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Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 18, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Stare upon blurry set photos no longer! The first official image of Ultron is out, thanks to Entertainment Weekly. The villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron looks pretty close to his comic book incarnations, so I’m sure die-hard fans will be pleased. Most importantly he has the distinctive mouth shape that really makes him stand out. Oh, and Cap and Iron Man are on the cover too, but who cares about them anyway? There are some other photos at EW too, mostly showing off costumes we’ve already seen, but we also get confirmation that Don Cheadle is in the film. I’m satisfied with how Ultron looks, now it’s time to hope that the movie itself is good. Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 17, 2014 in Videogames 
When American Nintendo fans heard they were getting Club Nintendo way back in 2008, we had good reason to be excited. The customer loyalty program offered Japanese players tons of rare Nintendo collectibles that could only be earned by spending coins gained with every Nintendo purchase. But while some interesting products were announced, it never lived up to its promise. Over time, the focus became less on physical items and more on downloadable games. It’s not that the games were bad, but it seemed pointless to spend the equivalent of $200 worth of coins on a digital download you could buy yourself for $5-10; physical items were actually worth it, but they’ve become deemphasized, culminating in this year’s elite prize. Read more…
Tags: Nintendo
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 17, 2014 in Animation, Comic Books 
Batman: The Animated Series had a sharp, yet moody art style, ripe for exploration. Mondo, known mainly for their limited edition posters of classic movies, has done that with a new series of record sleeves. The 7-inch record sleeves will come in five varieties, featuring Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, Man-Bat, and naturally the Joker. And of course, there will be a small 7-inch vinyl record inside with the show’s theme music pressed onto it. The records are colored as well, to match the sleeves. You can buy them at Mondo’s booth (#835) starting on San Diego Comic Con’s Preview Night, to celebrate Batman’s 75th anniversary. Check out more below! Read more…
Tags: Art, Batman
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 16, 2014 in Comic Books 
Due to story events, Thor is no longer worthy to wield Mjolnir, so a new character is taking over the mantle and wielding the mighty hammer in the comics. But for the first time, that character will be female. It’s easy for sexists to complain about this, but I think there are other reasons this is a poor decision. Let me try to unpack why Marvel’s good intentions aren’t necessarily right. Read more…
Tags: Marvel, thor
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 16, 2014 in Comic Books, Television 
Gotham is set before Batman emerges, so the upcoming TV series has a chance to show supervillains before they actually become supervillains. We’ve seen various characters confirmed for the show, but so far, no Joker. You could assume it’s because they might want to leave him out, since Batman is often credited with accidentally creating his most persistent nemesis. But the Joker didn’t always originate from Batman in every origin story, so in this show’s continuity, he could spring from anywhere. Apparently that’s what Gotham will be playing up. Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics, Gotham
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 15, 2014 in Videogames 
Masahiro Sakurai has said we’re nearing the end of new character announcements for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U (or at least new characters they feel like announcing that aren’t a surprise unlockable). The latest trailer adds two more Fire Emblem characters from Fire Emblem Awakening, joining previous fighters Marth and Ike. For the first time, you’ll be able to play as Robin (the main character) and choose whether the character is male or female, just like in the game. Lucina is also joining the fray. Meanwhile, Captain Falcon will be a returning character, having appeared in every previous Smash Bros. game. It’s all looking good, but I wouldn’t mind even more new character announcements by the time the game is out! Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Nintendo, Super Smash Bros., Wii U
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 15, 2014 in Dr. Who, Television 
No more of pussy-footing around with a single shot with a strobe light! With the series 8 premiere of Doctor Who right around the corner — August 23 — the BBC has seen fit to release a trailer with actual content in it! The tone seems a bit darker, but we do have a new, older Twelfth Doctor played by Peter Capaldi, so this is a chance for a new direction. Plus: dinosaurs and Daleks! This season looks exciting, so waiting a month is going to be quite difficult. Read more…
Tags: Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 14, 2014 in Videogames 
EVO is wrapping up but it looks like Tekken 7 leaked a bit early. Again. Tekken 7 hasn’t been much of a secret (it also showed up on a projector that was being tested at EVO), but this IGN video that was accidentally posted early by AOL confirmed the game earlier (but sadly no gameplay footage). It also will reportedly be powered by Unreal Engine 4 and will release on current gen consoles… so it seems it may not be cross-gen. I’m not much of a Tekken fan, but Tekken-lovers should be very excited about this news, as it should allow for more ease of porting to other systems. Thankfully, a short teaser confirmation trailer has been released. I’ve embedded it below. Read more…
Tags: Tekken
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 14, 2014 in Fandom 
