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Posted by Ben Huber on May 11, 2014 in Videogames 
Last year, in the lead-up to the Dota 2 International (the championship game tournament for Dota 2), Valve revealed the Compendium, a way for Dota players and fans to get new items and unlocks for their game while also contributing to the overall prize pool, increasing the winnings available for the matches. Already they’ve blown past previous records and are shooting up the Kickstarter-esque stretch goals Valve has set up. Some of them look pretty high, but given how fast Dota 2 has been growing, I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if they hit them all. They already beat their record for most concurrent Dota players yesterday! Check out the full page here. Read more…
Tags: Dota 2, Valve
Posted by Ben Huber on May 10, 2014 in Cinema 
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have been a writing and producing duo for a long while now, scripting things like The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek Into Darkness, two of the Transformer films, and more. You might notice that there is a trend here in the quality of scripts in all those films. I, personally, have not been a fan of their work, mainly because their scripts feel like scenes strung together rather than a cohesive story. Anyway, I digress! The two are splitting up amicably, to pursue directing careers on their own. And in Variety’s big piece on the split, they also reveal that Orci is in talks to direct Star Trek 3, now that J.J. Abrams is a tad busy. Interesting! It also kills any interest I had in Star Trek 3. Lame! There’s tons more details in the Variety article here, include what Kurtzman is up to next (Venom, Universal monsters). Read more…
Tags: Star Trek
Posted by Ben Huber on May 10, 2014 in Star Wars 
Rumors keep swirling about Star Wars Episode VII, and it looks like nothing is going to stop them. One of the more reliable tales to come out of the production (from Entertainment Weekly) is that Harrison Ford will be a “co-lead” in the film, probably leading the trio of main characters on their adventures. Obviously, Luke, Leia, and Han will all have significant roles, but it seems that Han’s is a bit bigger. EW also confirmed that there are several important roles yet to cast, including a lead female role. That’s good to hear, especially as some of the criticism of the cast was that there was only one new woman in the cast. Also, I’ve included below Conan’s recent bit on the possible titles for Episode VII. Check it out! Read more…
Tags: Episode VII
Posted by Ben Huber on May 9, 2014 in Cinema 
So far we’ve only seen bits and pieces of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, Interstellar. Even the teaser trailer barely revealed anything. What a turn from the typical Hollywood advertising! That makes these two new pieces of media even more special. First up is the new poster for Interstellar, which continues the theme of looking to the stars. Pretty bold of them to use a vertical logo, too! Also released was the first still from the film, via EW, which features Matthew McConaughey, Timothee Chalamet, and Mackenzie Foy. The new trailer will hit on May 16th, along with Godzilla in theaters, and the film itself will release November 7th later this year. Read more…
Tags: Christopher Nolan, Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey
Posted by Ben Huber on May 9, 2014 in Cinema 
This new plot-heavy trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is sure to get people excited. It garners a lot of sympathy for the apes, because though we all know how this story is ending, we can’t help but feel bad for the apes. The conflict between the humans and the ever-growing population of apes, according to Caesar, has “already begun.” Returning as Caesar is Andy Serkis, and starring alongside him as several of the humans are Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Judy Greer. Check out the trailer below. I’m not sure how interested I am in this, but this was definitely as solid trailer. Read more…
Tags: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Planet of the Apes
Posted by Bob Muir on May 8, 2014 in Cinema, Television 
I can somewhat hear the surprise from some readers, but yes, Power Rangers are still a thing. Why? Because it’s fun to watch, and because Japan keeps making a new Super Sentai show every year, so there’s no shortage of material. But since Hollywood loves remaking stuff, Saban is working with Lionsgate to make a new movie based on the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, setting aside all the various themed teams that have been featured since. There have been two Power Rangers movies in the past, but this one looks like a solid reboot instead of a continuation. No further information was given, so it’s too soon to speculate, but I hope they don’t ditch the colorful robots and snappy style in favor of a dark, gritty take on the series. We’ve had too much of that these days. Read more…
Tags: power rangers
Posted by Bob Muir on May 8, 2014 in Videogames 
After dropping a few hints in Pokemon X & Y and years of fans speculation, Nintendo has announced that they are remaking Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire for 3DS, due out this November. It fits rather perfectly: X & Y just came out last fall, so it will have been a year since the newest main game release; meanwhile, Nintendo has already remade Pokemon Red & Blue (as Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen on GBA) and Pokemon Gold & Silver (as Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver on DS), the first two generations of Pokemon games, so Ruby & Sapphire are the only pre-DS games left to remake. The new remakes will be called Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. In a nice touch, the temporary box art has red or blue bands at the top and bottom, which is reminiscent of the Japanese box art for the original games. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Nintendo, Pokémon
Posted by Bob Muir on May 7, 2014 in Videogames 
After a quick tease, Atlus has announced that Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, the third core game in the SMT franchise, has been rerleased on PS3 via the PlayStation Network. This game was the first entry in the main series to be released outside of Japan, though spin-offs like the Persona and Last Bible games had previously appeared in the US, sometimes under the brand-name Revelations. It’s also considered to be one of the best entries, as well as being the first time that many non-Japanese gamers were exposed to an RPG with a very high difficulty. If you’re an RPG fan, are tired of modern games being too easy, or just want to play an amazing game, consider buying it, since it’s only $9.99. Read more…
Tags: Atlus, PS3, shin megami tensei
