Latest news with #VideoGames
Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Marathon' Will Not Be Canceled, It Will Not Pivot
Marathon In the wake of Bungie's announcement that Marathon will be delayed indefinitely, pushed out of its September 23, 2025 release date, a common refrain began that either the game should just be canceled at this point, or it needs to significantly change direction. I'm here to say that neither will happen. Sony will not cancel Marathon, nor will it pivot to some dramatically different type of game. It wil also not abandon its core concepts within the extraction genre it's laid forth. It's too late for Marathon to be cancelled. This is not some previously announced game that has had no updates in years. This is a game that after 5+ years of work did a huge gameplay reveal followed by an extremely public Closed Alpha ahead of a release date that was supposed to be three months from today, almost exactly. Should Marathon have been canceled? That's a different question, but the other consideration here is that Sony paid $3.6 billion for Bungie with the idea that it would get a big new live service IP out in the form of Marathon. So acquiring the company, looking at Marathon, and cutting it would have been a wild decision in that context. Marathon FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder I may eat my words, but in no way do I think Marathon will be cancelled. The indefinite delay will hopefully have an endpoint as Bungie says they will announce the new release date this fall, which logic would dictate would be in early 2026 so it can squeeze out in Sony's 2025 fiscal year as they just promised literally days ago. So fine, Marathon is coming out. But it needs to change significantly right, if not go in a completely new direction? This will also not happen. Again, it's too late. The larger structure of the game is set in stone at this point. Ideas like adding PvE to the game like a campaign or separate mode are not going to happen by launch. Bungie says it will work on enemy AI and how those encounters play out on the map and increase lore to elevate the story, but that's not the same thing. You cannot just add things of a larger scale even with what seems like a long delay. For this kind of game, you're simply never going to see something like a PvE campaign added at all. Even concepts within Marathon itself will not change. Another request is 'just switch to customizable characters' as opposed to set classes of heroes, as that's somewhat antithetical to the extraction genre. Bungie thinks it makes the game stand out, but players mostly view it as a negative. Marathon Bungie already has six heroes in the bag for launch. It did not say that it would add more as a result of this delay, but given that this was mapped out as a live game, many are no doubt in production. There will be endless balancing between classes, but this pivot to classes was made two years ago when Valorant's Joe Ziegler took over, and it is not pivoting back now. It will have to work within that system and make players accept and enjoy it. There are requests that can and will be added. Proximity chat is happening. A solos mode was not explicitly confirmed, but it seems likely. Maybe heroes will get cooler and lore will get more interest and maps more dynamic. But big, sweeping changes are simply not on the table during this delay period, however long it may be. But no, it's not going to get canceled either. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Onimusha: Way of the Sword Is Capcom Sharpening It's Sword
During a hands-off presentation at Summer Games Fest, Onimusha: Way of the Sword quietly emerged as one of the most exciting things on the horizon. Capcom let the game speak for itself. And what it said, loud and clear, is that they're not just reviving Onimusha to ride nostalgia. They're rebuilding it from the hilt up. It's been nearly two decades since Onimusha felt like a pillar of Capcom's portfolio. But with recent remasters and with Way of the Sword on the horizon, the studio is treating the return like an event. This isn't a low-stakes spin-off; this is a full-scale entry with real bite, and a very clear creative vision behind it. It wears its influences proudly, particularly from samurai cinema and modern action design, but it never feels derivative. Set in a stylized version of feudal Kyoto, the game follows Miyamoto Musashi, not the philosophical swordsman of legend, but a younger warrior modeled visually and vocally after Toshiro Mifune, a legendary Japanese actor and producere known for his work in the samurai film genre. That casting choice does a lot of lifting. It grounds the game in a very specific cinematic era. The kind built on black-and-white duels and sharp of course, isn't just slicing up bandits. The supernatural elements