After premiering in 2004, Lost would go on to earn legions of (often confused) fans during its six-season run. The mind-bending thriller was filled with mysterious characters, wild twists, and a slightly convoluted timeline that had viewers guessing up to the very last episode (and no, they weren’t in purgatory the whole time). The show celebrates its 20th anniversary later this month, and you can too with a new companion book dubbed Lost: Back to the Island. Lost: Back to the Island (Hardcover) $28 (was $30) 
In this 352-page hardcover book, TV critics Emily St. James and Noel Murray provide a variety of episode recaps, cultural analysis, and other commentary on what made Lost so compelling to its 23 million viewers. From a dive into its complex characters and unique setting to its use of flashbacks, Lost: Back to the Island is pitched as "the comprehensive critical companion" for fans.Though we haven't read the full book yet, the colorful cover art featuring the wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815 is fantastic. You can read the first 38 pages of the Kindle ebook version on Amazon. The sample also includes the table of contents, which shows that the book touches on all 121 episodes.The book releases on September 17, and preorders are seeing a slight discount ahead of its arrival. You won’t pay for your purchase until the item ships; Amazon’s preorder price guarantee also entitles you to any price drops between the time you order and release. The hardcover costs $28 (was $30), the Kindle ebook is $20.49, and the audiobook edition is the cheapest right now at $14.69 (was $21). Preorder at Amazon Continue Reading at GameSpot...
Marvel Studios has never been shy about making some changes to the source material, but things are going to be very different for Anthony Ramos' character, Parker Robbins, in Ironheart. For one thing, Parker's comic book counterpart doesn't really have any direct connection to Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), the young woman behind Ironheart's armor. But according to Ramos, Parker's transformation into The Hood will be relatively true to the spirit of his character."I get to play this villain, The Hood, and Parker Robbins in the comics, he gets this hood, and it's too powerful for him," Ramos told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's overwhelming, and it starts to damage his body. You can see it on the outside, and you can see how it's even affecting him on the inside and his personality and how it's actually, literally, physically and mentally and emotionally breaking him, but it's giving him so much power that he's addicted. He's like, 'I can't let it go.'"The Ironheart footage that debuted at D23 suggested that Parker will lead Riri down the wrong path as they commit heists to steal the components she needs to create a new Ironheart armor. It's hard to see how the magic hood plays into that narrative, but Ramos is excited for fans to see his character's final form.Continue Reading at GameSpot...
In a recent interview, The Batman director Matt Reeves explained how close he came to directing an episode of The Penguin, a spin-off series starring Colin Farrell. Although he was deeply involved in the show's development, scheduling conflicts with The Batman sequel forced him to step away from directing. Collider reported this during an interview with Reeves."The thing is that I really wanted to," Reeves said, explaining that his early conversations with Farrell made it seem possible. However, due to post-production work on The Batman and script duties for The Batman Part II, he was unable to commit to directing an episode. "There was a point where we realized… I really couldn't be also directing."Continue Reading at GameSpot...
M. Night Shyamalan's 2016 thriller Split was supposed to star Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, but the actor dropped out just two weeks before filming was due to begin. James McAvoy, who took over for Phoenix, discussed this unusual development in a recent interview.Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, McAvoy said Phoenix is an "amazing actor," and he would have played the character differently from the Scottish actor. Split tells the story of a man (McAvoy) who has 23 different personalities, so anyone could understand how preparation sounds like it might be critical to playing the role well. But McAvoy said coming in so late in the process was something of a relief because he couldn't over-prepare."I think he'd give a very different performance to the one I did. But I think he'd give an incredible performance. Sometimes coming in last minute is the best way," he said. "I think he ditched it like two weeks before they started shooting. It was really last minute. I had two weeks [to prepare]."Continue Reading at GameSpot...
