Among the surprises that Microsoft had in store its E3 2019 press conference was Phantasy Star Online 2. Years after its release in Japan, the game will finally launch in North America. And while its presence on Microsoft's stage at E3 assured us an Xbox One release is in the but Xbox head Phil Spencer has confirmed the game will arrive on other platforms--although whether that means PS4, Nintendo Switch, or something else remains to be seen..
Spencer sat down with Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann to talk about Xbox's presence at E3 2019. The nearly 50-minute interview saw the two chat about the excitement surrounding the MMO's Western reveal. "I'm not trying to say this is because of me but I said [to Sega], 'You know, so many of the constructs in today's online console games were born in Phantasy Star and 90 percent of the gamers today don't know what a Phantasy Star Online is,'" Spencer told Gerstmann.
The Western Localization trailer revealed during E3 2019, above, announces that Phantasy Star Online 2 will finally make its way to North America. And while Spencer couldn't confirm whether the game will appear in other regions like Europe and the Middle East because "Sega's ultimately responsible for it," he did say the game isn't console exclusive. "Yes, it will end up on all platforms."
There's no specification on what "all platforms" means, and Gerstmann didn't press for clarification on this statement, but Spencer is certain the MMO will not just be exclusive to the Xbox family. Spencer "happens to have a soft spot" for Phantasy Star Online, believes "it can be a meaningful franchise," and is just excited to work with Sega again.
Phantasy Star Online 2 will arrive sometime in Spring 2020.
Back in May, Pokemon Go developer Niantic announced it would be bringing three Legendary Pokemon back to the game, beginning with Cresselia. If you've yet to capture one, however, your time is quickly running out. The Lunar Pokemon is scheduled to leave Raid Battles this Tuesday, June 18, making this your last opportunity to catch it--and possibly find a Shiny Cresselia.
If you're hoping to add Cresselia to your collection, you'll first need to team up with other players in-person and take on the Legendary Pokemon in a Raid Battle. Cresselia is a pure Psychic-type, so you'll want to bring along Ghost, Dark, and Bug Pokemon like Giratina, Tyranitar, and Scizor when you battle it. If you manage to defeat Cresselia, everyone who participated in the Raid will receive a handful of Premier Balls along with an opportunity to catch it.
Immediately following Cresselia's departure, the Gen 3 Legendary Kyogre will return in Pokemon Go. It'll appear in Raid Battles until June 27; after that, it'll be replaced by its Pokemon Ruby counterpart, Groudon, which will be available until July 10. Just as with Cresselia, you'll also have a chance of encountering Kyogre and Groudon's Shiny forms when each Legendary returns to Raids.
Niantic's annual Pokemon Go Fest event is now underway in Chicago. To celebrate the occasion, the Water-type Pokemon Horsea will spawn much more frequently than normal from now until Go Fest ends on June 16. Not only that, but you'll also have a chance of finding Shiny Horsea. Those who are attending the event, meanwhile, can find Shiny Abra, as well as Alolan Vulpix, a special Eevee wearing a floral crown, and the Mythical Pokemon Jirachi. If you can't attend Go Fest in-person, you can still participate in Global Challenges to help unlock in-game rewards and bonuses.
In other Pokemon news, we learned much more about the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield games during E3 2019. Nintendo shared details about the games' new Dynamax battle mechanic, which can supersize a Pokemon during a battle. We also learned more about how Max Raid Battles work and why you can't transfer every old Pokemon to the games. Sword and Shield launch on November 15; you can read more about the games in our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.
Nintendo showcased much more of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake during its E3 2019 presentation. While the game looks largely like a faithful reimagining of the classic Game Boy adventure, we learned it will introduce at least one major new feature, a dungeon creator, and we got a glimpse of how that will work during a Treehouse livestream demo.
The dungeon creator feature is accessed from the Chamber Dungeon, a new location in Tal Tal Heights that replaces the Camera Shop from the DX version of Link's Awakening. When you clear a dungeon during the course of your adventure, you'll earn rooms from it (known in-game as Chambers) with which you'll then be able to create your own custom dungeons.
It doesn't appear you'll be able to customize the contents of these Chambers--it seems each is lifted straight from the game's existing dungeons--but you'll be able to rearrange the placement of the rooms in almost any order you please, provided you meet some basic requirements; for example, each dungeon will need to have an entrance, as well as a boss room, and all of the doorways within the dungeon must be connected to another doorway.
Series producer Eiji Aonuma shed a bit more light on the new Chamber Dungeon feature during the Treehouse demo. "I've always wanted to create a way for players to create their own dungeons, but I didn't want to make it anything too hard," he explained through an interpreter. "Just like solving a puzzle, I wanted to make this Chamber Dungeon easy enough for people to play and feel like they're solving a puzzle."
