Month: March 2021

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WWE’s biggest PPV of the year is none other than Wrestlemania 37, which is coming to Peacock on April 10 and 11. The two-night event will see wrestlers from Smackdown and Raw battle each other on the biggest stage of the year.

2021’s Wrestlemania will span two nights, much like last year’s, taking place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. However, this year, you’ll be able to attend the event live if you so chose–but you’ll have to buy groups of tickets as social distancing will be in place.

If you can’t or won’t attend the live event, you’ll probably want to watch from the safety and comfort of your own couch. If you live in the United States or Australia, Wrestlemania airs at a reasonable hour. If you live in the UK, we’re very sorry if you want to watch live because it’s going to be two long mornings for you. Check out some global start times below.

Start time on April 10 and 11:

• 5 PM PT
• 7 PM CT
• 8 PM ET
• 1 AM BST (April 11, 12)
• 10 AM AEST (April 11, 12)

Of course, these start times are for the main card. Typically, WWE has a Kickoff Show–which has been two hours long in the past for Wrestlemania–that airs on Twitter and YouTube for free. It’s unknown how long this year’s Kickoff Show will be, but there should be a match or two on each one on both nights. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

How to watch:

For years, the best way to watch WWE PPVs was by signing up for the WWE Network, the company’s streaming service. And while people outside of the United States can still do that, folks in the US will have to access Wrestlemania through NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock–as the WWE Network service will have ended by then.

Peacock will be the new home to WWE content for now, with classic episodes of Raw, Smackdown, and NXT available to watch on demand. Additionally, Peacock will live stream major events and you can check out the backlog of WWE PPVs, original content, and plenty of other things that were available on the WWE Network.

Sign up for Peacock

Peacock has multiple subscription tiers, including a free option

See at Peacock TV

In order to watch WWE PPVs on Peacock, you’ll need a Premium or Premium Plus account, which costs money. A Premium account is ad-supported but only costs $5 a month, and a Premium Plus account has no ads–there’s some small exceptions to that rule though–and costs $10 a month. Peacock also has original series and like other services, as a catalog of movies and TV shows. However, Peacock also will be live streaming the Tokyo Olympics this summer, which is a big plus for fans.

Wrestlemania 37 match card:

The Wrestlemania 37 card is already pretty stacked, with 12 matches already booked. At the time of this writing, the Smackdown Tag Team Championship match has not been booked and neither has the Women’s Tag Team Championship. Additionally, it would be great to see some NXT titles celebrated at this event, but that doesn’t look like it’s in the cards. Here is what is booked for the show so far.

Night 1:

• Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Drew McIntyre – WWE Championship
• Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair – Smackdown Women’s Championship
• Bad Bunny vs. The Miz
• Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

Night 2:

• Roman Reigns (c) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan – Triple Threat for Universal Championship
• The Fiend vs. Randy Orton
• Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley – Raw Women’s Championship
• Matt Riddle (c) vs. Sheamus – United States Championship
• Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews – Intercontinental Championship
• Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

No night assigned yet:

• The New Day (c) vs. AJ Styles & Omos – Raw Tag Team Championship
• Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon (Steel Cage Match)

Predictions:

Who will win? Who will lose? These are two questions people are probably asking about Wrestlemania. And while GameSpot’s wrestling podcast Wrestle Buddies will be giving you predictions for Wrestlemania next week in a special episode, check out our Fastlane 2021 predictions where we discuss how these matches will lead into the April PPV. A couple of these predictions are right on the money, while others… not so much.

The Wrestlemania 37 predictions episode will be live next week.

Of course, make sure to come back to GameSpot in the upcoming weeks for interviews with WWE wrestlers, more Wrestlemania podcasts, and live coverage and a review of the PPV on April 10 and 11.

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Many blockbuster movies end with a post-credits teaser that sets up something to come in the future. Godzilla vs. Kong, which premieres in the US today, doesn’t have one, and the director has now explained why. Adam Wingard also touched on what he hopes to achieve with a sequel, should he get the opportunity to make one.

Speaking to Deadline, Wingard said he actually filmed a post-credits scene for Godzilla vs. Kong but instead of putting it at the end, the scenes he filmed were changed and placed at an earlier part of the movie for budget reasons. Viewers probably won’t even notice the scenes were originally meant to be a post-credits stinger, the director said.

