Marvel's Black Widow had a great post-pandemic showing when it debuted on July 9, allowing Disney to boast about its dual-platform launch across theaters and Disney+ Premier Access. A week later, though, theater owners saying that Disney+ ultimately pulled the movie down (via Variety)."Despite assertions that this pandemic-era improvised strategy was a success for Disney and the simultaneous release model, it demonstrates that an exclusive theatrical release means more revenue for all stakeholders in every cycle of the movie's life," said the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) in an official statement."Piracy no doubt further affected Black Widow’s performance, and will affect its future performance in international markets where it has yet to open," NATO's statement continued, though the organization says piracy also affected Warner Bros. releases of Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat as well.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Ahead of its October 22 debut, Warner Bros. is giving us another look at Dune through a series of close-up character posters depicting the film's primary characters.Warner Bros. revealed the new posters through the official Dune Twitter account in a threaded series of tweets. The posters shown off in the thread include: Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), Lady Jessica Atreides (Rebecca Ferguson), Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa), Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), Chani (Zendaya), Stilgar (Javier Bardem), and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård).The thread is a remind of just how flush with award-winning stars the cast of Dune is.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It's time to see who can climb the ladder the fastest, with no one trying to pull them down. It's time for the 2021 edition of WWE's Money in the Bank, where Roman Reigns will face Edge for the Universal Championship and Rhea Ripley defends the Raw Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair. Of course, there will also be two matches dedicated to climbing a ladder.This year's event will take place at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. What's important about the latest PPV is that it marks the return of audiences to live WWE events. The era of the Thunderdome is no more, and we will miss you. Of course, the titular ladder-climbing event means the winners of the men's and women's matches will get a contract for a championship match, so there is a lot on the line.If you want to watch MITB, you'll need to subscribe to Peacock--or WWE Network if you're outside of the US. While Peacock has a free tier, you'll need to subscribe to Peacock Premium ($5 a month) or Peacock Premium Plus ($10 a month). The difference between the two is that Premium Plus is not ad-supported. However, both tiers of Peacock play the same stream of the PPV.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

At TennoCon 2021, developer Digital Extremes finally revealed more info about Warframe's The New War story expansion, which was first teased back in 2019. Coming later this year, The New War is a new cinematic story quest focusing on the Tenno and other factions entering a new phase of conflict that was will stretch across the entire star system. This new story expansion will also signal the next phase for the free-to-play action RPG, which will see cross-play for all versions of the game coming at a later date.During the TennoCon 2021 live stream, we saw over 30 minutes of extended gameplay for The New War expansion. This cinematic quest line sees the Tenno--the faction of Space Ninjas--work with allies from other factions to face off against the artificial life-forms known as the Sentients, who have invaded Cestus on the Planes of Eidolon. According to the developers, The New War will be the longest story quest the game has seen yet. In a similar vein to previous cinematic quests like The Sacrifice and The Second Dream, The New War will take you on different missions with set-piece encounters and bespoke story beats that will reveal new lore about Warframe's key characters and factions. This new expansion will also set the stage for coming with the following expansions and live events.The extended gameplay reveal from TennoCon 2021 started off with a bang, showing off the scale of the Sentient invasion. In a surprise twist, we then cut to gameplay for characters other than our familiar Tenno. While your adventures throughout Warframe have focused on the Tenno, The New War will mark the first time players take on an active role as side characters for story missions. In the gameplay we saw during the stream, The New War will feature missions letting you control the sword-wielding Teshin of the Conclave faction, Kahl-175 of the Grineer, and the Corpus engineer Veso. These standalone missions will focus on each character's particular loadout and skills, making them stand apart from the slate of Frames you've become well accustomed to over the years. However, The New War will still focus on the Tenno and their actions during this quest.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Colin Farrell plays The Penguin in director Matt Reeves' upcoming comic book movie, The Batman, but the character doesn't have a very big role in the movie in terms of screen time.Farrell said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Collider) that he's in the movie for five or six scenes, amounting to about nine minutes of screen time."I'm only in it for five or six scenes, so I can't wait to see the film because it won't be ruined by my presence. Really, it's a freebie to me. I'll get a little bit uncomfortable for the f**king nine minutes I have, and then the rest of it, I cannot wait to see how he [Reeves] brought this world to life."