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening launches for Nintendo Switch on September 20. In North America, the game will release in standard and Dreamer editions, the latter of which includes a hardcover art book. In Europe, however, players will be able to pick up an extravagant Limited edition, which comes with an art book as well as a steelbook case that resembles an original Game Boy. You can read more in our Link's Awakening pre-order guide.
Nintendo is also releasing a new Link's Awakening Amiibo alongside the game. When scanned into the game, the figure will add a "plus effect" to the Chamber Dungeon. As Nintendo explained, these plus effects "are layered on top of the Chambers and add a new gameplay variant." The Link's Awakening Amiibo in particular will add Shadow Link, who'll chase you throughout the dungeon. The game will also be compatible with any previous Zelda Amiibo figures, which can unlock additional Chambers.
That wasn't the only big Zelda news to emerge from Nintendo's E3 Direct. The company also announced a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is in development for Switch. Nintendo shared an eerie teaser trailer for it to close out the Direct; you can read our trailer breakdown and theories here. The Zelda spin-off Cadence of Hyrule also released on the Switch Eshop this week.
Japanese developer Atlus, creators of the Etrian Odyssey and Persona franchises, has announced a cross-over between the puzzle-platformer Catherine and RPG Persona 5 during E3 2019. The re-release of Catherine--Catherine: Full Body, releasing this September--will see Joker and the Phantom Thieves enter the platforming action.
Catherine: Full Body includes Persona 5's main English voice cast and features Joker as a playable character in multiplayer. The Persona 5 characters can be acquired by either purchasing the Digital Deluxe edition of Catherine: Full Body or buying the add-on after the game launches. In a new trailer for the game, Joker is seen scurrying across a mountain of constantly shifting boxes while the rest of the Phantom Thieves cheer him on. Check out the announcement trailer below.
Catherine: Full Body - Joker And The Phantom Thieves (Persona 5) Trailer
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This isn't Joker's first cross-over. The Phantom Thieves leader has also appeared as a color swap for Yu Narukami in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, his outfit was a pre-order bonus for Sonic Forces, he most recently challenged Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as part of the game's Fighter Pass, and more.
In our original Catherine review, we said that the game "doesn't just challenge your hand/eye coordination: It challenges your intellect and your emotions."
Catherine: Full Body will launch on September 3 for PlayStation 4.
Xur has returned for another weekend in Destiny 2 with a couple of Year Two Exotics you might need to fill out your collection. And with the first Iron Banner of the Season of Opulence kicking off next week, one is especially handy--provided you're not using a sniper rifle to chase the new Crucible Pinnacle weapon like literally everyone else. Here's where to find Xur and a rundown of what he's selling.
Like last week, Xur is once again on Nessus. You'll find him on Calus's golden barge, standing near all those glittering treasure chests filled with Imperials. His big offer is the Forsaken linear fusion rifle The Queenbreaker, which fires powerful bolts of arc energy great for popping the heads of your Guardian adversaries in the Crucible or when invading in Gambit and Gambit Prime.
On the armor side, Warlocks have access to a second Year Two Exotic this week: Geomag Stabilizers, a pair of boots that extend the duration of your Chaos Reach Super when you're dealing damage with it. Sprinting can also top off your Super energy if it's near full to get you blasting away with Chaos Reach more quickly. For Hunters, there's Knucklehead Radar, a helmet that maintains your radar even when aiming down sights. It's very handy for Crucible as well, providing a more detailed radar readout when you crouch. Finally, Titans can snag the ACD/0 Feedback Fence gauntlets, which store energy when you make melee kills and release it in an explosion if you take damage from a melee attack.
Xur Exotics For June 14-18
The Queenbreaker (Exotic linear fusion rifle) -- 29 Legendary Shards
Geomag Stabilizers (Exotic Warlock leg armor) -- 23 Legendary Shards
If Xur's inventory doesn't interest, you can also buy a Fated Engram, if you can afford it. Dropping 97 Legendary Shards on the item will grant you one Year One Exotic you don't already have for that character. Xur also offers the Five of Swords challenge card for free, which allows you to add difficulty modifiers that increase your score in Nightfall runs.
And if you haven't finished all of Xur's Invitations of the Nine from the Season of the Drifter, you can snag one of those as well. The bounty was new in Season of the Drifter, dispensing Powerful gear rewards, a bit of story about the Nine and the Drifter, and a lore drop.
CD Projekt Red blew up E3 2019 with the reveal that Keanu Reeves has a very big part in next year's Cyberpunk 2077. Reeves stole the show (although Ikumi Nakamura arguably stole it back during the reveal of Ghostwire Tokyo during Bethesda's press conference) when he appeared on stage during Microsoft's E3 press conference. We later found out later just how extensively we'll be Reeves-visiting his character, Cyberpunk 2020 mainstay Johnny Silverhand: Reeves is the second-most prolific character in the game, after player character V.
