Here are some comparisons between the original and the new version of Mewtwo Strikes Back.
The newly re-animated version of the original Pokemon movie, dubbed Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution, hits Netflix on Friday, February 27–known among fans as Pokemon Day, since it’s the anniversary of the original Pokemon games’ release date in Japan.
This CG version of the first Pokemon movie seems to follow the same plot as the original, according to Netflix’s synopsis:
“When researchers discover and exploit a fossil of the Mythical Pokémon Mew, they unleash a creation that goes against the very laws of nature: Mewtwo, a Legendary Pokémon intended for use as a tool of destruction. But as Mewtwo becomes aware of its own dubious origin, it begins to resent its human creators and seeks revenge–and Ash, Pikachu, and their friends find themselves at the center of its rampage! With the future of the Pokémon world at stake, will our heroes be able to overcome Mewtwo’s challenge…and will Mewtwo be able to find a new meaning for its life?”
Yup, that pretty much sounds like the original. That said, this clearly isn’t a shot-for-shot remake. Netflix sent us some new screenshots, and we’ve done our best to find comparable moments from the original Mewtwo movie in order to check out the new and old versions side-by-side.
In the original version, Ash battles this trainer before receiving the invitation from Mewtwo.
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It looks like the new CG version will keep this fight intact.
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This shot is recreated almost exactly in the new version, as you can see below:
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Pikachu is looking a little bit fluffier, but mostly the same overall.
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In the original, Brock is cooking some “lazy boy no-chew stew” for his friends.
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Looks like Brock is the de facto chef in the new version as well.
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Misty gets this hero shot in the new version.
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In the original, there’s no standalone shot of Misty appearing by herself, so here’s a screenshot of her and Brock toward the beginning for comparison.
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This shot when Dragonite arrives with Mewtwo’s invitation is recreated almost exactly in the CG remake, as you can see below:
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The only real difference is that Brock’s Vulpix and Misty’s Psyduck are also present now.
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Ash, Misty, and Brock stare curiously at the holographic message from Mewtwo.
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In the new version, the hologram is bright pink, and Brock’s adoration of the messenger is much more animated.
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This shot from the remake appears to be from near the beginning of the film.
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In the original, the group don’t take off running until it starts raining.
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The image below is similar to this shot of Mewtwo using his psychic powers, creating a blue aura around him.
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This may be the beginning of the shield Mewtwo uses to block Gyarados’s attack.
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Mewtwo effortlessly deflects Gyarados’s attack in the original.
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In the new version, Mewtwo’s clones of Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise appear to be present during this moment.
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In the original, the clones aren’t introduced until later–you can see them above.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
Diablo 4’s quarterly update introduces the Cannibals and a long-awaited feature, rebinding the left-click button.
Blizzard revealed the information as part of a developer blog. The new group of enemies known as the Cannibals is one of many labeled “families” in the Diablo 4 universe. The developers of Diablo 4 previously announced that enemy groups will be classified first by family type and then genre, so within the Canibal group there will be some enemies that are ranged, melee, etc.
Check out the trailer below showing a brief look at the Cannibals.
Some of the current known families include the Cultists, the Drowned, and the returning Fallen. Blizzard Developer, Candace Thomas, Senior Encounter Designer, describes the Cannibals as melee bruisers that leap toward players.
Thomas states in the developer blog that each of the four family enemies has a unique fighting style.
The two-handed greatsword cleaver wielder that has a “slow sweeping frontal attack”.
A more mobile attacker with a lightweight halberd for leaping great distances.
A bruiser that can stun players with a heavy spiked club attack.
The dual axe-wielding swarmers that aim to be a pain if left alone.
A short message from an unknown character named, Liya Khal’tib, provides some lore to the Cannibals,
“The few who have survived encounters with these butchers share the same stories. They tell of the mad fire that burns in the eyes of all Cannibals, of how eating the flesh of their victims in battle only fuels their hunger for more. They whisper of the unlucky souls spared in the attacks, hauled off like livestock for the raiders to pick clean until their next hunt.”
The full message is readable in Blizzard’s quarterly update. While this news doesn’t include a release date for Diablo 4, the quarterly updates will be a way to continue learning more.
