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New reservations for the Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel are currently available for travel dates on June 1 and later, according to the Disneyland website. This does not mean that they won’t be opening sooner though. Disneyland hotel guests with existing travel dates prior to June 1 or who cancelled reservations due to the coronavirus closure are eligible for a “special offer” on rooms from June 1 to Dec.31. The special offer is a $50 per night resort credit that can be combined with a new room rate on stays after June 1. Certainly, June seems like about as safe a bet as one can make under the circumstances. It’s possible you could make a reservation in June right now, and still need to cancel it in a couple of months. If you go to the Walt Disney World website right now, or for Disneyland, and try to book a room for any time in April or May, the site will tell you that there are no rooms available. However, if you want to book a vacation for anytime reservation. This would certainly seem to imply that the resort expects to be able to honor those reservations. The parks will have been closed for 11 weeks if we actually get to June 1 without a reopening.
So, stay tuned for more updates if anything gets better or worse. Fingers crossed!
The post Disney Hotel Reservation Update appeared first on The Nerd Element.
Have you heard the tragedy of all the amazing canceled Star Wars games? I thought not. Though there have been a lot of amazing Star Wars games over the years, some of the best may forever go unseen. From open-world adventures to ragtag stories and bounty hunting action, these will always be the ones that got away. Here are the canceled Star Wars games we wish we could play.
Star Wars 1313
LucasArts
Star Wars 1313 was designed to immerse gamers in the criminal underworld of Star Wars. You would assume the role of a bounty hunter working the seedy 1313th level of Coruscant, a world seen in much of the prequel trilogy. But rumor has it not long into the game your character would be killed by none other than Boba Fett, whom you would assume control of for the duration of the game.
LucasArts
Star Wars 1313 was in development as far back as 2009 before it was shown off at E3 2012 with a full six minutes of gameplay. Though developers would plead the fifth when asked about the inclusion of Boba Fett in interviews, supposed screenshots have since emerged on Reddit which reveals a protagonist adorned in Mandalorian armor. Unfortunately, this adventure ceased development after LucasArts was shut down in 2013 by Disney, who had purchased the Star Wars franchise for $4 billion months earlier—a fate shared by other Star Wars titles.
Maul aka Battle of the Sith Lords
Thomas A. Szakolczay / LucasArts
Known by the working title Maul and code-named “Damage,” Battle of the Sith Lords from Red Fly Studio would throw you into the chaotic world of Darth Maul. Players would assume control of the Episode I villain as he teamed up with Darth Talon to take on Darth Krayt and the Sith army. With Maul’s iconic double-sided lightsaber in-hand, you could decapitate and dismember foes, offering a more realistic dueling experience than previous games. But the game only got so far as the prototyping phase before it was canceled in 2011, with developers blaming the impending Disney acquisition for the halt. Disney then went on to grant the games giant Electronic Arts exclusive publishing rights for Star Wars video games in 2013.
Thomas A. Szakolczay / LucasArts
Red Fly Studio creators have spoken out over the years about their passion for the project and willingness to revive the game if EA were to express interest. Back in 2015 one of Maul’s original developers, Dan Borth, even called for fans to use the hashtag #WeWantMaul on EA and Disney’s social media accounts to voice their support for the game. As of now, there is no word on a possible revival.
Project Ragtag
Visceral Games
Project Ragtag was to be the Uncharted of Star Wars. Dead Space developer Visceral Games, together with Uncharted writer and creative director Amy Hennig, plotted a story-based linear adventure set between Episodes IV and V. The game reportedly made it to a demo, which showed off several stages such as an AT-ST walker chase, and rescue mission through Jabba’s palace. Unfortunately, Visceral Games was shut down in 2017 and the game was no more.
At the time it was believed that EA was more interested in games-of-service than single-player stories, but the publisher released a statement reaffirming their commitment to the project, saying the game’s design would need to pivot into a broader experience with greater depth and breadth to explore. This endeavor was spearheaded by EA Vancouver, who would transform those game assets into a project codenamed “Orca.”
Orca
EA
The “greater depth and breadth to explore” that EA spoke of would replace the Uncharted style single-player story with a massive open-world game. Orca would span the length and breadth of the Star Wars universe as you align yourself with different factions. However, this too was scrapped.
Kotaku’s Jason Schreier reported earlier this year that Orca was shelved due to the lengthy development necessary for such a game, opting instead to pursue a project with a ship date closer to that of next-gen consoles in 2020. EA Vancouver would once again pivot assets from the previous Star Wars title, this time into a smaller-scale project that would come to be known as codename Viking.
Viking
EA
Viking is the third game that we know of to be canceled in the past three years. Even less is known about this title, but it has been reported that Viking was conceived as a spinoff to the popular Battlefront series. By this time, a third installment in the original series planned by GoldenEye developer Free Radical had been canceled, and two EA-published reboots were already on the market.
In addition to EA Vancouver, London-based studio Criterion, known for their work on Need for Speed, would assist in getting the game out in time for the launch of next-gen consoles. But the development deadline of just a year and a half would prove to be impossible. The game was scrapped in 2019, the same year Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order hit shelves.
EA
As of now we only know of two Star Wars games in development—one is the sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the other is a smaller project by EA Motive, which we hope to hear more about this year.
