After recent confirmation that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle would be Xbox console exclusive, Xbox Head Phil Spencer explains why it’s now coming to PS5 after Xbox.
On Tuesday, Xbox confirmed that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle would no longer be an Xbox console exclusive, and it would be coming out on the PlayStation 5 platform. This is after the Xbox Head, Phil Spencer himself, said on an Xbox podcast episode back on February 15 that the title would be an Xbox exclusive. On that same podcast, Spencer revealed other Xbox-developed titles would come to the PlayStation platform, leaving Indy as an Xbox exclusive. Today, on a stream at Gamescom 2024, Phil Spencer backtracked Xbox exclusivity when asked to comment on the PS5 release announcement.
Phil Spencer said, “Going to the PlayStation announcement, obviously, last spring we launched four games – two of them on the Switch, four of them on PlayStation – and we said we were going to learn,” continuing with, “I think at the showcase I might have said that from our learning, we’re going to do more” regarding the PS5 Indiana Jones announcement. That announcement can be seen below, courtesy of Bethesda.
Phil Spencer explains that the gaming industry’s pressure, including the obscene amount of layoffs that have happened since the beginning of 2024, has forced gaming companies to run more like “a business.” Spencer then says, “I think for us as fans and players of games, we just have to anticipate there’s going to be more change in how some of the more traditional ways that games were built and distributed – that’s going to change for all of us” concluding with “But the end result needs to be better games that more people can play. If we’re not focused on that, we’re focused on the wrong things.”
Phil Spencer said:
They learned from the first 4 games. They run a business and player numbers on Xbox are higher than ever. The industry is under pressure and it will be change for all of us. pic.twitter.com/qc2tGZQzSS
Overall, Xbox appears to be rethinking its strategy when it comes to console-exclusive releases, even when it comes to titles they’ve previously announced as Xbox console-exclusive, in favour of an approach to make games more accessible by launching them on as many platforms as possible which echoes the “every screen is an Xbox” statement made by Sarah Bond also ironically on February 15, the same day Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was announced as Xbox exclusive.
by Satori D 2023
Music
MONDO Vanilli from IOU Babe 1994
(Scrappi DuChamp – Jonathan Burnside)
Comments regarding co-creating and producing Gimme Helter for MONDO Vanilli and about Trent Reznor whose erstwhile record label Nothing had (sort of) signed MONDO Vanilli and paid for the studio time to produce an album.
First… Jonathan Burnside according to Jonathan Burnside
Jonathan Burnside, music producer, studio engineer, mixer and guitarist. Years ago, I started a studio (Razor’s Edge) for the San Francisco alternative music scene that produced albums for The Melvins and Kurt Cobain, Faith No More, soul-drummer Bernard Purdie, NoFx, Clutch, Red House Painters, Michael Franti’s Disposable Heros of Hiphoprisy, Lag Wagon, Fu Manchu, Sleep, Neurosis, Lunachicks and many others.
On Gimme Helter
Gimme Helter is the most terrifying song I’ve ever worked on. And I’ve done bands like Neurosis and Melvins where the whole thing was to be as scary as possible. And in the end, they’re a bunch of suburban kids with fucking loud guitars. So what? Sure, your mother will probably find it scary.
I think Gimme Helter is like one of the most extreme industrial songs I’ve ever heard. There’s nothing pretty about it. And the subject matter is horrifying in itself.
There’s a part in the middle of Gimme Helter where there’s a guy saying, “I’m a soldier man, listen. You guys don’t love us no more.” He was always down at Hayes and Divisidero. And he would always walk hunched over with this green parka pulled up around his head… a big African American dude. Some people told me he thought he had demons and he was trying to trap ’em inside so they wouldn’t go to anybody else. Some people said he had no teeth. Whatever.
I pulled up to him in my pickup truck. And he was at the bus stop. And I’m like, “Hey Buster man, what’s up? What’s the deal man? How’s life?” And he’s completely out of it. And he gave those quotes. And then he saw that I was actually recording him, and he tried to attack me. [LAUGHTER] He lurched forward, and I got the hell out of there. And then not long after that, right after the album was completed, I was in Popeye’s Chicken on the corner near there just getting something quick to eat and he comes busting in the doors, falls on the floor, and does bloody snow angels all over the floor and dies. He had been capped in the neck.
Here you’ve got a song with the voice of Jim Jones and all these crazy people. And then you’ve got somebody probably more real than all of them. Some poor fuck that got chewed up by America and spit out shot in Popeye’s. He died right there in front of me. I didn’t stay to eat.
On Trent Reznor
I didn’t think Reznor would get IOU Babe at all. I really wondered about that the whole time. And especially the subject matter. It could have been a little close to home.