Diablo 4 Left-Click Now Rebindable
Credit: Activision Blizzard
One of the major changes from Diablo 3 includes the ability to rebind the left-click button. This was a frequently asked for feature because you couldn’t use what’s known as force moving. Without force moving, if you accidentally left-click an enemy while trying to move toward them, it attacks them instead of only moving in that direction.
Changing the UI to Look More Realistic
Blizzard also tweaked the UI after receiving feedback from BlizzCon 2019. Lead UI Designer, Angela Del Priore, spoke about creating a more realistic inventory through different aesthetics. On top of this, Priore briefly mentioned they’re developing Diablo 4 with controller support on PC.
The upcoming Season 10 of Destiny 2 will see Bungie remove paid loot boxes from the game.
Destiny 2 director Luke Smith announced in a lengthy “Director’s Cut” blog post on Wednesday that Bungie is removing the ability for players to purchase Bright Engrams, which are essentially paid loot boxes. A Bright Engram can be purchased in the Eververse store using Silver, an in-game currency that can be purchased with real money, and decoded to reveal random shaders, emotes and more.
“For Season 10, we’re doing away with Bright Engrams as purchasable items,” Smith wrote in the blog post. “We want players to know what something costs before they buy it. Bright Engrams don’t live up to that principle so we will no longer be selling them on the Eververse Store, though they will still appear on the Free Track of the Season Pass.”
As Smith pointed out, Bright Engrams will still be in the game on the free track of the season pass but players will no longer be able to spend the premium currency of Silver on them. Smith doesn’t bring up Bright Engrams again in his blog post and it sounds like they will no longer be available for purchase right from the start of Season 10.
With the removal of Bright Engrams from Destiny 2 soon, it’s important to note that Bungie still has plenty of items in the game that players can purchase such as its season pass.
EA seems to have backed off of loot boxes and it seems Bungie is joining the ranks of companies like EA doing the same. This might be a result of Bungie’s recently-gained independence from Activision. Season 10 of Destiny 2 is expected to begin soon although no start date has been announced just yet.
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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
Developers Blue Mammoth Games and Crystal Dynamics have teamed up to deliver a brand-new character to Brawlhalla‘s roster. Lara Croft is the free-to-play fighter’s latest Epic Crossover, collaborations between Brawlhalla and big-name pop culture properties like Adventure Time and Steven Universe, bringing with her an additional game mode and stage as part of a new Tomb Raider in-game event that runs until March 16.
Lara Croft’s moveset mirrors that of Diana, the black-and-red clad hunter with high dexterity and speed; albeit with her own “unique signature attack designs, custom select animations, sound effects, two brand-new weapon skins, and a dedicated roster spot,” according to a press release. She comes equipped with her twin pistols and bow, and has a variety of skins that play off her two now-iconic looks: the classic blue-top-and-brown-shorts combo from the first Tomb Raider game in 1996 and her “survivor” getup seen in recent entries like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Brawlhalla also gets a new mode thanks to Lara Croft’s inclusion called Temple Climb. It’s an endless-ascending, vertically-scrolling map that tasks you with climbing higher while defending yourself against both enemies and obstacles. There are also pressure plates that allow you to trip up the competition with cannonballs, spring spikes, flames, and more. Temple Climb will be available even after the Tomb Raider in-game event ends next month.
Lastly, the free-for-all game mode has another map added to its selection. With Lara Croft comes the Temple Ruins, a new multitiered map featuring plenty of places to spike and blow away your enemies.
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Brawlhalla – Tomb Raider Crossover Reveal Trailer
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The Lara Croft Epic Crossover bundle can be purchased for 300 Mammoth Coins (Brawlhalla’s in-game currency, equaling about $13 based on the PlayStation Store). If you miss everything before March 16 rolls around, Lara Croft will still be purchasable even after the special in-game Tomb Raider event ends.
Brawlhalla looks a fair bit like Rivals of Aether, both of which take a lot of inspiration from Nintendo’s massively-successful mashup fighter Super Smash Bros. Developed by Blue Mammoth Games, Brawlhalla is a free-to-play 2D fighter where the objective is to knock your opponent out by racking up their damage meter and finishing them with a powerful attack that either spikes them to oblivion or sends them flying to the edges of the screen.
