Pedro Pascal took some time during the Oscars to send some love to Canada.
Speaking to eTalk on the award show’s red carpet, The Last of Us star was asked whether Canada “did [him] proud” after filming the popular HBO series in Alberta for a year.
“Incredibly proud,” Pascal responded. “We couldn’t have done it without Canada, frankly, because of its physical landscape, because of our crew. 12 months — I miss it.”
Notably, Pascal went on to say that “we’re going back,” suggesting that Season 2 of the series will once again film in Alberta — or, at least, elsewhere in Canada. This echoes comments from co-star Bella Ramsey, who told Comicbook.com she’s “really excited” to be “back in Canada” for Season 2.
It should be noted that HBO hasn’t yet made a formal announcement regarding where or even when The Last of Us‘ sophomore season might film. For all kinds of business reasons, changes could happen, especially since we’re presumably months out from the start of production. Still, Pascal and Ramsey’s comments now suggest that the current plan, at least, is to return to Canada.
Elsewhere in his brief chat with eTalk, Pascal was asked to give a shoutout to his “Canadian fans,” but that wasn’t enough for him.
“A big shoutout to my Canadian family — I miss you!”
Pascal has been quite open about his love of Canada during The Last of Us promotional circuit. Speaking to MobileSyrupahead of the show’s premiere, the actor raved about “the warmth and the dedication” of the Canadian crew, saying that it ended up being “essential” to film here. He also gave a special mention to Canmore, which stood in for Jackson, Wyoming in Episode 6, calling it a “magical little town.”
The entire first season of The Last of Us is now streaming on Crave in Canada. A release window for Season 2 has not yet been revealed, although we know it will adapt The Last of Us Part II. That said, the creators have confirmed that at least two seasons will be needed to fully cover the events of the sequel.
Activision and supporting developers have quickly come forward to confirm they are “committed” to Call of Duty: Mobile as “part of the entire Call of Duty franchise.” This statement comes days after Microsoft said the contrary to regulators.
On Twitter, the official page for Call of Duty: Mobile posted a statement regarding the longevity and support of the title. In an effort to quell the worries of fans, the statement says that the team intends “to continue supporting the game with a robust roadmap of fresh new CODM content, activities, and updates for the long haul.”
This ordeal comes as part of the ongoing saga of Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Last week, Microsoft informed U.K. regulators that Call of Duty: Mobile “is expected to be phased out over time with the launch of Warzone Mobile.” Of course, with that statement, Microsoft did not divulge how long it would take for Call of Duty: Mobile to be phased out. However, the statement alone was enough to send fans into a panic.
Call of Duty: Mobile is one of Activision’s most popular mobile titles. In 2022, the game crossed the 650 million downloads threshold. However, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is projected to become another tentpole mobile title for the publisher. The battle royale has already seen a lot of popularity across consoles and PC.
It remains to be seen whether Microsoft’s comments were misrepresented or ill-informed while speaking to the U.K. regulators. However, as of now, it appears as though Call of Duty: Mobile will continue for the foreseeable future.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is slated to launch sometime this year. Pre-registration is already available on iOS and Android.
Microsoft is continuing its pursuit to acquire Activision Blizzard. The company recently signed a 10-year “binding” agreement with Nintendo and Nvidia to avoid anti-trust concerns. However, the acquisition continues to face pushback from the likes of PlayStation and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). However, the CMA is due to deliver its final ruling on April 26th.
In an interview with GQ about the March 12th Season 1 finale, creators and showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin were pressed on what’s to come. While the pair have confirmed that Season 2 will adapt The Last of Us Part II, the extent to which has remained unclear. When asked whether Season 2 will “span the entire course of the second game,” Druckmann said, “it’s more than one season.”
Although Mazin had previously teased that Part II is “more than a season’s worth of television,” this is the first time both he and Druckmann have definitively commented on there being multiple seasons in the works. Of course, the final say will come down to whether HBO renews the series again, but for now, at least, we know the creators are planning to tackle the story in this way. Given how popular it’s been so far, though — HBO’s second-biggest series premiere after only House of the Dragon— it’s not a stretch to think Season 2 will garner a similarly large audience.
Interestingly, though, the pair declined to specify whether this means we’re getting two or three more seasons. “You have noted correctly that we will not say how many,” responded Mazin with a laugh. “But more than one is factually correct.”
Those who have played both The Last of Us games will certainly understand Druckmann and Mazin’s reasoning. The first game is roughly 15 hours to complete, while the sequel is nearly 25 hours. Without getting into spoilers, Part II — which takes place five years after the first game — is also much more ambitious in its narrative structure, with many jumps in perspective and time periods.
“Ultimately, we generally stressed the power of relationships and trying to find significance within moments of action,” Mazin said during a virtual press conference, via Variety. “And so there may be less action than some people wanted because we couldn’t necessarily find significance for quite a bit of it, or [there was] concern that it would be repetitive.”
