For years, fans of the acclaimed stealth series Metal Gear have wondered if the film adaptation would ever see the light of day. Like many other major video game franchises, attempts have been made since the early 2000’s to turn Metal Gear into a film, with little to show besides the shuffling of studios and directors.
While many fans would no doubt love to see Solid Snake on the big screen, many were also weary due to the frequently horrendous quality of video game movies. Thankfully, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has been attached to the project, and he has so far demonstrated that he is a huge fan of the Metal Gear series. Vogt-Roberts, who previously directed “Kong: Skull Island,” has been spending a lot of time with series creator Hideo Kojima to make sure the film leads up to expectations. In the liner notes for Vogt-Robert’s film Kings of Summer, Kojima writes that he believes “No one else but him can direct Metal Gear Solid”.
Metal Gear is far from a typical action franchise. It combines military action with surrealism, offbeat humor, heavy philosophical themes, and genre deconstruction. But if Kojima himself has faith in Vogt-Robert and his script, that’s good enough for us.
To celebrate the 31st anniversary of the release of the original Metal Gear on the MSX, Vogt-Roberts has teamed up with a group of artists to create concept art relating to the film and the Metal Gear franchise. One piece of art is revealed every day for 31 days. All of the art released so far can be viewed below this Twitter thread:
DAY 7 of #METALGEAR31st@maciejkuciara was a huge part of cracking the code on the 8-bit-tribal-villager-war-paint in KONG.
This piece explores visualizing active-camouflage + integration into an environment.
Smule is a free app that works like karaoke in your pocket. Sing with a partner or harmonize in a group, or even jam out by yourself. Pick the song you want from a still-growing catalog that features millions of songs, and sing along in a very user-friendly interface. After you can save and choose to share your voice with the world. Download it right here:
Anyone who pays for Smule is considered a VIP member. Being VIP gets you a few key features to which you won’t otherwise have access. A VIP membership gets you:
1. Access to far more songs. Thousands more choices than non-paying members.
2. The option to sing solo, duet, or group with anyone you like.
3. A variety of voice and studio FX that you can filter your voice through in post. This means you can slap on effects like reverb, delay, or even autotune.
If you stick with the free version, you’ll still HAVE a good number of songs to choose from, and the catalog is frequently refreshed. You can scroll through it until you find one you want to sing, then pick who you’d like to sing it with. It probably won’t be someone you know, though. But if you’re ready for your big break, you can save your recording and share it on social media.
Finding a match
The beauty of Smule is that you can hop on anytime and join someone as the second voice. To start, just boot up the app and pick a song. The Feed and Songbook tabs give you recommended songs based on the genres you favor. Just click any of the ones it suggests and the music starts. Click ‘join’ in the top right, and if you’re using the free version hit ‘join someone for free.’
You can pick from any of the users listed and it’ll take you straight to the karaoke window. Hit start and the music plays. The lyrics that come up in gray are for the host, blue lyrics are for the second voice (you in most cases), and any lyrics in yellow are for both of you to sing.
Alternatively the Explore tab lets you pick a specific genre or playlist and narrow down your selection from there. Click the song you want to take a crack at, and click ‘sing‘ in the corner. Choose your user and you’re good to go. Smule will encourage you to use headphones as it improves the audio quality. We concur.
Can you sing with friends?
The important question. The answer is yes you can… but not for free. If you’re a VIP you get to pick ‘solo,’ ‘duet,’ or ‘group‘ after you click on a song to cover. In that case, you’ll be the melody singer and you can send an invite to your followers once you’ve sung your part. Your friends will receive a message, and then they can choose to fill in the harmony whenever they want. For more specific details regarding this process, you can check out this FAQ.
We think Smule is a great way to train your vocal chops and learn the words to your favorite songs. Most importantly, though, it’s a way to connect with friends and meet new people. It’s a unique way to reach out in an environment that caters to collaboration and harmony. Having a friend reach out to you with a song that needs a harmony can be a lot more special than a Snapchat pic or a poke on Facebook.