There is plenty of lore surrounding movies–particularly horror–that certain film sets had a curse put on them. Most famously, there has been a rumor for decades that the skeletons used in Poltergeist were actual human remains from India, and in turn, using the bones of the deceased placed a curse on the project.
The new Shudder docuseries Cursed Films explores the myths and lore around certain movies, interviewing those involved with the production to find out what really happened. You can find out more about the new series in the trailer below.
This first season will consist of five episode, 30-minute episodes. Each one will explore one film that many have perceived to be cursed through stories that have been passed from one person to another over the years.
While these movies were all filmed and released prior to the popularization of the internet, these stories still lived on. And now that we use the internet as out primary way to communicate, these stories have become more popular than ever. Check out the release schedule for Cursed Films below.
Cursed Films release schedule:
April 2: The Exorcist
April 9: Poltergeist
April 9: The Omen
April 16: The Crow
April 16: Twilight Zone: The Movie
Jay Cheel has written, directed, and edited the new series, and this isn’t his first time diving into myth and lore surround horror. In 2017, he directed the bizarre Helltown movie for Travel Channel. It explored an Ohio town, which in 1974 was bought by the National Parks Service to be made into a national park. Cheel’s movie discussed all the conspiracy theories revolving around why this happened, which included a military cover-up of a chemical spill and a satanic cult taking over the area.
When Destiny first launched, I kind of hated it. Bungie’s weirdo space shooter was a delight to play when you were actually shooting things, but lost momentum as it picked up all the worst habits of MMOs. In the early days of Destiny, even in the endgame, you were constantly grabbing up new guns and tossing your old ones because of the slightly higher number on the new ones. The loot chase in the game was tedious and time-consuming, forcing you to play and replay content to make minor gains that never seemed like they amounted to much.
Destiny has come a long way since those days, first through the latter expansions of the original game, then through a bunch of smart and interesting changes in Destiny 2. Today, I play Destiny 2 almost every day and the franchise has gone from one of my most reviled to one of my most beloved. I love whipping through the Crucible and raids, I’m fascinated by the story, and I have a heap of cool weapons to use in a variety of situations. I even have come around on chasing the best gun stat rolls, something I’m usually loathe to do in games such as this–it’s the thing that keeps me from picking up other MMOs or loot shooters. For some reason, Destiny 2 continues to cut through the noise and make me happy.
But the latest Director’s Cut blog post from Destiny 2 director Luke Smith has me a bit worried, because it sounds like, in trying to continue to tweak the game to make it engaging for players long-term, Bungie is considering returning to those early D1 days. To me, there couldn’t be a worse move for keeping a live game continually relevant and fun to play than reverting to the earliest ideas of Destiny.
Smith describes the situation into which Bungie thinks Destiny 2 has stumbled in its third year: It’s lost some of its aspirational drive that pushes players to work through the game to get the best gear. For a loot shooter, that slot machine aspect of the game is a big part of the draw: You’re constantly playing in hopes of getting cool new stuff that you can then use to perform better in PvP, or to more efficiently take down the toughest content, or to get even better cool new stuff.
And in some aspects, Smith is right. Destiny 2 is currently full of weapons that sit in inventories or get immediately discarded and go mostly unused. Each new season introduces a bunch of new, unique weapons, but there’s not a lot of drive in the game to ditch your favorite old gear in favor of trying out new gear. Part of that is because some guns are just too good to let go, like some of Destiny 2’s “Pinnacle” and “Ritual” guns, which are unique items you earn through the completion of lengthy quests and grinds. Some are just guns that can have really strong stat and perk rolls, and continue to be dominant parts of the metagame in PvP and PvE settings season after season.
Bungie wants to push players to try new things, and most importantly, to chase new guns. That’s the engine that keeps Destiny 2 going, after all. But the solution Smith is proposing sounds like it’ll wreck another fun aspect of Destiny 2: the accomplishment of actually using the things you go chasing after.
