Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Is Now Part-Owner Of The XFL

In what almost seems like an episode of HBO’s Ballers, former WWE star and movie mogul Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has swept in, along with a financial group, to buy the XFL and all of its assets.

Johnson teamed up with Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital to buy the league just hours before a planned auction was scheduled to begin. According to a report by Sportico, Johnson and Cardinale paid $15 million, splitting it evenly. Johnson’s business partner, Dany Garcia, will be a stakeholder as well.

The newest version of Vince McMahon’s Xtreme Football League was announced back in December of 2018 with plans to launch in 2020. Those plans were soon affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic and in April, filed for bankruptcy only after a few games in the rebooted season of the football league that plays during the NFL’s off-season.

Reviewing the portfolio during the bankruptcy filing, Alpha Entertainment, the XFL’s parent, listed the league with assets and liabilities in the range of about $10 million to $50 million.

It’s interesting to note that even though Johnson made his name in the WWE, he was a defensive tackle at the University of Miami, where he played for the 1991 National Championship team. While he didn’t play in the NFL after college, Johnson did make the cut for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League on their practice squad as a linebacker. He was cut from the practice squad after two months, and five years later, made his debut in the then WWF.

Tekken Producer Katsuhiro Harada’s Signature Sunglasses Were Mandated By Capcom

During the Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable that took place recently, Tekken director and producer Katsuhiro Harada revealed that he began wearing his trademark sunglasses after Capcom asked him to become a villain.

“I was actually forced by Capcom to wear these sunglasses, originally,” Harada said during the live stream as reported by Event Hubs.

“They told me, ‘Please wear these sunglasses for four years since you’re the bad guy.’ And now I’m still wearing them 10 years later.”

Harada would don his signature sunglasses during the cross-promotion for Street Fighter X Tekken, with Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono positioned as the good guy foil, according to English translator Michael Murray. “He said that his sunglasses are something that Capcom asked us for,” said Murray.

“True story though. Capcom U.S.A. told him to do it because he’s ‘the bad guy.’ That was back during the Street Fighter X Tekken stuff. Yoshinori Ono was supposed to be the good guy and Harada was the bad guy. But then everyone came to expect it. He has to play along, right?”

Harada’s sunglasses have become part of his personal image in the years since Capcom released Street Fighter X Tekken, with the video game producer always seen wearing a pair during public appearances.

Even when he made a cameo in the Tekken 7 gameplay reveal trailer for The Walking Dead’s Negan, Harada’s digital likeness was sporting a pair of shades.

Beyond the origin story of Harada’s fashion style, more information on Tekken 7 was revealed. Season Pass 4 was announced, although who the first new brawler will be in the Bandai Namco game is currently unknown.

The update will also see the roster refreshed with new moves, enhanced online play, and a Tekken Prowess metric to give players more details on their overall performance.

Now Playing: Tekken 7 – Negan Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer

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Sony Hosting New State Of Play This Week, But Don’t Expect PS5 News

Sony has announced its next State of Play stream, which will take place Thursday, August 6, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET. Sony says the stream will be 40 minutes in total.

After the PS5 reveal stream in June, updates for Sony’s latest console have been slim. That likely won’t change this week either, as the company has cautioned fans not to expect any big PS5 announcements. That includes updates on PlayStation Studios titles such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Horizon Forbidden West. This also means PS5 pricing will not be discussed, as both Sony and Microsoft continue holding out on pre-orders.

The event will primarily focus on upcoming PS4 and PlayStation VR games that are still set to launch soon. Although the announcement does mention potential updates for third-party PS5 titles, the wording explicitly states that the core focus of the stream will be current-gen titles and not next-gen ones. Any third-party PS5 title updates will be for games that were previously revealed for the console, and not new announcements.

Sony did reveal some more details about its hardware plans for the PS5, specifically what accessories and peripherals will be compatible with the next-gen console. While you will be able to use your DualShock 4 on the PS5, you won’t be able to use it for PS5 titles, relegating its use to backwards-compatible games.

Microsoft is also expected to hold another Xbox event sometime in August, hot on the heels of its late July presentation that saw the gameplay reveal of Halo Infinite. It has been suggested that Microsoft’s event will be focused on its heavily-rumored second next-gen console, codenamed Lockhart, but no official announcement has been made yet.

