Overwatch Contenders Australia Top 4 Revealed, Finals Take Place 19 May

Overwatch Contenders Australia Top 4 Revealed, Finals Take Place 19 May

Overwatch Contenders Australia Top 4 Revealed, Finals Take Place 19 May

Since kicking off in March, Overwatch Contenders Australia, the official path-to-pro for Overwatch in the region, has built on the amazing success of Team Australia at the World Cup Sydney Stop in 2017. Over the course of the first season, we have seen some world-class Overwatch from our 12 teams, along with the development of a passionate and vocal fanbase.

With the regular season complete, it’s now time for the inaugural playoffs!

Dark Sided, Sydney Drop Bears, Blank Blue and Masterminds GC will be fighting for the right to call themselves the first Overwatch Contenders Australia champions, and take the lion’s share of the $50,000 USD prize pool. Tune in on Saturday 19 May AEST as each of the four teams go head-to head in their elimination matches live from ESL Studios Sydney.

The first semi-final will see Dark Sided taking on the Sydney Drop Bears from 11AM AEST/1PM NZST, followed by Blank Blue versus Masterminds GC. Finals will be held directly after the winner of the second semi-final is determined.

Catch all the action live at www.twitch.tv/overwatchcontenders!

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate comes to Nintendo Switch!

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate comes to Nintendo Switch!

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate comes to Nintendo Switch!

Sydney, 11^th May 2018 -  The highly anticipated Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, the follow up to Monster Hunter Generations, marks the series debut on Nintendo Switch as an exclusive when it launches on August 28^th, 2018 for digital and physical retail purchase. For the first time, gamers have the flexibility to play both local wireless and online multiplayer with up to three other hunters whether playing at home on the big screen or on the go in handheld or table top mode. A brand new trailer for the title is available now from the press site here.

Hunters can face off against the series largest roster of unique monsters in this nostalgic look back at the series beginnings and evolutions. Take on the role of a brave hunter on an adrenaline fuelled adventure challenging larger than life beasts. Completing quests will yield valuable resources for crafting countless distinct weapons and equipment fashioned after players’ defeated foes. Along their journey, hunters must defend each of the game’s four villages from major threats known as the Fated Four, plus an even more dangerous new Elder Dragon.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate features a blend of classic gameplay and unique new twists, brand new explorable areas and monsters, plus returning fan-favourites like the lightning fast Zinogre and the stealthy long-tailed Nargacuga. This release introduces a new quest level called “G” rank that features even more formidable versions of familiar foes, truly testing experienced hunters’ battle tactics now with different moves and abilities never before seen in the wild!

For newcomers to the series, the gameplay features ton of powerful super moves called Hunter Arts that can be executed with a quick tap on the touch screen. Players can experiment and choose from six different Hunting Styles including two new ones called Brave Style, which rewards players with new moves for landing successive attacks, and Alchemy Style, a support style that grants the ability to creating useful items on the fly during combat. Hunters are encouraged to explore and customise the experience between quests to find the most personalised playstyle. 

Players of the original Monster Hunter Generations can transfer save data from the previous title to continue their journey in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate.

The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is Arriving Early!

The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is Arriving Early!

The baddest Bandicoot in the land is CRASH-ing onto new platforms sooner than expected – get ready for June 29!

Crash Bandicoot has been working hard to look good for his debut on new platforms. Fans’ reaction to the news that he’s coming to Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam was that extra push needed and now he’s ready nearly two weeks early!

Originally slated to launch on July 10, Crash is making the WUMP earlier than expected on June 29!

The game is available for preorder now on the new platforms, so clear your calendars and get ready to jump, wump, spin, smash and Crash on your platform of choice.

For more information about the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, follow Crash Bandicoot on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and bookmark the Crash Bandicoot website.

