Universal Reveals Epic Universe’s How To Train Your Dragon Land
Although Universal Orlando already has three theme parks in the resort, the fourth park, Epic Universe, has grand plans for the future including lands built around Universal’s Dark Universe, Super Nintendo World, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. Today, Universal Orlando shared the first look at the fourth major land in Epic Universe: How To Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk.
Set between the second and third movies in the How to Train Your Dragon series, Isle of Berk will be an immersive experience that allows visitors to go through Viking Training Camp and even lets fans meet and greet Hiccup and his iconic dragon, Toothless.
Universal’s announcement video included an early look at several of the attractions in Isle of Berk, including the family coaster, Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, and Dragon Racer’s Rally, which puts guests in control of how fast they’re going to spin and how long they’re going to be upside down.
Additionally, there is a water-based attraction called Fyre Drill, in which guests will ride in boats armed with water cannons to practice putting out fires. Beyond the rides, perhaps the most intriguing addition is the live-action stage show, The Untrainable Dragon, which is being adapted from a similar play that originated at Universal Beijing Resort. The Untrainable Dragon will feature the characters from the films and elaborate fire-breathing dragons on stage.
Universal Orlando hasn’t set a specific date for Epic Universe yet, but the new theme park is expected to open in 2025.
Disney Villainous Board Games Are Up To 50% Off – Star Wars, Marvel, And More
What started as a single board game that lets you take control of iconic Disney villains, Villainous now has multiple expansions and spin-offs. From Star Wars and Marvel to Toy Story and the Incredibles, a lot of high-profile bad guys from popular franchises have found their way into this board game universe. If you haven’t checked it out, now is a good time to finally pull the trigger–a bunch of Villainous games are on sale at Amazon, some of which are seeing a nice 50% discount.
The best deal is for Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side, as it’s listed for $20 (down from $40). It includes everything you need to start playing Villainous, allowing you to jump into the shoes of Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, and Moff Gideon. The game also comes with five sculpted villain pieces, over 200 illustrated cards, and all the other tokens and trackers you need to effectively play the game.
For more Star Wars fun, you’ll find the Scum and Villainy set discounted to $25 (down from $30). Ravensburger bills this as an “expandalone” pack, as it works with other Star Wars Villainous games or can be played on its own with the need for other packs.
Villainous games typically support up to four players and run for less than an hour, making them a great option for family game nights.
Aside from Star Wars, you’ll find a nice variety of other Villainous games on sale that let you play as Thanos, Ultron, Doctor Octopus, Venom, Gaston, Syndrome, and several other iconic faces. You’ll find all the best Villainous deals below.
Best Villainous Deals
Nintendo Switch Joy-Con And Pro Controllers Get Rare Discounts At Walmart
First-party Nintendo Switch controllers aren’t cheap, and they don’t commonly receive meaningful discounts. The Switch Pro Controller clocks in at $70 and a pair of Joy-Con are more expensive at $80. Things are a bit better today, however, as several great Switch controllers are discounted at Walmart, including a nice $10 discount on the Switch Pro Controller and a massive $16 discount (very rare) on the Pastel Purple/Green and Pastel Pink/Yellow controllers.
Best Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controller deals
Before going any further, it’s worth noting that these products are being sold by third-party retailers via the Walmart website. The orders are fulfilled by Walmart and all of the sellers have high ratings–one of the main sellers is rated by Walmart as a “Pro Seller,” which indicates they have a history of selling quality gear and creating an overall positive shopping experience. Since they are fulfilled by Walmart, they also come with a free 30-day return policy–which should give you peace of mind.
Nabbing a Switch Pro Controller for $60 is a pretty great deal, as it rarely drops below its standard $70 price tag. With motion controls, HD rumble, amiibo support, and a great ergonomic design, it’s ideal for pretty much every game in the Switch library. For a Switch Pro Controller alternative, be sure to check out the 8BitDo Pro 2, which is also on sale right now for $40.
If you need a new set of Joy-Con, the Pastel Purple + Pastel Green and Pastel Pink + Pastel Yellow pairings are on sale for $64 each (down from $80). Additionally, you can pick between three different neon Joy-Con models for $67 each, including Neon Purple + Neon Orange, Neon Blue + Neon Yellow, and Neon Green + Neon Pink.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review Roundup–Here’s What The Critics Think
Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire arrives in theaters on March 29, and reviews for the monster brawl film have begun to appear online. We’re rounding up review excerpts below to help you get an idea for if the film is worth your time and money.