Johnny's presence in the story runs throughout the game, lead quest designer Pawel Sasko told GameSpot during the show. He's a "digital ghost" who resides in V's head, which means he'll pop up often to quip about stuff and to give you a bit of guidance as you play the game. But Johnny is a character in his own right, too. He has an agenda of his own that doesn't necessarily align with V's, and how you shape your relationship with him through the choices you make will be impactful on the story as it develops.
There's a lot of backstory about Johnny in Cyberpunk 2020, the pen-and-paper RPG from which Cyberpunk 2077 is adapted. Before he existed as your almost-imaginary friend, he was a revolutionary and the lead singer of the band Samurai. He died in one of the Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebooks, but though he lacks corporeal form, he still speaks and appears to V in the game.
Johnny's musical background raises one essential question, however: Will we get to hear Keanu Reeves serenade us when we play Cyberpunk?
"Oh, I can't talk about it at this point," Sasko said when our Jordan Ramée put the question to him.
But it's not like Cyberpunk 2077 isn't acknowledging Johnny's musical legacy all over the place. Look at how loaded this screenshot released during E3 is:
A guitarist playing under a big graffiti sign asking about Johnny? Could they be any more obvious about setting up Johnny Silverhand's music in the world? They might as well just come out and release a trailer of Keanu singing right now. Like today. Like later this evening. They're not fooling anyone.
There was also some provocative set dressing in the room where CD Projekt sent journalists to hang out while they waited for their demo:
It's a rough photo (sorry, my fault), but you can clearly see a Silverhand record displayed here, plus an actual guitar. Johnny might be dead in Cyberpunk, but the preponderance of circumstantial evidence I've gathered suggests his music is alive and well in 2077. And what has music? That's right: video games.
And you don't hire freakin' Keanu "Ted 'Theodore' Logan" Reeves as a cyborg singer in a band that's central to the franchise and just, like, not ask him to sing, right? That would be, and I cannot stress this enough, absolute madness.
This would be specifically ridiculous because Keanu is an actual singer! He was in a band! When he shreds air guitar in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, that's (probably) not acting--he knows how to play guitar!
I MEAN LOOK:
And then there's the most glaring piece of pro-Keanu-crooning (Krooneanu) evidence: CD Projekt dodging the question. If Reeves doesn't sing in Cyberpunk, wouldn't Sasko have just said so? Saying he can't talk about it means there's something to talk about, and that thing is that Keanu sings in this game, probably to you specifically because he lives in your head: a private concert in your brain, and by extension, your living room (or wherever your PC is I guess).
The pieces all add up. I'm calling it: Keanu sings confirmed.
CD Projekt Red blew up E3 2019 when it revealed that Keanu Reeves will have a major role in its upcoming RPG Cyberpunk 2077. Reeves stole the show (although it was arguably stolen back by Ikumi Nakamura during Bethesda's reveal of Ghostwire Tokyo) when he appeared on stage during Microsoft's E3 press conference. He doesn't just have a cameo role, though--we found out later from CD Projekt that Reeves' character, Johnny Silverhand, is the second-most prolific character in the game, after player character V.
Johnny's presence in the story runs throughout the game, lead quest designer Pawel Sasko told GameSpot during the show. He's a "digital ghost" who resides in V's head, which means he'll pop up often to quip about stuff and to give you a bit of guidance as you play the game. But Johnny is a character in his own right, too. He has an agenda of his own that doesn't necessarily align with V's, and how you shape your relationship with him through the choices you make will be impactful on the story as it develops.
There's a lot of backstory about Johnny in Cyberpunk 2020, the pen-and-paper RPG from which Cyberpunk 2077 is adapted. Before he existed as your almost-imaginary friend, he was a revolutionary and the lead singer of the band Samurai. He died in one of the Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebooks, but though he lacks corporeal form, he still speaks and appears to V in the game.
Johnny's musical background raises one essential question, however: Will we get to hear Keanu Reeves serenade us when we play Cyberpunk?
"Oh, I can't talk about it at this point," Sasko said when our Jordan Ramée put the question to him.
But it's not like Cyberpunk 2077 isn't acknowledging Johnny's musical legacy all over the place. Look at how loaded this screenshot released during E3 is:
A guitarist playing under a big graffiti sign asking about Johnny? Could they be any more obvious about setting up Johnny Silverhand's music in the world? They might as well just come out and release a trailer of Keanu singing right now. Like today. Like later this evening. They're not fooling anyone.
There was also some provocative set dressing in the room where CD Projekt sent journalists to hang out while they waited for their demo:
It's a rough photo (sorry, my fault), but you can clearly see a Silverhand record displayed here, plus an actual guitar. Johnny might be dead in Cyberpunk, but the preponderance of circumstantial evidence I've gathered suggests his music is alive and well in 2077. And what has music? That's right: video games.
