Sonic Limited-Edition Movie Collection Is 40% Off For A Limited Time

You can grab both Sonic The Hedgehog live-action movies in a limited-edition collection for just $29 at Amazon (was $48). The deal is running alongside Amazon’s Big Spring Sale event that runs until March 25, but supplies are limited and may sell out much sooner.

The Sonic The Hedgehog two-movie collection includes both Sonic movies in 4K and standard Blu-ray formats, plus tons of special features, including a new animated feature starring Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, deleted scenes, a commentary track for the first movie featuring director Jeff Fowler and Sonic voice actor Ben Schwartz, and more. The set comes in a special-edition steelbook case.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2-Movie Collection

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie sees Sega’s famous blue mascot transported to our world, where he teams up with Sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) to take down the evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carey), who plans to capture Sonic and use him to power his army of robot drones. The sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, introduces other characters from the Sonic video games, including Miles “Tails” Prower (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles the Echidna (voiced by Idris Elba). A third movie is planned to release later in 2024, so this collection is a great way to catch up on the trilogy ahead of time.

Plenty of other movie and video game deals are also available at Amazon right now, including Sonic Superstars on Nintendo Switch for $29 (was $30). You can also grab discounts on collectible figures, PC hardware, and more, so be sure to check out all the deals in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale while they’re still available.

Razer Iskur V2 Review – Where You Want To Be

My natural inclination when hearing a phrase like “adjustable 6D” lumbar system, one of the signature features of the Razer Iskur V2 gaming chair, is to be skeptical. It sounds like a marketing line meant to sound incomprehensible but appealing–that’s more Ds than my current chair, surely, so it must be better. Although I can’t claim to know whether the technology on display here justifies such an ornate descriptor, the Iskur V2 is nonetheless a terrific chair with an impressive number of customization options.

I’ve spent the last several weeks with the Iskur V2, putting it through heavy use–long work days where I don’t stand as often as I should that segue into evenings sitting at the same desk to play Helldivers 2. As with my previous chair, the Razer Enki, I initially experienced some back discomfort as I adjusted to the new setup. But whereas the Enki offered no adjustments to its lumbar support, the Iskur V2 allows you to both tweak the lumbar curve as well as the height of it to match people of different sizes. That meant experimenting to figure out what actually felt right, which took some time–was I experiencing some back pain because I was becoming accustomed to proper support, or because I had mispositioned that support?

The Razer Iskur V2’s adaptive lumbar support is the key feature.

Eventually, I sorted this out and found a good level of comfort. But what I came to appreciate most about the Iskur V2’s 6D lumbar support is the way in which the back moves with you from side to side. I spend a lot of time in my chair each day, and invariably I fidget. I unconsciously want to lean to the side, sit on a leg, or do something to disrupt the proper posture. The Iskur V2 seems to facilitate these compulsions nicely: The wide base is very comfortable and ensures I can cross a leg to mix up my seating position, and as I lean from one side to another, the back leans with me, offering me some degree of lumbar support even when I am not sitting perfectly upright. Should you spend a ton of time deviating from the recommended posture? Probably not, but many of us are going to do so anyway, and I’m glad the chair doesn’t get in my way of sitting where and how I want to.

Also offering a welcome degree of flexibility are the armrests. I was a big fan of the 4D armrests on the Enki, and that remains true here. Being able to have a great deal of control over their height and being able to move them forward and backward, left and right, and point them in or out allows you to find an option that works for your desk setup. If you’re like me, most of these settings are something you’ll set up initially and then rarely touch again. I have found, much to my surprise, that I enjoy angling my left armrest inward, providing more surface area for my arm to rest on as it sits on my keyboard. Doing the same with the right one during longer typing sessions was also pleasant, but the trouble here is in developing the habit of making that adjustment–a lifetime of armrests facing directly forward typically causes me to forget this is even an option.

The 4D armrests provide a lot of flexibility.