Even when we were singing harmony with total strangers, we found Smule to be a very friendly, respectful environment. It kind of has to be; singing is a very personal experience, especially when you’re covering a song that you care about.
No one on the app is there because they were told to be. They’re there because they love to sing and want to share their voice with the world.
According to Overwatch lead designer Jeff Kaplan, Overwatch’s new endorsement system has had a significant impact in reducing toxicity. The post where Kaplan explains this can be viewed below:
As the post demonstrates, in the Americas alone, the number of players engaging in daily abusive behavior has gone down nearly 29 percent. While it remains to be seen if the numbers will remain at this level, this is undoubtedly already an impressive impact. While some players have complained that this system has led to people being “fake nice” in order to score XP and loot, a game environment of fake nice people beats out a toxic hellhole every time.
Overwatch had a noted toxicity problem in the past, with many players (especially women) feeling like the harassment and stressful environment turned them off of the game. Blizzard implemented smaller measures to curb this in the past. One example of a much less serious measure they took was automatically replacing the phrase “gg ez”, which mockingly means “good game easy”, with humorous phrases like “I feel very, very small… please hold me…” and “It’s past my bedtime. Please don’t tell my mommy.” The endorsement system seems to say that Blizzard is now taking in-game toxicity much more seriously than it has in the past.
Blizzard isn’t the only developer working hard to make their game communities less toxic. Ubisoft recently added an automatic chat filter to their popular online shooter Rainbow Six: Siege which boots players from games automatically for using racist or sexist slurs, among other words. While trash talk has been a staple of competition ever since man first picked up a ball, there comes a point where harmless trash talk becomes harassment. While this has been present in online gaming since its inception, saying “that’s just how the internet works” doesn’t cut it anymore.
Every great shooter lives and dies by its maps, and every amazing shooter has THAT map. Over the years these maps have caused countless amounts of eyestrain and trash talk due to their inventive and fun designs. Seasoned veterans of these maps often know their layout better than they know their own neighborhoods, and for good reason: navigating these maps is a lot more fun.
5. Goldeneye 007 – Facility
This Nintendo 64 classic is the OG of couch multiplayer shooters. Goldeneye 007 changed the gaming landscape with its variety of weapons, modes, and maps, with none being more iconic than Facility. Players had to master its many levels, scrambling via stairs or air vents to get the Golden Gun. Despite being a huge map, the hallways were thin and the rooms were small, leading to tense close quarters combat. The cramped hallways were also infamous for being constantly littered with proximity mines, leading to instant death for any player unfortunate to pass by. Finally catching up to the player who blew you up and taking him down with slappers is a cathartic feeling unmatched by any modern game.
4. Call of Duty – Nuketown
One of the most iconic maps of the Call of Duty series, Nuketown packs a lot of chaos into a tiny map. Nuketown features a stereotypical 1950’s model neighborhood, complete with bright pastel colors and creepy mannequins, that gets destroyed by a nuclear blast at the end of the round. The layout of the map is simple, with two houses opposite each other, backyards behind them, and vehicles in the middle. This simple premise strips the COD experience down to its basics, favoring map knowledge and skill. Nuketown is so popular that it has appeared in every Black Ops game to date, including as a terrifying zombie map.
3. Halo – Blood Gulch
The Halo series has had no shortage of amazing maps, but Bungie arguably created their best one in the original game with Blood Gulch. The premise of the map was team deathmatch at its finest: two teams, one red and one blue, each started in a base. From there, they would use vehicles like the fast and powerful Warthog or the brutal semi-invincible Scorpion to assault the base of the enemy team, blowing them away and taking their flag. The simple team vs team dynamic of the map was the catalyst for countless LAN parties. It even spawned one of the most popular and long-lasting machinima series ever in Red vs Blue.