Nine Inch Nails was pretty much wrap it up in plastic and sell it to the world. Downward Spiral’s a good album. I’m not putting it down. But it’s very genre specific.
The only thing I remember about Trent Reznor backstage is that he had the limpest coldest handshake I’ve ever felt in my life. Honest to God, I thought somebody handed me a dead trout. I thought I was supposed to kiss his hand ’cause, literally, he placed his cold thing on my palm.
When is the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release date window?
Players won’t have to wait too long after its initial release on Xbox this December. Geoff Keighley took to the Gamescom Opening Night Live stage to reveal the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release date window is Spring 2025. This means Machine Games’ next title is likely slated to launch for PlayStation sometime between March and June.
The Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Gamescom date reveal trailer offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of actor Troy Baker as the titular character, visually portrayed by Harrison Ford. Baker recalls seeing Indiana Jones for the first time, and his excitement to take on the iconic role.
“It’s humbling playing a character so many people, myself included, look up to. As a kid, seeing Indiana Jones in the theater for the first time was a defining moment for me,” says Baker in the video. “I never would have guess that all these years later, I would be the one wearing the hat, but here I am. It’s been a dream come true. A dream I cannot wait for you to live for yourself.”
Machine Games announced it was making an Indiana Jones game back in 2021 with a short teaser trailer. The game is set between the films Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It will take Indy and his new companion Gina across the globe including the Himalayas and the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launches December 9, 2024, for Xbox Series X|S and PC. Preorders for the Standard, Premium, and Collector’s Edition are available now for Xbox. Players can now wishlist the game on PS5.
Borderlands 4, Path of Exile 2's early access release, Indiana Jones for PlayStation 5, and so much more! Here's everything that Geoff Keighly announced on stage during Opening Night Live at gamescom 2024.
In a surprise twist, Geoff Keighly took to the Opening Night Live stage at gamescom 2024 to reveal not only the release date for Indiana Jones and the Circle, but also that the game will be coming to PlayStation 5 in spring of 2025. Presented by Dimensionals
Check out new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, staring Troy Baker as the titular hero, coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC on December 9, 2025 and PlayStation 5 in Spring 2025.
The upcoming first-person action-adventure from MachineGames harkens back to the studio’s classic roots.
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After its proper reveal earlier this year, MachineGames has finally provided a release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on December 9, 2023. Additionally, we learned that it's coming to PS5 in Spring of 2025.
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Since its reveal, I’ve been both sceptical and excited to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Machine Games has a phenomenal track record, but I couldn’t help but think Indy’s movements looked clunky in recent trailers.
Having seen an extended section of the game, and heard from Game Director Jerk Gustafsson and Creative Director Axel Torvenius, some of those concerns remain, but The Great Circle surprised me in its scope and how impressive it is in its variety and presentation.
Everybody has several games that mean quite a lot to them. For me, one of these games is Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. I not only grew up with this game, but I also have a lot of memories of this game. Outside of that, I also met some amazing friends through the community behind this game. I even did several speedruns of this game, and I’m an active member of the community. Now, color me surprised that 25 years after the release of this game, we got new fan-made content for this game. Not just fan made content in the style of fan patches to solve bugs with the game, a whole new level and promises of a level editor to create even more new custom content. This blew me off my socks and in today’s article I want to talk about it. So strap in andlet’s get ready to play new content for one of the best Indiana Jones games ever made.
The new level – SED
There is a speedrunning discord server for this game. Well, it was a speedrunning discord server but for a few years now, this server has grown into a server of people who appreciate this game. If you want to join this discord, here is an invite link. When the server started to grow, several modders joined our server. One of these modders is going under the name of Urgon (currently) and what we didn’t know is that he was decompiling the whole game. Not only that, he was creating a level editor based upon an existing level editor.
This existing level editor is for Star Wars Jedi Knight & Mysteries of the Sith. Those games used an engine that formed the basis for the Jones3D engine. While he was developing that editor, he tested his skills by creating a new level. So, basically, parts of this new level are tests of the new level editor and what you can do with it.
Now, information about this new level and the download link can be found at this GitHub repository. If you want to download the actual level, you have to go to this page and click the green button named “Code”. In that dropdown, you can choose “download zip”. You’ll need that later if you want to install/play this custom level. Now, if you read the pre-mod or the installation instructions for this level, you might feel overwhelmed if you aren’t very technically inclined. That’s why two community members wrote two special tools to aid you in preparing your game.
You might ask yourself, like Klamath did in at the end of our stream of this custom level, why are there two tools for basically the same? Well, let me tell you the history about it. When I wanted to play the custom level, I had a bit of trouble myself while figuring out the tutorial. I also found that the required steps were quite a lot to do. So, I decided to start writing a PowerShell script that did all the steps. I announced that in the Indy3D discord that I was writing this. When I almost completed my tool, the_Kovic dropped his version of the tool.
