Warner Bros.' Mortal Kombat Movie Reboot Coming to HBO Max in 2021

mortal kombat

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic making theatrical film releases a much less viable option these days, Warner Bros. announced that the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot will be coming to HBO Max in 2021 on the same day as the theatrical release. The newest adaptation of the popular video game series will also be joined on the streaming service by the studio's entire slate of films originally intended to have been released in 2021. With the landscape being what it is these days, this is a big move that Warner Bros. is assuredly hoping pays off for them in the long run.

The decision arrives on the heels of Warner Bros.' theatrical push for Christopher Nolan's Tenet not paying the dividends that the studio had initially anticipated. It seems as though they are taking a much different approach with their upcoming lineup and taking into account that most people do not yet feel safe venturing out to sit in a theater as we all did before the pandemic and social distancing became the norm that had been forced upon us. The first instance that Warner Bros. had played with this format was with the announcement that Wonder Woman 1984 would be streaming on HBO Max on the same that it releases in theaters on Christmas Day.

This would be the first time that Mortal Kombat has seen a theatrical adaptation after the abysmal sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation put the franchise into development hell for decades. There was also the prequel short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth and a subsequent web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy both from director Kevin Tancharoen in the years since, but nothing on the scale of another big Hollywood blockbuster. And with talent like Aquaman director and Saw creator James Wan serving as a producer on the film as well as a major driving force behind it finally getting off the ground, it's sure to be the R-rated adaptation that we've been hoping to see for many years.

Mortal Kombat was set for a January 15th, 2021 release date but was just delayed last month to an undetermined new date. Now with a simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release taking place on that upcoming day.

The post Warner Bros.' Mortal Kombat Movie Reboot Coming to HBO Max in 2021 by Camilo Olmedo appeared first on DualShockers.

Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah Are Leaving BioWare

BioWare

Chief Studio Officer of EA Laura Miele has announced today that Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah are departing from BioWare Studio. Hudson is primarily known for being the Director of Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3, but has been the Studio General Manager for the studio since he returned to BioWare in 2017. Darrah has been an Executive Producer on the Dragon Age Franchise since its conception in 2008 and has been with the studio for 23 years.

Miele gave thanks to both Hudson and Darrah and their impact on the studio and its history. "I want to personally thank Casey and Mark for everything they have done for the BioWare community, and particularly for our players. They will always be an essential part of the studio's history, we appreciate their many contributions, and we look forward to seeing what they'll each do next," said Miele. Until a new Studio General Manager is found, Gary McKay who is currently the Senior Director of Development Operations will be moving up to the position in an interim setting.

Casey and Mark wrote their own farewell statements thanking BioWare for their long careers and to the founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka for giving them the chance to be apart of the studio. Darrah goes into detail in his statement on the status of the Dragon Age series and more specifically the new upcoming entry. Matthew Goldman who is seemingly the Creative Director for the untitled Dragon Age 4 will remain in that position while BioWare's Austin Studio Manager Chrisitan Dalley will now move into Darrah's vacant Executive Producer role for the Dragon Age series. Goodman previously held the position as a Senior Artist for Dragon Age: Origins and Art Director for Dragon Age II and Inquisition. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is still being worked on alongside Dragon Age 4 and Series Producer Mike Gamble will overlook the series.

Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah did make clear that wherever they will be going next it will not be together. They are both seeking their own different ventures as they still want to create games.

Despite the departure of the two studio icons, Miele is still confident that BioWare will find success in the future. "When I think about BioWare's future and the next generation of talent in place, I could not be more confident or optimistic," Miele explains. "As we look to the studio's future and the projects currently under development, the next generation of BioWare talent is leading the studio forward and working on some incredible games that I know you will be excited to experience in the coming years."

BioWare is currently working on Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, the next Dragon Age, and a new Mass Effect title. There is still no relative knowledge on the status of Anthem since Hudson stated earlier this year that the game was being reworked.

The post Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah Are Leaving BioWare by Cameron Hawkins appeared first on DualShockers.

Persona 5 Royal Wins Partner Award At PlayStation Partner Awards 2020 Japan Asia, Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Scramble Each Sold Over 500K Copies In Japan, Asia

Sega and Atlus announced the sales of Persona 5 The Royal (PS4, PS5) and Persona 5 Scramble The Phantom Strikers (PS4, PS5, Switch) each reached over 500,000 copies in Japan and Asia. The announcement was made following the PlayStation Partner Awards 2020 Japan Asia event, held on December 2. There, Persona 5 Royal won a Partner Award. The event also included a grand prize: The Grand Award is an award given to the top three works by games makers developing in Japan and Asia from October 2019 to September 2020. Persona 5 Royal didn't win a grand prize however, falling behind Final Fantasy VII Remake, PES 2020, and Dragon Ball Z Kakarot.

