Mass Effect 2's Jack was originally supposed to be pansexual, but her romance arc was changed after BioWare looked at the media reception to romances in the original game, as reported by The Gamer.Since Mass Effect 2's release 11 years ago, fans have wondered why Jack was could only be romanced by a male Commander Shepard, since she makes references to being with partners of different genders in some of her voice lines. After the original game's launch in 2007, Fox News held a panel about the game's depictions of sex and sexuality. The panel criticized both Mass Effect 1's sex scenes and the ability to romance Liara T'Soni as either a male or female Shepard.Talking about the development of Jack's romance in an interview with The Gamer, writer Brian Kindregan said: "She was essentially pansexual for most of the development of that romance." But the Fox News panel created a domino effect that changed things.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, has his second most-popular comic series, Invincible, landing as an animated series on Amazon Prime on March 26. During a livestream, Kirkman himself made the announcement and helped debut an extended clip, which you can see below.The clip features the titular Invincible AKA Mark Grayson (Steven Yuen) and his superhero father Omni-Man AKA Nolan Grayson (J.K. Simmons). The comic series is about a the son of the world's greatest superhero who finds he has super-powers of his own. From there, Invincible hosts plenty of twists and turns over the course of the #144 issues of the comic, which ended in 2017.Aside from Yuen, who famously played Glenn on The Walking Dead, Invincible has cast a few people from the hit AMC zombie series. This includes Khary Payton (Ezekiel) as Black Samson, Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha) as Green Ghost, Lauren Cohan (Maggie) as War Woman, Chad Coleman (Tyreese) as Martian Man, Michael Cudlitz (Abraham) as Red Rush, Lennie James (Morgan) as Darkwing, and Ross Marquand (Aaron) as The Immortal & Aquarius.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

