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Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 27, 2014 in Videogames 
Remember last week, when we got our first post-E3-2013 look at The Order: 1886? The Ready at Dawn-developed PS4 game showed off more cinematic stuff, but actual gameplay was quite limited, or at least seemed to be. Even if it was rendered in-engine, it mostly looked like cutscenes, so it wasn’t easy to tell what the game would play like. Sony has posted more footage on their PlayStation YouTube channel, and now things are coming together. As promised, the gameplay is unsegmented for a cinematic feel, with cutscenes and quick-time events flowing directly into regular gameplay, which is of the third-person shooter variety. What strikes me isn’t the usual “cinematic” elements like a wider aspect ratio or camera framing, but the willingness to use more filmic editing, switching from shot to shot seamlessly, which is normally reserved for a game’s standard cutscenes. It’s still too early to tell if the game will rely too heavily on quick-time events, but I’m interested to see how things turn out. Read more…
Tags: PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 27, 2014 in Cinema 
Slow down there, and make sure you read that whole headline, because when I was told this news, I thought Disney was going to bring Darth Vader back to life in Star Wars Episode VII. But thankfully, that’s not the case. Apparently Adam Driver, who appears on HBO’s Girls, is currently the top choice to play a Vader-like antagonist in the next Star Wars film. It’s not clear yet if this means his character will ape Vader’s “human being kept alive with technology” angle, or if it means his rank and powers, or if it is referring to his iconic nature and importance to the story — or maybe a bit of all of these. If he’s meant to be this important, perhaps he’ll appear in other Star Wars films too. But for now, we’ll have to wait to see if he is even confirmed in the role, due to his schedule on Girls. I don’t watch Girls (and I have to imagine many Star Wars fans don’t either), so I can’t comment on his acting. I’m having a little time imagining him in Star Wars due to his hair style, beard, and clothes, so this might be the sort of thing where I wait for a trailer to see him in action. Read more…
Tags: Darth Vader, Disney, Star Wars
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 26, 2014 in Cinema 
The first Godzilla trailer was impressive enough, but this second one really sold me on the film. This one’s less about the dramatic reveal of just how freaking big this monster is and more about the various human characters. I’m not sure exactly how many of the previous Godzilla films are being considered “canon,” especially the previous American 1998 film that everyone hates, but from a reference to nuclear tests in 1954, apparently at least some of the original 1954 film happened in this new film’s history. But whatever, there’s a ridiculously big lizard and he’s going to mess things up. And judging from the references to nature being greater than man, it seems like the new film might capture some of the original film’s underlying message. Read more…
Tags: Godzilla, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 26, 2014 in Fandom, Videogames 
I wish more games got musical versions in the vein of rock operas, sort of like what The Protomen did with Mega Man. Brentalfloss, known for writing lyrics to videogame music, has used some Metroid themes to write a short rock opera of Samus going on a mission. What’s unique here, however, is Samus having a boyfriend, hence “Metroid: Fight for Love,” as though she was Batman on ABC Family. I’m not against Samus having a boyfriend, because a woman can be in love and still be bad-ass. But Samus has never struck me as someone who would “fight for love.” Still, the animation looks great for a fan-video, and Brentalfloss is talented as always (though he obviously doesn’t sing this one). And just to reiterate: more rock opera versions of videogames, no matter how campy they might be! Read more…
Tags: Metroid
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 25, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
Audiences were very receptive to The Social Network and Moneyball, so it makes sense to make more films that dramatize how companies operate. In that spirit, Seth Rogen and frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg will be writing and directing Console Wars, a dramatization of how Sega challenged Nintendo’s industry dominance with the help of Tom Kalinske. (Scott Rudin will produce.) With console wars still raging today, this will be a good way for today’s kids to get some perspective on what a real console war was like. But for everyone else, they’re in for a treat, because the story of Sega’s rise to power with the Genesis is actually interesting. I’ll admit that I don’t think Rogen is that funny, but he seems like a great guy who is talented, and he seems to work well with Goldberg, so it’ll be worth looking forward to whatever is done with this. Read more…
Tags: Nintendo, Sega
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 25, 2014 in Star Wars, Television 