Similarly, the ability to recline at up to 152 degrees landed more in the “nice to have” category than something I found any regular use for. When seated at my desk, I’m usually directly engaged with a keyboard and mouse, meaning I want to be relatively upright. Being slightly reclined when playing the occasional game with a controller in my lap is handy, but being able to go back the full 152 degrees seemed impractical for my purposes–aside from the few minutes I spent basking in sunlight streaming through my window for the purposes of this review, my office is not a place that I have any desire to be almost laying down.

That said, as with the Enki, I was impressed with how well the chair supported my weight even in this fully reclined position. It could be unnerving to go back that far–it just feels like a motion you’d only experience if your chair were tipping over backwards–but once I was there, I had no concerns about ending up on the ground. Depending on your setup or needs, this added versatility could make the Iskur V2 an even more appealing option. Reclining in this way was the only time my head regular touched the included memory foam head cushion; during normal use, my head and neck rarely go back far enough. That’s just as well, as I found my shoulder could push the cushion off the chair, due to it simply being strapped around the headrest (as opposed to through an opening that kept it in place, as on the Enki).

Long-term durability isn’t something that can be effectively evaluated over the course of a few weeks. Despite the heavy usage during that time, I’ve seen no indication of any wear on the seat, and given how well my Enki has held up over more than two years, I’m optimistic about the Iskur V2. As with other Razer chairs, the look is relatively minimalistic; my particular model was adorned with Razer’s signature green highlights that might make it stand out in an office, but it’s far from gaudy. Leather and fabric options are available, though only the leather model has a choice of color (black and green or just black).

The materials are well-made (at least on the leather model), and the entire thing is sturdy, as you’d expect from a chair that can recline so steeply. The armrests are firm but have some give, making them comfortable during most use. However, they aren’t plush cushions, and I do find that, during intense gaming sessions, I tend to push my elbows down into them, and as with the Enki’s seemingly identical armrests, that can cause some discomfort. It’s possible that’s just a fluke of my atypical way of positioning my arms that won’t impact most people, and that it could be addressed through additional armrest pads, though the prospect of spending more on a chair that already costs $650 is not appealing.

Setup was quite easy, and more than doable as a single person, despite the two-person suggestion. As with the Enki, the Iskur V2 comes with a much nicer hex tool than you typically see, along with gloves and a box adorned with some hilarious illustrations of things not to do. A three-year warranty covers defects to the chair’s parts, though any wear and tear you do encounter is not.

The Iskur V2 is ultimately a chair I’d strongly recommend, though your need to spend the $650 on it versus something like the $500 Enki will certainly vary. I found the Enki more than up to the task of handling my heavy usage without causing me any pain, and I’ve remained more than happy with it after using it for 2 1/2 years. But if you’re particularly tall or short and thus can benefit from the lumbar adjustments, need a wider base than the original Iskur’s, or like the idea of the lumbar support moving with you from side to side, then the Iskur V2 is well worth consideration as your next gaming chair.

The good

  • Adaptive lumbar provides ample support
  • Extremely comfortable, even during long seating sessions
  • Armrest customization ensures a wide range of supported positions
  • Stable even when steeply reclined

The bad

  • Armrests may cause some elbow discomfort, depending on how you push into them

Razer Iskur V2 specs

  • Recommended Weight: < 299 lbs (136 kg)
  • Recommended Height: 5’3″ – 6’6″ (160cm – 200cm
  • Upholstery/Color: leather (black and green), leather (black), fabric (dark gray)
  • Frame: steel
  • Adjustable Back Angle: 152 degrees

GameSpot received a Razer Iskur V2 from Razer for the purposes of this review.

Some Of Samsung’s Most Popular Monitors Get Big Price Cuts In Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

A bunch of great computer monitors are on sale during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, including 20 monitors from Samsung’s impressive catalog. Whether you’re shopping for a monitor for your home office, gaming PC., or anything in between, there’s a good chance it’s currently discounted at Amazon.

If you’re just looking for a nice all-around monitor for general productivity, the Samsung 23.5-Inch Curved Gaming Monitor, which boasts a 1080p resolution and 60Hz refresh rate, is now just $110. Typically sold for $140, that’s the lowest price ever for the popular monitor at Amazon. Along with its curved display, it gets you a fast 4ms response time and ultra slim design that’s great for even the most crowded desktop.