One of the best things about Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion is how much concrete story it has delivered. Destiny's story has always been unwieldy, largely because there's a lot of it--but most of it took place in the distant past, somewhere outside of what's actually in the game. In Beyond Light, Bungie tied together a host of dangling lore threads, filling in gaps we've been wondering about for a long, long time. Names like Clovis Bray finally have faces, and characters we've been wondering about from Destiny 1, like the Exo Stranger, have finally explained their actions.Every so often, Bungie collects some of those lore entries together into book form, as Destiny Grimoire Anthologies. The books center on specific themes, like the influence of the Darkness or the history of the Fallen, and each one has been relevant to whatever stories Destiny 2 was telling at the time of their release. Grimoire Anthology Vol. 3, which was released right around the launch of Beyond Light, includes lore relevant to the Exos, Rasputin, and Clovis Bray--and gives some clues about what we might still learn on Europa.Beyond Light's backstory is all about the birth of the Exo race--robots into which human consciousnesses have been downloaded. That's a major part of the third Grimoire Anthology book as well, with the book compiling lore entries about the Exos' strange relationship with the Deep Stone Crypt. The book ends with what feels like a major clue as to what we can expect from the story on Europa as it continues to unfold in coming seasons. The last portion of the book focuses on Destiny's most famous Exo, the former Hunter Vanguard and the character who was murdered to kick off the Forsaken expansion: Cayde-6.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer CD Project Red has released Patch 1.1 for Cyberpunk 2077 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. According to the developer, this update "lays the groundwork for the upcoming patches." The patch notes are outlined below.The two biggest things addressed in Cyberpunk 2077 with this update are memory usage and crashes. According to the patch notes, the update makes some "memory improvements in various systems within the game" to stabilize performance. Additionally, the patch addresses the myriad crash issues, particularly related to loading game saves and the Point of No Return, that part where players are told they can't go back once the final mission starts.Patch 1.1 makes a number of important changes to questing as well, such as circumstances where players couldn't finish certain missions due to game hiccups. One example is in Delamain's questline, Epistrophy, in which players sometimes couldn't pick up or receive his calls to progress the quest. Another is in Takemura's quest Down on the Street, where players occasionally wouldn't receive a call from him. CD Projekt Red says these issues and others like them have been fixed in Patch 1.1.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Hitman 3 caps off the journey with a mission that's quite out of the ordinary for the series. Carpathian Mountains (Untouchable) takes on a more linear design, leaving you little room to work with and fewer options for clever methods--think of it more as an epilogue mission to tie up the story's loose ends. While it may be straightforward, it can still be challenging, so we'll walk you through it in case you need some pointers.For your first time in this mission, you'll start with Agent 47's flashbacks and visions followed by walking up in a secluded test lab. You won't have any items to start with and you have no guidance since there are no Missions Stories to follow, similar to how Berlin, Apex Predator started. But fret not, this one's not as complex or free-roaming as Berlin. Take note that every NPC is fair game in this mission and you will actually be rewarded with XP for every kill.If you need help with any previous missions in case you want to complete leftover Mission Stories or knock out every assassination challenge, be sure to check out our full Hitman 3 guides and walkthroughs hub.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As with Resident Evil 7 before it, Capcom has provided fans with a short, intense look at Resident Evil Village in the form of a standalone demo. That demo, dubbed "Maiden," is available now on the PlayStation Network store for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It's not quite as puzzling as the demo for RE7, but it's definitely possible to get hung up and miss important clues that will show you the way to work your way through this short, frightening slice of the castle.Below, you'll find a quick, spoiler-free walkthrough that will lead you through the demo and help you if you find yourself stuck. We won't spoil any scares or story elements, although we do highlight a few notes that can give you a little extra insight into what's going on. You can check out the video below for a full runthrough of the entire demo, as well.The DungeonUpon waking up, you'll find yourself in a dark dungeon cell. Look to one side to find a crumpled-up note hidden in the wall. Reading it provides you several clues you'll need to escape the dungeon, but they're a bit obtuse. First, you need to get out of the cell--crouch down and look under your wooden bed for a hole through which you can crawl.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Trials of Osiris in Destiny 2 is already extremely tough, and that's before players learn how to exploit certain maps to make it extremely difficult to kill them. Such an exploit exists on this weekend's Trials map, Fragment, and as a result, Bungie is changing the map for the duration of the weekend.Bungie made the announcement on Twitter, although it didn't provide too many details about what to expect for Trials for the rest of the weekend.Due to issues where players can get out of bounds on Fragment, Trials of Osiris will be updated to feature an alternate map on Saturday at 9:00 AM Pacific.Any players in an active Trials of Osiris match will experience an error code when this change goes into effect. — Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) January 22, 2021So we know when to expect a new map-- 9 AM PT on Saturday--but not what that map will be. In the meantime, you can still play Trials on Fragment if you so choose, although it sounds like it's risky, since players utilizing the exploit to get out of the map are likely to have a distinct advantage over those who do.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer Lucid Games has dropped a brand-new trailer for the PlayStation 5 exclusive, Destruction AllStars, that introduces the vehicular combat game's 16 playable characters.The trailer, which says the captured gameplay footage was running on a PlayStation 5, showcases the varying character designs for the game's 16 selectable heroes. There's a luchador who drives a weird-looking armadillo-like car built for head-on collisions, some person wearing a box (whose drawn-on face looks like Jonny 2x4's Plank from Ed, Edd, and Eddy) on their head, an e-girl with a digital-emoting helmet like Borderland's cyborg ninja Zero, and various other characters of color. Destruction AllStars' cast is quite diverse.Interspersed between the brief character introductions are even briefer moments of their gameplay. After each individual and their name is revealed, there's a short montage of them in action, showcasing some of their car and character abilities. Check out the video below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Update: The PS5, PS5 Digital, and Xbox Series X are sold out for the day at Walmart after a series of restocks at 3, 3:10, and 3:20 PM ET. Much like we've seen in the past with Walmart, each restock sold out instantly, and we were never even able to add the console to our cart. (Thanks, bots.)This is only the latest PS5 restock this week--Target restocked the system yesterday, while GameStop, Best Buy, and even Amazon restocked the PS5 briefly today. The Xbox Series X also appeared at GameStop and Best Buy. Walmart marks the last major retailer to offer the next-gen consoles this week, and with no official word from Sony or Microsoft recently, it's unclear when they'll be back in stock. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