So what’s your favorite Star Wars game? Which of these canceled games would you want to see revived? Let us know down below.
The post Canceled STAR WARS Games We Wish We Could Play appeared first on Nerdist.
It’s over, isn’t it? Since 2013, Steven Universe has given us countless laughs, tons of tears, and a plethora of introspective looks at not only the human condition but also love and its many forms it. Throughout his many adventures, Steven has been the hero everyone turns to. He’s been the bright spot in the lives of everyone around him, even when dealing with his own struggles of who he is. By the end of the first series and the TV movie, Steven has accepted who he is, accepted his lineage, and forged a path into the future with the acceptance and love of all those around him. But when there’s no one left to save, what does a hero do? We dive into that and fully complete his story in Steven Universe: Future.
Steven Universe has been on a ton of adventures ranging from the goofy to the emotionally traumatic. He was a child with a less than traditional upbringing who more often than not had the fate of the whole world trusted upon his shoulders, quite literally in a few instances. Where Steven Universe: Future picks up is after the movie where pretty much almost every enemy he’s come across has become a friend. Little Homeworld, the new Gem colony on Earth, is flourishing, and Steven himself finally gets to relax and take it easy. However, as he begins to develop new powers and finds that not everyone is turning to him for help anymore, he begins to question his place in the world. I think that is one of the aspects that Rebecca Sugar (creator of the series) portrays so well. It’s almost Batman-esc how devoted Steven was to his “mission.” He’s always been an uncompromising hero when it comes to saving people. What started out as one of his most annoying character quirks in the beginning became his most fleshed out and defining traits. The Gems are happy, the people of Beach City are happy, and Steven is happy… isn’t he? And that’s the crux of Steven Universe: Future, what happens when the caregiver does not care for themself.
Steven knows that not everything is ok with himself, but his answer is to keep being the Steven everyone knows him as. That version of him is how he sees himself, the savior, the one everyone turns to for help. He sees that as his default self so when he just wants to be normal again, to be “back to his usual self,” he forces himself back into that role at his own expense. When others around him start to see he’s not quite right, he laughs it off and insist that everything is fine. He pushes forward ignoring his own negativity to the detriment of his own self-health. He starts to keep secrets, push others away, and even runs away from home. It gets to the point where anyone who tries to help him, he snaps at and pushes away.
He wants to be “back to normal,” but he doesn’t even know what normal is anymore. He realizes his childhood, his upbringing; everything about his life has been anything but normal and honestly, it’s pretty detrimental to his own emotional health. It gets so bad that he sees himself as nothing but a monster, and it’s utterly heartbreaking to see. The hero we’ve seen time and time again overcome any obstacle breaking down and seeing himself as utterly disgusting. It hurts to see him like that, and it hurts because for many of us dealing with emotional health, it’s too real. The denial, the frustration, the seeing yourself as less than human, these emotions are hard to deal with, and Future shows us that denial and repression are not the answer: Love is.
The Steven Universe franchise at its core has always been about love; the love for others and the love for oneself. But it’s also been shown primarily as “the other person needing to love themselves.” With Future, it shows that we all need love, but most importantly, I need to love me. It’s okay to admit when we struggle, and it’s okay to seek help, both professionally and through those most important in our lives. And with this epilogue the series is finally at its end. Not only did it wrap up everything in a nice bow, but it leaves us hopeful for the future that everything will work out for our hero. He’s in a better place than where he started but still has his own life to live. I can’t say enough about how great this epilogue was. Thank you, Rebecca Sugar for the laughs, the tears, and the journey within this world. For spreading the message of love and self-care. And for giving us fantastic characters that are so relatable to so many people. Farewell Steven, we may never meet again, but you’ll always be in our hearts.
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The post ‘Steven Universe: Future’ Series Wrap Up Gives Hope for a Bright Future appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
On this day last year, the world lost Nipsey Hussle (born Ermias Joseph Asghedom). Many knew the 33-year-old Los Angeles native musician for his lyricism, but Hussle was also a family man and entrepreneur who was deeply invested in giving back to his community. Some have even called him a prophet.
A year without Hussle has felt like a lifetime for those who loved and supported him. Yet, beyond his transition from this side of the earth, Hussle’s legacy of black love, entrepreneurship, and resilience lives on. In short, the marathon continues.
Hussle and Black Love
There is something to be said about a man that values family, friendship, and community. As an Eritrean-American man, Hussle showed the world what putting on for family and community looked like. He was a proud father of two, a fiancé, a respected musician among his peers within the industry, and proof that you could turn your life around and have a lasting impact on the community.
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Hussle and Motivate
Hussle was a businessman who wanted to help others understand the importance of building wealth. His portfolio included (and is not limited to):
- The Marathon Clothing, the first smart store in Los Angeles.
- Too Big To Fail, a STEM center to bridge the technology gap between the inner city and Silicon Valley.
- Vector 90, a co-working space for entrepreneurs.
- Real estate investments.
- All Money In, an independent record label.
- The masters to all of his music.
The Marathon Continues
In Hussle’s 33 years, he learned to stay in his lane and run his own race. Hussle was no stranger to street-life, yet he was called higher. In his own words, dedication, hard work, plus patience was the sum of his sacrifices and he claimed what was his during his time.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. And it is fair to say that Hussle passed the baton.