The solution Smith is suggesting sounds like Destiny 1 before the “infusion” system was introduced. In Destiny 2, all weapons have a “Power” number that dictates their overall strength, and the average Power of all your gear determines your total strength as a player–so you often want to have the highest Power numbers you can. In Destiny 1 before infusion, that meant you were always tossing weak guns in favor of strong ones, and even if you particularly liked those weak guns, like the weapons you might pull from the Vault of Glass raid, they would become obsolete when a new expansion was released and raised the Power (then called “light level”) cap. That incentivized you to play through the new expansion and try its new guns, but it also meant the stuff you previously earned and maybe really liked was now collecting dust or tossed in the trash because it couldn’t hang in the tougher content. Destiny eventually added upgrade paths for guns, but they often required you to put in a lot of work to get the necessary materials.
Infusion changed that by allowing you to cannibalize a gun with higher Power that you didn’t want in order to beef up a lower Power gun you did, and it’s been the standard of Destiny ever since The Taken King’s release in 2015. It also means that, in Bungie’s eyes, once you get a set of guns you like, you don’t really have a good reason to switch, even if the new guns they release every few months are cool or powerful in their own right. Bungie seems particularly perturbed by this fact, but at the same time, it fits with another of the developer’s maxims: that there are a number of ways to play the game and that you can pick the way you want to play.
Smith says Bungie is considering a push back toward a system that would render old guns obsolete over time to push you to chase new ones. You’ll still be able to infuse your guns, but after a set period of seasons, an old gun will hit an infusion cap, and you won’t be able to drive its Power up anymore. It’s a lot like the old Destiny 1 system, in which a Power cap escalation every three months with the start of a new expansion could render lower-Power guns useless, at least in high-level content. It’ll just take longer to happen.
It sounds like a bad solution to Bungie’s problem. There’s a reason a lot of the same guns get used a lot in Destiny 2: They’re fun to play with. They’re successful examples of Bungie’s ability to create weapons that feel good and are effective. This isn’t to say Bungie shouldn’t be constantly tweaking and rebalancing guns, but players don’t just get attached to certain weapons because they’re the most powerful ones available. Sometimes people simply fall in love with certain guns because they worked extra hard to earn them, because they carry unique perks that vibe with specific playstyles, or because they look cool. Sunsetting those weapons arbitrarily over time doesn’t increase choice and variety, it just shunts players into a new meta box until the next patch rolls around.
Bungie’s solution of rendering old guns mathematically obsolete in endgame content feels like it’ll do nothing but push Destiny 2 toward even more grinding, which, for my money, has always been the worst element of the game. Losing the best guns you worked hard to earn just to force you to work hard to earn new, likely similar ones sounds a lot more like busywork than it does a meaningful interaction with the game, and what’s more, it continues to strip out player choice. Smith’s blog says Bungie might reintroduce old guns in later seasons to bring them back into circulation, but that just sounds like another grind to get something you already earned.
Yes, there are too many guns in Destiny 2 that players don’t use, and yes, that seems like something that unduly burdens the development team as it spends its time creating these weapons, only to find everyone continues to use old standbys. But it sounds like Destiny 2 needs to find new ways to make more of its guns viable choices for players. I’d prefer to see Bungie introduce fewer new guns each season, in favor of, say, more gun perks–things that can change how old guns operate and create new potentially great rolls.
Maybe that’s not a viable solution to Bungie’s issue, but it also seems that for a game to run on player aspiration, it can’t only be focused on goals in the future; it also has to provide the accomplishment of achieving those goals. Your digital trophy room (in this case, having cool guns and armor) is as important as the next hunt you’re planning. These proposed changes sound like they’ll push more grind back into Destiny 2 just for the sake of that grind, and to me, grindy for the sake of it is the least interesting thing Destiny can be.
The first trailer for Netflix‘s upcoming series I Am Not Okay With This recently arrived. Now, days later, you can check out the first seven minutes of the new show, which revolves around a high school girl dealing with teenage life–and superpowers.
Starring Sophia Lillis (Stephen King’s It), Wyatt Oleff (Stephen King’s It), Sofia Bryant (Blue Bloods), and Kathleen Rose Perkins (Fresh Off The Boat), the new Netflix original series does deal with a teenager developing superpowers. However, the primary focus of the video below is traversing the landscape known as high school. Check out the video for yourself below.
I Am Not Okay With This is available to stream on Netflix right now. The series is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Charles Forsman, and the show is directed and produced by Jonathan Endwistle.
