Key Note Gaming

You'd be forgiven for just now learning that there's a new Need For Speed coming out. I'd made a habit of forgetting about NFS over the last seven years of disappointing open world racing games, but this year's Need For Speed Unbound is hard to miss—literally. Unbound's unusual street art-inspired visuals drew attention when it was announced in October, with some fans hoping that, on release, they'd be able to turn off all those colorful effects . Well, you can, but after a few hours with Unbound I don't think you should. The game looks incredible right out of the box, and the funky new art style is a big part of it. Watching my car react to bumps, turns, and speed boosts with comic-booky sparks, skid marks, and smoke trails is quickly becoming my favorite part of the game. I'll admit, it was pretty weird at first to see cel-shaded cartoon characters climbing out of photoreal cars, especially in trailers. Videogames looks tend to stay in their lane on

Hollywood's favorite martial arts legend Bruce Lee is getting the big screen treatment at Sony. Ang Lee, renowned for his work on movies like Life of Pi and Brokeback Mountain, is directing the biopic, and his son, Mason Lee, is attached to star in the film as the Chinese American star. According to Deadline , the film is currently in development at Sony's 3000 Pictures with Dan Futterman adapting the script from Jean Castelli, Alex Law and Mabel Cheung and Wells Tower's earlier screenplays. Futterman's previous writing credits include hits like Capote and Foxcatcher. “Accepted as neither fully American nor Fully Chinese, Bruce Lee was a bridge between East and West who introduced Chinese Gung Fu to the world, a scientist of combat and an iconic performing artist who revolutionized both the martial arts and action cinema,” Ang Lee said in a statement. “I feel compelled to tell the story of this brilliant, unique human being who yearned for belonging, possessed treme

In an interview this week with podcaster and AI researcher Lex Fridmen , Todd Howard answered a question that's been on the minds of every Fallout fan. Will the story of Amazon's upcoming Fallout TV series be an original one, or is it an adaptation of one of the many Fallout games we've played over the years? "It's not retelling a game story," Howard said. "It's basically an area of the map, let's tell a story here that fits in the world that we have built. It doesn't break any of the rules, it can reference things in the games, but isn't a retelling of the games. It exists in the same world but is its own unique thing." It's great to have that finally confirmed, but it's not an entire surprise. We recently learned that the Fallout TV series will involve Vault 33 , which hasn't been used in any of the Fallout games yet. That makes a little more sense knowing that the story is a wholly original one. Howard also says in

One thing that co-op heresy cleanup detail sim Warhammer 40,000: Darktide inarguably does well is capture the 40K setting. Everything looks and sounds spot-on, thanks to a great soundtrack by Jesper Kyd and visuals that are so true to the original they even digitized the cargo containers you can buy as terrain for the tabletop wargame, as I noted in my list of Darktide easter eggs . As a videogame, one thing Darktide can't let you experience is the way the setting smells. Until now. Thanks to the official Darktide scented candle , which is a real piece of official merchandise that really exists, you can find out what Tertium Hive, a city full of plague in the grim darkness of the far future, would smell like. The candle is genuinely called "The Smell of Tertium", and it will burn for "approximately 22 hours" to really embed that scent in whatever room you inflict it on. This isn't actually the first time Warhammer 40,000 scented candles have been a thing

The second trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie has arrived, and unlike the brief teaser that we saw in October , this trailer is jam-packed with enough details, references and Easter eggs to sink an airship. Strap on your helmets and find your nearest Kart or Motorbike, it’s time to break down all of the plot details, and deep-cut references that we found in the new Super Mario Bros. movie Trailer. Mario Enters the Arena The trailer starts with a shot of Mario nervously walking out into a crowded arena as the soundtrack references the iconic theme of World 1-1 from the Super Mario Bros. NES Game. As the crowd chants Mario’s name, we’re reminded of this famous Super Mario Bros 3 commercial , featuring a crowd of Mario Fans so large that they can be seen from space. Mario vs. Donkey Kong Mario and Donkey Kong are standing on a bright-red girder, and in this shot you can see other details, such as a blue ladder, barrels and tires suspended in the air, and more red platfor