I’m aware that Star Wars: The Clone Wars is set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, so it’s unavoidably tied to the prequels. But as this trailer for the sixth and final season shows, it’s clearly one of the best thing to come out of those movies, almost the point where I wish we could just forget the movies happened completely. Fans are lucky that this final season is coming out on March 7 on Netflix (along with all the previous episodes), but until then, this really cool trailer will have to tide them over. It seems that Star Wars: Rebels is going to have some giant shoes to fill. Read more…
Tags: Netflix, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 20, 2014 in Videogames 
Dark Souls II is going to be hard. Even if it’s a bit easier than the first Dark Souls, that’s still really, really tough. Past trailers for the series have played this up (with slogans like “Prepare to Die”), highlighting the insurmountable odds and oppressive atmosphere that saps the hope from players eager to progress. But this latest trailer is a reprieve, trying to restore some hope that you might finish the game, that your deaths along the way won’t be in vein. It’s a nice idea, but any Souls players know the truth: this is but a trap, meant to lure in fresh blood to be spilled either by the game or by other players invading the newbie’s game. God help them. Read more…
Tags: Dark Souls, Namco Bandai, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 20, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Marvel premiered the first full trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and after seeing it, I’d say it’s out of this world. Puns aside, we get a nice overview of the team, learning a bit about what makes them special. There’s Starlord’s awesome looking ship, the Milano. There’s a guard listening to a Walkman. There’s Zoe Saldana. There’s a talking raccoon with a machine gun fighting alongside a tree-person. What more could you want? Admittedly, John C. Reilly falls a bit flat here with some of his “snark,” but that might just be the trailer editing’s fault. It’s looking like this first “true” entry into Marvel’s cosmic corner of its universe should be some fun, old-school fantastical sci-fi. Read more…
Tags: Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel, Science Fiction
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 19, 2014 in Videogames 
After a troubled development time, Irrational Games released BioShock Infinite in March 2013 to great sales and great reviews, cementing its place on many Game of the Year lists. The additional DLC story, Burial at Sea, is just about finished. So what’s next? Apparently nothing, as Ken Levine is closing Irrational Games so he can move on to “narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable,” likely smaller and released digitally. He’s staying with publisher 2K Games and making a new team with the mere 15 Irrational employees that aren’t getting let go. Read more…
Tags: BioShock, BioShock: Infinite
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 19, 2014 in Videogames 
Ready at Dawn is prepping The Order: 1886 for release on PS4 sometime in the future. It involves knights dedicated to fighting an enemy of humanity, battling in London with futuristic weapons. Sounds awesome, but how’s that gameplay? Two official trailers released today, and while some of the footage is apparently in-engine (and looks beautiful), there’s not really any gameplay. There’s some footage in this gameplay debut from VG24/7 (the first video below), and it seems very focused on cutscenes with quicktime events. From what reporters are saying, the game is very good at transitioning between cover-based shooting gameplay, quicktime events, and regular cutscenes. Hopefully this doesn’t turn out to be the PS4’s version of the Xbox One’s Ryse (a very pretty game with little actual gameplay), because I love the steampunk-ish setting. Read more…
Tags: PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 18, 2014 in Animation, Star Wars 
Here’s the first look at Star Wars: Rebels, the new cartoon that will air on Disney XD. Fans were rightly annoyed when Star Wars: The Clone Wars was canceled in favor of this (though the remaining episodes are coming to Netflix), so what do these trailers show? In short, yep, it looks like a Star Wars cartoon. There’s not much to say that the marketing materials haven’t already covered. The show may be good, but right now, it just looks like more animated Star Wars to this casual fan. So cross your fingers that The Clone Wars wasn’t canceled in vain! Just give this a good writing team and things will be alright when it premieres in Fall 2014. Read more…
Tags: Disney, Star Wars: Rebels
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 18, 2014 in Videogames 
Harmonix is a studio that makes videogames focused on music. They’ve made some of my favorite games, like FreQuency/Amplitude, Guitar Hero (the first two), Rock Band, Rock Band Blitz, and Dance Central. Now they’re making their first PC game, a free-to-play FPS. But it’s not your standard arena shooter, of course; everything flows according to the music. Shooting and reloading on the pulsating beat of the music will help propel your team to victory. As the music shifts, the arenas can change, like sniper towers shooting up from the ground. Of course, you can just shoot whenever you want, but it seems like trying to time things with the music will produce better results. The game is still in an early alpha state, but you can sign up to test it here. I love the concept, but I hope Harmonix considers bringing it to PS4 or Xbox One, or even Mac, because right now only PC users will be able to play it. Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, Music