Personally, I didn’t want to throw my work out the window and continued finishing my GUI version. When I finished, I didn’t convert my tool to an EXE and left it just as a script file you could run using a command line or a code editor. The next day, Kovic released a GUI version of his tool and I gave some feedback on his tool. In the days after that, I created an EXE version of my tool and we both kept adding features in our tool. He wrote his tool in C#, which is a bit friendlier to create an EXE. If I didn’t release my first version as a script only and converted it to an EXE, I think it might have been less overwhelming for people.
That said, Kovic thanked me for creating my tool since like he said on our stream: “It put my butt into gear to create a tool and write a GUI, which I normally don’t write“. On top of that, our tools aren’t meant to compete with each other. I can’t write C# and Kovic can’t write PowerShell. And it would be a shame to just delete work because somebody else was quicker or made their tool more user-friendly first. The result now is that we both have two very strong tools with a very similar, maybe even completely the same, feature set.
Outside a different choice of coding language, the biggest differences between both our tools are under the hood. In Kovic’s tool, you get more files than in my tool when you download the tool. And that’s because to prepare your game for custom levels, you need to extract several files in the resource folder. The tool used for extraction has a bug where instead of extracting the folders of the archive into the resource folder, it extracts them into separate folders, like if you would extract a zip file. Kovic packs a modified version of this extraction tool so that part of the process goes a bit faster. In my version, the tool just downloads the latest official versions of the tool and prepare the game that way.
In the end, both our tools give you the same end result. They prepare your game to install custom levels and play them. If you want to try out the_kovic’s tool, you can find the latest version on this releases page. If you want to try our my tool, you can find it on this releases page. Feedback to our tools is always welcome! If you find an issue or if you have an idea, feel free to hit us up, and we will look into it.
Earlier I talked about a stream of the level we did. Klamath, the_Kovic and me did a live stream where we played through this level. Now, I have to emphasize that release of this level is an impressive technical achievement. Creating a level for a 3D game isn’t easy and requires a lot of work. It’s even more impressive when you know that not everything is documented about the engine, and you have to decompile a lot of it. In the next part of this article, I’m going to talk about the level itself and critique it.
If you don’t want spoilers, I’d advise you to skip that section for now and come back later. Now, I want to say that I start reviewing the level in a moment, but this feedback is mostly meant for people who want to make new custom content. What did this new level do right and wrong if you look at it as a player who doesn’t know the technical background of this level? This isn’t meant to break down the amazing work the modders did to make this work.
Reviewing the new level
Editorial note: this review will spoil quite a lot. If you don’t want to get spoiled, you have to skip this section of the article. This isn’t a walkthrough of the level either. Some sections are skipped, I’m only going to talk about the sections I want to talk about.
The new level takes place 25 years after the ending of the original game. Indy returns to his Canyonlands dig site. You are set loose at the tent where Sophia picked Indy up with a helicopter to start the Infernal Machine adventure.
In terms of new content, there isn’t a lot new to see. Some ladders are missing and some parts of the level are blocked off. Also, all treasures are missing that you would usually find in the level.
Before I continue, I want to mention that some parts of this level are made quite difficult on purpose. The developer wanted to give us the feeling we were young kids again, playing this game for the first time, and have us figure out the new puzzles by ourselves. Yet, finding a correct balance between difficulty and unfair is a very fine line to thread. Personally, I think that in some sections, the developer crossed the line into unfair level design.
When running on the top section, you notice that there are some new voice lines. These voice lines are made possible with a voice cloning AI tool that was trained on lines from Doug Lee, the original voice actor for this game. The new voice lines sound amazing, and if you didn’t know better, you’d think that Doug Lee came back to record the new lines. In most cases, these voice lines really fit Indy’s personality and fit right into the game.
We come to our first snag when we want to go to the new content. I can understand not seeing the shovel and being confused, since it’s hanging at the jeep on top. And you know what’s even more confusing, the other side of the jeep model has a shovel in its texture! Anyhow, when you pick up the shovel and dig up the Infernal Machine part, it’s clear that you need to break a wall. Here comes one of the worst parts of this level. The location of this cracked wall is insanely well hidden. It’s in one of the last places you’d look, and several of the first players ran around for hours upon hours in Canyonlands before it was found. And when it was found, it made us annoyed.
It’s a clear example of how players who are used to the level, overlooking the obvious. The wall you need to break has an actual cracked wall texture, but it’s behind something you can’t see through. I think it would have been fine if the location, where it is at, had a bigger ledge so you’d notice it somewhat instead of just having to go on a wild goose chase.