Today is the official release day for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide , and that means it's also the day for the launch-day patch . It's a big one—"Ogryn sized," as developer Fatshark put it, and in case you're not familiar with the term that's an ogryn in the image above—with changes aimed at both improving stability and bringing in a number of new features. There are actually two patches out today: 1.0.10, for all PC platforms (Steam and Microsoft Store), and 1.0.11, which is Steam exclusive, but also contains all the fixes in 1.0.10. It may seem a little confusing but Fatshark said the content and weapon balancing changes are identical in both patches, and that it aims to have "parity" in update numbering in future patches. Both updates are beefy, with fixes focusing on stability, matchmaking and network disconnections, and gameplay adjustments and balancing. Developers are also focusing on improving Darktide's ray tracing performance, which has

Growing up in a family that celebrates, there wasn't much that could compare with the tangible excitement of Christmas morning. The hype built up over months of watching shops roll out decorations, combined with an endless onslaught of thematic TV specials was overwhelming. All the while gifts were slowly piling up under the tree letting you scope out potential boxes, drop not-so-subtle hints, and otherwise be utterly caught up in the anticipation of amazing gifts. Trying to sleep on Christmas Eve was a challenge on par with riding down the steepest hill in town, so as soon as a theoretical argument could be formed that it's technically morning, you were up and ready. Bleary eyed parents were dragged out of their rooms with dressing gowns and weak mugs of tea to watch as those expertly wrapped gifts were torn asunder by grubby, ungrateful, motor skill-deficient little hands. "It's a NINTENDOOO SIXTY FOUUR" came the elated scream of a very happy child with a bra

Darktide's easter eggs have decades of Warhammer 40,000 world-building to pull from. Fatshark's previous games, the Vermintide series, likewise had years of the Warhammer Fantasy setting's backstory to draw on, and were delightfully rich with references.  Vermintide had easter eggs from the Warhammer Fantasy novels (the vampire Franz Lohner talks about is the protagonist of Drachenfels, which also provides the setting for a DLC), the pen-and-paper RPG (expansions like Death on the Reik and Shadows Over Bögenhafen are named after its adventures), and other Warhammer videogames (Lohner has a shield with the heraldry of the Grudgebringers from Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen, and makes sly references suggesting he was actually their commander, Morgan Bernhardt). Darktide may have slightly fewer easter eggs than the two Vermintide games at the moment, though that's only fair given that they've had years of updates and add-ons to pack them in. The easter eggs

A new Marvel Snap update has added a bunch of new cards plus a new way to earn them. The update, called The Power Cosmic, will add a number of new cards including Thanos, She-Hulk, and Galactus… and perhaps most importantly, introduces Collector’s Tokens. “We're planning to patch at 3 PM Pacific today!” said Marvel Snap creator Ben Brode. “Once you log into the new patch the game will look at your Collection Level and grant your Collector's Tokens. Have fun! Can't wait to see what new decks everyone will build!” Collector’s Tokens are a brand-new mechanic which should make acquiring those last finishing touches to your latest deck a little bit easier. The idea is simple – players are awarded Collector’s Tokens by increasing their Collector’s Level, and these can be spent in the Store to purchase new cards. Essentially, it’s a new kind of currency that’s a neat way of picking up one or two cards to finish off your latest deck. The number of Collector’s Tokens you

If there's one thing we've learned through the consumption of popular media, it's that sooner or later, the machines are going to rise up and kick our asses. For those who haven't yet picked up on that message, here's another opportunity: Synced , an upcoming third-person roguelite looter-shooter that's going into open beta testing in December. Synced is set in humanity's near future, following an event called the Collapse, which saw the nanomachines we'd come to rely on for the day-to-day operation of our civilization decide that they could do better as a solo act. Thus, they began propagating themselves by consuming humans—not really sure how that would work, but this is a videogame, not science class—and ultimately morphed into deadly creatures known as Nanos. Now it falls to you and your pals to face them down as Runners: Fortune-seekers who make runs through the dangerous region known as the Meridian in search of a substance called "nano-e