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When it first aired, Lost was groundbreaking for the way it rejected common TV structures, presenting a serialized show that demanded viewers come back week to week. It helped lead us into the era of prestige TV we still enjoy today, though leading that charge could be a struggle, as co-creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof discussed in an interview with Collider.

Lindelof says that the plan for the series was only ever to run for around three seasons. With the show’s hook relying on dangling mysteries in front of viewers hungry for answers, it could only ever sustain itself for as long as those mysteries were compelling.

“Lost was like, ‘What’s in the hatch? What’s up with the monster? Who’s the original Sawyer? How did Locke get in the wheelchair? What is the nature of the island? Why does it appear to be moving? Who are the Others?'” Lindelof told Collider. “There were all of these compelling mysteries and so we were saying, ‘We wanna have this stuff answered by the end of Season 1, this stuff answered by the end of Season 2, and then the show basically ends after about three years.'”

At the time Lost was being made, however, TV shows were generally designed to be run for as long as people kept watching them. “[ABC] were just like, ‘Do you understand how hard it is to make a show that people want to watch? And people like the show? So why would we end it? You don’t end shows that people are watching.'”

As the show kept dragging out, they manifested many of the issues that Lost viewers would be familiar with–frustrations with ongoing mysteries and flashbacks that no longer added to the story. Lindelof and co-showrunner Carlton Cuse kept trying to negotiate with ABC to end the series in line with the story arcs they had already created and thought through to a logical end.

Eventually ABC agreed to end the series after 10 seasons– while the creators were working on the third season and wanting to make the fourth one final. Eventually they settled on six, which led to the show’s controversial ending–though star Josh Holloway recently said he was personally happy with how the series ended.

“The agreement was we landed on six [seasons] with less episodes to give us more time in between seasons to plan things out,” Lindelhof explained. “And then of course the fourth season was cut short by the writers’ strike, but everything else went relatively according to design. Not to say that everything we did worked, but we had a plan and we executed that plan.”

Lindelhof most recently worked on HBO’s Watchmen, which was conceived and executed to be a standalone single season. While HBO has suggested that future continuations are a possibility, Lindelhof seems happy to leave the story where he left it, which is more than understandable given his experience on Lost.

Bandai Namco has announced a new event for anime fans, and it’ll focus on their upcoming slate of games that are anime focused. The event, called Play Anime Live, hasn’t announced the games it will focus on yet.

The stream will begin on July 22 at 4 PM PT–that’s a Wednesday. It’s not yet clear how long the event will run for.

Bandai Namco publishes many anime games, including games based on Dragon Ball and Naruto. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new Naruto game, and the Dragon Ball FighterZ Fighters Pass 3 currently has several unannounced fighters, so we could see news about these series (although nothing has been confirmed).

It also seems likely that we’ll see something from Scarlet Nexus, an upcoming RPG that’s coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, along with current-gen systems. Other upcoming anime-themed games coming from Namco Bandai include Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions, One Piece: Grand Cruise, Tales of Arise, and Digimon Survive.

You can sign up for the event now, which will put you in the running to win a “VIP box” prize containing $75 worth of anime-themed swag.

GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.

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As a number of former Cards Against Humanity employees have come out with stories of a toxic work culture at the company, current workers have decided to unionize. The union, called the Cards Against Humanity Workers United Union, announced their intentions over Twitter this week, as reported by Polygon.

In the past few weeks, multiple former employees have aired stories characterizing a toxic company culture that enabled racism and sexism, with some allegations singling out co-founder Max Temkin. Temkin has since stepped down from the company, though he remains a one-eighth shareholder.

In one particularly harrowing story, comedian and former CAH writer and comedian Nicolas Carter ended up being held in a mental ward against his will due to the actions of his bosses. An earlier Polygon report into the workplace talked to 21 former employees of the company for a broader view of the toxic culture at Cards Against Humanity.

Now, the newly formed CAH union is working with the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United to make sure their voices are heard.

“We work for CAH because we believe in the company’s ability to do good in the world. We believe in the power of transgressive comedy,” the Twitter statement reads, before continuing to the issues the union wants addressed. “For too long, our employees have been kept in precarious, powerless and outright toxic conditions.”

The union’s most concrete demand at present is the equalization of a workplace that employs many people as contractors, requesting that all contractors be given the opportunity to move to full-time or part-time employment.

In an update sent to Polygon, two employees involved in the unionization effort said they were optimistic that the company’s owners would do the right thing in recognizing the union.

Stadia continues to roll out new features, and an important one has just been added that will benefit players who are using an Android mobile for their gaming. In the latest update on the Google Stadia community blog, it’s been announced that the wireless Stadia controller now works with Android devices.

The latest Stadia update, which is availabble now, allows you to connect the controller as long as your device and controller are connected on the game Wi-Fi network. Follow the pairing instructions on your screen and you’ll be good to go.

You’ll also be able to experience audio through your headset once it’s connected. This will be a feature that many players have been waiting on for a long time, so it’s good that it has finally arrived.