Now, we enter the new area. We come to a big open space where the next set of puzzles are. The first puzzle is actually a jumping puzzle. Now, I highly advise you to not play this level if you haven’t played through most of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. Not that there are spoilers, but because some of the jumps in this level are straight up difficult and not what you really expect from this game. Kovic calls it “Kaizo Jones” for a good reason.
There are some small platforms and not having the look key working is going to be a pain in this section. Since, there are some moments where you need to be able to free look and not being able to see beneath or above you will make things a lot more tricky. After you finished these jumps, you might start to notice that the developer of this custom level added some details. Like, the rope bridges are gently moving in the wind. This is something that isn’t present in the original game. It’s a new “COG” script that makes that possible.
These cog scripts are a blessing for custom content. Since, this game isn’t hardcoded at all, so if you learn how to write these cog scripts, you can basically write new mechanics as well. It’s insane what possibilities there are going to be in the future for this game. I hope there is going to be good documentation so that custom level creaters know what’s possible and what’s impossible with the level editor.
While you are exploring this area, you notice that it’s huge. This also explains why it takes quite a while to load this level. Currently, modders are looking into why it’s running so slow. Since, we don’t really know if it’s the level size or something else slowing down the loading of this level.
So, after jumping around the central column, you’ll arive at the shed. Here you notice you can actually enter the shed from the top. Kovic explains it quite well during the stream. If you want to hear some technical explanations on how this level works, I’d advice you to watch our stream. Since there is a lot of interesting development talk in there. Later, Kovic and myself had a contest in trying to quote voice lines from the main game. We got close to 200. Kovic won that because I said a line he already said.
After you picked up everything from this shed and climbed outside, you experience another new mechanic of this game. It’s a mechanic that gets backported from Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb. The fact you can use your whip to go over a zipline.
After you returned and struggled with getting across the other bridge, you will encounter other parts of this level. Here you’ll encounter two voice lines that straight up lie to you. The first voice line is that you need more force, explosives to break a rock that’s blocking your way forwards. Here is the issue with that, you get an explosive barrel later. You need to find an extremely hidden swim tunnel in the water. It’s not the only hidden thing in the water, so investigate behind and underneath rocks quite well. Since, these puzzles in this water border in the unfair territory. What makes that explosive voice line even more evil is that there is a box of TNT in the shed earlier. But what’s the second voice line that lies to you?
Well, that is after you made your way past said boulder. You find a minecart and interacting with it, Indy says that it will run with gasoline. And there is still gasoline left in the shed. Sadly, you can’t pick it up anymore. Now, this is a red haring, you don’t need this minecart at all.
By now, you have learned that this level likes to break the rules of how the main game is designed. You’ll have to think outside of the box sometimes to beat this level. But, for some jumps, you need to use your knowledge of what’s possible and impossible to progress. This makes it quite tricky sometimes to progress. And this brings me to a conclusion we also said on stream. I think that the issue is that people expected a more tame level than what we actually got and that might turn some people off. But, I’m so glad that the quick save system exists in this game. So, abuse the quick save system and make multiple saves since you’ll need them if you aren’t a veteran player of this game.
Anyhow, let’s get back into the flow of the level. After we completed the lever puzzle, we go back towards to the huge open area and take the lift to a new location. What follows is a totally new area where it’s a good thing if you saved up on health packs and you have a great sense of direction.
So, the short minecart ridge comes to an end. It doesn’t take long before you find yourself into a watermaze. This watermaze is unfair in my honest opinion. Klamath had a tricky time solving it and he had to use almost every health pack to get through it. Without Kovic pointing out the right tunnel, I think it would have made the stream quite a bit longer. There was supposed to be a minecart section instead of this swimming maze, but the developer had a hard time making the minecart section to work and he gave up and made this swimming maze.
Now, I’m all fine with this swimming maze, but the map glitches out at certain parts. I have a mediocre sense of direction and I wanted to rely on the map. The map doesn’t always render the tunnels correctly. You sometimes swim off the map or “in nothingness”. Sadly, I have to draw my own map. I wish I still had it, since it would make for a nice screenshot here… But I threw it out but me and my clumsiness… I knocked over my waterbottle over it.
After the swimming maze, we get a new section of “Kaizo Jones”. Where we get some extremely tricky platforming. Here is where you need to use the look key again and be sure you are playing in 4:3. If you are playing in another resolution like 16:9 or 16:10, this will also be one of the moments where you don’t see all the information.
The block puzzle that follows, feels right out of Tomb Raider. The initial reviews of this game called out this game as a Tomb Raider clone. While, this game does the formula a whole lot differently. We even talked about that during the stream. In terms of theming, Infernal Machine is a lot better. Tomb Raider feels like obstacle courses. But that’s thanks to a different engine and control style. If you want to hear the whole discussion, you can watch the stream from this point. Excuse Kovic’s internet being spotty while he was replying.