And you don't hire freakin' Keanu "Ted 'Theodore' Logan" Reeves as a cyborg singer in a band that's central to the franchise and just, like, not ask him to sing, right? That would be, and I cannot stress this enough, absolute madness.
This would be specifically ridiculous because Keanu is an actual singer! He was in a band! When he shreds air guitar in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, that's (probably) not acting--he knows how to play guitar!
I MEAN LOOK:
And then there's the most glaring piece of pro-Keanu-crooning (Krooneanu) evidence: CD Projekt dodging the question. If Reeves doesn't sing in Cyberpunk, wouldn't Sasko have just said so? Saying he can't talk about it means there's something to talk about, and that thing is that Keanu sings in this game, probably to you specifically because he lives in your head: a private concert in your brain, and by extension, your living room (or wherever your PC is I guess).
The pieces all add up. I'm calling it: Keanu sings confirmed.
Dutch developer Guerrilla Games pulled the curtain on some saddening news as E3 2019 came to a close. The studio announced that its lead producer Patrick Munnik passed away. He was just 44 years old.
The news landed early morning Thursday, June 13. The Horizon Zero Dawn developers took to Twitter to deliver the news, saying Munnik is "no longer with us" and that the studio is "eternally grateful" for his contributions to the team.
It is with great shock and sadness we inform you that our lead producer Patrick Munnik is no longer with us. We are eternally grateful to have had our greatly valued and much loved Patrick on our team. pic.twitter.com/IpeNvSMmht
Herman Hulst, Guerrilla's co-founder and managing director, shared his heartache on Twitter as well, calling Munnik a "reassuring presence" whose great humor and friendship "will be sorely missed by our entire team."
According to a GamesIndustry.Biz report, Munnik joined Guerrilla in 2011, holding the role of senior producer for the duration of his time with the company. He worked on both Horizon Zero Dawn and Killzone: Shadow Fall.
It's the end of an era for longtime ThinkGeek fans, as the digital store announced this week that ThinkGeek.com officially is shutting down. Starting July 2, ThinkGeek's curated collection of apparel, collectibles, and other geeky merchandise will be available only in a ThinkGeek section at GameStop, its parent company. The 40 physical ThinkGeek stores across the US will remain open, but ThinkGeek.com will no longer be a place to shop.
This is sad news, as ThinkGeek has had one of the largest collections of high-quality exclusive merch out there, and it's unclear just how much of that product offering will be moved over to GameStop's site. However, there is one thing to soften the blow: ThinkGeek is currently offering 50% off everything sitewide with the promo code MOVINGDAY. All sales are final, and that code excludes free shipping. Due to the high volume of sales, ThinkGeek suggests writing down your confirmation number or taking a screenshot, as you may not receive an order confirmation email.
If you've been saving up Geek Points, ThinkGeek's program that lets you earn points as you shop and later redeem them for free stuff, now's the time to use them. On July 3, all remaining Geek Points will be converted to an email coupon that you'll be able to redeem at GameStop. ThinkGeek will also honor any returns on orders placed before June 13. As stated earlier, anything purchased after June 13 is a final sale. Fortunately, ThinkGeek gift cards will continue to work at ThinkGeek stores and GameStop.
This is a great time to snag any items you've been eyeing at ThinkGeek, as there's no knowing for sure whether it'll be available again. The storewide sale spans every category and interest, so you're sure to find something you want (or that someone you know would appreciate--early Christmas shopping, perhaps?). Check out some of the items that caught our eye below, and browse everything on sale at ThinkGeek. Be warned--we expect their stock to start selling out fast, so grab what you want ASAP.
Star Trek TNG Captain Picard Facepalm Bust
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Super Mario Boo Bean Bag Chair
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi Floating Millennium Falcon
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Cutter and Spatula Set
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Rick & Morty Isotope T-Shirt
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Dragon Ball GT Manga Dimensions Super Saiyan 4 Goku - Super Master Stars Figure
Mortal Kombat 11 may have another DLC character reveal incoming, thanks to an odd sequence of events surrounding a case of grand theft auto during E3 2019. NetherRealm boss Ed Boon offered to show off a new fighter as a reward for helping a friend find his apparently stolen car, and now that it's been located, the community is waiting to see if it leads to a DLC reveal after all.
Boon first made the offer in a tweet on the afternoon of June 13, seeking help to locate the car of his friend, Shane Satterfield. Satterfield requested help with more details about the make and model of the car with his own tweet, plus a partial license plate number. Satterfield added that he had already checked with the police and the car was not towed. Boon specifically recruited E3 attendees to help out since the car was stolen in Los Angeles.
Hours later, Satterfield announced that the car had been found with a picture of it in a parking garage. He said he found it with his wife, but thanked the community for helping to keep his hopes alive throughout the ordeal.
