Wednesday, 27 September 2017

All Locations and Modes Revealed in the New Star Wars Battlefront II Trailer

Make all your Star Wars fantasies come to life in Star Wars Battlefront II! Check out the new “This is Star Wars Battlefront II Trailer” where John Boyega aka Finn reveals the full game experience that players can expect to immerse themselves in this holiday.

Whether it’s dominating as your favorite iconic hero in epic multiplayer battles with up to 40 players, piloting a starfighter through thrilling dogfights in space, or stepping into the boots of commander Iden Versio in the campaign’s all new untold Star Wars story, there’s something for everyone in Star Wars Battlefront II.

Along with 5 unique multiplayer modes to suit any play style and 18 locations set across all three cinematic Star Wars eras, the new class based system, Battle Points and reworked Star Card system offer greater depth and progression than ever before.

Head to the Star Wars Battlefront II blog here to get a closer look at all the Galactic Assault locations that will be available at launch, and website here to learn more about the game’s multiplayer modes.

The Changeover: Film Review

Cast: Erana James, Timothy Spall, Melanie Lynskey, Lucy Lawless
Director: Miranda Harcourt, Stuart Maconie

Mixing elements of The Tattooist and bizarrely, Twilight, The Changeover is the cinematic version of Margaret Mahy's Carnegie Medal winning book that dabbles in the supernatural.

Set in post-earthquake Christchurch, it's the story of school girl Laura Chant (a subtly nuanced Erana James) whose life has been wrecked by both the quake and personal circumstances.
With her mother (Melanie Lynskey) working long and late hours, Laura's forced to look after her younger brother Jacko.

But having premonitions something bad is about to occur to Jacko, Laura finds her worst fears confirmed when she meets Carmody Braque (Timothy Spall, suitably sinister and vaguely paedophilic) in the containers of downtown Christchurch.

When Jacko's given an ink stamp by Carmody, he mysteriously falls ill and Laura begins to suspect the worst.

However, she discovers there's more afoot in Christchurch than she realises....

The Changeover makes great fist of its post-earthquake Christchurch to give the Mahy novel a redolence that's both poignant and able to convey the turmoil in Chant's life.

Liquefaction bubbles up among the cherry blossoms of the town and when James intones that "the earthquake broke the city, and it broke my family", you can feel the melancholy seeping in.

Equally, the use of Bic Runga's Sway and Melanie Lynskey's sweet sing-along to the classic and containers and the rebuild ground this film firmly in the south island, but yet timelessly in the appeal.

Unfortunately, some of the clunkier dialogue between Laura and her beau (who's clearly been cast more for his looks than acting prowess) give The Changeover a horrible tingling feeling of a return to the corny overwrought dialogue of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga.

Saddled with reams of exposition about the supernatural, the film almost falters despite the directors' visual flourishes of the manifestation of the supernatural coming-of-age edges.

Equally unhelpful is an underwritten Lawless, whose screen time is squashed and whose presence is wasted.

But thanks to a sinister Spall, who channels both Childcatcher and slimy paedophilic edges as the bad guy, and an extremely impressive turn from newcomer James, The Changeover manages to stay afloat when other elements conspire to attempt to drag it down like a witch under water.

If anything, The Changeover will play to an audience under-served from the New Zealand film market for many years and bravely tries to position itself as something of a teen film with weightier darker issues around the edge. It sort of works and channels an era of yesteryear, but it's largely thanks to the truly impressive talents of James, whose natural presence and expression of the usual teenage tropes helps mark The Changeover out as something worth taking a punt on for an afternoon out.

Lady MacBeth: Film Review

Cast: Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis
Director: William Oldroyd

"Do you have any idea the damage you can bring upon this family?"

A star is born in the devilishly sizzling William Oldroyd helmed Lady Macbeth, a reinvention of the Russian novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.

Florence Pugh burns up the screen as Katherine, a young bride trapped in the shackles of marriage and in a home of pure hell. With an extremely strict and brutal father-in-law and a husband who has no interest in her other than barking orders, this repressed bride finds life dull and boring.

Coming across a new stablehand Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis), Katherine falls into lust - and the inevitable happens. However, plotting to escape the confines of a positively Victorian ethos could lead to dark resolutions.

Make no mistake, Florence Pugh positively owns the screen and burns it up in this chilling tale of desire as her character goes from victim to villainess.

