The advent of the first PlayStation in December 1994 changed the home entertainment industry forever. The console’s imagery permeates pop culture and remains just as recognizable as years ago due to its revolutionary impact on the gaming industry. The PlayStation may be on its fifth iteration now, but the look of the original is not lost on time. In fact, Sony just announced a limited edition PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection that pays homage to the colors and themes of its first console.

The new collection includes various editions of the PS5 and its accessories. There are two bundles and three standalone items available for purchase. Both the PS5 Digital and Pro editions will have their own bundles. The Pro bundle will have a limited production run of only 12,300, with each one individually numbered. That number comes from the month and date that the PlayStation launched. Both come with additional accessories like PlayStation cable ties, PlayStation logo paperclip, stickers, and a poster. An eye-catching addition is the special USB-C connector, housed in a casing that resembles the original PlayStation’s controller wire.

“So today we use USB-C for this charging cable, but we want to bring back some memories when you start playing [the PS5],” said Hideaki Nishino, CEO Platform Business Group of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

All the products in the collection feature nostalgic references to the original PlayStation. The collection is light gray, with the original quad-colored logo evocative of the first console. The entire collection features a special logo highlighting the 30th anniversary, including on the grips and embossing of the controllers. PlayStation shared many more hidden nostalgic details in the video below.

Fans of the original PlayStation or those who want to add a retro flair to their modern setup can expect to enjoy all the designs in this collection. The anniversary collection will release Nov. 21. Pre-orders on direct.playstation.com and select retailers begin Sept. 26.

The post PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection Is a Throwback to the Original ’90s Console appeared first on Nerdist.

In early May, Sony announced that in order to continue to play Helldivers 2, Steam players would need to link their accounts to a PlayStation Network account. But this announcement went over poorly, to say the least. Some players stipulated that they would literally be unable to create a PlayStation Network account because their region would not allow them to. Others simply did not want to have to share their information with Sony. But after the massive negative outcry, the company has reversed course.

PlayStation shared on Twitter that “The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new [Helldivers 2] players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.”

Johan Pilestedt, the CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios, which develops Helldivers 2, commented that he felt impressed by the collaborative energy of the community. He also praised PlayStation and Sony for being nimble in undoing the unpopular edict. (The second time in recent history the companies have backtracked on an unpopular announcement.) He noted, “We together want to set a new standard for what a live game is, and how developers and community can support each other to create the best game experiences.”

We guess that’s the power of players in action.

The post Sony Will NOT Require HELLDIVERS 2 PSN Linking After All appeared first on Nerdist.

Believe it or not, 2024 marks twenty years since the release of the original Star Wars: Battlefront game. In honor of the big anniversary, Star Wars: Battlefront and 2005’s Star Wars: Battlefront II are coming to devoted fans in a new classic collection. This collection will bring 64-player online gameplay to consoles for the very first time. It will showcase several new special features as well. And you won’t have to wait very long for either one to arrive. These classic Star Wars shooters are launching on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC on March 14.

The Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection contains both Star Wars: Battlefront and its sequel all in one package. These are the original Battlefront games, and not the Star Wars: Battlefront games developed by Dice, which came out in 2015 and 2017. You can watch the announcement trailer for the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection above.

This Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection contains the original versions, which were only available on PS2, Xbox, and PC. This release marks the first time any of the classic Battlefront games will be playable on Nintendo consoles. All previously released bonus content and DLC will be included, and Steam Deck will be supported too. The Battlefront classic Includes the Bonus Map of Jabba’s Palace. Battlefront II, meanwhile, includes these bonus maps: Bespin: Cloud City, Rhen Var: Harbor, Rhen Var: Citadel, and Yavin 4: Arena. The original game has 17 total maps. Battlefront II boasts 22 ground maps, 6 space maps, and 9 more space maps.

In another first for this collection, classic Star Wars: The Clone Wars bonus characters Asajj Ventress and Kit Fisto will be playable on PlayStation. Before, they were Xbox-only. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection will officially launch on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC on March 14 for $35.01. If you already own the original games on Xbox or Steam, you’ll get a 20% discount when pre-ordering the games. For more details, head on over to the official PlayStation blog.

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Director David F. Sandberg seems done with the world of superheroes after two Shazam! movies, and is returning to his horror roots with a new film. Via a story in The Hollywood Reporter, we’ve learned that the Swedish director of Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation has signed on to direct a feature film version of Until Dawn, an adaptation of the popular PlayStation horror video game, for Sony Pictures. It’s being developed by Screen Gems, together with PlayStation Productions. All three companies are under the larger Sony umbrella.

Gary Dauberman, the screenwriter behind hit horror franchises It, Annabelle, and The Nun is doing a rewrite on the script originally written by Blair Butler. Butler had previously written wrote Sony’s vampire film, The Invitation. Speaking of vampires, Dauberman also recently finished his adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, which is sitting on a shelf at Warner Bros. We’re all still waiting for that one. Disney recently announced Dauberman as the one taking the helm of a long-awaited adaptation of the ’90s animated hit, Gargoyles.

Until Dawn is an interactive horror video game that came out back in 2015. The game focuses on eight friends who arrive one day at a remote mountain retreat. There, they come face-to-face with several deadly scenarios, a killer on the loose, and even cannibal wendigos. All the members of the group of friends have to face their biggest fears, or they won’t live to see another day. Until Dawn ended up being a big seller, and critics also loved it. Until Dawn ultimately received several gaming awards nominations. Sony is no doubt hoping they have the same game-to-live-action success that they had with The Last of Us. No word on when the movie goes before the cameras, or any release window. However, we wouldn’t expect it before 2026.

The post David F. Sandberg Developing UNTIL DAWN Feature Film appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s only one sound to describe the current state of streaming. Ooof. And the latest news reveals that streaming shenanigans don’t stop at the traditional streaming platforms that first come to mind when we think of streaming our favorite shows. No, the most recent, unfortunate streaming news had to do with streaming via PlayStation. PlayStation users were recently informed that Discovery content they purchased via the PlayStation Store would no longer be accessible to users and would be removed from their libraries. To be clear, PlayStation and Sony were talking about TV shows that users spent money to specifically access and signaled that the content would vanish. We see titles come and go on streaming all of the time, but usually, not titles that come from a store-based interface. PlayStation did not, at the time, indicate that users would receive a refund for the lost content.

While the decision has since reversed course after massive public outcry, the intent of it remains haunting. Let’s take a look at what happened.

The message to users was short and not so sweet. Playstation/Sony noted, “As of 31 December 2023, due to our content licensing arrangements with content providers, you will no longer be able to watch any of your previously purchased Discovery content and the content will be removed from your video library.”

You can find the full list of Discovery titles that PlayStation was intending to remove from users’ accounts here. Among other titles, purchased versions of Cake Boss, Deadliest Catch, Dirtiest Jobs, Mythbusters, and more will vanish… Alongside the money users spent on purchasing them. Forbes notes that PlayStation meant to delete over 1,200 titles in total. As mentioned, there was no discussion of a refund or a way to download Discovery content purchased for PlayStation.

Fortunately for users, public opinion still has some sway over decisions made by corporations. An updated message on PlayStation’s website reads, “Due to updated licensing arrangements, the Discovery content removal planned for December 31, 2023 is no longer occurring. We appreciate your ongoing support and feedback.” We feel quite certain that Sony and Playstation heard more than a little feedback. But, at the very least, it seems like consumers won this battle. Sony revealed to GamesIndustry.biz that though they do not own the licensing rights to movies/TV series purchased via the PlayStation Store, they’ve come to an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery for now.

The full quote reads, “Similar to other services, we do not own the licensing rights to TV/movie content that was previously available for purchase on PlayStation Store…However, we’ve worked with Warner Bros to update our licensing agreements, ensuring that consumers will be able to access their previously purchased content for at least the next 30 months.” We’ll just let that sink in.

Regardless of this small victory, the takeaway remains the same and it goes something like this. Not even streaming media that is specifically purchased is really “owned” anymore. We already knew that, of course. But we really know it now. At the same time, it’s becoming more and more difficult to purchase and play physical media versions of shows and movies. So consumers are truly in a pickle. We say it every time, but we really and truly do not like this trend.

Originally published on December 4, 2023.

The post PlayStation Will No Longer Delete Users’ Purchased TV Shows with No Refunds appeared first on Nerdist.

Whenever the prospect of a new video game movie adaptation materializes, we usually run the gamut from “Oh hey, cool” to “Oh, but probably it won’t be good” pretty fast. We’ve got years and years of movies like Assassins Creed, Doom, and Street Fighter tempering those expectations. Though we’ve also had the likes of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog to perk us up a bit. (Also, sidebar, the original Silent Hill movie is actually quite good.) But nothing has given us as much cautious optimism as the following: a Ghost of Tsushima movie is in the works from John Wick series director Chad Stahelski. And happily, its showing signs of life.

Sony

In 2021, Deadline reported that Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions are developing the film based on the massive 2020 bestselling game from Sucker Punch Studios. Roundly considered the final big game of the PlayStation 4 generation, it has sold millions of copies. The story follows samurai Jin Sakai as he must thwart an invasion by the vicious Mongol army in the 13th century. In the course of the story, Jin puts his code of honor to the test as he engages in stealth and terror techniques to overtake the invaders. That right there is a pretty John Wicky character arc.

Since the initial announcement, we haven’t seen much movement from the Ghost of Tsushima movie. But recently, Chad Stahelski gave a fairly promising update to ScreenRant. He shared:

We have a script, we’re very close to getting our s–t together on that, as well. Development is always tricky, it’s studios, it’s strikes, and availabilities, and scouting. You have to will things into existence. I think the two things that I am closest and most interested in are Highlander and Ghost of Tsushima. Both amazing, amazing properties, the story of Ghost is, also, one of my favorite properties of all time.

Sony

Of any recent video game, Ghost of Tsushima already feels very cinematic. The massive open world allows players to traverse a damn near real-size map of the actual Tsushima Island. Massive open vistas and scenic mountains fill the screen. In fact, there’s a specific “Kurosawa Mode” which makes the player feel like you’re playing a movie by the legendary director Akira Kurosawa.

This is all to say that there’s a lot to make one think a movie adaptation could be amazing. Story and character-driven; fast-paced and visceral action; gorgeous period setting and landscape; plus you get to pet foxes, which better be in the movie or so help us. We already were keen to see Ghost of Tsushima turn into a TV series, a la The Last of Us‘ recent adaptation, but I guess a movie will be okay too.

In hiring Chad Stahelski to direct, Sony is ensuring some of the most bone-crunching, arterial-blood-spraying action one could hope for. It could do for samurai movies what the John Wick series did for gunplay. This might also hopefully be the rare instance in which people who played the characters in the game will reprise their roles for the film. The performance capture is so good, there’s really no mistaking any of the cast.

Ghost of Tsushima is born of the partnership between Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions. We hope we’ll get to see it come fully to life.

Originally published on March 25, 2021.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

The post GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Movie Is Still Coming From JOHN WICK Director appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 took the world by storm upon release, and like any good Marvel narrative worth its salt, it’s chock full of teasers for the future and many Easter eggs. If you weren’t excited about the idea of a third Spider-Man game from Insomniac for PlayStation 5 before, you will be after all of these hints of what’s to come. Let’s break down those Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 post-credits teases and cameo appearances.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Hints at Doc Ock’s Return and the Green Goblin

In the mid-credits scene of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we witness the return of Doc Ock himself, Dr. Otto Octavius (William Salyers), the first game’s Big Bad. After the Venom symbiote is removed from Harry Osborn, his father, Norman, appears, blaming both Spider-Men for hurting his son. Afterward, Norman arrives at the supervillain prison called the Raft, hoping to learn the Spider-Men’s identities from Dr. Octopus. But Doc Ock keeps his secrets and tells Norman, “We all have to experience loss.” When Norman Osborn sees that Otto Octavius has been writing something in a journal, he asks “What are you writing?” to which Dr. Octavius answers ominously, “The final chapter.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, The game’s co-creator Bryan Intihar, said of the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 mid-credits scene, “I can tell you that scene, in some way, has always been the plan since day one. We knew that the second game would end with that kind of scene.” As for the appearance of Spider-Man’s biggest nemesis of all, the Green Goblin, it’s been teased since the first game, where we saw Norman’s pumpkin bombs and prototype mask. But the Green Goblin persona has yet to appear in the Marvel’s Spider-Man games. “We’ve literally discussed Green Goblin at every game,” Intihar says. “If you bring him in, it’s kind of like Venom. There are very, very big expectations. So, you want to make sure if you’re going to do it, you’re going to deliver on it.” If Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 is indeed the grand finale, expect to hear a familiar cackle.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Introduces the Spider Heroine Silk

The second Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 post-credits scene introduces yet another popular arachnid hero to the mix. As we learned throughout the game, Miles Morales’ mom, Rio Morales (Jacqueline Pinol), mentions that she’s begun dating again after her husband’s death. In the final Marvel Spider-Man 2 post-credits scene, we learn who that someone is. Rio introduces her new beau Albert Moon to Miles. But also tagging along is Albert’s daughter Cindy Moon, who waves in the background.

As Marvel Comics fans know, Cindy Moon is a superhero herself, known as Silk. The very same spider that bit Peter Parker also bit her on that field trip. She kept her powers secret until adulthood, unlike Peter. But the introduction of Silk adds another member of the Spidey family to Marvel’s Spider-Man game’s universe. Even though the team considered adding in Spider-Gwen, the game’s co-creator Jacinda Chew said, “Cindy Moon is a character that has so much possibility because she’s not as well known. We were like, ‘Let’s just do something different.'”

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Hints at Spider-Man 2099

Also, the game looks to connect to the wildly popular Spider-Verse films. This should come as no surprise, as the Insomniac Spider-Man appeared in Across the Spider-Verse. In one of the game’s side missions, we see Peter and Miles try to round up some rogue Spider-bots. Miles’ buddy and tech expert Ganke (Griffin Puatu) sends you to an alleyway where a portal opens up. A portal in the familiar hexagonal style of Multiverse travels from the Spider-Verse films. Here is where we see the character of the assassin Delilah, who in the comics has fought Spidey. After examining the Spider-bot, she remarks, “If Miguel comes looking for these, tell him, ‘Finders keepers.'” This Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Miguel mention can only allude to Miguel O’Hara, better known as Spider-Man 2099. Hey, it’s not just the MCU that’s “all connected.”