Now Playing: First Look at PS5 Console | Sony PS5 Reveal Event

PS5 Games Can’t Be Played With PS4 Controller, But Here’s What Accessories Are Supported

With the PlayStation 5 just around the corner, Sony has detailed how peripherals will work on the next-gen console. While some existing PS4 peripherals will be usable on PS5, your likely main point of interface–the DualShock 4 controller–will not make the jump.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony explained that PS5 games will not be compatible with the DualShock, because it feels that the games “should take advantage of the new capabilities and features we’re bringing to the platform, including the features of DualSense wireless controller.”

The PS4 DualShock and licensed third-party controllers will work with supported PS4 games on PS5.

There will be some accessories that do work across generations, however. The PlayStation Camera will work for PS VR supported games, with an adapter that will be offered free to PS VR users. Similarly, PS Move controllers and the PS VR Aim controller will work with VR games on PS5. The blog also states that specialty peripherals like licensed racing wheels, arcade sticks, and flight sticks will also work, along with Platinum and Gold wireless headsets, and any third-party headsets that connect via USB or audio jack.

Microsoft’s next-gen console, the Xbox Series X, will also sport a new controller, but you don’t necessarily need one. Microsoft has already announced that Xbox One controllers will be compatible with Xbox Series X.

PS5 Accessory Compatibility

  • PS4 DualShock controllers (supported PS4 games only)
  • Licensed third-party PS4 controllers (supported PS4 games only)
  • Specialty peripherals (licensed racing wheels, arcade sticks, flight sticks)
  • Platinum and Gold wireless headsets
  • Third-party headsets with USB or audio jack (no headset companion app)
  • PS Move and PS Aim controllers (for PS VR)
  • PlayStation Camera (for PS VR)

Now Playing: PlayStation 5 – The Future Of Gaming Teaser Trailer

Leisure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Dry Twice Announced For PC

A new Leisure Suit Larry game is once again in development, although this time Larry Laffer is looking to settle down with his one true love Faith after getting a crash course in modern dating in 2018’s Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry.

Developed by Crazybunch again and published by Assemble Entertainment, Larry will have to use his limited intelligence to avoid succumbing to his base desires as he embarks on a new point ‘n click adventure.

The game will feature accessible point-and-click controls according to Crazybunch, with Larry having the archipelago of Kalaua and its various islands to explore. There’ll be over 40 new and old friends, new feminine friends and occasionally erotic puzzles to solve along the way.

“Bringing Larry Laffer back to his adoring fans has been a labor of love and something that we’ve not taken lightly,” said Assemble Entertainment CEO Stefan Marcinek in a press release.

“Crazybunch did an excellent job repositioning Larry in the modern age while retaining the mostly-SFW humor that’s loved and expected in the series. We can’t wait to see what fans think of Larry’s new soaking wet adventure!”

Lesiure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Dry Twice will launch on PC via Steam and GoG on October 15, for $34.99 USD. Crazybunch’s first trip into the land of the Lounge Lizards earned respectable scores when it was released in 2018, where it currently sits with a 72 Metascore on Metacritic, and poked fun at how social networking had transformed the dating scene.

Now Playing: Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Die – Official Gameplay Trailer

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Andrew Lloyd Webber Is Now Calling The Cats Movie “Ridiculous”

Last year’s big-screen adaptation of Cats will never cease to be a wonder, whether you’re counting how universally disliked it is, how much money it supposedly lost (around $113 million, but who’s counting?), or how it became the first movie that needed a post-release visual patch while still in cinemas.

The movie was the subject of ridicule at February’s Academy Awards, which resulted in the industry’s Visual Effects Society officially disowning it–and now even the show’s original creator Andrew Lloyd Webber has spoken out against the Cats movie. In an interview with The Sunday Times, as picked up by Deadline, Webber knows exactly where he wants to put the blame for Cats’ failings.

“The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show,” Webber said in the interview. “The whole thing was ridiculous.”