From Katherine's desire for Sebastian to her desire to do whatever is necessary to escape and to live a life that's her own, Pugh uses the simplest of facials and the subtlest of moves to convey this. Whether it's the sheer joy of walking outside on the moors (which she's forbidden to do) as the mist hangs low or leaving buttons undone on her pristine outfit, Pugh brings a level of physicality to the role that's compelling to watch from beginning to end. She finds happiness in the growing moral turpitude and it's unsettling and conflicting to have you root for her every small victory.

Equally, Oldroyd's helming brings a degree of clinical chilliness to proceedings.

With a stripped back soundtrack and simple eye of precision behind the camera, Oldroyd concentrates on the moments which will bring maximum shock to the screen - be warned, there are moments that will stun you as this tale of barbed feminism plays out.

Atmospherically built and viscerally sparse, Lady Macbeth is a truly seminal experience; a peek into feminist politics and a mesmerising lead make it an unmissable and gut-wrenching piece of cinema.

Tuesday, 26 September 2017

Maze Runner: The Death Cure - Trailer 1

The very first trailer for Maze Runner: The Death Cure is here – the thrilling conclusion of the Maze Runner trilogy - ahead of its release on January 25^th, 2018.

CAST & CREW

Director: Wes Ball (The Maze Runner, Maze Runner: Scorch Trials)

Written By: James Dashner (novel), T.S. Nowlin (screenplay)

Cast: Dylan O'Brien (American Assassin), Kaya Scodelario (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), Nathalie Emmanuel (The Fate of the Furious), Walton Goggins (Django Unchained)

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

In the epic finale to the Maze Runner saga, Thomas leads his group of escaped Gladers on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.

Pitch Perfect 3 - Final Trailer

The Bellas are at it again in the final trailer for Pitch Perfect 3, ahead of its release on January 1^st 2018.

CAST & CREW

Director: Trish Sie (Step Up: All In)

Written By: Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2)

Returning Cast: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hana Mae Lee, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Camp

New Cast Additions: Ruby Rose (xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Orange is the New Black), John Lithgow

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

After the highs of winning the World Championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there aren’t job prospects for making music with your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: DVD Review

Six years after the excreable Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stank up the cinema, Johnny Depp's besozzled pirate buffoon Captain Jack Sparrow is back.

This time, when Henry Turner (Thwaites), the son of Orlando Bloom's Will Turner, finds Jack, it's a desperate race against time. Henry wants to save his father by finding the mythical Trident of Poseidon and using it to lift the curse on his seabound father, but for Jack it's a matter of life and death as he's being pursued by undead nemesis Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem, a welcome presence to the franchise).

With a crew of undead sailors on his trail, and some familiar faces along for the ride, it'll take all of Jack's wits to escape this predicament.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales has moments of life that energise the flagging franchise.

But unfortunately, it also has large swathes of sequences that really stop this latest (and potentially final) entrant finding its own sea legs.

With an overly-convoluted plot, and some murky scenes that are ruined by the curse of the dark 3D projection, the film, despite the work of its Kon-Tiki directors, struggles to really make much of a case for carrying on the franchise and yet also proffers barely any reason why this would remotely feel like closure for all bar two of the characters.
Depp once again channels some pratfalls and sight comedy as he works a pirate version of mumbling and bumbling like a Rowley Burkin QC out-take, and there's a wildly indulgent cameo from Paul McCartney shoe-horned in for no real gain, other than to tip a wink to the audience.

Coupled with a truly atrocious sequence of ginger fat-shaming, there are large sections of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales which fall flat and feel unnecessarily stale, adding to a nagging feeling that this series is definitively lost at sea.

However, there are some moments of gold within the film.

A late sequence where Depp, Thwaites and Scodelerio are pursued by a combination of ghost pirates and ghost sharks showcases what has made portions of the series so endearing. With its mix of quick quips, speedy wordplay, and a sense of derring-do, amid large lashings of spectacle, this is one piece that really stands head and shoulders above and showcase exactly why when Pirates is given some levity, it's got wind in its dramatic sails and a heart and soul which are hard to beat.

But there's not enough of this ensemble action to power the film along, with Depp's Sparrow at varying points being the lead or circling the action; it's this inconsistency that lags throughout and marks the writing of this one as a bit lazier and a little weaker than is to be expected.