2. Modern Warfare 2 – Rust
There is perhaps no better saying that exemplifies the Xbox Live generation than “1v1 me rust”. Younger players may not realize that at the time of its release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was everywhere, achieving a level of ubiquity that almost matches Fortnite today. The game was a perfect mess of imbalanced weapons and perks, and was a breeding ground for salty players screaming into their headsets. When emotions came to a head and pride was on the line, every player knew that the only map where beef could be settled was a 1v1 on Rust. Often played with snipers only, 1v1’s on Rust were a tense affair. The tiny map didn’t leave many places to hide, and any player that was able to scramble to the top of the structure in the middle found themselves at an immediate advantage. So many scores were settled here back in the day, and hopefully, the rumored Modern Warfare 2 remaster actually sees the light of day so that newer players can experience the intensity of putting your whole gaming career at stake in a single match.
1. Counter-Strike – Dust2
What else could it be? Counter-Strike’s dust2 is not only a masterful example of map design, but it’s one of the most well-designed levels in video game history. As the round starts, both terrorists and counter-terrorists must make a decision on which bombsite to rush. Do they split up their team between A and B? Gamble on one site and send the whole team? Cover is minimal except at the most important sites, and there are no out-of-place nooks or camping spots that feel like they’re unfair. The middle lanes of the map are high-risk, high-reward areas that lead to the best defensive spots but require a fight to push through. Feeling perfectly balanced for both teams, the map can be played thousands of times without feeling old, due to its combination of straightforwardness and mind games.
The Overwatch roster currently features 28 playable heroes, with players able to take control of everything from a talking gorilla to a robotic monk. With such a huge list of characters to choose from, trying to find the hero that best suits your play style might seem like an impossible task. Whether you’re a new player or just trying to switch things up, here are a few tips to help you quickly find your best hero.
With 28 playable characters, your first goal should be narrowing down that list to a handful of characters that you think might be right for you. The best way to start your search is to think of the games you already play. Though there are a few more unique options, most Overwatch characters fit into some familiar play styles. If you’re a fan of classic first-person shooters like Call of Duty or Battlefield, starting with Soldier: 76 can be a great way to get the hang of the game. Doomfist has a lot in common with characters from fighting games like Mortal Kombat, and Widowmaker is just one of the sniper heroes that should appeal to all the marksmen out there. Team Fortress 2 veterans will also find some familiar classes: turret-building Torbjorn is reminiscent of the Engineer and Mercy will feel familiar to fans of the Medic. Take a look through the classes and see if anything sounds familiar to you. You might be surprised at what you find.
How Overwatch raised a jaw-dropping amount of money for breast cancer research
Rather than trying to settle on an individual character from the list, it can help to think of what role you want to fill. The hero roster is subdivided into Damage, Support, and Tank roles.
Damage heroes focus on dealing damage to the enemy team, as the name implies. This role would be most suited to a player with quick reflexes who prefers fast-paced, frontline combat.
Support characters are the healers of the game, and play an important role keeping the team at full health while at the same time enhancing their abilities with damage boosts and other buffs. This class may be tricky to get the hang of for more casual multiplayer gamers, but it can also be extremely fun and gratifying.
Finally, Tanks have huge amounts of health and armor, and generally come equipped with some kind of shielding or defensive ability. Tanks soak up damage from the enemy team while leading the charge to the enemy objective, and keep other players on their team safe from harm.
If one of these roles appeals to you more than the others, start testing out the characters in that role. Selecting your character by finding the role you want to fill is a much easier way to narrow down the list than sifting through each hero one by one.
Don’t Get Stuck
This is maybe the most important thing to remember when choosing your hero. We all have our favorites, whether it be Tracer, Reaper, or Reinhardt. It’s a tough thing to realize, but your favorite character might not be the character you’re best at playing. Focusing on playing a single character or a character that you like may be preventing you from finding the character you actually excel at. So instead of trying to play a character that just isn’t working for you, experiment and test out some new heroes.
