The Switch is pretty sweet as-is, but add in some accessories like a second Nintendo Switch dock, a screen protector, and a Switch Pro Controller makes it even better.
For the Best Quality Game Audio Get a High-End Gaming Headset
When money is no object and you want the best gaming audio you can buy, these are the best high-end gaming headset you should look for.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker First Reactions
Members of the press, celebrities, and lucky others attended the world premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ahead of its theatrical debut on December 20, 2019, and their first impressions were mostly positive.
Many claim that they will need a lot of time to digest everything that fills this final chapter of the Skywalker Saga.
Here’s our roundup of the first reactions to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
IGN’s Jim Vejvoda said “I’m still processing my thoughts on #StarWars #TheRiseOfSkywalker but overall I would say I liked it but had some big problems with it. Can’t say I loved it but there’s still a lot to unpack.”
The Ni No Kuni Anime Movie Is Coming To Netflix In January
Level 5’s well-liked RPG series, Ni No Kuni, received an anime film spin-off in Japan earlier this year. It’ll soon be available in the west, but it’s skipping cinemas. The film is part of Netflix’s January 2020 plan, and will be available on January 16.
The Ni No Kuni movie is not directly connected to either game but features a similar premise;it follows two high-schoolers who are transported from our world to a fantasy one with some strange parallels. You can watch the Japanese trailer below–it’s not clear if Netflix will provide a dub. The film is directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who also designed the characters.
The first Ni No Kuni famously featured animated cutscenes by Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki’s celebrated anime studio that has produced classics like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Grave of the Fireflies. Momose previously worked for the studio as a key animator. Studio Ghibli is not involved in the Ni No Kuni movie, though; it was produced by OLM, Inc. The studio is best known for animating the Pokemon anime series and movies.
Ni No Kuni is not the only new anime coming to the service during the month; Scissor Seven will be added on January 10 and Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac: season 1 part 2 is coming on January 23.
The original Ni No Kuni game was released for the PS3 (and the Nintendo DS in Japan,) and was recently re-released for Switch, PS4, and PC.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.
HBO’s Watchmen: Damon Lindelof Addresses Show’s Controversial Politics
Spend any amount of time on the Watchmen subreddit or reading what people are saying about the show on Twitter, and you’ll see a common criticism coming from disgruntled fans: that Watchmen is too political, or that it espouses the “wrong” politics. But in the final episode of HBO’s official Watchmen podcast, which went up after the show’s final episode aired, Lindelof says he believes the show’s politics are true to the original comics. More importantly, he says those politics are crucial to what Watchmen is.
“For Watchmen to be culturally relevant in 2019, it has to be some sort of funhouse mirror reflection of the time that we’re living in,” Lindelof says. “This really fascinating sort of conversation erupted around the show as we were airing kind of the first three or four episodes, which was this idea of like, ‘This show is too political,’ and also, parallel to that, ‘How can this show call itself Watchmen?'”
But the showrunner says Watchmen has always been political; in fact, the word “political” was on a list of adjectives that he and the other writers used to describe what Watchmen is while they were still figuring out what the show would be. “But my own personal politics–and I make no bones about the fact that I’m a liberal, I’m very progressively minded,” he says. “But at the same time, I think that the original Watchmen is kind of anarchist in its blood, and it has to troll the extremes. So you have to troll extreme liberalism, and extreme progressiveism.”
As a viewer, it’s easy to see where those things manifested, when you look at elements that are on polar opposite ends of the spectrum, like the white supremacist terrorist group the 7th Kavalry, and the overly dramatic trigger warnings that air before the in-universe show American Hero Story.
Lindelof says the idea of reparations plays a big part in this duality. “I happen to think that reparations are a really good idea–whether they’re reparations for slavery, or reparations for something like the Tulsa massacre–are a really good idea,” he says. “I also have to accept that, were reparations actually enacted, that there would be a virulent pushback from a large sector of our society. And do I take sides? Well, again, my side is I think that we have a big white supremacy problem in the United States of America. I’m not here saying, ‘There’s good people on both sides.’ That being said, I’m just presenting what I think would actually happen were reparations to be passed.”
Specifically, that idea takes the shape of the 7th Kavalry, a terrorist group being supported by a clandestine cell that shares space with the highest levels of government, whose goal is “creating some kind of culture war” that will enable Senator Joe Keene to seize more power. Keene uses the overlap between police and white supremacists to play both sides, ultimately controlling everyone involved. You can argue with the logic of that plan if you want, but there’s no denying its thematic relevance in 2019.
To Lindelof, the idea of police wearing masks–making them less distinguishable from the bad guys–ties in with the question of why people wear masks in the first place, dovetailing nicely into the themes he wanted this show to explore.
“What we were trying to get at–the big fundamental idea that is literally stated by Blake explicitly in the fourth episode–is that there’s causation between trauma, particularly childhood trauma, and the wearing of a mask,” the showrunner says, bringing up comparisons in other superhero origin stories, like Batman and Iron Man.