Bardem and Rush bring the dramatic edges to the fore and their gravitas and dignity stop the whole thing from falling into chaos; unfortunately, Thwaites isn't strong enough to leave a lasting impression as Turner's son and Scodelario's scientist woman, labelled a witch, is given a fair bit to do at the start and has some great scenes where she holds her own, but becomes lost at sea in the latter sequences, before being saddled with an unlikely coincidence too far.

For a fifth outing in the franchise, this isn't as bad as some of the others which have sailed into multiplexes from the series, but at the end, with a few loose ends wrapped up, it does feel like it's not disingenuous to say it's time to put this pirate to rest, before all goodwill generated is drained quicker than a quart of rum amongst a group of swashbucklers.

Monday, 25 September 2017

Personal Shopper: DVD Review

Olivier Assayas reteams with Kristen Stewart after last year's NZIFF outing The Clouds of Sils Maria, a surprising film that won the erstwhile Twilight star a prestigious acting award.

This time, Stewart plays Maureen, a twin whose other half Lewis has died from a heart condition which she shares. However, Maureen is a medium too, who spends her night trying to contact her dead brother, believing his spirit still to be in the house.

By day, Maureen is a personal shopper for a model, who's never home and who exchanges notes with her charge. But Maureen's unhappy with her lot, decrying that spends her days "doing bullshit".

Her life changes though when she encounters a spirit in the house - and then starts to get anonymous texts...

Mixing a concoction of atmospheric ghost story (via the likes of The Others and The Orphanage) with a psychological sideline in stalking proves to be an intriguing proposition for Personal Shopper. It's a film that very much benefits from Stewart's performance and subtleties.

As the medium negotiating the spiritual world, she's very much a Ghostbuster, desperate to connect to ensure closure as she begins to give way at the edges. Spending nights alone and days equally alone in her haute couture job, her dissatisfied detachment from the world around her is well played by Stewart, who uses fraying mentality and fragility to beneficial effect. She conveys the degradation of her mental condition with the slightest of tics, twitching fingers et al.

Sequences in the home at the start of the film are well orchestrated by Assayas who creates a soundscape and atmosphere that's easy to buy into - even if occasionally frustratingly, he decides to cut a scene short by fading to black unexpectedly. But the unease and discord that's unleashed on Maureen early on is nothing compared to how suspenseful a text conversation becomes in Assayas' hands.

With the deftness of simply holding the camera on the phone as messages fly back and forth with various pauses, the whole thing becomes a bizarre masterclass in the art of suspense as this portrait of grief and yearning for more (both in this life and the next) unfolds.

Stewart's unease is palpable within the looping rhythms of tedium within her day and while some may feel in comparison to the broader emotional strokes that Assayas achieved in Clouds of Sils Maria this is lacking. But that's to dismiss Stewart's presence throughout and to do a disservice to Assayas' tale of disconnection.

It's essentially a spooker of a film, a film that builds to crescendo within its oeuvre and a film that defies convention or easy definition.

Sunday, 24 September 2017

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie: Film Review

Vocal Cast: Ed Helms, Thomas Middleditch, Kevin Hart
Director: David Soren

Based on Dave Pilkey's phenomenally successful book series, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie actually proves to be the best offering this school holiday period for those looking for a bit of inconsequential fun.

Director David Soren guides this computer-animated outing from Dreamworks into the same kind of territory as the Peanuts Movie in terms of look and feel, with the rounder animation looking squishy and enticing, and enveloping its whole outlook in a familiar and welcoming vibe.

For those unfamiliar with the Captain Underpants book series, the film centres on the inter-racial friendship of a pair of eternal school pranksters George and Harold (comedian Hart and Silicon Valley star Middleditch) and their eternal fight with their school prinicpal (Ed Helms).

When George hypnotises the principal one day into believing he's their mythical hero Captain Underpants, it all gets out of hand. And things are further complicated when a new science teacher comes in, threatening to rid the world of laughter.

Set purely on the madcap scale, with some great interludes that encompass traditional pencil animation to sock puppetry, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is only interested in providing a good time for those watching.

With poop jokes, fart noises and a noteable silliness permeating most of the run, this is actually terrifically zippy fun that skirts with zaniness as much as it tries to push a "laughter is the best medicine" mantra to all of life's ills.