A lot of people hate on Twitter, but today I saw the good it can do. It is a powerful tool when wielded the right way. It didn’t literally find my car, but it kept me motivated to not give up.
Technically, Boon's offer was to reveal a new fighter if E3 attendees helped find the car. It's unclear if fans played any role, but the car was found, and Satterfield was grateful for all the help, so that would seem to fulfill the requirement. Boon didn't specify when or how the reveal would come. He did, however, acknowledge that it had been found on Thursday night, tweeting, "Great news!"
So far NetherRealm has officially revealed Shang Tsung, Spawn, Nightwolf, and Sindel as DLC fighters. The first MK11 Kombat Pack will include 6 DLC fighters in all, plus one-week early access to them.
The Final Fantasy VII remake is one of the biggest games at E3 2019, and now we know it's coming to the two highly anticipated next-generation consoles. Publisher Square Enix has all but confirmed the game will be playable on PlayStation 5.
"I believe that our teams have made it so that the game will support both the next generation and the current generation of consoles," the company's president and CEO, Yosuke Matsuda, told Game Informer. "I believe it is being developed so that it is going to be playable on both, so I'm not really concerned about that and I believe that the fans are also going to be able to enjoy it on both, including the next-generation of consoles."
Matsuda did not confirm, however, whether this will be achieved via backward compatibility--which will be a part of both PS5 and the new Xbox console, Scarlett--or if the game will be released on those consoles. In previous generations, games have come to, for example, both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 as developers attempt to maximize sales and simultaneously take advantage of the new hardware's power. GameSpot has contacted Square Enix for clarification.
Final Fantasy 7 has so far only been confirmed for PS4. We got a much closer look at the game during Square Enix's E3 2019 press conference, with an extended trailer as well as an extended gameplay and combat demonstration. Square Enix also revealed the game will span two Blu-ray discs when it launches on PS4, and the publisher will offer an extravagant $330 collector's edition through its online store. The highly anticipated game will finally launch worldwide on March 3, 2020.
For video game fans, E3 is the most wonderful time of the year. We get to see new games, perhaps some new hardware, and the finest of memes. E3 also sees the internet's more creative types flex their artistic muscles and fill our timelines with incredible art. What better way to celebrate the return of some favorite characters, or welcome new ones, than with fan art? Well, we were blown away by what we saw this year, so we thought we'd share some. If you like what you see, please be sure to show each artist your support, and remember to always credit art when you share it online!
The Legend of Zelda's New Hair
One of the biggest surprises of E3 came right at the end of Nintendo's Direct, with a Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel announced. Fans were of course ecstatic, including pretty much everyone at GameSpot, but some fans were drawn to something else.
The trailer we saw features Link and Zelda, seemingly beneath Hyrule, about to discover (or awaken?) a new evil. Fans were quick to notice Zelda's new look and were just as speedy to pick up their Wacom pens to pay tribute. With any luck this might mean we see Zelda as a playable character in Breath of the Wild 2.
Final Fantasy VII Restyle
Another character to get a revised look was Final Fantasy VII Remake's Tifa Lockhart. Fans had been eagerly awaiting a glimpse at this favorite character ever since the Remake was announced, and judging by the amount of art we saw popping up on Twitter, people were very pleased indeed.
Tifa will be a playable character in Final Fantasy VII Remake, and our first look at her in action has us pretty excited for March 3, 2020 when the game releases on PS4.
Honey I Blew Up the Corgi
Shortly before E3 kicked off, we were treated to a Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield Direct, which of course led to a flurry of fan art. Nintendo's E3 Direct was no different, as we were introduced to Nessa, the Water-type gym leader.
Fans attending E3 were lucky enough to challenge Nessa in an all-new Dynamax battle, where Pokemon grow to the size of houses, which makes for quite the spectacle. Something in the demo that went a little under the radar was two new Pokemon--that is until fans took to Photoshop and Procreate to celebrate them. First up we have Yamper, an Electric Corgi Pokemon.
Pokemon Sword and Shield is set in the Galar region, which is inspired by the United Kingdom. Fitting, really, seeing as the Queen herself is famous for her love of Corgis. We're not quite sure how this next one fits in, but we love it all the same. Impidimp looks like it is going to cause some mischief, and we are here for it.
Deserted Island Living
Nintendo didn't stop inspiring artists there, as its E3 Direct finally delivered on something fans had been looking forward to since last E3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was finally revealed, albeit delayed to 2020. The next game in the much-loved Animal Crossing series will see us starting over on a deserted island, thanks to entrepreneur and noted loan shark Tom Nook. At least he has dressed for the occasion.
While some are looking forward to the truly fantastical idea of interest-free loans and affordable housing, others are already picturing what life will be like on the island.
You're Breathtaking
It wasn't just video game characters to be immortalised with art though; no, it was the hosts, too! Keanu Reeves stole the show at Microsoft's E3 Briefing, as it was revealed he would be starring in Cyberpunk 2077 as Johnny Silverhand. It gets better though, as Keanu walked out on stage to stunned fans, which led to this wholesome interaction.