Gallery

Looking for something more premium? Consider the Samsung 27-Inch ViewFinity S80PB Series Monitor (4K, 60Hz) for $400 (down from $580) or the Samsung 34-Inch ViewFinity S65TC Series Ultra-Wide Monitor (2K, 100Hz) for $450 (down from $800). Both get you a great refresh rate that’s ideal for gaming, while the S65TC gets you a nice 2K resolution.

There are plenty of other Samsung monitors on sale, including the Samsung 49-Inch Odyssey G9 Series Curved Gaming Monitor (2K, 240Hz), which is getting a big $500 price cut. So if you’re not sold on anything above, you’ll find even more options below.

Amazon Big Spring Sale – Samsung monitor deals

Fortnite Adds A First-Person Mode Later This Year

If you’re one of the people who yearned to see Fortnite through a first-person perspective, Epic Games has some good news for you. Announced during the State of Unreal livestream during GDC 2024, the developer stated that you’ll be able to play Fortnite in first-person later this year.

As part of a public roadmap, the item “First Person Camera” appeared in the Q4 2024 period of a presentation slide. You can watch a clip of the camera in motion around an hour and four minutes into the livestream. While short, it looks much more detailed than the camera that appears when aiming down sights with some specific scopes in the current version of the game.

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Now Playing: Fortnite Myths and Mortals Hades Cinematic Short

In the same roadmap, a few other upcoming additions to creation tools are proximity chat, text chat, item trading, and custom quests. There’ll also be Fall Guys assets and animations available for folks to make obstacle courses sometime in the future.

During the presentation, Epic shared that creators have been paid more than $320 million since the launch of the Unreal Editor for Fortnite. In addition, starting today, the developer is also releasing templates and devices of Rocket Racing to build your own race tracks, in a similar fashion to the Lego toolset. Elsewhere in Fortnite, don’t forget to check out the Rise of Midas event for some free rewards and a floor is lava mode.

Collectible Figures And Toys Are On Sale In Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Collecting figures can be an expensive hobby, but sale events like Amazon’s aptly named Big Spring Sale are the perfect time to fill in your shelf space without emptying your savings. Amazon’s Big Spring Sale runs until March 25, and dozens of toys, figures, and other collectibles are discounted during the event.

Robot Spirits – RX-78-2 Gundam and Zaku II figures

Some of the best deals are for anime figures, especially mecha. You can grab Tamashii Nations’ version of the great granddaddy of modern mecha anime, the RX-78-2 Gundam, for just $38 (was $55), and its common grunt suit foe, the Zaku II, for $47 (was $60). Both posable figures are from Tamashii Nation’s Robot Spirit line and come preassembled and painted, and include numerous accessories like weapons and swappable armor pieces.

Bandai Spirits – EVA-02 Sprint statue

Several figures from that other extremely popular mecha anime, Evangelion, are also part of the sale. One notable discount is for the sprinting EVA Unit 02 statue from Bandai Spirits, which is down to $62.70 (was $85). The giant robot collectibles aren’t limited to just famous mecha anime, however. A few Transformers action figures are on sale like this auto-transforming Optimus Primal from Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for just $47 (was $125).

Star Wars fans will want to check out Amazon’s deals, too, since a few gems from the Black Series and Vintage Collection figure lines are available at lower prices, including two-pack sets like the Ahsoka Tano and Hk-87 Assassin Droid bundle for $28 (down from $60) and the Amazon-exclusive Purge Trooper and NED-B droid for $47.70 (was $75).

Star Wars The Black Series – Ahsoka Tano & KH-87 Assassin Droid figures

Plenty of other figures from popular franchises like Avatar, Warhammer 40K, Super Mario Bros., Dragon Ball, and more are also available in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. Check out the list below for a selection of some of our favorites, or hit up Amazon to browse all the toy, figure, and collectible deals. Just make sure you grab any that catch your eye soon–not only do these deals end on March 25, but some may even sell out before then.

Amazon Big Spring Sale Figure Deals

Diablo 4 Will Soon Let You Trade Legendary And Unique Items (But Not The Very Best Ones)

Diablo 4 is revamping how it handles items, and part of that overhaul means players will soon be able to trade some (though not all) of the game’s most powerful items.