James Rolfe, the Angry Video Game Nerd, is just about to realize his dream of making his own film. He (and his crew) have been working hard and they’ll be premiering the film at the Egyptian Theater in LA on July 21st (already sold out, sadly). However, along with a new trailer, they’ve announced a digital release date for the film: September 2nd. That’s not too far off! There are still some theater showings with available tickets, so if you want to see it on the big screen, check here. The movie seems pretty timely with the recent E.T. dig that happened! Read more…
Tags: Angry Video Game Nerd
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 13, 2014 in Hobbies and Collections 
Funko has made figures of… well, everything, probably. And their collection of SDCC exclusives are just filling small holes in an already impressive lineup. Firstly, they’ll be featuring Luke and the Wampa from Empire Strikes Back, complete with detachable arm. Adorable! But if you need a little more blood in your cutesy collectible figurines, check out their other exclusive, Hershel from The Walking Dead. Spoiler alert if you haven’t caught up with the series: his head is detachable. His shirt is just covered in blood… but I guess that’s understandable, given the whole head-coming-off thing. Good luck attempting to pick these up at SDCC! Read more…
Tags: San Diego Comic-Con 2014, The Empire Strikes Back, The Walking Dead
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 13, 2014 in Cinema 
Snowpiercer, from South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, has been getting a lot of acclaim recently. Critics and viewers alike have been calling it a fantastic sci-fi post-apocalyptic thriller, and well, I haven’t seen it yet. But I think tonight may be the night I see it, as Snowpiercer is now out on VOD, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. If a theater near you isn’t showing it, now it’s plenty easy to catch it at home. In case you haven’t caught the ads, it follows Chris Evans as he leads a group of underclass survivors as they fight back against the oppressive ruling class that dominates the train they live on. Yes, in the freezing post-apocalypse, everyone lives on a train that cannot stop. That’s awesome. Read more…
Tags: Snowpiercer
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 12, 2014 in Fandom 
Three Wolf Moon is overdone, right? It’s a dead joke… isn’t it? Or are we at the point where it’s old enough to come back as a zombified corpse and still be kind of funny (but maybe in an ironic way)? I really don’t know. Suffice to say, here is a Three Wolf Moon shirt, but with Rocket Racoon instead of wolves. Yes, this is how far we have come. My designer side is coming out though, and says the moon should probably be a bit bigger. Racoons, guns, and moons. What else could you want? Nothing. This is it, this is the culmination of all nerd culture. Read more…
Tags: Guardians of the Galaxy
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 12, 2014 in Television 
True Detective was one of my favorite new shows to come out of HBO. It surprised a lot of people with an oppressive, moody atmosphere and some creepy vibes strewn throughout. Now, with all the hype of the first season behind it, season two is starting to roll forward. Nic Pizzolatto’s script isn’t yet finished, but casting seems to already be starting, and Colin Farrell is the name Deadline and Variety are whispering. The Wrap also mentions that Taylor Kitsch is among the candidates for a leading role, but that one is a little more uncertain. Pizzolatto mentioned that there are four leading roles in season two, so this is only half of what we might get. Read more…
Tags: HBO, true detective
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 11, 2014 in Hobbies and Collections
Todd McFarlane is always looking for the next big thing, eh? Well, now he’s got some Walking Dead building toys coming out that totally ape the LEGO style… but they completely miss the point. McFarlane says, “[…] there’s still one burning question that I have every time I walk down the aisle – why can’t it look cooler? Why can’t it just look cooler?” However, Todd, the point of building toys like LEGO is that you can rebuild it into anything you want. These Walking Dead sets? They will never be anything aside from what you made them to be. Sure, they look “cooler” in a generic sense, but there’s nothing else it can be used for. So… why have it be a building toy in the first place? Maybe I’m missing something! Read more…
Tags: The Walking Dead, Todd McFarlane
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 11, 2014 in Cinema 
Ridley Scott’s biblical epic about Moses has finally gotten a trailer, and sadly it confirms a lot of my fears about Exodus: Gods and Kings. While Scott’s direction is always at least above average (and I’m sure there will be some excited shots in this film), I can’t help but feel that the world is over whitewashed portrayals of history. I mean, there are so many good actors of other races, it seems so bizarre to see Christian Bale in the middle of a crowd of Egyptians. I don’t doubt that Bale will display a good performance, and the spectacle alone might make this worth seeing, but hopefully people will ask why a more fitting actor couldn’t have had the part of Moses. Still, it’s a cool-looking trailer with some neat music. Check it out! Read more…
Tags: Exodus: Gods and Kings, Ridley Scott
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 10, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
Sega is putting fans of Alien in a very awkward position right now. They’re publishing Alien: Isolation, a game that promises to emulate the first movie’s horror and tension instead of taking its cues from Aliens. Now, you can pre-order anywhere and get upgraded to the Nostromo Edition, which includes a bonus mission, “Crew Expendable.” The mission will feature Sigourney Weever and other original cast from the film and let you play as Ellen Ripley, Dallas, or Parker as they try to lure the xenomorph to the airlock after Brett’s death. If you preorder from Gamestop, you also get “Last Survivor,” which has Ripley trying to escape on the Narcissus during the film’s climax. Those missions sound great, but that’s not the problem. Read more…
Tags: Alien, Alien: Isolation, Sega
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 9, 2014 in Cinema 
