This will be a singalong dream (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
After the success of Rocketman, it’s only natural that Elton fans wants another fix of their favourite songster.
Thankfully, he’s going on tour, so you can get your Tiny Dancer and I’m Still Standing fix.
It’s going to be a long old time for Elton, as the full thing will consist of more than 300 shows across five continents, starting this year and set to end in 2021.
Sadly, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road set of shows has been announced as the retirement tour for the much-loved icon. Despite it being sad, however, it’s certain to be spectacular.
Tickets go on sale today, so here’s everything you need to know if you want to get involved here in the UK.
Prices vary depending on the venue, and start from roughly £50.
At the O2, multiple VIP packages are available, including the Tiny Dancer, the Bennie and The Jets, the Crocodile Rock, and the Rocket Man. Prices for these can be up to £900.
Mastermind has found itself in the middle of a bit of trouble after the 2019 winner of the series was crowned for allegedly giving a ‘wrong’ answer.
Judith Lewis, 59, took home the coveted crystal bowl for winning the series, after answering a question that has divided many over whether it was right or wrong.
Judith was crowned the winner of Mastermind 2019 (Picture: BBC)
With one point between her winning the show alone or going into a tie-breaker with another contestant, Ian Orriss, the fight over what she said is, apparently, quite a pivotal one.
The question: ‘What long-tailed rodent was adopted as the symbol of the seventh-armoured division who fought in North Africa in the Second World War and was known as the ‘Desert Rats’?’
While the correct answer is a jerboa, viewers think quizmaster John Humphrys misheard Judith and that she actually said gerbil.
This slip soon became worthy of a debate – and where else better to do it than Twitter.
Judith has since been forced to support her final answer to The Sun, and affirmed that it was debated on the set of the show before she was eventually given the point.
She added that the panic of hearing the beep going caused her to drop her voice, but insisted to the paper: ‘I know a jerboa is different from a gerbil!’
‘What I said obviously sounded not unlike ‘gerbil’. What I’d said was ‘jerbo’,’ she added.
Judith’s win has been marred by people saying she doesn’t deserve it (Picture: BBC)
‘There was discussion among the technical crew, they went back and listened to it again, and in the end they were happy to accept it.’
The episode was filmed more than seven months ago, and even if the question was eventually ruled against her, the show would’ve still crowned her the winner.
In the event of a tie, the person with the fewest passes is considered the winner.
Ian passed on two questions, whereas Judith only passed on one.
Mastermind is now available on BBC iPlayer.
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Fans are worried after the YouTuber’s recent video (Picture: Etika – NYPD)
YouTuber and Twitch star Etika is reportedly missing after uploading a video which has fans concerned for his safety.
The 29-year-old – real name Desmond Amofah – uploaded a video telling fans he’s ‘sorry’, before it was taken down from the site.
‘I’m sorry, yo. I’m sorry I betrayed your trust, I’m sorry I pushed you all away,’ he said the video.
Saying that he’s ‘breaking his own rules,’ he explained that he was feeling suicidal.
‘I mislead so many of you, I manipulated, I lied, I shifted blame… I don’t know what awaits me on the other side, but I’m ready to face it,’ he wrote in the description.
YouTuber Sky Williams urged people to take him seriously (Picture: Twitter/SkyWilliams)
Etika added: ‘As far as we know, there is no life after death. My time ends now, but if there is a way for me too, I’ll send you all as many blessings as I can from the other side.’
According to NYPD News, the YouTube star was last heard from on 19 June by phone.
This isn’t the first time Etika has alluded to suicide, previously posting some similarly worrying tweets back in April, in which he described himself as ‘mentally troubled’.
The NYPD tweeted a description of the YouTuber (Picture: NYPDNews/Twitter)
However, fans are urging others to take the star’s video seriously, with fellow YouTuber Sky Williams tweeting: ‘Please start taking @etika’s mental health seriously. like sure he’s flip flopped a bunch of times and i know it’s taxing – but suicide attempts/threats should never be blown off.’
One fan shared some fanart he’d created for the YouTuber, adding: ‘Idk where you are right now, but stay strong bro. I was hoping to show you some fanart in person but now’s a better time than ever I guess.
‘I don’t have much to contribute to where he could be, but I have this. Keep your heads up.’
Best known for his gaming videos, Etika has a following of more than 100,000 on YouTube and previously streamed on Twitch.
Lord Alan Sugar has laid out all his cosmetic procedures before a grilling from Piers Morgan during tomorrow night’s Life Stories.
The 72-year-old previously revealed he’s had a botox sesh or two and now he’s gone one step further, admitting to the Good Morning Britain host he’s not impartial to the odd nip and tuck.
During today’s Lorraine, a preview clip from tomorrow’s Life Stories saw The Apprentice star fess up.
Spilling the tea before Piers could, Al began: ‘Can I just say something? I’m pulling the rug from under his feet now. Yes! I’ve had my eyes done; I’ve had cosmetic surgery; I did it for vanity – end of.’
‘I was not at the birth of Simon, the eldest,’ he confessed. ‘I was playing tennis.’