The composer has previously criticized James Corden’s Bustopher Jones, complaining about the reinterpretation of the character in a live video commentary for the 1998 filmed version of the musical. “This song is about wit not coarse jokes,” Webber complained of the movie’s version. “I cannot tell you how absolutely un-Eliot it all was.” For the record, Corden himself doesn’t seem to be a fan either–he was part of the Academy Awards skit lampooning it, after all.

Contrary to his criticism, however, Webber was involved in the production of the movie–he co-wrote the new song Beautiful Ghosts with Taylor Swift, and consulted on some elements–though he has said that the movie is “very much Tom’s vision” in a previous interview.

Before the movie premiered, ALW seemed to be a fan of the finished product, with a tweet calling the film “magical.” The composer seems to have since changed his mind following the wave of criticism and memes that sprung up after Cats made its way to theaters.

Now Playing: Cats (2019) – Official New Trailer

Why Halo 3 Hit Detection For MCC Feels Bad And What 343 Is Doing About It

Halo: The Master Chief Collection players have been complaining for some time about hit-detection in Halo 3. In short, it doesn’t feel right. Developer 343 Industries has now provided a new update on the matter, but unfortunately, a fix isn’t coming soon.

In a blog post, the developer said it’s aware of some viral videos that have gone around, in which fans suggest that dropping the engine to “30 ticks” would fix the hit-detection issue.

“Upon investigation, this is only half true, and it doesn’t solve the actual issue that is causing shot registration to encounter problems when being played at MCC’s higher tick rate,” 343 said.

These issues are occurring because Halo 3 now runs at 60 FPS on Xbox One through MCC, compared to 30 FPS on the Xbox 360. Anyone who has played Halo 3 on MCC may agree that the game feels more fluid and generally enjoyable at the higher frame rate, but the hit-detection issues have proven to be a sore spot.

“The TL;DR version for those looking for a ‘give it to us now’ answer is, this is not a simple problem and neither is the fix for this issue,” 343 said. “The devil is in the details and there’s more nuanced work to be done before this fix will work for all scenarios including those where players want to adjust the game to run at 30hz, 60hz, and even 120hz.”

343 said it is currently investigating a “true fix” as opposed to a Band-Aid that would “hurt other areas of the game” by dropping the frame rate back to 30.

The studio has made some changes with Halo 3 in this regard, and they will be previewed in the first beta tests for the next update, which is due out in mid-August for Halo Insider members.

It’s also worth mentioning that Halo 3 in the MCC is far from unplayable–you might not have even known there were any issues at all. That being said, being a twitch-based shooter that relies on skill and precision, hit-detection issues are a big deal and many are surely hoping the problems are addressed in due course.

You can check out Microsoft’s ridiculously in-depth video above to see a breakdown of the hit-detection issues in Halo 3 and why the fix isn’t as simple as some might think.

In other MCC news, Microsoft is adding a long list of exciting features to the game, including crossplay, a custom game browser, and more.

In addition to MCC, 343 is working on Halo Infinite for release as a launch title for Xbox Series X this Holiday. The game’s recent reveal didn’t go over perfectly, as many remarked that the graphics didn’t look good enough, and this spawned a new Craig the Brute meme, which Xbox boss Phil Spencer fully embraces.

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No More Heroes: A Switch Port Of The First Game Has Been Rated In Taiwan

No More Heroes III is in the works for Switch, but it looks like it might not be the only game in the series coming to Nintendo’s console. The original No More Heroes, which launched on the Wii in 2008, might be receiving a port too, according to a new rating.

As noted by Gematsu, the game has been rated for sale in Taiwan for Switch, and appears to be coming from publisher Marvelous Inc. A rating in Taiwan does not absolutely confirm that the game is coming to Switch worldwide, but it certainly suggests that it’s a strong possibility.

Back in 2018, director Goichi Suda expressed a desire to bring both the original No More Heroes and its sequel to Switch, but nothing concrete has ever been announced. Another game starring series protagonist Travis Touchdown, Travis Strikes Again, released for Switch in 2019.

No More Heroes received a PS3 release, subtitles Heroes Paradise. A sequel, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. released for the Wii in 2010, and unlike the original game, it was never ported anywhere else.

We caught a tiny glimpse of No More Heroes III gameplay back in June, but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the game–including whether it will make its projected 2020 release window.

