Rocket League Goes Free-To-Play Next Week

Rocket League is finally going free-to-play on 23 September 2020 at 11pm GMT+8 in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, which will arrive alongside in-game event,Â Llama-Rama.
However, players can already look forward to an update tomorrow at 12am GMT+8 on 17 September 2020 that will lay the groundwork for next week’s new status quo.
Rocket League Update (17 September 2020)
Well, cross-platform progression is coming tomorrow. For those who already ownÂ Rocket LeagueÂ and are eligible forÂ Legacy Status, the items that were revealed in July 2020 (Golden Cosmos Boost, “Est. 20XX” Player Banner,Â Rocket League-branded DLC, etc.) will hit your inventories with tomorrow’s update.Â
In addition to joining the Epic Games Store,Â Rocket LeagueÂ will also be joining Epic’s Support-A-Creator program. You can choose to support a Creator of your choice in-game by entering the Creator’s code in the Item Shop, beginning tomorrow with the game update.
ForÂ Rocket League, accepted Creators will earn 5 percent of Credits spent while using their Creator Code. Codes for Creators currently in the program will work inÂ Rocket LeagueÂ starting tomorrow.
There are many of your favoriteÂ Rocket LeagueÂ creators already part of the system and more will be added in the near future. If you’re interested in becoming a Creator, go to theÂ Epic Support-A-Creator pageÂ for more information.
Tomorrow’s update for Rocket League will also include:
New Quick ChatsHeatseeker in Private MatchesLarger item pool for Trade UpsSolo Standard removedNew Bot difficultyÂ New Merc HitboxRocket League X Monstercat RemixesUpdated MenuChanges to Achievements
Free-To-Play Update
Rocket League is debuting on the Epic Games Store on 23 September 2020. If you addÂ Rocket LeagueÂ to your library between 23 September and 23 October 2020, you will receive a US$10 EGS coupon that is redeemable on games and add-ons US$14.99 and up.
Plus, once you download and launch the game, you’ll instantly get two new items in your inventory:Â Sun Ray BoostÂ andÂ Hot Rocks Trail.
SEASON 1
Take your shot at climbing the Ranks, and tiering up your Rocket Pass in Season 1, along with competitive tournaments, game-wide challenges, and the followng:
ENDO STARTER PACK AND JÃ„GER PACK
Two new item packs will be available with some siiiick items for new and veteran players. Here’s what’s in each:
Endo Starter Pack
Endo Gaiden Wheels (Grey)Neo-Thermal Boost Friction Trail500 Credits
JÃ¤ger Pack
JÃ¤ger 619 (Titanium White)Apparatus Wheels (Titanium White)Toon Goal Explosion (Titanium White)1000 Credits
Both packs will be available in the Bundles tab of the Item Shop.
Rocket League is available on the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.


PUBG Mobile Banned in India, 16 Arrested

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile, aka PUBG Mobile, has been banned in India following concerns of addiction and promotion of violence amongst youngsters. At least 16 students were arrested for simply playing the game.
The Indian Express reports that 10 university students were arrested for playing PUBG Mobile a week after the ban was enforced in the state of Gujarat. The unfortunate students were released on bail.
A police officer was reported saying that “This game is highly addictive and the accused were so engrossed in playing them that they could not even notice our team approaching themâ€.

The ban came in the concern about how the game affects players’ â€œbehaviour, conduct, and language.â€ The game is still legal in other Indian states, however.
Weirdly, considering the crime of dance Fortnite, as well as its prevalence among the kids, I’m surprised it has come through unscathed, even though it is also a shooter battle royale.
But seriously though, you people need to understand that games do not make you violent. Lag does.


LEGO Razor Crest From The Mandalorian Drops Next Week

LEGO has officially revealed the next LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series set with The Razor Crest (75331) from The Mandalorian. It is slated to release on 7 October 2022 for US$599.99, or roughly RM2,747+.
At 72cm long and made up of 6,187 pieces and rich in details, the LEGO Star Wars Razor Crest set includes removable engines and a cockpit, an escape pod, and a Minifigure-size carbon-freezing chamber, as well as mini figures featuring the characters of Grogu, the Mandalorian, Mythrol, and Kuiil on a buildable Blurrg model. Once built, you can proudly display your LEGO Star Wars creation with an innovative stand and information plaque.
In other recent news, The Mandalorian’s Cobb Vanth is getting his own Hot Toy, and The Mandalorian Season 3 is coming in 2023.
Check out the pictures below:


A Familiar Fighter Returns In Tekken 7 Season 4

During Tokyo Game Show 2020, Bandai Namco has revealed the first brand new fighter for the upcoming Tekken 7 Season 4 DLC.
Wearing a Japanese Kitsune (fox) mask, her name is Kunimitsu. Her fighting style seems to be ninjutsu-based or like a ninja’s, and she wields Kunai as her choice of weapon. In the teaser trailer, we see her defeat both Master Raven and Yoshimitsu.
The original Kinimitsu first appeared in the original Tekken and was last seen in Tekken 2. The version appearing in Tekken 7 will apparently be her daughter and successor.
The following free updates are also due out this fall:
Online play enhancements.New moves for all playable characters.A new top level rank â€œTekken God Omega.â€TekkenÂ Prowess: A new way for players to see theirÂ TekkenÂ skills through points scoring.
Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada also announced on Twitter that Tekken 7 sales have surpassed six million, while total sales for the franchise as a whole have exceeded 50 million copies worldwide.

TEKKEN7 had achieved Over 6 million sales !We recorded Over 50 million copies sales for the series.??7?600???????????????5000????????????????????????????????????????#TEKKEN7 #TEKKEN #??7 #?? pic.twitter.com/U30ZPUg9tN— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) September 27, 2020

In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


The Boys Season 3 Teaser Trailer Breakdown: Soldier Boy, Crimson Countess & More

Amazon Prime has unveiled the first teaser trailer for The Boys Season 3. Running at under two minutes long, it doesn’t feature a single line of dialogue, but the quick cuts of stuff happening do give us our first look at several new characters and other details.

Jensen Ackles As Soldier Boy
Ever since the end of The Boys Season 2, showrunner Eric Kripke has been teasing Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. In the comics, he’s a Supe who is essentially a twisted take on Captain America.
Soldier Boy is also the leader of his own superhero team called Payback. Maybe he’ll be the one replacing Aya Cash’s Stormfront in the Seven (since she was left mutilated and burned but still alive at the end of Season 2).
What we do know is we’ll probably be meeting Soldier Boy and his team, Payback, in the very first episode of Season 3, if the name of the episode is any indication (as tweeted by showrunner Eric Kripke himself).
Kripke describes the character as “the very first superhero, he’ll bring so much humour, pathos, and danger to the role”.
In the comics, Soldier Boy also had sex with Homelander in an attempt to join the Seven as part of the Herogasm event. While showrunner Eric Kripke has confirmed that the sexual intercourse between them won’t happen, he did confirm that Herogasm will be featured in Season 3.
Laurie Holden As Crimson Countess
Laurie Holden is playing the other major new Supe who will be introduced in Season 3, the Crimson Countess. In the comics, she’s a forgettable minor character, but in the series, it looks like she’ll be playing a larger role as she will also be part of Payback, the Supe team being led by Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy.
It will be interesting to see the Seven (the Supe team led by Homelander and Maeve) finally getting a rival team.
Billy Butch Gets Powers Via Compound V
In a ‘blink or you’ll miss it’ moment, we can see Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher holding a vial of Compound V, the substance that turns humans into Supes. He probably consumes it, because we see him getting glowy eyes and shooting laser beams out of his eyes, thus turning Billy Butcher into the very thing he hates the most.
Even though this is a big deal in the live-action version, it’s different in the comics. In the comics, Billy and the rest of The Boys team all take Compound V from the very start in order to fight Supes on an equal footing. Meanwhile, in the Amazon series, only Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko is powered like a Supe.
Another Look At Soldier Boy
The teaser trailer ends with another look at Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy. He looks like he’s coming out of some kind of hibernation chamber, which he probably stayed in for years (as assumed by his long beard and hair). In the comics, the original Soldier Boy was a Supe during World War 2, but other people have carried the mantle after the first died. Maybe the live-action version will still be the same Supe from World War 2.
The Boys Season 3 will premiere with its first three episodes on 3 June 2022. Subsequent episodes will release on a weekly schedule for a total of eight episodes, with the season 3 finale slated for 8 July 2022.
The Boys Season 3 stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit and series newcomer Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy.
The Boys Season 2 debuted on 4 September 2020 and ended its eight-episode run on 9 October 2020. It was another great season for the series, especially with its character-driven approach and shining the spotlight on supporting characters like Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko (you can check out my full review here).
You can also head on over here to read about what to expect for The Boys Season 3 based on my knowledge of the comics and source material.


PUBG Mobile Announces BLACKPINK Virtual Concert & Malaysian Watch Party

PUBG Mobile has announced their rendition of the ever-popular virtual concerts with none other than the Kpop idol group, BLACKPINK set to perform on 23 July.
Check out our piece on Free Fire x Justin Bieber
It seems that mobile games are all picking up on the craze that is virtual concerts. Garena Free Fire recently announced their collaboration with Justin Bieber to hold their own virtual concert and in that person, I mentioned that we can expect more collaborations like this in the future. And here we are.
This isn’t the first time the mobile battle royale has collaborated with BLACKPINK as they previously did so back in 2020 when they introduced BLACKPINK-inspired cosmetics. This time around, PUBG Mobile will be holding their first ever virtual concert aptly named “The Virtual”.

If you’re in Malaysia, Fight Esports is hosting a watch party in celebration of this event at Petaling Jaya Performance Arts Centre. BLACKPINK and Kpop fans alike can gather for a day of fun activities, exciting performances, and prizes up for grabs.
The people over at Fight Esports also mentioned that there will also be an exclusive surprise reveal during the watch party. So if you don’t want to miss out then feel free to swing by the event, all the details are listed below.
DATE & VENUE

Date: 23 July
Time: Doors open at 11:00 AM and the in-game concert will begin at 1:00 PM (GMT+8)
Venue: Petaling Jaya Performance Arts Centre, 1 Utama


Alan Wake Remastered Leaked Via Epic Games Store

Epic Games Store data tracker Epic Games Data has uncovered a listing for Alan Wake Remastered and Final Fantasy VII Remake for PC.