As detailed in the most recent Diablo 4 Campfire Chat, Blizzard is looking to focus on quality, not quantity, when it comes to Diablo 4’s items come the release of the game’s Season 4 update on May 14. That means reducing the number of Legendary and Rare items that drop and the number of affixes on them, but increasing both the strength and the relevancy of the affixes on items that players do find. Playing on World Tier 3 will now always reward Sacred items (instead of only sometimes) and World Tier 4 will always reward Ancestral items, which should make progression smoother. The changes are game-wide, and not just to the game’s Seasonal Realm.

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Now Playing: Diablo 4 | Season of the Construct | Gameplay Trailer

That is all to say that items in Diablo 4 are about to become individually much more powerful and more consistently relevant for a player’s chosen class and build. It’s for that reason it’s a little surprising that Blizzard additionally announced players will soon be able to trade Legendary and Unique items, something that has been reserved for Rare items since launch. Making any crafting modifications to the items will still make them account-bound, but base-level Legendary and Unique items will be tradeable.

“This is a big change for us…We think this does a great job of making sure the trade economy is still interesting and that when you’re looking for a specific item or an item has dropped for you that a friend can use, this is going to be a lot easier for you to hand those things around now,” Joe Piepiora, Diablo 4 associate game director, said during the livestream.

There is one caveat to Legendary and Unique item trading: Uber Uniques, the game’s most powerful and hardest to find items, will still not be tradeable.

“Those are the most powerful items, and if you want those, you’re going to have to go find them yourself,” Charles Dunn, Diablo 4 class game designer, said.

That’s probably for the best, as changes are coming to Uber Uniques, too. They’ll soon be able to drop from monsters level 55 and up, which will go nicely with recent endgame charges that make it so specific Uber Uniques can be target-farmed and new Uber Uniques can be crafted from unwanted ones. There will even be a new Uber Unique coming in Season 4, Tyrael’s Might: a chestpiece that causes skills to unleash a barrage of holy damage while at full life.

Being able to trade powerful items, though not the most powerful ones, is a major shift, but there are plenty of additional item changes coming to Diablo 4 as well. A new crafting system, Tempering, will let players add affixes to items, and yet another endgame crafting system, Masterworking, will increase the power of those affixes. Major tweaks to salvaging equipment, gems, and crafting materials are also coming as part of Season 4 to reduce the amount of inventory clutter and simplify the experience. One nice change for min-maxers is that there will be a gold cap added to rerolling item affixes at the Occultist. While the max-price will still be high, the amount of gold needed to continue shooting for a perfect stat roll will no longer scale infinitely.

As revealed during the livestream, Diablo 4 Season 3 will be extended for several weeks and last until May 14, the same date Season 4 starts. The change is to allow the development team more time to implement feedback from the game’s new public test realm ahead of Season 4’s release. Diablo 4 will launch on Xbox Game Pass on March 28, the first Activision Blizzard title to do so following Microsoft’s acquisition of the publisher in 2023.

3 Body Problem For Beginners: What The Hell Is Going On?

There’s a new sci-fi epic TV show in town, and contrary to what Netflix’s 3 Body Problem trailers would have you believe, you do not need a PhD in physics to understand what’s going on in it. If you’re curious about the new series, which drops on Netflix on March 21, but are nervous it will be too dense to get through, worry not: With some help from cast and creators, GameSpot is here to break it down for you so you can dive right in.

“You’ve never seen a show that has so much visual scope to it,” series star John Bradley promised to GameSpot at a recent press junket. “Part of it takes place in 1960s China. Part of the show takes place in the present day. And part of the show takes place in a virtual reality video game, which means that we can transport our characters to any point in history, to any point in the future. We can have them wear anything they want and show anything we want on screen. In terms of the normal logic that most TV dramas and movies are bound by, we’re not bound by any of that. We’ve got a complete blank canvas and we can show whatever we want. We can break any rules that we want and we’ve taken full advantage of that.”

That sounds like a lot, but let’s break it down.