However, he did tease that “it’s quite possible that there will be a lot more infected later. And perhaps different kinds” in Season 2.
It’s also worth noting that Laura Bailey, who plays a major new character in Part II named Abby, also made a cameo in the Season 1 finale. Druckmann and Mazin also teased that she could play a bigger role in future seasons, similar to what they gave to game actors Troy Baker (Joel), Ashley Johnson (Ellie) and Jeffrey Pierce (Tommy).
A release window for The Last of Us Season 2 has not yet been confirmed. Season 1 is currently streaming on Crave in Canada.
Last year, I wrote about how the glut of (otherwise quality) game releases early in the year was a bit overwhelming, leading me to take a much-needed break from gaming.
That said, there’s one game that I’ve been enjoying on the side, and it couldn’t have come at a better time: February’s Theatrythm Final Bar Line. Now, I’m not necessarily surprised that I enjoy it; a crossover game featuring music and characters from Final Fantasy, my all-time favourite series, was up my alley. However, I generally can’t get into rhythm games (including previous Theatrythm titles) due to their inherently repetitive nature, so I didn’t know how much of Final Bar Line I’d actually play.
As it turns out — quite a few hours. A big part of that has to do with the fact that this game marks the series’ console debut; I far prefer using a controller to a device like a 3DS with smaller buttons. Beyond that, though, Final Bar Line is just a fundamentally easy game to pick up and play. For uncoordinated people like me who don’t often play these kinds of games, developer ‘indieszero’ has graciously included a ‘Simple’ mode that relegates all inputs to a single button. That, alongside four difficulty options for each song, ensures that players of all levels of experience can jump in.
Because really, the highlight here is the music — some of the greatest in the history of gaming. With 385 songs from across 29 different Final Fantasy games, Final Bar Line is full of nothing but straight bangers. That includes the god-tier work of original FF composer Nobuo Uematsu (the first nine numbered entries and contributions to many others), Masashi Hamauzu (XIII), Masayoshi Soken (XIV) and Yoko Shimomura (XV). It’s almost a cliché to use the term “love letter” at this point, but Final Bar Line absolutely earns it thanks to its far-reaching celebration of 35 years’ worth of incredible music.
In terms of fan favourites, there’s everything from the sensational operatic grandeur of VII‘s “One-Winged Angel” and tear-jerking X ballad “Suteki Da Ne” to the beautiful Celtic woodwinds of XIII‘s “The Archylte Steppe” and majestic XV violin piece, “Valse di Fantastica.” But indieszero and Square Enix have commendably picked deeper cuts, too, like the menacing “Jack’s Theme” from the meme-worthy Strangers of Paradise, a slew of songs from mobile titles like Mobius Final Fantasy and tracks from lesser-known spin-offs like Chocobo’s Dungeon and Crystal Chronicles. Hell, my favourite game of all time, FFVII, has multiple sets of tracks from the OG VII, its stellar Remake, Crisis Core prequel and other ‘Compilation’ spin-offs.
Final Bar Line also sports an extensive lineup of DLC tracks from other Square Enix titles with their own stellar music, like Live A Live, Nier Automata and Chrono Trigger. Admittedly, I wish some of these included remixes; of the four Live A Live songs, only one is an updated version from last year’s amazing remake, and it isn’t the absolute bop that is “Megalomania.” Nitpick aside, though, the music catalogue is so magnificent and vast — in the base game alone, and only more so with DLC — that there really will be something here for everyone, even if you don’t have a history with some of these games.
That’s to say nothing of the plethora of characters. There’s an undeniable highlight in having parties consisting of, say, VII‘s Cloud and Sephiroth, XIV‘s Alphinaud and Tactics‘ Ramza — characters who would pretty much never meet otherwise. Bringing them together in recreations of iconic FF scenes, like VI’‘s Opera House misadventure, the death of Aerith in VII or XV‘s gargantuan Leviathan encounter only sweetens the deal. While I wish we got an actual narrative to unify them all, there’s enough of a mix here between traditional rhythm stages and FMV-filled ones to serve as a satisfying FF ‘Greatest Hits’ collection.
At the same time, the focus on songs means you’ll generally only be playing for a few minutes at a time. This makes it the perfect game to dabble in here and there, especially if you’ve found yourself a bit burnt out on games like me. The fact that I can just boot up my PS5, run through a few songs at my desired difficulty setting for 20 or 30 minutes and then go on with my day is brilliant. Thankfully, it’s not a time-sink like so many games nowadays. On the flip side, there’s a lot of content here if you want to dig into it, which means it’s worth coming back to over and over. Between Series Quests (an arcade-style campaign that takes you through highlights of each game), Music Stages (free play), co-op (where you and a friend split the notes) and Multi Battle (a surprisingly frenetic four-player competitive match), Final Bar Line is chock full of gameplay modes.