“Now let’s take that idea and make that trauma about the trauma that was visited upon people of color in America, because that is the American story that’s just not really being told enough,” he continues, adding that he was terrified that he wasn’t the right person to tell this story–something he still feels now. But “[despite] still feeling very much that way, I couldn’t resist. I had to do it. I was compelled to do it, and thank god so many other people around me were there [in the writer’s room] to prevent me from making catastrophic mistakes, and inform me with their wisdom.”
Over its nine episodes, HBO’s Watchmen presented a complex and multi-layered view of modern day politics, the idea of masked heroes, and the concept of legacy. And in doing so, it really did live up to the name Watchmen.
If like us, you can’t get enough, check out our explanation of the show’s ending, the major questions we still have after the finale, all the Easter eggs and references we spotted in Episode 9, and everything else we learned from the podcast.
One Punch Man Added To Crunchyroll After Viz Media Partnership
Crunchyroll and Viz Media have announced a new distribution deal, which adds a bunch of popular anime series and movies to Crunchyroll. 16 newly added series and movies are now live on the service, with another six scheduled to be added December 19.
The most notable addition to Crunchyroll’s line-up is One Punch Man Season 1, which was previously only available through Hulu and Netflix. Death Note is also now available to watch on Crunchyroll, as are seven Naruto movies. The full list of new titles is outlined below.
New Crunchyroll Anime
Added On December 16
- Accel World
- Accel World Infinite Burst
- Death Note
- K – Season 1
- K: Missing Kings
- K: Seven Stories (Subtitle Only)
- Naruto Shippuden: The Movie – Blood Prison
- Naruto Shippuden: The Movie – The Lost Tower
- Naruto Shippuden: The Movie – Will of Fire
- Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon
- Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel
- Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
- One Punch Man Season 1 (Subtitle Only)
- Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
- Sailor Moon R: The Movie
- The Last: Naruto the Movie
- Vampire Knight
- Vampire Knight: Guilty
Added On December 19
- Hikaru no Go
- Inuyasha
- Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time
- Inuyasha the Movie: Fire on Mystic Island
- Inuyasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler
- Inuyasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
If you’re looking for more anime to watch, there’s a lot on the way–including the second part of Carole & Tuesday and My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising. For those looking to binge through something right now, look through our four seasonal anime guides for lists on the must-watch series and movies of the year. For next year, be sure to check out our list of anime to be on the look-out for in 2020.
GameSpot 2019 Seasonal Anime Guides
Fortnite Tie Fighter Crash Site Locations (Star Wars Challenge Guide)
Fortnite‘s hyped Star Wars event took place this past weekend, giving players who queued up at Risky Reels a chance to watch a scene from The Rise of Skywalker ahead of the film’s release. That isn’t the end of the crossover, however; Epic has also rolled out a limited-time set of Star Wars challenges for you to complete.
As usual, most of the challenges are straightforward and can be cleared fairly easily with a little persistence, but there are a couple that may throw your for a loop. One in particular that’ll likely prove to be tricky asks you to capture Tie fighter crash sites. If you’re not sure where those are located, we’ve put together this guide showing you where to go.
Where Are The Tie Fighter Crash Sites?
We’ve come across five different Tie fighter crash sites scattered around the map. A plume of black smoke will be billowing from the wreckage at each site, so you’ll be able to spot the areas from a bit of a distance. If you need help tracking them down, we’ve marked all the crash site locations we’ve encountered below:
- Directly south of Steamy Stacks
- In the mountains north of Retail Row
- Southeast of Slurpy Swamp
- Directly northeast of Salty Springs
- Southwest of Sweaty Sands
How To Complete The Challenge
Typically for challenges of this nature, your best bet to complete the task as quickly as possible is to land at the area you need to visit. For this mission, however, you’ll need to take a more cautious approach, as each crash site is guarded by a cadre of First Order Stormtroopers. Make sure you have a couple of long-range weapons in your inventory before you head to a crash site so you can pick off the Stormtroopers and any competing players also trying to complete this challenge.
The Stormtroopers are all wielding First Order Blast Rifles, which they’ll drop upon being defeated. Not only do these have unlimited ammo, making them handy to take out other Stormtroopers, you’ll need to use the gun to complete another one of the Star Wars challenges, so be sure to pick one up when you have the chance. Once you’ve cleared out all the Stormtroopers guarding a crash site, interact with the flag at the crash site to reclaim it. Repeat the process until you’ve reclaimed enough crash sites and you’ll complete the challenge.
Season 1 of Fortnite Chapter 2 was originally slated to end this month, but Epic has now extended it into February, so you have more time to complete any challenges you haven’t cleared yet. If you need help mopping those up, you can find our maps and guides for the trickier ones in our Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges roundup.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Will Hit US Theaters In Early 2020
If you haven’t gotten enough of My Hero Academia, don’t worry–the next movie is coming to North America soon. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising will debut in Japan this week, on December 20, while international audiences will need to wait for 2020 for an official release.