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 13, 2014 in Videogames 
Look at that jacket to the right. That thing is what you’ll keep your copy of Infamous: Second Son in if you pick up the Collector’s Edition. Yes, one of the features is an adorable, tiny jacket for your serious grown-up superhero game. If that jacket doesn’t entice you, maybe some of the other goodies will. The CE comes with a cool bottle opener, pins (“badges”), a collectible coin (Who is collecting these coins?), the main character’s beanie, and some exclusive DLC called “Cole’s Legacy” that deals with the character from the previous three games. It’s not the worst CE I’ve ever seen, but I think you’d certainly need to be a fan to appreciate most of that stuff. Read more…
Tags: Infamous, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 13, 2014 in Videogames 
One of the many reasons I love Nintendo games is their attention to detail. It’s not enough for Nintendo that things just work properly; they want to put little bonuses in there too. GameXplain created a YouTube video highlighting the idle animation for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the new Wii U game that is just about to come out. (Idle animations are what game characters do if you don’t move them for a while.) Not only do three of the four playable characters have two idle animations, not only do they have additional tweaks depending on which characters are paired up with DK, but Donkey Kong has an amazingly detailed idle animation. One of his animations involves him pulling out his 3DS and playing for five seconds. That would be cool enough, but if you listen closely, you can hear him playing one of four real 3DS games, including Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, his previous game. That’s the kind of attention to detail that more developers need to implement. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Donkey Kong, Nintendo, Wii U
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 12, 2014 in Anime, Videogames 
Pokemon X & Y have been out for a few months, and the only free pokemon giveaway was a Torchic with a special evolutionary item. That means it’s about time for Nintendo to start giving out event legendaries — rare pokemon you can’t get through normal play, like the famous Mew. CoroCoro magazine reveals that the first event legendary is Diancie, a rock/fairy type pokemon that will star in the 17th (!) Pokemon movie, Cocoon of Destruction & Diancie. Nintendo hasn’t revealed how it’s giving it out yet, but hopefully players will be able to just connect their 3DS to the internet for the download, instead of having to go to Gamestop, the movie, or some other event like cavemen did. Diancie confirms a leak (spoilers!) from a few months back about pokemon hidden in the game’s code, so perhaps all those other pokemon will be made available in the next year or two. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Nintendo, Pokémon
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 12, 2014 in Comic Books 
In hindsight, it was kind of creepy to buy those big packs of branded Valentine’s Day cards and pass them out to your friends in elementary school. But let’s ignore that and look at these Batman Valentines from 1966, found by Mark Anderson. Batman and friends make horrible lovey-dovey puns, the Penguin is “hissable,” Mr. Freeze has apparently cured his wife but left her in ice, and there are naturally hearts everywhere. So print one out and give it to your sweetie this Friday — but tuck it into a better card, because you don’t want to annoy your other half too much. Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 11, 2014 in Tech, Videogames 
It may have few must-play games, but the PlayStation Vita is one sexy handheld. Part of that is thanks to its OLED screen, which provides a vibrancy rarely seen on handhelds. I’m a diehard Nintendo handheld fan, but even I admit that the Vita’s screen blows the 3DS out of the water. Of course, screen makers are still working the kinks out of OLED technology, and they take up lots of energy. It’s not entirely surprising that Sony would consider replacing the OLED screen with a cheaper, more energy-efficient LCD screen. That’s what they’ve done with the new PlayStation Vita slim model, which is so far only available in Japan. But sometime in Spring 2014, the new LCD model will be made available in the US. It will retail for $200, coming bundled with an 8GB memory card and a Vita port of Borderlands 2. Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, Sony
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 11, 2014 in Tech, Videogames 
You can make some crazy stuff in Minecraft, like ridiculously complicated calculators and clocks. One such clock, however, was intended by its creator to be the most “useless” creation possible, one that serves no other purpose and probably won’t even finish its processes. YouTube user spumwack’s clock is set to the approximate death of the universe, 1 googol (or 10^100) years from now. It has multiple stations that keep track of 320 times the amount of the previous station. For example, the stations roughly count out 4 minutes from the start, then 23 hours, then 303 days, then 266 years, and so on until everything that ever existed in the universe has come to an end. Obviously there’s almost no way this thing could still be running as the last black hole dies, leaving a barren universe, but the video does a great job of explaining what would happen along the way. So watch it and maybe think about it from time to time. Or just be one of the many people who will have forgotten about this perpetual clock 23 hours later. Read more…