ICYMI: Alan Wake Remastered spotted on Epic Games Store databasehttps://t.co/gQ6N3Uzgch
via https://t.co/RtICXDJwKZ pic.twitter.com/3dT2yk9cjt
— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 18, 2021

This is interesting because elements of Alan Wake were featured in one of the DLCs for Remedy Entertainment’s Control. Plus, theÂ publishing rights for the original Alan Wake reverted to Remedy Entertainment from original publisher Microsoft back in July 2019. In addition, Epic Games also announced a multiple game publishing deal with Remedy Entertainment back in March 2020.
Coincidence, I think not. With Control and Alan Wake now sharing the same connected universe, Remedy Entertainment will likely continue making games set in that aforementioned universe. Perhaps they’re even making a sequel to either Control or Alan Wake right now.
ControlÂ originally launched for PS4, Xbox One, and PC via the Epic Games Store in August 2019, followed by PC via Steam in August 2020. We namedÂ ControlÂ one of the best games of 2019. You can also check outÂ our review of the game here.


FIFA Online 4 EACC Summer 2021 Reveals Teams & Tournament Format

Leading video games publisher Electronic Arts has announced the upcoming schedule and participants for the FIFA ONLINE 4 Series tournament, EACC Summer 2021. The tournament will feature 12 participating teams, with 3 representatives each from 4 countries: China, Thailand, Vietnam, and South Korea. The teams will be playing for a prize pool of USD$100,000, with the grand prize amounting to US$35,000.
EVENT FORMAT
DRAFT DAY: Invited teams have participated in a draft day on 22 June 2021. Each team was assigned a randomized group and draw order to determine their position in the snake draft, with a total of 12 rounds. For detailed draft rules and order, please refer here.
GROUP STAGE: The group stage will be held across 3 days from 28 to 30 June 2021. The draft will split the 12 teams into 4 groups of 3 teams, with a maximum of 1 representative from each country for each group. The top 2 teams from each group will proceed to the Knockout Stages.
KNOCKOUT STAGE: The knockout stage will feature a double-elimination bracket. Stage 1 will start with the top seed from each group matched up with a runner-up seed from another group in Best-of-3 (BO3) matches and will be played on 2nd and 3rd July. Stage 2 will conclude the tournament with the semi-finals and finals, to be held on 4 July 2021, and will feature Best-of-5 (BO5) matches.
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
The participating teams for EACC SUMMER 2021 are decided based on their placement in Domestic Qualifying Events. The full list of teams and their respective grouping is as follows:
GROUP STAGE: The group stage will be held across 3 days from 28th to 30th June. The draft will splitÂ  the 12 teams into 4 groups of 3 teams, with a maximum of 1 representative from each country for eachÂ  group. The top 2 teams from each group will proceed to the Knockout Stages.Â
KNOCKOUT STAGE: The knockout stage will feature a double-elimination bracket. Stage 1 will startÂ  with the top seed from each group matched up with a runner-up seed from another group in Best-of-3Â  (BO3) matches and will be played on 2nd and 3rd July. Stage 2 will conclude the tournament with theÂ  semi-finals and finals, to be held on 4th July, and will feature Best-of-5 (BO5) matches.Â
The participating teams for EACC SUMMER 2021 are decided based on their placement in DomesticÂ  Qualifying Events. The full list of teams and their respective grouping is as follows:

Draft results from 22nd June are as follow:
Group A: MiTH, R&F Ronly, SainT.
Group B: Manchester City Esports Team, FaZe Clan, Poloman eSport.
Group C: Tony Tonyy, CrazyWin, MiTR Coffee.
Group D: MintChocoDan, DIH Esport, Wolves Weibo.
SCHEDULEÂ
The full schedule is shown below:

StageÂ
Date / Time (GMT+8)

GROUP STAGE
28th June, 2021 â€“ 1:30pmÂ
29th June, 2021 â€“ 1:30pmÂ
30th June, 2021 â€“ 1:30pm

KNOCKOUT STAGESÂ Â
(Playoffs)
2nd July, 2021 â€“ 1:30pm
3rd July, 2021 â€“ 3:00pm

KNOCKOUT STAGESÂ
(Semi-Finals and Grand Finals)Â
4th July, 2021 â€“ 3:00pm

VIEWING CHANNELSÂ
Each EACC SUMMER 2021 match will air on the following channels:Â
ChinaÂ Â

Bilibili

KoreaÂ

AfreecaTV

ThailandÂ

YouTube
Facebook

VietnamÂ

YouTube
Facebook

Piotr Pilich, Deputy Commissioner of FIFA Online 4 at EA, said:
â€œWe are excited to see a mix ofÂ  veteran and new teams rise up to the challenge in the new season of EACC SUMMER 2021.
It will be especially exciting to see new strategies and tactics emerge as each team drafts a unique set of in game players.
We are confident that we will see another highly competitive tournament this season.â€


Anuchard Guide & Walkthrough: How To Conquer This 90s Action RPG Tribute

Anuchard is out now and it’s a lovely action RPG that pays tribute to 90s Enix JRPGs like the Quintet Trilogy and even PlayStation 1 era titles like Alundra.
The game’s combat and puzzles can be a mite tricky, so here are some video walkthroughs on how to tackle each dungeon. There are spoilers in the video, so here’s your warning.

Some combat tips before we start with the video WALKTHROUGHS

Eat food before you head out to dungeons. Eating food at the Orchard Village kitchen run by Muthu will give you health and attack buffs. Not only that, you can also get special moves that can help with your combo strings and area-of-effect damage. To cook your food, just pick a main ingredient (cabbage, potato, etc.), then combine it with a second ingredient.
Upgrade your village. You can unlock new buffs for your Spire (your bell staff skill that can heal and shoot out projectiles) and also new ingredients for the kitchen.
Use Heavy Attacks to destroy enemy armour. Enemies with armour cannot take regular damage, so you have to destroy their armour. You do this by hitting them with Heavy Attacks that slams them to a wall.
Your Heavy Attack and your dodge roll are mapped on one button. This is convenient because when you approach an enemy when you roll, you automatically can do a Heavy attack which is a guaranteed hit.

ORCHARD FARM DungeonS & Boss Fight – FIRST WORLD

GoldEN PYRAMID Dungeons & Boss Fight – SECOND WORLD

KUNLUN CITY DUNGEONS & BOSS FIGHTS – THIRD WORLD

FINAL STAGE & BOSS FIGHT


Epic CEO Blasts Loot Boxes & Calls For Neutrality When It Comes To Politics In The Games Industry

Update: Seems that Sweeney’s speech was either misquoted or misunderstood by a journalist reporting for major games site, IGN who in their piece, claimed that Sweeney wanted to keep politics out of gaming altogether.Â

Of course this skewed far off from his initial point of view. So Sweeney has taken it to Twitter to further clarify his stance:

Hereâ€™s one of the key views I shared at DICE. If a game tackles politics, as To Kill a Mockingbird did as a novel, it should come from the heart of creatives and not from marketing departments seeking to capitalize on division. https://t.co/x4eARz7Yyz
â€” Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 12, 2020

Reiterating the exact line from his speech, Sweeney calls for the elimination of marketing departments from determining the political leanings and messages conveyed in games. Hopefully this clarifies this slippery slope when it comes to inclusion of politics in video games.
As Sweeney said it perfectly – “…it should come from the heart of creatives and not from marketing departments seeking to capitalize on division”.
You man not like Fortnite but you gotta agree he’s hit a homerun with that one.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is one of the most influential figures in the games industry, thanks to the massive success of Fortnite and the Epic Games Store. During a keynote speech at the DICE Summit 2020, (via The Hollywood Reporter), he shared his opinions on the video game industry.
Sweeney criticized pay-to-win mechanics and exploitative loot box business models in the games industry:

“We have to ask ourselves, as an industry, what we want to be when we grow up.
Do we want to be like Las Vegas, with slot machines … or do we want to be widely respected as creators of products that customers can trust?
I think we will see more and more publishers move away from loot boxes.
â€œWe should be very reticent of creating an experience where the outcome can be influenced by spending money.
Loot boxes play on all the mechanics of gambling except for the ability to get more money out in the end.â€

Fortnite generated a whopping US$1.8 billion last year. Sweeney also said that cross-platform is the future.

“What we all really want and need to accept is equal access to all customers and give up our attempts to create our own private wall guard or private monopoly.
In Fortnite, the player who spends with friends plays for twice as long and spends more money.
Cross-platform is the future, and we all have to do our part.”

Sweeney ended his speech by encouraging game companies to stay neutral in politics:

â€œWe should get the marketing departments out of politics.
We live in a world where your political affiliation determines what chicken restaurant you go to.
Thereâ€™s no reason to drag divisive topics like that into gaming.
â€œWe need to create a very clear separation between church and state â€¦ employees, customers and everyone else should be able to express themselves.
We as companies need to divorce ourselves from politics â€¦ platforms should be neutral.â€


This Survival MMO Is Temporarily Going Offline Less Than A Week After Release

Last Oasis is a new survival MMO that lets players build fancy constructs that function as both base and transport. By new, I mean that it came out on Steam Early Access just last week.
Unfortunately, it looks like the game’s launch has been incredibly troubled, with many players unable to connect to the game. The issue was so bad that developer Donkey Crew is suspending its servers for around seven days as they try to fix the problem.
“A lot of you mentioned that this is not how an early access game should launch, and we fully agree,” says Last Oasis project lead Florian Hofreither, or “chadz”, in a video. “This is absolutely not how an early access game should launch.”

As such, Donkey Crew is offering full refunds regardless of how much time they’ve spent in the game, with “no questions asked”. Hofreither also thanked players who had sent positive messages to the team, and promised that “we are going to deliver”.
While the fact that Last Oasis launched with such severe connection issues is concerning, I think that Hofreither and the rest of the team deserve credit for responding to players’ feedback with candidness and sincerity. It seems that the actual game itself is pretty good too, so let’s hope that the connection issues will be ironed out soon so everyone can go back to enjoying it.


TGS 2018: New Jump Force Info: Yu Yu Hakusho, Beta, Collector’s Ed, & Original Akira Toriyama Designs

The upcoming Bandai Namco fighting game Jump Force’s aesthetic may be dividing the gaming community, but it’s hard not to like a shonen manga/anime crossover game featuring Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, Naruto, and Yu Yu freakin’ Hakusho.
You heard right: Yusuke Urameshi and Toguro are going to be playable fighters in Jump Force. Check them out in action below.