Lord Alan Sugar lays out his plastic surgery on Piers Morgan (Picture: ITV/Rex Features)
‘I was out working and I wouldn’t get home until eight o’clock at night,’ he continued. ‘The thing is that we are very normal people. We kept the children grounded and that’s why they are normal people.’
Piers Morgan’s Life Stories airs tomorrow night at 9.35pm on ITV.
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The 62-year-old actor has joined the cast of the upcoming Marvel movie (Picture: Getty/Rex)
Ray Winstone is set to join the cast of the upcoming movie Black Widow, sources have revealed.
The 62-year-old actor, who is known for his roles in Sexy Beast and The Departed, will appear in the upcoming Marvel project, alongside stars such as Florence Pugh and David Harbour. Other actors that have been linked include Rachel Weisz, O. T. Fagbenle and Emma Watson, with her potential part described as a ‘kick-ass James Bond’.
There is no word yet on what role Ray will have in the movie, and Marvel has yet to comment publicity on the cast.
The film, written by Jac Schaeffer, stars Scarlett Johansson as the titular character. Scarlett has previously played the role of Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Iron Man 2 in 2010, and Marvel feels it is now the time for the character to receive her own motion picture.
Production for the film has started in London, with Cate Shortland set to direct, and Kevin Feige as producer.
Scarlett believes that Kevin has the potential to create a ‘ground-breaking movie’.
She said: ‘The only way to do it would be if it were something that we’ve never seen before that was really ground-breaking and incredibly bad ass. I think if anyone could make that happen my boss Kevin Feige could. He’s a visionary.
‘I think it could be something really special. There’s a lot of room there. The character has a tortured past, she’s had to make a lot of difficult decisions. She has a lot of trauma. She’s got issues. There’s room to work them all out.’
In the meantime, Ray Winstone fans will be able to see the actor in the upcoming musical film Cats. The film, which also stars Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift and James Corden, will be released this December.
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Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty (Picture: Getty)
Text messages sent by Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault accuser at the time of the alleged encounter have been published online, and claim that the actor grabbed the young man’s ‘d**k eight time’.
The girlfriend replied: ‘Sounds like he’s hitting on you.’
Other texts from the alleged victim include claims that Kevin ‘grabbed my d**k like eight times’ and that he pulled down the man’s zipper and ‘reached down my pants’.
His final text message reads: ‘Kevin Spacey is gay.’
Kevin made a surprise appearance at court hearing in early June (Picture: Reuters)
In another chain sent to several friends, he writes: ‘I’m serious. One sec. I’m calling my mom. I’m serious. I’m dead serious. I swear on everyone … I’m drunk but I’m not f***ing around.’
The entertainers attorney’s previously urged the court to release a ‘complete and unaltered’ copy of the accusers cellphone, adding that newly produced evidence shows that he ‘deleted exculpatory text messages and provided falsified screenshots of his conversation from the night in question to law enforcement’.
The former House Of Cards star has pleaded not guilty to the charge of indecent assault and battery.
The criminal case is the only one that has been brought against the disgraced entertainer, who faced a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations back in 2017.
If convicted of this accused crime, Spacey could face up to two and a half years in prison.
The case first came to light when former Boston TV anchor Heather Unruh accused Spacey of getting her son drunk and then sexually assaulting him in Club Car, where he worked as a busboy.
Judge Thomas Barratt has ordered the Club Car to hand over surveillance footage of the night in question, around the time of the incident.
The 32-year-old, who recently checked himself into a wellness retreat, is back in his hometown and looks to be healthy.
The star, who played Jon Snow on the beloved fantasy series, was spotted holding a coffee with a bag slung over his shoulder.
In another snap, he’s seen heading to a black cab as he chats to the driver through the window.
It’s the first time Kit’s been seen back in the UK after he checked himself into rehab, seeking help for ‘stress and alcohol’.
A spokesperson for Kit confirmed his rehab stint to Metro.co.uk, saying in a statement: ‘Kit has decided to utilise this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues.’
Kit was spotted heading to a black cab (Picture: The Mega Agency)
An insider told Page Six: ‘If seeing Kit get help can help anyone struggling, that’s fantastic. There’s no shame at all to this.’
Kit was reportedly ‘hit really hard’ by the end of Game of Thrones wrapping up last month after eight seasons.
He was previously open about his mental health during the filming of the show, explaining: ‘My darkest period was when the show seemed to become so much about Jon, when he died and came back. I really didn’t like the focus of the whole show coming onto Jon — even though it was invalidating my problem about being the weak link because things were about Jon.’
The star held a coffee as he strolled in the sunshine (Picture: MEGA)
Kit added to Variety: ‘When you become the cliffhanger of a TV show, and a TV show probably at the height of its power, the focus on you is f***ing terrifying.’
A group at the Reddit page r/Freefolk has been asking other fans to ‘contribute to the charity Mencap, which Kit has been supporting for years’.
The JustGiving page reads: ‘Kit Harington has given so much to the fans of Game of Thrones over the past decade playing the King in the North, Jon Snow. He absolutely nailed his performance and we loved every second of screentime we had with him.
‘This fundraiser is here to show Kit that we’re incredibly thankful to him for the sheer amount of love and skill he put into Jon Snow for us to enjoy.’