Four new games have been added to Stadia Pro as well, as of July 1. Those games are Crayta (which is premiering on Stadia), Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, SteamWorld Dig, and West of Loathing. You’ll be able to play them on your Android phone with a controller, too.

Stadia recently dropped the price of the Premiere Edition, which is designed for people who want to play their games on a television.

A movie version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s acclaimed Broadway musical Hamilton is coming to Disney Plus on July 3, and it’s expected to be one of the network’s biggest exclusives to date. Disney paid a reported $75 million to acquire the movie, which is a taping of multiple performances in 2016, and the company originally planned to release it in theatres in October 2021. Disney then moved forward the release date by 15 months due to the COVID-19 crisis, and announce a Disney Plus release.

Reviews for the movie have started to show up online ahead of its debut–and they are very strong. You can check out a sampling of opinions from reviewers below, while you can also see GameSpot’s list of 8 things to look out for when the movie arrives.

Hamilton on Disney Plus is directed by Thomas Kail, who directed Hamilton on Broadway, in addition to Miranda’s In the Heights. The Disney Plus version of Hamilton won’t be the exact way it was on Broadway, as a few F-bombs were edited out to make it more family friendly.

Hamilton

• Directed By: Thomas Kail
• Written By: Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Jonathan Groff, Chris Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos.
• Release Date: July 3

The New York Times

“It’s also heartbreaking. One lesson that the past few years should have taught–or reconfirmed–is that there aren’t any good old days. We can’t go back to 1789 or 2016 or any other year to escape from the failures that plague us now. This four-year-old performance of Hamilton, viewed without nostalgia, feels more vital, more challenging then ever.” — A.O. Scott [Full review]

Variety

“A modern take on our collective, complicated history, Hamilton finds fresh relevance in the Black Lives Matter protests and this divided political moment. It’s that rare work of art that celebrates diversity while urging us to put aside superficial differences, using Hamilton’s tragic outcome as a kind of warning, and his accomplishments as inspiration. Best of all, it leaves room for some future adaptation of Miranda’s brilliant musical to break free of the stage and find new, big-screen expression down the road–at which point it may resonate in entirely different ways.” — Peter Debruge [Full review]

IGN

“A lot of fantastic stage productions can fall flat or feel staid when taped, a pitfall that Hamilton avoids. However, the cinematography, editing, and the direction that urged the performers to ignore the at-home audience keeps it from feeling cinematic. In short, Hamilton the stage musical may be a 10/10. But this filmed version falls short by repeatedly reminding the audience of what we missed by not being there.” — Kristy Puchko [Full review]

The Guardian

“It has political intrigue, personal tragedy, a sex scandal, and lightning changes of mood that sweep us along at speed. Best of all is the wit that sits neatly alongside its politics: ‘Immigrants, we get the job done,’ says one character archly, and the audience laughs knowingly. ‘What is a legacy?’ says Hamilton, in the heart-stopping last moments, and the film leaves us reflecting on America’s.” — Arifa Akbar [Full review]

Empire

“Entertaining, energetic and unfailingly smart, this is theatre at the highest level, performed by a cast without a weak link. You can’t say no to this.” — Helen O’Hara [Full review]

IndieWire

“This is Hamilton as you always wanted to see it, and it always will be. And with Disney+ releasing it just in time for the Fourth of July, it doubles as a perfect reminder that America is only worth celebrating because of what it aspires to be–the version of it we see in our minds’ eye, and not the one that’s petrified on the pages of our history books..” — David Ehrlich [Full review]

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When Skater XL launches on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on July 28, it will contain three maps created by the game’s modding community during the game’s Early Access period on Steam. The maps will be a part of the game for all players.

The three maps are Streets (by Jean-Olive), Hűdland Training Facility (by Pactole), and Grant Skate Park (by Theo). A trailer and screenshots for these maps have been released, showcasing the work of the game’s community. Theo joined the development team after creating Grant Skate Park, which will debut in the game’s 1.0 release.

In a statement released to press, developer Easy Days Studio co-founder Dain Hedgpeth praised the game’s modding community, which consists of 84,000 people who “have created thousands of amazing maps, fake skate brands and gear” in the game. states Dain Hedgpeth, Co-founder of Easy Day Studios. “Their creativity and passion have not only inspired us, but has become an integral part of the Skater XL experience,” he says, “and we want to pay homage to this by including some of their work at launch.”

Hedgpeth notes that this is “just the beginning” of the studio’s plans to highlight community-created content.

Grant Skate Park is a recreation of the iconic Chicago public skatepark, with a few small changes to make it easier to skate in a game. Streets brings together numerous street spots from different parks, and Hűdland Training Facility is an entirely original creation.

Skater XL faces some tough competition for skateboarding fans, as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is also releasing later this year on September 4. XL has drawn comparisons to the Skate franchise, but the next Skate game was only just announced, and is likely to be a long time away from release.

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