Collector’s Edition
That’s not all: if you buy the Collector’s Edition of the game next year, you’ll get a 30cm diorama featuring Goku, Naruto, and Luffy all posing dramatically.

Pre-order the game and you’ll get the following items below in-game; I see Vegeta’s uniform & Frieza’s hover pod thing, as well as a One Piece and Naruto apparel.

Beta This October
A closed beta for Jump Force will also be available to North American players beginning on 12th October and running through 14th October. Beta applications currently open on Bandai Namco’s websiteÂ until 7th October.
Check out the full schedule below (all in PT time).

New Toriyama Designs
While the Jump Force story mode will feature many heroes and villains from various manga universes, Akira Toriyama will be making up new characters exclusively for the game. We’re positive that his stint with Dragon Quest XI and Dragon Ball Super -loads of Dragon titles FYI- he’ll come up with designs that in no way remind us of those two properties.

Well, we can dream, can we? Jump Force will be out for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 2019.


The Last Of Us Part 2 Gets 60 FPS Patch On PS5

Surprise!
Naughty Dog has dropped a new update for The Last Of Us Part 2 that improves the game on the PS5.
Once patch 1.08 for The Last Of Us Part 2 is installed on your PS5, you will find a toggle in the Display options that allows you to choose between a Framerate Target of 30 FPS or 60 FPS. This allows you to choose your preferred framerate to complement the rest of the enhancements that are part of the PS5 backward compatibility with PS4 games, such as an enhanced resolution, faster load times, and more.
The Last Of Us Part 2 is out now for the PS4 and PS5. In the meantime, check out my full spoiler-free review of the game here, orÂ head on over here for a guide and tips for the game. If youâ€™ve already played the game, then I suggestÂ checking out my 4000-word spoilerific articleÂ on why the hate for the game isnâ€™t justified.


Marvel’s Runaways To Cross Over With Cloak & Dagger

While Marvel’s Runaways on Hulu and Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger on Freeform might not be as popular as the Marvel Netflix franchise or Marvel’s Agents Of SHIELD on ABC, they offer a different, more youthful perspective into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Much to the delight of fans, the heroes from both shows will soon be officially crossing over in a special crossover episode in Marvel’s Runaways Season 3. This was announced by Marvel Entertainment via their official Twitter account, with a video featuring the stars from both shows.

A message from the stars of “@MarvelsRunaways” and “Marvel’s @CloakAndDagger“…https://t.co/ppVD8IwKdV pic.twitter.com/ItmTJadrpn
â€” Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) August 1, 2019
Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger recently concluded its second season at the end of May 2019, though it hasn’t been renewed for a Season 3 as of yet. Meanwhile, all ten episodes of Marvel’s Runaways Season 3 are slated to premiere on 13 December 2019.
Season 3 of Marvel’s Runaways will introduce sorceress of Arthurian legend Morgan Le Fay as its main antagonist, portrayed by Elizabeth Hurley. Details on the crossover episode remain scarce for now, but if it’s even partly inspired by the comics, their first meeting will likely end up in a classic confrontation before they eventually team up.

In case you’re not familiar, the Runaways are a group of young teenagers who run away from their families after discovering that their parents are villains with plans for an apocalypse.
On the other hand, Cloak & Dagger is a duo consisting of Tandy Bowen/Dagger and Tyrone Johnson/Cloak, the fates of which were intertwined when their powers activated and were found to complement each other.
Of course, it’s all a lot more complicated than all that, but those are the basic premises for both shows. While both shows are meant to be set in the MCU, they have only featured loose references here and there, instead of the more ‘connected’ Agents Of SHIELD.
In the meantime, check out the Marvel’s Runaways Season 3 trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H502JIkESOI&w=560&h=315]


Facebook Now Has A Facebook Gaming App

Facebook have launched their Facebook Gaming app on Google Play, with an iOS version to come after Apple’s approval.
It’s described as “a focused, gaming-only experience where you can watch your favourite streamers, play instant games and take part in gaming groups. It’s all of Facebook Gaming in one neat, app-sized package”. Facebook Gaming is its game-streaming service that was launched in 2018.
According to the New York Times, the app has no advertising (yay!), for now (oh); instead, Facebook earns money from theÂ  “stars” that viewers send to streamers. There will be casual games included on the app, and a “Go Live” function to stream other mobile games and share the stream on the player’s Facebook page.
The app was originally meant to launch in June, with the new release date being influenced by the current COVID-19-induced quarantines. It makes sense, since gaming and streaming have seen a rise during this time.
As for the reason for the app’s existence, Facebook vice president for Gaming Vivek Sharma told the New York Times that “Facebook is focused on mobile and the new app for streaming because the mobile experience is more intense than computer viewing”.
Last year, Business Insider reported that streamers were finding it easier to grow their audience and earn money on Facebook Gaming, although it noted that Twitch was still vastly ahead in terms of active streamers and both viewing and streaming hours. We’ll have to wait and see if the Facebook Gaming app gives Facebook the boost they need.

Â


Netflix May 2021: Our Picks & Highlights

Since everyone is (still mostly) staying home because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Iâ€™m sure you wonâ€™t want to waste time sifting through Netflixâ€™s extensive catalogue of shows and movies just to decide on what to watch. The streaming giant updates its site every day, week, and month with new content, so Iâ€™m here to save your precious time.
Here are my personal recommendations and highlights for Netflix Malaysiaâ€™s April 2021 lineup and how to fill up your free time with worthwhile content at home:
Jupiter’s Legacy (7 May 2021)

The synopsis reads:
No legacy lives forever.
The first generation of superheroes have kept the world safe for nearly a century.
Now their children must continue their legendary ideals.
Jupiterâ€™s LegacyÂ is an adaptation of the comics of the same name. Itâ€™s about The Union, the first generation of superheroes whoâ€™ve been active since the 1930s with the Utopian as the leader. However, as they get older, theyâ€™re forced to look to their super-powered children to continue their legacy, which isnâ€™t an easy thing to live up to.
It stars Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, Ben Daniels, Elena Kampouris, Andrew Horton, Mike Wade and Matt Lanter.
Millar, who is best known forÂ Kick-AssÂ andÂ Kingsman, debutedÂ Jupiterâ€™s LegacyÂ in comics in 2013 with artistÂ Frank Quitely. They are executive producing with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Dan McDermott, Steven S. DeKnight, James Middleton and Sang Kyu Kim.
This might turn out to be Netflixâ€™s answer to Amazon Prime Videoâ€™sÂ The Boys. The first season will consist of eight episodes and will premiere on 7 May 2021.

Castlevania Season 4 (13 May 2021)

CastlevaniaÂ is a dark medieval fantasy that follows Trevor (Richard Armitage), the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, who is trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes (Graham McTavish). But Trevor no longer is alone, and now he and his misfit comrades race to find a way to save humanity from extinction at the hands of the grief-maddened Dracula and his sinister vampire war council.
The voice cast also includes James Callis, Emily Swallow, Matt Frewer, Tony Amendola and Alejandra Reynoso; amongst others. The seriesâ€™ visual style is heavily influenced by Ayami Kojimaâ€™s artwork inÂ Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night.
Castlevania Season 4 will be the final season and it will be 10 episodes long.
Love, Death + Robots Season 2 (14 May 2021)

Remember the NSFW animated anthology series that debuted on Netflix back inÂ March 2019?Â Love, Death + Robots is returning with Volume 2.
Fans can look forward to naked giants, Christmas demons, and robots-gone-wild. Meanwhile, youâ€™ll be happy to learn that Volume 3 is confirmed for 2022 as well.

Army Of The Dead (21 May 2021)

It’s directed by Zack Snyder, and he isnâ€™t a stranger to zombie films, as he previously directed the 2004 Dawn Of The DeadÂ remake, which was also his directorial debut.
The synopsis reads:
â€œFollowing a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.â€
The cast includesÂ Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias SchweighÃ¶fer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Tig Notaro, RaÃºl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, Samantha Win, Richard CetroneÂ andÂ Michael Cassidy.

Eden (27 May 2021)

Created by Yasuhiro Irie, this post-apocalyptic tale is about a little girl and her robot family trying to find signs of life in the harsh cruel wasteland. Produced by a Chinese animation company called CGCG, this 3D anime looks like it may break away from the â€œ3D anime badâ€ stigma.
The synopsis reads:
Thousands of years in the future, a human baby girl awakens, finding herself in a world inhabited solely by robots.

Lucifer Season 5 Part 2 (28 May 2021)

The first part of Lucifer Season 5 debuted back in August 2020, but now we’re finally getting the highly-anticipated second half.
Lucifer stars Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar, Lauren German as Det. Chloe Decker, D.B. Woodside as Amenadiel, Rachael Harris as Dr. Linda Martin, Kevin Alejandro as Det. Dan Espinoza, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Mazikeen Smith and Aimee Garcia as Ella Lopez

Those are just several selected highlights from next monthâ€™s offerings of new TV series and movies on Netflix. Now you can plan your Netflix binge-fest for May 2021.


Singapore Video Game Retailer Donates S$25,000 To Children’s Society

The COVID-19 pandemic has been putting a damper on many businesses, particularly in the food and beverage industry. Conversely, other businesses like video games and video game retail are seeing a huge spike in demand, at least on the online retailing front.
While it’s definitely a good business opportunity for game retail shops to net some profit from console price spikes (like the Nintendo Switch), Singapore store Qisahn is going the extra mile to pool together a sizeable donation to the Children’s Society.
How much? Try S$25,000 (US$17,700 rounded up).
https://www.facebook.com/Qisahn/posts/10158001782110575
Well done, Qisahn! If you happen to live in Singapore and wish to donate, you can do so here.
Top image credit: Qisahn


Is Winston’s New Skin Hinting At the Next Overwatch Hero?

A day closer to Overwatch’s seasonal event, ‘Retribution’, and we were pleasantly surprised by a brand new skin today. This time, featuring our favorite primate, the peanut butter loving Winston. Labeled as ‘Specimen 28 Winston’, this skin will be available for purchase or obtainable via lootboxes for a limited time along with other season-exclusive skins revealed earlier including Scion Hanzo, Talon Sombra, Talon Doomfist and pajama & fluffy slippers-wearing Mei a.k.a Pajamei.