GameSpot gave the film an 8/10 in our review. Reviewer Phil Owen wrote, “Godzilla x Kong is instead just a sleek and very well made action movie with a coherent story that wraps itself up well before you’ll get the chance to be tired of it, and yet never feels like it had half its plot removed the way most Marvel movies do in recent years.”
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is directed by Adam Wingard, who had directed the previous installment Godzilla vs Kong. The film stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, and Rachel House.
You can see a sampling of review scores and excerpts below and more critical consensus here at GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
- Directed by: Adam Wingard
- Written by: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, Jeremy Slater
- Starring: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, Rachel House
- Release Date: March 29
GameSpot — 8/10
“Just as it was last time with Godzilla vs. Kong, director Adam Wingard has delivered a rather lore-heavy movie with a running time under two hours, which is pretty unusual in the current landscape of blockbusters that frequently last more than 150 minutes, like the recent Dune Part Two. Wingard seems to have a knack for streamlining his movies down to their essential story beats while still keeping them coherent.” — Phil Owen [Full review]
RogerEbert.com — 2.5/5
“If you love the ‘what the hell, let’s try it’ sensibility that the Legendary Pictures monster franchise has embraced thus far, you’ll still find plenty here to enjoy. But it shouldn’t have been necessary to go looking for it.” — Matt Zoller Seitz [Full review]
Variety — No Score
“The director, Adam Wingard (who made Godzilla vs. Kong), knows how to choreograph a beastie battle so that it does maximum damage in a way that appeals to your inner toy-smashing seven-year-old. In an early sequence where Godzilla ravages Rome (before curling up and going to sleep in the Colosseum), I actually winced at the image of all those gorgeous old buildings–all that history– reduced to rubble.” — Owen Gleiberman [Full review]
Chicago Sun-Times — 2/4
“Godzilla x King Kong: The New Empire is the definition of an old-fashioned (with new technology) popcorn movie and there’s certainly no harm in that, but at the end of the day, it feels like the stakes have never been more medium.” — Richard Roeper [Full review]
Washington Post — No Score
“Wingard’s not a sentimentalist, and Godzilla x Kong stumbles whenever he tries to slap phony emotions onto the film to make it more like a generic crowd-pleaser.” — Amy Nicholson [Full review]
IGN — 6/10
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire serves up a berserk dreamscape with plenty of payoff to please the Monsterverse faithful. Shame about the human stuff, though.” — D. Hood [Full review]
The Hollywood Reporter — No Score
“Director Adam Wingard (reuniting with Stevens after the terrific 2014 thriller The Guest) orchestrates the monster madness with impressive visual flair even if he relies on an excessive number of ‘80s-era pop song needle drops to make things seem more exciting than they actually are.” — Frank Scheck [Full review]
Predator: Hunting Grounds Is Being Resurrected For PS5 And Xbox With New Content
IllFonic, the new publisher of Predator: Hunting Grounds, has announced that the 1v4 asymmetrical multiplayer game will be coming to the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The publisher has also announced a year-long road map, which includes new playable predators.
The first update players can expect is the 2.49 patch, which will be released sometime in April. This update will focus on quality-of-life fixes, including balance changes, player movement, and more. Later in the year, Predator: Hunting Grounds will be ported to modern consoles. Both a standard and digital deluxe edition of the game will be offered, although there was no word on what will be included in the latter.
Sometime this winter, new predators will be released, with more to follow in Spring 2025. No specifics about the new predators were shared or what other new content is on the way.
Predator: Hunting Grounds was initially released in 2020 for PlayStation 4 and PC. As the name suggests, one person plays as the Predator hunting humans, while four others play as soldiers, completing various tasks in the jungle. For those unaware when the game was originally released Sony was the publisher at the time. But now IllFonic is both the publisher and developer for Predator: Hunting Grounds.
Open Roads Review – Quick Trip
I once read in a very profound article published in a very prestigious magazine (okay, it was a TikTok) that “daddy issues” make artists while “mommy issues” make writers. I can’t attest to the science–or lack thereof–behind this statement, but as a writer born into a long line of guarded women who wielded pens as weapons, I can absolutely relate.
As such, I have a particular fondness for mother-daughter stories and the catharsis they can offer. When I heard the team behind Gone Home would be tackling the subject in their upcoming game Open Roads, I braced for a beautiful cross-country journey that would inevitably hit too close to home. However, while Open Roads has moments of relatability that are powered by solid dialogue, charming characters, and nostalgia, I was ultimately left underwhelmed by the walk-and-click exploration game. With a runtime too short to truly pull players in and an abrupt ending that leaves things feeling hastily resolved, Open Roads feels more like a pit stop than an adventure.
