The Frozen Ground, which opened in select theaters (but mostly went to VOD) in 2013, made a rather shocking debut on the Top 10 streamed movies for the week, landing at number one.
Perhaps this reflects the film’s headlining stars, Nicolas Cage and John Cusack, still holding some name value, or perhaps it’s the movie’s “based on a true story” serial killer story, but The Frozen Ground, which has been a Redbox DVD staple for years, won big according to FlixPatrol.
In this fictionalized version of the capture of Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen, Cage plays a State Trooper who teams with one of Hansen’s (Cusack) escaped victims (Vanessa Hudgens) to bring the monster down.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Though a third season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy has yet to be announced, the show is doing stellar numbers for the streaming giant, with Nielsen revealing that the series, since its Season 2 drop back on July 31, has pulled in numbers and headlines the first list of Top Streaming Shows in the US.
Netflix may dominate this list thanks to shows like The Office and Grey’s Anatomy but its the company’s original series Umbrella Academy that lands in the number one spot – with 3 billion minutes watched over the week of August 3-9.
During the same window, viewers binged 1.1 billion minutes of the runner-up, Shameless, and 918 million minutes watching of number three, Grey’s Anatomy.
The last time Netflix had a hit this big it was with The Witcher, which became the second-biggest TV hit of 2019, behind Stranger Things: Season 4. Even in 2019, The Umbrella Academy was a success since its first season placed third behind Stranger Things.
Here’s how Nielsen’s Top Streaming Shows in the US list breaks down:
1. The Umbrella Academy, 3.01 billion minutes viewed
2. Shameless, 1.13 billion
3. Grey’s Anatomy, 918 million
4. The Office, 897 million
5. Criminal Minds, 697 million
6. NCIS, 524 million
7. In the Dark, 418 million
8. Dexter, 316 million
9. Supernatural, 315 million
10. Parks and Recreation, 304 million
Viewers absorbed more minutes of The Umbrella Academy’s first and second season when Season 2 released more than a month ago than the next three shows on the list combined.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Hand-to-hand combat and plenty of forklift action are coming to Crunchyroll. The cult-favorite Shenmue game series is getting turned into an anime series with original creator Yu Suzuki serving as executive producer.
Announced during the Virtual Crunchyroll Expo on September 5, the Shenmue anime series is a collaboration with Adult Swim and will be directed by One-Punch Man’s Chikara Sakurai. The 13-episode series doesn’t have a release date yet, but Shenmue fans are used to waiting a long time.
After the original two games released on Dreamcast, it took another 18 years to get Shenmue 3. That likely only happened because of a Kickstarter campaign that still stands as the biggest ever for a video game, attracting more than $6 million in donations. The game took nearly two years longer to develop than was initially planned and didn’t perform particularly well outside of its Kickstarter campaign sales.
Shenmue 3 released to somewhat lukewarm reviews back in 2019, with its gameplay and visual style largely unchanged from its predecessors. That certainly appealed to longtime fans, but it also made the game feel oddly dated on modern platforms. In GameSpot’s Shenmue 3 review, critic Heidi Kemps praised the supporting cast’s personalities and the game’s side activities but found the combat to be “archaic” and the story poorly paced.
Shenmue is far from the only video game anime or anime-style series currently in the works. The Castlevania Netflix series finished its third season this year, and adaptations of Dragon’s Dogma and Devil May Cry are also in development.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Sony has confirmed a Gran Turismo game is coming to PS5, as has Microsoft with the Forza series on Xbox Series X, but if you’re looking to race with a few fewer wheels, then Milestone has you covered. Ride 4 is coming early next year for Xbox Series X and PS5 alongside its current-gen and PC versions, and it will take full advantage of the new consoles.
Releasing on January 21, 2021 for Xbox Series X and PS5, Ride 4 supports free upgrades on both platforms. PS4 owners have until April 30 to download the PS5 version of the game, while Xbox One players can get the free Xbox Series X upgrade for an unlimited amount of time. Both will feature 60 frames-per-second gameplay and up to 4K resolution, but it looks like the PS5 version may have the more unique features. It will use the DualSense controller to give off vibrations based on street conditions, and you’ll get resistance in the triggers for the gas and brakes on your bike.
Both next-gen consoles feature 20 riders competing in each race, and Ride 4 will feature Yamaha Motor and Bridgestone gear.