Overwatch Archives file locatedâ€¦
Subject identified: SPECIMEN 28 WINSTON
File content available for download in t-minus: 1 day pic.twitter.com/6dNXwQDu6J
â€” Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) April 10, 2018
But one detail stood out with this Winston skin – the number 28. As you’d know, we currently have 27 confirmed heroes in Overwatch following Brigette’s recent addition. However there are several other characters that have been teased in the past but are yet to make it to the live roster. Considering Specimen 28 Winston is clad in his Horizon Lunar Colony suit prior to his escape to Earth, is this aÂ  tease for the next Overwatch hero? A bit farfetched? Ok read on.
Granted that Winston has always been known as Specimen 28 during his days on the moon, it would be interesting if this is Blizzard’s way of telling us that the 28th Overwatch hero is just around the corner and is closely related to Winston.
A younger gorilla, Hammond comes to mind.Â Â For the uninitiated, following the tragedy on the installation on the moon, Hammond was the only specimen from theÂ Lunar ColonyÂ that is unaccounted for, other than Winston of course.
Not this one …
This theory also carry some weight, considering how Blizzard have no qualms in introducing new heroes that change how their game is played. For example – the prevalence of Mercy led to the introduction of Moira and more recently, Brigette is seen as a crowd control hero that is a perfect foil to dive heroes which coincidentally, has Winston as the must-pick hero to work.
What if Hammond, a.k.a Hero 28 is the anti-Winston. Possibly a less mobile, closer to Orisa’s traits but focused on a melee kit. Currently we are only limited to two close-ranged melee tanks – Reinhardt and the more agile Winston so surely Blizzard would want to increase the size of that pool, right?Â  Makes total sense if you ask me.
What do you think? As usual, you are more than welcomed to share your thoughts in the comments section.


The Shenmue Anime Gets Its First Trailer

Crunchyroll and Adult Swim have released a first look trailer for Shenmue The Animation, the 13-episode animated series based on the Sega game series. The Shenmue anime was originally announced in September 2020.
Produced by Telecom Animation Film, the production company behind works such as Tower Of God and Lupin The Third: Part 5, Shenmue the Animation will premiere sometime in 2022. It will be directed by Chikara Sakurai with executive production work from Yu Suzuki himself.
In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Alienware M15 R2 Answers The Question “At What Price Power?”

When it comes to buying gaming laptops, Alienware is one of those brands you can’t miss. The Alienware M15 R2 is somewhere up there in high tier when it comes to gaming laptop rankings.
I received one of those beasts for a review, and it really deserves its moniker for a reason.
Packing Heat

Let’s just get the specs out of the way. This monster is packing:
CPU: 9th Gen i9-9980HK
RAM: 16GB
GPU: GeForce RTX 2070 8GB DDR6
Storage: 512GB SSD
I’m going to put it out there that my review of the Alienware M15 R2 is based on my usage of it as a daily driver in a period of around 3 weeks. Most of the time, I used it for work which involves a lot of typing and some lightweight video editing. I didn’t game on it daily but whenever I did, I did for hours.
Just from the pictures alone, I’m sure you can sense that this thing is big. That size also translates to its weight. The moment I got my hands on the laptop, I pinpointed its biggest weakness as a portable machine: how heavy it is.

Don’t get wrong, it’s no back-breaker but it’s something to think about if you care about portability.

With that being said, it’s perfectly functional as a desktop replacement which I believe is its main role. There’s nothing to complain about the performance. The 15.6″ full HD 144Hz screen is great to look at for work, gaming, and video editing. In terms of colour accuracy, I can’t say much since I didn’t any colour-critical work.
Sound Off

In terms of gaming, I decided to test out the performance with recent games such as Borderlands 3, Devil May Cry V, and Control. At “Badass” settings, I only managed to get an average of 62fps in Borderlands 3 but a quick internet search tells me that it’s because the game itself is poorly optimised.
As for DMCV and Control, the laptop performs splendidly. Average frames for both games were upwards of 100fps when playing on the highest settings.

Was the laptop loud while playing games? Definitely. You’ll want to use a pair headphones or earphones with this one.

Surprisingly, the M15 R2 manages to keep its temperature at a good level during my gaming sessions. Still, I wouldn’t recommend actually gaming on your lap. It can still uncomfortably warm.

I typed a lot while I was reviewing this laptop. As someone who’s accustomed to using a mechanical keyboard on my desktop, my expectations were pretty high. If you’ve been hoping for me to say that the laptop has a good keyboard, then you’re in luck.
I have no complaints about the M15 R2’s keyboard. In fact, it’s probably the best laptop keyboard I’ve ever used.

Typing on this beast is both smooth and satisfying. It also helps that there’s a programmable RGB backlight for users to play around with.

Eye Spy
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. There’s this thing called the Tobii Eye Tracker built into the laptop. It scans your face and then tracks the movement of your eyes. I didn’t have any games that took advantage of this effect and outside of gaming, it didn’t really feel useful.

So would I recommend buying the Alienware M15 R2? Only to people who have RM10,000 lying around and want to get a do-it-all laptop that can also function as a home computer.

If you don’t fit into that category but still have RM10,000 lying around, you could split that amount half-and-half to built a superb desktop complete with peripherals. And also get yourself another decent gaming laptop or even a cheap Macbook.
As such, I’d only recommend the M15 R2 if you don’t mind the bulk and loud fans while gaming.
PROS

Unbeatable performance.
Super satisfying keyboard.
Great crystal-clear screen.
Decent cooling.

CONS

Fans get quite loud during gaming.
A bit heavy.
Disgustingly expensive.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

Vital Statistics

CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H 7.
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Laptop) 11.
Display: 15.6â€, Full HD (1920 x 1080), 144 Hz, IPS.
HDD/SSD: 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD.
RAM: 2x 8GB DDR4, 2666 MHz.
OS: Windows 10 Home
Battery: 76Wh
Body material: Magnesium alloy (Magnesium Alloy exterior shell, Copper Alloy thermal structures)
Dimensions: 14.17″ x 10.87″ x 0.77″
Weight: 2.16 kg


Tenet Explained, Ending & All

Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is the first blockbuster movie since March 2020 and the beginning of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It doesn’t disappoint, to say the least.While it might not be the acclaimed director’s best movie, it is still his most ambitious one yet in terms of scale and concept. That also means that Tenet is essentially Nolan’s most complex movie to date, featuring a complicated plot of timey-wimey twists and turns (you can check out my non-spoiler review here).Don’t be afraid though, because I’m here to answer the most important and burning questions from the movie. Take note that I’ll be discussing major spoilers from Tenet, so save this article until after you’ve watched the movie.

If you’re still here, then you’ve probably already watched Tenet once or twice, or even more. I watched the movie twice myself, and I’ll do my best to explain the movie and its ending.
What Is Inversion?

In Tenet, inversion is a technology that has been invented by an unknown female scientist in the future that can reverse the entropy of people and objects by sort of moving them backwards through time. Entropy is a concept of physics that dictates the movement of energy between objects.
Basically, energy moves in a certain direction, including time and the flow of energy. When heated, water eventually boils. Time moves forwards instead of backwards. These are examples of entropy.
In Tenet, the movement of that energy can be reversed through inversion. Therefore, when a person is inverted, fire can freeze instead of burn. Time moves backwards instead of forwards, which means that time travel is essentially made possible.
An inverted person also cannot breathe normal oxygen in a non-inverted world, which means that he or she would need a breathing apparatus. Other rules of entropy and inversion include: Coming into contact with yourself (between an inverted and a non-inverted person) will lead to instant death for both.
What Is The Algorithm?

The Algorithm is a piece of technology (or a physical form of a formula) from the future that can reverse the entropy of the entire planet. If activated, it would cause everything to invert, wiping out the past, time, and everyone who ever existed or will exist, thus ending the world.
The Algorithm was invented by an unknown female scientist in the future. She killed herself and split the algorithm into nine pieces, hiding each piece back in nuclear facilities in the past by using inversion.
What Was Sator’s Plan?

Russian oligarch Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) is in contact with an unknown organization with nefarious purposes in the future. They plan to activate the Algorithm in order to end the world.
The reason why he’s agreed to do this is because he was already dying from terminal pancreatic cancer and believes if he can’t live, then no one can. He wants to bring the entire world with him when he dies.
At the end of the movie, Sator travels back to his holiday with Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) in Vietnam, planning to die there on his own terms and unleash the Algorithm by committing suicide with a dead man’s switch linked to his heartbeat.
Why Is The Future Working With Sator To End The World?

In the future, everything is apparently in shambles, as the world has been ravaged by the effects of global warming and pollution. An unknown organization from the future practically blames the past for this calamity, holding the past responsible for the problems suffered by the future. They believe that by destroying the past, things will somehow be set right again. Think of it as a hard reset of sorts.
The reason why Sator was chosen by the future is because he grew up in the Soviet Union in a “closed” or “secret” city for sensitive industries, such as nuclear research sites with a plutonium production plant. When he was a teenager, Sator discovered a piece of the Algorithm (along with a note from the future) in the rubble of his city, Stalsk-12, while searching for plutonium.
This leads to the unknown organization from the future working with Sator to recover the pieces and drop the complete Algorithm at the place where he originally found the first piece of the Algorith, so that they will be able to find and use the Algorithm in their own era (in the future). They pay Sator by putting inversed gold bars in the same location, which explains how Sator amassed his fortune.
Sator then spends his life searching for the pieces of the Algorithm and building his own inversion machines (the ones that enable people to invert themselves and go back in time).
What Is The Temporal Pincer Movement?

Throughout the movie, the term ‘Temporal Pincer Movement’ is mentioned multiple times.
In short, a Temporal Pincer Movement is when an inverted person goes back in time and informs someone else in the past how events will unfold in their future. The non-inverted person can then go “forward” through time with the benefit of the knowledge of what’s about to happen, due to the fact that the inverted person has already experienced what has happened.
For example, during the final showdown, the Tenet organization was split into two teams (one travelling backwards in time, one travelling forwards). Neil’s team (Blue) experiences the events of the battle while inverted, and while the Protagonist’s team (Red) moves forward while non-inverted.
The temporal pincer movement means that they’re actually moving simultaneously, which means that the operation actually begins with the Blue team pulling out of the mission while the Red team is executing their mission. It makes for an epic third act as it looks like both teams are working at the same time.
There are three other uses of the temporal pincer movement in the movie. During the car chase setpiece, Sator and his men become inverted so they can tell their non-inverted selves how things will play out, so that they can plan ahead and find the last piece of the Algorithm.
Then, there’s the airport scene. The first time we see the Protagonist and Neil experience the scene is when they first come up with their heist to steal the painting and crash the plane. They later relive those events (while inverted) by going back in time to save Kat (Elizabeth Debicki). It’s here that we see three Protagonists simultaneously in the same place at the same time: the past Protagonist fighting an inverted Protagonist from the future, and the future Protagonist (who has reverted from inverted to non-inverted again) running from Neil.
Last but not least, there’s the movie’s big ultimate twist; that the entire events of the movie has been one big temporal pincer movement. More on that below.
Who Saved The Protagonist At The Opera House At The Beginning Of The Movie?

