Joel and Ellie's journey across the country will soon come to an end in The Last of Us season finale. The pair are seen entering Salt Lake City in the trailer for the ninth episode, where they continue to search for the Fireflies. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

The teaser only features lines of dialogue from Ellie. She begins the preview by saying, "After all we've been through, it can't be for nothing." This is followed by a grenade of some sorts (most likely chemical or smoke) landing at their feet. The trailer cuts away from the explosion.

Afterward, Joel is seen searching on his own through what is likely a hospital. The medical establishment serves as the setting for the climax of the video game, hence assuming that's the locale in this Last of Us season finale trailer.

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Actor Keanu Reeves recently conducted a Reddit AMA to promote his new movie, John Wick: Chapter 4, but naturally people asked him about many things unrelated to that movie. One question in particular was posed to Reeves about aliens. Specifically, "If aliens came to Earth, would you accept the responsibility of being the first to contact them?"

Reeves responded as you knew he would. He would be up for it, and he would have some questions for the visitors. "Heck yea. How's it going? How was your trip? You hungry? Want anything to drink?"

Wouldn't that just be incredible? Aliens may or may not be real, but if they are, Reeves--with his compassion and kindness--would be a great first point of contact.

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The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is reportedly set to begin filming this June, according to actor David Harbour.

Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper in the Netflix series, shared the news at the Middle East Film and Comic Con in Abu Dhabi this weekend (via Collider) and spoke about what the upcoming series has in store for his character.

"We're walking into season five. I've got a couple more months to train," he said. "We start shooting that in June, though, and that will be the final season. I did a lot of training for season four. He [Hopper] was in a very specific position, that Russian prison.

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Creed III is the champion of the weekend box office taking an impressive $58.6M domestic debut and $100M worldwide. The Michael B. Jordan-directed entry is the franchise's top opening yet, beating 2015's Creed ($29.6M) and 2018's Creed II ($35.5M).

That's not all though. Creed III also is at the top of sports movies' all-time opening weekend, beating the long-time record holder, 2010's The Karate Kid remake with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan ($55.6M). Even being compared to more contemporary films like 2019's Ford v. Ferrari, Creed III earned over $20M more.

With a $100.4M global opening, Creed III is on a steady track to beat the first two movies as the first Creed's worldwide box office was $157M and Creed II's $214M.

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For the first time in almost a decade, a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is ready to hit the big screen on August 4. Produced by Seth Rogen and directed by The Mitchells vs. the Machines Jeff Rowe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem isn't straying too far from the source material established over decades of live-action films, animated TV series, and comic books, but it has a design that makes it stand out visually from all the other adaptations of the past.

Set in the familiar sewers of New York City, Mutant Mayhem sees the Turtle brothers head to the surface in an effort to step out of the shadows, and along the way, they'll meet familiar allies, take on a criminal syndicate, and tangle with an army of Manhattan mutants.

"In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts," the film's official synopsis reads. "Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them."

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I adore Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's a story that awoke an insatiable desire within little Jordan to consume gothic horror and science fiction in equal measure--a hunger I'm sure will plague my mind for the rest of my days. The novel has been a large inspiration in the types of stories I like to tell in tabletop roleplaying games, both as a game master and player. So it comes as very little surprise to me that I'd be immediately smitten with the idea of Daughter of Frankenstein, an upcoming TTRPG campaign sourcebook. Daughter of Frankenstein is the first project from Bardhouse Media, a publisher looking to focus on accessibility and collaboration in the tabletop gaming space to welcome new and lesser-heard voices.

The team of writers contributing to Daughter of Frankenstein is led by a name that many folks in the TTRPG community may find familiar: Beth the Bard. Beth the Bard is a professional game master, co-founder of Bardhouse Media, and the best-selling author of She is the Ancient: A Genderbent Curse of Strahd. She is the Ancient reimagines and rewrites the backstory, societal role, gender, race, and connections of the NPCs found in Wizards of the Coast's popular gothic horror adventure, Curse of Strahd.

