House Of The Dragon Cast Takes Sides In New Video
House of the Dragon Season 2 is still a few months away, but the unfolding Targaryen civil war for control of the seven kingdoms of Westeros has already begun. There can only one king or queen on the Iron Throne. Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is the rightful heir, and her followers are known as the Blacks. However, Rhaenyra’s half-brother, King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) is the usurper who sits on the throne with his followers, the Greens, behind him. And now, in HBO’s new featurette, the House of the Dragon cast is declaring for either Team Black or Team Green.
“We have madness on our side,” explains D’Arcy. “And we have a powerful naval presence, thanks to the Velaryon fleet.” Olivia Cooke, who plays Rhaenyra’s former friend-turned-rival, Alicent Hightower, had a succinct reply to D’Arcy’s declaration: “We have bigger dragons.”
Unsurprisingly, almost all of the cast members sided with the team aligned with their characters. The only actor who displayed any ambiguity was Fabien Frankel, who plays Rhaenyra’s former protector, Ser Criston Col, who shifted his allegiance to Alicent years ago.
“I think it’s more a loyalty thing for Cole,” said Frankel. “I think it’s his loyalty to Alicent. He wants what she wants. I myself… No comment.”
House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere on Sunday, June 16. The second season will consist of eight episodes that will premiere weekly on HBO and Max.
Asus Customizable Xbox Controller Drops To Lowest Price Yet At Amazon
The ROG Raikiri and Raikiri Pro Xbox controllers from Asus are discounted for a limited time at Amazon. The deal drops the price for the wireless ROG Raikiri Pro model to just $110 (was $150), and the standard ROG Raikiri controller down to $80 (normally $100), saving you a good chunk on two of the most feature-packed third-party gamepads out there.
While both ROG Raikiri controllers feature numerous high-end features, the big draw is the built-in digital-to-analog converter (DAC), which enhances audio while listening to a wired headset or pair of headphones plugged into the 3.5mm port. They also feature remappable rear buttons–two on the Raikiri, four on the Raikiri Pro–and customizable settings like trigger and joystick sensitivity, and button remapping, all of which is accessible in the ROG Armoury Crate desktop app.
From there, the rest of the features differ slightly between the two models. The Raikiri Pro has a built-in OLED display you can use to modify some of the controller’s onboard settings rather than the Armoury Create app. It also offers three connection modes: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, or wired USB-C. On the other hand, the standard Raikiri ditches the OLED screen and wireless connectivity for a wired design that connects via the included USB cable, and also has customizable RGB lighting. Both controllers support Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows.
We’re not sure how long the ROG Raikiri discounts will be available, so be sure to grab them while they’re on sale at Amazon if you’re if you’re interested in either controller.
If you’re looking for more Xbox controller recommendations, be sure to check our list of the best controllers available for Xbox Series X|S in 2024.
The Best PS5 Headset In 2024
Specs:
- Battery life: 12+ hours (per swappable battery pack)
- Connectivity: 2.4Ghz wireless; Bluetooth 5.1
- Spatial audio: Yes (Windows Sonic, PS5 3D Aduio, Dolby Atmos, DTS Headphone: X)
- Noise-canceling: Active noise canceling
- Mic style: Removable noise-canceling boom, plus integrated mics
- Supported Devices: PS5, PS4, Windows PCs, Mac, Nintendo Switch, mobile
While the SteelSeries Nova Pro is our pick for the best high-end PS5 headset, Turtle Beach’s Stealth Pro puts up strong enough competition to warrant it a spot on this list as our runner-up for the category.
The Stealth Pro’s features are largely comparable to the Nova Pro’s, including a digital audio converter (DAC) that enhances audio quality from its 50mm Nanoclear drivers. However, unlike the SteelSeries’ external DAC module, the Stealth Pro’s in integrated into the headset itself, making it a simpler setup. Of course, that makes it a bulkier model, but it’s still a sleek-looking headset overall.
Along with the built-in DAC, the Stealth Pro features multiple mics, including the removable noise-canceling boom on the left earcup, and multiple concealed mics for additional voice capture. The headset supports multiple spatial audio formats including PS5 3D audio, Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos, and DTS Headphone: X. It connects to the PS5 or PC via 2.4Ghz wireless, and also supports Bluetooth 5.1 connections to various other devices. And yes, you can listen to audio from two devices at the same time.
To boost audio performance even more, you can pair the headset with the Turtle Beach Mobile app to adjust the Stealth Pro’s EQ settings to your preferences. The headset also includes an active noise-canceling mode, which is great for blocking out external sound to heighten immersion
The Stealth Pro’s battery life is one area that could give potential customers a reason to worry. At 12 hours, it’s not bad, but plenty of other headsets easily double that. Luckily, that’s not the full story. Rather than use built-in batteries, the Stealth Pro features two removable, rechargeable battery packs. Both last 12 hours, so you can get up to 24 hours from both on a single charge. The packs can recharge three hours of battery in 15 minutes, so as long as you keep one charged up and swap when needed, you theoretically could get endless use out of this headset.
Like the Nova Pro, the Stealth Pro has PlayStation- and Xbox-specific models. The PlayStation model works with everything except Xbox consoles, and supports PlayStation’s 3D audio. Conversely, the Xbox edition works with everything, including PlayStation, but does not support spatial audio. For that reason, we’re giving the PlayStation model our recommendation, but both are identical otherwise. Both models come with a 2.4Ghz USB dongle, charging station, USB-C cable, and a cloth carrying pouch.