While foiling the terrorist siege at the Kiev opera house Ukraine at the beginning of the movie, the CIA secures an unidentified object (which later turns out to be a piece of the Algorithm). After retrieving the object, the Protagonist is saved by a unknown masked gunman. We see the gunman wearing a orange string on his back — the same orange string Neil wears on his backpack at the end of the movie. So it was actually Neil who saved the Protagonist in the opening gunfight using an inverted bullet.
Who Is The Protagonist’s Boss?

At the end of the movie, the Protagonist travels to London to save Kat from arms dealer Priya (Dimple Kapadia), who believes she must tie up loose ends. The Protagonist shoots Priya, finally realizing that he is the man who has actually set everything in motion, founded the Tenet organization, and recruited Neil, Priya, and the others (Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Ives).
Yes, that means The Protagonist is basically actually working for himself, as it will be him that will create the Tenet organization in the future, and stop Sator and the mysterious future organization by recuiting himself, Neil, Priya, Ives and everyone.
It’s all one big temporal pincer movement, as a future version of the Protagonist uses the knowledge that he’s gained from his experience of the past to his past self and others like Neil.
Does Neil Die?

Yes, Neil does eventually die, even though he ends the movie while still alive after the climax.
In a revelatory conversation with the Protagonist, he reveals that he will be reliving the final battle just to make sure everything goes to plan (this is part of the bigger temporal pincer movement). During the big climactic battle at Stalsk-12, a masked member of the Blue team (inversed) takes a bullet for the Protagonist and then unlocks the gate to the Algorithm. Those events actually happen the other way around (unlock gate; take bullet to head) from that person’s perspective (since he was inverted).
That masked person is, of course, Neil, as revealed by his backpack’s orange string (the very same one the Protagonist notices on the person who took the bullet for him and unlocked the gate earlier). It is a bittersweet and heartbreaking ending, as it is Neil’s sacrifice that ultimately allows Tenet to obtain the Algorithm and stop the end of the world.
The Protagonist is unable to stop him, as to do so would essentially undo what’s happened. In the words of Neil himself, “What’s happened, happened”. What has happened will happen.
Neil also confirms that a future version of the Protagonist will recruit a younger Neil in the future and that this is simply the beginning of their relationship together (and also their end, from his perspective, since he will be dying).
Are There Two Versions Of Kat At The End Of The Movie?

Yes, there are two versions of Kat at the end of the movie.
There’s the past Kat â€“ the one who we see approaching the boat and who will go on to experience the events of the movie.
However, future Kat is the one who kills Sator at the end and jumps from the boat. It’s no explicitly explained in the movie, but presumably she will have to live in hiding for a while, until the point where the past version of her eventually gets to the point where the events of the movie happens, resulting in only one Kat remaining; future Kat.
It’s a loop, thus future Kat is the one that we see picking up her son from school at the end of the movie, having taken over as the timeline’s only Kat (since the past Kat has now become future Kat, in a way). In the end, there can only be one Kat.
The Entire Movie Is A Loop

It’s easier to understand Tenet as a whole if you understand that everything that happens in Tenet is bound to happen exactly the way it happened.
In the words of Neil himself, “What’s happened, happened”. What has happened will happen in the way they should or will happen.
The Protagonist must create Tenet and go back in time after the events of the movie to Neil, Priya, Ives, and the others to set the ultimate big temporal pincer movement in motion.
All of this will result in inescapable events. They must and will happen. These include Neil’s death at Stalsk-12, Sator’s role in collecting the Algorithm and becoming the antagonist, and the world will ultimately always be saved.
While each person is bound to end up doing exactly what they are supposed to do, they still need to choose to do those actions. It’s a paradoxical loop.
Another way to phrase is via the Grandfather Paradox (which is mentioned by Neil in the movie). The conundrum is this; by killing your own Grandfather before your Grandfather is able to have a child (your father or mother), you would stop yourself from ever being born. But then, if you’re not born in the first place, how were you be able to go back in time to kill your Grandfather? It’s a paradox with seemingly no answer.
However, technically you’d still be able to kill your Grandfather and still exist. How? Killing your Grandfather after you were born wouldn’t affect your existence, as your younger self would have already existed at that point.
Here’s another way of looking at the paradox: it’s a simple chicken and egg scenario. If the future Protagonist is the one who is the catalyst for the past Protagonist to save the world, then the question becomes; which happened first?
Did the original version of the past protagonist go through the events of Tenet without the future Protagonist’s help, or was the future Protagonist always there to help him? Again, it’s a paradox and a loop.
Just like the Grandfather Paradox, the answer is simple. The actions of the past Protagonist is always spurred by the future Protagonist, and there is just no version where the future Protagonist didn’t put things into motion.
Why is it a loop? There are always multiple Protagonists simultaneously throughout the events of Tenet, which means that the plans of the future Protagonist is always in motion in a never-ending and unbreakable loop.
I hope my answers have cleared up some of the lingering questions from the movie. Most of it is based on my understanding of the movie, and there are potentially a limitless number of different interpretations out there. That’s the beauty of movies like Tenet. The only right answers can only possibly come from Nolan himself.


Overwatch Randoms: Most Indonesian Gamers Pick D.Va, Mercy as Mains

Picking your main hero in Overwatch is never easy. It entails finding the hero you are comfortable, in-tuned and resonate with the most, bundled into one. Which got us thinking; what’s the hero picking trend in the SEA region? Do we jive with the global pick rates or do gamers over here have our own preference?
In first of (hopefully) many more similar articles, we approached an Indonesian-based Overwatch group on Facebook and asked their members; which hero do they main? Based on the results obtained, we divided the 28 heroes into four groups – Headliners, Supporting Casts, Extras and ‘Lamp Post’ – deciphered and compared the local trends against data pulled from one of the leading Overwatch stats hub, Overbuff.
Without further ado, here we go.
Headliners: The popular kids.
Overwatch Indonesia VS. Global Picks

Apart from a minor shuffle in placements among the top seven most picked heroes, there’s little to separate when it comes to hero popularity. Indonesian players aren’t huge fans of Zarya but are more support-oriented with five out of all six support heroes making the top seven. D.va is the most popular tank while Mercy is by far the most preferred support hero. Interesting to see Moira being up there though. A Moira main on my secondary account, I suspect her blend of offense and support makes her a very interesting proposition.
To call these heroes ‘easy to use’ would be a gross judgement as high-tier heroes such as Zenyatta and Ana also occupying the top seven.
Supporting Casts:Â We’d be headliners if our surnames weren’t ‘Shimada’.
Overwatch Indonesia VS. Global Picks

In all seriousness though, ‘Supporting Casts’, as the name suggest are niche picks consisting of skill-based characters. McCree, Genji, Widowmaker, Pharah and Roadhog all require some degree of mechanical skill while Hanzo’s pick, we suspect is attributed to his tank and shield busting kit to counter the likes of Reinhardt.
Now this is where things get interesting. Globally, offense heroes dominate positions 8-14 with the Shimada Bros and McCree leading the picks. Brigette’s hybrid role as an anti-dive probably contributed to her high position while the situational heroes such as Widowmaker, Pharah and Roadhog make up the rest. For Indonesian gamers, it’s all DPS with the likes of Tracer, Junkrat and Soldier 76 making up the top 12 most picked heroes. Surprisingly though, no McCree – who made it quite higher in the global ranks. But in quick summary, more Indonesian players prefer high burst damage heroes
Extras: We matter … in situations.
Overwatch Indonesia VS. Global Picks

For positions 15 -21, global players go with situational picks and McCree finally make an appearance on the Indonesian side of things. Situational heroes are called for specific situations. Winston to dive, Junkrat to spam choke points, Reaper to bust tanks and Doomfist to break the enemy’s formation. Pharah and Reaper are surprisingly not very popular amongst Indonesian gamers considering their earlier preference for Junkrat, Tracer and Soldier.
Lamp Post:Â Witness meeeeee!
Overwatch Indonesia VS. Global Picks

These are the unpopular kids. The insta-lock Symmetras and Bastions. These are the ones who are most likely toÂ  be listed under the ‘avoid teammate’ category.Â Not meta? Screw the meta! Recently nerfed? I. Don’t. Care. We are attacking on Hanamura? Torbjorn it is!
Not much left to say except that they are here to stay and have all the right to play the game; just like you and I.Â (that ‘Avoid Teammate’ button is just a click away!) We kid, we kid!
So what do you think? What’s your Overwatch hero main and how does it compare to the global rankings? Also, are you an Overwatch player from other SEA countries and would like to see us run the same tests as above? Just give us a holler in the comments section and with enough prompts, we may just give it another shot.
Lastly, a special thank you to Overwatch Indonesia Community for being part of this mini experiment.


Rare Reveals New Xbox Exclusive IP With Everwild

During the X019 London Inside Xbox live stream, Rare announced their brand new Xbox exclusive IP, titled Everwild. The new game from the developer behind Sea Of Thieves and Banjo-KazooieÂ will be an open-world adventure AAA title, though details remain scarce at the time of writing.
Rare Studio Head Craig Duncan said:

“While Everwild is still early in development, we are very excited about the unique potential of the game we are creating.
The Everwild team is focused on building an experience that allows for new ways to play in a natural and magical world.
“The development team, led by Executive Producer Louise O’Connor, is creating something truly original and incredibly special that aims to be more than just a new IP.
Everwild will give you memorable, engaging and meaningful experiences for players everywhere to share.
We cannot wait to share more with you in the future.”