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Features a Mini Firefly Reunion

Oh, and blink and you miss it, but the game had a small Firefly reunion. Actors Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk play two dudes wearing cat mascot suits and Spider-Man masks christened Bodega Cats in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. These two have an argument outside a bodega. Both Fillion and Tudyk came in for the relatively small roles just because they are huge fans of the Marvel’s Spider-Man game franchise. And the two, who are both no strangers to voice-over acting, recorded their Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 cameos in one weekend.

With all these teases and reveals, including the ones mentioned above and some others teasing Carnage and Chameleon, here’s hoping that a Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 game from Insomniac isn’t too many years away.

The post Here Are the MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Post-Credit Reveals and Easter Egg Cameos appeared first on Nerdist.

October is always full of excitement. This week, Netflix released The Fall of the House of Usher and gifted us with some truly gory deaths, McDonald’s revealed its latest Boo Buckets to the world, and A24’s The Iron Claw shared its trailer to the world. But that’s not all that took place. Plenty of other exciting happenings revealed themselves, and we wouldn’t want them to get lost in the shuffle.

Here are some of our favorite pop-culture news odds & ends that you don’t want to miss reading about.

This Week’s Odds & Ends in News

Jump to:

• New Digimon Adventure 02 Movie Heads to Theaters
• One Piece‘s Showrunner Reveals He’s Writing Doctor Kureha for Jamie Lee Curtis and Other Season Two Teases
• Ian McKellen Told Patrick Stewart NOT to Do Star Trek
• Ghostface Is Here to Cause Halloween Mayhem in Youtooz Line
• Netflix Has Renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for Season Two (But Canceled Vikings: Valhalla)
• Girl Scouts Have Discontinued Popular 2022 Flavor, Raspberry Rally
• Go Camping with Pokémon in Adorable New Live-Action Hybrid Series
• D&D Beyond Wants to Make Gameplay Easier with Maps Tool
• Mickey and Friends Celebrate Avengers and X-Men‘s 60th Anniversary with Disney What If? Variant Covers
• Gaming Highlights: Slimmer PS5 Coming for the Holidays, Logitech Shares Cool Star Wars Gear

New Digimon Adventure 02 Movie Heads to Theaters

Feeling nostalgic for Saturday morning cartoons of yore? Us too. That’s why we were excited to hear about a new Digimon Adventure 02 movie coming soon to theaters. A release shares more about Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning:

This November the DigiDestined are back in theaters with a brand new movie.  Toei Animation and Fathom Events revealed today details for the U.S. theatrical release of “Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning” as a two-day event on November 8 & 9. It is present day and the chosen children from “Digimon Adventure 02” have returned with all new adventures — but now they’re 20 year old young adults! 

If Kari, T.K., and Ken are among some of your favorite Digimon characters ever, like they are mine, then you’re in luck. You can snag tickets from Fathom Events. The film will screen in both the English dub (November 8) and in Japanese with English subtitles (November 9). Additionally, “the first 50 guests to arrive at each night’s screening will receive a complimentary Digimon Card Game Tamer Party Pack -THE BEGINNING- ver. 2.0, which includes 3 out of 14 possible cards from the new Digimon Card Game deck commemorating the film (first come, first served). Lucky recipients will be among the first fans in the U.S. to own these new “Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning” themed cards before they are released to the general public in December.”

Sounds like some throwback fun to us. A synopsis for the new Digimon movie further shares:

It’s 2012, and ten years have passed since the adventure in the Digital World. Daisuke Motomiya is now twenty, and he and the rest of the DigiDestined seem to be changing bit by bit in terms of appearance and lifestyle. Then one day, a giant Digitama suddenly appears in the sky over Tokyo Tower. Daisuke and the others encounter a mysterious young man named Lui Ohwada, who informs them that he’s the first ever DigiDestined in the world…

For even more nostalgia, check out our Power Rangers throwback, here:

One Piece‘s Showrunner Reveals He’s Writing Doctor Kureha for Jamie Lee Curtis and Other Season Two Teases

Netflix’s One Piece defied the anime adaptation curse to become a much-beloved piece of the long-running franchise. Happily, Netflix green-lit season two of the show, and with the conclusion of the WGA strike, we can now hear more about it. Speaking to Deadline, One Piece co-showrunner Matt Owens discussed one of the most eagerly anticipated season two castings. For a while now, buzz has been circulating about Jamie Lee Curtis joining the live-action One Piece adaptation as Doctor Kureha. And it turns out, it’s more than just buzz.

Owens notes, “Doctor Kureha, very luckily, is a character who is coming up in our story, and is someone who is perfect for Jamie Lee Curtis.” And further adds, “After she won her Oscar, the writers’ room sent her a figure of Doctor Kureha with a nice note that said, ‘Congratulations on your statue, here’s another one to put next to it. Hope to speak to you soon.’ When she reposted that, it got a lot of fan interest, and I commented on it. We’re trying to manifest it.” Of course, with the current SAG-AFTRA strike still in play, no official casting can be confirmed. However, Owens shares of the writers’ room, “We’re writing for her — we really, really want her to come and play with us in Season 2.” Fingers crossed!

In a Reddit AMA, Owens further noted that he’d love to see live-action spinoffs, especially on starring a Young Mihawk, that One Piece’s Lougetown arc remains upcoming in the live-action, and that he can’t wait to adapt Law and Carrot.

Learn how to watch One Piece without filler episodes, here:

Ian McKellen Told Patrick Stewart NOT to Do Star Trek

In a different timeline on the multiverse, beloved actor Sir Ian McKellen almost destroyed the universe. Well, not exactly, but he may have convinced Sir Patrick Stewart not to go forward with Star Trek, thus denying us Stewart’s rendition of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Patrick Stewart’s memoir, Making It So, has given us many fun and fascinating tidbits about the actor’s journey. But recently, via Insider, we learned Ian McKellen urged Patrick Stewart not to sign on to Star Trek. Stewart reveals in his book, “When I told him I was going to sign the contract, he almost bodily prevented me from doing so… ‘No!’ he said. ‘No, you must not do that. You must not. You have too much important theater work to do. You can’t throw that away to do TV. You can’t. No!'”

It was an impassioned plea, but Stewart followed his gut. He writes, “There are few people, particularly with regard to acting, whose counsel I trust more than Ian’s… But this time, I had to tell him that I felt theater would return to my life whenever I was ready for it, whereas an offer of the lead role in an American TV series might never come again.”

Happily, Stewart says, “Ian has acknowledged that he was wrong and I was right… More than once, in fact – primarily because I like making him say those words.” What a delightful friendship and conclusion to this tale.

Check out more stories from Patrick Stewart’s memoir, here:

Ghostface Is Here to Cause Halloween Mayhem in Youtooz Line

You scream, I scream, we all scream for Ghostface. Who doesn’t love the ever-changing masked menace? As we wait for Scream 7, and whatever new kills and frights it will bring, you can take Ghostface home for yourself. On Friday the 13th, Youtooz will release three, dare we say, adorable Ghostfaces that we can add to our collections. They are classic Ghostface, Aged Ghostface, an Entertainment Earth Exclusive, and Glow in the Dark Ghostface, also an Entertainment Earth Exclusive.

You can check out the full Ghostface collection on Youtooz’s website.

Enjoy other Youtooz shenanigans, here:

Netflix Has Renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for Season Two (But Canceled Vikings: Valhalla)

Fans of Netflix’s gorgeous Castlevania series and its spinoffs can rejoice. Netflix has renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for another season. The Castlevania series follows Richter Belmont, weaving “a never before seen origin story” for the Belmont descendent and tells the tale of vampires in the French Revolution.

Its beautiful first season is now available to stream on Netflix. And we can’t wait to see what exquisitely intense tales Castlevania: Nocturne season two will reveal.

Sadly, it’s not all good news for spinoffs. Netflix has canceled Vikings: Valhalla after three seasons. Vikings: Valhalla existed as a sequel series to History’s much-watched drama Vikings, and fans will be sad to see it go. The third and now final season of Vikings: Valhalla, however, has not yet aired. The Vikings spinoff will arrive on Netflix in 2024. Hopefully, the season will bring the show to a fulfilling close.

Catch up with season one of Castlevania: Nocturne, here:

Jump to:

• One Piece‘s Showrunner Reveals He’s Writing Doctor Kureha for Jamie Lee Curtis and Other Season Two Teases
• Ian McKellen Told Patrick Stewart NOT to Do Star Trek
• Ghostface Is Here to Cause Halloween Mayhem in Youtooz Line
• Netflix Has Renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for Season Two (But Canceled Vikings: Valhalla)
• Girl Scouts Have Discontinued Popular 2022 Flavor, Raspberry Rally
• Go Camping with Pokémon in Adorable New Live-Action Hybrid Series
• D&D Beyond Wants to Make Gameplay Easier with Maps Tool
• Mickey and Friends Celebrate Avengers and X-Men‘s 60th Anniversary with Disney What If? Variant Covers
• New Digimon Adventure 02 Movie Heads to Theaters
• Gaming Highlights: Slimmer PS5 Coming for the Holidays, Logitech Shares Cool Star Wars Gear

Girl Scouts Have Discontinued Popular 2022 Flavor, Raspberry Rally

Cancellations are really everywhere. As if it weren’t enough that TV shows get canceled, now the Girl Scouts are canceling cookie flavors. We learned via Food & Wine that the Girl Scouts of the USA announced that they have discontinued 2022’s hit flavor Rasberry Rally. Rasberry Rally, a chocolate-coated Raspberry cookie, became an instant hit. The cookies sold out almost everywhere. I personally never got to try one. And now it seems they will not return. A Girl Scout representative offered the following statement, “Last year, Raspberry Rally cookies were introduced as part of a pilot online-only sales strategy… While Raspberry Rally was extremely popular last year, we are taking a pause this season to prioritize supplying our classic varieties.”

We guess Thin Mints couldn’t take the competition. But happily, many Girl Scouts cookies will return to us shortly. The next season of cookie-selling begins in January.

Learn how else you can enjoy Girl Scout Cookies, here:

Go Camping with Pokémon in Adorable New Live-Action Hybrid Series

Need something soothing for your soul? How about a live-action/CGI hybrid web series starring Pokémon nomming on delicious-looking desserts as they prepare to go camping? In all honesty, we have no notes. We could watch this Pokémon series all day. Camping with Pokémon will run for three episodes, but that doesn’t feel like nearly enough.

Next, we hope to see Pokémon telling scary stories around their Charmeleon campfire; maybe they can be joined by some ghost Pokémon for the occasion. And we also hope one day we can go camping with Pokémon ourselves.

We also want to give an honorable mention to Pokémon‘s Dream Plush collection. Could anything be cuter than soft, napping Pokémon plushes?

Indulge in more adorable Pokémon fun, here:

D&D Beyond Wants to Make Gameplay Easier with Maps Tool

Playing Dungeons and Dragons can feel intimidating. After all, there’s a lot to plot and execute in order to create an amazing campaign. But D&D Beyond has introduced a new tool that aims to help simplify gameplay prep and get players going.

D&D Beyond shares:

Prep less, play more. That’s our guiding star for Maps, the latest tool for D&D Beyond. Whether you play online or in person, we want Maps to offer a quick and easy way for DMs to connect with players and launch their adventures on D&D Beyond. 

With Maps, you can pull official maps and monster tokens from your D&D Beyond digital library to play with. You can also upload your own maps, drop in player tokens, and apply a fog of war. When you’re ready to play, you can invite players who have a free or upgraded D&D Beyond account into the shared play space. The Game Log will help you keep track of dice rolls on the fly. 

The Maps tool is still on the first step of its journey. So stay tuned for more updates.

You can now introduce Baldur’s Gate 3 characters into your D&D campaign. Check out our article about it, here:

Mickey and Friends Celebrate Avengers and X-Men‘s 60th Anniversary with Disney What If? Variant Covers

We love a good crossover, especially one that involves our favorite franchises. In celebration of the 60^th anniversary of two all-star Marvel teams, the Avengers and the X-Men, Marvel Comics will release 12 Disney100 Variant Covers that bring Disney and Marvel even closer together. These fun Disney What If? covers will see “Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and more take over milestone moments in both Avengers and X-Men history.” That’s what we call iconic. This “monthly variant cover program [adorn] select issues of Amazing Spider-Man.” The covers will also be available in black and white.

Click To View Gallery

A release further shares, “The first trio of covers kicks things off in the Silver Age with a spin on the Avengers and X-Men’s very first appearances in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original Avengers #1 and X-Men #1 from 1963. Both homages also feature Peg Leg Pete as the group’s respective archenemies–Loki and Magneto! Then, Mickey and friends assemble for a turning point for the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Avengers #16, which saw Captain America lead a brand-new Avengers roster that included new recruits like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver!” That Peg Leg Pete is always causing trouble.

To get your hands on these Disney What If? variant covers, check in with your local comic shop or keep an eye on Marvel’s website. The first three covers will go on sale on January 3, February 14, and March 6, 2023.

Learn more about the Avengers and X-Men’s Marvel Comics anniversary, here:

Gaming Highlights: Slimmer PS5 Coming for the Holidays, Logitech Shares Cool Star Wars Gear

The PS5 is getting a whole new look for the holidays, kind of. It doesn’t look that much different to me, but it is slimmer. According to PlayStation’s official blog, the PS5 has “been reduced in volume by more than 30%, and weight by 18% and 24% compared to the previous models.” That does feel significant, even if it doesn’t necessarily look it. This new PS5 model also comes with “an attachable Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive and a 1TB SSD for more internal storage.” Nice. The updated PS5 will completely replace older models over time. Its rollout begins in November. In the US, a PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive is projected to cost $499.99, while a PS5 Digital Edition will cost 449.99 USD.

Meanwhile, Logitech G wants you to game in style with a new gaming mouse and mouse pads that celebrate Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. We especially love the mouse, which, among other excellent utilities, offers “custom Millennium Falcon-inspired thruster animations and graphics with 8-LED full-spectrum RGB lighting.” Plus, it just looks really cool. And it really ought to because it will cost you $159.99. Steep, but fabulous.

The Battle of Endor and Darth Vader editions of the Logitech G840 XL Cloth Gaming Mouse Pad will only set you back $49.99 each.

Game in style, we must!

Check out more on PlayStation’s latest updates, here:

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In May, Sony announced Project Q, a PS5 handheld gaming device, at its PlayStation showcase. Now called the PlayStation Portal, this “remote play dedicated device” has a release window and a price tag… And also some limitations. Here’s what we know about the PlayStation Portal.