Don’t Play Just One
Overwatch is much more fun once you start playing characters based on what your team needs. After you’ve found and mastered your first hero, try to master at least one hero in each role. Don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone. There’s actually quite a bit of overlap between the roles. There are Support characters that play like Damage characters, Tanks that play like Support, and everything in between. There’s a bit of a learning curve to each hero, but the only way to learn them is to pick one and start playing!
One final tip to keep in mind: have fun. Overwatch is one of the most accessible multiplayer games out there, and such a huge roster means there’s a hero for everyone. Using the tips on this list will make finding your best hero easier, and the faster you do that, the faster you’ll start winning.
Although at first this feature seems a bit like censorship, it’s best to look at it another way: with this option, WhatsApp closes in on one of its rivals, Telegram, which has groups that you simply join to receive information, nothing more.
For example, this option is very useful for creating WhatsApp channels to send news, offers or any other information to group members. Also, restricting comments avoids spam and the disclosure of private data.
Although in restricted groups, normal members can’t write messages, there’s an option to get in touch with the administrators privately.
At first, this option will only be available for the iOS and Android versions of the app. To check if you have it activated, just go to the group where you’re an administrator, enter the group options and look for the option “Group settings” or something similar. Once here, you can adjust the settings for “Sending messages.” You can select who can send messages: just admins or all chat participants.
Starting February 1, 2020, users with old versions of Android or iOS won’t be able to use WhatsApp. Specifically, cell phones will stop being able to use WhatsApp if they have Android 2.3.7 or earlier and iOS 7 or earlier.
WhatsApp has announced that from now on, they will stop supporting cell phones with these versions. This means that, if you’re included in this group, you could be left without future WhatsApp updates. It’s also possible that some existing features may stop working.
There aren’t specific numbers on how many users this change will affect. We know from Google that 0.3% of its users still have cell phones with Android 2.3.7. This translates to about 6 million cell phones and tablets. What about versions before 2.3.7.? Well, that remains a mystery.
Last December, WhatsApp also announced that it would stop supporting cell phones with Windows 8.0 or earlier, as well as the Nokia Symbian S60, Blackberry OS and Blackberry 10.
A wise pirate knows the devil’s dance of combat: The swerve and the thrust, the swipe and the parry. An even wiser pirate knows that “he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.” The wisest pirate of all knows that combat is a job best suited to your lackeys. Your time, meanwhile, is better spent sweeping in with a blunderbuss to pick up the pieces once the dust settles, and hoisting sail to the nearest vendor. There you can sell the remains of your dear departed colleagues and use it for grog money.
Don’t give us that look. This is a game about pirates!!
Truthfully though, combat is an unavoidable pillar of Sea of Thieves’ gameplay, and knowing the ins and outs of a fight is the difference between a plunder and a blunder (guess which one ends with you walking away with the loot). Every player can carry two weapons, so choose wisely. What you bring into the battle is going to play a huge difference in your role. To help you decide, we’ve put together a guide that will hopefully make that choice a little easier.
Pistol
Powerful and versatile, each player begins a match with a pistol and cutlass by default. You’d think that any starting weapons are sub-par when compared to ones you’d pick up later, but in the case of Sea of Thieves, you’d be wrong. The weapons here are a balancing act in this title, and the deciding factor of any PvP is rarely the weapon a player is using, but the angle from which he is attacking. Every weapon has its place, and the pistol is no exception.
** Any upgrades or purchases you make at a vendor are aesthetic onlyand will not have any effect on a weapon’s damage or utility. You’ll just look cooler.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/sea-of-thieves
The pistol outmatches the blunderbuss in terms of accuracy (as you might expect) and it also has a faster reload speed, meaning that you can fire off a second shot before the other guy does. This is important for one big reason:
A single shot from the pistol will deal 53% damage to a human target. That means if you can land two shots, they’re down. See where we’re going with this? You dominate mid-range combat with the pistol. It may not feel like it fires all that quickly, but the fact of the matter is that it’s still firing faster than the other two firearms. Combine that with the two-shot kill and you have a very powerful weapon indeed.