This Samsung 49-Inch Odyssey G9 Series Curved Gaming Monitor would be a welcome addition to almost any battlestation, offering a ridiculous amount of screen real estate for your games. If you're interested in upgrading your monitor setup, now's a great time to pick up the 49-inch Odyssey G9, as Amazon is offering a limited-time discount that drops the price to only $800. This matches its lowest-ever price. If Amazon sells out, Best Buy also has this deal. Samsung 49-Inch Odyssey G9 Series Curved Monitor $800 (was $1,300) 
Aside from its 49-inch ultrawide LED display, the Odyssey G9 has many other cool features that make it a popular choice for gaming. This includes a blistering 240Hz refresh rate, 1440p resolution, 1,000 nit peak brightness, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for smooth gameplay, and 1ms response time. See at Amazon See at Best Buy When you’re not gaming, the Odyssey G9 Series can easily replace your standard dual-monitor workstation. It can even help reduce eye strain by detecting the amount of light in your home and automatically adjusting its brightness. For additional comfort, you can enable Eye Saver Mode to reduce flickering and minimize blue light output.Keep in mind that this is a limited-time offer, and it’s unclear when the promotion will end at Amazon. Best Buy's deal could disappear after the weekend when deals refresh, so it's possible Amazon's offer will expire before the weekend's over.Continue Reading at GameSpot...
PlayStation is not what it used to be; some of that, of course, is for good reason. You'd be hard-pressed to argue that Cloud Strife looked better when he was a pile of polygons, or that stealth-game controls peaked with 1998's Metal Gear Solid. Technology has evolved, bringing us not necessarily better games but games offering visuals and overall experiences that were previously unfathomable. And just as technology has changed, so have the companies implementing it--companies like Sony.Originally a home for RPGs and platforming mascots, PlayStation has spent the past few decades intensely focused on cinematic single-player games, with narratives that eschew early-aughts whimsy in favor of morally conflicted anti-heroes. Despite the incongruity between those two styles, both were hugely successful for the company. But now, PlayStation is changing its focus yet again, only this time into an arena so competitive that there's no guarantee even this titan of video games will see any measure of success: live-service games. So far, the company's path to success has been bumpy, but it quietly might have just taken a big step in the right direction towards achieving its goal.Back in 2022, Sony decided to be up front about its vision for the future of PlayStation, revealing to investors that PlayStation Studios has "an aggressive road map with live services" and was aiming to launch "more than 10 live-service games by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026." Sony executive deputy president and interim CEO Hiroku Totoki stated that this was part of the company's overall plan to "expand into the live-game services area," which was yielding success for studios like Epic, MiHoYo, and Bungie, the latter of which was already in the process of being acquired by Sony.Continue Reading at GameSpot...
An upcoming Overwatch 2 crossover event aimed at celebrating the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft will turn some of the shooter's iconic heroes into iconic heroes (and villains) from Blizzard's MMORPG.A trailer for the crossover puts viewers on a rollercoaster ride through Overwatch's Blizzard World map, as characters like Reinhardt (dressed as the Lich King) and Widowmaker (cosplaying as Sylvanas), attack. While actual details on the event are still few ahead of its debut on September 17, the trailer reveals WoW-themed skins for the aforementioned heroes as well for Zenyatta (cosplaying as Thrall) and Torbjorn (as Magni Bronzebeard).As part of the event, Blizzard says players will be able to choose to represent WoW's two main factions, the Horde or the Alliance.Continue Reading at GameSpot...
The Watch Dogs movie based on the video game has finished filming, Ubisoft and New Regency have announced. The company celebrated the achievement by sharing a photo of director Mathieu Turi on location filming a scene from the movie. Turi was an assistant director on Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and was the solo director on The Deep Dark and Hostile.The Watch Dogs film was announced in 2013, but stalled multiple times (as many Hollywood productions do). Production officially got underway in early July, so the film had a relatively quick shoot.Tom Blyth, who starred in the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, will play a lead, alongside Talk to Me's Sophia Wilde.Continue Reading at GameSpot...
Earlier this week, the new trailer for Venom: The Last Dance revealed that the character's ultimate adversary, Knull, will be in the movie. The villain, who was created in 2018 by writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman, is making his first live-action appearance. And both creators would very much like to be paid for that.On social media, Stegman noted that he had not received any advance notice about Knull's cinematic debut while jokingly speaking about what he would use his share of the money for the character's appearance.lol pic.twitter.com/VLKtdhmG9N — DONNY CATES (@Doncates) September 12, 2024 Cates had a more concise response. He flipped the Venom logo so it looks like it spells out "money."Continue Reading at GameSpot...
