WEEKLY TRENDING NEWS – 24/07/2023

By Nikola Hristov

Welcome back, everybody! In this weekly roundup of all the trending news from the past seven days we have compiled everything that's important for you to stay up to date! What exactly is happening in the online space, and what can you expect from your beloved franchises in the future? Well, let's find out right now!

1. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 unveils new Story Trailer

Ah, yes, the most hyped-up release of the year, the game we're all looking forward to – just got a narrative trailer at the Hall H San Diego Comic Con Panel, which was later released to the public as well. Though short at only two minutes, it's more than enough to satisfy fans – especially when the trailer revealed our first look at Harry Osborn, Pete's best friend and a full look at Venom – who are rumored to be the same person. We also saw the new and improved models of our main protagonists and MJ for the first time – and the reception is, as always mixed, but definitely more positive than the original face change backlash of Spider-Man: Remastered. The trailer also showed us new locations such as Coney Island, Harry's room and more of the river between Manhattan and the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. 

2. New Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 bundle – including console covers and a controller

On top of the new trailer for the game's story, this is also pretty exciting news. Last year all we got for God of War: Ragnarök was a special controller. Well, it seems Sony have finally listened, and we're finally getting special cover plates for our PS5s, along with a symbiotic new controller. Yes, they are all sold separately as well – which is amazing for people who already have a PS5 but want to customize it. This is important for future AAA PlayStation games such as The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima, who will probably get special edition hardware as well. 

3. Blizzard Games are finally entering Steam

Blizzard have always kept their games on their personal launcher – Battle.net, which just got more popular after their merger with Activision because Call of Duty can be found there. However, in light of recent events, I suppose they have something to prove – that they really are advocating to break down the so called 'barriers' between gamers. This is beginning with Overwatch 2 entering the Steam Market on August 10th, right when its Invasion story missions drop. This is no doubt a tactic to make the buyout from Microsoft seem more sensible – but hey, I'm not complaining, both companies need it.

4. MK1's special guests are Superhero themed

Mortal Kombat's guest characters are always a treat to play, and in some cases are even meta, like Joker in Mortal Kombat 11. When it comes to this DLC content, NetherRealm usually choose a theme and stick with it – for example, Horror for MKX with characters like Leatherface and Jason, and 80s movies, like Rambo and Terminator for MK11. This time it is the infamous caped menaces Homelander and Omni-Man from The Boys and Invincible, along with John Cena's Peacemaker. They'll also be voiced by their respective actors – as confirmed by JK Simmons himself. I'm excited to see how they separate the two evil Superman clones – because although they're quite different in power levels, their moveset is still similar.

5. Barbenheimer weekend has arrived

As Master Oogway would put it, my time has come – to enjoy what Gen Z love to call 'Peak cinema'. These two movies are fundamentally different and quite literally opposites to one another – but that's part of their charm! This timing was pure Hollywood genius! If anything, most people I know will go and see both movies just for the memes, which is amazing for the industry. That being said, the reviewers have seemingly enjoyed both movies, with most valuing Barbie between an 8 and 9, and Oppenheimer being the Oscar-worthy 10 out of 10, that everyone expected from Christopher Nolan. 

6. The Boys: Gen V Spin-Off premieres September 29th

One of the best shows from the past few years, which took the world by storm with its amazing acting performances, great story, characters and of course – memes, is getting a Spin-Off in between Seasons 3 and 4. The show is titled 'Gen V' and will focus on the new generation of superheroes who know about Compound V and their battle royale to the top spot – alongside their American hero Homelander. It will air its first three episodes on the 29th of September, and then release weekly until November 3rd. So in terms of length, it will equal each of the previous seasons of the show.

7. INVINCIBLE: SEASON 2 Release Date announced

We're FINALLY getting some news about the second season of one of the biggest animated hits of 2021. After years of teasing on Twitter, the date that should be MARKED (:p) on your calendars is November 3rd. In the trailer we see the return of voice actors like Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh and J. K. Simmons, but we also notice the newcomers like Josh Keaton and Daveed Diggs. On top of the incredible voice cast, the animation also seems to have improved so far. Aside from season 2, there will also be a single spin-off episode about Atom Eve and her backstory, as well as more history of the Invincible world.

8. Netflix was right about password sharing...for better or for worse

This year Netflix decided to remove the option to share your account freely in over 100 countries and rolled out paid sharing. Though people were quick to criticize this, because it obviously affected us consumers negatively, it seems the company gained over 5.9 million subscribers in the last fiscal quarter. Netflix is also projecting that this tendency will continue to grow in the near future. They've removed the cheapest ad-free subscription option in the UK and the US, which even forces the residents there to choose a more expensive option, unless they want to sit through ads. Despite these relatively greedy decisions, it seems the company made the right call and now reports a revenue of $8.2 Billion for the last fiscal quarter. The fall of Netflix isn't coming anytime soon.

Well, that's about everything for this week's news! Stay tuned for more gaming reviews and articles regarding all your favourite franchises right here, on One Up Gaming.

Written by: Nikola Hristov