Cutlass
Your other default weapon, the cutlass is the mark of the true buccaneer. Yes, it has less range than any other weapon. Yes, it does the least damage. Yes, it takes three hits to kill even a basic skeleton. We still think it’s the best weapon you can get your hands on in this game.
Hear us out.
At the end of the day, the sword is only as good as the swordsman. Mastering the cutlass will take time, practice, and patience (at least two traits that pirates do not have in abundance). The primary attack is a sword slash that deals a small 20% damage. Logically, landing the three-hit combo will do 60% damage. Now we’re getting somewhere. In addition, hitting another player can slow them, hindering their ability to turn. Unable to adjust their view angle, you should be able to dispatch them far more easily.
The sword’s lunge ability does a mighty 49% damage, and is one of its defining features in Sea of Thieves. The lunge lends a unique balance to the rock-paper-scissors combat for this game. Charging the lunge (primary attack button) will slow your walk speed, BUT if you block you will negate the movement penalty. Jump at the start of your lunge and you can cover still more distance, closing the gap between you and the guy with the pistol or Eye of Reach.
The cutlass is also the only weapon in the game that can block, making it your best defensive option. On top of all that, and this is a no-brainer, the cutlass does not use ammo! We recommend having a cutlass as a backup weapon on most of your adventures. Its defense, mobility, infinite usage, and general classiness make it our top choice.
For more advice on the best ways to use a cutlass, definitely give this video a thorough look:
Eye of Reach
Found in an armory (scattered around the game world), the Eye of Reach is the game’s sniper rifle. With a slow rate of fire and reload time, this weapon favors a high risk/high reward style of gameplay, much like the blunderbuss.
Accurate from extremely far, the Eye of Reach also doubles as a spyglass. We found it unexpectedly useful when scouting new areas or when doing recon on skeleton forts. It is generally advisable to have at least one of your crew hit the seas with this in his hands. It’s invaluable for scouting, backing up the players leading the charge, and for picking off enemies before your ship even reaches the island.
With the Eye of Reach, it’s important to keep several universal factors of Sea of Thieves’ combat in mind:
There is no friendly fire in Sea of Thieves. At least not directly. If you’re the team marksman and you’re watching your teammate’s back, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger, even if you’re you have the shot; you can’t hurt him.
Headshots will not do extra damage. Again don’t hesitate to shoot. If you’re not firing from far away, we advise quickscoping over long careful aiming.
Lastly, damage in or out of water is the same in Sea of Thieves. If the fight lands you in the water (which it often does), remember that that has no bearing on the damage of your gun. Considering the Eye of Reach does a whopping 79% damage in a single shot, you’re nearly unmatched in terms of raw damage, on land or underwater.
The blunderbuss is the go-to weapon for any pirate who’s had enough monkeying around. And no, that’s not a Monkey Island reference. This is a shotgun, tried and true, and should only be used at close quarters. The blunderbuss fires ten shots at once in an unpredictable formation. Each of those shots deals around 15% damage. The more shots that land, the more total damage you’ll do.
It takes a minimum of seven shots to instantly down an enemy, which means that the only chance you have to score that sweet one-hit KO is to fire as close to point-blank range as you can afford to get. Careful when you take your shot; the rate of fire is slow, and you’ll probably be in the thick of the fight if you’re using the blunderbuss like you’re supposed to.
Much like the Eye of Reach, however, we think it’s a good idea for at least one teammate to be using a blunderbuss at all times. It comes in extremely handy when ambushed by a horde of skeletons or when going toe to toe with a ship full of enemy players.
For a side by side comparison of weapon damages in Sea of Thieves, along with more awesome combat strategies, check out the video below.
Step carefully and we’ll see you on the high seas!
Not all Reddit forums have their own chat rooms though. So let us guide you through the best Reddit chats so you’ll know whether you can go deep with fellow members of your favorite subreddit or not.