While there are a few moments in the 89 minute run time that lull (predominantly when the message is rammed home a little), most of the target audience will fully get its issues of dealing with school problems, feeling alienated from any but your best friend and the daily grind and living for the weekend.

It helps the writing doesn't dwell too much on any of its more serious edges and there are always amusing moments just seconds away from what transpires. Reverence to the books helps greatly and the general desire to ensure that the audience is amused, while the hearts are occasionally hit by some solid vocal work from Hart, Helms and Middleditch.

You can't help but leave the animated Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie with a smile on your face. It's certainly enough of a success creatively to ensure that a sequel should be on the way, and while you may be uncertain to see what else could be mined a second time around, this is actually first class straight-down-the-line animated fare that deserves your time and money.

Saturday, 23 September 2017

Rough Night: Blu Ray Review

Owing more than just a spiritual debt to Peter Berg's 1998's Very Bad Things and 2011's Bridesmaids, and coming off the back of the sisters-are-doing-it-for-themselves Wonder Woman the new Scar Jo ensemble comedy Rough Night starts strongly before faltering in the back half.

Scarlett Johansson flexes her comedy chops as Jess, one time party girl and now political hopeful. On the eve of her wedding to Peter (Downs), she's pulled into a bachelorette party organised by college friend Alice (Bell, initially amusing and loud, latterly loud and screeching) in Miami.

Along with former college friends Frankie (Broad City's Ilana Glazer) and Blair (Zoe Kravitz) as well as Jess' new Aussie chum Pippa (McKinnon, the film's MVP) the quintet hit the clubs and party.

But things spiral out of control back at their rented beachside house when a stripper they've booked is accidentally killed...

There are some genuinely funny moments in the front-loaded first half of Rough Night, as director Lucia Anello (also known for Broad City) plies the film with some crafty, yet familiar, nods to female rivalries and friendships, as well as demonstrating that the girls can be just as bad as the boys.

In particular, the pre-credits sequence set in 2006 when the gang was at college, sets Rough Night's stall out in the raunch and rude stakes in a way that will appeal either to the chicks night out at the flicks or to those liquored up and looking for some easy laughs.

A clever off-the-cuff gag involving a champagne bottle and an airport setting elicits a genuine belly laugh, while simultaneously demonstrating how on edge society's become.

However, once Alice's jealousy over Aussie Pippa is explored, and the stripper dispatched, the film settles for borderline average tropes and predictable laughs as it tries to untangle the mess it's created and push the envelope a bit further.

Easily the film's MVP, McKinnon's mix of dodgy Aussie accent along with unexpected one-liners keeps the unpredictability stakes high and provides the lion's share of the film's amusement as the screeching and hysteria sets in from the girls.

Bell's an easy contender for being irritating as the shouting starts, but manages to keep just on the right side of amusing and quirky. Johansson plays it relatively straight, keeping the glue of the group together after some earlier quirks are established and displayed, but she's less the star of the film than you'd expect. Grazer and Kravitz feel a little sidelined as the film goes on, being more interested in exploring the three-way between Jillian Bell, Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon as its main dynamic.

Rough Night is not a savage skewering of stereotypes or a clever flipping of premises (even though the male bachelor party is more set against a backdrop of wine tasting), but it's a solid comedy that starts to run desperately out of steam as the film goes on.

It ends up in the inevitable sap and predictable sentimental gloop that you'd expect and that, to some degree, the target market will possibly want.

It's nowhere near as raunchy as it could get, and perhaps feels watered down as the squabbles come to the fore - it does occasionally work for the absurdism that permeates but disappoints that it doesn't demand more of all of its relatively likeable ensemble.

Less likely to give a cinematic hangover and more likely to struggle to be remembered after the lights go up, Rough Night, amongst its dysfunctional diatribes, makes a case that this kind of comedy film is still in rude health, even if trail-blazing isn't in its ambitions or execution.

Friday, 22 September 2017

Project Cars 2 launches today

Your ultimate driver journey begins Friday, September 22^nd

Project CARS 2 brings home all the authenticity, beauty, and passion of racing action as never before.

On Friday September 22^nd Project CARS 2 powers its way onto the PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PC for the much-anticipated worldwide release of gamescom 2017’s “Best Simulation Game”.

Project CARS 2, the second installment in the critically-acclaimed Project CARS motorsport franchise developed by Slightly Mad Studios, takes the franchise and its fans into a blistering new era of motorsport racing simulation.