This new announcement regarding the sales of Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Scramble The Phantom Strikers was shared via the Japanese Twitter account for the Persona series:

The tweet explains how Persona 5 The Royal and Persona 5 Scramble The Phantom Strikers both sold over 500,000 copies in Japan and Asia. Meaning that together with both games, sales reached over 1 million copies in Japan and Asia.

You can watch the Persona 5 Royal segment of the Partner Awards below:

Back in July 2020, Atlus reported Persona 5 Scramble The Phantom Strikers had sold 480,000 copies in Japan and Asia, meaning the game has sold at least 20,000 copies more since then. Persona 5 Royal's total sales worldwide are currently at 1,4 million. And the Persona series as a whole, since its launch in 1996, sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

Persona 5 Royal was released on October 31, 2019 in Japan on PS4. The Asia version of Persona 5 Royal was released on February 20, 2020. Persona 5 Scramble The Phantom Strikers released in Japan on February 20, 2020, on PS4 and Switch. The Asia version launched a bit after that.

Persona 5 Royal was launched in America and Europe on March 31, 2020. Persona 5 S still wasn't announced in the West, but will definitely come over at some point.

In case you didn't read our past coverage, Persona 5 Scramble The Phantom Strikers is a true sequel to Persona 5. While it was developed by Koei Tecmo and Omega Force, it's not a Musou game and closer to a traditional Action RPG.

Perhaps both P5R and P5S will end up on PC one day as Sega acknowledged a rising interest on PC ports following the success of Persona 4 Golden on Steam.

The post Persona 5 Royal Wins Partner Award At PlayStation Partner Awards 2020 Japan Asia, Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Scramble Each Sold Over 500K Copies In Japan, Asia by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Wins Grand Award At PlayStation Partner Awards 2020 Japan Asia

Final Fantasy VII Remake PlayStation Partner Awards 2020 Japan Asia Yoshinori Kitase

Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia held on December 2 the PlayStation Partner Awards 2020 Japan Asia, rewarding in particular Final Fantasy VII Remake as one of its Grand Awards. In the ceremony, the Grand Award is an award given to the top three works by games makers developing in Japan and Asia from October 2019 to September 2020.

The event in itself was pretty fun. Well, as long as you're used to Japanese media and don't mind the fact that everything is meticulously scripted and that the presenters are always faking their surprise. Special mention to Yoshinori Kitase appearing with a Buster Sword and posing like Cloud when Final Fantasy VII Remake won its award.

Yoshinori Kitase mentioned "the Remake project is just beginning". We also got to see some development footage of FF7R:

The full results for the Grand Award:

  • eFootball PES 2020 by Konami Digital Entertainment
  • Dragon Ball Z Kakarot by Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake by Square Enix

For Dragon Ball Z Kakarot in particular, the event included a short video message from Masako Nozawa, the voice of Goku (and his sons).

The sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake has no release date estimate nor official title yet. We do know Square Enix has been working on it for a long while however. Square Enix also all but officially announced FF7R will be revealed on PC in April 2021. The game was confirmed to be a one year long PS4 exclusive.

While Final Fantasy VII Remake won the PlayStation Partner Awards 2020, it was also nominated at the Game Awards 2020. Briana White, English voice of Aerith, recently cosplayed her character as well. Final Fantasy 7 Remake also currently has its own real life stealth game at Kabukicho. Worldwide renowned lighting designer Hiroyasu Shoji also analyzed the Shinra HQ building. Lastly, we have details on the latest OST release and the latest Ultimania book for the game.

The post Final Fantasy VII Remake Wins Grand Award At PlayStation Partner Awards 2020 Japan Asia by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

Cyberpunk 2077 Teams With Twitter for a Launch Eve Event

Cyberpunk 2077

'Twas the night before Cyberpunk, when all through Night City everyone was listening to a hardcore metal ditty. Or, at least that seems to be the plan for a newly announced event being put on by CD Projekt Red and Twitter on the night before Cyberpunk 2077 drops. If you're looking for a cornucopia of Cyberpunk-related content to tide you over until release, this is going to fill that need. Plus, the music sounds pretty rad. Check out the announcement below.