That’s not to say the game’s premise isn’t interesting. Open Roads begins shortly after the death of the Devine family matriarch, Helen, and follows her daughter Opal and her granddaughter Tess as they cope with loss and what to do next. Throughout the entirety of the game, we play as Tess, a 16-year-old high school student who is every bit as strong-willed, cheeky, and hopeful as most 16-year-old girls are. On top of her grandmother’s death, Tess is also processing her parents’ recent separation and the loss of her home, as she and her mother lived with Helen but were not given the house upon her death.
While cleaning out her grandmother’s home, Tess and Opal stumble upon a suitcase buried within the attic walls and find what appears to be evidence of Helen’s secret life and a passionate love affair. With a week to go until the house is sold and an empty agenda, the pair set off on a series of short trips to get to the bottom of Helen’s mysterious life.
At each of the game’s handful of locations, you walk around as Tess and interact with objects from different time periods ranging primarily from the late ’60s to the early 2000s–the time the game is set in–that are sure to be familiar to many American millennials. Occasionally you’ll be able to pocket the items to use later, adding a slight puzzle element to what is otherwise a game driven by simple exploration, though these moments are few and far between. Certain items will also prompt you to call for your mom, who will chime in, add context, or mull over your findings with you. All this makes for straight-forward gameplay that can, unfortunately, start to feel a bit dull as the game goes on.
Outside of exploring the game’s dusty abodes and dimly lit motels, Tess spends most of her time riding shotgun in her mom’s late-’90s sedan. There, she’ll have the chance to cycle through mostly static-filled radio stations, chat with her mom, or use her trusty flip phone to text her father or best friend. Yet for a game titled Open Roads, your time spent on the road is extremely brief and only happens a handful of times, which ultimately takes away from the road-trip experience and doesn’t help to break up its repetitive gameplay.
This is a recurring issue, as the game in its entirety is too brief to effectively address everything it sets up or fully establish a deep sense of relatability and emotional connection. This is a shame considering the underlying plot is interesting and the game’s characters are very endearing. Though Kaitlyn Dever and Keri Russell might be known for their live-action careers, the pair bring a lot of personality to Tess and Opal respectively. Even Helen, who has no speaking parts and appears in the game only through grainy photographs, has a lot of personality. In fact, her vivaciousness is a frequent subject of discussion between Tess and Opal, who both exhibit her more free-spirited behavior, albeit in different ways. This is another aspect of the game I really enjoyed, as it’s all too often that mothers are written as protective, worrisome, uptight, and relatively flat–Open Roads avoids falling into that trap.
However, I also think Open Roads pivots a bit too far away from this mother-daughter tension. Sure, Tess and Opal do have their spats and Opal frequently expresses frustration towards some of her late mother’s actions, but for a pair going through grief, divorce, major life transitions, and betrayal, there’s a lack of drama that turns into a lack of evolution and catharsis. Between its overall brevity and hesitation to dig into messiness–humanness, even–Open Roads puts up a bit of a wall between the player and its story. As a result, I found I liked its characters, but I didn’t feel much towards them. While they were relatable enough, I didn’t find myself in them.
Sure, not all mother-daughter relationships are contentious or imitate Lady Bird, but in shying away from the emotional, you lose, well, emotions. For example, even with all the big plot points unraveling around them, the most impactful conversation in the game, to me, was the one Tess and Opal have after Tess accidentally leaves her phone at the hotel and demands they go back. As an adult, you’re able to see the situation rationally: It makes sense to finish up the drive and grab the phone on the way back–it’ll only be a night without it, after all. But Tess’s dialogue options are limited and a bit more intense than usual–she needs her phone. And despite being 30 years old, I still felt that desperation.
It’s clear that Open Roads wants to have meaningful conversations about generational trauma, the oft-dismissed complexity of mothers, and how humans have different ways of showing love, a fact that can lead to pain when misunderstood, and I wanted to have them too. Yet it doesn’t offer the time or vulnerability to dig into these interesting topics. And while some of its story beats are unique, or offer at least a slight variation on ones we’ve perhaps seen before, all of these stories end somewhat abruptly and without much fanfare or introspection.
Where the game does succeed in storytelling, however, is in its environments. Presumably thanks to the studio’s pedigree and history of working on exploration games like Gone Home and Tacoma, you can tell there is an understanding of how to make locations nostalgic without pandering, interesting but not overwhelming, and immersive but not disjointed. Though I’m slowly discovering that a lot of first-person exploration games make me a bit nauseous (definitely a “me” problem here, so I don’t fault Open Roads), I really enjoyed walking around the environments the studio created. There were so many objects and pieces of decor that reminded me of the ones I grew up with, and it was interesting to note how these objects–and the memories attached to them–moved me more deeply than a lot of the game’s conversations.