There's nothing quite like Doom, especially after recent releases saw the series reinvent itself as a fast-paced arcade-shooter that wasn't afraid to paint the town red with demonic blood. A new entry in the series was recently revealed, and this time, Doom: The Dark Ages will see players create a medieval massacre when they take on the armies of the damned.A dark fantasy with an over-the-top arsenal and a metal soundtrack, rumors of a Doom prequel began to appear in 2023 after court documents were leaked, with the game having the working title of Doom: Year Zero. Now that it's out in the wild, here's a closer look at everything we know about Doom: The Dark Ages so far.When will Doom: The Dark Ages be released?
All hell is about to break loose on Argent D'Nur.As revealed during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, Doom: The Dark Ages will be released in 2025.Continue Reading at GameSpot...
Fans of the classic horror-comedy anthology Creepshow can pick up a new limited-edition version of the remastered 4K Blu-ray. Creepshow's limited edition comes with an appropriately creepy yet humorous steelbook case. The new edition released this month, but it's already on sale for $33 at Amazon and Walmart (down from $40). Directed by George Romero and written by novelist Stephen King, Creepshow originally released in 1982, spawning a franchise that has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years thanks to Shudder's anthology show and a new series of comic books. The original film remains the best of the bunch--Shudder's series is quite good, though--and the film holds up well more than 40 years later. Creepshow Limited Edition Steelbook $33 (was $40) 
Creepshow Limited Edition comes with 4K Blu-ray and standard 1080p Blu-ray discs. The film was remastered in 4K using the original camera negatives. Both discs are packed with special features, including audio commentary with George Romero, a roundtable on the making of Creepshow, and more behind-the-scenes content. You can find a full list of special features at the bottom of this article.Creepshow is a horror-comedy mashup that pays homage to classic comics like Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear. Rather than telling one long story, the two-hour anthology film includes five distinct vignettes. Stories include a murdered man rising from the dead, a mysterious meteor that lands on a remote farm, and a cockroach army that’s hunting a man with entomophobia.Stephen King made his screenwriting debut with Creepshow, and two of the five tales were adapted from his short fiction. Creepshow wears its comic book influences on its sleeve, and King adapted the film into graphic novel format the same year the film premiered. Many adaptations of King's fiction in comics and graphic novel format were written by other writers--such as the newly released Sleeping Beauties: Deluxe Remastered Edition--but King wrote Creepshow's graphic novel. It's still in print today and is available for only $15 at Amazon. See at Amazon See at Walmart See Creepshow Graphic Novel More Creepshow Blu-raysThis isn't the first 4K release of Creepshow. Last year, Creepshow received a new collector's edition with the same bonus features. If you bought that version, the only reason to pick up the new edition would be for the steelbook case. Creepshow Collector's Edition is available for $26 (was $37) at Amazon and Walmart.Creepshow's popularity led to multiple sequels. George Romero wrote the screenplay for Creepshow 2 (1987), which contained three more tales based on King's short fiction. It's worth watching, but it's pretty mediocre compared to the original. You can pick up a standard Blu-ray edition of Creepshow 2 for $15. The straight-to-DVD release of Creepshow 3 in 2006 probably is only worth watching if you're morbidly curious (it's quite bad).Continue Reading at GameSpot...
The Penguin might not be as maniacal as The Joker or as powerful as Bane, but he still ranks among Batman's greatest foes thanks to his formidable criminal empire. Soon, fans will get to see a lot more of Gotham's crime kingpin with HBO's upcoming The Penguin TV series premiering September 19. The show is a spin-off of director Matt Reeves' 2022 film The Batman and sees Colin Farrell reprise his role as The Penguin.While the new TV series will be the most on-screen time The Penguin has seen yet, the character has also starred in his own comic storylines and one-shots over the years, and we've rounded up a brief list highlighting some that are worth reading to see the origins of the tuxedo-and-top-hat-wearing villain and some of his biggest clashes with Gotham's caped crusader.If you're looking for more Batman comic recommendations--perhaps because the new Penguin series doesn't feature Batman or Bruce Wayne at all--then be sure to check out our giant roundup of the best Batman graphic novels to read in 2024.Continue Reading at GameSpot...