After the block puzzle, a new path opens in the swim maze. Then, some platforming comes. Something I love is how there is even a troll hidden inside the platforming. It caught me off guard and made me smile. This platforming section was also love to do. It felt like a real test on how well I know the game. This platforming section feels a lot better put together and feel less cryptic on where you need to go next. You really start to notice that the developer was getting more used to the level editor and made better puzzles. The moment of having to use the whip to swing over the gap while the platform underneath you was breaking was amazing.
After that, we get into the finale of this level. We jump into a portal and we land in a playable area which is shown at the end of Shambala, the 4th level in the original game. That area that’s shown to you after you have beaten the Ice Guardian. The path that takes you to Palawan Lagoon. It was possible to explore that using cheats and modified saves, but now it’s in a level for real. Exploring the little house at the end brings us to something you totally don’t expect this custom level to do. You’ll find a parchment inside with a riddle and at the end you notice something in red saying: “MAT -> ZIP”.
There is some meta gaming now going on. You’ll need to make a hard save and exit your game. You’ll need to go to your resource folder & then open the MAT folder. In there you’ll need to rename “SED.MAT” to “SED.ZIP”. You’ll also need to enter the password for the zip, since you get a new cog script to continue the level, which you need to place in your cog folder. In there, there is another surprise. But, that’s something I’m not going to spoil. But, be sure that Kovic is playing with that surprise and maybe I’m going to dig into it. PS, the next paragraph is in white with the right spelling of the password:
Marcus
The way the level ends is bittersweet. If you solve the final puzzle, something special happens and you can beat the level. You could argue that the ending of this level is “lazy” or “creative”… But, it’s an amazing way to wrap up the story in one level with a nice bow.
At the start of the custom level, I felt that it was quite rough around the edges and it had some moments that felt badly designed. In terms of game design that is. If you look at it visually and level flow wise, I personally think that this level would fit right into the original game as a final challenge. But, the further you go into the level, the more you start to notice that the developer of this level is getting used to the tools and the editor and more polished puzzles and area’s are coming through. You notice the journey of the developer and see it becoming better and better.
I want to give a big congrats to everybody who was involved in releasing this custom level. It’s a blast to play and I can’t wait to see more custom levels. The stream I did with this level was one of the best streams ever and it was also quite a lot of fun to write the tool to help people play this custom level. I’m curious what you think about this custom level and/or the content of this article. Feel free to drop something in the comment section down below.
And with that, I have said everything I wanted to say about this for now. I want to thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to welcome you back in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.
by Satori D 2023
Music
MONDO Vanilli from IOU Babe 1994
(Scrappi DuChamp – Jonathan Burnside)
Comments regarding co-creating and producing Gimme Helter for MONDO Vanilli and about Trent Reznor whose erstwhile record label Nothing had (sort of) signed MONDO Vanilli and paid for the studio time to produce an album.
First… Jonathan Burnside according to Jonathan Burnside
Jonathan Burnside, music producer, studio engineer, mixer and guitarist. Years ago, I started a studio (Razor’s Edge) for the San Francisco alternative music scene that produced albums for The Melvins and Kurt Cobain, Faith No More, soul-drummer Bernard Purdie, NoFx, Clutch, Red House Painters, Michael Franti’s Disposable Heros of Hiphoprisy, Lag Wagon, Fu Manchu, Sleep, Neurosis, Lunachicks and many others.
On Gimme Helter
Gimme Helter is the most terrifying song I’ve ever worked on. And I’ve done bands like Neurosis and Melvins where the whole thing was to be as scary as possible. And in the end, they’re a bunch of suburban kids with fucking loud guitars. So what? Sure, your mother will probably find it scary.
I think Gimme Helter is like one of the most extreme industrial songs I’ve ever heard. There’s nothing pretty about it. And the subject matter is horrifying in itself.
There’s a part in the middle of Gimme Helter where there’s a guy saying, “I’m a soldier man, listen. You guys don’t love us no more.” He was always down at Hayes and Divisidero. And he would always walk hunched over with this green parka pulled up around his head… a big African American dude. Some people told me he thought he had demons and he was trying to trap ’em inside so they wouldn’t go to anybody else. Some people said he had no teeth. Whatever.
I pulled up to him in my pickup truck. And he was at the bus stop. And I’m like, “Hey Buster man, what’s up? What’s the deal man? How’s life?” And he’s completely out of it. And he gave those quotes. And then he saw that I was actually recording him, and he tried to attack me. [LAUGHTER] He lurched forward, and I got the hell out of there. And then not long after that, right after the album was completed, I was in Popeye’s Chicken on the corner near there just getting something quick to eat and he comes busting in the doors, falls on the floor, and does bloody snow angels all over the floor and dies. He had been capped in the neck.