As you can see, the launch party only has basic plans for now. I'm sure this will fill out a bit over the coming days; however, for now, all we know is a few small details. It looks like the focus will likely be some new Developer Q&A sessions. No word in the announcement if they'll be answering questions live, but since they're partnering with Twitter, that seems likely. Outside of that, expect some "exclusive" content. Though, who knows what that will actually turn out to be. Finally, they're promising more surprises, which should be exciting for fans.

It'll be interesting to see exactly what those surprises are. After all, with all the delays the game has had, they've already given us a peek at just about everything. I'm keen to learn exactly what else they have to show before release. Maybe it's some plans for free post-launch content. That would be in line with what CD Projekt Red did with The Witcher 3 before starting paid DLC. So, if I were betting, I guess I'm putting money on that.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches on December 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The Cyber Night event kicks off at 3 pm PT on December 9.

The post Cyberpunk 2077 Teams With Twitter for a Launch Eve Event by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Dungeons And Destiny Brings Guardians And The Exo to D&D 5E

One of the best things about Dungeons And Dragons is how easy it is to bend the massively popular tabletop RPG's systems to your liking. The system's adaptability to any environment, fantasy or otherwise, makes it more than popular for different homebrewed campaigns and mechanics. One new homebrew is taking D&D 5E's systems and running though, adding numerous new races, classes and creatures for players to tinker with in their own campaigns. This massive overhaul combines the fantastical world of D&D with Destiny, for a project aptly titled Dungeons And Destiny.

Outside of adding in new content, D&D 5E players should feel comfortable hopping right into a game of Dungeons And Destiny. The homebrew keeps all the basic dice mechanics of D&D 5E, down to its heavy use of the D20. In terms of new content though, players can look forward to finding nine new classes, each based on one of the subclasses from Destiny and Destiny 2. For the DMs that don't want to run a game in the same world as Destiny, all the separate parts of this homebrew are compatible with D&D 5E's rules. The option is totally there to bring a Destiny Stormcaller into your next campaign.

Dungeons And Destiny is still being worked on, but already comes with a ton of available resources. An over 100-page long player's guidebook is available, detailing all of the different enemies, abilities, equipment and concepts from the Destiny games being brought to tabletop. The game also comes with what it calls an "Architect's guide," the Dungeons & Destiny equivalent of the DM's handbook. For those looking to hop right into a game of Dungeons & Destiny, a module is offered along with the rest of the game's public release material. Everything you need to start a campaign can be found on the project's website here.

The post Dungeons And Destiny Brings Guardians And The Exo to D&D 5E by Otto Kratky appeared first on DualShockers.

Super Louis 64 Plays Demon's Souls With DK Bongo Controller

bongo controller

The Donkey Kong bongo controller is a relic from an age when the games industry was pumping out interesting gimmick controllers left and right. Alongside the bongo controller on the Gamecube was the Resident Evil 4 chainsaw controller and the Phantasy Star Online Sammy keyboard controller. Some gamers have made it their mission to keep these obscure controllers alive by continuing to play games on them. Last week, modder and streamer Super Louis 64 started playing the Demon's Souls remake using the DK bongo controller.

 

Super Louis 64 shows his modded controller actually working in a Twitter video where he says simply, "what have I done." On his YouTube channel, he describes how he got the game to work with bongos. He explains that he has "only two" bongo controllers meaning that he can only work with 10 button inputs. Problematically, Demon's Souls require 20 inputs, but as a Soulsborne veteran, Super Louis 64 says, "you don't need to block if you don't get hit."

The rest of his video breaks down some of the many problems he faces during his playthrough. While he hasn't beaten the game just yet, Super Louis 64 famously completed Dark Souls 3 using a banana controller of his own creation, so it's only a matter of time until he does.

His YouTube channel is devoted almost entirely to playing games with interesting or modded controllers so a challenge like this doesn't seem too insurmountable for him. In fact, this isn't even his first DK bongo controller outing. In previous videos, Super Louis has played Fall Guys, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and beaten Dark Souls 3's Nameless King using his two bongos.

Currently, Super Louis 64 is streaming his DK bongo run of Demon's Souls on his Twitch channel right here. For more on weird controllers, make sure to take a look at this article about a streamer who's playing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War using only a Guitar Hero controller.

The post Super Louis 64 Plays Demon's Souls With DK Bongo Controller by Peter Hunt Szpytek appeared first on DualShockers.