Pre-orders for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC versions of Ride 4 are available now, and you’ll get extra bikes, events, and achievements. On Steam, you’ll also get a 10% discount if you pre-order the game. Any DLC you purchase in the current-gen versions will be applied to the next-gen versions, should you choose to purchase them.
From playboy weapons dealer to self-sacrificing father, Iron Man’s story is the heart of the MCU. No other MCU character changed as much as Tony Stark. We knew Stark’s tech would evolve but what was even more fascinating was the growth Tony made as a man, without any fancy suit. Join Ryan as he takes a look back at the evolution of Iron Man.
In 2008, Marvel Studios launched its cinematic universe with the release of Iron Man. It was quite the risk seeing as he was no a-list hero from the comics. Audiences were re-introduced to an undeniable star in Robert Downey Jr., who played Tony Stark to perfection. The gamble clearly paid off as the movie was a well received hit, and marked RDJ’s Hollywood comeback.
Iron Man returned for two of his own sequels, Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013), and teamed up with other superheroes for The Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
It’s September in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and like with any new month, that means there are some new fish, bugs, and sea creatures to catch. In this guide, we’ll detail every new critter for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; note that this is only the new arrivals for the month and not every fish, bug, and sea creature you can catch this month.
For a more comprehensive list of every creature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, we have a full list of all 80 fish to catch, including shadow sizes, and a list of all 80 bugs to catch, with tips on tracking down the handful of rare ones. September also marks the shift to a new season–fall for Northern Hemisphere players and spring for those in the Southern Hemisphere–which means some key seasonal changes as well. Those in the North can look forward to a variety of fall seasonal DIYs and materials, while those in the South can get some bamboo recipes.
September Fish, Bugs, And Sea Creatures In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Here are all the new fish, bugs, and sea creatures you can catch in Animal Crossing: New Horizons in September. We’ve sorted them by bells so you know what to focus on if you’re waiting for Flick or C.J. to visit, but if you’re a completionist, you’ll want to catch them all so you can donate to your museum! Keep in mind that the only way to get the coveted golden fishing rod and net DIYs is to complete your Critterpedia.
All the standard fish sizes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Northern Hemisphere
New September Fish
Price
Location / Size
Time
Golden trout
15,000
River (clifftop) / 3
4 PM – 9 AM
Sturgeon
10,000
River (mouth) / 6
All day
Char
3,800
River / 3
4 PM – 9 AM
Mitten crab
2,000
River / 2
4 PM – 9 AM
King salmon
1,800
River (mouth) / 6
All day
Pike
1,800
River / 5
All day
Cherry salmon
1,000
River (clifftop) / 3
4 PM – 9 AM
Salmon
700
River (mouth) / 4
All day
September sees the return of several fish, including cherry salmon and char. It’s also a great month for fishing at the mouths of your river, where you can find the high-value sturgeon and both varieties of salmon, the latter of which only appear in September.
New September Bugs
Price
Location
Time
Violin beetle
450
On tree stumps
All day
Bell cricket
430
On the ground
5 PM – 8 AM
Centipede
300
Hit rocks
5 PM – 11 PM
Pill bug
250
Hit rocks
11 PM – 4 PM
Red dragonfly
180
Flying
8 AM – 7 PM
Common butterfly
160
Flying near flowers
4 AM – 7 PM
Yellow butterfly
160
Flying near flowers
4 AM – 7 PM
Monarch butterfly
140
Flying near flowers
4 AM – 5 PM
Cricket
130
On the ground
5 PM – 8 AM
September marks the departure of the high-value summer beetles and welcomes in autumn bugs. It’s a good time to hit rocks for bonus bugs, catch some crickets–which, like grasshoppers, are displayed in a cool wooden cage instead of a regular tank–and get some pretty butterflies for Flick to turn into models. If you want to make money off of bug-catching, don’t worry, because scorpions are still available!
New September Sea Creatures
Price
Time
Umbrella octopus
6,000
All day
Oyster
2,000
All day
Chambered nautilus
1,800
4 PM – 9 AM
Sweet shrimp
1,400
4 PM – 9 AM
Turban shell
1,000
All day
Even though the weather is getting cooler, make sure you’re still taking the time to swim in your ocean! There are five new sea creatures you can now catch, bringing the total up to 30 sea creatures (if you’ve been catching them since the summer update introduced them in July). There are 40 in total, so that’s a good pace!
