Fortnite Adds A First-Person Mode Later This Year

The Dark Knight returns to TV screens later this year, and you’ll want to prepare yourself because things are about to get weird. Batman: Caped Crusader premieres August 1 on Prime Video–it was originally as an HBO Max series in 2021 before it was passed over–and will see Batman fighting crime in a ’40s-set period of Gotham. With Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Bruce Timm serving as executive producer, this series is aiming to be a different take on Batman.

Compared to the 1992-95 animated series, there won’t be computers or other high-tech gear for Batman to rely on, as he’ll be limited by the technology of the period. “We decided to really lean into that in terms of the clothes, the cars, the architecture, and the level of technology,” Timm said to Entertainment Weekly. “Early on, we decided there would be no computers and no cell phones. That changed everything.”

Also different is Batman’s psychology, as Timm described him as being a “really weird human being” who is Batman 24/7. While other Batman media has explored the duality of Batman and Bruce Wayne, Caped Crusader will instead portray the character as Batman inside and out. The Bruce Wayne who appears in public is Batman’s real mask, a persona where he pretends to be someone that he isn’t. And when Batman does hit the streets, expect a more mysterious incarnation of the Gotham vigilante that hasn’t been seen on TV before.

“The idea was to keep him so removed that no one knows who he is, and no one knows what he’s about,” character designer James Tucker added. “We try to wipe out the foregone conclusion that he’s a hero, whether it’s for the police, regular citizens of Gotham, or the viewers.”

Batman will square off against some familiar enemies, but they’ll also be inspired by the original Bob Kane and Bill Finger comics. Catwoman is once again dressed to kill with her costume, while Clayface is a nod to classic horror movies with his design. Caped Crusader will also see a radically different version of Harley Quinn, one who isn’t defined by her relationship with the Joker and is now an Asian American person. A Gotham City psychiatrist by day and a jester-themed supervillain at night, Harley Quinn has weaponized her psychiatric skills and is the inverse of the character’s usual portrayal in film and TV.

Her daytime persona is more whimsical and fun according to Timm–who co-created her alongside Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series–but at night she’s described as scary and more serious.

Fallout 76‘s upcoming Skyline Valley update will include a new vault run entirely by ghouls. The announcement was made via a sneak peek video uploaded to Bethesda’s Twitter account, in which creative director John Rush gave players a closer look at what kind of content they can expect to see when the update goes live, giving the updated map a stormy new skybox.

“Following the storm to its epicenter, you’ll find the mysterious Vault 63. Inhabited by ghouls, this vault is led by Hugo Stoltz, an overseer with a particularly charged personality,” Rush said in the video. “He’s a friendly example of a new, electrified ghoul type we call The Lost. The Lost dwell in their own skewed reality, unable to communicate outside to others, and will defend themselves against any and all outsiders.”

The preview trailer shows the player-character interacting peacefully with Hugo and observing some of the other peaceful ghouls within Vault 63 before stepping outside and being attacked by a horde of The Lost, each of whom dons a Vault 63 jumpsuit and appears to be crackling with electricity.

“For reasons you’ll need to uncover for yourself, Hugo is an outlier, and will be a key character to befriend–or betray–as you learn more about his circumstances,” Rush explained.

The update also includes new enemies called Storm Goliaths–or “a trio of supersized robo-brains,” as Rush calls them–which were created by “the great minds of Vault 63.” These heavily armored enemies appear to pack quite a punch.

The Skyline Valley region of the map will also include a unique public event called Dangerous Pastimes. Players are recommended to hit level 50 before partaking, and the on-screen event description simply reads, “Some settlers need help with their thrill-seeking activities.”

The event itself takes advantage of the newly expanded map and stormy skies of Fallout 76, challenging players to take on the role of a storm chaser and power up a giant lightning rod to “kick off an electrical light show.”

“Expanding the map allows us to continue evolving Appalachia, providing new content for all players to enjoy, regardless of level or experience in the game,” Rush said of the update’s new explorable areas. Fallout 76’s skyline Valley update is set to arrive sometime in June.

The first season of Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout series is available to stream now, and it looks like Season 2 could take things to New Vegas.

Actor Orlando Bloom has said he didn’t want to be in the 2004 movie Troy, in which he played the role of one of the main characters, Paris. Speaking to Variety, Bloom said many people love the film– which also stars Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Brendan Gleeson, Peter O’Toole, and Diane Kruger–but he doesn’t have fond memories of making it.

“For me playing that character was just like [slits throat]. Am I allowed to say all of these things? I didn’t want to do the movie. I didn’t want to play this character,” he said.

Bloom said the movie was great, but he didn’t understand how he was supposed to play his character. “It was completely against everything I felt in my being. At one point it says Paris crawls along the floor having been beaten by somebody and holds his brother’s leg. I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this.’ One of my agents at the time said, ‘But that’s the moment that will make it!’ And I completely fell for that line of an agent.”

The scene he’s referring to is when Paris fights Menelaus (Gleeson) for Helen of Troy’s (Kruger) hand. Paris is badly beaten and wounded, so he crawls back to his brother Hector (Bana), who kills Menelaus. This act kicks off the Trojan War.

Bloom made Troy during one of his most successful early acting periods, having just come off his starring role as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and as Will Turner in the first Pirates of Caribbean movie.

The latest inductees to the Strong Museum’s Video Game Hall of Fame have been revealed, as groundbreaking mystery, controversial (at the time) survival-horror, and retro classics are being honored. Asteroids, Myst, SimCity, Ultima, and Resident Evil have been recognized for their cultural impact, and join other landmark games like Barbie Fashion Designer, The Last of Us, and Wii Sports in the museum.

Nominees that didn’t make it into the Hall of Fame this year included several iconic games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Metroid.

For the winners, the Strong Museum made a strong case as to why they were picked over the other nominees. Asteroids’ unique combination of challenging gameplay and audio-visual design earned it a spot in the Hall of Fame, while the immersive design of Myst coupled with its use of new technologies helped secure it a place in the history books.

SimCity succeeded thanks to its intuitive design that made urban development exciting, while Resident Evil popularizing the genre of survival-horror with its gruesome gameplay helped it stand apart from the other nominees.

Finally, Ultima was chosen for this year’s Hall of Fame for its role in defining the role-playing game genre and for inspiring a generation of future video game developers. The selected games will now be put on display at the Strong Museum, which is based in Rochester, New York. If you want to see all the games currently honored in the museum, you can check out GameSpot’s feature on every game in the Video Game Hall of Fame.

Warner Bros. Discovery has once again commented on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s financial performance, which came in below expectations. CEO David Zaslav said during a briefing, as reported by VGC, that the poor performance of Kill the Justice League brought down the company’s entire Studios division, which encompasses not just games but also the film and TV divisions.

Zaslav said Kill the Justice League had a “disappointing” release, going on to note that this latest quarter was always going to be a tough one due to comparisons to last year. That’s because Hogwarts Legacy was released in February 2023 and went on to put up massive sales numbers. In fact, Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling game overall in the US for the entirety of 2023, beating out even Call of Duty: MW3.

Now Playing: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League | Season 1 – Meet the Joker Trailer