Reddit chat rooms are already available right across Reddit, but not all subreddit threads have opted in. Mods from each Reddit forum have to opt-in by adding their subreddit to this thread. So Reddit chats aren’t available all over the site, but if you’re hoping to chat with somebody who’ll make you cringe, don’t worry, Reddit still has you covered! There are many ways to find Reddit chat rooms you’ll love.
Check your favorite subreddit for chat rooms
The mods of some subreddits will have stickied a post announcing the creation of their new chat rooms. So if you’re after Overwatch Reddit just head over to reddit/r/overwatch and see if there is a stickied post about a new chat room. If you’re after a Reddit chat about Metal Gear Solid head over there and see what you can find.
If there is no post at the top of the subreddit, however, just scroll down a little. The chat room module showing the different rooms connected to the subreddit is found in the sidebar on the right. If the subreddit has chat rooms, you’ll find them underneath the list of moderators.
Open Reddit chat directly
Now if you’re stuck in the past and are fighting against the massive Reddit redesign, you won’t be able to access the chat rooms. If you have taken some bold steps into the future, then you should see some new icons in the top right-hand corner of the page, next to your username. The chat room icon is the little speech bubble with three dots. Click this, and you’ll open up Reddit chat at the bottom of the screen.
With chat open, you’ll see all the available subreddits you follow that have chat enabled. Subreddits can have more than one chat room, so don’t be surprised if you see a few chat rooms connected to a single Reddit thread. Once you’ve found a chat room, you like just hit Join to start chatting.
The Reddit chat room subreddit
Yes, with Reddit being Reddit somebody has set up a community that is dedicated to talking about the best chat rooms available on Reddit. Check our r/SubChats for all the best Reddit chats going on at any particular moment. As with all subreddits, this particular Reddit forum allows you to sort out all the posts based on Hot posts, New posts, Top posts, Controversial posts, and Rising posts. If you want to see the chat rooms that people think are the best hit Top and then select Of All Time.
Reddit chat
Could Reddit chat rooms become something in their own right? Could people start logging into Reddit and heading straight to the chat and not even bothering with the subreddits? Maybe. For people interested in that, there is the standalone full-screen chatroom module. If you’re feeling chatty, you can head straight there. Like all the other ways of entering chat, you’ll find the recommended rooms that come from the subreddits you follow. At the bottom of the list, however, you’ll find Recommend Me a Room. Here, you’ll find plenty of members who you can chat with to get recommendations on new rooms to join based on your interests. Pretty sweet.
Virtual Reality games have been coming out slowly over the last few years, as we perfect VR as a gaming platform. Despite their slow development, we already have some amazing games for this platform that everyone should be trying out. Here are our top 5 VR games out so far:
1. Job Simulator
This game is funny and adorable, and sure to give you a few laughs. Based in a future where robots have made desk work obsolete, you get to try out being an office worker in the present day. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’ll enjoy the tongue-in-cheek quips this game has to share.
Even if you’ve played Skyrim 100 times (and let’s face it, you probably have), Skyrim in VR is a whole new experience. The best thing about Skyrim is being able to create your own mythical adventure. VR enhances this experience in ways you would never expect. The VR version of Skyrim is definitely worth playing for fans old and new.
This game is the most physically challenging VR game out there. Sprint Vector gives you various challenges, mostly races, in which you compete to the best of your physical ability. While you would expect this to take a strain on your lower body, your hands and arms play the biggest part in how fast you go. It’s definitely a unique experience.
If there is a game that rivals Sprint Vector in how immersive the VR experience is, then it’s Superhot. You’ve probably seen screenshots from this game, or maybe even gotten to test it out at a few VR testing sites. Not only is the gameplay incredible, and fluid, but the story is fantastic. Definitely worth checking out if you’re interested in VR
Have you ever wanted to be a Jedi? Well you finally can with Beat Saber. This game is the perfect mixture of Dance Dance Revolution and virtual reality. You truly feel like you are slicing through cubes as they come at you in rhythm with the music. It’s incredibly immersive and one of the best VR games out there, by far.