Firstly, what is the PlayStation Portal, and what does it cost? A release from PlayStation shares more. It notes, the “PlayStation Portal remote player brings the PS5 experience to the palm of your hand. It includes the key features of the DualSense wireless controller, including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. The vibrant 8-inch LCD screen is capable of 1080p resolution at 60fps, providing a high definition visual experience that’s expected from the high-quality games created by world-class developers.” The PlayStation Portal costs $199.

Basically, the PlayStation Portal is a portable device you can use to play all your PS5 favorite games. Sony suggests you can use it in cases where your TV screen is otherwise occupied… Or if you just want to visit a different room than your console. If you want to play PS5 games in your bed, it sounds convenient. The PlayStation Portal remote device will let you play your PS5 games using Wi-Fi, but you do need to connect to your actual PS5 to do so. It will essentially mirror your PS5.

But without Wi-Fi, you won’t be able to use this device. Much to the disappointment of fans, the PlayStation Portal itself does not have 5G capabilities. It will also not stream games from PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud. Sony notes, “Games that require a VR headset (PlayStation VR or PlayStation VR2) or additional peripherals (other than a DUALSHOCK 4, DualSense, or DualSense Edge wireless controller) are not compatible. Games that must be streamed on PS5 using a PS Plus Premium membership are not compatible.”

Additionally, the Portal device does not have Bluetooth capabilities. Not even Sony’s PlayStation Pulse 3D headset will work with it. In order to hear your audio, you’re going to need wired headphones, Sony’s new Pulse Elite wireless headset, or its Pulse Explore wireless earbuds. These new Pulse products will use Sony’s “new wireless audio technology, PlayStation Link” to function.

The PlayStation Portal will release this year. If you want a slightly more portable way to play your PS5 games, it could be a good deal for you.

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Five years later and I’m still in awe of how good and complete a Spider-Man story the PlayStation Spider-Man game is. A thorough experience all around, but add the three-part DLC and the spinoff game Miles Morales and you’ve got one of the best Spidey stories in any non-comic medium. Because of that, the hype for the sequel has been off the charts. Happily, we now know the Spider-Man 2 game will officially release on October 20. A story trailer, released at San Diego Comic-Con, shows more of what’s ahead.

The Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 gameplay footage released with the announcement (below) begins with Peter—now sporting a brand new black-goo suit. Hmm, wonder what that can be all about. He tries to stop the Kraven cronies from hunting Dr. Curt Conners, who has become fully, monstrously Lizardish.

We get to see some of Spider-Man’s new Venom skills before we swap to Miles. He now has a very good sense of his own powers. Stealth will still play a part in the new game, and one can hope they’ve upgraded the AI of the thugs to make it a bit more sporting. Not long after, Miles, Peter, and Miles’ friend-and-guy-in-the-chair Ganke control a drone as they chase down Conners and try to keep him (and everyone else in NYC) out of Kraven’s crosshairs.

As with the first Spider-Man game, a large amount of plot and character comes during dialogue during gameplay. Here we learn that Conners’ research is integral to helping with Harry Osborn’s condition. If you’ll remember, the end of the first game showed Harry deep in the throes of a debilitating disease. No way that will turn him into Green Goblin. Can’t imagine it will.

Those of us who know the Spider-Man mythos know the black suit and Peter’s gruffer attitude will lead to some problems for his loved ones. However, he’s not likely to remain John Goo for very long. And while Sony has confirmed the game will not be two-player co-op, we have full faith that Miles Morales will provide the player with plenty of opportunities to save Petey Pie.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be out on October 20, 2023.

Originally published on May 24, 2023.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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Original reporting by Melissa Miller

Who wouldn’t want to spend some time going on quests as a ginger cat wearing a backpack? And now, we all can thanks to the new sci-fi video game Stray. The recently released game includes incredible graphics of the stray kitty exploring a neon-lit cityscape. The game from BlueTwelve Studio is available for PC and PlayStation 4 and 5. It’s also included for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members. And soon, it will arrive on Xbox. You can take a look at Stray‘s official trailer, here:

Stray arrives on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on August 10. And we’re sure it will be full of just as much cat-goodness as the original PlayStation version. The creators of the game shared some insights in a blog post on PlayStation’s website. Producer Swann Martin-Raget writes about the difficulties of controlling a cat. Every cat owner knows the struggle, but it turns out it’s true in game design too. They used the internet’s most valuable resource—cat videos—as references. So those of us who upload them are actually helping professionals do their job.  

The trailer includes action sequences, but also everyday cat activities like knocking things over for no reason. Or, as we call them in my house, gravity experiments. The video also shows a small flying drone named B-12 joining the quest. The team-up gives real Leia and her droid Lola vibes.  

After releasing a teaser trailer in 2020 and more gameplay videos last year, we can’t wait to finally play. According to the game’s website, Stray takes place in the seedy underbelly of a decaying cybercity. It instructs us to “be stealthy, nimble, silly, and sometimes as annoying as possible with the strange inhabitants of this mysterious world.” Sounds like a cat. Apparently, according to Polygon, if you meow enough in the game, you even get a “Little Chatty” trophy on Steam. And it sounds like there are many different meow sounds our favorite cat can make. We love that for everyone.

It’s a huge advancement from the first computer animation in 1968, which was also of a cat! Other studios have used motion capture of cats. All cat videos are good cat videos!

Originally published in 2022.

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Sony’s PlayStation Showcase this year came with some big announcements. Most prominently, a new streaming device and PlayStation’s first official wireless earbuds. Project Q will be a dedicated device launching later in the year. It will allow you to play any compatible game installed on your PS5 console using Remote Play over Wi-Fi. The device will deliver crisp visuals and smooth gameplay streamed from your PS5 when you’re away from your TV. All the buttons and features of the DualSense wireless controller, including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, are featured on the device.

They also revealed PlayStation’s first-ever official wireless earbuds. Launching later this year, the earbuds will feature new wireless technology developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment and will deliver lossless audio with low latency for a high-quality audio experience. These will bring next-generation audio immersion to PS5 along with PC, and feature connectivity to smartphones via Bluetooth. Sony will reveal more details over the next few months. You can see the first images above. And below is an official statement from SIE president Jim Ryan about these new reveals:

Our fans expect and deserve a steady cadence of amazing content. Today’s presentation demonstrates our unwavering commitment to offering them the best and most varied catalog of games possible. It also highlights the tremendous popularity and power of the PS5 as the global development community rallies to push its advanced capabilities to the limit. We’re investing heavily in the future with innovative best-in-class hardware like PlayStation VR2 and the newly revealed Project Q, and our expansion into PC, Mobile, and Live Service gaming is transforming how and where our content can be enjoyed.

We expect Sony Interactive Entertainment to reveal much more in the coming months.

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It is truly the age of Spider-Man… Or is it the age of Venom? During its 2021 PlayStation Showcase, PlayStation showed fans a tantalizing first look at Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game. The Spider-Man games have been a huge success to this point, allowing fans to embody both Peter Parker’s Spidey and Miles Morales. Now it looks like they’ll be teaming up against a familiar frenemy, Venom.

The trailer opens on a dark New York Street with our two Spideys taking care of business as usual. But not all is well in the world and something dark is lurking in the shadows. A creepy voice hovers over the trailer saying:

For as long as I can remember I have looked for an equal. One who could push me, one who could surprise me, one who could even beat me, yet all I found is disappointment. Will one of you finally give me what I desire?

And an equally creepy voice, one that no doubt belongs to Venom answers, “Yes. We will.”

Well, double the Spider-Men must surely mean double the foes to fight. It certainly sounds like there are two different baddies talking to one another in this first look. But who does the first voice belong to? We vote Kraven the Hunter. But anyone could be Venom’s better? (worse?) half at this point. We won’t know for sure until later. Other than the villain tease and the look at our two heroes teaming up, information is pretty scarce. But we’re very ready to learn about the gameplay, story, costumes, and more this game will surely offer.

For now, what we do know is that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will release in fall 2023. That might seem like a long way from now, but this first glimpse is so good, we’re getting excited anyway.

Originally published on September 9, 2021.

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A long-rumored change to PlayStation’s offerings has finally come. Sony has officially launched its answer to Xbox’s Game Pass, an updated PlayStation Plus subscription model with new tiers for gamers. This Game Pass competitor will combine two of PlayStation’s current services, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now, under the umbrella of the “all-new PlayStation Plus subscription service.” Here’s a breakdown of the new PlayStation Plus tiers, when we can expect the subscription service to launch, and most importantly, the updated costs these tiers bring with them.

PlayStation Plus Essential – $9.99 Monthly 

This PlayStation Plus Essential subscription tier is the most basic of the three levels.

Here’s what the tier offers. According to PlayStation’s release, it:

Provides the same benefits that PlayStation Plus members are getting today, such as:

• Two monthly downloadable games
• Exclusive discounts
• Cloud storage for saved games
• Online multiplayer access

In short, “there are no changes for existing PlayStation Plus members in this tier.”

The pricing also remains the same as the current PlayStation Plus pricing, which is to say $9.99 per month in the United States or $59.99 per year.

PlayStation Plus Extra – $14.99 monthly

This slightly more expensive PlayStation subscription tier brings new benefits for members. PlayStation explains that it:

• Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier
• Adds a catalog of up to 400 of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games – including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners. Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.

Note that the “most enjoyable games” do not necessarily mean the newest ones. However, this catalog addition comes as a welcome update.

The PlayStation Plus Extra tier costs $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year.

PlayStation Plus Premium – $17.99 monthly

The third and most expensive tier in the new PlayStation Plus model creates even more possibilities for gamers. Here’s what this tier entails:

• Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers
• Adds up to 340 additional games, including:
  • PS3 games available via cloud streaming
  • A catalog of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2, and PSP generations
• Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP, and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets where PlayStation Now is currently available. Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.
• Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.

A big draw here for gamers is the retro games the tier will offer. It may not call to everyone, but it certainly is a unique feature. The PlayStation Plus Premium tier cost $17.99 per month or $119.99 per year.

PlayStation Plus: Launch Dates, Games, and More 

According to PlayStation, these new tiers offer a significant evolution for users. At launch, PlayStation intends to include titles such as Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal. And promise that the “library will be regularly refreshed.”

PlayStation Now will no longer be available as a standalone service when the new service launches. And users will transition into the new offering. “PlayStation Now customers will migrate over to PlayStation Plus Premium with no increase to their current subscription fees at launch.”

The launch will occur in phases, however. First, the PlayStation Plus subscription tiers will release in markets in Asia around June. Then, markets in North America, Europe, and globally will follow. The aim is to have a majority of locations live with the subscription service by the end of the first half of 2022. Additionally, the platform seeks to expand its cloud streaming offering to additional markets.

PlayStation does note that “for markets without cloud streaming, PlayStation Plus Deluxe will be offered at a lower price compared to Premium, and includes a catalog of beloved classic games from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations to download and play, along with time-limited game trials. Benefits from Essential and Extra tiers are also included. Local pricing will vary by market.”

PlayStation Plus vs. Xbox Game Pass 

According to PlayStation, “The newly enhanced PlayStation Plus will enable our fans to discover and engage with more content than ever before, and deepen their connection with the PlayStation community through shared experiences.”

While this offering is certainly a Game Pass competitor, the two are not identical. The main difference lies in the fact that PlayStation Plus will not include exclusive PlayStation games on the service as soon as they launch for retail purchasing. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan shares with GamesIndustry.biz:

[In terms of] putting our own games into this service, or any of our services, upon their release… as you well know, this is not a road that we’ve gone down in the past. And it’s not a road that we’re going to go down with this new service. We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want.

Despite this, Ryan shares nothing is set in stone for the long term. And even without launch day availability, PlayStation Plus has some pretty great games on hand.

Additionally, while the PlayStation offerings have a higher monthly cost than Xbox’s options, Ryan notes that they are competitive from an annual perspective.

There you have it—the current purview of the new PlayStation Plus subscription service. We’ll update you with more details as they release.

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Virtual reality is taking players closer to their favorite games than ever before. Practically into their favorite games, in many ways. But even cutting-edge technology always continues to evolve. Recently, PlayStation announced their latest VR offering for the PS5 Console, the PlayStation VR2 and VR2 Sense controller. In addition, the company shared a teaser for the first game announced for the console: Horizon Call of the Mountain.

In a panel at CES 2022, Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, introduced the new system. Among other things, the VR2 and VR2 Sense controllers offer visual fidelity, head-set-based controller tracking, new sensory features, and eye-tracking.

A release about the new PlayStation VR system shared more about its updated features. It noted the PS VR2 offers 4K HDR, among other features that allow excellent display resolution and smooth frame rate. Additionally, the system “tracks you and your controller through integrated cameras embedded in the VR headset.” No external cameras are necessary.

This evolution in virtual reality also detects eye motion. Eye-tracking brings more lifelike social and emotional interactions to the gaming experience.

Most exciting for our money, the system allows for subtle responsive vibrations to heighten the in-game experience. For instance, “gamers can feel a character’s elevated pulse during tense moments, the rush of objects passing close to the character’s head, or the thrust of a vehicle as the character speeds forward.” We can imagine something so visceral as a pulse will enhance heart-pounding moments. Our bodies can be easily tricked by the correct stimuli, after all.

All of this technology feels like it will fit right in with the new Horizon game. Although we don’t get to see much from Horizon Call of the Mountain, our pulse rate already feels like it’s escalating. Tall trees, giant monsters, what more could anyone want?

PlayStation has not yet revealed a release date for its VR2 or for Horizon Call of the Mountain. So, for now, we wait in suspense.

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Insomniac Games’ 2018 Spider-Man game for PS4 was one of the greatest adaptations of Marvel Comics characters. In any format, much less specifically in a video game. A massive open world adventure, the game pit the wallcrawler against all of his most famous villains across the almost life-size island of Manhattan. Its follow-up Miles Morales continued playing with that universe in a great way. And just when we were gearing up for the news of a sequel, Insomniac hit us with an uppercut full of claws: a teaser for a brand new Wolverine game.

The teaser shows a bar after what was clearly a pretty rough brawl. While some jangly soul song plays, a man gets up off the floor and draws a knife. He walks toward the brawl’s apparent winner, a man who sits at the bar with a beer. His black hair and cowboy hat might point to who it is. Once the guy gets closer, we know for sure. The man at the bar puts his arm down and three blades come out of his fist.