Writing She is the Ancient is part of Beth the Bard's inspiration for Bardhouse Media. She points to the help and support she received from those already well-known and published within the community as part of why she was even able to get a foot in the door to create something like She is the Ancient. The goal is for Bardhouse Media to help prop that door open so new game masters and tabletop gaming writers can follow Beth into the space, receiving the necessary support to get their work out there.

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Destiny 2: Lightfall's new Strand subclass, a set of destructive powers that combines destructive offense with a heightened sense of mobility, is one of the more exciting additions in the expansion. With all the Fragments for the subclass being unlocked ahead of this week's raid, players have begun experimenting more with these new abilities, and so far, some of the builds have been incredibly wild to see in action.

So far, players have been using the new Grapple ability for both offense and defense as that ethereal tangle of psychic energy can latch onto almost anything. While you do have to sacrifice your grenade ability to equip it, using the Strand Grapple on moving objects is proving to have several advantages. Combined with the ability to unravel enemies and reform them as balls of destructive energy, players are performing a one-two move in which they hurl the orb and latch a ride onto it. The results are very impressive in action.

Here's a look at Strand being used to deal with a pesky invader in Gambit:

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem makes its cinematic debut in August, and ahead of its first trailer this week, the voice cast for the latest reimagining of the half-shell heroes has been revealed. With The Mitchells vs. the Machines' Jeff Rowe directing, Mutant Mayhem features a very stacked cast of Hollywood talent behind familiar faces and infamous foes.

Micah Abbey, Shannon Brown Jr., Nicholas Cantu, and Brady Noon voice Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael, respectively, while the turtles' sensei Splinter is voiced by none other than martial arts movie legend Jackie Chan. Filling out the supporting cast is Ayo Edebiri (Cicada) as April O'Neil, Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) as Mondo Gecko, and Ice Cube as Superfly.

On the more nefarious side of the sound recording booth, WWE superstar John Cena is voicing Rocksteady, Seth Rogen--who is also producing the film--plays his partner Bebop, Giancarlo Esposito will voice Baxter Stockman, and Maya Rudolph will portray Cynthia Utrom.

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Sonic the Hedgehog has come a long way in the past few years. From the open-world reinvention Sonic Frontiers to the financial success of the movie franchise, everyone's favorite Sega mascot is enjoying a boom period. But while some at Sega might want you to forget some of Sonic's more mediocre (or downright terrible) outings--especially those of the mid 2000s--the die-hard modders in the surprisingly active 3D Sonic scene are here to fix the problems that annoyed thousands of schoolchildren back in the day.

Of the many, many Sonic games that have emerged over the years, it's fair to say that 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog is the most infamous. Featuring a wildly ambitious spread of playable characters and a doomed cross-species love story between Sonic and a human princess, "Sonic '06" is one of the best-ever examples of publisher hubris. That said, does it deserve its reputation as an all-time bad game? According to Sonic fan ChaosX, absolutely not. And he's far from the only one who feels that way.

Sonic Frontiers is generally considered the best 3D Sonic game in many years, though most agree it's far from perfect.

ChaosX is the Argentinian developer behind "P-06 (Project '06)," a decidedly unofficial remake of the Sonic 2006 game made in the Unity engine. When the developer first played Sonic 2006 as a kid, he was fascinated by its mix of soaring highs and abyssal lows--here was a game that had some of the best art design and music that he had ever seen and heard, yet it struggled with the basics of the platforming genre.

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Octopath Traveler 2’s Scent of Commerce side quests show up on the world map like important story objectives, and while two of them aren’t really that important at all, you can get some nice bonuses for just a little effort. The third is one of the most important quests in the game, however, and you need to finish it to have full access to the map and all its secrets.

This guide explains how to complete each Scent of Commerce quest in Octopath Traveler 2.

What is Partitio’s Scent of Commerce?

Scent of Commerce is a set of three side quests that unlocks after you finish Partitio’s first chapter. Despite showing up on the world map with a Partitio icon, these are entirely optional and aren’t required to finish his story or reach the true ending chapter.