Keanu wasn't the only host to get fan art love, as Tango Gameworks creative director Ikumi Nakamura gave us one of the most honest and enthusiastic presentations yet. Here we see her joining Keanu and Jon Bernthal's dog Bam Bam, who won our hearts before we saw more of Ghost Recon Breakpoint. What a good dog!
Nakamura's fan art doesn't stop there, and it's safe to say she has single-handedly sold us on GhostWire: Tokyo.
This art didn't go unnoticed, as Nakamura recently joined Twitter and declared them her treasures.
Year of Gooigi
And last but not least, it may not be the Year of Luigi (good times), but 2019 could be the Year of Gooigi, with the release of Luigi's Mansion 3 later this year and a new slimy version of our favorite green Mario brother.
Do you have some favorite fan art from E3 2019? Be sure to share it in the comments below, as there's only so much we could fit in this article. If you enjoyed this, you can read more about the unexpected stars of E3, and be sure to check out our early impressions and gameplay from all the games featured at E3.
Epic's Fortnite is a massive success that's achieved a level of popularity that few could have ever imagined. It's a worldwide phenomenon that boasts a huge player base and has had a cultural impact far beyond that of most games. The free-to-play game almost didn't even exist, however, it's been revealed this week at E3 2019.
Rod Fergusson, the former director of production at Epic Games, has revealed that he wanted to cancel Fortnite when he was at the company. At the time, the project did not have its battle royale component (which has driven the game's success), and it was facing some challenges.
"If I stayed at Epic, I would have canceled Fortnite. Absolutely," Fergusson told Game Informer. "Before I left I tried to cancel Fortnite. When it was just Save the World, that was a project that had some challenges. As the director of production at the time, that game would not have passed my bar for something we should have continued to keep going."
Fergusson did not elaborate as to what the difficulties were with Fortnite at the time. He left Epic in 2012, going on to join Irrational Games to help close out the development of BioShock Infinite. He then joined Microsoft when the company bought the Gears of War franchise from Epic, and he now heads up Gears 5 studio The Coalition.
Fergusson said he doesn't lose sleep over leaving Epic before Fortnite exploded in popularity. "I'm super happy for their success," he said.
He again reminded people that Fortnite might not exist if he stayed at Epic. "That game you love, the worldwide sensation, it would not exist had I stayed at Epic," he said.
Fortnite's battle royale mode was released in September 2017, following the initial Save the World mode. This is when the game really took off.
Fergusson likely had no idea Epic wanted to make Fortnite a battle royale game, as he left the company a half-decade before the game was even released.
In other news, BAFTA gave a special award to Epic this week at E3 for its "impact on the global games industry."
This week at E3, Dark Souls developer From Software officially announced its next big game, Elden Ring, which it worked on with A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin. But just how involved was Martin the creation of the game?
Speaking to IGN, director Hidetaka Miyazaki explained that he himself wrote Elden Ring's main story, with Martin contributing to the wider mythology and lore. Miyazaki said Martin did not contribute to the game's story because he felt that the format of video games was too limiting for Martin's ambitious storytelling.
"Thanks to Martin's lore, Elden Ring's world and characters naturally have a lot more depth and personality," Miyazaki said.
Miyazaki went on to say that Martin probably will not release a novelization of his contributions to Elden Ring, and that's on purpose because doing so would mean that "all the secrets and mystery that is hidden in our game would be revealed."
Martin himself has always said that he had a support role for Elden Ring. Prior to the game's announcement, Martin said he did some "consulting" work on the game.
While Elden Ring was announced during Microsoft's E3 2019 briefing, the game is also coming to PlayStation 4 and PC.
Elden Ring sees you travel throughout a massive open world, exploring multiple kingdoms that are each ruled by a powerful entity. Defeating said rulers gifts you with their power. The pre-rendered trailer shown at E3 doesn't reveal much else, but it establishes the game's bleak and mysterious tone, which is essential to any From Software game.
CD Projekt Red made one of the biggest splashes during E3 2019. During Microsoft's E3 press conference, the developer released a new trailer for its upcoming RPG Cyberpunk 2077. Said trailer ended with the reveal that the character Johnny Silverhand is voiced and mo-cap performed by Keanu Reeves. The acclaimed actor then came out on stage to confirm Reeves' involvement.
We sat down with Cyberpunk 2077 lead quest designer Paweł Sasko to talk about Keanu Reeves involvement in the game and how the character of Johnny Silverhand evolved through his involvement. Turns out Johnny is Cyberpunk 2077's second most important character, only following main protagonist, V. The full interview has been transcribed below, with edits made for coherency. Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on April 16, 2020.
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Why Keanu Reeves?