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The singer is currently performing his Las Vegas residency (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)
Robbie Williams had a heartwarming reunion with his children on Wednesday night.
The Rock DJ singer, who is currently performing in Las Vegas, received a visit from wife Ayda Field and his children, including six-year-old Teddy and four-year-old Charlie who were ‘very proud’.
Ayda shared the adorable moment on social media, as she posted a snap of the kids hugging a poster of Robbie on her Instagram story.
‘Teddy and Charlie are very proud to see @robbiewilliams. #vegasbaby’ she captioned the post.
Charlie had also made a poster of Robbie dancing as a reunion gift for him, which Ayda had shared to her Instagram earlier in the week.
‘@robbiewilliams reunited at last!!! #mcm AWxxx’ she said.
Along with Charlie and Teddy, Robbie and Ayda are also parents to Coco, who was born via surrogate last September.
As well as performing in Vegas, Robbie has also been recording for his upcoming twelfth studio album, which should be out by the end of the year. It will be his first studio album since The Heavy Entertainment Show, which was released in 2016.
Ayda shared the adorable moment to her Instagram story (Picture: Instagram)
Speaking to HELLO, he said: ‘I have an album to promote, which I can’t really talk about, but I’m going to be all over the place promoting that. We wanted it desperately to work with the X Factor but it just wouldn’t.
‘It’s TBC because myself and Simon Cowell are good friends, our family are good friends, the kids hang out all the time and I think it’s just a pause on the relationship and then it will carry on, but this year I’ve got to go and promo the album so that’s what I’ll be doing.’
Meanwhile, the singer will continue to perform his Vegas residency, with four more dates this month, and a three final dates set for next month.
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Arya Stark kills the Night King in Game Of Thrones (Picture: HBO)
The death of The Night King in Game Of Thrones was a standout moment in the final season, but a new theory believes it may have been borrowed from the realms of Bollywood.
In third episode The Long Night, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) killed the White Walker leader by leaping through the air and delivering a specific knife bshe leaped through the air before pulling off a specific dagger switcharoo stabbing technique.
An unearthed clip from Indian TV drama Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga appears to show a remarkably similar death scene, with some claiming Game Of Thrones ripped it off from the show.
Reddit user u/Jugal0707 circulated the clip with the caption: ‘India did it before it was cool.’
The whole scene plays out very similarly, even from the grab of the throat to the dramatic knife drop against the bizarre skeleton.
The chances Game Of Thrones ripped off the idea, however, is slim. This episode of Aladdin aired in the middle of 2018 when the final season of Game Of Thrones had pretty much wrapped filming – so they’d have to pull off an impressive turnaround to make any last minute changes.
But still, it’s maybe a worthwhile reminder how Arya’s big moment isn’t so different from cinematic moments gone-by – no matter how obscure.
The final season of Game Of Thrones proved controversial in many respects, from coffee cups to the descent of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).
A lot of people were hoping for multiple new game announcements from Microsoft’s E3 conference and while technically they did get them, they were all for the Xbox One and there was nothing exclusively for Project Scarlett. In hindsight that’s entirely predictable, even if it was disappointing not to see anything on the new Fable and other rumoured projects. But of all the new games that were announced the most interesting and unexpected (if you don’t count the last minute leak) was Bleeding Edge.
At last year’s E3, Microsoft announced that it had bought British developer Ninja Theory, best known for the likes of DmC Devil May Cry and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Like most of the studios they’ve acquired recently, Ninja Theory were already working on new games at the time, but while the likes of The Outer Worlds and Wasteland 3 will remain multiformat Bleeding Edge is an Xbox exclusive from the start. That’s because it wasn’t announced previously, but it’s also exactly the sort of title Microsoft has been championing this generation: a multiplayer-focused action game with a unique hook and plenty of scope for future expansion.
Of course, it’s hard to say anything definitive about a multiplayer-only game when you’ve only had 20 minutes on a pre-alpha version but, as many have already noted, it follows a similar concept to PlatinumGames’ unfairly obscure Anarchy Reigns. Although as a third person, melee-focused online game there are few other comparisons to be made, other than MOBA Smite and that the diverse range of cartoonish characters, and general tone, is reminiscent of Overwatch.
As creative director Rahni Tucker explains in our interview, although Bleeding Edge is biased towards melee combat each character still has plenty of ranged attacks – with some specialising in them. Minigun-wielding Gizmo is one of the most prominent characters so far, perhaps because she, like Tucker, is an Aussie, but there’s also Zero Cool who sits in a gamer chair and has a range of healing powers, El Bastardo who wields duel machetes, and the big-boned Buttercup with her giant circular saw.
Each character is organised into one of three classes – assassin, support, or tank – and has a range of different special abilities. But importantly even the basic attacks have a good sense of impact and damage, which is just what you’d expect from the studio behind the underrated DmC.
Whoever you play as matches are four vs. four affairs on surprisingly large maps. At first they seem too large, but despite thinking that we might we never actually got lost and the only real problem was being run over by the trains that kept criss-crossing the area. Each character transforms into a faster form to traverse the map but once you’re engaged in battle the game works like a standard third person brawler.