LittleBigPlanet 3 Servers Are Down Indefinitely, Online Player Creation Access Unavailable
Sony has revealed that it has shut down the online servers for LittleBigPlanet 3 indefinitely on PlayStation 4. They were temporarily taken offline back in January due to a number of reported issues.
On Sony’s support page for decommissioned servers, Sony said that this decision was due to ongoing technical problems. As a result, all online services, including access to other players’ creations for LittleBigPlanet 3, are no longer available.
User generated content stored locally on your PS4 and offline features such as the campaign will still be accessible. The servers for the PS3 version of LittleBigPlanet 3 were taken offline permanently in 2021 because of DDOS attacks. However, the PS4 servers remained online, but now that’s not the case.
LittleBigPlanet 3 was released in November 2014 for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. In GameSpot’s LittleBigPlanet 3 review, we said, “LittleBigPlanet 3 is the most difficult game in the series by virtue of its challenges. More complicated problems mean more tools to solve them, giving you a wide berth to choose your own path through Bunkum.”
Diablo TV Show Is A Great Idea, Blizzard Boss Says
Diablo GM Rod Fergusson has said a Diablo TV series could work, in part because its story is one of good versus evil, and that’s something many people can relate to and understand.
Speaking to Windows Central, Fergusson said, “Yeah, I definitely think it could work.”
He added: “That’s one of the things I really liked about Diablo as an IP, is that it’s got very relatable themes because it’s The High Heavens versus The Burning Hells, and that idea of Good versus Evil. I think that’s something that could translate very well to something like that.”
Fergusson said he had nothing to announce, but he believes Diablo is ripe for a TV adaptation. He went on to cite the Cyberpunk animated series, Edgerunners, as an example of a video game that was successfully translated to TV. “There’s been a lot of great shows recently,” he said.
He didn’t single them out, but some recent examples of video games getting spun into TV series include The Last of Us, Halo, Twisted Metal, and Fallout most recently. Looking ahead, Sony’s God of War and Horizon franchises are being adapted for TV.
While there is no word yet on if Diablo could become a TV series, Blizzard’s Warcraft series was adapted into a film from Duncan Jones. The movie is among the highest-grossing video game films of all time, but it didn’t perform well in the US, and it never got a sequel.
Alex Garland’s Civil War Is Getting An Amazon-Exclusive 4K Blu-Ray Edition
Alex Garland’s Civil War just hit theaters on April 12, but preorders are already open for the 4K UHD version of the film. In fact, two different versions are up for grabs–an Amazon-exclusive version and a standard version, each with unique artwork. We’re still waiting for an official release date, but we can’t imagine it’ll launch for several months.
$35-$42
The Amazon exclusive version of Civil War includes both a 4K UHD copy and Blu-ray copy, as well as a digital version of the film. Unfortunately, that’s everything we know for now, as no details about special features or whether a steelbook is included have been revealed (though it certainly looks like it’s packaged in a steelbook). It does, however, come with exclusive cover art depicting a close-up shot of the Statue of Liberty. Expect to learn more in the coming weeks.
If you’re not a fan of the cover art on the Amazon-exclusive edition, the Civil War standard edition is also available to preorder. It’s actually more expensive at the moment ($42), but it includes the same formats: 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and digital. Its cover art is a sprawling shot of New York Harbor.
Civil War is the latest film from Alex Garland, whose previous work includes Annihilation, Ex Machina, and 28 Days Later. It takes place in a future, dystopian version of America, where civil war has erupted across the nation as four different factions vie for control of the land. Its cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman.
Our Civil War review gave the film a 9/10, praising it for its chaotic storytelling and a standout performance from Dunst.
“Civil War will work best as an experiential thing, like an atrocity-filled theme park ride that’s a bit more dense than your average Purge flick while still hitting some of the same sweet spots that those movies did,” wrote critic Phil Owen. “It’s so effective as an experience that I was able to brush off a climactic contrivance that would have seriously annoyed me in any other movie. And I can’t help but love a movie that pulls me in that hard. At least for now.”
Ready Or Not Developer Confirms It Was Hacked, Source Code Stolen
Void Interactive, the developer behind the tactical first-person shooter game, Ready or Not, has confirmed that it was hacked. Fortunately, no player data or staff data was stolen.
In a statement to Kotaku, the developer blamed the hack on “critical vulnerabilities” that were discovered in TeamCity’s cloud services for build management. No sensitive information was leaked and the hackers were only able to get away with “some” source code and screenshots of its upcoming projects.
According to Insider Gaming, the hack reportedly happened in March, prior to the studio publicly revealing it, and the perpetrators made off with 4TB of data. The data was reportedly stolen in March, and apparently contained Ready or Not builds for PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
Ready or Not was released into Early Access in December 2021 and launched into 1.0 in December 2023. Its original publisher, Team17, dropped the game after it gained controversy for promising a school shooting mission. Its Steam page indicates that Void Interactive moved forward with self-publishing after losing Team17’s support.
Ready or Not has garnered mostly positive reviews, sitting at a 79% on Metacritic. However, the game has gotten some criticism lately for the 1.0 version’s gameplay changes and bugs.