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The latest licensed DLC for Minecraft has been announced, and it's out now. Illumination Entertainment's Minions franchise is now available in Minecraft through the Minions x Minecraft DLC.The little yellow Minion creatures are included in the DLC, along with skins for Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes. Additionally, the villains from the upcoming Minions: Rise of Gru movie, the Vicious 6, are included in the DLC. You can get a closer look at the Minions DLC in the video below and through the gallery further down the page.Minions is just the latest major franchise to come to Minecraft, following The Simpsons, Star Wars, and Mass Effect, among many others. You can grab the Minions x Minecraft DLC through Minecraft's in-game marketplace.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is out today, July 16, on Nintendo Switch, and it'll cost you the standard $60 to buy it digitally or physically at most retailers. If you're looking to save some money on Skyward Sword HD (especially if you've already played it on Wii), you can currently take advantage of a release-day deal on physical copies at eBay. Free shipping is included, but that does mean you'll be left waiting a few days (depending on your location) for the game to come in. You won't see this game go cheaper than $50 for many months, so if time isn't an issue, this is a great deal to jump on. See Skyward Sword HD at eBay These are brand-new copies via a very reputable seller on eBay and come with the site's money-back guarantee. The game ships from California, and for me in New York, estimated delivery with free economy shipping is July 21-23, to give you a sense of the time range. Again, that'll vary based on your location.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Trials of Osiris are back for another weekend in Destiny 2, offering the game's toughest PvP challenge and some of its best rewards. This week, you can easily snag a new Igneous Hammer, a hand cannon that has become a mainstay in the Crucible. Here's what other rewards you can try to earn in the Trials and where you'll be playing.Each week, the Trials of Osiris map and rewards are randomized when the event launches with Destiny 2's daily reset at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET on Friday.Trials of Osiris Map And Rewards (July 16-20)Map: Pacifica3 wins -- Igneous Hammer, Solar hand cannon5 wins -- Hunter, Titan, and Warlock Leg Armor - Pyrrhic Ascent Strides, Greaves, and Boots7 wins -- Sola's Scar, Solar hand cannonFlawless run -- Exile's Curse (Adept), Arc fusion rifleThe Trials of Osiris takes place every weekend, running from Friday to Tuesday. When taking part in the PvP event, your goal is to and win as many matches as possible before you suffer three total losses. You'll need to recruit a fireteam of three, as there's no matchmaking in Trials. Once you take three losses in the mode, you'll be forced to reset your Trials run, or Passage, and try again. However, the more wins you earn, the more loot you'll rack up. Rewards drop rack up as you earn a certain number of victories, so minimizing your losses is key to grabbing new gear. But the best rewards in the event come when you go on a winning streak of seven matches in a row--a "Flawless" run.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Sleuthing Pokemon Go fans have uncovered a series of in-game text that suggests the Ghost/Psychic-type Mythical creature Hoopa might show up during the annual Pokemon Go Fest event scheduled for this weekend.The datamining group PokeMiners posted the leaks on the Pokemon Go-adjacent subreddit r/TheSilphRoad, a "grassroots network of trainers" dedicated to discoveries and research related to the mobile game. The leaks show Professor Willow pontificating on the sudden emergence of Legendary Pokemon, a fact that Willow blames on the mischievous creature Hoopa.According to Professor Willow in the leaks, players are recommended to "challenge some raids with other Trainers" because they'll need their "skills at their sharpest to catch Hoopa." PokeMiners suggested that Hoopa might not be catchable on the day Pokemon Go Fest goes live but perhaps later.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

James Gunn has shared an update on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is scheduled to hit theaters in 2023. He told Entertainment Weekly that the script has been finished for some time already, and that the story will be "heavier" in nature.Gunn will shoot Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after he finishes the Peacemaker TV show starring John Cena, which is currently filming. "I'm still shooting Peacemaker, but I'm starting to work on Guardians 3," Gunn said. "For Guardians 3, the script has basically been written for a long time. I've been playing with it in little ways over the years, but it's basically stayed the same since three years ago."Regarding the script itself, Gunn said, "It's pretty heavy, actually. It's a heavier story, so it's an emotional process to go through." He didn't elaborate on this, so we can only imagine what he means. The Guardians of the Galaxy series isn't exactly known for being too serious, so it's intriguing to think about how it might make some kind of turn with this new installment.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