Bleeding Edge – Kulev is both a healer and a posioner
Although we did have a dev hovering around, offering tactical advice, Bleeding Edge proved a surprisingly easy game to get into, despite the unusual premise and complete unfamiliarity with any of the characters. Team-play is vitally important, so a lot of fighters have healing moves even if that’s not their primary role, but the simple act of getting up close and punching people is as simple as it is satisfying. And although technically anyone can run away at any time it never devolved into the Benny Hill chase we were worried about before we started.
Playing a Conquest style mode where you’re trying to keep the other team away from a series of control points helps but given the potential for everything to devolve into an incoherent mess it never came close to that.
There’s no release date for the game yet but there is a technical alpha planned for 27 June, which you can try and sign up for here. We strongly advise you do, as not only is Bleeding Edge an exciting new IP but it’s an entirely unique idea – at least this generation. And if that’s the sort of thing Microsoft is going to be encouraging from its newly bought studios then the future for Project Scarlett should be very bright indeed.
Formats: Xbox One and PC Publisher: Xbox Game Studios Developer: Ninja Theory Release Date: TBA
GC: So I just played the game and we won, so I’m feeling pretty good about that.
RT: Nice, that’s a good start.
GC: I always think it’s a good sign when the devs are really into the demo too. Our match was very close and they were killing themselves laughing at the end. I think it ended 500 – 465, which they seemed to think was unusual.
RT: Oh, yeah that’s pretty close. [laughs]
GC: How long have you been working on this? You started it before you were bought by Microsoft, didn’t you?
RT: Oh yeah, we started working on this over three years ago. So yeah, we’re a good chunk of the way through.
GC: So before you started work on Hellblade?
RT: During Hellblade. But this has been an idea in my head since the end of DmC.
GC: At that point did you have a publisher sorted out?
RT: No, we were self-funding it, the same as Hellblade, when we started. It was kind of at the beginning it was like… well, let’s try it and we’ll see where we get to. So to go from that to here is crazy!
GC: I always notice smaller developers are lot more willing to take a risk on new IP than big name publishers, why do you think that is?
RT: I think for Ninja Theory, making original IP and making original games is the holy grail, right? Like, it’s what they always want to do. But we weren’t always able to do that, you need funding – that’s the hard bit. Most developers always want to make original IP, it’s about trying to secure the funding.
So when they started Hellblade that was all going really well, people were really interested in the dev diaries and it was really positive, and about halfway through we thought we could probably roll with another project now. And Nina [Kristensen, chief development director] knew that I had this idea that I wanted to do. And she was like, ‘Well, what do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah!’
So we started with a really small team, to keep the risk low, so maybe like six people at the beginning. And then we’ve averaged about 15 people over the development. We’ve got the most now that we’ve ever had, which is about 25 people.
GC: That’s still very low though.
RT: Yeah, it’s small.
GC: One of the indie games I just saw had 50 people on it. That’s even more impressive if you’ve done all this with such a small team.
RT: [laughs]
GC: So what were you thinking of when you first came up with this idea? Were you influenced by anything that already existed? I imagine you’re already sick of hearing about Anarchy Reigns?
RT: No, no! I did play that. [laughs]
GC: I’m going to bet I’m not the first person that’s described it as a cross between Overwatch and Anarchy Reigns.
RT: [laughs] I think for me, where this idea really came from was I did the combat on DmC. And I wanted to make more action combat, because I’d had such a good time. And I love working with animators… I studied a bit of animation at university, it’s something I’m interested in. So I love working with the animators on the action combat, getting the feel right, getting it smooth, getting it responsive, making it posy… that’s all good stuff for me.
But what I play at home a lot is competitive team multiplayer, and that’s usually in the form of shooters or MOBAs or something else. And I was like, ‘Well, where’s this game, where’s third person action combat and competitive team multiplayer?’ And there wasn’t really one.
GC: That is odd, isn’t it? You’d think punching people in the face via the Internet would be more popular.
RT: [laughs] It’s one of the things we thought about and that we prototyped a lot at the beginning, because we’re like, ‘Okay, why hasn’t this been done? Is it because it can’t be done? Or nobody’s tried before?’
Bleeding Edge – Gizmo is more of a ranged fighter
GC: The only thing I can think of is that when you get three or four third person characters together, in close proximity, it can become a bit of a visual mess. And you don’t really want to do first person because then the melee fighting will feel off. So neither quite works.
RT: Yeah, yeah. I think the trickiest thing when we were prototyping, that we had to overcome, was how you handle being able to hit stun an enemy with your basic attacks. And then how that enemy can get out of that. So, if you’re playing a single-player action game you can go in against 20 guys and hit them to death and they never get a hit in, because you’re awesome at the game and you’ve got, like, all the power. But obviously that doesn’t matter for the AI because it doesn’t matter if he’s having a bad time.
But when you’ve got another actual player at the other end of that you have to think about, ‘Well, okay but he doesn’t want to be hit by a 20-hit combo with no options to get out’. So that was actually the hardest part of trying to find a balance between playing a melee action game or a combat action game where you can combo moves together and do cool stuff, but while making sure there’s counter-play and there’s stuff there that the guy being hit can do and have fun with.
GC: That’s fascinating. My favourite games are things like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta.