Marvel/Insomniac Games

Yes, it’s a Wolverine game! This was just an announcement, of course. The end of the teaser says “In development for PlayStation 5,” which pretty much ensures we’ve got a while before we’ll be able to see much more than this. However, just the idea of a studio that has already proven itself to handle the Marvel universe with care tackling the most famous mutant is almost too exciting.

While an open world exploration game might not be the exact right fit for Logan, something where he has to track people using his sniffer or even just a big ol’ beat-’em-up might be exactly what we want. Whatever the case, we can’t wait!

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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A new adventure awaits Aloy in the upcoming Horizon Forbidden West. The action RPG followup to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn will let players explore an open world full of mystery and danger. As an already broken planet once again faces annihilation. But while that sounds dark and sinister, a new gameplay video shows it will be a journey through beautiful tropical settings. Which includes swims through luscious waters and treks across sandy beaches and rich jungles. But don’t worry, there’s still a whole bunch of robo-dinosaurs, along with some mechanical wooly mammoths.

Game developer Mathijs de Jonge introduced a new video from PlayStation that includes a nearly 14-minute long gameplay segment. (Which we first came across at Ars Technica.) It shows an early mission to rescue a friend from captivity. The segment provides a glimpse at the dangerous, yet absolutely gorgeous, setting Aloy and her new hairstyle finds herself in this time.

She’s journeyed to a frontier “that conceals mysterious new threats.” Which takes place in a partially underwater, totally transformed San Francisco.

PlayStation

But while this footage (from a PS5) is striking, the game’s official description points to a far darker story:

“The land is dying. Vicious storms and an unstoppable blight ravage the scattered remnants of humanity, while fearsome new machines prowl their borders. Life on Earth is hurtling towards another extinction, and no one knows why.

It’s up to Aloy to uncover the secrets behind these threats and restore order and balance to the world. Along the way, she must reunite with old friends, forge alliances with warring new factions and unravel the legacy of the ancient past – all the while trying to stay one step ahead of a seemingly undefeatable new enemy.”

And don’t forget the robot dinos. (How could we?) We can’t forget Horizon Forbidden West‘s release date either. But only because it doesn’t have one yet. Like the game itself, it would be beautiful if it manages to meet PlayStation’s original 2021 target date.

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Up until now, the PS5 controller has been pretty generic, coming only in black and white. But that’s about to change, and get a little bit sleeker and even cooler. According to the official Playstation Blog, we’ve learned that two new colors will be joining the DualSense controller lineup starting next month. The new color schemes are Midnight Black and Cosmic Red.

You can see the video reveal for the new controllers right here, which shows more details from different angles. It also shows the controllers bursting out of a supernova in the depths of space. So, this is already way better than the average gender reveal party.

The Midnight Black showcases two subtly different shades of black, with some light grey detailing. This color scheme reflects how we view space through the night sky. The Cosmic Red shows off a black and red design inspired by “the unique vivid shades of red found throughout the cosmos.”  The DualSense controller is a pretty big change from Playstation’s previous ones. It delivers innovative features like haptic feedback, as well as adaptive triggers.

Sony Playstation

In a statement from the company, they said, “Both Midnight Black and Cosmic Red feature a subtle blue hue, that produces unique shades of red and black. A blue hue is also present in the original DualSense wireless controller colors, so all three colors compliment each other nicely. The controller’s button colors and detailing completely complement the brand new colors as well.” We still aren’t sure if more colors will show up down the line.

Sony Playstation

You can pre-order the Midnight Black controller now for the PS5 now, for the price of $69.99. You can also pre-order the Cosmic Red for $74.99, if you want to have both new colors. Both are due out on June 11.

Featured Image: Sony Playstation

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I haven’t played it yet, so I have no idea how Resident Evil Village compares to prior games in the franchise. Does it have a better story? Don’t know. Is it more challenging? Couldn’t tell you. Is it the scariest installment yet? Ask someone else. But despite all that, I give it a perfect 10 out of 10. Because the one thing I know is that it features the big lady in the hat, Lady Dimitrescu. She makes every game the best. She always would have too, no matter the era or console. I know because one fan has transformed Resident Evil Village into a PlayStation-style game. And even with vastly inferior graphics, I would buy it right now if it really existed.

This video is the latest throwback from the YouTube channel Hoolopee. It’s a journey to when the PS1 led the way in video game graphics. Back then the console was a real game changer for the industry. Gaming had entered a new, better phase. But watching this remake now is like watching an old silent film after stepping out a 3D-movie in an IMAX theater. The differences between mid-’90s video games and current ones is even starker than we would have guessed.

But the dated quality of this version quickly washes away when everyone’s favorite nine-foot-tall demon enters. Despite being heavily pixelated and less focused compared to her 2021 version, she still maintains her imposing stature. She’s mesmerizing, even though we know she wants nothing more than to kill us. Even in 1996 she would have been a fan-favorite. Though without social media she might not have become the phenomenon she is right now.

Hoolopee

I don’t want to go back to original PlayStation graphics. Modern games look amazing. But the true worth of any Resident Evil installment has always been the quality of the experience. How a game looks is only a part of that.

But now making sure Lady Dimitrescu is in the game is a big part of making that experience perfect.

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Good video game music does more than ground a cutscene or amplify a battle. It sticks with you past the playing of the game entirely, bringing the spirit of the game into your day-to-day life. Video game soundtracks and scores can steady us while we work, or enliven trips to the grocery. And now, your neighborhood stroll can feel like an adventure through Midgar; your rush hour headache may give way to the joys of Chocobo racing. For the Final Fantasy VII remake soundtrack is newly available on Spotify and Apple Music, among other services.

Square Enix

On Thursday, the game’s publisher Square Enix announced on Twitter that the soundtrack would hit the aforementioned music streaming services. (We caught the saw thanks to The Verge.) This news accompanied further Final Fantasy VII news announced via PlayStation’s State of Play livestream on Twitch. Details included updates to the game’s 2020 remake, including added material involving Yuffie Kisaragi, a beloved character from the original.

But that’s down the line. For now, we can reconnect with the atmosphere of Final Fantasy VII thanks to its magnetic soundtrack. Notably, the album has been available for traditional purchase since May 2020; today, on the other hand, marks the beginnings of its availability for streaming. The extensive album contains 156 tracks; this comprises a combination of music from the original 1997, composed by Nobuo Uematsu, and new arrangements. You can listen via Spotify just below, or head over to Apple Music to listen to the album or any number of individual tracks.

This many tracks is bound to keep you filled with aural Mako for more than a day’s worth of otherwise ordinary living. So pop on those earphones and transport yourself straight into the body of Cloud, Aerith, Barret, Tifa, or Red XIII. We could all use a trip into Midgar every once in a while.

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Mambo. Element. Jackson. These are undeniably some of the most famous number fives in the world. But now there’s a new contender: The PlayStation 5. Sony’s latest video game console is vying to be the biggest, baddest, and boldest mamma jamma around and go toe to toe with the Xbox Series X to be the king of next gen consoles. But how does the PlayStation 5 stack up to the competition? Is it worth your money and time spent in the virtual thunderdomes of pre-orders and Black Friday sales? Is it quieter than standing next to several jet engines at once?

The answer to these questions is a resounding yes, especially if you’re an existing PlayStation user and you’re looking for improved performance across the board. From its futuristic design to its mostly whisper-quiet performance to its blazingly fast load times, the PlayStation 5 is a dazzling piece of hardware that raises the bar for what we’ve come to expect from Sony. With a solid lineup of launch titles, gorgeous graphics, and a little bit of backward compatibility as a treat, the PS5 is a huge upgrade over the PlayStation 4 in ways that might not seem immediately apparent.

The Hardware

Sony

Before we get to those sweet, sweet games, let’s talk about the console itself. This review is for the PS5 Standard Edition, which has a disc drive. The Digital Edition, as its name suggests, does not.

Now, there’s no good way to put this: the PlayStation 5 is a certified freak. This thing is gigantic, uniquely shaped, and will likely require some rejiggering of your entertainment center. As I learned during our unboxing video, it is a substantial piece of equipment, thanks to the powerful hardware beneath its considerable hood.

While we’ve all had a good time comparing it to EVE from Wall-E, Seto Kaiba’s jacket, and Portal turrets, I appreciate Sony swinging for the fences and trying to make this console look and feel truly “next-gen.” Whereas the Xbox Series X is just a larger, X-er box, the PlayStation 5 feels like it walked out of ‘70s sci-fi concept art, but in a good way. It’ll be an even better way if they allow customers to purchase alternate faceplates, but I appreciate the design nonetheless.

That same design sensibility extends to the DualSense controller, which is a much weightier proposition than its predecessor. It just feels expensive, which is probably a trick of the design, like how they allegedly put metal weights in Beats by Dre headphones to make them feel more premium. There is a sense of heaviness and heft to the DualSense but not in a way that would adversely affect your performance or wear you out, unless you’re like the last of the Habsburg in which case a gust of wind could probably knock you over. If so, you have bigger problems.

Is it Loud as Hell?

Sony

One of the questions we’ve been asked the most about the PlayStation 5 is “how loud is it?” On the decibel scale, the PlayStation 4 could fall somewhere between the primal scream of a banshee shrieking across the Irish countryside and Hans Zimmer’s Inception noise played through a chorus of 100 tugboats.

As we learned in Sony’s PS5 teardown, to fix this complaint, Sony’s engineering team put a massive emphasis on cooling solutions. From using liquid metal on the CPU to a 120mm fan to dust collection ports that you can vacuum to a heatsink the size of Rhode Island, the PlayStation 5 is determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

And the PlayStation 5, I’m proud to report, is whisper-quiet 99% of the time. When I put a PlayStation 4 disc into it to test backward compatibility, which I’ll get to in a little bit, I experienced an Apocalypse Now-style flashback as I heard the disc whirring inside of the machine. But unlike the PS4, after about 15-20 seconds, it stopped and the sweet sounds of silence returned.

Whether this is from how I have it horizontally positioned in my media cabinet or some other airflow related factor in my setup, I’m not sure, but it was a minor complaint in what has largely been an extremely welcome upgrade over the PS4.

Lightning-fast load times

Insomniac Games

The biggest innovation of this console generation, though, is the adoption of solid-state drives (SSD) in lieu of mechanical hard disk drives (HDD). As PlayStation lead system architect Mark Cerny explained in excruciating detail at the Game Developer’s Conference, the PS5’s SSD is quite literally a game-changer.

It is 100 times faster than the PlayStation 4’s speeds, according to Cerny. Load times are a thing of the past and fast-traveling in games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales takes place in the span of seconds. Literally, you could press X and be halfway across Marvel’s New York in the blink of an eye.

While it doesn’t have the same Quick Resume feature as the Xbox Series X, the PlayStation 5 is capable of suspending games, which means that you can get back into the action faster than ever and pick up where you left off with little to no delay. For anyone who has played a game like The Witcher 3 or Monster Hunter World, the lack of load times, smooth framerate, and ability to leap right into the action will breath new life into familiar favorites.

But what about the graphics?

In terms of graphics, the PlayStation 5 is simply stunning. The system is engineered to run all of your favorite games in 4K at steady framerates up to 120 FPS. Keywords there being “up to.” It’s capable of 8K as well, but that’s not a realistic function for most consumers unless you hate having several thousand dollars and own an 8K TV. But it’s that ability to run next-gen games and optimized current-gen games at a steady 60FPS in 4K that makes the PS5 a tremendous step up in quality over the PS4.

With advanced raytracing capabilities, the PS5 makes your favorite games look better than ever. While Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a blast and a half to play, part of the joy is stopping to admire the way sunlight reflects off of buildings or watching something small like how a character’s hair realistically blows in the wind. Suffice to say, the PS5 is a powerhouse of a system and I can’t wait to see what developers are able to do with it.

As with the Xbox Series X, we won’t get a sense of the full potential of the console’s capabilities until developers are able to put the pedal to the metal, but everything I’ve played so far looks, feels, and plays like what I want from a so-called “next-gen” console at least as a starting point. I’m also looking forward to seeing how certain PlayStation 4 games perform once they’ve been optimized for the PS5.

But what about the games?

Insomniac; Square Enix; Santa Monica Studios

Speaking of games, let’s face it: you aren’t getting a next-gen console just to watch Netflix; you’re theoretically getting a PlayStation 5 to play games—especially console exclusive titles like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls, and Bugsnax which will be available at launch. That’s to say nothing of console exclusives and timed exclusives like Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Final Fantasy XVI coming in the months ahead.

While the PlayStation 5’s library of launch titles is comparatively smaller when stacked up against the Xbox Series X and Game Pass’ considerable offerings, the PS5 lineup is no slouch. Through the PlayStation Plus Collection, you can play a wide variety of PS4 titles from Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios like Bloodborne, Days Gone, Detroit: Become Human, and God of War, as well as third party offerings like Batman: Arkham Knight, Fallout 4, and Persona 5. These games will benefit from increased loading speed and improved framerates thanks to PS5’s Game Boost.

You’ll also have nearly the full library of PlayStation 4 titles you own available too through the PS5’s backward compatibility functionality. Unfortunately, if you were hoping to play anything from the PS3, PS2, or PS1, well you’re out of luck for the time being unless they decide to offer ports of these games through the PlayStation Store. While this may seem like a small complaint, it’s particularly glaring in light of the fact that the new Xbox consoles can play basically any game from every Xbox console generation.

If Sony didn’t prioritize this technology, that’d be one thing, but given that they were able to do so with the PS3 and chose not to with future consoles smacks of greed as they clearly want gamers to re-purchase digital versions of familiar favorites from the PlayStation Store, even if they already own physical versions of the same games. As far as backward compatibility policies go, it’s just plain backward and disappointing for people like me who just want to play Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete on the most modern device possible in the year of our lord 2020.

The $499 question: should you buy it?

Sony

So the big question here—the $499 question—is should you buy the PlayStation 5? The answer is yes, but with a few caveats. If you’re looking for a categorical upgrade to your console gaming experience, the PlayStation 5 is a no brainer. If you have an extensive PlayStation 4 library and you’re in the market to upgrade your console, you should definitely buy it. Every game you’re playing now will play smoother, look nicer, and run better on the PS5.

As I advised with the Xbox Series X, if you don’t upgrade to the PS5, your life is not going to be noticeably worse. But it can be substantially better from a user perspective if you make the leap to the PlayStation 5. It’s a truly next generation console that looks the part. It’s a machine bursting with potential and I cannot wait to see what developers are able to do with it.