In a blog post, Funimation announced that My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising will release in US and Canadian theaters in “early 2020.” No additional information was provided beyond that, so fans will have to wait a little longer for an exact date. The post did not clarify whether the movie would simultaneously release in both the original Japanese and English dub, but–considering 2018’s My Hero Academia: Two Heroes did–it’s probable Heroes Rising will as well.
Heroes Rising jumps far ahead of the arc currently being told in the anime, telling the story that My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi originally planned as the final chapter for the shonen series–depicting the last battle that Class 1-A ever has together before graduation from U.A. High School. Based on the two most recent trailers, the movie certainly seems to be at the end of the My Hero Academia timeline as we see members of Class 1-A using their Quirks in ways they haven’t learned in the anime yet. Midoriya safely fights with One for All at 100%, for example, while Tokoyami controls Dark Shadow while in darkness, and Kaminari manages the amount of electricity he produces and fires his Electrification Quirk without the need for his Sharpshooting Gear.
The new trailers offer a first in-depth look at the movie’s main villains as well. Primary antagonist Nine is shown to possess nine Quirks and even has the ability to take One for All from Midoriya by force. He’s joined by Slice (who can seemingly fire blades from her hair), Mummy (who can seemingly control others like puppets after he’s wrapped them in cloth), and Chimera (who appears to have enhanced strength).
If you’re looking to catch up on the anime, the current season of My Hero Academia is airing this season and is one of GameSpot’s must-watch anime of Fall 2019. If you’re looking to catch up in time for Heroes Rising’s release, however, you should start reading the manga–which should be a lot easier with Shonen Jump’s new subscription model.
One Of Netflix’s Best 2019 Anime Gets A Part 2 This Christmas
Netflix has announced that the second part of Carole & Tuesday will release in the US on December 24–just in time for anyone looking for a good excuse to ignore their family this holiday season. The second part of the original anime series will add 12 new episodes, upping the total number of episodes to 24.
Carole & Tuesday is one of GameSpot’s must-watch anime of the Summer 2019 season. The original musical comedy is helmed by Shinichirō Watanabe, the talented director behind Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy. Featuring a diverse cast of voice actors and musicians, Carole & Tuesday follows the two titular characters, whose accidental meeting leads to a powerful partnership turned friendship. Both women decide to work together as a singer-songwriter duo, with Part 1 covering their early attempts at reaching stardom–which is full of both wonderful successes and demoralizing failures.
Though Carole & Tuesday has already debuted in Japan, it’s been slow to come to the US, which is traditional for Netflix anime at this point. Unlike other streaming services that host anime series–such as Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hidive, and Amazon Prime Video–Netflix releases an entire anime season in the US only after all the episodes have fully aired. The service does not release episodes of anime week to week. This has caused some disgruntled feelings in US anime fans, especially since Netflix has begun to secure exclusivity with some of the most anticipated anime series in recent years, such as Violet Evergarden and Beastars.
Carole & Tuesday is actually the first anime on Netflix to release in parts, allowing the first half of the show to launch in Summer 2019 while the latter half will release in Fall 2019. Whether Netflix chooses to do this going forward remains to be seen, but it has helped get the anime out to the US faster than previous shows on the service.
If you’re ready to start prepping your queue for future releases, be sure to check out GameSpot’s list of most-anticipated anime for 2020.
Red Dead 2 And Borderlands 3 Featured In Huge PC Games Winter Sale
The year’s PC winter sales are underway. GOG has already kicked off theirs, Steam is getting ready to do so later this week, and the Epic Games Store has 12 days of free games to accompany their deals. Green Man Gaming is also holding its own sale, where it introduces new flash deals every day. These flash deals last 48 hours and feature the games’ lowest prices–you won’t see them cheaper for the rest of the sale.
The first two flash deals are Red Dead Redemption 2 and Borderlands 3. Green Man Gaming’s keys for Red Dead 2 are redeemable on the Rockstar Games Launcher, while Borderlands 3 is currently exclusive to the Epic Game Store. Both games will be available for their sale price until Wednesday, December 18, at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET.
Red Dead Redemption 2 | $42.23 ($60)
From GameSpot’s Red Dead Redemption 2 review: “Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it’s also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it’s a world that is hard to leave when it’s done.”
Borderlands 3 | $33.36 ($60)
From GameSpot’s Borderlands 3 review: “Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game’s rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor.”
More flash deals will be added every day. Tomorrow’s discounts belong to The Outer Worlds and Ancestor’s Legacy. We’ll be sure to report back when their sale prices are revealed.
However, these aren’t the only discounts available during Green Man Gaming’s winter sale. There are already a ton of games from Ubisoft, 2K Games, and THQ Nordic featured. More will be added throughout the week–all of the winter sale’s deals should be available by Friday, December 20. You can see a list of the best in the list below.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.