RT: Yeah, Bayonetta’s great. That soundtrack as well! [laughs]
GC: What I love about those games is the sense that you’re making real physical contact with enemies, even though you’re obviously not. You learnt how to do that with DmC, so, without giving away all your trade secrets, how does that work?
RT: It’s a combination of everything, really. It’s the choreography of the move, the way it animates, the feedback you get from the sound and the impact using camera shake, camera pushes, pad rumble…
GC: I assumed it’d be complicated because it’s so rare a game gets it right and yet when it does it’s almost magical the sense of connection you get to the action.
RT: The way the other guy gets hit is a big part of it as well, good hit reactions make a big difference.
GC: That’s a movie thing as well, isn’t it? They always say it’s the reaction that sells the punch.
RT: The guy that’s getting hit needs to look good, exactly.
GC: Is there a single-player component or story campaign?
RT: There’s not, no. It’s pure multiplayer.
GC: Is that what you always wanted?
RT: Yeah.
GC: [laughs]
RT: To be honest though I think we could do some really great single-player campaigns with the game. But it’s such a small team and the multiplayer is at the core of the game. It’s the most important thing and you can’t do it second. It has to be first. [laughs] For me the multiplayer is the game. We have the potential to do single-player stuff in the future, like maybe, there’s plenty of interesting stories to tell with the characters but we’ll just have to see.
GC: People complain about tacked-on multiplayer but I think it’s just as bad when it’s the other way round.
RT: Yeah, yep. That’s it, and when you’ve only got 15 or 20 people on the team you don’t want to do a little bit of everything.
GC: In terms of character design, that seemed very strong as well. But how does that work? Do you just have one or two people that are really good at designing characters or are you all pitching in with ideas?
RT: One of the kind of pillars for the game, right at the beginning, is that it’s all about the fighters. They are your connection with the game and we wanted every fighter to be as strong as a protagonist in a single-player game. And yeah, the ideas for the fighters came from everywhere in the team. So sometimes they would start with a crazy prototype of a box guy, casting ability, something that was gameplay focused that was like, ‘Look, we need this type of gameplay ’cause it’s missing in the line-up of characters’.
Or sometimes it’d be a drawing or a bit of animation or just a crazy idea from a programmer or whatever. And then it’d just kind of build over time. But I think we had a kind of centralised, guiding pillar for character design which was that their augment is sort of the thing that defines them. Each fighter has a cybernetic augment that’s core to who they are and how they fight and how they work, and then we try and build around that.
Bleeding Edge – Maeve the witch can trap players in a big bird cage
GC: When you’re making a single-player game it’s got just one job, essentially: review well and sell well. But a multiplayer game, nowadays, it’s so complicated, since most of them now are games as a service title and have at least an eye on eSports… that’s a lot of bases to cover for a team of 20. Is that something Microsoft people talk to you about, about this potentially becoming some massive brand?
RT: It would be great if the game got competitive enough where that started to happen, but I think that’s something that the players decide. But certainly, when we started making the game, the point of making it with such a small team is that it doesn’t have to appeal to every single person in the world and it doesn’t have to be super-duper mass market. We just focus on making a game that we’re passionate about, that we think’s cool, and then hopefully people will like it because we like it and we had passion when we made it.
And that’s kind of the way we approach it, we don’t kind of think too much about what else are people playing and will they play this and will they play that? We just think, ‘What do we wanna make? What are we passionate about?’ And we make that and then we try to find the people that will like it with us.
GC: Initially I was thinking about the difficulties the game might have in finding its audience, but then I realised of course that, as a first party Microsoft game, it’ll be on Game Pass. Which must help you immensely.
RT: Yeah, that’s super cool.
GC: I really hate Game Pass because… it’s a really good idea. It’s this massive project from a global corporation that’s being forced down people’s throats and I can’t find any fault with it. I feel like such a shill.
RT: [laughs] Yeah, it’s really good.
GC: So you can pretty much guarantee that millions of people will play your game from day one.
RT: Yeah, I mean hopefully. Hopefully they’ll see it there and download it and give it a go. It’s one of the really cool opportunities that we get being part of Microsoft now. And, like I said, when we started the game we were completely independent, trying to figure out how we were going to launch the game and get in contact with gamers and tell them about the game and get them into it, and how we were going to distribute it to people. That was all really difficult stuff as an indie developer, that is now made much easier with Microsoft backing us.
GC: One thing I was surprised at though is that, especially given everything you’ve said, there was actually less melee combat than I expected, I lot of it was ranged instead. Or was that just me being a newb and running away from people too much?
RT: [laughs] It’s a pretty even mix.
GC: Was it meant to be more melee-focused at the start or has it all turned out as you expected?
RT: It’s pretty much as I expected, the aim was not to make it melee specific but to make a combat action game. So you were talking about Bayonetta before, she’s got guns, you lock onto a guy and you shoot guns and I think this is kind of the same.
But it’s just that the skill technique in the way that you play our game’s very different to a shooter or an isometric MOBA or something. You’re not using a reticule and you’re not playing top down. It’s direct control, third person, dodging attacks, timing your attacks, working with your team… that type of thing.
GC: But the bias is towards melee, isn’t it? That wasn’t my imagination.