are baked in early. He wears the Oni gauntlet on his arm, a cursed artifact that lets him absorb the souls of his enemies. Where most modern action games would streamline this into an auto-pickup system, Way of the Sword makes it an active mechanic. Enemies spill red, blue, and yellow orbs on death. Experience, skills, and health respectively. and Musashi has to manually draw them in. If he doesn't, they fade, or worse, get stolen by other enemies that'll power them up. That twist adds a real-time tension to every skirmish. It's good to see that this mechanic hasn't been lost to the modernization of the series. Combat reaches a new level with the return of the Issen. Veterans of the series know the name well. These are instant-kill counters that trigger on perfect timing and look really cool. Capcom has taken them from a subtle flourish to a centerpiece. Time slows, the camera tightens, and Musashi chains together one-hit kills that feel straight out of a Kurosawa dream sequence. And the best part is how expressive it all feels. We only got a glimpse, but another teased boss, Byakue, looked like a full-on nightmare—a towering, skinless beast covered in talismans and dripping with corruption. The fight was cut short, but the visual alone said enough. This game isn't afraid to get weird, and it knows how to build dread without over-explaining it. The supernatural elements in Way of the Sword extend beyond combat. Musashi can use Oni Visions to reveal hidden paths, phantoms, and clues. In one sequence, he watched a funeral procession turn to ash mid-step, revealing his path. In another vision, he uncovered the moments of a warrior whose soul had been twisted by regret after dispatching members of his village. These Dark Mass fragments add layers of context and melancholy, fleshing out a world that already feels haunted. The structure seems semi-linear from the look of things. You're following a main path, but it looks like there will be optional routes, side objectives, and if its like the previous entries, there should be alternate dialogue options that will offer room to explore. This isn't an open world, and it doesn't want to be. But it's also not a corridor. Instead, it feels like a tightly wound experience with thoughtful room to Way of the Sword is stunning. The art direction is doing the heavy lifting, but the animation work sells the rest. Musashi's stance looks like it shifts subtly depending on the enemy he faces. Even his idle moments feel charged with intent. Enemy design is equally sharp. What's maybe most exciting is how confident this all feels. Capcom isn't second-guessing what Onimusha should be. They've found it again. Not by recreating the past, but by distilling what made it work and making it sing in a new key. It's brutal, beautiful, and unafraid to let silence speak when it matters. There's still plenty we haven't seen. The full scope of the story, the size of the map, how far the mechanics evolve. But if the rest of Way of the Sword keeps this pace, Capcom isn't just reviving a franchise, they're reminding everyone why it mattered in the first place.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘We're all connected – but it's not the connection I imagined': Hideo Kojima on Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima – the acclaimed video game director who helmed the stealth-action Metal Gear series for decades before founding his own company to make Death Stranding, a supernatural post-apocalyptic delivery game this publication described as '2019's most interesting blockbuster' – is still starstruck, or perhaps awestruck. 'George [Miller] is my sensei, my God,' he proclaims gleefully. Kojima is visiting Australia for a sold-out chat with Miller, the creator of the Mad Max film franchise, at the Sydney film festival. The two struck up an unlikely but fierce friendship nearly a decade ago, and Kojima says that, as a teenager, the first two Mad Max films inspired him to become a movie director and thus, eventually, a video game maker. At the panel later, Miller is equally effusive, calling Kojima 'almost my brother'; the Australian even lent his appearance to a major character in Kojima's latest game, Death Stranding 2. It's actually because of Miller that much of this latest game is set in a heavily fictionalised version of Australia, Kojima jokes. Death Stranding, a game about slogging through vast, treacherous yet gorgeous environments to deliver parcels between isolated bunkers, is particularly suited to Australia's diverse and varied biosphere; the game's geography may be condensed and fantastical, but the beauty and the terror remains. In addition to sweeping, moody outback landscapes, DS2 also has some of the most vividly detailed (or at least expensive) depictions of Australian wildlife in all of gaming. Spotting the distinctive hopping gait of a kangaroo on a sun-drenched horizon was, for this decidedly urban Australian, an oddly moving sight. 