Southern Hemisphere
New September Fish
Price
Location / Size
Time
Golden trout
15,000
River (clifftop) / 3
4 PM – 9 AM
Barred knifejaw
5,000
Sea / 3
All day
Char
3,800
River / 4
4 PM – 9 AM
Cherry salmon
1,000
River (clifftop) / 3
4 PM – 9 AM
Loach
400
River / 2
All day
Tadpole
100
Pond / 1
All day
September marks the beginning of spring in the Southern Hemisphere, which means the return of fair-weather fish like char, cherry salmon, and the high-value golden trout. If you don’t have any rivers on your cliffs, make sure you terraform some!
New September Bugs
Price
Location
Time
Peacock butterfly
2500
Flying near black, purple, or blue flowers
4 AM – 7 PM
Orchid mantis
2400
On white flowers
8 AM – 5 PM
Man-faced stink bug
1,000
On flowers
7 PM – 8 AM
Mantis
430
On flowers
8 AM – 5 PM
Tiger butterfly
240
Flying near flowers
4 AM – 7 PM
Honeybee
200
Flying near flowers
8 AM – 5 PM
Ladybug
200
On flowers
8 AM – 5 PM
Yellow butterfly
160
Flying near flowers
4 AM – 7 PM
Stinkbug
120
On flowers
All day
Springtime means ladybugs, mantises, and butterflies! Though it’s not the most lucrative month for bug-catching, you’ll still be able to find tarantulas after 7 PM.
New September Sea Creatures
Price
Time
Spider crab
12,000
All day
Umbrella octopus
6,000
All day
Chambered nautilus
1,800
4 PM – 9 AM
Firefly squid
1,400
9 PM – 4 AM
Turban shell
1,000
All day
Swimming in your ocean in September can prove very profitable, with the 12,000-bell spider crab being the top prize for the month. If you haven’t completed your Mermaid set, make sure you spend some time looking for scallops for Pascal, too!
Check out more of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides below!
Out now, Marvel’s Avengers is an action-RPG that focuses on rebuilding the team of Earth’s mightiest heroes to face off against a new threat. Starring some of Marvel’s most iconic characters, including Captain America, Hulk, and Iron Man, you’ll work with your team of heroes to battle robot minions and various supervillains. One of the Avengers’ key members is the master assassin Black Widow. And while she doesn’t have superpowers of her own, she possesses a particular set of skills that makes her one of the deadliest members of the superhero crew.
If you want a more detailed look at each playable hero, then check out our on-going break downs for each character, such as this explainer for Iron Man, along with a general look at the entire roster of the Avengers.
Black Widow Hero Summary
To paint a clearer picture for what Natasha Romanova–AKA Black Widow–brings to the table, think of her as the rogue class in the Avengers. She’s the fastest character on the roster, and with her skills that focus on getting in and out of combat with ease, she can be surprisingly tricky to get accustomed to when compared to the other more over-the-top and straight-forward characters. Her skills in taking out foes, in her particular way, can make for a playstyle that’s both slick and clever in its approach. Black Widow is more geared towards agility and heroic attributes when it comes to stats, which will give you some great ways to move around the field and strike at your enemies when they least expect it.
Compared to seeing Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and the Hulk in action, Black Widow’s somewhat reserved approach certainly sticks out. However, what makes Black Widow such a deadly fighter is that her abilities are tailor-made for single-target enemies. She doesn’t have the bombast of Thor or the Hulk, with their attacks sweeping through large groups of enemies at once. Instead, Black Widow’s abilities focus on incapacitating targets, which means that your attacks will deal heavy stagger damage, opening them up to takedown finishers. When you get used to her style, Black Widow can be a blast to play as.
General Tips For Black Widow
Black Widow’s firearms are a great way to put pressure on enemies.
Pick Your Targets. As an assassin, Black Widow is at her best when she pinpoints her targets and puts all her effort into taking them out. When playing as her, it’s best to read the room and identify which marks to remove from the equation fast. In larger-scale fights, for instance, it’s best to eliminate the elite targets first, which will help your teammates mop up the rest of the foes in a battle.