DATES AND VENUE ANNOUNCED FOR FINAL FANTASY XIV FAN FESTIVAL EUROPE 2019 IN PARIS

DATES AND VENUE ANNOUNCED FOR FINAL FANTASY XIV FAN FESTIVAL EUROPE 2019 IN PARIS

DATES AND VENUE ANNOUNCED FOR FINAL FANTASY XIV FAN FESTIVAL EUROPE 2019 IN PARIS

Sydney, Australia - 12th May, 2018 – Square Enix® is today announcing the venue for the FINAL FANTASY® XIV Fan Festival 2019 in France. The event will take place at “La Grande Halle de La Villette” in Paris on 2^nd – 3^rd February, 2019.

The European FINAL FANTASY XIV Fan Festival taking place in 2019 is the third major event of its kind for the critically-acclaimed video game. This global event is set to take place across three different regions, in three major cities: Las Vegas, Paris and Tokyo. This massive event will feature exciting announcements, development panels, in-game activities, merchandise, as well as amazing opportunities to play together both in-game and in live activities.

© Bruno Delamain

You can watch the teaser trailer for the FINAL FANTASY XIV Fan Festival 2018 – 2019 here: http://sqex.to/8XV

For more updated information on all upcoming Fan Festivals please visits:  https://fanfest.finalfantasyxiv.com/

Related Links

Official Stormblood Site: http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/stormblood/ 

Free Trial Site: http://freetrial.finalfantasyxiv.com/

The Lodestone®: http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinalFantasyXIV/

Official Twitter: @FF_XIV_EN

Official Instagram: @ffxiv

The Hero: DVD Review

The Hero: DVD Review

Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman
Director: Brett Haley

Mixing melancholy and offbeat humour as well as a great deal of heart, The Hero centres around Sam Elliott's gravel-voiced one time Western actor Lee Hayden.

With a career that's been defined largely by one great role in a film called The Hero, Hayden's world has been reduced to doing voiceovers for BBQ sauce (in a nod to perhaps UK comedy show Toast of London).

Estranged from his daughter (Ritter) and separated from his wife, Lee's life is hit by an unexpected terminal cancer diagnosis, Lee's spending time brooding and smoking weed with former fellow actor Jeremy (Parks and Rec's laconic Nick Offerman).

But when he meets Laura Prepon's Charlotte by chance and an acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award goes unexpectedly, his apparently over life changes in more ways than one...

The Hero's laid back ageing premise may hit differing audiences in differing ways.

However, Elliott's nuanced and rugged turn as Lee is emotionally resonant no matter how you view the film and its cliches.

Regardless of whether some of the film's plots follow an all-too familiar trajectory, there's something in Elliott's compellingly understated performance that's simply captivating.

Prepon plays enigmatic too, but there's a real sense of these two connecting despite a major age difference potentially in their way. Thanks to some sensitive direction, it just about works when, against all the odds, it really shouldn't.

Whether it's being lost in ruminations on his life, or being lost in a haze of drugs around Charlotte, Haley's script manages to coat everything in a forlorn fashion that plays to Elliott's silent strengths.

And there's something about this veteran actor that just fits the part.

There are elements of this which may seem almost autobiographical in many ways as the older generation of actors tries to find a place in Hollywood, and rides a revival, and at times, to be frank, the script treads an all too familiar line, but there's just something about this low-key indie from Sundance, with its drawling lead that makes The Hero a success in ways it shouldn't be. 

The Commuter: DVD Review

The Commuter: DVD Review

Re-teaming with his Unknown director after their 2011 outing, Liam Neeson's supposed retirement from action thrillers sees him taking part in an action thriller.

Neeson is Michael McCauley, a straight and down-the-line insurance seller, whose life is a daily routine.

From the morning commute to the office to the routine of trying to sort money for his son to go to college, McCauley is a straight arrow.

But it all changes one day, when with retirement closing in, McCauley is made redundant.