Here you’ve got a song with the voice of Jim Jones and all these crazy people. And then you’ve got somebody probably more real than all of them. Some poor fuck that got chewed up by America and spit out shot in Popeye’s. He died right there in front of me. I didn’t stay to eat.
On Trent Reznor
I didn’t think Reznor would get IOU Babe at all. I really wondered about that the whole time. And especially the subject matter. It could have been a little close to home.
Nine Inch Nails was pretty much wrap it up in plastic and sell it to the world. Downward Spiral’s a good album. I’m not putting it down. But it’s very genre specific.
The only thing I remember about Trent Reznor backstage is that he had the limpest coldest handshake I’ve ever felt in my life. Honest to God, I thought somebody handed me a dead trout. I thought I was supposed to kiss his hand ’cause, literally, he placed his cold thing on my palm.
The Eighth Pirate Code is part of the Pirates of the Caribbean Cursed Sails limited-time battle pass. So, in addition to earning XP that can be used to unlock items in the normal battle pass, you’ll also unlock Cursed Gold, which will further the Pirates of the Caribbean battle pass. It’s also worth pointing out that…
Harrison Ford, the legendary actor who has been in big franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones, is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in February as President Thaddeus Ross, via Captain America: Brave New World. And he’s already gotten started with expressing his bemusement about the role.
Today, June 9, 2024, Xbox took to the stage to show off a ton of games over the course of its nearly one-and-half-hour-long event. It was a healthy selection of games that featured a wide variety of genres and the return of a certain chainsaw-gun-wielding, bandana-wearing dude who’s ready to take it to the Locusts.
Today, during the Xbox Summer Game Fest showcase, we got a new extended trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The new trailer not only looks great, but it also includes an extended scene that feels like it was ripped right out of an Indiana Jones film.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is officially out and so are the reviews! While the overall consensus is good, there is some division among critics about the direction Hellblade 2 takes.
There are countless LEGO sets available to purchase and, if you’re trying to keep to a certain budget, things can get a little complicated. With sets costing hundreds of dollars, it’s not always easy to find an affordable LEGO set to gift or hoard.
However, as a collector with a child who is also turning into something of a LEGO fan, I’ve had to get thrifty, and I’ve become pretty good at finding LEGO sets on the cheaper side. On this list, I’ve included something for all tastes and the best part? None of these sets sell for more than $50 USD.
Bonsai Tree
Price: $49.99 USD
Image via LEGO
The Bonsai TreeLEGO set allows you to create not just one tree, but two. Well, almost. You can build one trunk and then have the choice between greenery or Cherry Blossoms to complete the look. I love this set and have it in my bedroom, changing the leaves depending on the season.
Venomized Groot (Marvel)
Price: $49.99 USD
Image via LEGO
I can’t be the only person whose favorite character from the Marvel universe is Groot, and this set combines him with another favorite - Venom. You can build this set to be either half-venomized or completely venomized, allowing for some customization and variety if you decide to deconstruct and build the set again.
Dobby the House Elf (Harry Potter)
Price: $34.99 USD
Image via LEGO
One for the Harry Potter fans, Dobby the House Elf doesn’t come alone. You also get a LEGO version of Tom Riddle’s Diary from The Chamber of Secrets, complete with soggy sock, and the cake which results in bars being put on Harry’s window. Dobby’s giant green eyes and happy smile are just too cute.
Everyone is Awesome
Price: $34.99 USD
Image via LEGO
The Everyone is Awesome set is definitely a display piece, with its rainbow backing and solid color minifigs. Designed by Matthew Aston, it’s a celebration of inclusivity, positivity and kindness. Even if it’s not designed to be played with, this one’s still a pretty cool set to have. Bonus points if you can avoid getting the song stuck in your head.
Dinosaur Fossils: T. Rex Skull (Jurassic World)
Price: $39.99 USD
Image via LEGO
Even if you’re not that much of a fan of the Jurassic World franchise (though I’m unsure how you couldn’t be, at least when it comes to the original movie), this set looks really nice sitting on a shelf. You get both the T. Rex footprint and fossilized skull to display, as well as a small plaque relaying details about real-life T. Rex.
Isabelle’s House Visit (Animal Crossing)
Price: $39.99 USD
Image via LEGO
Part of the fairly recent inclusion of Animal Crossing as a LEGO collection, Isabelle’s House Visit includes not only the house and surrounding greenery, but also a floating present and two minifigs - Isabelle and Fauna - which complete the scene. The set has only 389 pieces, so it's one children can help with and enjoy dismantling just to put it back together again.