Now Playing: No More Heroes 3 – “The Return” Cinematic Trailer

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Seth Rogen Explains Why They Never Made Pineapple Express 2

The 2008 stoner action movie Pineapple Express made more than $100 million at the global box office against a budget of around $25 million, but Sony never decided to make a sequel. Seth Rogen, who starred in the film and also co-wrote the script, has now explained why.

He said on The Howard Stern Show that he has tried over the years to make a sequel, but Sony never agreed to finance it due to the producers asking for more money.

“We tried to make one. Thanks to the Sony hack, you could actually find the email when Sony decided to kill the movie and not make it. It was something we were very open to several years ago, but Sony was not that interested in it,” Rogen said.

Rogen said he and his team “probably wanted too much money” for the sequel. The first movie was a huge success commercially, because it was made on such a relatively small budget, but the costs would have increased for the sequel, and Sony apparently wasn’t keen on this.

“We made the first one and no one got paid anything and that’s why it was a $25 million movie [to make],” Rogen said. “That’s why it became highly, highly, highly profitable. It was made really cheaply, especially for an action movie. Studios, they don’t like giving away money.”

The “weed movie” genre is a tough one, Rogen said, because some people in Hollywood don’t believe it’s viable.

“It’s a tough genre, I will say,” Rogen said. “When we made Pineapple Express, there were not a lot of great weed movies. As we would tell people we were making a weed action movie, they would look at us like we were so f**king stupid and crazy.”

Rogen wrote Pineapple Express with his longtime writer partner Evan Goldberg. The film was directed by David Gordon Greene, who went on to direct the new Halloween movie in 2018.

Pineapple Express featured a lot of other big names, including James Franco, Danny McBride, Gary Cole, Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson, Rosie Perez, Ken Jeong, Amber Heard, Joe Lo Truglio, and Bill Hader.

The movie follows the characters played by Rogen and Franco who witness a murder and then get caught up in an absurd story involving too many hijinks to list here.

Sony trolled fans in 2013 when it released a trailer for “Pineapple Express 2” that actually turned out to be an April Fools prank that was a promo for This Is The End. You can watch that video above–it’s the closest thing to a sequel we may ever get.

This Historical Fiction Novel Has A Breath Of The Wild Easter Egg

In The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, it takes apple, spicy pepper, Hylian shroom, sunshroom, ruby, fire keese wing, and a red lizalfos tail to make a red dye for clothes–and according to novelist John Boyne’s latest book A Traveller At The Gates Of Wisdom, the exact same ingredients were used for dyeing in the fifth century court of Atilla the Hun.

Reddit user u/NoNoNo_OhHoHo spotted this curiously familiar list of ingredients in The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas author’s latest epic, where the dressmaker protagonist plots a poisoning using a red dye. Amidst an otherwise straightforward historical setting, the mention of Octorok and Lizalfos seems a little out of place.

In a Twitter thread, writer Dana Schwartz pointed out that Googling “ingredients red dye clothes” automatically brings up a list from Polygon‘s Breath of the Wild dyeing guide, which appears in the novel almost verbatim.

However there’s a chance the inclusion isn’t just a hilarious mistake–the novel isn’t quite a straightforward historical fiction, but instead an epic beginning in biblical times and ending in the future, with every chapter skipping forward through time. Reviewer Jonathan McAloon writing for the Irish Times notes the Zelda reference as a purposeful technique designed to “destabilise the historical integrity” of the setting–along with a medieval Irish monk quoting Liam Neeson in Taken.

Intentional or not, it seems the biggest oversight here is the supposed toxicity of the BOTW ingredients–in the game, they’re all perfectly edible, and can be cooked up in recipes to grant certain buffs.

Update: Shortly after publication John Boyne replied to Schwartz’s Twitter thread, appearing to confirm that the inclusion of Hylian ingredients was, indeed, a hilarious mistake, though he doesn’t remember how exactly it happened.

The good news for Zelda fans is that the easter egg will be forever preserved in Boyne’s book despite him never having played a video game in his life–while all authors should take this as a reminder to always double check your source when looking for outlandish-sounding ingredients.

Now Playing: Sequel To Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Trailer Breakdown | E3 2019

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