The whole vibe in the Everwild trailer reminds me of Horizon Zero Dawn, though without any mechanical beasts roaming around. Microsoft has yet to confirm the platforms for Rare’s new game or even a release window, but it will likely launch for the Xbox One and PC.
In the meantime, check out the majestic trailer for Everwild below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpcUH-tKEU&w=560&h=315]


Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty X Naraka: Bladepoint Collaboration Will Include 2 New Armour Sets

Exciting news coming your way from Koei Tecmo and Team NINJA. They’ve got something special in store for all you Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty fans. Get ready to dive into the action with the upcoming version 1.10 update, set to hit your screens on 29 June. Brace yourselves because this update brings a fantastic collaboration with Naraka: Bladepoint, adding some seriously cool armour sets to the mix.

Now, let’s talk about these sleek new armours. The collaboration introduces not just one, but two incredible sets for you to customize your characters with. The first one is called “Crimson Night,” and trust me, it looks absolutely fierce. With its striking design and vibrant hues, your warrior is sure to stand out on the battlefield. But wait, there’s more! The second set goes by the name “Loyal Drunk.” It’s got a unique charm to it, offering a different style that’s bound to catch the eye of your fellow players.
So mark your calendars for June 29th, folks! The Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty version 1.10 update will bring forth this awesome collaboration, giving you the chance to outfit your characters with the impressive “Crimson Night” and “Loyal Drunk” armour sets. Get ready to unleash your inner hero and show off your style in this thrilling gaming crossover!


Ghostrunner 2 Announced For Xbox Series, PS5, And PC

Good news, fans of incredibly tough first-person speedrunning ninja games: Ghostrunner is getting a sequel.
Publisher 505 Games and developer One More Level have announced Ghostrunner 2 for Xbox Series, PC, and PlayStation 5. There’s no set release date fo the sequel as of yet.
With 505 Games already owning the IP due to its “great potential”, it’ll be helpful for the company’s portfolio for years to come. Here’s a quote:
“We are particularly excited about the future release ofÂ Ghostrunner 2. Together with One More Level, we have created a thrilling and engaging video game. This new collaboration deepens 505 Games presence within the Polish videogame market, a reality now among the firsts in Europe for the development of video games, new projects and talents.
We will continue to pay close attention to the Polish market to constantly improve and expand our product portfolio with video games capable of satisfying the tastes of the entire gaming community.”
The original game has sold over 600,000 copies all across PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.


Malaysia-Based Simulacra Developer Announces New Doctor Who Game

Malaysian games developer Kaigan Games (best known for the horror mobile games Sara Is Missing, 2017’s Simulacra and 2019’s Simulacra 2) has announced Doctor Who The Lonely Assassins; a new Doctor Who mobile game coming to Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch in Spring 2021.
Doctor Who The Lonely Assassins will see players uncover and decipher the mystery of a â€˜found phoneâ€™, unravelling a sinister series of events taking place at Wester Drumlins, the iconic â€˜uninhabitedâ€™ home featured in the legendary Doctor Who episode Blink.
Someone is missing, and a menacing new nemesis has emerged. Players will work with Doctor Who character Petronella Osgood and other classic characters as they get steadily closer to the truth.

However, that’s not the only Doctor Who game announced today. Maze Theory, BBC Studios, and Just Add Water have announced Doctor Who The Edge of Reality, a first-person adventure sequel to the VR title Doctor Who The Edge of Time.
It’s coming to the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC sometime in spring 2021.
Players will join Thirteenth Doctor (voiced by Jodie Whittaker) and Tenth Doctor (voiced by David Tennant) on a quest to save reality in a new console and PC game.
Doctor Who The Edge Of Reality reimagines last yearâ€™s VR experience with brand-new gameplay, new monsters and new worlds to explore. Players will come face-to-face with classic Doctor Who monsters including the Daleks, Cybermen, and Weeping Angels.

All I can say now is what a great time it is to be a Whovian, and a Malaysian Whovian at that. Allonsy, my friends!


Microsoft’s US$7.5 Billion Acquisition Of Bethesda Is Made Official [Update]

Update: Bethesda is now officially under the Xbox family. They just released a video celebrating it.

Original Story:
The SEC and EU Commission has approved Microsoft’s US$7.5 billion acquisition of Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda Game Studios.
Following its investigation back in February 2020, the SEC has posted the Notice of Effectiveness and the sales prospectus last week. The prospectus breaks down the purchase and its long-term plan, with its promissory notes maturing over the next three decades. Long story short: the SEC has accepted the details of the acquisition. The EU Commission will not be opposing the acquisition, with the deal not raising “serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market and [therefore shall not oppose it and] share declare that it is compatible with the common market”.
It’s far from over, but this announcement means that there are no major obstacles in Microsoft and Bethesda’s way. Just remember:

PS5 exclusive titles from Bethesda will still remain exclusives. That includes Ghostwire: Tokyo and Deathloop.
Future Bethesda titles will remain Xbox exclusives on a case-by-case basis.
Regardless of exclusivity, Bethesda games will be on Xbox Game Pass on their respective release dates.


FIFA 22 Trailer Teases Most Realistic Players Yet With New HyperMotion Tech

EA has announced that FIFA 22 will launch for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC via SteamÂ andÂ Origin, and Google Stadia on 1 October 2021. In addition, there will also be a FIFA 22 Legacy Edition for the Nintendo Switch.
Those who pre-order FIFA 22 Ultimate Edition by 11 August 2021 will receive an untradeable FUT Heroes player item from 1 December 2021.
What’s new about FIFA 22 is that it’s powered by the new HyperMotion technology, which combines Advanced 11-versus-11 Match Capture and proprietary machine learning technology to deliver the most realistic, fluid and responsive football experience for next-gen consoles and Stadia.
HyperMotion technology enabled the integration of the first-ever motion capture of 22 professional footballers playing at high intensity. Basically, EA utilizes a proprietary machine-learning algorithm to transform how players move on and off the ball.
Returning gameplay modes include Career Mode, VOLTA FOOTBALL, Pro Clubs and FIFA Ultimate Team. Fans can also expect a complete goalkeeper system rebuild, an all-new Create a Club experience in Career Mode, reimagined gameplay in VOLTA FOOTBALL, and the introduction of FIFA Ultimate Team Heroes, completely new items that represent the stories and glory of cult players and fan favourites.
As for the physical cover of the game itself, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) striker Kylian Mbappe will once again be the man on the cover for the second year in a row. FIFA 22 will feature 17,000-plus players across 700-plus teams in more than 90 stadiums and over 30 leagues, as well asÂ iconic competitions such as UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, brand new UEFA Europa Conference League, Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga Santander, CONMEBOL Libertadores, and CONMEBOL Sudamericana.

FIFA 22 Ultimate Edition also includes:

Ones to Watch player item.
Four days Early Access.
Dual Entitlement (free PS5 or Xbox Series X/S upgrade from PS4 or Xbox One).
4,600 FIFA Points.
Team of the Week 1 player item.
Kylian Mbappe loan item.
FUT Ambassador loan player pick.
Career Mode Homegrown Talent.

In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Melty Blood: Type Lumina Is Getting New DLC In The Coming Months

Project Lumina has announced more content for its current 2D fighting game Melty Blood: Type Lumina.
From Winter 2021 to Spring 2022, the game will be receiving DLC on a schedule; the company just published its new roadmap today. Players will be getting at least four new characters during the course of the DLC schedule, along with new character stories and battle stages. The price tag for each piece of DLC has yet to be determined.
Players will also be receiving free updates that include expanded functions, adjustments to battle balances, bug fixes, and training mode additions.

[Update Announcement]DLC content with new playable characters, stories, and battle stages are coming this winter!Updates to balance battles and other bug fixes are also planned.Follow us here (@MB_LUMINA) so you don't miss future updates!#MBTL pic.twitter.com/fr18nGm7ig
— ????MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA (@MB_LUMINA) October 29, 2021

Melty Blood: Type Lumina is out right now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.


Balan Wonderworld: All Unlockable Costumes In The Game [So Far]

We’ll be updating this guide with full costumes and details once the full game is out on 26th March, 2021.
If you want a throwback to a Yuji Naka 2000s platformer that hits the right notes, Balan Wonderworld might be for you. Or not; the demo is out but it’s not indicative of the final game which will be out in 2021. Still, the game plays really fun even if it’s easy.
Part of its appeal is because of the costumes. There’s a lot of them your guy/girl hero can collect in this wonderworld -about 80 of them- so here’s a list of them so far.
Tornado Wolf

How To Get: You get this at the start of the game; literally on the first stage within the first 5 minutes.
Powers:Â
Tornado – Press X to perform a spin jump that can damage enemies and brittle blocks. The spin jump also has the power to deflect tornadoes back at enemies.

Jumping Jack

How to get: You get this within the first 10 minutes into the first stage.
Powers:
Long jump – Hold X to perform an extra-long jump and get to areas that seem just out of reach.
Elastiplant

How to get: You’ll get this on the first stage; 15 to 20 minutes after.
Powers:
Stretch – Hold X to stretch the wearer’s body for a while to collect floating drops and Balan statues.
Dainty Dragon

How to get: On the first stage.
Powers:
Flame breath – Press X to unleash a short burst of fire. Hold and then release X to expel a barrage of flame.
Pounding Pig

How to get: It’s on the first stage as well.
Powers:
Ground Pound – Press X while jumping to perform a ground pound, which can hammer down posts and break brittle blocks.
Soaring Sheep

How to get: You get this power-up at the start of Chapter 4.
Powers:
Float – Hold X while in midair to float. The wearer can even hitch a ride on gusts of wind while in this form.

Aero Acrobat

How to get: It’s on Chapter 4, Act 1.
Powers:
Glide – Allows the wearer to lock on to enemies and balloons while in midair. Take aim and press X to unleash a fearsome kick.
Gear Prince

How to get: it’s on Chapter 6, Act 1.
Gear stick – Allows wearer to stick to mini gear switches. Move the left analog stick to use a switch, then press X whenever you want to detach from one.


Street Fighter 6: All Characters Move List & Starter Guide

Street Fighter 6 is coming out next month on 2nd June, and already people are anticipating this upcoming 2D fighting game to be the next best thing. With the old guard coming back to the fray like Ryu and Chun-Li in their new look, to newcomers like the kungfu master Jamie and ballet judo hybrid fashionista fighter Manon, it’s going to be a top notch competitive title with a variety of characters to choose from.
Each of the 18 fighters in Street Fighter 6 will have their own movesets, playstyles, and strengths/weaknesses, so we’ve listed all their moves and overview all in one handy hub page. Check it out below, along with the game’s basic videos.
Disclaimer: all inputs are in numpad notation. Example: A Hadouken/quarter circle forward motion +P is “236P”.