RT: There is more melee characters than ranged characters in the game, so maybe like a 70/30 split. Something like that. So there is more focus on melee combat, but there’s definitely room for both. And I think when you play the game they work well together. But we don’t overthink it too much. It’s just whatever feels right when you put it in the game.
GC: Who do you play as the most?
RT: Oh… Zero Cool. I like healing.
GC: The guy in the chair?
RT: Yeah. [laughs]
GC: I was warned not to play as him because everyone would chase after me… which is exactly what happened.
RT: [laughs] Oh yeah, ’cause he’s such a good healer he’s a massive target.
GC: Okay, that’s great. That’s all very interesting.
RT: I’m glad you liked it.
GC: I did, I did. Well, thanks for your time.
RT: No worries.
Bleeding Edge – we don’t remember playing as Makutu but we do remember killing him
Olivia reflected on her time in the Love Island villa (Picture: PinPep)
Love Island 2017 contestant Olivia Attwood believes islanders shouldn’t need to be told how they’re being edited to the audience – they should figure it out themselves.
Friends of axed contestant said the show’s editors had chosen to tell ‘a certain narrative’ about him as he came under fire for his treatment of Lucie.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk at the Barefoot Wine Complimentarium on Thursday night in London alongside Gemma Collins and Bobby Norris, Olivia reflected on her time in the house and felt it wasn’t the show’s job to keep you up to speed.
‘No, because I worked it out on my own,’ she said when asked whether she’d like to have known how she was being edited.
‘I don’t think it’s their job to tell you. How can they say, “Oh, by the way, we’re going to edit you like…” They don’t know what you’re going to do.
‘You’ve got to use a bit of your own intelligence to work it out.’
Olivia felt she had an idea of how she was being edited (Picture: ITV)
The model was shacked up with Chris Hughes in the house, the pair placing third in the series. Her fiery relationship with Chris and her tell-it-like-it-is attitude won her a hoard of fans with many shouting for her to enter the house now to spice things up and get the crew into line.
Still, Liv is loving the 2019 cohort, as she said of the islanders: ‘It’s just so different to any other series. I think they’re great. It’s a nicer series.’
Liv also hung out with Gemma and Bobby at the event (Picture: PinPep)
Viewers were still up in arms about the treatment of Lucie by the other girls, with nearly 700 complaints made to Ofcom by worried viewers who demanded she be removed from the house.
Liv – who is working on the release of her tan line at the moment – shrugs off the suggestion Lucie is miserable in the house, be it from her treatment by Amy or by this perceived ‘gaslighting’ from Joe.
Guys, she’s gonna be alright.
‘Obviously she’s not upset 24 hours a day,’ Liv insisted. ‘They’re just showing poignant moments; if she’s upset they have to show it.
‘I’m sure if she was in some sort of stress they’d remove her. So I’m convinced she’s not.’
Love Island returns 9pm on ITV2.
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Love Island contestants have been fighting off flying cockroaches in the villa (Picture: WENN)
The Love Island contestants might be enjoying the ultimate summer of fun in the luxury villa but there’s one pesky problem messing up their trip.
It’s been revealed that the islanders have been fighting off a plague of flying cockroaches while they try and soak up the sun in Majorca, Spain.
Dumped contestants Elma Pazar opened up about just how bad the issue has been in a new interview.
‘The flying cockroaches are a nightmare. They fly around when we are trying to relax,’ she explained to the Daily Star.
‘Some of the girls are screaming every time they come near.’
Cockroaches are pretty common in warmer climates but in previous years they don’t seem to have been a big issue in the villa.
Elma revealed how bad the situation has been and admitting some of the girls scream in fear of the roaches (Picture: ITV)
Essex girl Elma also revealed that sometimes the villa looks like a tip most of the time as she added: ‘You should see the girl’s room after we’ve got ready for an evening. It looks like a bomb’s hit it.’
When the pair shared a snog in front of Tommy in a bid to show they were officially coupled up, a fly was seen going for a wander round Lucie’s blonde tresses.
Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.
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Eamonn Holmes has paid tribute to Ruth Langsford’s sister, Julia Johnson, after she passed away from a ‘long illness’ – breaking down in tears as he spoke of her.
The TV presenter, who has been married to Ruth since 2010, took a moment on today’s episode of This Morning to honour is late sister-in-law.
Speaking alongside Rylan Clark-Neal, who stepped in to replace Ruth for the day as she spent time with her family to grieve the loss, Eamonn struggled to talk as he explained why his wife wasn’t beside him.
‘You may already be aware of the terrible bereavement Ruth has had yesterday,’ he said.
‘On her social media, she made this post to inform everyone,’ but as he began to read it out, Rylan stepped in as he struggled to talk through it.
Rylan stepped in to replace Ruth in her time of need (Picture: Rex)
She wrote simply: ‘My lovely Sis Julia has sadly died after a very long illness. My heart is completely broken.
‘She was the kindest and most gentle soul and I will miss her forever.’
‘As I am sure you will appreciate I need to take time to grieve with my family,’ Ruth continued. ‘Thank you for your understanding.’
Eamonn then thanked Rylan for being a support to Ruth through the difficult time she’s going through.