At every location, there were little reminders–be it newspaper clippings, a Blockbuster copy of Clueless, or a CorningWare-style casserole dish–of the time that had passed. Sure, this sense of place is aided by some of Tess and Opal’s conversations–I particularly loved the one in which Tess admits to her less-computer-inclined mother that her idea of a wild Friday night consists of pizza rolls and The Sims, because same–but a heavy amount of lifting is done by the artistry and detail put into creating these locations.
I also really enjoyed Open Roads’ character art, which feels inspired by the animated films ’90s kids grew up watching. The style stands out against the more realistic-looking environments and works well with the game’s voice acting, though the lack of proper lip-syncing did feel awkward at times. More awkward, however, was the game’s sound, which felt almost incomplete. I had expected to hear songs and sounds that would take me back to 2003, yet they were noticeably absent. While I wasn’t expecting to hear “Stacy’s Mom” or “Hey Ya!” pop on the radio, having multiple radios and TVs that you could interact with that did effectively nothing was a bit of a letdown.
It’s unfortunate that “letdown” and “underwhelmed” are words I’ve used multiple times when talking about Open Roads because there’s still so much about the game that works. The overall narrative touches on some meaningful topics, there’s a fair amount of intrigue, plenty of well-crafted dialogue, some interesting characters, and a lot of heart. Yet most things fall frustratingly short or are cut off far too early, making the whole experience slightly lackluster. Despite being a game about a mother-daughter road trip, the game doesn’t go too far and that relationship is left only slightly altered rather than meaningfully examined and changed.
How To Watch The New Fallout TV Show: Platform, Release Date, Subscription Info
The next big video game adaptation for TV is Fallout, and it’s coming soon. Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are adapting the Bethesda game for TV.
But where can you watch the show when it releases in April? For anyone needing to know, the Fallout show will stream on Prime Video beginning April 11.
All Amazon Prime members get access to Prime Video as part of their subscription at $15/month or $140/year. Alternatively, people can sign up for Prime Video alone for $9/month. Note that these are the prices for the standard service. To skip ads you need to pay $3/more per month.
If you’ve never had Prime before, new subscribers can sign up for a free 30-day trial. You can use the links below to sign up for Amazon Prime and Prime Video’s standalone subscription specifically.
The Fallout TV series doesn’t adapt the story of any game in particular, and doing that would be difficult anyway since the games are known for their open-ended structure where you can go anywhere and do anything. Instead, the Fallout series tells its own original story following members of Vault 33 who emerge into the nuclear apocalypse to find new horrors.
Bethesda’s own Todd Howard is an executive producer on the series. He said he informed the show’s creative leads to avoid certain subjects because they could be featured in Fallout 5.
Fallout stars Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Walton Goggins, and Kyle MacLachlan. The series debuts on April 11, and all episodes will be available from the get-go. Nolan is the director of the first three episodes and executive producer.
It’s Prime Video’s first video game TV series but it won’t be the last. Prime Video is also producing a God of War TV series, though not much is known about it right now.
Here’s How Much Cyberpunk 2077 Has Earned So Far
CD Projekt’s RPG Cyberpunk 2077 got off to a challenging start in 2020 due to its many issues, but the game has rebounded since then and has now brought in more than 3 billion zloty ($752 million USD) since release. CD Projekt disclosed this in its latest earnings briefing.
A graph shows that Cyberpunk 2077’s best year was 2020, when it earned $1.4 billion zloty ($351 million USD). Sales dropped off in 2021, but improved in 2022 and again in 2023. It’s worth noting, too, that despite the game’s issues, Cyberpunk 2077 sold 13 million copies right out of the gate in December 2020 to quickly become one of the best-selling RPGs in history. Thousands of people got refunds, but the game still started with a bang from a commercial perspective, and CD Projekt’s executives were rewarded with big bonuses.
Of note, the 3 billion zloty figure includes sales of the game and its Phantom Liberty expansion. Like other studios, CD Projekt does not disclose game or marketing budgets. So while $750 million in sales sounds like a lot, there is no way to know how profitable the game is without accounting for what it cost to develop and market. Given that the game was in development for a very long time, it’s a safe assumption that it carried a substantial development cost. Not only that, but CD Projekt’s effort to turn things around after launch surely carried a not-insignificant cost.
What we do know is Cyberpunk 2077 sold more than 25 million copies and its Phantom Liberty expansion shifted more than 4.3 million copies as of the end of 2023.