Tags: Minecraft
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 6, 2014 in Videogames 
What’s something cool a game publisher can do when they buy another game publisher? They can put crossovers of their new IP into their own games! Square Enix has owned Eidos for a while now, and have put out several of their games, including last year’s Tomb Raider reboot. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is out next week, and now we know that you can make Lightning cosplay as Lara Croft. Similar to Final Fantasy X-2, in this game Lightning can change her clothes to gain access to new abilities. By wearing Lara’s outfit, she can use her survival axe and riot shield to fight monsters. As a side effect, it now looks like Lightning is covered in dirt. The only downside is that this will be optional DLC, available for purchase at launch, which is silly, because this should be a bonus unlockable in the game. Read more…
Tags: DLC, Final Fantasy, Lightning Returns, Tomb Raider
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 6, 2014 in Science, Tech 
China put a rover on the moon called Jade Rabbit, which is all well and good — but it’s already having technical difficulties dealing with the moon’s atmosphere. That’s kind of a big problem if you want your rover to work on the moon. As night falls on the moon, China is trying to fix Jade Rabbit, but there’s a good chance that it won’t recover. The rover has been “writing” about its experiences in the Chinese media, and his latest entry is a sort of goodbye letter. How better to present this semisweet moment than dressing up Star Trek‘s Patrick Stewart as the rover and having him read the final lines? That’s what The Daily Show did. The whole segment provides good coverage of the incident, but you can skip to 4:50 if you just want to see Stewart in gold foil and styrofoam like some old Doctor Who monster. Read more…
Tags: Captain Picard, China, Moon, Space
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 5, 2014 in Uncategorized, Videogames 
Did you know that Thief, the reboot to Eidos’s stealth-franchise, is coming out on February 25? There isn’t much buzz, which probably stems from the delays the title has had during its troubled development. But watch this latest trailer, because despite a smaller marketing budget, this game looks pretty cool. I know some longtime fans of the series seem to have concerns, but as someone who has never played any of the previous games, I’m liking what I see. It looks like a good mixture of stealth and action, and the fact that you could play through the game without killing any enemies is surely enticing to those looking to do more than just build up a body count in a game. Read more…
Tags: Eidos, PS3, PS4, square enix, thief, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 5, 2014 in Star Trek, Tech 
Star Trek has a long history of predicting modern technology years before we made it. Cell phones, video calls, tablets, there’s a lot that wasn’t conceptualized (or at least popularized) before appearing somewhere in the franchise. Naturally, technology keeps making advances, and now Buzzfeed has run down four more Star Trek ideas that are now real. I personally think our early version of the medical tricorder is the most interesting. Maybe our devices don’t quite diagnose every problem, but even videogame camera accessories (like the Xbox One’s Kinect) can make a cursory reading of your vitals, so I’d say creating a medical tricorder that can read everything about your health is plausible based on the work done so far. Read more…
Tags: Google Glass, Star Trek
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 4, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
Apparently thinking that the Fast and Furious franchise isn’t doing enough, Dreamworks made a movie based on EA’s Need for Speed racing franchise. But watch the latest trailer, and see if you think this is a movie that needs to be made. It looks like it offers nothing new, just the usual racing stunt action. Lead actor Aaron Paul looks poorly utilized, displaying little of the intensity that helped make Breaking Bad such a sensation. I suppose there’s a chance this might be a fun flick, but for now, I wouldn’t blame you if you saved your money come March 14. Read more…
Tags: Need for Speed
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 4, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
Here’s something that might have slipped through most people’s radars. Zachary Quinto, best known lately for playing Spock in the rebooted Star Trek universe, has signed on to play Agent 47 in a sequel and reboot to Hitman. The movie was an adaptation of the videogame series of the same name that has the bald, barcoded Agent 47 killing targets. The first movie grossed $100 million worldwide, but didn’t do that well critically, so the Fox is hoping that this new movie, titled Agent 47, does better. Paul Walker was supposed to take over the role from Timothy Olyphant, but he died last November, delaying the film’s shoot schedule. Quinto has proved he can act, but I’m not sure if I can see him playing this character yet. This might be one of those movies that needs the trailer to sell the casting. Read more…
Tags: Hitman
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