Ruth confirmed the loss of her sister Julie yesterday (Picture: Twitter)
‘We know Ruth’s watching and we’re sending you all our love and we love you dearly,’ Rylan told the cameras. ‘Ruth’s going to need time to deal with this, and so do you, for that matter. I couldn’t not be here.’
Gathering himself together, Eamonn concluded: ‘We’ve got each other, and you’ve got us, and here’s what we’ve got for you today.’
They later added that the phone in would be a special segment on bereavement, in order to allow people struggling with loss to grieve alongside both Eamonn and Ruth.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV1.
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Katheryn Winnick is driving the Vikings season 6 hype train (Picture: History)
Vikings will be returning for its sixth and final season later this year and just when you thought it was impossible to get more hyped, Katheryn Winnick jumps on Instagram and shares a sneak-peek for her followers. Cheers, Kath.
The 41-year-old wrapped up filming the History Channel epic last year, yet fans still have agonising wait until the most gruesome show on the box sings its final swansong.
It’s believed a full trailer will be coming to us at next month’s San-Diego Comic-con, but until then the Queen Lagertha star has given you this:
By all accounts there are plans for several spin-off series, but the current story has, according to Hirst, ran its course.
‘I always knew where I wanted the show to go and more or less where it would end if I was given the opportunity What I was trying to do was write the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his sons,’ the showrunner told Variety.
‘After six seasons and 89 episodes, that’s what I felt — finally — I’d done. We stopped shooting the final episode in November last year and I felt that I’d said all I needed to say about Ragnar and his sons.’
Hirst added: ‘I told my saga, and I’d been very fortunate to be given that opportunity by MGM and History. I had no reason to want to continue it beyond that. But, there are 20 new episodes to come.’
Vikings season 6 is expected to return to History Channel later this year. Seasons one to five are available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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Stranger Things and EXO are the mash-up we never knew we needed but it’s more than anything we could’ve dreamed of as they teamed up in South Korea.
Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo announced that it was their first time in the country and celebrated by having the coolest tour guides ever as EXO joined them for the day.
Wearing traditional dress, the group posed for a picture that was later shared by Caleb, thanking them for looking after them as they spent time promoting the new season of Stranger Things.
Kai and Suho later joined them at the fan event celebrating season three of the 1980s set horror series, posting for photos as they joined in on the fun and games of the event.
The Netflix smash has just released the final trailer for the upcoming season, which appears to confirm that the creatures they had been fighting against have found a new human host in poor Billy Hargreaves.
That’s right gang – the Demogorgon is back.
They were later joined by Kai and Suho in (Picture: WireImage)
As the team rally together in a local Starcourt Mall, it doesn’t look great for the gang who have to all club together or risk the end of the world.
Revealing the influences this season took for the adventures of the gang of Hawkins, Indiana, the team have promised hints of Jurassic Park, The Thing, and Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
Stranger Things season 3 drops on 4 July on Netflix.
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Chris Hemsworth is set to join film industry royalty with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
We all know Chris Hemsworth is one of the biggest names in the business and now his star power has officially been recognised by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Walk of Fame Selection Committee.
The 35-year-old is going to get his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Chris will join the likes of Julia Roberts, Spike Lee, Cindy Crawford and 30 other famous names in the latest batch to be added to the world-famous Boulevard.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame stretches along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
The ceremonies to unveil the stars usually see the celebrity and their families attend alongside other member of the industry who have worked with them.
We can only hope there’s going to be a mini Avengers reunion for Chris’ big day.
Chris and the Avengers: Endgame Cast already have their handprints at the world-famous Chinese Theatre (Picture: Rex Features)
Chris is most famous for his role as superhero Thor in the Avengers franchise but he has also starred in hit films such as Star Trek, The Cabin in the Woods, Rush and Snow White and the Huntsman.
It’s even more impressive when you consider the fact his career began on the Australia soap, Home and Away.
Chris Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky will be sure to support her man at the unveiling ceremony (Picture: Getty Images)
While Chris has become one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, he’s not having the best success with his latest release
The actor has become one of films highest paid stars thanks to the fact his films usually bring in up to £1 billion but it doesn’t look like Men In Black: International will be part of that list.
The film hasn’t fared well at the box office, with a global taking of £82.6 million ($103.7 million).
According to Sony, the Men in Black sequel had a budget of $110 million before prints and advertising.
However, Deadline has reported other sources have said the budget was closer to $94 million.
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The 23-year-old actor, who is best known for his role as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, revealed in his latest Elle interview that he is not currently dating anyone at the moment.
However, he said he was still a ‘relationship person’: ‘I’m not the fleeting type at all; it’s not my way of life.’
Fans had been speculating whether the actor and Zendaya were an item or not, after previous reports hinted at a romance between the two after meeting on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
An insider told E! News in July 2017: ‘They got to know each other while on set. They became friends and started getting romantic a few months ago.
‘They both are such great people. It’s cool they got together. Everyone gets along with them. They are very well liked on set. Tom is the most down to earth actor.’
Months later, Zendaya denied the claims, telling Variety Magazine that she and Tom were simply ‘just friends’.
Zendaya also took to Instagram earlier this month to celebrate Tom’s birthday.