Close The Gap. One of Black Widow’s most useful skills is the Widow’s Line. This grappling hook helps with traversal around the map, but it also comes into play during combat. This gadget allows her to grapple onto enemies and close the distance on them. In doing so, you can start hammering away at your chosen target and quickly get them into a staggered state. Also, using the Widow’s Line just before an enemy is about to attack will parry their strike, which will put them into a brief stun state. Watch out for the yellow warning icon to appear over their heads, this will clue you in on when it’s time to parry.
Learn To Juggle. Black Widow has some solid aerial combat skills, and when using her heavy strikes–which brings out the batons–you can quickly build up the stagger meter to put them into a takedown state. By holding down the heavy button, you can activate the launcher attack, which will have the enemies rise into the air, at which point you can follow with your own stream of attacks. Black Widow also has a special dive kick attack, which can be great when you need to do a quick bounce off an enemy’s head.
Use Those Takedowns. The takedowns are one of the best ways that Black Widow can deal damage. While it will often take out the standard fodder easily, some elite enemies may survive the attack. Still, it’s worth pulling off because they can still deal significant damage, allowing your teammates to tear into them with their own skills. While leveling Black Widow, you’ll be able to find loot that may improve her strength for takedowns, so be sure to keep an eye out for them.
Maintain Distance When Needed. In many cases, you’ll find that it’s best to stay back from the fight. When this happens, keep your distance and utilize Black Widow’s set of firearms. These guns include twin pistols, sub-machine guns, and a high-powered magnum. These weapons can put significant pressure onto enemies, but they shouldn’t be relied upon too often as you’ll still have to reload your guns. Use your guns when you can, but if you see an opening for a close-range assault, definitely go for it.
Keep Your Cloak Up. Black Widow’s Veil of Shadow is a useful cloaking ability that renders her invisible. Not only does this let you sneak up on enemies, but it also happens to give you a damage boost. This skill also works on your teammates, and it can be especially useful to have a powered up and invisible Hulk on the field. Since it takes some time to charge, be smart about when you should deploy it. Keep an eye out for gear that improves the Veil of Shadow’s effectiveness.
Activate That Ultimate. Breaking away from her restrained style, one of Black Widow’s most over-the-top attacks in her arsenal is her ultimate. By pressing down both assault and support heroic buttons, Black Widow will combine her batons to form an electrified polearm. This particular state will turn her into a combo-dealing machine, and it also allows her to bounce between different enemies more efficiently to pile on the pressure even more.
Best Abilities To Get First
Black Widow’s ultimare ability is a great way to tear through an enemy’s defenses.
For Black Widow, you’ll want to start with opening up different combo options. For light attacks, Pounce and Spider Sweep are very useful combo-starters. The former is Black Widow’s dive-kick, which carries into a combo, while the latter is a powered-up light attack that can break shields used by enemies. Spinning Fury and Baton Strike are solid upgrades for her heavy strikes to help build up an enemy’s stagger. These are among the early core melee attacks to get, and they’ll come in clutch during any fight.
For her long-range attacks, you want to open up her different sub-weapons early, which includes a pair of machine guns and a magnum. Descending further into her ranged skill tree will open up modified attacks that amplify each firearm’s effectiveness. These upgrades will give you more options when it comes to ranged combat, which can be nice to have early on .
For her defensive skills, Black Widow’s upgrades focus on added parries and dodges. As mentioned previously, Widow’s Line is a super useful skill that can close the gap, but it is also useful for parries. The Whiplash skill is an upgrade that opens up a modified parry. When you use the Widow’s Line right before an attack, you can stun an enemy. But with Whiplash, you can press the heavy attack button right after the parry to execute a devastating punish attack, which sees Black Widow perform a leg-based takedown.
Lastly, another ability you’ll want to unlock early is the Unseen Fate upgrade for her Veil of Shadow skill. When activated during a fight, all enemies in the area with low health will be instantly placed into a takedown state–allowing you and other teammates to chain together several finishers. This upgrade can be invaluable during a tough fight with lots of minions, and it quickly helps even the odds.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
The Return of the King, the final part of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, hit theaters in December 2003. By that point, there was little doubt that the movie was likely to be an enormous commercial success. What’s more, unless Jackson had really dropped the ball, audiences were set to love it. The previous two movies, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, had set a new standard for fantasy moviemaking, vividly bringing JRR Tolkien’s classic novels to life on the big screen.