When it comes to top-tier gaming headsets, SteelSeries is one of the biggest names in the game, and its latest releases are designed for the next generation of consoles. The SteelSeries Arctis 7P released late last year and proved to be one of the best PS5 gaming headset options out there. As a result, the Arctis 7P been hard to find in stock over the past couple of months, but it's back in stock today at GameStop. You'll want to act quick, however, as this headset does not stay in stock for very long. It already sold out again at Amazon after a restock earlier today. SteelSeries Arctis 7P gaming headset $150 The SteelSeries Arctis 7P connects to your PS5 with its 2.4GHz USB-C dongle. This can be plugged directly into the USB-C port on the front of the console or into one of its USB-A ports with the included adapter. The dongle can also be plugged into PS4, PC, Android, and Nintendo Switch in handheld mode. With its excellent audio quality and comfortable fit, it's a great gaming headset that covers a variety of needs. See at GameStop The Arctis 7P also boasts a steel headband that feels durable and comfortable as well as a longer battery life than the regular Arctis 7, with up to 24 hours of listening time. While SteelSeries offers a black version via its website, GameStop only has the white SteelSeries Arctis 7P in stock.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

HBO is apparently working on not one but two Game of Thrones prequels. According to The Hollywood Reporter and other Hollywood sites, HBO is in "early development" on a new prequel series with a fantastic name.The new show is called Tales of Dunk and Egg, and it's based on George R.R. Martin's novellas about Ser Ducan the Tall (Dunk) and a young Aegon V Targaryen (Egg).The stories are set about 90 years before A Song of Ice and Fire, which itself became Game of Thrones for HBO.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer Dragonest has announced that its popular strategy game Auto Chess leaves Early Access on PlayStation 4 next week, becoming a full free-to-play title on January 27.In a post on the PlayStation Blog announcing Auto Chess' PS4 release date, studio product marketer Weiming Zhao outlined the free PlayStation Plus-exclusive items players can download for the game. This includes additional playable characters and an extra chessboard.Much like its mobile and PC counterpart, this version of Auto Chess features a variety of modes, including Classic and Ranked. Players can also upgrade their pieces to make them more effective.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

EA's acquisition of racing game studio Codemasters is one step closer to becoming a reality. VideoGamesChronicle reports that Codemasters' directors have agreed that they will vote to approve the $1.2 billion deal, even if a higher bid comes in later.Directors CEO Frank Sagnier, chief financial office Rashid Varachia, and executive director Ian Bell--who collectively control 4.34% of Codemasters--have all agreed to vote to close the deal.It will be finalized during a meeting scheduled for February 3, 2021. Enough shareholders will also need to support the acquisition plan. The approval from the directors this week comes after the Codemasters board unanimously recommended for its shareholders to agree to the deal.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It might be a new year, but the coronavirus pandemic persists and movie studios are still reshuffling their plans for theatrical releases. The latest--and surely not the last--such film to be impacted is the upcoming sci-fi drama Bios, starring Tom Hanks. The Hollywood Reporter is indicating that the film will now open August 13, after previously being slated for April, and before that October 2020.According to IMDb, the film's synopsis reads: "On a post-apocalyptic earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human." Hanks plays one of the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar event that has left the world a wasteland--but apparently he must rise to the challenge to teach a robot dog about companionship. Unfortunately, we're all going to have to wait a bit longer to see a trailer and get a sense of the film's tone.Bios is directed by Miguel Sapochnik (Game of Thrones), and was written by Craig Luck (Sense8). In addition to Hanks, the film's cast includes Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out), Samira Wiley (The Handmaid's Tale), Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Skeet Ulrich (Scream).Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

WizKids, the company known for its highly-detailed Dungeons & Dragons miniatures, is partnering with Critical Role to bring characters from the world of Exandria to life--in mini form.Coming in Q1 of 2021, fans of Critical Role will see some of the monsters and PCs from the series in a physical form--so you can use them on your own battlefield in a game of Dungeons & Dragons. This would include Critical Role's game master Matthew Mercer's "gargantuan" sized Udaak. And like many of WizKids' minis, it will be pre-painted."I've been a rabid collector of WizKids' minis for... well, a very long time, and to be able to work directly with them to bring the denizens and dangers of Exandria to life for everyone to use is beyond exciting," said Matthew Mercer, chief creative officer and cast member of Critical Role. "They bring such skill and expertise to their work, and this upcoming collection really captures the characters and atmosphere of Exandria. I think fans of Critical Role, as well as players new to our world, will greatly enjoy this opportunity for deeper play, collaboration, and imagination."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com