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Clancy Brown has been cast in a recurring role for The Penguin, an upcoming spinoff series from HBO Max's The Batman. Variety was first to report.

Brown will play Salvatore Maroni, a notorious crime boss in Gotham City. Maroni's character was referenced several times in The Batman, and his arrest allowed for Carmine Falcone's organization to rise. The role of Maroni has been previously portrayed on screen by David Zayas and Eric Roberts.

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Believe it or not, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The game continues to sell millions of copies every few months, and its multiplayer mode--GTA Online--gets updates on a weekly basis. Rockstar North design director Scott Butchard has reflected on GTA Online's 10th anniversary this year, saying the team never imagined what the game would become.

"When we started out, I don't think we could have ever dreamed we'd still be going 10 years on. The success of GTA Online is nothing we ever expected," Butchard told GamesRadar.

While other live-service games have come and gone, GTA Online has stayed strong. Lead designer Chris Bell said part of what has made GTA Online so enduringly popular is how it has content that appeals to a wide audience. It's an ongoing development challenge to meet this demand.

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Avatar writer-director James Cameron recently hosted a special screening of Avatar: The Way of Water with the aim of gathering honest, unfiltered feedback to help make the sequels better.

The event took place February 16 at the Disney Studios lot in Burbank, and featured both Cameron and producer Jon Landau. Cameron has never hosted an event like this before.

"This is something we've never done, which is [ask], 'How do we make the next film even better for the fans?' Go talk to them, find out what's on your mind," Cameron said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "You guys can be totally honest with us, this is not just about telling us stuff we want to hear. It's about telling us the stuff we … need to work on more."

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Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda will step down and be replaced by current company director Takashi Kiryu. The change will be made official in June 2023 after the 43rd Annual Shareholders Meeting of the Board of Directors.

In a statement to investors, Square Enix said, "Under the rapid change of business environment surrounding the entertainment industry, the proposed change is intended to reshape the management team with the goal of adopting ever-evolving technological innovations and maximizing on the creativity of the Company’s group in order to deliver even greater entertainment to its customers around the world."

Kiryu joined Square Enix in June 2020 as General Manager of the Corporate Planning Division until he became the company director in June 2022. Matsuda became president of Square Enix in June 2013 after taking over for Yoichi Wada.

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Genshin Impact has several seasonal events that happen each year. One of these happens to be the Windblume Festival, a celebration of spring. This time around, you'll be able to acquire a nifty claymore. Here's our Genshin Impact Windblume's Breath event guide to help you acquire the Mailed Flower weapon.

Genshin Impact - Windblume's Breath event activities

To start the Windblume's Breath event in Genshin Impact, you'll have to complete the "Song of Dragon and Freedom" Archon Quest. Likewise, it's up to you if you want to do the "Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises" Archon Quest and Albedo's Story Quest. These are optional, and you can hit the Quick Start button to skip them.

In any case, the event begins with "A Gathering of Outlanders," where you'll meet up with a bunch of characters. After a lengthy back and forth, you'll be able to partake in three activities given by NPCs just outside of Mondstadt:

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Thanks to the latest Steam Deck beta update, players can now enable ray tracing in Doom Eternal on the handheld device.

Specifically, ray-traced reflections are now supported when playing on Deck, according to Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Pierre-Loup Griffais, a Valve coder, went to Twitter to explain that DXR (DirectX Raytracing) is in the works, but it isn't ready just yet.

SteamOS 3.4.6 Preview contains fixes for invalid rendering and performance improvements for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Also comes with Ray-Tracing support for DOOM Eternal! pic.twitter.com/EViKO0Y4kk

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) March 3, 2023

RPS notes that with ray tracing enabled and playing at the Medium quality preset, they were able to play Doom Eternal without the game ever dropping below 30fps. But it hardly went above 35fps. It's also worth noting that to play at these settings, players will have to reduce other graphics settings to make the game run smoothly.

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Scream 6 is being promoted with a disturbing marketing campaign that has, to say the least, caused concern. The movie's iconic slasher, Ghostface, has been spotted in various locations, including Sonoma, New Orleans, and St. Louis, which has led to 911 calls from frightened onlookers. Well, no cause for alarm, as sources close to the film confirmed to Variety that it's all part of the promotion for the movie.