If you bleed Xbox green, then you’re better off going with the Series X and playing whatever makes you happiest. If you want to know more about that, check out our review on Nerdist.com. At $499, The PlayStation 5 is well worth the price of admission, especially if you have a large library of physical media like PS4 games and Blu-rays.

If you prefer to go disc-less, the PS5 Digital Edition is $399, a full $100 more expensive than its Xbox counterpart. But unlike the Series S, the PS5 Digital Edition didn’t sacrifice performance for form factor, so you’ll be getting effectively the same console with the difference of a disc drive if you go the Sony route. But considering how some major media companies rule that you don’t actually own the digital media you purchase, I’m glad I went with this colossal console taking up considerable real estate in my living room.

Featured Image: Sony

Editor’s note: The PlayStation 5 review unit was provided by Sony for the purposes of this review.

Dan Casey is the creative director of Nerdist and the author of books about the Avengers and Star Wars. Talk to him on Twitter about video games.

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After months and months of naught but weird lectures about solid state drives and raytracing demos, PlayStation fans finally got their day in the sun during Sony’s PlayStation 5 showcase on Wednesday. While the video gaming giant revealed the first look at their next-gen console earlier this year, they stayed suspiciously silent as to when fans could buy it and how much it would actually cost. Well, now know that beginning on November 12, fans can pick up the regular version of the console for $499 and the disc-less digital edition for $399, but what will they actually be able to play on it? Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of everything Sony announced during their PS5 Showcase.

Final Fantasy XVI

Considering Final Fantasy VII was the reason I bought a PlayStation back in the day, this sent chills up my spine. The latest entry in the venerable JRPG series debuted a brutal, blood-soaked trailer that brings the saga back to its medieval roots and called to mind modern action RPGs like The Witcher 3. Don’t worry though—there are still chocobos, massive summons like Ifrit and Bahamut, and shenanigans involving crystals to satisfy longtime fans. No word yet on when it will launch on the PS5

Spider-Man: Miles Morales

The Spider-Verse gets even larger on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 with Insomniac’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Set roughly a year after the event’s of Marvel’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales finds our hero caught in the middle of a battle between the Roxxon Corporation and the Underground, a high-tech army led by the Tinkerer. The PlayStation exclusive will launch at a TBD date in “Holiday 2020.”

Hogwarts Legacy

While many Harry Potter fans—myself included—are expelliarmus-ing the increasingly problematic, transphobic J.K. Rowling from their lives, Hogwarts Legacy looks to let you write your own magical story in a sprawling, open-world RPG that puts you in the shoes of a Hogwarts student in the 1800s. No word yet on whether they’ll model how wizards canonically relieved themselves, but we’ll keep you posted. While not a PS5 exclusive, it comes to the console in spring 2o21.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

The Cold War has never been hotter thanks to the latest iteration of Call of Duty: Black Ops. You know the drill here: you play the campaign, you grind the online multiplayer, a teenager says something rude about your mom, you log off. The game launches on PS4 on November 13 and comes to PS5 holiday 2020.

Resident Evil Village

Something spooky this way comes in 2021! Seriously, this trailer looks deeply unsettling and not just because Chris Redfield is thicker than ever.

Deathloop

Arkane’s time-looping assassin game Deathloop looks just as visceral, frenetic, and wildly fun as the Dishonored series, but with a much more outsized sense of humor. The game, which is exclusive to PlayStation 5 and PC, drops Q2 2021.

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition

You’ll hack, you’ll slash, you’ll have blast as you slice and dice your way through this souped-up version of Devil May Cry 5, which is available digitally at launch.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

What if Arcade from the X-Men ran a theme park based around a popular pizza chain with murderous animatronic animals? Well, you’d get this waking nightmare, which is a 3-month timed PS5 console exclusive.

Oddworld: Soulstorm

If you’ve never played one of the delightfully demented Oddworld games, you haven’t truly lived. This modern platformer looks like a breath of fresh air. No word yet on when this PS5 console exclusive will release.

Demon’s Souls

Dying repeatedly at the hands of stygian creatures and eldritch horrors never looked so good. The remaster of this fan-favorite game will bring gamers back to a better-looking Boletaria than anyone ever imagined possible. Maybe that will discourage gamers from throwing their controllers at the screen when the demonic Vanguard slaughters them for the umpteenth time. But probably not. Anyway, this will be a PS5 launch title and retail at a steep $70.

PlayStation Plus Collection

While it might not exactly be the answer to Xbox Game Pass that PlayStation fans were hoping for, the PlayStation Plus Collection will give PS5 users access to a plethora of classic PS4 titles including God of War, Persona 5, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and many more at launch.

God of War: Ragnarok

BOY howdy, I cannot wait for this game. While a sequel felt inevitable, the fact that God of War: Ragnarok launches in 2021 feels like a light at the end of this horrible 2020 tunnel.

We’ll continue to keep you posted on what other PS5 games are on the way. In the meantime, let us know which one of these you most want to play in the comments below.

Featured Image: Sony

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Cyberpunk 2077 is almost here, and there’s plenty of new information to keep fans hyped for the release later this year. Dan breaks down all the details in today’s Nerdist News.

What aspect of Cyberpunk 2077 are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!

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Nothing triggers memories quite like sounds do. A couple of bars from a popular song from your childhood can take you right back to being a little kid, just like a few notes from a different song can take you back to your high school prom. But in the modern world, we live in a time when the sounds of our youth aren’t just music on the radio. They’re the little jingles that accompanied the start of every video game console that ever was.

Bored Piano/YouTube

And now, one musician and YouTuber going by the name of “Bored Piano” has decided to recreate as many of these as possible on their piano. Hey, we all need new ways to entertain ourselves during quarantine. Why not do this? You can take a listen to them all in the video down below:

Anyone who grew up with these consoles can tell you these start-up sounds are pretty darn spot-on. Our pianist in question starts out with the old Nintendo GameBoy noise, then continues with start up sounds ranging from the Playstation 1, to the epic THX-esque sounds of the Sega Saturn, to finally more recent stuff like the Nintendo Switch. Listening to all of these in a row should give any longtime gamer all the nostalgic feels and then some. It’s also just a great background music during a work day.

Bored Piano also uploaded a similar video where they recreate computer sounds with incredible accuracy. And this one should bring a flood of memories to even non-gamers. In the video above, practically all the Windows startup sounds from over the past several years are mimicked perfectly. These aren’t all in chronological order, mind you, but nevertheless, it’s still a ride down memory lane for pretty much anyone who has ever owned a computer.

Featured Image: Bored Piano / YouTube

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Crash is returning to the PlayStation 4 in an all-new sequel to 1998’s Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Marketed as “a true successor to his original trilogy,” Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time intends to bring the series back to its PS1-era, 3D-platforming roots.

“This saga continues where Crash Bandicoot: Warped left off,” Sony says in a new blog announcement. “Neo Cortex and Dr. N. Tropy are now free from their penitentiary, and it’s up to Crash, Coco, and friends to go across time and space to stop these three from not only taking over the world, but the entire multiverse.”

Promising new powers and new worlds, the next installment in the mainline Crash series is being developed by Toys for Bob (Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited). “New to Crash Bandicoot 4 are the Quantum Masks,” Sony says. “Four powerful guardians of space and time that give our heroes the power to bend the rules of reality and conquer dangerous obstacles in exciting new ways.”

The new installment also aims to deliver “a reimagined and updated art style, new gameplay mechanics, and the ability to switch between Modern and Retro modes.”

Sony

Sony and original Crash developer Naughty Dog have expressed a desire to revive the franchise since as far back as 2014, when the current console generation was just getting started. “It’s never off the table,” Sony president Andrew House told IGN at the time. The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy earned favorable reviews and a number of industry accolades for best video-game remake in 2017.

Crash Bandicoot 4 drops on October 2, 2020, for PlayStation 4. Sony recently made clear that the majority of PS4 titles will be fully playable on the upcoming PlayStation 5 console at launch.

Featured Image: Sony

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“It’s now wintertime, about a year after the events of the first game,” Horton explained in the blog post. “Marvel’s New York is covered in snow, and just before Christmas break, a war between an energy corporation and a high-tech criminal army has broken out. Miles’s new home in Harlem is at the heart of the battle.”

Insomniac compares the game’s length and scope to that of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Critics like Vice’s Gita Jackson have often expressed frustration with Black protagonists and other marginalized identities being relegated to these kinds of non-mainline sequels and spinoffs. And the reason for that is that so few big-budget video games star characters like Miles Morales.

“I feel like Miles is very important because representation does matter,” Ham said in the accompanying video (above). “And it’s not just about him being a Black superhero; it’s about him being a superhero that happens to be Black. So watching the fan reactions was amazing, and seeing everyone’s face process the moment where you see his hands, and they’re like: ‘What game is this?’ And then the moment of, ‘Oh, that’s Spider-Man. Wait. Oh, it’s Miles!’ And you see their faces light up. That inspires us.”

Development on Miles Morales commenced right around the time of the 2018 Spider-Man’s release. The team hopes to deliver “a full story arc” for the beloved character, first introduced in 2011 by Marvel creators Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli.

Insomniac Games

“We knew that Miles’s origin story as a Spider-Man was something that needed its own game,” Horton wrote. “Miles’s multicultural background reflects a more modern, diverse world, and we wanted to give players a new story, with new set pieces, fresh villains, and unique quests across Marvel’s New York City. This had to be a can’t-miss next adventure in the Marvel’s Spider-Man universe.”

Horton teased that there’s still plenty more to come in future Spider-Man titles, picking up where Peter Parker left off in the acclaimed 2018 game. But this is Miles’s story. “[He’s] a critical part of our Spider-Man universe, and you won’t want to miss what happens.”

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is slated to launch alongside the PlayStation 5 in late 2020.

Featured Image: Insomniac Games

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If your patience is understandably thin these days, then let’s make one thing perfectly clear: The Last of Us Part II is a modern-day masterpiece, a haunting and beautiful story that will grab hold of something deep inside of you until long after the credits roll. Not only is it a worthy successor to the original, but it’s one of the finest sequels I’ve played. The hype is real. It’s that good.

That’s the short review. Here’s a slightly longer one if you’re into that sort of thing. While I will endeavor to avoid any and all spoilers, please proceed at your own peril because lord only knows what people consider to be a spoiler nowadays.

Following up a critically acclaimed game like The Last of Us is no easy task. When you consider that for many gamers—myself included—it ranks highly on the Best Games of All Time list, making a sequel begins to feel downright Sisyphean. But the developers and storytellers at Naughty Dog are used to the crushing weight of lofty expectations, and once again they have made something truly special. It not only stands on its own but enhances the original work too. Impeccable gameplay, gripping storytelling, astonishing graphics, and fastidious attention to detail make this one of the defining works of the PlayStation 4 era. One of the biggest reasons, though, is that Naughty Dog uses The Last of Us Part II to explore deeply human experiences and push them to their logical and emotional extremes.

Grief is a paradox, simultaneously a powerful, catalyzing force for change and stasis. It sinks deep into your body, wrapping its icy claws around your heart, alternately numbing you to the world around you and tearing your soul asunder as you try to grapple with your new reality. Sometimes it causes us to retreat inwards, withdrawing from our loved ones as we lumber around like a depression golem, merely drifting from moment to moment.

Other times it fills us with righteous anger, which can take the form of a perfectly crafted invective against someone like LAPD chief Michael Moore. But worst of all is when that grief fills you with the kind of unbridled rage that seemingly can’t be quelled by anything other than violence. The Last of Us Part II plumbs the depths of this particular raw emotional state—that inescapable feeling of seeing red—better than any other piece of media I have encountered.

As I learned last September when my father passed away, you cannot control when these feelings strike you, and I found myself reacting viscerally to the beautiful, tragic, and harrowing saga of Ellie and Joel in The Last of Us Part II. Multiple moments in this staggeringly good game reduced me to a weepy pile of tears on my couch. Not only because of its poignant, frequently shocking narrative, but because of the elemental experience to which it speaks. Whereas the original The Last of Us dissected the morality of unconditional love and the incredible lengths we would go to for our friends and family, The Last of Us Part II asks what lengths we’re willing to go to for hate, anger, and revenge. This is a story of unconditional hate and the consequences of allows it to consume us.

“I want to talk about this idea of rage and anger and hate, and how close it can be actually to love,” said co-director Neil Druckmann during a hands-on preview event last September. “What happens if something bad happens to someone you love? A significant other, a family member, a best friend … How far would you go to make the people responsible for that [pay]? What are the costs of that? What are the costs of an eye for an eye?”

That was two weeks after my father passed away and Druckmann’s words really sunk in. I found myself thinking about them often in the days and weeks that followed, but especially so as I played through The Last of Us Part II‘s twisting, turning, non-linear narrative. While the primary events of Part II take place over roughly a three-day span of time, the game often jumps back and forward in time, giving you fresh insights and perspectives from unexpected characters that give previous moments new meaning and profound resonance. It’s a bold experiment that could derail a game without as clear-eyed a vision as Naughty Dog’s, but it manages to keep you on tenterhooks even when you feel like you know what is coming.

Set 25 years after Infection Day, Ellie (Ashley Johnson) is no longer a child. After Joel (Troy Baker) and she survived endless horrors in the first game, Ellie, now 19 years old, has achieved something resembling normalcy in a world where a fungal infection ravaged the planet, turning much of humanity into blood-thirsty, mutated monsters. Living in a bustling community of survivors in Jackson County, Colorado, Ellie and Joel have drifted apart in the way that many teenagers do from their parents as they try to carve out an identity for themselves. New friends like Jesse (Stephen A. Chang) and Dina (Shannon Woodward)—as well as mentions of others in Ellie’s journal—paint a picture of a life that is full of potential, a flower blooming in the ruins of the old world.

But all of that potential and hope is obliterated when the unthinkable happens. An unspeakable act of violence irrevocably changes the course of Ellie’s life and sets her on a course towards Seattle where she seeks vengeance and winds up embroiled in a much larger conflict between a radical paramilitary group and a mysterious cult. What follows fundamentally changes Ellie as we see the emotional, spiritual, and physical toll it takes on her over the course of her brutal, relentless odyssey into the heart of darkness.

That isn’t to say that The Last of Us Part II is a hopeless game. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the game has quite a bit to say about what we do in our darkest moments and the impulses to which we succumb. Despite these pervasive moments of despair, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and a cause for serious introspection as you, the player, must guide Ellie along this precipice of self-destruction.