Technically, Scarlett Johansson looks deadly without a gun, but in this clip from Luc Besson’s Lucy, she’s using a gun to escape captivity. What follows is some very efficient shooting, probably because she’s using more than 10% of her brain. (You know, that old pseudo-scientific concept that’s been disproven over and over again, but whatever.) It looks like what I imagine the auto-lock slow-motion feature in some videogame shooters looks like, where time slows and you pick several targets to shoot instantly with no need for aiming. Will she be this cool the rest of the movie? I liked Leon: The Professional, but I disliked The Fifth Element, so I’m not sure about how much I should get excited for Lucy. Read more…
Tags: Science Fiction, Superheroes
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 9, 2014 in Videogames 
Gearbox isn’t just working on more Borderlands games. Their latest announcement is Battleborn, an FPS that mixes MOBA elements (think DOTA or League of Legends) into its co-op campaign. Battleborn has a science fantasy style with lots of colorful visuals, taking a page from Borderlands‘ avoidance of the usual FPS grittiness. The game is releasing for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, but the date is unknown; the only estimate we have is sometime before the end of Take Two’s next fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2016. Read more…
Tags: Gearbox, MOBA
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 9, 2014 in Cinema 
Though author J.K. Rowling has no plans to write any more Harry Potter novels, that doesn’t preclude spin-offs and short stories. Her latest addition to the Potter world is a continuation of her stories about the 2014 Quidditch World Cup Finals, posted on Pottermore. This latest story actually focuses on Harry Potter himself — now with “threads of silver” in his hair — reuniting with his friends, albeit written from the point of view of sensationalist reporter Rita Skeeter. If you’re a member of Pottermore, you can read the story (and many others) on that site, but for the rest of us, The Today Show has you covered. Read more…
Tags: harry potter
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 8, 2014 in Comic Books, Television 
Looks like DC is hiring back Brandon Routh after kind of ruining his career with Superman Returns. The actor will appear in the third season of Arrow as the new owner of Queen Consolidated. However, he won’t be donning a red and blue outfit again. This time, he’ll be playing Ray Palmer, a scientist and inventor better known to fans as The Atom, DC’s shrinking superhero. It’s nice to see Routh get any roles these days, because he’s still a good actor. The last thing I saw him in was Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which he was great in. Maybe this role could get expanded in the future beyond this season? Read more…
Tags: DC Comics, Green Arrow
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 8, 2014 in Videogames 
You can’t have a new, big-budget IP without also offering a collector’s edition for all those hardcore fans of a game they’ve never played! I kid, but as expected, Bungie’s Destiny will have a collector’s edition and a more expensive collector’s edition, if paying $60 for the base game is too cheap for you. The Ghost Edition will run you $150 and includes the following: the game in a steelbook case, a field manual with “handwritten” notes, an “antique” star chart, a Guardian folio, four “Golden Age” postcards, the Destiny expansion pass (worth $35; gives you the first two expansions), some Collector’s Edition skin DLC, and a life-size replica of the Ghost robot (including lights and voice clips by Peter Dinklage). This version will supposedly be very limited. Read more…
Tags: Bungie, Destiny
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 7, 2014 in Cinema 
Guillermo Del Toro has been wanting to make an At The Mountains of Madness film for quite a while now. Back in 2011, he said it wouldn’t happen, but now he’s signing a much more optimistic song. Thanks to Universal and Legendary Pictures working together for Pacific Rim 2, Del Toro says he could make Mountains at Legendary — but with a PG-13 rating, rather than the R he had strove for originally. “I think that now, with the way I’ve seen PG-13 become more and more flexible, I think I could do it PG-13 now, so I’m going to explore it with [Legendary], to be as horrifying as I can, but to not be quite as graphic.” Well, as long as it’s horrifying! That’s the most important thing in a Lovecraft story. Read more…
Tags: guillermo del toro, H. P. Lovecraft
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 7, 2014 in Videogames 
The game isn’t even out yet, and Mighty No. 9 is already making waves. Keiji Inafune’s Kickstarter success isn’t out until Spring 2015 but they’re already doing some neat stuff: first, they announced that a CGI animated series would be coming out in the future, done by Digital Frontier. This is definitely aimed at kids, but it’s neat to the Beck character take off so quickly. Comcept also revealed that they began taking PayPal funding as well, for a second round of supporting funds. These new pledge will go towards stretch goals and and other extra features. Not too shabby for a Kickstarter game! Check out the teaser video below. Read more…
Tags: Mighty No. 9
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 6, 2014 in Videogames 
You may have heard of Neotokyo before — it’s a Half-Life 2 Source mod that has been around since 2009. It was a really unique multiplayer shooter that combined cyberpunk aesthetics with team-based play. You had to be a bit more careful and cerebral in your play, as going in guns blazing wouldn’t always work. Now, a whole new crowd can try the game, as it’s been added to Steam. Instead of installing various mod files, now you can just click the install button and jump right in! Granted, the game only has a small dedicated player base, but hopefully this will reignite interest in this compelling little mod. I highly recommend checking it out! Read more…
Tags: Mod, Steam
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