As he takes the train home, he's approached by a woman (Vera Farmiga) who sits opposite him and offers him a Faustian deal - someone on his train doesn't belong there. Find out who they are before the commuter train terminates its run and net a cool $100K.

Given only a short time to decide, McCauley finds his hand forced as a race against time begins.

The Commuter has a clever premise, one that's ripped from the pages of a pulpy page-turner.

But on screen, Collet-Serra seems unable to bring it to life with a series of coincidences and incredulities crippling parts of what unfurls.

(Let's not even start with the insane concept that perhaps people actually talk to each other on a US train).

Neeson is solid but unspectacular as he rolls out yet another take on a man with a special set of skills.
(Fortunately, his character is an ex-cop this time around). It's easy to see why Neeson would take the gig as it plays on the everyman-forced-to-do-extraordinary schtick that's become his thing.

However, with dialogue that lays everything bare, and a shaky cam ethos, Collet-Serra at times feels like he's beating you across the face with the film, rather than letting the piece breathe naturally and its subsequent rhythms grip and thrill you.

As the script grows ever more ludicrous, with red herrings and a bizarre take down of Goldman Sachs that's supposed to be middle America responding, Collet-Serra orchestrates the whole film into a train-set CGI spectacle that's unfortunately more laughable than laudible.

Muddled and frankly average at best in its stolid lumpiness and old school "charm", The Commuter is an action film and script, ripped straight from 1980.

Unfortunately, it's 2018 - and this kind of thing is possibly best shown either on TV or on a flight on a plane where coherence isn't fully embraced.

For Neeson, it's about time this action train was stopped - and he was allowed the dignity of getting off. 

Fifty Shades Freed: Blu Ray Review

Fifty Shades Freed: Blu Ray Review

Let's be honest, nobody expects Oscar-calibre material from this mommy-porn book series.

And nobody really expects a critic's view of the film to quash the series that's galvanised female audiences and raked millions in here and abroad.

It is fair to say that the series' capper Fifty Shades Freed is perhaps not the film for fans of the franchise or for drama given how lacklustre and terrifically dull it plays out on screen.
At the end of Fifty Shades Darker, sub Ana Steele (played by Johnson, who finds the humour and humanity in some of her delivery) was betrothed to marry dom Christian Grey (Dornan, whose sole direction appears to be to act wooden throughout).

Fifty Shades Freed picks up the story, and rather than delivering a spanking capper to the franchise, it follows Christian and Ana's push-and-pull relationship as Ana tests the boundaries of marriage and Grey's expectations - while throwing in a laughable stalker plot and mountains of product placement.

Whereas the earlier films had a commitment to the central relationship, the problem with Fifty Shades Freed is its attempts to wrangle out conflict where there's little, drama that's underwhelming and has potential squandered and someone trying to jam all the narrative elements together with the skill of a 3-year-old trying to smash a jigsaw complete.

Things happen, then mesh into a highly choreographed music-driven sex scene, before morphing out into the wider story without any signs of cinematic finesse.

It doesn't help that in many ways, Fifty Shades Freed becomes a different tale of white privilege in the MeToo world. Most of the squabbles and in particular Christian's reaction to them seem petty and selfish. These are the personifications of first world problems in many ways.

Granted, this is supposed to be some kind of character arc for Mr Grey, but unfortunately, through Foley's lack of direction, Dornan's acting is wooden in extremis. What emerges is a problem that's dogged Christian's portrayal throughout the series.

By contrast, Johnson's Ana finds the humanity in her character, and as with previous films, brings it to the fore. She's been the star of this series and has risen above some of the more risible dialogue thrust upon her.

Ultimately, Fifty Shades Freed is a fizzer.

Complete with some unsexy sex scenes that perpetuate the male gaze (there's a constant surprise there's little equality here), sub-lots that drift and resolve without any tension, copious product placement and a lack of any real drama, Fifty Shades Freed is a limp flaccid end to the series.

Thankfully though, audiences have finally been freed of the shackles of this series.