We already had the role of Johnny Silverhand created and prepared in the demo, in this story and we knew this character would be very important from the very beginning throughout the end of the game. And the thing is that throughout your interactions with Johnny Silverhand, you can actually craft this relationship in various different ways. Now we knew that, and we were looking for an actor that could actually play this role. And yeah, we had a few options, but very, very early, it was almost a year ago there was an idea to just try [for Keanu].
Because the thing is that Keanu's known for playing strong characters that are fighting for something. I think that's a key thing. Let's say, John Wick, right? There, he's fighting for survival. Before that, you have Matrix, where he was fighting to be freed, for freedom. And before that you had Johnny Mnemonic. So all those characters were always strong characters that were fighting for something. Thing is, Johnny Silverhand is very similar because he is a fighter for something, he's of a Samurai band. And the Samurai is this rock band, and [Johnny] is a very charismatic guy that just goes in and acts with a gun in hand.
And so we were looking for an actor that would fit that. And our business branch of CD Projekt Red, they suggested, "Okay, let's try [Keanu]." Because [he fit], but we said, "No, that will never work out. That's just impossible." But we decided to go for it. So our business branch contacted him and we started talking to him and we sent a few people to his office to show him what [Cyberpunk 2077] is, what the role of Johnny Silverhand is. We were actually surprised because he picked up on that character fairly quickly, and he even started suggesting, "Okay, maybe I could act like this or that." And we saw that he was getting into the role, really getting into it. So, of course, we nailed down all the details regarding contract and so on. Our business branch took care of it, thankfully, they managed to do that.
So we got Keanu on the set. We had him suit up. Put him into the animation studio just to see how he looks. We scanned him completely to recreate him in the game, and he approved the model of Johnny Silverhand--the one that we showed in the [E3 2019 trailer] and also the one that is in the [private E3 2019 demo]. In the longer version, you see the role that Johnny's playing in the game, because he's very important. He's actually the one that is leading V throughout many different encounters. He has his own agenda, he's not always really nice and he's not always your friend. He's this digital ghost, and you are seeing him while others are not.
We Saw Even More Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay | E3 2019
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Johnny Silverhand was killed in 2020. He was killed by Adam Smasher in Arasaca Towers and suddenly he's appearing here [in 2077] and he has a very strong connection with the chip that V is trying to steal. That CGI trailer is a part of the game, actually. You can play it as a quest in the game. And [the trailer is] basically the relationship between V and Johnny throughout the game. Now when we started recording Keanu, he was getting into the character and we're like, "Wow, okay, he's already picking it up." And he was actually interested in how it works out. [Keanu is] not really a guy that is a gamer, but he's actually really interested in games. And he's super clever and very open. He's very humble. That's another thing that I can talk about in a moment, but he's very open, you know? And when we started talking about and looking for [Johnny's mannerisms] Keanu had a lot of suggestions for lines.
And then we gave him lines, and our adaptation director introduced him to the scene--explaining what happens like the director for a movie--Keanu started acting and said, "I would like to suggest this thing or that thing, or I would actually play it like this or that." And he's also the guy who can take feedback very well, you know, I think he's used to it, being directed, but also trying to look for his own vision for the character. And very, very often he was suggesting, "Okay, yeah we should change this because that sounds more natural, that will be better," and so on.
And so he was a really good asset in the team. So we recorded the lines and then put together the demo where you can actually see Johnny Silverhand with the body, with the voice, and it actually turned out really well. I mean, it wasn't perfect that first time and we had to do some tweaks on both his side and our side. But there were things that worked out almost instantly. And we started really liking this character. And the thing is, at the very beginning we had this vision for Johnny Silverhand, but it was a different vision. It was not completely different, but the Johnny Silverhand that we have in the game, it's the version that Keanu saw, or thought of, or felt that would fit.
So [Johnny] is a bit different than how we originally imagined, but it's great. I think it's just because [Keanu is] a good help for us. We appreciate all the Hollywood experience he has. Because it's a rare thing. Another thing is, all the other high key actors like this, they really are hard to work with. We worked with a lot of stars in the past for [some of the Witcher games] and for Cyberpunk, but working with Keanu is way better. Because he can take feedback. He's humble. He's not trying to be a star or be someone of a huge caliber. It's just really good to work with him.
I think he was interviewed by IGN and they asked him, if he anticipated such a reaction on the [E3 stage]. And one of the things he said was, "Nah, it's not me. It's CD Projekt and Cyberpunk. People love them." And I mean, I know that people like CD Projekt. I know that people like Cyberpunk and I really appreciate it, but he got that reaction. I think he's really the only human on the earth that can walk onto a stage and do absolutely nothing but look at the people and just make everyone absolutely lose their shit.
Honestly, I thought I would be the first guy that got up when he walked out on a stage, but I was probably the last one. The whole crowd was already standing.