DC's Black Adam movie has just wrapped up filming. Star Dwayne Johnson made the announcement, retweeting a video of him thanking the cast and crew for their hard work.In the tweet, Johnson called Black Ada the "hardest undertaking of my entire career physically and mentally," but "worth every second." In the video, which you can see below, Johnson spoke to the cast and crew, as filming wrapped up.That a wrap on BLACK ADAM⚡️Incredible journey. Hardest undertaking of my entire career physically & mentally. Worth every second. Boundless gratitude to my 1,000+ crew members, actors and director, Jaume Collet-Serra. The hierarchy of power in DC Universe is changing. BA⚡️ https://t.co/adjLrimOYS — Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 16, 2021"We're lucky to get to do what we do in our business," Johnson said. "I want to say thank you so much guys. I love you, truly... I will never forget this experience on Black Adam, and I can't wait for the world to see Black Adam, so they can see your incredible skill and your incredible talent."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Valve surprised the gaming community this week with the announcement of the Steam Deck, a new foray into dedicated PC gaming hardware. The portable device bears more than a passing resemblance to Nintendo's popular handheld-console hybrid, the Nintendo Switch, given its general size and form factor. But unlike the Switch, the Steam Deck is built to play your Steam library on-the-go, and the impressive-looking piece of tech is launching this December.SKUs/VersionsSteam Deck comes in three different versions, but each of these offers the same level of performance--you won't need a more expensive version in order to play games with more demanding system requirements. Where they differ is in their storage options: There are 64GB ($399), 256GB ($529), and 512GB ($649) models, with some additional perks coming with the pricier models (such as an anti-glare etched screen on the 512GB model, and a Steam Community bundle for the top two models).However, that only tells part of the story. Only the 256GB and 512GB models are equipped with NVMe SSDs, with the larger of the two also featuring a faster drive. The 64GB model, by contrast, is equipped with eMMC storage, which as we've written elsewhere means the cheapest Steam Deck is equipped with much slower storage than you'd expect. While all three can be expanded with a microSD card, buying the cheapest model locks you into this slower, non-NVMe storage solution, so it's worth considering one of the larger models if you're concerned with load times and general usability.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Ratchet & Clank is one of the oldest continuing PlayStation-exclusive franchises, with other series either going multiplatform, like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, or dying off completely--like Sly Cooper, Twisted Metal, Wild Arms, Ape Escape… you get the idea.But not our Lombax and robot duo! In fact, June's NPD data shows Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was the best-selling game for the entire month in the US, and it doubled dollar sales of its predecessor on PS4. Ratchet & Clank is not only surviving but thriving in 2021--apparently enough to justify costing $30 more than its predecessor. It achieved higher dollar sales than any game in the series' history, and this is despite the game being exclusive to a system that no one can even find. That isn't to say the path for the series has always been easy. There were the less-great spin-off games, the much-derided movie, and Into the Nexus, which is easy to forget exists because it released on PS3 just days before the PS4's launch. Despite the hiccups, however, Insomniac's series never radically reinvented the wheel, relying on tried-and-true 3D action-platforming up to and including the latest game.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If you were lucky, you might have preordered a Steam Deck when they went live on July 16. But many ran into roadblocks when attempting to place Valve's handheld PC in their shopping cart, a situation reminiscent of the hardship securing a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S reservation.There are a handful of reasons why it has been difficult getting a Steam Deck preorder, not least because of the excitement surrounding the prospect of taking your Steam library with you wherever you go. Here's a look back at how things have unfolded with Steam Deck reservations.Getting The Initial PreorderSteam Deck preorders opened at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET on July 16. As you might've guessed, things haven't gone over smoothly despite Valve limiting reservations to one per customer. After the initial wave of eager shoppers flocked to Valve's official website to place their preorders, others were either seeing their cart immediately emptied and told to try again or getting timed out for incessantly refreshing the page to secure a Steam Deck reservation.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

When Nintendo introduced the Switch OLED Model, one of the most eye-catching changes was the color. A new white paintjob replaced the black/gray of the original launch model, alongside the trusty old neon red/blue version which also made the transition to OLED. Now, perhaps unsurprisingly, it seems as if the white model is the more popular one.Aside from various anecdotes of players interested in the white OLED model, the red/blue version just seems easier to find. The preorder situation was predictably a hot mess, as has become the norm for all new tech products. But a day later the white version seems to be out of stock everywhere, while the red/blue version took longer to run out or, in some cases, is still available. As of the time of writing you can still readily preorder a red/blue OLED model from Walmart, whereas the white model was taken almost immediately.It may be that players are more excited for a sleek redesign, and that the white model looks more like a high-end piece of tech for the sophisticated Nintendo fan. There's a reason Sony went with a white-and-black color scheme for its PS5, after all. (That reason: It looks dope as hell.) The OLED is a moderate upgrade from the original Switch, and while the OLED screen does seem like a significant improvement, it's not the kind of one that's terribly noticeable when seeing product photos on the internet. The white Switch just looks different.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com