Basic Fighting Mechanics
SF6 has a new fighting game mechanic that makes it unique among its Capcom fighting game peers: the Drive System. This allows players to be creative with their offensive and defensive moves using a separate gauge, though it has its limits if you abuse it too much without thought or planning.
The Drive Gauge has 6 bars (because it’s SF6, naturally). The Drive Gauge refills to full at the start of each round.

DRIVE PARRY
You can use the Drive Meter to do parries (MP+MK). Unlike SF3 parries, there are slightly longer recovery frames when you parry, so you cannot guarantee a punish when you successfully parry someone’s attack. Think of this as a tool to set you back to neutral. One thing to note: parries have a shorter recovery if you press the inputs rather than holding it.
Pressing the Parry input at the right time will initiate Perfect Parry, where the screen freezes for a second. That’s your cue to punish your opponent as you see fit, be it a BnB knockdown combo or a raw Super Art.

DRIVE RUSH
You can also use the Drive Gauge to do a Drive Rush, which is a move you can cancel from an attack or a Parry. Drive Rush from Parries uses up 1 Drive bar, while Drive Rush from attacks cost 3 bars.
The Drive Gauge allows you to use Drive Reversal (6 HP+HK on block/parry). It costs 2 bars. You can use it like you would a V-Reversal from Street Fighter 5; it even deals grey life damage too. However, you can do a Drive Reversal from a Parry.

OVERDRIVE/EX MOVES
Overdrive Moves are basically EX moves from past Capcom fighting games, but they use the Drive Gauge. So yes, you have access to a fully invincible reversal move/DP at the very first round of a fight; a rarity in fighting games.

DRIVE IMPACTS
Drive Impacts (HP+HK) are slow but hard-hitting crumple state-guaranteed moves that costs 1 Drive Bar. Drive Impacts have multiple hits of armour, so all attacks and combos targeted on Drive Impacts will be absorbed. It reduces 1 bar of an opponent’s Drive Gauge on hit, and It’s also safe on block because of the pushback. If you Drive Impact someone at a corner, they’ll be in a wall splat state where you can follow up with big damage combos.
However, Drive Impacts are heavily telegraphed visually. You can counter them by either jumping, throwing them mid-Drive Impact before the hit lands, or strategically dashing out of the way. Or you can just Drive Parry or retaliate with your own Drive Impact. Also, the armour does not go through Supers, so you can do a raw Super if you see the Drive Impact animation coming your way.
And if you want that crumple state, your Drive Impact needs to absorb at least one hit from an opponent’s offense. Think of it as a reward for making the right read on an opponent’s wakeup or button-mashing tendencies.
If you prefer videos, check out the following guides below. Despite these tailored for the closed and open beta, the game’s Drive System is still going to be consistent and maintain these properties in the final game.

Street Fighter 6 Move List

Luke
Type: Standard
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Jamie
Type: Tricky
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Kimberly
Type: Speed
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Ryu
Type: Standard
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Chun-Li
Type: Speed
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Hard

Ken
Type: Power
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Guile
Type: Standard
Effective Range: Long-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Juri
Type: Speed
Effective Range: Close-Range
Ease of Use: Hard

Cammy
Type: Speed
Effective Range: Close-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Dee Jay
Type: Tricky
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Blanka
Type: Speed
Effective Range: Mid Range
Ease of Use: Normal

E.Honda
Type: Power
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Dhalsim
Type: Tricky
Effective Range: Long-Range
Ease of Use: Hard

Zangief
Type: Power
Effective Range: Close-Range
Ease of Use: Hard

Manon
Type: Power
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Normal

Marisa
Type: Power
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Easy

Lily
Type: Standard
Effective Range: Mid-Range
Ease of Use: Easy

JP
Type: Tricky
Effective Range: Long-Range
Ease of Use: Hard

Advanced Techniques
Charge Buffering (via Bafael)

Jamie’s Drinks & How They Work (via Bafael)


The SNK Neo Geo Mini Is Missing Two Underrated Games

Update: It’s missing just one. The SNK Neo Geo Mini presentation on 9 June listed Twinkle Star Sprites as one of its titles. Windjammers is still missing though.Â
We at Kakuchopurei are stoked for theÂ Neo Geo Mini. SNK is doing good by jumping onto the tiny retro console bandwagon since it had a huge backlog of classics ranging from a ton of fighting games to the 2d run-and-gun and shmup titles. Here’s the list in case your memory needs refreshing.

However, I feel that there are two titles that can round up this whole collection. After all, do we really need a lot of KOF titles on that alleged list?

The first one is Windjammers. What is this strangely-named title? It’s a 2d frisbee-tossing game set in the far future. It’s not just regular frisbee-tossing. It’s EXTREEEMMMEEEE frisbee-tossing. Your objective is to score the most points for yourself; you do this by throwing the frisbee into your opponent’s goal. You can get either 3 or 5 points per goal depending on which side of the goal you shoot at.
Of course, you can catch the frisbee and toss it back to your opponent, or even deflect it and have it hover up in the air while you strike a pose to do a power shot. So this becomes a competitive back-and-forth since you need to time your button presses right when you catch & throw the frisbee back. Or you can delay your throws and purposely chuck the frisbee slowly to see how your opponent reacts.
Anyone who plays fighting games will know that timing and faking out opponents are keys to winning. Windjammers require you to do this to score the highest. You can choose your playstyle with the 6 different characters available, each of them from different countries and with their own power shots.
The Japanese girl Hiromi Mita is super-fast, but her shots have low power. German powerhouse Klaus is slow, but his power shots and super shots are the strongest in the game, so being on-point with your deflects and pose shots is essential if you want to use this guy.
Windjammers is essentially a fighting game in the guise of aÂ frisbee-tossing sport of the future, which I am all for.
Yes, you can play it on PS4 now -the DotEmu port here is lovely and comes with a reworked competitive mode- but it breaks my heart to not see this classic in its original form on the upcoming Mini Neo Geo.

The second one is a game near and dear to my heart. I am talking about Twinkle Star Sprites, perhaps the greatest 2D competitive shmup in the annals of gaming.
How does one play this game? Simple: the screen is split into two. You play the left side, your opponent plays the right side. Both of you shoot enemies down and make them explode in a chain. When you chain up to more than 3 explosions or more, you summon fireballs and special bullets/projectiles onto your opponent’s screen. Your objective is to overwhelm your opponent’s screen with so much stuff, that he/she will have to take a hit. Whoever reaches zero life first loses the match. Easy stuff, right?
Wrong.
You have to take into account that your opponent may be selective in what to throw onto your screen, as well as the types of special bullets he/she will chuck at you. Some characters can throw special bullets from behind, while others chuck them at you in a strange movement pattern. Dealing with one is bad enough, but try dodging 3 or 4 of them simultaneously, with the aforementioned fireballs in the mix.
You can also summon bosses onto your opponent’s screen if you have a super-high chain from the explosions (usually from a counterattack). And then there’s fever mode, where the fireball/counter-fireball numbers double and come frequently.
Just like most shmups, you have smart bombs that clear the entire screen and give you temporary invincibility, but at the cost of a delayed smartbomb launch. All of these elements above make for a chaotic experience, but you can manage it if you can dodge well and if you can launch your own salvo or chain explosions.

Two-player mode, ladies and gents, is where the real fun of TSS is. There is nothing satisfying than sending a shitton of exploding rabbits and a giant rabbit boss onto your opponent’s screen while he/she is scurrying and dodging like nobody’s business.

There’s also a cutesy story about a sorceress named Ran who has to find the Twinkle Star to grant her power, but she gets waylaid by girls on dragons, girls riding pigs, girls riding a magical colour pencil, a pervert cat sage who rides on a cat mecha, and even her brainwashed fairy mom who summons food as special bullets. It’s dumb and is an obvious Sailormoon parody, but it’s harmless fun nonetheless.
In short, the frenetic competitive element and different playstyles of TSS is what makes this shmup stand out among the rest. The batshit magical girl fantasy land setting helps brighten things up too.
Not to brag, but I am perhaps one of the best Malaysian/Singaporean TSS players of all time. I’m so good, in fact, that I gave Bruce “Gamerbee” Hsiang, a Street Fighter IV player in Taiwan who also plays TSS hardcore, a hard time.

I might be a little rusty now due to work, but I am open to a TSS challenge anytime, anywhere. I shouldn’t be too sore about TSS’ exclusion from the Mini Neo Geo since there’s a PC version of the game out now. But goddamn it if this game can help spice up the Mini Neo Geo collection by a tad, along with Windjammers.
Two underrated classics that made their mark on the Neo Geo board, unfortunately have been left out of the alleged Mini Neo Geo games list. For shame, SNK.


Kakuchopurei’s Best Of 2018 Awards: Bonus Day

Surprise! We have an additional awards section for you all before our fifth and final entry in the acclaimed Kakuchopurei’s Best of 2018 Awards. We’ve realized that we cover a bit of movies, comics, and TV shows for quite a bit. Naturally, we should have an awards feature for just that.
As usual, we’ve added these death stare stills from the Malaysian horror film Munafik 2 so that you aren’t spoiled by the results.

Best Movie
Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse

In case you didn’t get the memo, we’re Spider-Man fans. As such, we were happy to report that the new Spider-Man animated movie kicked so much righteous ass. And yes, it’s just a few short clicks better than Avengers: Infinity War. It’s a tough call considering the runners-up below, but if we had to pick just one that edges out with the feels, we felt like giving the win to the colourful animated feature done by the Lord Miller combo.
Our resident comic expert Alleef sung praises to the film in his spectacular review:
“With great power comes great responsibilityâ€ is only one of the many lessons Spider-Man teaches us.Â Spider-Man: Into The Spider-VerseÂ also features three other traits that I believe defines the character as the late Stan Lee and Steve Ditko intended:

In the words of the late Stan Lee himself, Spider-Man â€œhelps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do.â€

Spider-Man never gives up. Everytime he gets knocked down, he will get up again.

Itâ€™s the painful truth that Spider-Man canâ€™t save everyone, but he never stops trying.

Under the mask, anyone can be Spider-Man, regardless of race, creed, or gender.