Our office exploded during that moment. I don't know if you're willing to talk about it, but could you describe what about Johnny's characterization has transformed since Keanu's involvement?
I mean I could, but I probably shouldn't.
Totally fine. You spoke before about how Johnny is this digital ghost. So, is he along for the ride inside V? And is he there for the majority of the game, like from beginning to end, or is Johnny introduced closer to halfway through the story?
No, no, no, it's not halfway. [Johnny's introduction] happens at the end of the prologue--which is long. It's a substantial part of the game, but it is still very early. It's not right away, but it's after the events from the CGI trailer. Like that trailer is actually a part of the game. You actually play through it in first person and play through the events that lead to that moment when V wakes up in the landfill and see Johnny Silverhand in front of you saying, "Hey, wake up Samurai, we have a city to burn."
So Keanu is in a band. Johnny was a part of a band in Cyberpunk 2020. Are we going to hear Keanu sing in Cyberpunk 2077?
Oh, I can't talk about it at this point.
Figured I would try. Was it always the plan to have Keanu be a part of that E3 reveal?
Oh yeah. When we knew we had him in the game, we knew we were going to use him in a way that would really show how much we are investing in this project and its characters… So the [E3 idea] came about fairly early from our marketing team. Just have him walk on the stage with a really huge bang to just make a gigantic impression. And to be honest, our marketing team, they are wizards. Like, I don't know how they did it. I would not have come up with that idea.
And so there was this moment when we really had to be very careful, and make these details wouldn't slip to the press in any way because if they had leaked in any way, everybody would have just said, "Cool, it's Keanu. We already knew he was coming."
And you somehow kept it completely secret.
Yeah. We kept it for almost a year. And it was just at a conspiracy level for us.
Considering everything that did leak prior to E3 2019, it's impressive.
Yeah, we were using code names and all kinds of things to just make sure that nobody ever leaked it. We had strict rules in how to refer to him just to make sure that nobody heard about this, because it was just such a huge thing. And yeah, it actually worked out.
With Johnny in your head, Cyberpunk 2077 sort of feels like a few other games, like Portal with GLaDOS or Halo with Cortana. Is Johnny a static passenger who's only along for the ride or does he regularly interact with and evolve alongside V?
No. I understand from where these comparisons are coming from and they're probably justified, but in the game, John Silverhand plays a completely different role. He's a protagonist and antagonist at the same time. He has his own agenda. There are things he wants from life. Like he was a guy who was a freedom fighter, but from the perspective of the corporations in 2020 he is probably seen as a terrorist. And the fire in him, like the line that he says--"Wake up Samurai, we have a city to burn." Yeah. He's fucking serious. He is dedicated and he has his own goals and the thing is that he's not this passenger that is accompanying you, he tries to control you, he tries to impact you in very different ways and it's really the player's decision when it comes to what extent.
I don't want to say more here because I would have to spoil that main story and this is an extremely important bit of the game, but basically the way that V relates to Johnny, what they do together, what they decide on together, that's a really important part of the game and depending on your choices you'll have different consequences and this relationship will develop slightly differently. And at the end, the epilogue of the game, the outcome of your story depends on what you have done with [that relationship].
So because of that, I don't think the Cortana reference or the GLaDOS one is justified. I don't want to tell you more. I want to explain how Johnny is different, but then I would have to tell you exactly what happens. I'd destroy the fun of the game for you in two minutes.
I'd have to sign an NDA before I left here.
Exactly.
So is Johnny just another side character in V's story or something more?
Johnny Silverhand is one of the primary characters. I would say someone like Jackie is a secondary character in comparison to Johnny Silverhand. Johnny Silverhand is absolutely one of the biggest characters in the game. Like the only one bigger is V, the main character of the game. Like Johnny Silverhand is a second [main character], and the really important one. He is there throughout most of the game; visible and present and interacting with the player in a really meaningful way. So yeah, I think you guys will be surprised actually what we have done with [V and Johnny's] relationships. I'm really happy about it, because I'm working on the quests that are allowing the player to deepen the relationship between Johnny and V in some special ways.
So yeah, those are the quests that I designed and am implementing myself. I just loved them. So I just hope the players will be glad.
Is Johnny something that only V sees and interacts with or will we see Johnny having an outward effect on other characters and events in the game?
So, yes and no. The thing is that Johnny as a digital ghost is seen only by V. But it does not mean that he doesn't have an impact on other characters. But to tell you how, I would have to disclose the main storyline. So, yes, he's big in the game and he's important and he has an impact on the other characters and on the world around him, but that is as much as I can say. But yes, he is seen only by V. But through V he can do way more things and that's a part of their relationship. I would call it a play, they're each pushing the other, you know, creating a bit of conflict in their relationship. What you will do with that is up to you.
So like two psyches in one body, sort of way?
You could say so, yeah. But I don't want to say more.