'I love animals, and they're unique here,' says Kojima, who passed on catching some early morning festival screenings to go to the zoo instead. 'A lot of people [on the team] love animals … They might say no to designing a new mech, but they wanted to make more animals.' Film buff Kojima drops a few Australian cinematic references too – he likes the 1971 flick Walkabout, and admits DS2's subtitle, On the Beach, is a reference to the classic Melbourne-based post-apocalyptic movie of the same name ('I love the original novel') – but his real reasoning behind the location choice was simple: 'I wanted to go to Australia.' Though he's visited before, he wanted to go deeper in, 'to the middle of the land, the desert'. But because of the pandemic, Kojima's team was forced to use remote location scouts to gather data; being unable to be there in person was very disappointing, he says. 'It's totally different from looking at a picture, when you're feeling it, on location.' Remote work, during the pandemic and beyond, has been a sticking point for the game. 'The hardest thing was the performance capture,' he says. Directing cast members such as Norman Reedus or Léa Seydoux remotely from Japan was the 'worst experience', his direction 'almost impossible to relay' from the other side of a Zoom call. With restrictions in place during the early parts of development, the team tried to focus on scenes that didn't utilise the main actors early on, but it wasn't always possible. 'And for the new cast especially, it was quite difficult,' he says, 'Because I wanted to explain: this is the character, this is how I want you to act – but it was all remote!' The situation eased by 2022, he says, allowing him to fly to LA and direct in person – to build a better rapport with his cast and get them more used to the nuances of acting for games. 'People who have done Marvel movies, they've experienced performance capture, with the green backgrounds,' he says. (In most cinematic games, real-world acting is translated to the digital realm through motion capture technology – which can be jarring to actors used to sets and costumes.) 'We actually have a tool: if you look at the monitor, you can see the [in-game] world displayed in real time.' Kojima says he tries to keep actors performing together as much as possible, though there are always exceptions where they had to record separately, especially during Covid. And then there were problems specific to games, such as the need for multiple takes on a character's grunts of pain or repeatable in-game actions like eating an apple. 'Sometimes we'd get questions from Norman, and I'd say, 'Eat the apple and it's good', or 'Eat the apple and it's not good' – we want those differences! Over and over, we had to ask for those kinds of things.' Death Stranding made 'connections' its thesis statement; players never see one another in-game, yet can pool resources and build structures to benefit themselves and others, creating intricate networks of services to make the long drudgery of delivery easier for everyone. So why is the sequel's tagline the ominous question: 'Should we have connected?' 'I became sick during the pandemic, and I was totally isolated,' Kojima says. Compounding that, optical muscle damage from a recent eye surgery meant that he couldn't even watch movies or TV. The world shifted around him: everyone was bunkering down, working online, communicating through video calls as delivery people kept the world running. His game, his vision, had come true. 'It seemed like, yes, we're all connected. But it's not really the connection that I imagined,' he says. His company, Kojima Productions, was staffing up; he would meet new hires in person on their first day and then, due to pandemic restrictions, not see them again for the next three years. Having spoken recently about legacy (news of a USB drive 'full of ideas' he had supposedly prepared to leave behind took on a life of its own, he laughs), Kojima believes in-person collaboration remains the best way to foster new talent. 'The reason why [new hires] want to work with us is they want to learn from mentors, or become better by working with other people,' he says. 'But if you're purely online … it's almost like outsourcing. You want to talk and see what other people are doing, so you can expand yourself, you can grow.' Remote work is 'almost like a fast food chain; you're just concentrating on one thing instead of the whole project,' he says: in a collaborative industry like game-making, it introduces inefficiencies. With people siloed off, there's no back-and-forth, he says; people discover their mistakes later and there's less room for happy coincidences, spur-of-the-moment suggestions or alternate viewpoints. Aside from that, he adds, you don't get to know your team members, see how people are feeling or ask them about their hobbies. 