That last lesson is especially vital to this film, as it is the first ever movie to feature a Spidey thatâ€™s not Peter Parker (read: white male). Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy (Spider-Gwen), and Peni Parker are living embodiments of the movieâ€™s most important lesson; that we can all be Spider-Man.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse embodies the best of its source material, makes it palatable and visually-stunning for its mass Spider-Man/comic book movie-loving audience, and packs a lot of emotion and character depth that elevates it further than it has any right to be.
Runners-Up:Â Black KKKlansman, Avengers: Infinity War, Searching, Annihilation, Isle of Dogs, Mandy, Hereditary, Sorry To Bother You.Â
Best New TV Show
Haunting of Hill House

Sometimes all it takes to liven up a family drama is to add in some haunted house and horror bits into it. And that’s what the most recent retelling of Haunting of Hill House does; it sticks close to its original source material while making it a Netflix-styled episodic show dealing with the messed-up Crain family.
Despite their problems and their quirks, you just end up enthralled by seeing them go through their problems in the end while also wondering if it’s all psychological. Yeah, we had problems with the last 30 minutes of the last episode, but everything else in the journey is solid TV gold. And really, we still have that Bent-Neck Lady twist and the “Two Storms” one-shot technique seared into our minds and hearts.
Runners-Up: Homecoming, Queer Eye, Bodyguard.
Best Ongoing TV Show
Daredevil Season 3

Alas, Marvel isn’t doing anymore Netflix shows. At the very least it went out with a huge bang; the latest Daredevil season delivered and then some! The first season’s best villain comes back again alongside new antagonists, Matt Murdock’s Catholic Guilt comes in full force here (post-Defenders), and the stakes are just as enthralling this time around.
Even if the show is clearly revisiting the same setpiece and area again, somehow or other this season just feels fresh because of its new narrative, pacing, and direction. The top-notch fight scenes do help. Alas, this is the last season before Marvel pulled the plug for all their Netflix TV shows, but at least it went out with a big bang.
Runners-Up: Luke Cage, Glow, Bojack Horseman, The Good Place.Â
Best Anime Series
Violet Evergarden

Like all great categories, this is a tough one, but we’re going with theÂ  post-war alternate universe drama Violet Evergarden. It’s about a struggling letter-writing “doll” named Violet who used to be an emotionless war machine.
It’s touching and emotional, its story about post-war blues and coping with it is well-told and filled with rich characters, and it looks damn good doing it. Just bring a box of tissues if you plan on watching it though; it can be a helluva tearjerker.
Runners-Up: Aggretsuko, Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, Megalo Box, A Place Further Than The Universe.
Best Comic Book Adaptation (TV, Movie, Game)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (The Game)

In this unique category, we’re going to experiment a bit with adding films and TV shows here since we do cover them quite a bit. If you guys & gals like it, we’ll be sure to dedicate a day for non-gaming bits.
Comic book adaptations are a dime a dozen nowadays, and we can’t just shoehorn it to just games. With so many of them in tow, we need to narrow it down to the ones that do their respective source material justice and whether it fits with the medium it’s on. While films like Aquaman and Avengers: Infinity War did what they needed to do, we do feel that we’re left wanting more out of the experiences.
Somehow we got that with the video game equivalent of a Spider-Man lovefest, references and all. While all the nominees here are godlike in their own right, the medal goes to the one that made our 20 hours of game time in fictional New York all the more rewarding and immersive. Good job, Insomniac!
Runners-Up: Daredevil Season 3, Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Aquaman.
Best Comic
Saga (Image Comics)

We received some of the best comic book adaptations in the form of movies and games in 2018, with Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse,Â and Marvel’s Spider-Man on the PS4. These great movies and games won’t even exist without the source material, so let’s not forget the comics.
There were many excellent comics in 2018, not only from the Big Two (Marvel and DC), but also other publishers like Image, Valiant and more. Ultimately, we had to give the best comic of 2018 award to Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga.
If it seems unfair that we’re awarding this category to a six-year-old comic, I’d argue the opposite. The fact that Saga continues to be as fresh and brilliant as it was back in 2012 is a testament to the series itself, with its fascinating blend of science fiction and fantasy as well as unique humour and narrative never failing to impress even the most jaded among all of us.
This year has featured some of the most shocking issues of Saga yet, especially as it goes deeper in exploring the relationship between its characters like Marko and Alana, and tying up a few plot threads from the past few years.
Hazel’s narration never fails to grab us by the heartstrings, and it’s been amazing growing up with her through more than 50 issue to date.
Saga remains the first non-Marvel or DC comic book we would recommend to anyone, which is a testament to how good it still is. It’s unfortunate that we won’t be seeing the conclusion to that final cliffhanger anytime soon due to the creative team’s year-long hiatus.
Runners-Up: Dark Knights: Metal, Mister Miracle, The Immortal Hulk, Coda, X-Men: Red, Birthright
Best Comic Moment
The Entirety of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310

2018 was an amazing year for Spider-Man, to say the least. It had what some might refer to as two of the all-time best movie and game featuring the wall-crawler, namely Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PS4. The comics had one too in Chip Zdarsky’s final issue of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 is a standalone issue, telling the story of a couple of filmmakers going around New York to find out what the public opinion of the hero is. The issue starts with some humour, with differing opinions from different people, some who think that Spider-Man is a menace and some who think that he’s a hero.
The issue then focuses on the opinion of a woman who will never forget what Spider-Man did for her son, Kyle. Spider-Man was stopping a bunch of robbers when he realized that one of them was just a kid who was pressured into committing the crime, so he lets him go. That kid’s name was Kyle, but it didn’t end there.
Spidey followed up with Kyle, occasionally visiting him and helping him out with his homework. This went on until tragedy struck. What happens next is heartbreaking, and we won’t spoil it here. This issue’s a tearjerker and we’re not ashamed to say that tears were shed. This issue will surely be considered a classic in the years to come. The story ends with these two pages, which we believe perfectly encapsulates Spider-Man.

Runners-Up: Two Marvel Weddings (Gambit/Rogue, The Thing/Alicia Masters), The Return of the Fantastic Four, Mister Miracle’s Ending, Saga’s Cliffhanger.


This Year’s EVO Will Not Feature Super Smash Bros.

EVO 2022 is going to be a thing this 8 May for fighting game fans. However, one major fighting game will not be making an appearance.
The Evolution Championship Series organizers just announced that Super Smash Bros. will not be making a return appearance. The reason is Nintendo has chosen not to continue supporting the game for this year’s EVO tournament.

pic.twitter.com/7YEX1ZgG4W
— EVO (@EVO) February 26, 2022

Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have been huge draws for EVO for quite a while, so it’s rather sad that this had to happen. It’s rather fun to see Nintendo characters like Mario and Star Fox duke it out in 2D fighting game platforming glory.


PlayStation 5: All The Hot Tech Details From The GPUs To SSDs

We’ve finally seen Sony’s ‘The Road To PS5’ deep dive presentation, and it’s extremely technical stuff, but we’re here to sift through all that information.

Here are the official PS5 specs (via PlayStation Blog):

CPU: 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)
GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)
GPU Architecture: Custom RDNA 2
Memory/Interface: 16GB GDDR6/256-bit
Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Internal Storage: Custom 825GB SSD
IO Throughput: 5.5GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed)
Expandable Storage: NVMe SSD Slot
External Storage: USB HDD Support
Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive

PS5: SSD And Expandable Storage
It looks like the PS5 will still feature an SSD that’s less than 1TB, and fewer Teraflops of processing power than the Xbox Series X. However, it will have the option of both expandable SSD storage and external HDD storage.
While the PS5 will only have 825GB of storage, it is backwards compatible with the PS4, and players can save space by running their older games from standard external HDD storage. It won’t be as fast as booting from the internal SSD, but it’ll free up space for bigger next-gen titles.
Unlike the Xbox Series X, users won’t need proprietary drives from Sony. However, Sony advises not to buy expandable PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives without validation from them beforehand, since they’re still new tech and pretty expensive (for now).
PS5: Backwards Compatibility
“The top 100 PS4 games” will be playable on the PS5 at launch. However, there are more than 4000 titles on the PS4, so that means that the PS5 will gradually move towards full backwards compatibility of the PS4’s 4000-strong library.

PS5: Power Of Its GPU
All PS5 consoles will apparently process the same workloads with the same performance level in any environment, no matter what the ambient temperature may be, which means there won’t be forced underclocking to decrease performance.
Cerny said:

“Rather than running at constant frequency and letting the power vary based on the workload, we run at essentially constant power and let the frequency vary based on the workload.”

Fortunately, fewer Teraflops than the Xbox Series X doesn’t mean that the PS5 will lack in power. What this means is that the PS5’s GPU should still be able to deliver performance higher than expected from the number of Teraflops if developers work to the power limits of the console.
What happens when the PS5 hits its limits? Cerny said:

“When that worst case game arrives, it will run at a lower clock speed.
But not too much lower, to reduce power by 10 per cent it only takes a couple of percent reduction in frequency, so I’d expect any downclocking to be pretty minor.
All things considered, the change to a variable frequency approach will show significant gains for PlayStation gamers.”

PS5: Ray-Tracing Capability
Cerny also confirmed that the PS5 will deliver hardware-accelerated ray tracing via its Intersection Engine, which is “based on the same strategy as AMD’s upcoming PC GPUs”, allowing for similar graphical implementations available on PC, such as reflections, ambient occlusion, shadows and global illumination.

PS5: Faster Loading Times
The PS5 will be able to load games much faster thanks to its SSD, potentially even 100x faster than the PS4. Cerny said:

“As game creators, we go from trying to distract the player from how long fast travel is taking – like those Spider-Man subway rides – to being so blindingly fast that we might even have to slow that transition down.”

PS5: 3D Audio Technology
Thanks to the new Tempest Engine, the PS5’s audio will allow a high quality of 3D audio, so much so that they’re claiming that players will be able to locate the exact position of an enemy (or where they’re coming from).
This new 3D audio tech will be able to precisely track where objects are located, even accounting for the shape of ears and even the size and shape of your head. Don’t worry though, players won’t need high-end audio hardware to enjoy the new 3D audio.
In the meantime,Â head on over here to check out all our other PS5-related news and feature articles. You can also watch the entire 50-minute ‘Road To PS5’ presentation, embedded below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph8LyNIT9sg&w=560&h=315]