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"Game of Thrones" Win Proves an Emmy Is Worthless in 2019

Industry awards are all about industry politics.

71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - 22 Sep 2019 - Drama Series - 'Game of Thrones'

Photo by Rob Lour (Shutterstock)

I didn't watch the 2019 Emmy Awards.

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CULTURE

E3 2019 Sunday Roundup: Microsoft, Bethesda, and KEANU REEVES

All the E3 2019 Sunday trailers are here, from Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077 to Elden Scrolls, Halo Infinite, and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.

E3 2019 is finally here, and that means loads of new trailers and game announcements.

Sunday featured Microsoft pulling out all the stops with the best cameo appearance in E3 history (hint: it's KEANU REEVES) and Bethesda desperately trying to save their failing Fallout 76. Check out all of Sunday's trailers right here in one spot:

Microsoft

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077's presentation easily stole the show on day one. Could there possibly be a better way to end a gorgeous cinematic trailer than by introducing VIDEO GAME KEANU REEVES as a character? Well, yes actually, but that would require getting...They did it. Those absolute mad men. They got the REAL KEANU REEVES to come onstage. This game announcement is a work of art. One might even call it "breathtaking."

Xbox Project Scarlett

Xbox Project Scarlett Console Announcement | Microsoft Xbox E3 2019www.youtube.com

Microsoft's next-gen console, Xbox Project Scarlett, is said to be four times as powerful as the Xbox One. So maybe they should have just called it the Xbox Four?

Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite - "Discover Hope" Cinematic Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

Could Xbox Project Scarlett's biggest launch title be anything other than a new Halo? The Halo games have always been some of the best shooters on the market, and they're probably the only Microsoft exclusive games worth buying an Xbox for.

Elden Ring

Elden Ring - Announcement Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

The rumors were true! Elden Ring is indeed a collaboration between Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. We look forward to the spooky arm lady killing us over and over again.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - E3 2019 Trailer | PS4www.youtube.com

Formerly Dragon Ball Project Z, the upcoming DBZ RPG is now titled Kakarot. The cinematics look great so far, and it'll be interesting to see what RPG elements are incorporated into the gameplay.

Gears 5

Gears 5 - Official Escape Announcement Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

Gears 5 doesn't look that different from the previous four Gears of War games, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If it's not broke, why fix it?

Dying Light 2

Dying Light 2 - Reveal Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

More parkour. More zombie killing. More choices. The first Dying Light was one of 2015's best new IPs, and the sequel already looks promising.

Tales of Arise

Tales of Arise - E3 Announcement Trailer | PS4, X1, PCwww.youtube.com

Tales of games have always been about living your best anime life, and Arise has plenty of anime. There's anime boy with white hair and a fire sword and anime girl with a magic light gun and stilettos. It might be anime trash, but so are we.

Blair Witch

Blair Witch - Official Reveal Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

TheBlair Witch Project is a horror game now. It actually looks pretty spooky.

Crossfire X

CrossfireX - E3 2019 - Announce Trailerwww.youtube.com

Crossfire is a free-to-play FPS that's incredibly popular in Asia. Now it's coming overseas as Crossfire X. Will it take off in the States? Considering the popularity of FTP shooters: probably.

Minecraft Dungeons

Minecraft Dungeons Gameplay Trailer - E3 2019www.youtube.com

Procedurally generated dungeon running games are awesome. Minecraft skins are ugly. So basically, this is just a very ugly dungeon running game. Leave Minecraft skins in Minecraft.

Bethesda

Ghostwire: Tokyo

GhostWire: Tokyo – Official E3 Teaserwww.youtube.com

A new horror game from the devs of The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo's initial trailer looks intensely unsettling. The realistic design of Tokyo looks great, too.

Deathloop

DEATHLOOP – Official E3 World Premierewww.youtube.com

From the studio behind Dishonored, Deathloop appears to feature an action-based Groundhog Day type premise.

Doom Eternal

DOOM Eternal – Official E3 Story Trailerwww.youtube.com

The Doom franchise has always been about shredding demons to pieces. Doom Eternal seems to deliver on that front.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Wolfenstein: Youngblood – Official E3 2019 Trailerwww.youtube.com

It's always nice to kill Nazis. A new Wolfenstein means more Nazi killing. Nice.

Commander Keen

Commander Keen — Official E3 Announce Trailerwww.youtube.com

Probably Sunday's weirdest reveal, the '80s PC game Commander Keen is being revived as a free-to-play mobile game. Just...why?