Thankfully, The Return of the King was no disappointment. This was the biggest film of the trilogy, both in terms of the scale of the action, the drama of the story, and the $1.14 billion box office gross. The fight for the very existence of Middle-earth was realized via some incredible battle scenes, but also in the deeply emotional final journey of Frodo and Sam, as they worked their way through Mordor to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom.
However, the success of The Return of the King didn’t stop with a huge box office take and critical and audience acclaim. The film also swept the 2004 Academy Awards–it took home all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The previous two movies had only won awards in the technical categories, and many saw the third film’s Oscar victory as a reward for the entire trilogy. But either way, it was an amazing result for any movie, let alone a fantasy film, and sealed the trilogy’s status as one of the greatest achievements in cinema.
As with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, an extended version of The Return of the King was released on DVD a year after its theatrical run. This cut took the running time to over four hours, and as before, the discs were packed with commentaries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes documentaries. We’ve been back over this material, in particular the must-listen audio commentary with Jackson and co-writers Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens, and rounded up some of the most fascinating facts, references, and Easter eggs in this classic fantasy adventure. And once you’ve read this, check out our guide to all the things you missed in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
If you’ve watched trailers for Marvel’s Avengers, you might assume it’s a straightforward story-driven single-player action game. And while you’re technically half-correct, there’s far more under the hood of this game than you might expect. In fact, Marvel’s Avengers has a multiplayer component that pushes the game into operating something more akin to a Destiny-like live-service experience complete with battle passes, challenges, and rare gear to collect.
As such, there’s a lot to cover and try to keep track of as you spend time playing through the early- and late-game hours Marvel’s Avengers. To help you succeed all across your journey, we’ve rounded up all of our essential guides, which include our beginner’s tips, hero guide, endgame explainer, and more.
We’ve put together a Marvel’s Avengers beginner’s guide with plenty of tips and insight around the game’s opening hours. In our guide, you’ll be able to learn more about what missions to get started on first, combat tips, which attack types to unlock on the skill tree, and much more.
Hero Guide: Which Avenger Is Right For You?
Marvel’s Avengers has six playable characters: Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, and Ms. Marvel. To help you understand what it takes to play them across both single- and multi-player, we wrote up a guide offering a general overlook around each Avenger to help you understand how they play.
We’re also compiling individual character guides around the most complicated Avengers to help you better grasp how they play. You can find what we have posted so far in the list below.
Endgame Explainer & Tips (Spoiler-Free)
As soon as you beat the main story campaign, you proceed to the endgame, which has you taking out the remnants of AIM’s influence across the world. In our Marvel’s Avengers endgame explainer and guide, we detail everything there is to know about the post-game portion, as well as some tips to help you make the best of your time saving the world as the reassembled Avengers. We’ve made sure to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so you won’t be at risk of ruining what’s to come in the story.
Arcade1Up’s long-awaited Big Buck Hunter cabinet is finally available to pre-order. The cabinet features four games from the popular light-gun series and two rifles for multiplayer. The best part is that you don’t have to go to the local pub to shoot virtual deer anymore–something that’s particularly hard during the current pandemic. The Big Buck Hunter Arcade1Up cabinet is $550 at Best Buy, and while you can reserve yours now, it’s unclear when it’ll release–Best Buy says it’ll notify you when a release date is announced.
The Big Buck Hunter cabinet comes with Big Buck Hunter Pro, Big Buck Safari, Big Buck Hunter Pro: Open Season, and Big Buck Safari: Outback–that’s a lot of Big and a lot of Buck. It’s a 3/4-scale cabinet, meaning it won’t take up as much space as a real cabinet. It includes an 18×24-inch tin sign and a matching riser, the latter of which will raise the cabinet and make it playable for adults.
This is the latest cabinet Arcade1Up has made available for pre-orders. Recently, the company unveiled pre-orders for its X-Men vs. Street Fighter machine, Marvel vs. Capcom cabinet, and more. Those cabinets include games from Capcom’s excellent crossover fighting games of the ’90s and feature absolutely gorgeous panel art from the original games–the Marvel vs. Capcom machine looks particularly great.
If you’re interested in learning more about Arcade1Up’s cabinets, check out our BurgerTime cabinet review. It’s an excellent machine that pays tribute to some all-time Data East classics like BurgerTime, Bad Dudes, and Karate Champ.