we believe the correct course of action is to take larger steps, to re-examine the decisions we’ve made along the way regarding game design, the economy, the social experience of playing, and more.”

Specifics are not listed for which “larger issues” will be addressed outside of the general descriptions supplied in the quote above. Barnett does warn, though, that the “process of experimentation and development” will most likely “take a significant amount of time.” So you probably shouldn’t expect new updates for Artifact anytime soon.

Artifact is Valve’s first new game in years. Conceptually based on Dota 2, Artifact is designed by Richard Garfield, who previously created the Magic: The Gathering card game. Artifact is available on PC, with plans to bring the game to Android and iOS this year. Valve did not announce whether the mobile port will now be delayed on account of the shift in focus to address the game’s larger issues.

Despite the game’s issues, in our Artifact review, we gave the game an 8/10, describing the title as “a capable reimagining of modern trading card games.”

Borderlands 3 Trailer Released; Here’s What We Think

Gearbox has finally confirmed the existence of Borderlands 3, and even revealed a new trailer for the long-awaited sequel to one of the studio’s most beloved franchises. In the video above, GameSpot video producer Jean-Luc Seipke and associate editor Jordan Ramée voice their impressions of the new trailer after watching it.

Fans of the original Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Series, both Jean-Luc and Jordan are happy to see several beloved characters return in the trailer for the new game. Most notable is an adult Tiny Tina, who was still 13-years-old in Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, but the return of characters from Tales from the Borderlands is a welcome surprise. There are plenty of other familiar faces as well, such as Sirens Lilith and Maya (the latter of whom is now sporting longer hair), Ellie, Marcus, and Sir Hammerlock.

Although the sight of so many beloved Borderlands characters is nice, both Jean-Luc and Jordan are wary of just how little the Borderlands 3 trailer touches on the franchise’s strongest points. The characters’ hilariously ludicrous dialogue is absent, and there’s little individuality in regards to the new heroes and villains. Jean-Luc and Jordan are also a little worried that the environments in the trailer all look a little too much like Pandora. If Borderlands 3 takes place on multiple worlds–as Borderlands 2 implied and the new trailer claims–then the people and places in this new game should be fairly different from what’s been seen before.

Obviously, with this being the very first look at Borderlands 3, neither Jean-Luc or Jordan are ready to condemn or praise the game–especially not before they can get their hands on it. As is, after watching this trailer, they are optimistic Borderlands 3 can carve out its own identity in the now loot shooter heavy market.

Borderlands 3’s announcement was accompanied by the reveal of an enhanced Borderlands GOTY Edition coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC. A free update is also being released that adds 4K graphics to Borderlands: The Handsome Collection–a bundle of Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel–which is also available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Yoshi’s Crafted World: How Mellow Mode Differs From Classic Mode

See how Yoshi’s Crafted World changes between modes with this wiki.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Reintroduces Tracks From The Sequel Nitro Kart

The upcoming remaster for Crash Team Racing channels much of the same energy and cartoonish personality that made the classic PS1 title such a well-loved game. Developed by Beenox, Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Refueled also manages to go a bit further than updating the original, including more content than people had anticipated. During PAX East 2019, we spent some time racing on the different tracks in Nitro-Refueled, which included the return of some tracks found from the sequel Nitro Kart.

Speaking with GameSpot at PAX, Beenox co-studio head Thomas Wilson described the approach they took with the remaster, and what sort of content they wanted to include with the game.

“With the name Nitro-Fueled, we wanted to see how we could complement the original experience,” said Wilson. “We did that by adding new tracks that originated from Crash Nitro Kart, and which we decided pretty early on we were going to do that. We felt it was the right decision, and it was all about creating a more well-rounded package for fans.”

During our hands-on time, we got to play across four different tracks pulling from CTR and Nitro Kart. One thing that the original game was known for was its challenging difficulty, and that’s certainly present here. I really found myself struggling to keep up with other opponents–both AI and other players. One sudden hit from an enemy’s missile or driving straight into a vial of chemicals almost inevitably put us in a bad way. With that said, I still felt that Nitro-Fueled managed to recapture that same sense of fun from the original, which was present in the updated art style that looks more vibrant than ever.

This remaster also includes a number of changes and revisions to the core gameplay. For instance, all the anti-gravity sections from Nitro Kart’s tracks have been removed in order to keep it consistent with the courses from the original game. Nitro-Fueled also offers an upgrade to the original’s car combat mode. Featuring only the standard battle mode, the remaster will also incorporate the maps and modes from Nitro Kart as well, bringing it to a total of 12 different battle maps with multiple game types, including standard combat and capture the flag. From our recent hands-on, Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is shaping up to be a solid remaster that will rekindle the fast-pace and fun of the original.

For more from PAX Eat 2019, including the latest on Borderlands 3, and other games that caught our interest in the show, be sure to check out

Deal Alert: Great Headsets And Other Audio Gear On Sale

If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

It’s your lucky day if you’re hunting for a new headset, as several models have been put on sale this weekend across various retailers. Whether you’re in the market for an upgrade, or simply looking for something to quickly replace a broken old set, we’ve got you covered with a wide array of headsets and even a few unique speaker solutions.

Dell is currently having an amazing sale on several Astro headsets, for both PC and console users. If you’re looking to up your gaming experience, or just want to be able to game quietly without bothering others, Dell will have you covered.

Bethesda Will Not Discuss The Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield at E3 2019

Bethesda has confirmed that it will not be discussing either The Elder Scrolls 6 or Starfield at E3 2019.

During the Bethesda Game Days stream at PAX East 2019, Todd Howard cautioned fans hoping for more details on two of the most anticipated games in the industry that they would need to wait a bit longer.

“Before everyone asks, please be patient,” Howard said. “It’s going to be a long time. It’s not something we’re going to be talking about at e3, either of those games, this year. Patience, please.”

Both The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield were announced at E3 2018, although very little details were given of either except that these would be brand-new ‘next-gen’ games, one of a few we already believe are in development for the new systems.