“Truth is, during our main production we actually shot a post-credit scene. But we got to a point with the edit of the movie where we realized the movie ended at a certain point, but it wasn’t the right ending,” he said. “It didn’t tie up all the loose ends in a satisfying right way. We weren’t budgeted to shoot anything else. I had this ah-ha moment where I realized we have this post credit scene and if we tweak it and give it a slightly different context, we can use all the same footage.”

He added: “We were able to take that footage and use it in a different context, an example of my indie brain turning and able to save the final bit of the movie. You watch the film and you’d have no idea it was shot for a different purpose.”

While there is no post-credits sequence in Godzilla vs. Kong that sets up a sequel, the film itself has threads that tease what could happen next. Wingard said he’s hopeful he gets to make a sequel one day that dives deeper into Hollow Earth where the monsters live.

“I would absolutely love to continue. The clear starting point we teed up, exploring Hollow Earth, I think there is a lot more to do there,” he said. “This is a pre-history of Planet Earth, where all the titans come from. We tee up some mystery in this film, things I want to see resolved and explored and pushed to the next level. If I have the opportunity, I know what I will do. It’s up to Warner Bros and Legendary, if they have an appetite.”

You can watch Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max and in theaters right now. The movie is already off to a great start, pulling in more than $120 million from its foreign box office premiere to set a new pandemic-era record.

As for Wingard, news broke recently that he will direct a ThunderCats movie, while he’s also lined up to make the sequel to Face/Off.

Annapurna Television and HBO Max will co-produce a limited series adaptation of the true crime docuseries The Staircase, based on various books and reports about the originating case, according to a release. The Staircase is “an exploration of the life of Michael Peterson, his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.”

The Staircase is co-written and co-executive produced by showrunners Antonio Campos (The Devil All the Time) and Maggie Cohn (American Crime Story), and will also star Colin Firth as novelist Michael Peterson. Said Campos, “This has been a project I have been working on in one way or another since 2008. It’s been a long and winding road, but well worth the wait to be able to find partners.”

“It is a thrill to collaborate with Antonio Campos, Maggie Cohn, and Annapurna Television for the exploration of this true-life story that’s rife with dramatic revelations,” said Sarah Aubrey, head of original content for HBO Max. “With the enormously talented Colin Firth at the center of this adaptation, the story of The Staircase will continue to captivate audiences with every bizarre twist and turn.”

No release or production start date has yet been announced for The Staircase. In the meantime, if true crime is your jam as a genre, check out our list of 18 great true crime shows and movies you can stream on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and more.

Now that Among Us‘ Airship map is live on all platforms, developer Innersloth has detailed some changes coming in future updates. This includes overhauling the art style, upping the lobby size, and opening up about development.

According to a blog post on the game’s itch.io page, Innersloth co-founder Marcus “Puffballs United” Bromander has “completely updated the art style with cleaner lines and an easier animation process.” Furthermore, the lobby size will increase to 15. (Innersloth noted that the new Airship map is the “biggest one yet.”)

As for providing more transparent communication, the studio said its priority is to “show [the community] the development process, what goes on behind the scenes, and for [the community] to grow with us.” Innersloth concluded by saying it doesn’t “want to hide anything from [the community] when it comes to this stuff.”

Lastly, Among Us fans can visit the game’s online store to try their hands at getting a crewmate plushie. They’re currently sold out, will only be purchasable through the official store, and stand at about six inches tall.

In other Among Us news, Innersloth dropped an update earlier this month that added a new Quickchat feature to make party communication more efficient, especially for those who prefer to not use their voice.

Now Playing: Among Us – Official Airship Update Release Trailer

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One of the most acclaimed Batman stories, Batman: The Long Halloween will finally be adapted into a two-part animated movie. The voice cast was revealed Wednesday on The Hollywood Reporter and has some DC alumni as well as newcomers this time around.

Leading the cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne is Jensen Ackles, who had previously voiced Jason Todd/Red Hood in 2010’s Batman: Under The Red Hood. Joining Ackles are Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, Billy Burke as James Gordon, Titus Welliver as Carmine Falcone, David Dastmalchian as Calendar Man, Troy Baker as Joker, Amy Landecker as Barbara Gordon, Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent, Jack Quaid as Alberto, Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy, and Alastair Duncan as Alfred.