Fallout 76 Wastelanders

Fallout 76 Wastelanders Official Reveal Trailer - E3 2019www.youtube.com

The newest expansion for the disastrous Fallout 76 MMO brings...NPCs? Yes, seriously, the characters populating the world—a core element of every other MMO in history—are just now being added over six months after launch. There's also going to be a battle royale mode, because of course there is.

HBO/BSkyB/Kobal/Shutterstock

Last night, the whole world could be heard simultaneously screaming "DUMDUMDUMDUMDUMDUM" at their televisions or laptops as HBO's Game of Thrones premiered for its eighth and final season.

The iconic series once again offered viewers an incredible opening sequence, some truly meme-able moments, and a decent excuse to drink heavily on a Sunday night. Many people felt the episode included too much exposition and hardly any new information, but that doesn't mean that we weren't left with plenty of questions to haunt us while battling our Monday morning hangovers.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead.

Does Daenerys...kind of suck now?

Usually, we would say that anyone who makes Sam Tarly cry deserves to spend some time in Ramsay Bolton's lair of castration, but when the perpetrator is Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons, we're left with mixed feelings. On one hand, she's arguably the best character on the show and her ever-changing hairstyles alone excuse her every wrongdoing, but on the other, she didn't even apologize for murdering Sam's whole family. How can we not kind of root against anyone cold-hearted enough to stand passive in the face of sweet Sam's trembling lower lip? Plus, add all the times she had to be talked out of genocide last season, and you start to wonder if maybe Season 8 will feature a mad queen before it's all said and done.

Is Bran the baddest mother fucker in Westeros?

Every line out of Bran's expressionless mouth during episode one was absolute gold. Imagine meeting someone for the first time and interrupting her bitch-off with your sister with something simple and pleasant like, "The Night King has Dany's dragon. The Wall has fallen. The dead march south." And then later, "Oh me? What am I doing? Oh, just waiting for an old friend. An old friend who I caught in the act of incest so he pushed me out a window paralyzing me forever and making me a spooky ghost boy, in fact."

Is Cersei sleeping with Euron somehow creepier than when she slept with her twin brother in the presence of their incest child's corpse?

Yes. Yes it is.

Oh wait, is Sansa the baddest mother fucker in Westeros?

Name a more iconic exit line than, "I used to think you were the cleverest man in the world." Plus, her new lady of the North looks?! Hell. Yes.

Was that a sly reference to the bizarre season 7 Ed Sheeran cameo?

When Bronn is hanging out with the prostitutes (which seemed to serve little purpose beyond HBO straining to include their requisite number of boobs) the women have the following exchange: "That boy Eddie." "The ginger?" "That's him." "Came back with his face burnt off." "He's got no eyelids now." "How does he sleep with no eyelids?" Hmm…

How old is Tyrian?

Tyrion, Varys, and Ser Davos watch Jon and Dany from afar and contemplate the possibility of the two getting married. When the comment is made, "Why would they listen to old men?" Tyrian retorts that he isn't old. Which brings up the question...how old is he? How old is anyone? Is it Hollywood magic or the lack of sun in the north that has kept Jon Snow looking like a brooding 23-year-old for the last eight seasons? Is Dany 16 or 34? How long do dragons live? Does evil increase the skin's collagen production, explaining Cersei's youthful glow? HBO we need some birth certificates!

Can we collectively sue HBO for that F*%KING jump scare?

What's scarier than a dead little boy speared to a wall surrounded by a swirl of disembodied limbs? A SCREAMING, FLAMING DEAD BOY SPEARED TO A WALL SURROUNDED BY A SWIRL OF DISEMBODIED LIMBS THAT ARE ALSO ON FIRE.

Does Arya...like boys?

I mean, not to like, make assumptions about someone's sexuality but...um…*cough*...we were pretty surprised by Arya's loving looks to Gendry, because, erm, well...we kind of maybe thought she was...a les– very committed warrior who didn't have time for love connections.

Can Jon Snow be burned?

We know that part of Khaleesi's whole thing is that she's the "unburned," which is part of why she can hang out with fire breathing monsters without breaking a sweat. If Jon really is a Targaryen, does that mean he also can't be burnt? Can you be a true Targaryen/dragon king if you can't spend the occasional night inside a funeral pyre?

Hopefully, all of these questions and more will soon be answered. Until then, check out the trailer for season 8 episode 2. Valar Morghulis, nerds.

Game of Thrones | Season 8 Episode 2 | Preview (HBO)youtu.be


Brooke Ivey Johnsonis a Brooklyn based writer, playwright, and human woman. To read more of her work visit her blog or follow her twitter @BrookeIJohnson.


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