'Only 1% of yourself is on show during [online] meetings,' he says. 'This is not like building a team. Think about football. You hire someone, he comes to your squad – but you can't play together remotely. So that person doesn't change the way they played before; they won't fit in,' he says. Still, 'you can't force people back to the office, you can only persuade them,' he says. 'So not everyone came back. But the main members did, so we could work together.' Despite this slightly dour tone, Kojima seemingly remains hopeful. Death Stranding is a deeply lonely game, he says animatedly during a later group presentation. 'But … you find other players all over the world. You're indirectly connected … And once you turn that [game] off and go outside … you see structures in real life, like the bridge here in Sydney. Someone made that! They might have passed away years ago, but you're connected to them. Even if you haven't met the person. You are not alone in this world.' And there's always new horizons. Kojima has a long-held dream of visiting outer space – not a mere billionaire's suborbital hop, but something more. 'That's not space,' he says, firmly. 'I want to train properly, learn how to do the docking, go to the International Space Station and stay there for a few months … I'm not a scientist, but I could probably make games in space. I want to be the first. There are a lot of astronauts over 60, so I guess it's possible.' There's no gravity in space to irritate his bad back, after all, he jokes. As we wrap up, he pauses for a moment, thinking, and adds one last ambition: he wants to be put in a situation, he says, where he risks his life something that would give him a feeling of really being alive. 'It's 'Tom Cruise disease',' Kojima elaborates. 'Tom Cruise finds out his worth when living with his life on the line.' Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is out on 26 June on PlayStation 5.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'One thing I hope Lana Del Rey doesn't repeat on her UK tour'
The Video Games singer is touring the UK and Ireland in June and July - and tickets are still available Like most Lana girlies, I've been hooked since Video Games first dropped and introduced the world to her hazy, melancholic magic. Since then, her silky vocals and signature sad-girl glamour have only gotten better - richer, bolder and more cinematic. I was lucky enough to see her live at Glastonbury 2023, and even though the night ended in (literal) silence when she didn't finish her set in time for the strict noise curfew, it was one of the most talked-about performances at the festival. Now, with Lana heading out on a UK and Ireland tour across June and July, I'm reliving that moment and getting hyped for what's to come - and what I'm hoping she leaves behind. However, if you missed out on securing tickets, don't fret. Official and resale tickets remain available, and while they may come with a higher price tag, they're worth every penny. Here are my top reasons why Lana Del Rey is a must-see - and how you can snag last-minute tickets to the tour. The setlist At Glastonbury, the setlist was gold. Lana floated between cult classics like Born to Die, Ride and Young and Beautiful to newer hits like Norman ***king Rockwell and Candy Necklace. If her upcoming shows follow the same trajectory, we're in for a treat. And who knows, maybe she'll bring out a special guest or two - if Taylor Swift can do it, Lana can. My dream guest would be A$AP Rocky, a frequent collaborator of Lana's, having performed on the unreleased track Ridin' and starred in her National Anthem music video. The aesthetics Lana's stage presence is something else. Her ultra-stylised, ethereal aesthetic comes to life with dancers who look like they've stepped out of a noir ballet, vintage-style visuals and flowing costumes that blur the line between the California dream and old Hollywood heartbreak. At Glastonbury, the production was packed with dreamy/surreal Lana vibes, so I'm crossing my fingers for more of the same. Lana actually being in the UK Of course, part of the thrill is that Lana doesn't tour often - especially in the UK. These upcoming dates (her first UK and Ireland stadium tour) feel like a rare chance to see her in the flesh before she retreats to the Hollywood hills or wherever she writes her moody magic. So, if you're thinking about going, now's the time to grab those last-minute tickets. ....and Lana being on time Look - I adore Lana. But showing up 30 minutes late to Glastonbury wasn't exactly the move, and it meant we lost what could've been the most epic finale. According to the BBC, the star had at least