The Last of Us Part II, much like its predecessor, deftly darts back and forth between action-adventure and survival horror as you navigate the world’s many horrors, both human and monstrous. The game’s vastly improved AI and new enemy types—like guard dogs, which track your scent, and fleshy abominations like the Shambler, which spew clouds of noxious, sight-obscuring smoke—will keep you constantly on your toes and your pulse racing as you survive another encounter by the skin of your teeth. But where the game truly shines is in the details, the seamless and almost invisible ways in which Naughty Dog creates a living, breathing ruined world.

From the haunting sound design of Clickers blindly screaming in the distance to the crunch of snow beneath your feet, from the way light diffuses through the trees of a lush forest to the apocalyptic glare of a raging inferno, from the 60+ accessibility options to make this experience available to as wide a range of people as possible to the endless little collectibles and discoveries waiting around every corner, from the abandoned game of Dungeons & Dragons in a dilapidated apartment to the silly dad jokes Ellie cracks along the way to lighten the mood, The Last of Us is a towering achievement.

This is, of course, to say nothing of the incredible performances not only returning favorites like Ashley Johnson as Ellie and Troy Baker as Joel, but series newcomers Shannon Woodward as Dina, Stephen A. Chang as Jesse, Laura Bailey as Abby, and Patrick Fugit as Owen, whose performances are as good if not better than what you’d see in any prestige TV series. There’s so much more I want to say about this game, especially about Laura Bailey’s performance as Abby, but this is a journey best taken unspoiled.

The Last of Us Part II, by its director’s own admission, is not for everyone. You may not like it as much as I did. It may not make you cry as it made me. And you may not be as consistently awestruck over the course of its journey. But I urge you to give it a chance because if nothing else, you will appreciate how much love, care, and incredible craftsmanship went into making. And just know that I am jealous of you because to play this game for the first time is a gift in and of itself.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Last of Us Part II is available on June 19, 2020 on PlayStation 4.

Images: Sony / Naughty Dog

Dan Casey is the creative director of Nerdist and the author of books about the Avengers and Star Wars. Talk to him on Twitter about video games

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YouTuber and restoration specialist Odd Tinkering restored an updated version of the OG Playstation in one of his latest videos and the process is immensely satisfying to watch. Every step of Tinkering’s restoration clears dirt and grime away, leaving behind crisp, clean plastic and glass. The best part may be the clicks and snaps of the ASMR-quality sounds.

Tinkering, who restores old items such as lighters, knives, gaming consoles, and antiques, notes in the video that the Playstation being restored is 20 years old. Which, no matter who you are, probably makes you feel at least a little bit old. Especially since the months that make up the year 2020 are apparently years in themselves.

In the video, we watch as Tinkering takes apart the Playstation, revealing at every turn a new component that needs to be cleaned. With each step, Tinkering brushes off gunk, scrubs out stickiness, and blows off dust. Ultimately, the work reveals a good-as-new PS1. The expert restoration artist even demonstrates that the unit is fully functional at the end of the video by playing some Crash Bandicoot.

Cleaning the Playstation’s lens. Odd Tinkering

As far as Tinkering’s other gaming system restorations are concerned, there are a lot of them. They include a handful of Game Boy restorations such as the Game Boy Advance as well as the original Xbox. For a good restoration cleaning of an Xbox Series X, on the other hand, we’ll have to wait another couple of decades. Although, again: since we’re talking 2020 time, that may just mean October.

What do you think about this Playstation restoration by Odd Tinkering? Is this the most satisfying ASMR cleaning video you’ve ever seen, or is there a refreshed keyboard out there somewhere that makes your spine tingle even more? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Feature image: Odd Tinkering

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1977: Atari Joystick

Atari

While not the first console or controller, Atari laid the groundwork for all successful controllers that came after with the Atari 2600. This simple design mimicked arcade cabinets of the era with its four-directional joystick and only one button, and that little black stick established the directional standards we use in all consoles. And if using a directional joystick sounds like the obvious play, it wasn’t. Case in point…

1979: Intellivision

Intellivision Entertainment

The late ’70s and early ’80s were the Wild West for video game consoles. No one really knew how you should interface with these new machines. How do you simplify hardware for new audiences while allowing input for complex actions? One route was number pads. If the Atari joystick was Steve Jobs, the Intellivision was Steve Wozniak.

Its number pad and rotating dial allowed for complex actions far beyond that of the Atari joystick, but at the cost of form factor. The number pad design would linger for years and appear on the ColecoVision and even the Atari 5200 until Nintendo launched their home console. By the way, there’s a new version of the Intellivision coming out.

1983: Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo

Pure joy in a rectangle. Nintendo recognized the need for more complex inputs while still presenting a friendly piece of hardware. The result was a classic design whose influence can still be seen today. The controller housed a centered start and select with A and B buttons on the right and a directional pad on the left.

Though the D-pad’s design looked at first like a four-directional interface, players quickly realized that diagonal movement was possible by pressing two adjacent directions at once. The Sega Master System would go on to make a similar square D-pad with hash marks so diagonal movement would be clear.

1988: Sega Genesis

Sega

So we’ve established what a successful video game controller looks like, but how does it feel? Around this time, video game cartridges were implementing battery-powered save features, allowing for longer games played over a longer period of time. With longer playtimes came a need for comfortable controllers, and Sega delivered. Though the original Sega Genesis offered no additional inputs over the NES controller, it did address ergonomics with its rounded grips and overall smooth design. Later, a six-button version was introduced for the Genesis.

1990: Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo

Nintendo took the shape of their successful NES controller and softened it. The edges rounded into actual grips instead of sharp corners, but it still maintained the NES’s flat design. But the Super Nintendo controller really left its mark is by introducing shoulder buttons. Actions like aiming in Super Metroid and chaining combos in Street Fighter 2 became possible, while other games utilized these buttons for camera control or banking left and right.

1994: PlayStation

Sony

The first PlayStation controller took what was working and made it their own. The standard inputs were all there like a D-pad and right side buttons, but with an additional second row of shoulder buttons for greater functionality. More importantly, the PlayStation controller was a major step forward in style.

The gamepad’s elongated grips formed the iconic shape of all future PlayStation controllers, and four new symbols replaced the lettered buttons of the past. The blue cross and red circle represented yes and no, the green triangle represented a point of view, and the pink square symbolized a sheet of paper for menus.

1996: Nintendo 64

Nintendo

Either this is your favorite controller or you think it was designed by an alien who didn’t understand human anatomy. The N64 featured similar grips to the PlayStation gamepad, but with a third middle grip for its new miniature joystick and back trigger. This joystick made navigating 3D games like GoldenEye and Super Mario 64 smooth as butter. Plus, the optional Rumble Pak made for a unique handheld experience. Though the N64 popularized the thumb-sized joystick, this was actually first seen in the short-lived Neo Geo CD in 1994.

1997: PlayStation DualShock

Sony

This is where the modern controller began. PlayStation cracked the code of fluid motion with its dual joysticks and combined that with everything that came before. The “shock” in DualShock came from its integrated dual-motor rumble functionality, which outshined the N64 Rumble Pak with more motors, placement inside the grips, and no need for a battery. The result is what many consider to be the greatest controller of all time. 

It was exactly what a controller should be: an advanced piece of hardware that worked so seamlessly that you practically forgot about it. From there, the DualShock 2 added pressure-sensitive buttons, allowing for more realistic control in racing games. Then the DualShock 3, or Sixaxis controller, added motion control and wireless connection.

1998: Sega Dreamcast

Sega

Sega’s time as a console maker may have come to a close with the Dreamcast, but they left us with a truly unique controller. The Sega Dreamcast controller was a spaceship with dual triggers, an offset joystick, and the coolest memory card of all time.

The Dreamcast’s VMU (Visual Memory Unit) looked like a Tamagotchi but plugged into the controller to save files and act as a second screen. In games like Resident Evil: Code Veronica, the VMU would actually display your current health; in D2, it would act as a compass. The VMU could even be coupled with another VMU to trade save files and play minigames.

2001: Nintendo GameCube

Nintendo

The GameCube controller was like the goofy younger brother of the DualShock. Both featured two joysticks, dual shoulder buttons, and long grips. But there’s something about the GameCube that embodied the friendliness of Nintendo beautifully. Instead of a grey piece of plastic, you got an indigo accessory with a yellow offset joystick and button layout that looked almost like a face.

It was adorable, comfortable, and the gold standard for any Smash Bros fan. There was even a Wavebird model that introduced wireless play through radio signals and didn’t require line of sight. Going off looks alone, the GameCube and Dreamcast controllers would probably get along at a party.

2001: Xbox “The Duke”

Microsoft

While the original Xbox controller was one of the most comfortable controllers, it was also one of the biggest. It looked like you filled up a GameCube controller with Monster Energy Drink. The bulky North America model seen above was quickly replaced by the slimmed-down Japanese version “S.”

Like the Dreamcast and GameCube controllers, the offset joysticks presented an alternative grip to the PlayStation’s DualShock series, and it continues to be the defining characteristic between the two console makers today. Though this model was still wired, the Xbox 360’s controller would go on to be the first Bluetooth controller, setting the standard for modern wireless controllers.

2006: Nintendo Wiimote and Nunchuck

Nintendo

The controller that broke thousands of TVs. This two-part controller used an optical sensor to track movement so gamers could literally stretch their legs. Between the two parts were all the controls—joystick, trigger, D-pad, etc.—with the addition of a built-in speaker.

The Wiimote also housed an IR emitter that let you point at the screen with the controller instead of using the joystick to navigate menus. And if gaming in-motion wasn’t your style, you could turn the Wiimote to the side and use it as a classic Nintendo controller. Of course, then you’d miss out on the greatest multiplayer game of all time: Wii Sports.

2013: PlayStation DualShock 4

Sony

Sony’s DualShock 4 was a leap forward for PlayStation. The DualShock 4 added a light bar and touchpad to the center of the controller. What could this touchpad do? Well, game makers don’t really know, so the touchpad has been used as a large button in most games.

But while the touchpad remains underutilized, features like a headphone/microphone jack and share button have become standard, and the color bar enables controller tracking for PlayStation VR games. The DualShock 4 also ditched batteries in favor of an internal lithium battery, making it lighter (but requiring regular recharges).

2013: Xbox One

Microsoft

The Xbox controller perfected. This controller wasn’t all that dissimilar from a 360 controller (hence its omission) save for a body redesign to make it even more comfortable. We got the inclusion of a headphone/mic jack like the DualShock 4, but beyond that, it was just a really solid controller.

Unlike the DualShock 4, the Xbox One ran on batteries so gamers could choose whether or not to use rechargeable lithium. But even the extra weight couldn’t take away from this unparalleled controller.

2017: Nintendo Switch JoyCons

Nintendo

What if you could break the controls off your GameBoy and give half to your friend? Surely this was the actual pitch presented at Nintendo when proposing Joy-Cons. After the Wii U’s lukewarm reception in 2012, Nintendo set out to make a truly portable home console: something you could play with a friend right now, literally anywhere.

Thankfully, they got it right with the Switch. Thanks to Joy-Cons, you could bust out Mario Kart without having to lug around multiple controllers, then snap the whole thing into a dock for a home console experience. It’s the best of both worlds, even if Joy-Cons drift sometimes.

2020: PlayStation DualSense and Xbox Series X

Sony/Microsoft

This year, Sony and Microsoft continue their tradition of excellence with a new generation of controllers. And while much is already known about these controllers, the adventures they’ll take us on are yet to be told.

So what’s your favorite controller of all time? Let us know in the comments, and check back for updates on these next-gen consoles.

Featured Image: Sony/Microsoft

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“When the opportunity arose to create a custom PS4 Pro for The Last of Us Part II, I worked with our graphic designer at the time, Angel Garcia, and we considered a few different ideas, but we kept coming back to Ellie’s tattoo,” Naughty Dog art director John Sweeney said in a blog post. “By that point, it had become a symbol of the game and for the community—much like the Firefly logo in the first game. It was the clear choice, but we wondered: what if it could be engraved? It hadn’t been done before, so we weren’t sure it was even possible, but thanks to the incredible efforts of the teams at PlayStation, we found a way.”

He added, “The result is something we feel is really special—a design that honors the passion of our incredible fans and that we ourselves would be proud to own.”

Sony/Naughty Dog

The publisher’s also launching a matching headset and hard drive. The headset’s wireless, features Ellie’s fern tattoo, and will run you $99.99. The licensed hard drive is a two-terabyte Seagate, which will go for $89.99.

Originally, Last of Us Part II was announced for a February 21 release; it then got pushed back to May 29 in October. With the unexpected “logistical issues” brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, Naughty Dog said the title would be delayed indefinitely. Things were set back into motion ahead of schedule, however, when crucial footage from the game’s story leaked online last month.

The Last of Us Part II and its matching PS4 Pro bundle will arrive on June 19.

Featured Image: Sony/Naughty Dog

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Sony offered fans their first look at the PS5’s graphics, but how do they hold up? Dan breaks it all down in today’s episode of Nerdist News!

Which next gen console are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!

The post First Look at the Playstation 5 Graphics! (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.

Epic Games

On Wednesday, Epic drew back the curtain on the next generation with an Unreal Engine 5 tech demo. Running on a PlayStation 5, “Lumen in the Land of Nanite” depicts a young woman exploring an ancient world, wielding magic to light her way through the ruins. The footage showcases stunning lighting and fidelity and a high level of detail.

Unreal 5 “frees artists to create as much geometric detail as the eye can see,” Epic said in a release. “Nanite virtualized geometry means that film-quality source art comprising hundreds of millions or billions of polygons can be imported directly into Unreal Engine—anything from ZBrush sculpts to photogrammetry scans to CAD data—and it just works. Nanite geometry is streamed and scaled in real time so there are no more polygon-count budgets, polygon-memory budgets, or draw-count budgets.”

Epic credits “numerous teams and technologies” for these innovations, as well as the more powerful hardware available with modern PCs, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5. “To build large scenes with Nanite geometry technology, the team made heavy use of the Quixel Megascans library, which provides film-quality objects up to hundreds of millions of polygons. To support vastly larger and more detailed scenes than previous generations, PlayStation 5 provides a dramatic increase in storage bandwidth.”

The full release of Unreal 5 will launch in late 2021. It will support current and next-generation consoles, PCs, Mac, and mobile devices.

Featured Image: Epic Games

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It’s time to dust off the old virtual skateboard and crank up the 90s punk rock because Tony Hawk Pro-Skater is being remastered! Dan breaks down all the details in today’s episode of Nerdist News!