With the largest track roster ever seen on console, 29 motorsport series featuring 180+ cars from dozens of elite brands, and four full seasons of grip-altering weather across 140 revolutionary “living” tracks, Project CARS 2 brings home all the authenticity, beauty, and passion of racing action as never before.

To celebrate the September 22nd release comes the Project CARS 2 Launch Trailer that features “Silence”, a track that has been hailed as one of the greatest Trance Anthems of all time, and which has now been revisited by Rhys Fulber, co-founder of the electronica band Delerium, specifically for the Launch Trailer.

Taking the song's tempo down to 100 BPM to highlight Sarah McLachlan's sublime vocals, Rhys Fulber has created a new cinematic techno dub remix of “Silence” to welcome 2017’s definitive racing game, Project CARS 2.

Project CARS 2 is rated G. The game will be released on 22^nd September 2017 for the PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PC. Find out more and keep up-to-date at the official Project CARS 2 website: http://www.projectcarsgame.com/

FINAL FANTASY XV Comrades Release Date & Trailer

LONG-AWAITED FINAL FANTASY XV

MULTIPLAYER EXPANSION ARRIVES NEXT MONTH

Famed Composer Nobuo Uematsu’s New Song “Choosing Hope” Debuts in FINAL FANTASY XV

SYDNEY, 21^st September 2017 – Square Enix Ltd., have today announced that, for the first time, FINAL FANTASY® XV players will soon be able to create their own avatar and join up with three other friends to take on epic quests and battles in the game’s first and only online multiplayer expansion titled “Comrades.” Starting 31^st October, players will set foot as a survivor from the Kingsglaive to find out more about the disappearance of Noctis after the events in Chapter 13 from the main game.

As members of the Kingsglaive, players equip royal sigils that grant special powers from the Lucian bloodline. Players can then strategise and create a balanced team to take on a variety of quests. In addition to multiplayer quests, single player quests are also available for players to enhance their characters.

SQUARE ENIX® also released a trailer featuring a brand-new track, “Choosing Hope” composed by Nobuo Uematsu and sung by Japanese singer Emiko Suzuki. The new trailer is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mgDEsSAZSGk

FINAL FANTASY XV MULTIPLAYER EXPANSION: COMRADES will be available on 31^st October for the Xbox One and PlayStation®4 system. The expansion requires FINAL FANTASY XV and purchase of either MULTIPLAYER EXPANSION: COMRADES or the Season Pass. Players also require an Xbox Live Gold membership or a PlayStation®Plus subscription.

More information on the MULTIPLAYER EXPANSION: COMRADES can be found here: https://finalfantasyxv.com/gb/comrades/

Monster Hunter: World - Official Release Date and Pre-Order Details!

Good news, hunters!

Today Capcom confirmed that Monster Hunter: World will be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One globally on January 26, 2018. A PC release will follow at a later date. Capcom will also begin pre-orders today including bonus incentives for the standard version of the game or the newly announced physical collector's editions. In addition, Capcom also released assets including a new trailer for the game showcasing various new monsters as well as a peek at Astera, the base of operations for the Research Commission as they explore a new world.

The TGS trailer shows the wild and wonderful variety of creatures featured in the game, from the lizard-like Pukei-Pukei with its extending tongue, to the terrifying monster Nergigante. The beautiful but dangerous Coral Highlands stage was also unveiled – don't stand around too long gazing at the gorgeous scenery or you might risk ending up as monster fodder! Players have a wide variety of gear to assist them in navigating the fantastical environments in the game, including the Glider Mantle. You can use this to extend your air-time after a jump and, as seen in the new trailer, in some areas, you may even be able to catch a lift on a rising wind draft to quickly reach higher ground.

Players that pre-order Monster Hunter: World on either Xbox One or PS4 at participating retailers will receive access to special pre-order bonuses, including the Origin Set Armor and the Fair Wind Charm talisman*, which offer improved starting defense and offense stat boosts for the hunter as well as a useful gathering skill. Please check with your local retailer regarding which bonuses are available.

*Please note that the Origin Set armor and Fair Wind Charm talisman may be made available through alternative means at a later date.

The physical collector's edition includes a physical copy of the game, voucher for the Deluxe Kit (contains Samurai Set skin, three gestures, two sticker sets, plus an extra face paint and hair style option for the hunter), plus an art book, high-quality flagship monster statue, and soundtrack CD, all bundled in a custom collector's box.