Table of Contents [hide]

What the hell is 3 Body Problem?

3 Body Problem is a new sci-fi show on Netflix from Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff and The Terror: Infamy creator Alexander Woo. It is based on the Remember the Earth’s Past novel trilogy by Chinese author Liu Cixin. It examines how humans would react to and address the existential threat of an alien invasion centuries in the future.

Liu’s novels are highly regarded in the science fiction community, and early reviews have commended Weiss, Benioff and Woo for translating the thick text to television. It is a heavy series, but the creators have done a good job of making it digestible for even casual sci-fi fans.

What is 3 Body Problem About?

In the literal sense, 3 Body Problem is about what happens when the actions of a singular physicist in 1960s China invite a hostile alien population to Earth. The impending invasion is discovered in the modern day by a shadow international government agency when the world’s top scientists begin dying in horrific manners. The world’s top minds–known as the Oxford Five–are then tapped to help prepare Earth for the impending threat, but their opinions on the invasion, interpersonal drama, and their own life events serve as obstacles to addressing their incoming visitors.

The series bounces between 1960s China during the Cultural Revolution when the aliens, known as the San-Ti, make contact and the present day as the Oxford Five discover the San-Ti’s intentions through an ultra-realistic virtual reality game.

In a metaphorical sense, the show is about whether humanity can unite in a global crisis.

“What would you do if there was a threat to humanity? How would you feel about the rest of your life? Where do you think your life would be going? What if the threat was contradictory in that some people think it’s a good thing and some people think it is a bad thing? What would you do? How would you examine that?” Liam Cunningham said to GameSpot about the show’s central quandaries. “These are the questions that are asked in the show and are at the middle of it. You’ve got these five youngsters, the Oxford Five, who are enormously talented in the sciences. They are faced with the responsibility of not just examining their own existence, but how they are going to save humanity.”

Who is in 3 Body Problem?

3 Body Problem has a sprawling cast across the time periods in the show, but here is a breakdown of the major players in the story.

3 Body Problem

The Oxford Five

Jovan Adepo is Saul Durand. He is very gifted at physics but doesn’t love it. At the beginning of the series, he questions whether he’ll ever reach his full potential.

John Bradley is Jack Rooney. Jack left academia to use his physics prowess to found a multi-million-pound snack empire known as Jack Snacks.

Eiza González is Auggie Salazar. Auggie is the inventor of cutting-edge nanotechnology but is more focused on how to solve the world’s current problems and inequalities rather than wanting to use her research to address the impending alien threat.

Jess Hong is Jin Cheng. Jin is a genius theoretical physicist who is determined to answer the biggest questions about the universe.

Alex Sharp is Will Downing. Will left Oxford because he felt it had become too difficult. He is a middle-school physics teacher when he’s first introduced in the series. He receives “life-changing news” that changes his, and his friends’, perspective on the invasion.

The Shadow Organization

Liam Cunningham is Thomas Wade. Wade is the leader of an international agency and the man in charge of coming up with a response to the San-Ti threat, as well as assembling the team to execute it. He embodies the idea that the ends justify the means as long as human technology is propelled to be ready to battle the San-Ti.

Benedict Wong is Da Shi. Da Shi is an intelligence officer assigned to keep tabs on the Oxford Five when the world’s top scientists start dying in horrific ways.

The Other Major Players

Rosalind Chao is Ye Wenjie in the present day. She is an astrophysics prodigy whose choices in the 1960s changed the course of humanity.

Zine Tseng is Young Ye Wenjie. Young Wenjie is caught up in the Cultural Revolution and finds herself struggling with the cruel world around her.

Jonathan Pryce is Mike Evans. Mike is a billionaire oil tycoon with the heart of an environmentalist.

Ben Schnetzer is Young Mike Evans. A passionate environmentalist who is conflicted when he inherits his family’s oil business.

Marlo Kelly is Tatiana. Tatiana was raised in Mike Evans’ organization from birth and has dedicated her life to welcoming the aliens–by any means necessary.

Saamer Usmani is Raj Varma. Raj is a naval officer and Jin’s boyfriend who is drafted to be part of a very dangerous mission.