It Looks Like Fortnite Will Also Let Master Chief Floss Soon

Fortnite, Epic Games

Fortnite has had a busy few days recently. First, the community came together to take down Galactus to end the season. At the end of the event, we found out Mando and Baby Yoda will feature in Chapter 2 – Season 5. After that, we learned that a Kratos skin will soon be in the game. However, the leaks and reveals don't stop there. According to some reputable leakers on Twitter, it looks like Master Chief is joining Kratos on the battlefield soon. Check it out.

As you can see above, it looks like the Master Chief skin isn't the only piece of Halo content coming to Fortnite. There's also a Warthog and a UNSC Pelican. Plus, if you scroll through the comments, you'll also see the gravity hammer make an appearance. It'll be interesting to see if we also get some extra bits from God of War alongside that Kratos skin.

However, the bigger question is if Nintendo will also join in on the fun. I've seen it floated that Samus would make a good fit for the "hunter" theme they have going on this season. Regardless, it's pretty neat to potentially see the big console-makers all in the same game. Hopefully, as more games adopt cross-play we'll see this happening more often.

Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 5 is on now. The game is available on Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. If you're hoping to grab those Kratos and Master Chief skins, it might be worth hopping in now and starting that battle pass grind.

The post It Looks Like Fortnite Will Also Let Master Chief Floss Soon by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Gamer Discovers Video Games Collection Worth $500K Was Thrown Out by Mom

There's probably nothing worse than your mom or dad threatening to take away your games console if you don't do your homework or do chores around the house. If you're lucky, the threats are usually empty ones but what if you can home and found out that your mom had actually thrown all your video games into the trash? Not only that, but a really expensive video game collection to boot. That's exactly what happened to one New York resident who found out that his mom binned his entire collection worth around half a million dollars straight into the trash.

An employee at J&L Game, which is a popular New York City-based video game store, had been keeping the store's huge and expensive video game collection at his parent's house and thought that they were all safely tucked away. Unfortunately, a few years later, he had found out that his mom decided to throw them all out. Making a post on Twitter, the employee joked "People are gonna die. I just found out my mom a few years ago there out ALL my PS1 games. 500+ games half still sealed. I am going to kill somebody." The tweet was taken down, probably something to do with his joke on killing someone but obviously, he was just upset at the time and probably wondering what his employer would say.

According to the frustrated man, "well over $500k of games" had been binned since last they checked in on the collection." I left my old stuff in storage (my mom's home)," he said. "Today I found out she threw out my Ataris, Coleco, Intelli, Famicom, S Famicom, TGfx, PCE, NG AES, MegaDrive, Master System, basically every system and game I never took with me." To add insult to injury, his mom also threw away his two Marshall stacks, 14 pedals, Drum Kit, board, and all his skateboards, not to mention an entire comic book collection.

He doesn't go into why his mom decided to go cleaning mad and get rid of all of his stuff, but I think the lesson here is either put valuable items into storage or maybe explain to your parents how much your collection costs? I'm fairly sure if his mom knew, she would have thought twice about chucking it all away. The original NeoGeo console itself is worth quite a lot as it is.

 

Feature image courtesy of Wired.

The post Gamer Discovers Video Games Collection Worth $500K Was Thrown Out by Mom by Rachael Fiddis appeared first on DualShockers.

Demon's Souls Developers Used Rubber Ducks to Test Effects

Demon's Souls Rubber Ducks

I'd like you to picture it for a second – you're playing Demon's Souls, and a looming shape appears in the distance, obscured by fog. By the time you get close enough to see its beak, it's too late. The giant rubber duck has already eaten your character whole, proclaiming its victory with an earth-trembling squeak. The "You Died" screen quickly follows. Of course, this isn't a reality, but at one point during its development, rubber ducks were in Demon's Souls, although just as a testing tool.

This development quirk was revealed by Collin Harris, a former technical artist at Bluepoint Games. On Twitter, Harris shared a video of one of the game's downtrodden, heavily armored player characters rolling through a wooden bench and table. The environment objects broke apart as you'd expect, but with one addition, a bunch of small, brightly colored, ducks. The camera turns behind the player character immediately after, showing a much larger duck sitting in the distance, obscured by fog.

While it would have been wonderful for these rubber ducks to end up in Demon's Souls as a secret enemy, its fate wasn't that glamorous. In the same thread on Twitter, when asked what happened to the adorable testing objects, Harris said that they had been completely removed. "Sorry to disappoint, but all the stuff you see in the video (including the test room and duck) was temp and didn't make it anywhere near the finished game," replied Harris. It's just a shame that there wasn't just one rubber duck behind the game's previously locked mystery door.

The post Demon's Souls Developers Used Rubber Ducks to Test Effects by Otto Kratky appeared first on DualShockers.