For attendees of Tokyo Game Show later this week, please stop by the Capcom booth for a chance to play a new quest in the Wildspire Waste location.

Jasper Jones: Blu Ray Review

Released by Madman Home Ent

A coming-of-age story, adapted from a Craig Silvey novel, that's carried wonderfully by its young leads, Aussie drama Jasper Jones is a veritable ripper.

Set in a quiet Aussie village in the late 60s and centring on Levi Miller's 14 year old Charlie, the story sees him thrown into being asked for help by the town's outcast Aboriginal Jasper Jones.

Jasper fears he'll be blamed for the hanging girl found in the woods (as he remarks tellingly to Charlie, "What was your first reaction?", a sign of the times and of the instant judgement of small communities) and so together the pair try to solve the mystery of the death.

But that's not all Charlie has to negotiate; he has a Korean neighbour whose lives are under fire because of Vietnam tensions, he has a mother who's frustrated and he has a burgeoning relationship with the sister of the missing girl to negotiate as well.

Seeded into the background of Jasper Jones are inter-racial tensions, friendships and relationships, even darker material that ventures dangerously closely to spoilers and a commentary on small town perceptions that's all too familiar.

But director Rachel Perkins doesn't stir any of these up for pure titillation; she merely throws everything into the mix to create a compelling whodunnit and a deeply layered story that has social commentary seeded all the way through.

While the adults do good work, notably Dan Wyllie as Charlie's dad, a mix of compassion and understanding obvious from an understated role, it's not actually their film in many ways.

It helps that the younger end of the cast - Miller, Angourie Rice (who plays the sister) and Aaron McGrath (Jones) shoulder the great burden of the darker edges of the script with veritable ease. It may be a familiar journey in some ways (growing up, realising death and darkness is all around) but what Jasper Jones manages to do, is to ensure these themes are freshly presented and subtly enacted.

Ultimately, Jasper Jones manages to be a compelling and diverting story that's as engaging as it is well crafted and it's a reminder that even the most familiar of tropes and genres can appear fresh when given a steady and strong directorial eye and a great cast.

Thursday, 21 September 2017

XBOX ONE X available for pre-order in NZ today!

The wait is over! The Xbox team is pleased to confirm the launch date and pricing for the arrival of the world’s most powerful console in New Zealand.

The Xbox One X will join global launch celebrations, launching in line with global markets on 7 November with a recommended retail price of NZD$749.

Starting today, Kiwi gamers can pre-order a standard edition 1TB Xbox One X console for NZD$749, via EB Games, JB Hi Fi, Mighty Ape, Noel Leeming, PB Tech, The Warehouse or Harvey Norman.

We have also announced that the list of Xbox One X enhanced titles has grown to more than 130 and counting, including new adds like Far Cry 5, L.A. Noire, Greedfall and Okami HD.

Last month at gamescom, we unveiled pre-orders for the Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition, a limited edition console designed for our biggest fans. Thanks to you, we saw record-setting sellouts in the first five days, making Xbox One X the fastest-selling Xbox pre-order ever with more Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition consoles pre-ordered in the first five days than any Xbox ever.

We know you are anxious to get your hands on the world’s most powerful console and so today, I am excited to announce Xbox One X standard edition pre-orders begin today. Local retailers around the world, including Microsoft Store and Microsoft.com, are opening up more pre-orders for Xbox One X, so be sure to get yours today.

When it comes to games, we’re thrilled to announce that you’ll be able to enjoy more than 130 (and counting!) new and existing games enhanced for Xbox One X to take advantage of its full power, including Far Cry 5, L.A. Noire, Greedfall and Okami HD. We set out to make Xbox One X the best place to create and experience games, and hearing how our partners are excited and committed to Xbox One X confirms our vision. See below for what some of our partners had to say about their experiences with Xbox One X. And for more information explaining Xbox One X Enhanced program, visit our Xbox One X Enhanced titles list and check out this video with our very own Major Nelson and Head of Xbox Console Marketing, Albert Penello.