What’s your favorite memory playing Tony Hawk Pro-Skater? Let us know in the comments!

The post Why the Tony Hawk Pro-Skater Remaster Has Fans Losing Their Minds (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.

The trailer for the latest installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise has arrived and it offers plenty for fans to be excited about! Dan jumps into the viking action to break down all the details in today’s episode of Nerdist News!

What’s your favorite Assassin’s Creed game? Let us know in the comments!

The post ASSASSIN’S CREED: VALHALLA – Trailer Breakdown! (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.

As more and more details emerge around the next generation of gaming consoles, fans are eagerly awaiting their chance to finally pick one up. However, it now seems like getting your hands on a Platystation 5 may be even harder than it initially seemed. Dan takes a closer look in today’s episode of Nerdist News!

This video is made in paid partnership with FX’s What We Do In The Shadows. Now Streaming FX on Hulu. All-new episodes Wednesdays at 10PM on FX. Learn more and watch the trailer here: http://bit.ly/ShadowsFX #ad

Will you be battling the odds to get your hands on a PS5 at launch? Let us know in the comments!

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The post Why Getting a PS5 Will Be Harder Than You Think! (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s a shortage of many once-plentiful goods these days. Toilet paper and eggs are especially hard to come by. Also pork, apparently? In any case, COVID-19 and the ensuing quarantines have made shopping for things a lot harder, and getting non-essential items takes an awful long time, too. But one day this will end. One day movies will be back in theaters and concert tours will come to your town. And hey, there’s a new Sony PlayStation coming out this year! The PlayStation 5 will probably be pretty cool.

However, a new report indicates getting a PS5 will be harder than you might think. And it has nothing to do with Coronavirus. As Bloomberg reports, Sony will intentionally limit the number of PlayStation 5s on the market at launch. The report cites the hardware’s technical specs as the reason for the limited number. The cost of the tech needed each machine will drive the price to consumer up, and people close to Sony say they’re worried this will prohibit some from pulling that proverbial trigger.

Sony

For Sony to break even on the component parts for each machine, we’re apparently looking at a price tag of $499-$549 for a standard issue PlayStation 5. Currently, a standard PS4 is $299.99 MSRP and a PS4 Pro starts at $399; when it launched in November 2013, the PlayStation 4 brand new was $399. So this is a substantial jump, but will it be enough to keep fans from buying? Saving an extra $200-ish by November isn’t the most absurd thing, surely.

Well, Sony isn’t convinced they’ll sell as many 5s right away as they did 4s. In the first fiscal quarter after launch, Sony sold 7.5 million PlayStation 4’s. According to the report, Sony is only planning to manufacture between 5 and 6 million PlayStation 5s in the first fiscal quarter. They’re so worried about people not buying enough, they’re not even making them.

Sony

So this could (and likely will) create scarcity for the console, which will lead to a price-hiked secondary market. We saw a similar thing happen a few years ago with Nintendo’s NES Classic; they made so few of them and completely underestimated the demand that people ended up buying used ones for exorbitant prices. If people can’t buy a PS5 right away from stores, will they shell out an additional $400-$500 from some guy on eBay to ensure they get it by Christmas? I suppose we’ll find out.

We know the PS5 will have some impressive hardware. We’ve already told you about the recently announced DualSense controller. It’ll have story-responding button tension and will be more ergonomically smooth for people playing for long periods of time. It’ll also boast backwards compatibility which the 4 could not say.

The 4 was already the pinnacle of gaming tech, so we truly can’t wait to see how the next gen will up that ante. But since it’s been almost seven years since the last Sony machine, they’ve certainly got our interest piqued.

Featured Image: Sony

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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We’re in a really interesting time for video games as an immersive storytelling medium. Graphically, narratively, and in terms of gameplay, everything is as advanced as possible. Though clearly a virtual world, we can feel as close to the story and stakes of a particular game as we ever have. Sony’s PlayStation has been leading the charge. Since 2013, its PlayStation 4 has been at the forefront of the intangible and subconscious game immersion. How many people, for example, said Spider-Man made them “feel” like Marvel’s famous wall-crawler?

When the next generation console, PlayStation 5, finally launches there will be a whole new way to feel immersed in the games. Like, physically. Your hands and fingers will feel the immersion. The PlayStation 5’s wireless controller, with DualSense technology, will take everything about 4’s DualShock controller and add to it. In addition to the sense of sound we got with DualShock’s built-in speakers, PlayStation 5 will offer an extra sense of touch to the gameplay.

What exactly does that mean? Well, according to Sony’s statement, the DualSense “adopted haptic feedback, which adds a variety of powerful sensations you’ll feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud”. So you’ll feel more tension on the controller depending on the terrain or resistance your character faces. The team also added similar sensations to the L2 and R2 triggers, so when you draw a bow to shoot an arrow, the button will have tension when you go to fire.

Sony

That’s already a pretty cool sounding experience. But Sony hastens to add they’ve worked extra hard to include all of these new features without making the DualSense controller too bulky or too heavy. They wanted it to “feel smaller than it really looks” which sounds like a trick, honestly. In the end, though, they “changed the angle of the hand triggers and also made some subtle updates to the grip” in order to make it as comfy in your hand as possible while giving you these extra features.

There are also things for those of you who enjoy playing with other people over the internet. Like a built-in microphone for quick conversations right there in the controller. They do, however, recommend still using your headset for longer continued play. The battery life was also a major concern; nobody wants all these great new features in a lightweight controller if the thing dies in an hour.

And finally, the DualSense wireless controller has changed the Share button to the new “Create” button which will give players the chance to share their unique gameplay experiences with the world. More on that later, Sony says. And it’ll be a cool two-tone color, too, so that’s pretty special.

Ultimately, Sony’s goal is to make the player feel like the controller is “an extension of themselves” when they play, “so much so that they forget that it’s even in their hands!” Now wouldn’t that be something?

PlayStation 5 is expected to launch for holiday 2020.

Featured Image: Sony

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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After much hype, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is almost here, but is it worth the wait? Dan takes a closer look in this episode of Nerdist News!

What aspect of the remake are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!

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In a surprising turn of events, The Last of Us Part II is not infinitely delayed. PlayStation announced on Monday that the anticipated Naughty Dog title will release on June 19. So to be clear: The Last of Us Part II arrives June 19. As in, mere months from now.

And if you’re following Ghost of Tsushima, it will be out on July 17. From their statement: “As our teams at Sony Interactive Entertainment and Worldwide Studios approach development milestones and confront a world changed by COVID-19, we find ourselves having to adapt to today’s ever-changing environment. Amidst some disruptions to our working styles, we wanted to provide an update to PlayStation gamers who are eager to learn when our next exclusive titles will arrive to PlayStation 4.

As we begin to see an ease in the global distribution environment, I am pleased to confirm that The Last of Us Part II will arrive on June 19. And Ghost of Tsushima will follow on July 17.”

Original post:

It’s a terrifying dystopian world. A deadly contagion has brought much of society to a screeching halt. Resources are scare. People fear leaving their homes, but know they must to get supplies. Humanity longs for a return to stability and an end to the plague.

Yes, I’m doing a thing here; it’s both the world as we know it under COVID-19 and the fantastical horror landscape of The Last of Us. Naughty Dog’s landmark in survival horror storytelling is one of the singular game experiences of the previous console generation. We just want to play the sequel! But sadly, that looks even less likely now.

In a tweet on Thursday, Sony announced the delay of The Last of Us Part II and Marvel’s Iron Man VR “until further notice”. This comes after Naughty Dog pushed the release date from an expected February 21 release to May 29.  No new release date has been announced.

Naughty Dog released its own follow-up statement shortly after Sony’s explaining that the game is almost done; but “due to logistics out of our control, we couldn’t launch The Last of Us Part II to our satisfaction.”

They want to ensure everyone gets to play the game “around the same time” which is likely the result of some spoilery elements in the storyline they’d rather not see pop up before the majority of people have had their chance at it. Naughty Dog further said they want to “preserve the best experience for everyone.”

Sony/Naughty Dog

The Last of Us Part II has had an incredibly long gestation period. After announcing the game in December 2016, the second trailer debuted in 2017. That means fans have had to wait to see what becomes of Ellie and Joel in an even further-along post-apocalyptic future for over three years now. One can only hope all of these delays will be worth it, but with the real world so uncertain at the moment, we just won’t know for awhile.

Our own Dan Casey got to play three hours of the game last September. He said it “not only lives up to my astronomical expectations, but is well on its way to being a top contender for 2020’s game of the year”. Well, maybe 2020.

At least we still have the news that HBO will eventually make a TV series of The Last of Us. Again, at this point, who can say when that will happen.

Featured Image: Sony/Naughty Dog

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

The post THE LAST OF US PART II Releasing This Summer appeared first on Nerdist.

Are you in dire need of some new quarantunes while stuck in quarantine? Want to flatten the curve of COVID-19 while expanding your musical horizons? Do you yearn for an endlessly relaxing genre of music that will help you focus on working from home while releasing a steady stream of nostalgia-fueled serotonin? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Like so many people out there, I find that I am most productive when I’m listening to largely instrumental music with a driving beat, but I don’t want to be distracted by too many clever lyrics or pesky vocals. These playlists are perfect for fans who want to blend their love of classic video games like Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokemon with chillhop, the explosively popular music genre characterized by jazzy lo-fi hip hop beats. Basically it sounds like you found a haunted VHS recording of your favorite cassettes. Except in this case, they’re all digital mixtapes of classic video game tunes.

So put on your headphones, turn on any one of these playlists, and prepare to be more productive than you’ve ever been before. Or just kick back, relax, and feel like you’re floating away on a cloud.

The Legend of Zelda

For once, it’s safe to go alone, but these mellowed out melodies will are the missing Link in your current musical rotation.

These sweeping beats from Breath of the Wild are almost as satisfying as one-shotting a Guardian.

If Ocarina of Time is more your speed, then this Koji Kondo mix will transport you to an era where you’re calmer, more focused, and happier–no complex button inputs required.

Mario

Even Wario would calm the eff down after listening to this.

When you need something a little more up-tempo, this is the musical equivalent of grabbing a Super Star.

Final Fantasy

Maybe the single best opening to any of these mixes, but maybe I’m biased because I’m a diehard Final Fantasy VII fan.

Okay, maybe I’m just a sucker for the PlayStation startup noise. The first track on this is my eternal rainy day soundtrack.

Final Fantasy IX is unfairly slept on for some reason, but you should absolutely listen to this mix immediately.

Chrono Trigger

Time will fly by when you turn on this bad boy.

Is this just the same song for an hour straight? Yes. Is that a problem when it’s a straight-up banger like this? Hell no.

Kingdom Hearts

Disneyland and Disney World might be closed for the foreseeable future, but these tunes should fill you with hope.

52 minutes isn’t enough time to clearly explain the truly bonkers storyline of Kingdom Hearts, but it’s enough time to put a smile on your face after mainlining its killer tracks.

Pokemon

Whether you need to finally catalog everything in your Pokedex or veg out like Snorlax, this mix is super effective.

If you grew up playing Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum, then this mix has your name all over it.

This Johto region mix is like Rare Candy for your eardrums.

Animal Crossing

Dream up ways to overthrow that bell-hungry oligarch Tom Nook with this certifiably chill collection of Animal Crossing vibes

Silent Hill

Now, I know what you might be thinking, but trust me on this and just listen.

What is your favorite lo-fi/chillhop video game music mix? Share them in the comments below!

Featured Image: Nintendo

Dan Casey is the creative director of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).

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Video game fans rejoice! The post apocalyptic Playstation hit The Last of Us is heading to the small screen courtesy of HBO, and it looks to be in good hands with Chernobyl creator, Craig Mazin, at the helm. Dan breaks down all the details in today’s episode of Nerdist News!

Who would you like to see star in the series? Let us know in the comments!

The post THE LAST OF US: Chernobyl Creator Developing Series for HBO (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.

The dawn of the next generation of gaming consoles is on the horizon, and with them, the war between Microsoft and Sony continues. New details for the Xbox Series X have been revealed, but how do they stack up against the Playstation 5? Dan breaks it all down in today’s Nerdist News!

What console are you more excited for? Let us know if the comments!

The post XBOX SERIES X: New Details Breakdown (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.

Smash some concrete like the Hulk. Swing a hammer like Thor. Kick a bad guy like Black Widow. We all watch Marvel Studios films wishing we could suit up as our favorite heroes and thanks to Marvel’s Avengers, the highly-anticipated game from Marvel Entertainment, Square Enix, and Crystal Dynamics, we can.

Nerdist had a chance to preview the game during a private demo session at New York Comic Con, which involved cycling through all six playable characters (including the newly announced Kamala Khan) in order to get a hands-on feel for each of the heroes’ unique gameplay—what Crystal Dynamics’ Studio Head Scot Amos calls “a cinematic combat experience.” From an all-original story to new looks for these iconic heroes, the game gives fans a fresh look at characters we know and love. And when Nerdist sat down with the all-star voice cast—many of whom have been voicing these particular characters for years in different iterations—it was clear that resonated.

“I think that the story is really sophisticated, and it’s different than anything we’ve been able to explore in the past as these characters,” said Laura Bailey, who voices Black Widow. “Personally, I get to see aspects of Widow’s character that I had never been able to portray—that guilt and that grief she’s feeling after A-Day is heavy and it’s a really cool road to get to go down.”

Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics/Marvel

“Everyone knows these characters in one form or another, but the dynamic of these characters is so unique and so singular,” added Thor’s Travis Willingham. “For me in particular, I love that there’s this sort of competitive nature between Tony Stark and Thor—man and god, machine and mighty… but it’s just amazing to watch what each one of these talented actors brings to these characters. It informs how we think of the characters as well. I had an idea of who Thor was in certain situations, and going off of Nolan [North] or Troy [Baker] or Jeff [Schine] just changes things.”

Marvel’s Avengers begins after the events of A-Day, the Avengers’ celebration in San Fransisco. But the joyous occasion is cut short when Taskmaster (yes, the same Taskmaster who will appear as the titular villain in next year’s Black Widow film) shows up and tragedy strikes. Arguably one of the most exciting things about Marvel’s Avengers is that the world is narratively driven, from the interactions between the characters to their physical actions to how they evolve—something that parallels the long-time friendship between a group of actors who have made careers out of lending their talents to the gaming world.