She posted a photo of her with Tom and two other male friends, captioning the post: ‘Happy birthday weirdo. Thanks for being the wonderful person you are, we’re all very lucky to have you and your weirdness.’
Both Tom and Zendaya are set to star in the upcoming Marvel movie Spider-Man: Far From Home, which will be released on 2 July. The film, which also stars Samuel L. Jackson, is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming and the 23rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Zendaya stars as Michelle ‘MJ’ Jones, a love interest to Peter Parker/Spider-Man, so it’s no wonder that fans would believe the pair would have chemistry off screen, as well as on screen.
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Let’s hope there’s no slipping of any spoilers this time – we’ve got our eye on you, Holland.
The Peter Parker actor stopped to greet fans (Picture: GC Images)
Tom has built up a reputation for himself as the king of spoilers, after he accidentally slipped a few secrets about the MCU, including that there would be more than one Spider-Man movie, and the name of the next one.
The 35-year-old recently revealed that he made a ‘phone call’ in hopes that he could help his pal become the next Peter Parker. And it obviously worked.
When chatting to Entertainment Tonight, the Thor star opened up about his friendship with Tom and how he put the young actor forward to play the iconic Marvel hero.
He told the publication: ‘I mean, look, we worked on In the Heart of the Sea together, obviously, then through Avengers.
‘As they were casting him for Spider-Man, I did what I could do and made a call and said he’s one of the most talented people I’ve worked with and has such a big heart and appreciation.’
Now, everybody say ‘thank you, Thor.’
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Disgraced radio DJ Danny Baker has revealed he will return in 2020 to ‘rule the world’ with his own podcast.
Danny took to Twitter to share the news with fans, writing that he is working on his ‘own stand alone podcast’ which will feature ‘the old firm and even the Sausage Sandwich Game’.
The twice weekly podcast will begin in the new year, and he added: ‘Emails encouraged, calls taken, subjects bizarre.’
The tweet ended with the hashtag ‘#CandyManReturns’ referencing his radio nickname and he then added: ‘Well that’s me for now. I only nip in for half hour a night now. Learned my lesson. Good night.’
The 61-year-old broadcaster shared a picture of a couple leaving a hospital, holding hands with a chimpanzee, with the caption: ‘Royal baby leaves hospital.’
This came on the morning that Meghan Markle – whose mother Doria Ragland is African-American – and Prince Harry introduced their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor to the world.
He deleted the tweet and insisted he didn’t have any racist intent but controller Jonathan Wall told all 5 Live staff in an email: ‘Danny made a serious error of judgement on social media last night and it goes against the values we live and breathe on this radio station.’
Danny Baker’s ‘racist’ tweet
The BBC said in a statement: ‘This was a serious error of judgment and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody. Danny’s a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us.’
Danny himself confirmed the news, tweeting: ‘Just got fired from @bbc5live. For the record – it was red sauce. Always’ – a reference to the Sausage Sandwich Game on his show.
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He went on to hit out at his former employers: ‘The call to fire me from @bbc5live was a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity. Took a tone that said I actually meant that ridiculous tweet and the BBC must uphold blah blah blah. Literally threw me under the bus. Could hear the suits knees knocking. #F***em.’ T
He said: ‘Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up. Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased. Soon as those good enough to point out its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that’s it. Now stand by for sweary football tweets.’
Gavin and Stacey cast kick off rehearsals next week (Picture: BBC/NBC)
The Gavin and Stacey reboot is officially kicking off next week as James Corden broke the news to his live studio audience of The Late Late Show.
The 40-year-old has been back on his home turf for the past week with a string of A-list pals he’s picked up on both sides of the pond, bringing his popular chat show to the UK for a second time.
Tonight, the Essex-born actor wraps up his week in London with special guests Paul Giamatti and Michael Sheen after welcoming the likes of Tom Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal and Millie Bobby Brown to his sofa.
And in between takes, James managed to slip in the gigantic news that this coming Monday, June 24, the Gavin and Stacey cast will be sitting together for the first time in almost a decade as they kick off their read-through.
‘This is it now, we go on another break and I’m going to start this on Monday morning – this new Gavin and Stacey Special,’ he told fans.
‘Or as me and Ruth Jones say, “We start this new Gavin and [pretends to throw up], just out of nerves.”‘
Fans of the much-loved sitcom have been begging the team to make a comeback ever since they were last seen on our screens nine years ago, and the Smithy actor confirmed the news on Twitter last month.
Posting a picture of the script, he wrote: ‘Ruth Jones and I have been keeping this secret for a while… We’re excited to share it with you. See you on Christmas Day.’
Gavin and Stacey was last on screens nine years ado (Picture: BBC/Rex)
The Late Late Show UK wraps up tonight (Picture: Sky One)
In joint statement on the show’s return, Ruth and James said: ‘Over the last 10 years we’ve talked a lot about Gavin and Stacey – where they might be today and what their lives might look like. And so in secret we took the plunge and wrote this one hour special.
‘We’ve loved revisiting Barry and Essex again and bringing the characters back together has been a joy.’
The Late Late Show continues tonight at 9pm on Sky One, while Gavin and Stacey returns for a one-off Christmas Special later this year.
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