Former Glee star Naya Rivera, who died in July last year, completed her voice work as Catwoman/Selina Kyle for The Long Halloween. It will be her last credited role.

Written by Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, The Long Halloween ran for 13 issues from 1996-97. The story focused on a Batman early in his career and a Gotham plagued by a killer, known as Holiday, who struck once a month. It’s up to Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and newly-elected Harvey Dent to solve the crime and work together for the first time.

The influential story, particularly its use of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, was used to mold Aaron Eckart’s version from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. It’s also rumored to be an influence for Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman, especially with how Carmine Falcone is modeled after Sale’s interpretation.

There is no official release day for either part one or two of Batman: The Long Halloween.

April begins tomorrow, and then on April 6, Sony has a new slate of free PS Plus games to download on PS4 and PS5. This is going to be another impressive month for the service, particularly if you only have a PS4, with both Days Gone and Zombie Army 4: Dead War available to download. Additionally, the PS5 version of Oddworld: Soulstorm will be available for free the same day it launches. Though it’s not the biggest month in terms of game quantity, it’s pretty rare that Sony offers up a free game at launch that isn’t multiplayer-focused, so you won’t want to miss snagging Oddworld.

Playable on both PS4 and PS5, Days Gone is an open-world not-zombie game set in the Pacific Northwest, and its standout feature is the sheer number of enemies it throws at you. The game allows for customization in both your gear and your play-style, and you’ll have to face off against both human and formerly human opponents. Oh, and there are zombie bears, if things weren’t tough enough.

Zombie Army 4: Dead War is also playable on both consoles and is the latest spin-off game from the makers of Sniper Elite. Playable between one and four players, it’s a unique spin on the “Nazi Zombies” style that we’ve seen from some other franchises, keeping the signature Sniper Elite long-range gunplay intact. It also has more occult elements than some other zombie games, adding to its spookiness.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is available for free on PS5, though the game is also coming to other platforms like PS4 where it won’t be free. The long-awaited action-platformer is the latest from a series known for its quirkiness and unique personality. It’s a follow-up to New ‘N’ Tasty, which released about seven years ago, so the series’ biggest fans have been waiting a very long time for this one. Soulstorm will not be available in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea.

Best PS Plus deal

You can snag a 12-month PS Plus code for $31 via eBay.

See at eBay

April 2021 PS Plus Free Games

Available April 6 to May 3

• Oddworld: Soulstorm (PS5 only)
• Days Gone
• Zombie Army 4: Dead War

You can check out more PlayStation games to check out with our guides to the best PS4 games as well as the best games on PS5 right now.

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Xbox’s backwards compatibility program is growing again, as Microsoft has announced that select titles from the library will be playable on Xbox Cloud Gaming–the service formerly known as xCloud–starting today, March 31. Subscribers to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate program can now play 16 titles from across the original Xbox and Xbox 360 on an Android device.

In a blog post, Microsoft said adding games from previous generations to Xbox Cloud Gaming was one of the most requested features for the program to date. Games like Banjo-Kazooie, Fable II, Fallout: New Vegas, Perfect Dark, Oblivion, and Kameo are now playable via xCloud with a controller. Games like Viva Pinata and Jetpac Refuelled, meanwhile, have touch controls baked in so you don’t need a controller at all.

What’s more, all of the games will include any past saves you might have from over the years, while there is also multiplayer support through Xbox Live Xbox Network.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members have xCloud included in their subscriptions. Members also get all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, which includes free games every month in addition to the catalog of hundreds of Game Pass titles playable on console and PC.

Xbox Game Pass Backwards Compatibility xCloud Games

• Banjo-Kazooie
• Banjo-Tooie
• Double Dragon Neon
• Fable II
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Gears of War 2
• Gears of War 3
• Gears of War: Judgment
• Jetpac Refuelled (touch controls enabled)
• Kameo
• Perfect Dark
• Perfect Dark Zero
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Viva Piñata (touch controls enabled)
• Viva Piñata: TIP (touch controls enabled)

For more games to play on Xbox One or Xbox Series X this month, check out our guides to the best Xbox One games of all time and the best Xbox Series X games available so far. Plus, Game Pass subscribers should check out the best games available with Xbox Game Pass right now. To play those games and take advantage of this month’s Games with Gold freebies, new subscribers can get their first month for $1.

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.