Orchid
Price: $49.99 USD
Image via LEGO
My fiancé purchased the Orchid set for me as a gift and we built it together, so I may be a little biased here, but I cannot overstate how good value this set is. It’s actually pretty big, standing at 15 inches tall, so it’s replaced the real plant on my dining table. I can attest that, as someone who is terrible at keeping houseplants alive, LEGO flowers are an excellent alternative!
Escape from the Lost Tomb (Indiana Jones)
Price: $39.99 USD
Image via LEGO
If you’re a fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, or Egyptian iconology, or just LEGO in general and hankering to build something, the Escape from the Lost Tomb set is good value for money. It has 600 pieces and, when built, has interactive parts which make it good for both kids and adults.
Spider Tank (Star Wars)
Price: $49.99 USD
Image via LEGO
This mechanical spider from the Mandalorian comes with three minifigs: The Mandalorian himself, Grogu, and Bo-Katan Kryze. The Spider Tank itself has a shooting function, designed to fling tiny bits of LEGO across the living room for you to find hours later once the kids are in bed, so I’d argue that this one should be kept out of small kids, lest your feet feel the force of the LEGO step.
The Sword Outpost (Minecraft)
Price: $44.99 USD
Image via LEGO
I have to admit, my first thought when the Minecraft collection of LEGO was announced was, “What took them so long?”. I mean, it’s a world built entirely from blocks so it just makes sense to make things from the game out of LEGO. Well, this is one of the sets now available from the Minecraft LEGO collection, including an oversized version of a Diamond Sword and multiple minifigs, like the adorably blocky pig.
New reporting claims that Microsoft’s CEO is pushing all of its divisions to make more money and has put pressure on Xbox to publish even more of its games from some of its biggest franchises on PlayStation and Switch, leading to internal debates and “unease.”
Today in “What the fuck is going on” news, Netflix has announced that the provocative YouTuber and cocky boxer Jake Paul is stepping into the ring with the pugilism GOAT himself, Mike Tyson. Yep, you read that right and nope, I can’t believe it either, but here we are. The match will air live on the streaming giant on…
Deadpool & Wolverine, the third entry in Ryan Reynolds’ series of comedic comic-book films, will be missing a beloved character from Fox’s X-Men movies when it releases this summer. The character in question is Juggernaut, best remembered (cinematically, at least) for his appearance in X-Men: The Last Stand in which…
by Satori D 2023
Music
MONDO Vanilli from IOU Babe 1994
(Scrappi DuChamp – Jonathan Burnside)
Comments regarding co-creating and producing Gimme Helter for MONDO Vanilli and about Trent Reznor whose erstwhile record label Nothing had (sort of) signed MONDO Vanilli and paid for the studio time to produce an album.
First… Jonathan Burnside according to Jonathan Burnside
Jonathan Burnside, music producer, studio engineer, mixer and guitarist. Years ago, I started a studio (Razor’s Edge) for the San Francisco alternative music scene that produced albums for The Melvins and Kurt Cobain, Faith No More, soul-drummer Bernard Purdie, NoFx, Clutch, Red House Painters, Michael Franti’s Disposable Heros of Hiphoprisy, Lag Wagon, Fu Manchu, Sleep, Neurosis, Lunachicks and many others.
On Gimme Helter
Gimme Helter is the most terrifying song I’ve ever worked on. And I’ve done bands like Neurosis and Melvins where the whole thing was to be as scary as possible. And in the end, they’re a bunch of suburban kids with fucking loud guitars. So what? Sure, your mother will probably find it scary.
I think Gimme Helter is like one of the most extreme industrial songs I’ve ever heard. There’s nothing pretty about it. And the subject matter is horrifying in itself.
There’s a part in the middle of Gimme Helter where there’s a guy saying, “I’m a soldier man, listen. You guys don’t love us no more.” He was always down at Hayes and Divisidero. And he would always walk hunched over with this green parka pulled up around his head… a big African American dude. Some people told me he thought he had demons and he was trying to trap ’em inside so they wouldn’t go to anybody else. Some people said he had no teeth. Whatever.
I pulled up to him in my pickup truck. And he was at the bus stop. And I’m like, “Hey Buster man, what’s up? What’s the deal man? How’s life?” And he’s completely out of it. And he gave those quotes. And then he saw that I was actually recording him, and he tried to attack me. [LAUGHTER] He lurched forward, and I got the hell out of there. And then not long after that, right after the album was completed, I was in Popeye’s Chicken on the corner near there just getting something quick to eat and he comes busting in the doors, falls on the floor, and does bloody snow angels all over the floor and dies. He had been capped in the neck.