For context, 2023’s best-selling game, Hogwarts Legacy, made more than $850 million in just two weeks. 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II needed just 10 days on the market to cross $1 billion in revenue. Grand Theft Auto V, meanwhile, made $1 billion in three days.
After its buggy launch, CD Projekt vowed to continually update, support, and improve the game to help get it into a better state. The company has done just that, and many said the 2.0 release at the end of 2023 marked a new era for the game and helped bring in new players.
An ultimate edition of Cyberpunk 2077 was released in December 2023, featuring the base game and the Phantom Liberty expansion.
Given the huge success of Cyberpunk 2077, it’s no surprise that CD Projekt is now working on a sequel at its new office in Boston. This game, codenamed Orion, remains in the “concept” phase and is not expected to debut anytime soon.
Beyond the game, CD Projekt has partnered with Anonymous Content to create a live-action Cyberpunk project. Anonymous Content has an impressive track record–the studio produced Oscar-winning films like The Revenant and Spotlight, and has also succeeded in the television industry, helping to create popular series like Mr. Robot and True Detective.
TMNT Graphic Novel Crossover With Stranger Things Gets 40% Preorder Discount
The kids from Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things are used to being in the presence of unbelievable beings, so they are probably better equipped to deal with the realization that crime-fighting, talking turtles roam the sewers of New York City. For the rest of us, a Stranger Things crossover with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles likely sounds a bit, well, strange. And yet, that’s exactly what happened in last year’s comic miniseries. If you didn’t check out the cool crossover last year, you’ll be happy to learn that all four issues have been collected and reprinted in a new trade paperback. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things releases April 23 and is available to preorder for $12.41 at Amazon, which is nearly a 40% discount off the book’s $20 list price.
The collected issues feature some fantastic art from Fero Pe and Sofie Dogson, while Cameron Chittock’s story sets the events of this story between the second and third seasons of Stranger Things.
“Eleven, Max, Dustin, Mike, Will, and Lucas are looking forward to a nonthreatening, fun-filled trip to New York City,” the plot synopsis reads. “With the gang hundreds of miles from the otherworldly weirdness of their hometown, they’re sure to catch a break this time–or at least that’s what they think until they encounter a threat both bizarre and familiar. To face that threat, they must unite with a fearsome fighting team every bit as bizarre…but green!”
The last couple of years has been a renaissance period for the TMNT franchise, as the IP has received excellent animated shows and comic book series. IDW’s main TMNT series has dozens of issues available to read–conveniently collected into several trade paperbacks–and the Turtles have crossed over with several other hot properties. Right now, you can pick up some fun adventures starring the quartet as they cross paths with Batman, Street Fighter, and even the Ghostbusters.
For some more great reading, you can also check out The Last Ronin and its Lost Years tie-in, a gritty director’s cut of the miniseries, and an ultimate collection reprint of the original TMNT comic books.
Marvel Rivals: How To Sign Up For The Hero Shooter’s Alpha Test
Marvel Rivals, a newly announced 6v6 hero shooter starring iconic comic book heroes and villains, will host its first playtest in May, and those interested in putting Marvel’s take on Overwatch through its paces can now sign up for a chance to play.
The playtest will be on PC, and players will have access to more than a dozen characters to choose from, including Black Panther, Spider-Man, Magneto, and Scarlet Witch. To sign up, players will need to fill out a registration form and answer questions like what genres they are currently playing the most, their favorite PvP shooters, and how familiar they are with Marvel comics, movies, and shows. Developer NetEase states the focus of the alpha will be to test out game mechanics, identity and resolve bugs, and gather feedback from players. Invites to the playtest will go out via email.
Judging from Marvel Rivals’ first gameplay trailer, those familiar with Blizzard’s Overwatch should feel right at home, though there are a few key differences between the two. For starters, Marvel Rivals is played in third-person rather than first-person. Additionally, the maps where the game’s heroes and villains do battle are at least partially destructible, which should change the flow of battle from one match to the next. Characters on the same team that have close ties to one another, like Rocket Racoon and Groot, for example, can join together for special Team-Up skills, which should add an interesting wrinkle when forming a team.
In true comic book fashion, the game’s story revolves around Doctor Doom and his 2099 counterpart forcing the Marvel multiverse to collide via Timestream Entanglement, with heroes and villains joining forces to prevent the Dooms from achieving their nefarious goals. It’s all a nice way to explain the game’s roster of characters, many of which are former enemies. For a full breakdown, here’s every Marvel Rivals character we know of so far.
Marvel Rivals will be free-to-play, and so far there is no word on whether or not the title will be coming to consoles or when it will release in full. The game can currently be wishlisted on both Steam and the Epic Games Store.