There’s also an RPG-lite element that hearkens back to the FF series’ roots. As you play, you’ll unlock new characters, abilities and summons that can be customized to your party of choice. Each character has their own class (Physical, Magic, Defence, Healing, etc.) to distinguish the types of moves they’ll automatically use as you hit notes. For example, the powerful Ulima Blade can only be used by blade-wielders like Cloud and Sephiroth. On the other hand, V‘s Lenna has a character-specific ‘Arise’ spell that can revive your team when your HP hits zero. Overall, this system feels finely tuned enough that mixing-and-matching configurations will provide benefits in stages but can still largely be ignored — especially on lower difficulties — if you just want to use your favourite characters and focus on the music.
Final Bar Line is easily one of my favourite games of the year so far. With some of the best music in the entire medium, a variety of difficulty options and modes and a structure that makes it easy to pick up and drop, indieszero has created an absolutely delightful experience that I keep coming back to even as I’ve put down other games.
Theatrythm Final Bar Line is now available on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
There’s also MAR10 Day sale offering $25 off on select Mario Nintendo Switch games for $54.99. These games include Mario Kart 8, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Mario Oddysey and more. There’s also a Nintendo Switch promotion offering two red Joy-Cons and either Mario Kart 8, Mario Odyssey or Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe — pick one. These deals are only available until March 16th.
Xbox will not be on the E3 show floor this year but will instead co-stream the event when it starts on June 11th.
An Xbox spokesperson told IGNthat “we can’t wait to host our Xbox Games Showcase on June 11 and will share more details later. We also look forward to co-streaming our event as part of E3 Digital and will not be on the E3 show floor.”
Last month, IGN reported that PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox will not formally attend E3 2023. Nintendo will completely miss the event, and Xbox will hold its own showcase.
Earlier this week, Bethesda announced that it will host an Xbox Games Showcase on June 11th, and it will share more details on Starfield immediately after that show.
It’s also been revealed that E3 2023 will have a digital showcase, but studio participation is unclear. Ubisoft has confirmed it will take part in E3 this year, but it’s unclear which other publishers will be taking part in the event.
E3 2023’s physical event will take place from June 13th to 16th and be split between days for professionals and fans.
It’s March 10th, so that also means it’s MAR10 Day (“Mario Day”).
To celebrate, Nintendo is running a slew of promotions on all things Mario, including deals on a Switch bundle and games. These are offered at a variety of retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, The Source and Walmart.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit — $89.99 (regularly $129.99)
Mario Party Superstars — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Nintendo Switch console with red Joy-Cons — $399.99 with your choice of a free $79.99 downloadable game (Super Mario
Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe)
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Super Mario Odyssey — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Yoshi’s Crafted World — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Nintendo eShop deals
If you prefer to buy digital games, there are also deals on the Switch’s eShop. Note: Wave 1 of the promotion runs from March 10th to 23rd, while Wave 2’s offers (which haven’t yet been revealed but include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) will kick off on March 24th.
Dubbed the ‘Chainsaw Demo,’ the trial will let you play around in the early village area. Notably, there isn’t a time limit, unlike some previous Resident Evil demos. The Chainsaw Demo is available on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox consoles and Steam.
The game follows U.S. special agent Leon S. Kennedy as he travels to a Spanish village to rescue the president’s daughter from a violent cult. Fans have been clamouring for a remake of the gameafter the well-received modern reimaginings of Resident Evil 2 and 3. The original Resident Evil 4 debuted on the Game Cube in 2005 and went on to revolutionize the survival horror and third-person genres with its over-the-shoulder gunplay.
In the remake, the gameplay has been tweaked to resemble what’s featured in Resident Evil 2 and 3, on top of new stealth and parry mechanics. The story has also been expanded, particularly when it comes to the characterization of Ashley and Luis.
Resident Evil 4 will launch on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox consoles and PC on March 24th.
In other Resident Evil news, Capcom recently launched a VR version of Resident Evil Village exclusively for PlayStation VR2 — read more on that here.
Nintendo and Illumination have revealed the third and final trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The new footage came during a March 9th Nintendo Direct, the final presentation dedicated to the upcoming animated film.
In the trailer, we see Mario (Chris Pratt) and Donkey Kong (Vancouver’s own Seth Rogen) team up (in which DK even gets fire powers!), an extended sequence on classic Mario Kart track, Rainbow Road, and more. We also get new looks at Luigi (Charlie Day), Bowser (Jack Black) and Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy).
Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) serve as co-directors. Additionally, composer Brian Tyler (Avengers: Age of Ultron) is working with original Mario series composer Koji Kondo to integrate some of his iconic tracks into the original score.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie will hit North American theatres on April 5th, 2023.