Here you’ve got a song with the voice of Jim Jones and all these crazy people. And then you’ve got somebody probably more real than all of them. Some poor fuck that got chewed up by America and spit out shot in Popeye’s. He died right there in front of me. I didn’t stay to eat.
On Trent Reznor
I didn’t think Reznor would get IOU Babe at all. I really wondered about that the whole time. And especially the subject matter. It could have been a little close to home.
Nine Inch Nails was pretty much wrap it up in plastic and sell it to the world. Downward Spiral’s a good album. I’m not putting it down. But it’s very genre specific.
The only thing I remember about Trent Reznor backstage is that he had the limpest coldest handshake I’ve ever felt in my life. Honest to God, I thought somebody handed me a dead trout. I thought I was supposed to kiss his hand ’cause, literally, he placed his cold thing on my palm.
During a special episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, Phil Spencer revealed the first wave of Xbox titles coming to rival platforms will include four games. “We are currently in the process of bringing four Xbox games to other platforms. These are titles which have been available to Xbox players for at least a year,”…
by Satori D 2023
Music
MONDO Vanilli from IOU Babe 1994
(Scrappi DuChamp – Jonathan Burnside)
Comments regarding co-creating and producing Gimme Helter for MONDO Vanilli and about Trent Reznor whose erstwhile record label Nothing had (sort of) signed MONDO Vanilli and paid for the studio time to produce an album.
First… Jonathan Burnside according to Jonathan Burnside
Jonathan Burnside, music producer, studio engineer, mixer and guitarist. Years ago, I started a studio (Razor’s Edge) for the San Francisco alternative music scene that produced albums for The Melvins and Kurt Cobain, Faith No More, soul-drummer Bernard Purdie, NoFx, Clutch, Red House Painters, Michael Franti’s Disposable Heros of Hiphoprisy, Lag Wagon, Fu Manchu, Sleep, Neurosis, Lunachicks and many others.
On Gimme Helter
Gimme Helter is the most terrifying song I’ve ever worked on. And I’ve done bands like Neurosis and Melvins where the whole thing was to be as scary as possible. And in the end, they’re a bunch of suburban kids with fucking loud guitars. So what? Sure, your mother will probably find it scary.
I think Gimme Helter is like one of the most extreme industrial songs I’ve ever heard. There’s nothing pretty about it. And the subject matter is horrifying in itself.
There’s a part in the middle of Gimme Helter where there’s a guy saying, “I’m a soldier man, listen. You guys don’t love us no more.” He was always down at Hayes and Divisidero. And he would always walk hunched over with this green parka pulled up around his head… a big African American dude. Some people told me he thought he had demons and he was trying to trap ’em inside so they wouldn’t go to anybody else. Some people said he had no teeth. Whatever.
I pulled up to him in my pickup truck. And he was at the bus stop. And I’m like, “Hey Buster man, what’s up? What’s the deal man? How’s life?” And he’s completely out of it. And he gave those quotes. And then he saw that I was actually recording him, and he tried to attack me. [LAUGHTER] He lurched forward, and I got the hell out of there. And then not long after that, right after the album was completed, I was in Popeye’s Chicken on the corner near there just getting something quick to eat and he comes busting in the doors, falls on the floor, and does bloody snow angels all over the floor and dies. He had been capped in the neck.
Here you’ve got a song with the voice of Jim Jones and all these crazy people. And then you’ve got somebody probably more real than all of them. Some poor fuck that got chewed up by America and spit out shot in Popeye’s. He died right there in front of me. I didn’t stay to eat.
On Trent Reznor
I didn’t think Reznor would get IOU Babe at all. I really wondered about that the whole time. And especially the subject matter. It could have been a little close to home.
Nine Inch Nails was pretty much wrap it up in plastic and sell it to the world. Downward Spiral’s a good album. I’m not putting it down. But it’s very genre specific.
The only thing I remember about Trent Reznor backstage is that he had the limpest coldest handshake I’ve ever felt in my life. Honest to God, I thought somebody handed me a dead trout. I thought I was supposed to kiss his hand ’cause, literally, he placed his cold thing on my palm.
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Borderlands 4, Path of Exile 2's early access release, Indiana Jones for PlayStation 5, and so much more! Here's everything that Geoff Keighly announced on stage during Opening Night Live at gamescom 2024.
In a surprise twist, Geoff Keighly took to the Opening Night Live stage at gamescom 2024 to reveal not only the release date for Indiana Jones and the Circle, but also that the game will be coming to PlayStation 5 in spring of 2025. Presented by Dimensionals
Check out new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, staring Troy Baker as the titular hero, coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC on December 9, 2025 and PlayStation 5 in Spring 2025.
The upcoming first-person action-adventure from MachineGames harkens back to the studio’s classic roots.
We don't have to wait much longer.
“I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform."