Sea Shimooka is Sophon, an avatar in the VR game.

Eve Ridley is Follower, a young girl character whom Jin encounters in the VR game.

What did the 3 Body Problem series change from the books?

Liu’s novels are even more sprawling than this gigantic series, with anomalies and events happening to different people across time and space. The books are even more existential than the series, and the creative team realized they needed to centralize the story to keep viewers interested in the visual interpretation.

“From all of our collective experiences, we have a strong belief that the thing that propels you from episode to episode and then season to season is the characters. You can have as much whiz-bang as you want on the screen, but it is not going to mean anything unless you care about the people who are experiencing it,” executive producer Alexander Woo said in a roundtable interview attended by GameSpot. “That led to the decision to pull some of the main characters from books two and three into Season 1 and have them have relationships with one another, have them know each other, have them cross paths, have them be in conflict or be in love with each other. That was the origin of the Oxford Five.”

So many of the circumstances in the series come directly from the books, who is involved in those circumstances and the order those events happen have been changed to streamline the series.

When does 3 Body Problem premiere?

3 Body Problem will premiere with all eight episodes on Thursday, March 21 on Netflix.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Responds To Rumor That He Is The New James Bond

Aaron Taylor-Johnson has reportedly been offered the role of James Bond in the next 007 film, but the 33-year-old English actor is neither confirming nor denying those rumors.

Taylor-Johnson, who has been linked to James Bond rumors for a long time prior to The Sun’s report this week that he was offered the part, told Rolling Stone that he can’t discuss it. “I can only really talk about the other things I’m going to show and tell,” he said.

Those projects include The Fall Guy, Nosferatu, and Kraven the Hunter.

Elaborating at a high level about his professional acting career, Taylor-Johnson said, “I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like: whatever’s drawn out for me, I can f**kin’ do better.”

Taylor-Johnson’s answer about if he’s playing Bond or not leaves it up for interpretation, and many are taking his lack of denial to be confirmation. But nothing is certain at this stage. If The Sun’s report is accurate, Taylor-Johnson could sign a deal as soon as this week.

“Bond is Aaron’s job, should he wish to accept it. The formal offer is on the table and they are waiting to hear back,” a source told The Sun. “As far as [production company] Eon is concerned, Aaron is going to sign his contract in the coming days and they can start preparing for the big announcement.”

Deadline reported that a source within Eon told it “if it spent its days reacting to reports about who is replacing Daniel Craig as 007, it would have time for little else.”

Daniel Craig was the most recent James Bond actor, playing the role five times, beginning with Casino Royale (2006) and ending with No Time To Die (2021). That movie ended with Craig’s James Bond getting killed, setting up a natural transition to a new actor for the next film.

The 26th James Bond movie has not been officially announced but is rumored to enter production later this year. If that’s true, more details around the cast and director may come to light sooner rather than later.

X-Men ’97 Is Inspected Frame-By-Frame To Ensure It’s ’90s Accurate

With the return of X-Men: The Animated Series, now revived as X-Men ’97, fans of the show are excited to see their favorite mutants in a brand-new Disney+ series. One key thing that viewers are expecting is a continuation of a classic ’90s series that looks and feels like the original. That’s indeed the case with X-Men ’97, as the supervising producer and head director of the series, Jake Castorena, wanted to deliver just that.

“I try to keep every facet of the show alive, so it is fresh but familiar, when we’re working in tandem with the visual elements of it all” Castorena explained to GameSpot. “It’s got to be the show you love and remember. It’s got to have that nostalgic feel. But also, it’s got to be relevant for audiences today. The bar for animation is raised continuously everyday. Friends, constituents, peers, and other shows are raising the bar and showing what the animated medium can do. There are a lot of really wonderful things happening in our industry.

“Post-pandemic shed a good light on what animation can do. So we need to stay in tandem and rise with that right. But also, if we go too fancy with too many bells and whistles, or too much polish on certain things, it’s no longer going to feel in tandem with the ’90s [X-Men] show that we love and remember.”

In seeking to keep that nostalgia alive with the revamp of the series, the animation and production team spent a lot of time making the look and feel of the show line up with the original series. From the animation team to the production team, everyone works together to give that vibe of the classic series, albeit with a smoother, HD look.