If this preview feels a lot like Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World, it’s for good reason. That series is also based on a graphic novel by Forsman, and features Entwistle as director and producer as well.
There’s more coming to Netflix in 2020, including plenty of new original movies. However, what most people are really looking forward to is Season 4 of Stranger Things, and we got our very first teaser for this season, which features Hopper alive and cold in Russia.
Jordan Peele, producer and co-writer of 2020’s Candyman, found a clever way to release the new movie’s first teaser, playing on the film’s legend of saying “Candyman” five times to summon the hook-handed killer.
As noted by Mashable, Peele revealed Twitter users can post a tweet that includes “#Candyman” five times to have the sneak peek sent directly to their feed. The six-second teaser features our first look at Candyman’s infamous hook, as well as a blood-curdling scream from star Teyonah Parris (WandaVision).
Peele’s Candyman will be a “spiritual sequel” to Clive Barker’s 1992 original. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, HBO’s Watchmen) stars alongside Parris and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead). Original Candyman actor Tony Todd is reportedly returning for the 2020 film, according to Bloody Disgusting, though it’s unclear in what capacity.
Nia DaCosta (Little Woods), who co-wrote the script alongside Peele and Win Rosenfeld, is directing.
“The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre,” Peele said when the film was announced in 2018. “Alongside Night of the Living Dead, Candyman was a major inspiration for me as a filmmaker — and to have a bold new talent like Nia at the helm of this project is truly exciting.”
Yakuza 0, the sixth entry in the series, can be downloaded on PC and Xbox One for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Kingdom Hearts 3 is only accessible through Xbox Game Pass for those on Xbox One.
Several more games have been added to Xbox Game Pass in addition to Kingdom Hearts 3 and Yakuza 0. Xbox Game Pass for PC members can pick up the action-RPG Indivisible, hospital-simulator Two Point Hospital, and critically acclaimed top-down RPG Wasteland Remastered right now. On the other side, those on the Xbox Game Pass for Xbox One tier will get access to Two Point Hospital and Wasteland Remastered.
We set out on a mission to let you all know that these two games are available now and this tweet is doing just that. Feeling very accomplished right now. pic.twitter.com/wHzGOabTyv
Of course, all of these games are available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, which packages the Xbox Live Gold online service, discounts on the Microsoft store, access to PC and Xbox One Game Pass titles, and more into a single $15 per month charge.
February saw a plethora of games get tossed into the Xbox Game Pass bag. Alongside the aforementioned Kingdom Hearts 3 and Yakuza 0 and such, you can also download Ninja Gaiden 2 for Xbox One right now, Jackbox Party Pack 3 for Xbox One on February 27, and Reigns: Game Of Thrones sometime later this month.
Full List Of February’s Xbox Game Pass Offerings
Xbox Game Pass for PC
Two Point Hospital — February 25
Wasteland Remastered — February 25
Yakuza 0 — February 26
Indivisible — February 26
Reigns: Game of Thrones — TBD
Xbox Game Pass for Xbox One
Ninja Gaiden 2 — February 20
Kingdom Hearts 3 — February 25
Two Point Hospital — February 25
Wasteland Remastered — February 25
Yakuza 0 — February 26
Jackbox Party Pack 3 — February 27
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We’re a handful of months away from Amazon Prime Day, but with the rising threat of COVID-19, more commonly known as coronavirus, the deals may not be as abundant as past years. In a new report from The New York Times, the retailer is apparently concerned it won’t be able to meet demand during its big sale, as factories in China are shut down as the virus spreads.
The New York Times reports that Amazon is taking measures to combat stock shortages, including ordering more than its usual amount of products–six to eight weeks’ worth as opposed to its regular two to three weeks. The report also says Amazon is contacting third-party sellers in order to assess stock availability for Prime Day–some companies are reportedly not advertising on Amazon to ensure there is stock available for the July sale.
An Amazon spokeswoman told The New York Times, “Out of an abundance of caution, we are working with suppliers to secure additional inventory to ensure we maintain our selection for customers … We are monitoring developments related to the coronavirus and taking appropriate steps as needed.”
It’s currently unclear whether coronavirus will affect E3, PAX West, or the production of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but we’ll report back as we learn more.
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