“It’s a crazy powerful box. [Shadow of War on Xbox One X] will be the prettiest possible version of the game [among consoles]. We have some dev kits which also load a lot faster. While in development it’s extra nice to load a giant world in a matter of seconds so we can iterate faster. But it will also have faster loading times for players.” – Bob Roberts, Middle-earth: Shadow of War Design Director, as quoted in GamesRadar+

“The experience of the game is the same across all of the different platforms. We try to make sure the game shines on every platform the best it can. Having said that, the Xbox One X version is absolutely the most beautiful version.” – Ashraf Ismail, Assassin’s Creed Origins Game Director, as quoted in WeWriteThings

“Bringing a PC game to Xbox, Microsoft makes it really easy…So it really just comes down to making the gameplay good. And especially on Xbox One X, two hours after we got the dev kit it was running at 4K, 60fps. That thing is very powerful. It was that easy. I think we were expecting it to take a little longer than that, but no, it was a cinch.” – Jonathan Rogers, Path of Exile Lead Programmer, as quoted in GamesRadar+

Xbox One X joins the Xbox One family of devices this holiday alongside Xbox One S and the recently-announced Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels bundle, Minecraft Limited Edition bundle, Shadow of War bundle and Madden NFL 18 bundle – all also available for purchase or pre-order now. And of course, all your existing Xbox One games and accessories are compatible across the Xbox One family of devices.

We’re grateful to you, our fans, for your continued enthusiasm and to our developers for all their excitement for supporting Xbox One X as we march toward launch.

Destiny 2: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Developed by Bungie
Released by Activision

Destiny 2 is likely to chew through your time.

Which is no bad thing as we're all well aware how popular Bungie's first iteration of the game was with millions of online players battling it out in a quest to gain light, loot and love.

The sequel takes the good of the first game (of which there was plenty) and builds on those foundations to make an experience of relative success.

It all kicks off in a way that wrongfoots you as your Guardian returns to the Last City to find it under siege from the mysterious Red Legion arm of the Cabal. With the Traveller apparently destroyed, and you facing an uncertain future in a world without light,
it's up to you and your damaged Ghost to try and recoup some of your losses, and team up with other Guardians to restore order to the Galaxy's chaos.

Story wise, Destiny 2 is a more simplistic stream-lined affair.

The assault at the start (which was the basis of the BETA recently) gave a feeling of Nier Automata's gut-punch prologue in terms of you powering your way through a difficult fight, only to have a loss beat you directly in the face and send you down-trodden into the rest of the game.

Yet with Destiny 2, it's an almost galvanising underdog fight back type experience which spurs you on to greater things.

Thrust onto another world with a ragtag bunch of fellow Guardians feeling their own way, the game builds you up as it builds its narrative up.

Various quests propel the single player action along and push you further into the story. But at the same time, the online events and campaigns also feature into what's going on, giving you the chance to detour or avoid.
The gameplay itself feels stronger this time, and the clunkiness of some of the dialogue first time around is missing, but it feels more fluid and natural the deeper in you go.

By setting the game in the European Dead Zone as you begin, the game's more grounded and recognisable feel adds plenty to proceedings. Sure, one of the early missions sees you looking through a church, but it's better than simply marauding through a wasteland desperately shooting at anything around and looking for cover.
It means the setting is more lively and feels more intuitive with cover areas less obvious and a "what would you do in the real world" entering into proceedings.

But one of the earlier frustrations is spawning which can sometimes put you back down in front of a barrage of bullets that then pick you off, but it's a minor niggle that's early into the game.

There's a lot more character in the voicework too - be it Nathan Fillion's flippant tones or your own Ghost, the game feels more vibrant with the time and care which has been thrown in - and it deepens the engagement a lot more.
Granted, it's still about loot (more of which feels more forthcoming this time) but the grind is worth it.

And while the online servers have bizarrely booted players out in the early stages, there are signs that Bungie's doing more to combat this.

All in all, Destiny 2 does ramp up the game and the stakes, but it also takes a moment to deepen the experience, something which some online shooters fail to do.
By adding in a depth and enriching the overall atmosphere, Destiny 2 feels like a definite step forward for the shooter series.

Minecraft Better Together Update is Here

THE BETTER TOGETHER UPDATE IS HERE!

Play the new Minecraft on Xbox, mobile, VR and Windows 10 today!

The big day is finally here!

It’s probably the most significant update we’ve made in Minecraft’s recent history - we’re releasing a new version of the game that lets players on Xbox, mobile, VR and Windows 10 play together!