Paramount Pictures, which is producing the movie, declined to comment on the promotional campaign. (Paramount did something similar for the horror movie Smile, with hired actors sitting behind home plate and flashing unsettling grins at televised Major League Baseball games.)

The people of Sonoma got a bit of a scary surprise on Monday when a person wearing a "Scream" costume stood motionless at the Sonoma Plaza. The first film in the franchise was shot at the Sonoma Community Center, just a block away. VIDEO: https://t.co/p9rtvw1FbQ pic.twitter.com/JMkjDbX6Zt

— KRON4 News (@kron4news) February 28, 2023

Ghostface has been spotted in several cities across America leading up to the release of Paramount Pictures’ #ScreamVI on March 10. pic.twitter.com/6MsRja0esy

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 2, 2023

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Scream 6 is the first movie in the franchise without its protagonist Sidney Prescott, played by actor Neve Campbell, who departed the film over a pay dispute. The new movie--hitting theaters March 10--will star Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Hayden Panettiere, and Courteney Cox, and follows the Woodsboro residents as they move to New York City, where they are hunted by a new Ghostface killer.

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Gaming monitors aren’t cheap, with most reliable products carrying price tags above $300. Finding something with a reasonable refresh rate, crisp visuals, and decent longevity isn’t easy--but a new sale at Amazon is giving you a chance to scoop up mid-range monitors at incredibly low prices.

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The Sceptre brand might not have the cachet of Razer, Samsung, or Alienware, but the company has been churning out reliable gaming monitors for years. They almost always carry affordable prices, but right now you’ll find them for some of the lowest prices we’ve seen in months. The most enticing option is the Sceptre 20-inch LED Monitor, which is down to just $67 from its usual $90. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but its 1600 x 900 resolution, built-in speakers, and 75Hz refresh rate are perfect for a bit of gaming.

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Satisfye ZenGrip Pro 3

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JETech Protective Case (Switch OLED)

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Skull & Co Grip Case

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Hori Split Pad Pro

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Hori Split Pad Compact

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Newdery Grip + Extended Battery

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If you regularly play your Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, the absolute best accessory you can buy is a detachable grip. Though the Switch is one of Nintendo's best gaming consoles ever, not everyone finds the default form factor very comfortable--especially when playing for hours in a row. Thankfully, there are third-party accessories that drastically improve the Nintendo Switch's ergonomics. We've rounded up a handful of the best Nintendo Switch grips available in 2023.

Nintendo Switch grips come in all shapes and sizes. Some are designed exclusively for the regular Switch or Switch OLED, while others, like the stellar Satisfye ZenGrip Pro, are compatible with both models. Naturally, the significantly smaller Switch Lite requires its own separate grip, but there are great options for the handheld-only Switch, too.

In addition to detachable grips that enhance your experience holding the Joy-Con controllers, there are accessories that completely replace the Joy-Cons while also functioning as ergonomic grips. Our favorite option in 2023 is still Hori's Split Pad, but now there are two different models: the Split Pad Pro and Split Pad Compact.

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Looking to stock up on blockbuster games you may have missed out on over the past few years? Then head over to Green Man Gaming, as the online retailer is offering massive discounts on a wide variety of PC games during its March Mayhem event.

Whether you’re looking for an indie gem or AAA adventure, a bit of everything is on sale right now. Some classics worth checking out include BioShock: The Collection for $11, down from $60, Civilization VI Platinum Edition for $13, down from $80, and Kerbal Space Program for $9, down from $40. All three titles were highly reviewed at launch, and they’re hard to pass up with these new low prices.

If you like strategy games, check out Marvel’s Midnight Suns, which is down to just $27 despite launching only a few months ago. It’s a great fit for both Marvel fans and strategy game enthusiasts, as you’ll get to meet tons of familiar faces while taking part in a tactical combat system designed by the same folks responsible for XCOM 2 (which is also on sale for just $7 right now).

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