“I think in the mo-cap stage, just getting out there and doing it, it becomes incredibly collaborative,” shared Nolan North, who voices Iron Man. “We’d written something like Tony has a snarky comment so we’d do it one way and add multiple takes, then we’d try to one up each other. We’d be like what’s another one?”

“That’s the beautiful thing about having been friends already,” noted Bailey. “A lot of the times when you’re starting work on a new project, you have to build that camaraderie to feel like it’s already been there. And for us it already has been. So it felt so natural, all of the jokes.”

Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics/Marvel

Each Avenger has their own special set of skills (and of course, their own special gear) that, according to Amos, players will be able to customize based on how they choose to advance through the game. Unlocking new “hero missions” allows you to advance even further and assemble a roster of heroes, which in turn gives the option of a co-op experience. It’s a smart way to bring fans closer to characters they already know and love, while also putting them in control of the narrative.

“The way that they do the demo is perfect because you cycle through but you come out great,” explained Troy Baker, who voices Bruce Banner. “You start off with Thor which is super fun, because it’s just beat ‘em up. Then you go to Iron Man, which is a fly-around, and then you go to Widow, which is the most strategic, tactile… you can kind of button mash your way up to that point. And then the game, through Taskmaster, kind of looks at you and goes everything you’ve been doing is not going to work and you really have to be careful. It’s a great way to narratively tutorialize the player, which you try to get away from because it doesn’t make sense—I’m going to teach you to do how to do the things you already know how to do.”

While only the beginning of the game was available to demo, we know the general path of the overall story. Following a five year time jump, superheroes are outlawed and the Avengers have disbanded, each dealing with the aftermath of A-Day in their own way. Bringing the team back together isn’t easy and it’s a job for Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, who receives her Inhuman powers after the events of A-Day.

Officially announced at the Marvel Games New York Comic Con panel, Kamala will bring her embiggening powers to Marvel’s Avengers in a unique way, as she ends up being the catalyst for the group to find their fight again. “My first day, we shot all the A-Day scenes where Kamala is meeting them for the first time, so it was the perfect parallel,” revealed Sandra Saad, who likened her experience of coming into the role of Kamala to the character’s own introduction into the superhero world. “And truly, looking up at Travis and hearing that voice is like… there is a definitely a parallel between Kamala’s relationship with the Avengers and my relationship with these guys.”

Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics/Marvel

Since the game’s initial debut at E3 this summer, fans and critics have had the chance to familiarize themselves with the story and as the release date grows closer, the voice cast, along with the development team, are working hard to make sure fans have an immersive and exciting experience on the controllers.

“I really hope they get into the story,” said Jeff Schine, who voices Captain America. “Superpowers are great, but you can only smash somebody so many times before you care about why you’re doing that. So the narrative is really, really important. And then for me, at the end, what I hope they feel is unsatisfied. You know when you have something amazing and you’re satisfied for a second but because it was so good, you want it again? I think if people are left they want more, a little unsatisfied, like I want more of that then we’ve really hit a good thing.”

Marvel’s Avengers releases May 15, 2020, on PC, Stadia, Xbox One, and Playstation4.

Image Credit: Marvel/Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics

The post The Voices of MARVEL’S AVENGERS Preview Epic Story and Gameplay appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s something vaguely existential about the announcement of a new PlayStation console, as I’m reminded anew on the morning that Sony has broadcast the revelation that the holiday season of 2020 will bequeath unto gamers the fifth distinct entry in the gaming franchise. Upholding the series’ time-honored naming convention, the new console has been aptly dubbed PlayStation 5, and with its announcement comes news of hard- and software updates that should prove intriguing to gamers in the know… if, of course, they can tear their attention from the inevitability of the forward march of time through and well past the fragile chapter of youth, also no doubt underlined by the announcement of Sony’s next console.

Placing impending life crises aside for the time being, we set our sights on the technological changes implemented into the PlayStation model for this latest console. Firstly, the PlayStation 5 will eschew the spinning hard drive of its forebear for a solid-state drive, which should mark an uptick in speed and efficiency. Also integrated into the PS5’s hardware is the proponent for ray-tracing acceleration, a technique that will allow for more expansive implementations of lighting and sound design in the games compatible with the console.

Further updates are set to befall the PlayStation 5’s controllers. First off: adaptive resistance. This is to say that buttons will emulate the physical resistance of tasks performed onscreen, when appropriate; the example given in Wired magazine’s comprehensive breakdown is the pulling back and firing of a bow and arrow. On a similar token, the new controller (which has yet to earn a proper name) will institute haptic feedback in lieu of the traditional rumble technology. While players have long been able to “feel” the effects of an onscreen collision, this update looks to better differentiate the feel of one sort of collision from the next (e.g., per Sony’s own breakdown on the PlayStation blog, a car crash versus a tackle on a football field).

Further announcements are sure to come, as decrees the never-ending trudge through this prison that is linear time. So stay tuned!

Featured Image: Sony

The post PlayStation 5 Is Coming in 2020 appeared first on Nerdist.

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is a singular gaming experience. On the one hand, the mechanics are exactly the same as their wildly popular Uncharted action-adventure series; on the other, it’s about spending lots and lots of time with characters you grow to love in a world without hope. It’s one of the most emotional games you could hope to play. How, then, could the developer dream of replicating its success? Especially now that six years have passed and we’re a whole game generation ahead? For years, we’ve hoped The Last of Us Part II would be worth the wait.

And now we have our first real taste. Following gameplay footage from 2018’s E3, we now have our first full length trailer for the game. Some of the things we know already: the player character is Ellie this time out, an older but still spirited young woman who knows how to survive. What we didn’t know is whether Joel, our main character from the first game, would feature at all. The trailer answers that question.

There’s Joel! Looking somehow more grizzled than before. Ellie’s gonna need Joel’s help on her journey. At the end of the last game, Joel and Ellie return to the compound in Colorado, and it seems they’ve stayed. Ellie has a burgeoning romance with another young woman and things seem okay. But tragedy falls and Ellie looks for revenge. As when The Last of Us was at its best, the Cordyceps fungus might have caused an outbreak of zombie-like humans, but it’s the surviving humans that are the real threat. Savagery and swiftness keep you alive. It looks from the trailer that while the clickers remain an ever-present threat, they aren’t the mission.

The Last of Us Part II director Neil Druckman—who also directed part one—issued a lengthy statement to accompany the trailer. He starts:

Even though we’ve been eager to share more about The Last of Us Part II and tell you its release date, we wanted to wait until we were close to wrapping up production and we were confident in the date itself. We have a bunch of new stuff to share with you today… starting with the fact that on February 21, 2020 the Last of Us Part II can finally be in your hands.

So there we have our release date! February 21, 2020. A scant six months from now, we’ll be able to play the game and get back into the harrowing world. Druckman also explained the various editions of the game players can buy. Beyond the Standard Edition, the Collectors Edition and Ellie Edition each offer quite a few bells and whistles, both of the memorabilia variety and the in-game variety. There’s also a Deluxe Digital Edition for those who don’t like physical media. You can read the full breakdown of those packages here.

Naughty Dog/Sony

Ultimately, The Last of Us Part II needs to have the emotional heft and visceral tension of the first part. This is something Druckman knows all too well. He said, “It’s a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us. What we realized pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog’s most ambitious and longest game in our 35 year history.”

Even though we won’t be able to play for awhile, our own Dan Casey was among a group of journalists who got to play three hours of the game. You can see and read his thoughts this Thursday, September 26. Until then, keep crafting.

Featured Image: Naughty Dog/Sony

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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Part 3 of the Borderlands 3: Prep for Pandora cosplay series, Hendo Art prepares and applies Maya’s tattoos, makeup, and body paint to complete her Maya cosplay.

Special thanks to 2K for partnering with us on this video! Mayhem is coming Sept. 13, Pre-Order your copy of Borderlands 3 now: www.borderlands.com

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Part 2 of the Borderlands 3: Prep for Pandora cosplay series, Hendo returns and shows us how she fabricates a Maliwan SMG for her Maya cosplay!

Special thanks to 2K for partnering with us on this video! Mayhem is coming Sept. 13, Pre-Order your copy of Borderlands 3 now: https://2kgam.es/NerdistBL3

The post Hendo Art Borderlands 3 Cosplay Build: Prep for Pandora – Maliwan Prop appeared first on Nerdist.

Sony’s gonna make that Uncharted movie. That’s not up for debate. The only question was, when it would happen. We first heard about the movie—a prequel to the popular PlayStation adventure game series—around 2014. In 2017, it seemed the studio had its eyes set on Tom Holland, their newly minted Spider-Man, to play a young Nathan Drake. Then we heard nothing for a while. Seasons changed, people changed. Now finally, the Uncharted movie has a release date: December 18, 2020. Yes, Christmas is for adventurin’.

The news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter, which also shared a few other release dates, including an April 3, 2020 release for Kevin Hart’s Fatherhood and February 5, 2021 for a new Cinderella starring pop star Camila Cabello.

The Uncharted movie has gone through a few different creative forces, including director Shawn Levy and screenwriter-director Joe Carnahan. 10 Cloverfield Lane and Black Mirror director Dan Trachtenberg is currently the director, with a script from Jonathan Rosenberg and Mark Walker. There’s no reason you should know their names, but that’s the current draft Sony’s working with. Its Christmas 2020 release puts it up against Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, which I suppose means Sony’s pretty confident they can capture the “musicals are stupid” crowd in a year with no Star Wars movie and no announced superhero movie.

Holland is an interesting choice for Nathan Drake. In the games, Drake is a hard-living 30-something adventurer who raids tombs and lost arks alike. He finds treasures and ancient artifacts but usually runs afoul of mercenaries, terrorists, and supernatural curses. It happens a lot. By casting Holland, Sony is forced to give us a Drake origin story, which came into play as flashbacks in both Uncharted 3 and Uncharted 4. One can assume, then, that this movie will focus on a young Drake’s early grifting days and perhaps his first encounter with treasure and death-defying parkour. Some might even call him Peter Parkour. But I wouldn’t.

Uncharted is a truly beloved franchise that made game developer Naughty Dog the toast of console gamers everywhere. They’re some of the most frenetic, exciting games ever made, but they also utilize a very strong storyline. Hopefully Trachtenberg and company can capture some of what makes those games so engaging—it’s all about the characters—and not just give us another watered down video game movie.

Images: Sony/Naughty Dog

Kyle Anderson is the Editor at Large for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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Scorpion heats things up with his new Chain Reaction finisher in Mortal Kombat 11, pulling a heated chain through his opponents, but could this be done in the real world? Kyle fires up the void on this episode of The Science of Mortal Kombat!

The Science of Mortal Kombat is a co-production between Legendary Digital Networks and WB Games.

Mortal Kombat 11 is available now! Purchase your copy here: https://go.wbgames.com/MK11

The post Can Scorpion Cut a Person in Half with Heat? | The Science of Mortal Kombat appeared first on Nerdist.

Spending holidays with family isn’t always an ideal vacation, but if anything can make a gathering better, it’s couch co-op games that get everyone involved. If you’re looking for some good gaming for the whole family, but want to experiment beyond classics like Smash, Mario Kart, or Just Dance, then we’ve compiled this list just for you.

1. Overcooked

Overcooked, or its equally awesome sequel, are full of fast-paced hilarity and cooking chaos. You and your friends play as chefs in a kitchen, working to complete tasks such as chopping vegetables or boiling broth in order to complete your meal. The only caveat is that the kitchen might be, for instance, on a pirate ship or split in half between the beds of two trucks barreling down a highway. (Available for Windows, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch)

2. Gang Beasts

Set in the fictional metropolis of Beef City, Gang Beasts pits you and three of your friends against each other in a beat ’em up brawl, where your goal is to throw the other players into or from one of the game’s many environmental hazards like cliff or shredders. Last person standing wins. (Available forWindows, macOS, Linux, and PS4)

3. Divinity: Original Sin II

Maybe you want to take a break from the classic couch co-op by diving into the more traditional fantasy RPG Divinity: Original Sin II. Assemble a party of four and explore the vast world, level up your skills, and fight some epic battles. You can also try your hand at the competitive multiplayer mode, where players are divided into two teams to fight in an arena map. (Available for Windows, macOS, Xbox One, and PS4)

4. Starwhal

In this bright and colorful indie game, you and three friends play as narwhals who glide, flip, and drift through the game’s various maps. The goal? Stab all of your opponents’ hearts with your horn before they get yours. Simple, yet endlessly entertaining. (Available for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Windows, and WiiU)

5.  A Way Out

A Way Out is a narrative-based two player co-op game that tells the story of two men breaking out of prison. It’s designed to be a split screen game, so you have to work together to sneak past guards, jack cars, and smuggle items to find your freedom. It’s also one of the darker games on this list, so if you want to bum your family out, this might be one to check out. (Available for Windows, PS4, and Xbox One)

6. Cuphead

None of these games challenging enough for you? If not, grab a friend and dive into side-scrolling shoot ’em up Cuphead‘s co-op mode. Come for the devastating difficulty, stay for the delightful 30’s style animation and jazzy soundtrack. (Available for Windows, macOS, and Xbox One)

7. Snipperclips

One of the most slept-on multiplayer games for Switch, Snipperclips is a co-op puzzle game where up to four players solve shape and physics-based puzzles. The game has a cute, pen-and-paper art style, and players snip pieces out of each others’ characters to get the job done. (Only available for the Switch)

8. Viscera Cleanup Detail

Love sci-fi adventures set in space? If so, Viscera Cleanup Detail offers an interesting twist: you’re not fighting aliens and saving the human race—that part’s already been done. Instead, you’re simply cleaning up all of the alien guts the heroes left behind. It’s cartoony, silly, and honestly kind of disgusting. (Available for Windows)

9. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

This game turns your living room into a bomb squad operation. The player acting as the “defuser,” looks at the procedurally generated bomb onscreen and describes it to the “experts,” who read through a many-paged, real life manual to give instructions on how to shut it down. (Available for Windows, OS X, PS4, Android, Linux, Switch, and Xbox One)

10. Ultimate Chicken Horse

If a platformer is more your style, grab some friends and check out Ultimate Chicken Horse. Four people playing as a raccoon, sheep, chicken, and a horse, maneuver their way through the level to the flag at the end. The players also place obstacles around the map to trip up the others, but all have to be careful not to make it too challenging for themselves in the process. (Available for Windows, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch)

Images: Clever Endeavor Studios, Ghost Town Games, Double Fine, Larian Studios, Breakfall, Hazelight Studios, Studio MDHR, SFB Games, Runestorm, Steel Crate Games

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