six songs left to play when she was cut off, including some of her biggest hits, such as Summertime Sadness. Saying that, her final singalong of Video Games with the crowd, mic or no mic, was a moment of pure Lana lore. So, yes, I'm manifesting promptness - but I'm also kinda hoping for another moment that turns into internet gold. How to buy Lana Del Rey tickets now viagogo and resale tickets Sites such as viagogo, Stubhub, and Vivid Seats allow fans to buy resale tickets from other fans. However, it is important to note that ticket conditions often prohibit resale after initial purchase. Those tickets may not be valid for admittance to gigs. Fans intending to buy tickets for live events through resale websites should check the ticket terms and conditions, to confirm whether resale is prohibited, before they buy. Ticket terms and conditions can be checked with the original seller, such as Ticketmaster or Live Nation. If resale is prohibited, tickets bought second-hand could be voided and admission to the event refused. Lana Del Rey tickets are available through several online retailers, such as resale platforms including viagogo , Vivid Seats , and StubHub. These websites offer fans the opportunity to purchase tickets at their convenience, without the hassle of virtual queues or surge pricing. They also give fans the chance to pick their ideal seats along the way, as well. While resale sites are an option, there are still official, first-hand tickets available for Lana Del Rey's shows, primarily via Seat Unique. The online platform offers fans the chance to purchase tickets for music and sports events, with a host of added perks included, as well. These could include anything from free food and beverages, access to after-parties, early entry, goodie bags, and much more. Here's the link that fans need: SEAT UNIQUE - Buy Lana Del Rey tickets here Lana Del Rey UK & Ireland Summer Tour 2025 23 June 2025 - Principality Stadium, Cardiff 26 June 2025 - Hampden Park, Glasgow 28 June 2025 - Anfield Stadium, Liverpool 30 June 2025 - Aviva Stadium, Dublin 03 July 2025 - Wembley Stadium, London 04 July 2025 - Wembley Stadium, London
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Overwatch 2's New Mythic Weapon Will Be Available When Season 17 Goes Live
Mythic skin in Overwatch 2. There's going to be something brand new in terms of Overwatch 2 skins when Season 17 goes live on June 24. For the first time, the latest Mythic weapon skin will be available right when the season starts. That means you won't have to wait until the midseason patch as usual for the new Mythic weapon to drop. We already knew a bit about the Mythic skin that will be available in Season 17. But there will also be a new Reaper Mythic weapon to unlock too. Let's take a peek at both of these Mythics that are coming to Overwatch 2 in Season 17. Mythic skin is called Horang. It's all about "channeling the spirit of the Siberian tiger." The customization options pay tribute to "the timeless tale of Sister Sun and Brother Moon," Blizzard said. As ever, it costs 80 Mythic Shards to fully unlock the Mythic skin. You'll be able to unlock it in four stages, and here's how Blizzard describes those: Want another look at Mythic skin? Of course you do. Here you go: Mythic skin in Overwatch 2. As for the Reaper Mythic weapon, it's called Steel Death. I love it already. Blizzard says this version of the Hellfire Shotguns have "sharp edges forged in soulfire and destruction echoing the cold inevitability of his wrath." Cool. Here's how the studio describes the four levels of Reaper's Mythic weapon skin: The Mythic weapon looks pretty sick, I have to admit, even if it is – like Reaper himself – a bit edgelordy. Here's what the weapon looks like, along with an utterly rad-looking kill effect: Reaper's Mythic weapon skin in Overwatch 2. The kill effect for Reaper's Mythic weapon skin in Overwatch 2. Look, I'm not very good with Reaper. I am unlikely to ever play him much in Quick Play, Comp or Stadium. But Mystery Heroes is where I live most of the time and this Mythic weapon looks rad as heck, so I am probably going to pick it up as soon as possible. As for the Mythic, that's cool too. In recent seasons, I've been prioritizing Mythic weapons over Mythic skins, largely because you can actually see the former on screen almost all the time. That's changed a bit with the advent of Stadium and its third-person mode. And, since is one of my faves and I have some Mythic shards to spare, I might snap up Mythic skin too. There's a lot more coming in Season 17 of Overwatch 2, so check out my blog for more of what we know so far. Follow my blog for coverage of video games (including Overwatch 2) and word games. It helps me out a lot! Follow me on Bluesky too! It's fun there. And make sure to subscribe to my newsletter, Pastimes!