“At the end of the day, it involves us sitting on a big couch in front of a big TV for hours saying, ‘Next frame cool. Push this. Push that. Let’s sweep this. Okay, next frame good,'” Castorena said. “It fundamentally came down to, early on, what was being filmed at the time between ’96-’98? What were the cinematic techniques? What were the lenses that they were using? What were the editing techniques? How were things staged? It was taking all of that information we’ve had for the last decades and being able to look at it and really dissect what made it what, and then find that common denominator and start from there. It’s the show I love and remember, but it feels relevant and HD, but also not.”

The animation style takes note from the history of creating animation and getting it on TV, which contributes to the feel that there is a ’90s filter over each episode.

“Back in that time of broadcast, no matter what you did on your episode, it all went through a VHS broadcast process,” Castorena said. “So there’s a finite amount of VHS, and whatever that encompasses that’s going to go over your footage. And so knowing those things [about the history of broadcast TV animation] and what were the realistic parameters of that day and age, we’re not just trying to figure it out because it feels old or vintage.”

Part of the team’s process was adding these effects not only to give X-Men ’97 a classic, ’90s animation look, but it was also paying tribute to the way animation used to be done–something that is a lot more complicated than it may seem at first. However, there’s one line for the show that didn’t get crossed: CRT scanlines.

“Yeah, CRT was too far,” he jokingly explained. “But what if we put it on the monitors inside of the world to give it a different texture?”

Whether you’re new to this iteration of the X-Men cartoon or have watched every episode of the series, Castorena wants to make sure that everyone can find the series accessible. Neither group will feel alienated. “For the new fans, the goal is for them to go from our show to the original show. So one creates an avenue for the other, and in order to do that, you need to be a seamless revival to be a spiritual successor.”

In my GameSpot review of X-Men ’97, I said, “X-Men ’97 is what you expect it to be. It’s a fun continuation of a series that was beloved. X-Men ’97 has the exact same problems as the original. It’s chaotic, storylines are wrapped up too quickly, and characters tend to disappear with no explanation. However, the first three episodes of the series prove to be a great start for a show that many people wanted to see return, and it’s a great kickoff, with two of those episodes being the best in the entirety of the series. For those who haven’t read many X-Men comics but love the X-Men, this is exactly what they need.”

The first two episodes of X-Men ’97 are available now on Disney+, with new episodes arriving weekly.

Fortnite Players Can Now Make And Publish Their Own Lego Games

Lego Fortnite started out as just a single survival-crafting mode, but it’s rapidly becoming something much greater this season. Lego and Epic have launched a series of new Lego-themed Fortnite Creative Islands, and they announced at GDC Wednesday that they’re now allowing players to build their own Lego islands in Creative mode and the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). The floodgates are open.

Essentially, this allows Fortnite users to use Lego assets to make their own game experiences within Fortnite–and to make money off them if they’re popular enough. Given the kid-friendly nature of Lego, of course, there are some restrictions. Namely, the islands you make with Lego assets must carry age ratings that are no higher than E10 from the ESRB, or 7 from PEGI. So you can’t put Lego assets into, say, a Red vs. Blue Deathmatch map or any other map that involves gunfights, but the possibilities are pretty open otherwise.

Lego Fortnite Islands apply the Creative mode tools to bricks and minifigs.

Fortunately for aspiring creators, Lego and Epic have published three new Lego islands that were made with UEFN, to go with the two that had already been published, so there are already a few examples of finished projects in this style. These islands are Lego Prop Hunt, where players have to find other players disguised as props; Lego Battle Arena for Ninjago-style dueling; and Lego Cat Island Adventure, where you have to hang out with and do quests for a kitty cat. On top of that, they’re offering four island templates to help kickstart your designs so you don’t have to start from scratch.

These Lego islands will be eligible to earn money for the creators if they’re a part of the Fortnite Island Creator Program–basically, if your island generates a lot of engagement, you can get paid for it. All these changes are live now–you can get cranking on your new Lego Fortnite game mode whenever you feel like it.