And not only that! It lets you access oodles of player-made goodness on Marketplace! It lets you take that Marketplace goodness from one device to another! It lets you play your Realm on console (for example), hop off, then pick up where you left off on your phone! It lets you join massive servers, with communities numbering in millions of players and eccentric minigames to suit every taste!

And that’s just the stuff we’re doing on top of the core game itself. This new version of Minecraft also introduces the supported platforms to parrots, banners, armour stands, stained glass, fireworks, new world start options, new game rules, host options, the recipe book and loads, loads more. All that, andit lets you marvel at the True Beauty™ of coarse dirt for the first time! Wow! Coarse dirt! Just, wow.

The work doesn’t stop there. We’ve got loads more cool stuff to show you with this new version of Minecraft - for example, did you know you can share invite links to Realms now?! You can! (Except on Xbox One - we’ll be getting that working in the very near future.) So stay tuned: we’ll be talking about more of the new Minecraft’s magical features soon!

You can get this fancypants new version of Minecraft for free if you already own an edition of Minecraft for Xbox One, and you’ll get the Better Together Update automagically on Android, iOS and Windows 10. If you own the Xbox One Edition of the game on disc, be prepared for a short wait before your free download of the new Minecraft is available - we'll work as fast as we can, but it may take a day or two to process all the requests!

We’re still working on getting this new version of Minecraft ready for players on Nintendo Switch. We want to make sure that everything is ready to bring this platform onboard, and there’s a lot of work to do to make that happen. After all, no one has ever done anything like this before in the history of gaming. We expect to be ready with the free Better Together Update on Switch this winter.

Got questions about how this update works, how to get it, what it means for you or what happens to your old stuff? Check out our newly updated FAQ!

Got bugs? Submit them here: bugs.mojang.com!

Got feature requests, comments or feedback? Speak your brains here: feedback.minecraft.net

In the meantime, read all about how YOU helped us make this update by participating in the beta, or peruse the changelog in coarse-dirt-induced wonderment:

New Features:

Stained Glass
Fireworks (with Elytra boost!)
Parrots
Banners
Armor Stands
Jukebox and music discs
Recipe Book
Book & Quill
Ravines
Coarse Dirt
New world start options: Starting Map; Bonus Chest; Trust Players
New game rules: Show Coordinates; TNT Explodes; Natural Regeneration
Added '/tickingarea' command to create areas that still update when no players are there
Player permissions
Zombie Villager spawn egg
In-game host options
Paper doll viewer
Outline selection toggle
In-game player names toggle
HUD opacity toggle
Expanded Xbox Live multiplayer world settings
New loading screens with funny and helpful tips
How to Play screen
Remix 3D export functionality (Windows 10 only)
New achievements
Server Partners
Realms invite links
Mash-up Packs and Texture Packs will now decorate the main menu and in-game HUD

Tweaks:

Rebalanced most of the game sound effects and music, such as rain being much quieter
It is now much easier to see underwater after drinking a Potion of Water Breathing and Potion of Night Vision
Blaze Powder is now needed to fuel brewing stands
Ice blocks are now transparent
Maps can now be held off-hand and show the heads of players' skins
Locator maps now track the owner's position, regardless of dimension
Worlds can now be set to Invite Only, Friends Only, or Friends of Friends
Various improvements and changes to navigating the user interface
Redesigned button mapping and added Pick Block for controllers
Render Clouds and Fancy Leaves can now be toggled in Video Settings
Skins can now be changed from the pause menu
Chat messages can now be muted
Items picked up are now animated on the hotbar
Stained glass and banners will now spawn on End Cities
Increased the default player limit on worlds from 5 to 8 on higher-end devices
Block placement speed now matches the player's movement speed
Temperature decreases with height and it can now snow at high elevations
Observer blocks have updated textures and will now blink red when outputting a redstone pulse
Adjusted the color that flashes when mobs are attacked
Brick Blocks, Nether Brick Blocks, and Clay Blocks have been renamed to better differentiate from other items
Underwater particles
Jungle leaves are now transparent on higher-end devices when Fancy Leaves are enabled
Changed the sound effects for Creeper explosions
Added sound effects for placing Eyes of Ender into portal frames and opening The End portal

Bug fixes:

Too many to mention. My favourites are: making cats purr again, preventing bats from swimming underwater and stopping llamas from creepily turning their heads to stare at you while riding them.

We can’t wait to see what you all build together!