Posted by Bob Muir on May 7, 2014 in Comic Books, Television 
Good news for Batman fans who weren’t satiated by the Dark Knight Trilogy, the critically-acclaimed Arkham series of videogames, and the upcoming Batman vs. Superman: Fox has picked up Gotham, a police drama centered on Jim Gordon and set before Bruce Wayne became Batman. Ben McKenzie is portraying a younger Gordon, while David Mazouz is young Bruce Wayne and Sean Pertwee is Alfred Pennyworth; Jada Pinkett Smith, and Donal Logue are also supporting cast. And naturally, there are some villains involved. Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics, Fox, Gotham
Posted by Bob Muir on May 6, 2014 in Anime, Cinema 
Rurouni Kenshin was one of my favorite anime in high school, and it became one of my top shonen manga. I still say the second of the three major story arcs, the Kyoto Arc, is one of the best in the history of shonen manga. The live-action Rurouni Kenshin movie starring Takeru Sato was pretty faithful to the original story, and now the sequel is coming out this summer — two, in fact! The second arc is getting a two-movie treatment, with the first, Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno, coming out August 1; its sequel, Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends, will finish the manga’s Kyoto Arc. Makoto Shishio, the burned villain of this arc, looks great, as do the locales and fights. Maybe after these release, we’ll get to see the third and final arc, the Jinchu Arc, that was never animated (though an OVA touched on it) on the big screen. Read more…
Tags: Rurouni Kenshin
Posted by Bob Muir on May 6, 2014 in Videogames 
Before Harmonix took music gaming by storm with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Dance Central, they were putting out other, smaller games that were no less interesting. One fan-favorite (and personal favorite) was Amplitude, a 2003 sequel to a 2001 game (FreQuency) about “mixing” electronic music by switching between various instrument tracks to fill in the song. It was a direct precursor to Guitar Hero, which would put the focus on one track with more notes (or one track per player in Rock Band), though Harmonix has revisited the core gameplay with Rock Band Unplugged on PSP and Rock Band Blitz on digital platforms. Now, there’s a chance of a full sequel! Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, Kickstarter, Music, PS3, PS4
Posted by Ben Huber on May 5, 2014 in Videogames 
Capy has quickly become one of my favorite game developers out there, with their insanely clever and creative collection of games (Sword & Sworcery EP, Below, and now Super Time Force). The latter is finally arriving on Xbox 360 and Xbox One on May 14th. The general concept of the game is that as you platform through the levels, each previous life will repeat its journey beside you, killing the same enemies as before and performing the same actions. If you die enough, eventually you can have an entire army of characters rampaging through the screen — until you get past the point where they died. Check out the trailer below! Read more…
Tags: capy, Indie Games, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Ben Huber on May 5, 2014 in Star Wars 
Here’s a few interesting bits from the May the Fourth festivities. J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan took the time to create a (very) short little video saying hi to their families and fans. It definitely appears that Kasdan is heavily involved in more than just the script. Abrams also mentions that casting announcements will continue, so we have some more of those to look forward to! Also released was the new trailer for Star Wars Rebels, which gives some more context and story info, as well as a better look at the various characters. It looks pretty neat, and it’s great to see the classic Stormtroopers and hear the original music again. Check it all out below. Read more…
Tags: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Star Wars: Rebels
Posted by Ben Huber on May 4, 2014 in Fandom 
Fans continue to impress us in all sorts of ways. YouTube user Cory Alexander put together a life-size prop of the Heavy’s minigun from Team Fortress 2. Not only is it the spitting image of the in-game gun, it also features sound effects, motors to make the barrel spin, and lights to simulate the bullets. He built it from spare parts as well as several 3D-printed parts for the more unique bits. It’ll also be used as part of a Heavy cosplay set to debut at Phoenix Comicon 2014. Impressive! Watch the full video showing it off below. Read more…
Tags: cosplay, Team Fortress
Posted by Ben Huber on May 4, 2014 in Cinema 
The new Terminator trilogy (yes, trilogy) is moving on in production, and they’ve signed another actor to their cast: Matt Smith. The former Doctor Who actor will apparently play a character “very close” to John Connor. The movie will also apparently be doing some time travel going on, which is awfully fitting for a Doctor. I’m sure there will be plenty of jokes made when the film comes out. Smith joins an already impressive cast, featuring (the one and only) Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, J.K. Simmons, Jai Courtney, Dayo Okeniyi, and Byung Hun Lee. The film will arrive July 1st, 2015. Read more…
Tags: Terminator
Posted by Ben Huber on May 3, 2014 in Videogames 
There’s another new addition to the EVE Online universe coming soon… possibly. CCP has announced Project Legion, a new concept their Shanghai team been working on recently. It’s similar to Dust 514, but this time it’s on PC. It looks like they’re attempting to make something that expands and improves upon what they made before with Dust. There will be safe-zones as well as low-security zones, where friendly fire can happen. And it probably will. And you might just lose all your loot to another player. You never know what can happen in EVE! CCP has said the game is still early and could change depending on community feedback, so we’ll see where it goes from here! Read more…
Tags: CCP, EVE Online
Posted by Ben Huber on May 3, 2014 in Videogames 
Yup, it’s that time of the year: time for a new Cal of Duty game! This time around they’re going further into the future, to a terrifying future where drones are everywhere and the government spies of everyone. Hmm, topical! It also stars Kevin spacey as the leader of a private military corporation that’s attacking the US. PMCs have been in CoD before, but it definitely looks like they’ll be the primary focus here. It looks a bit more interesting that the usual Call of Duty game, with plenty of exoskeletons and other mecha, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough to pull me in this time. Trailer below! Read more…
Tags: Call of Duty
Posted by Ben Huber on May 2, 2014 in Videogames 
At a recent event, Disney announced an update to their popular Disney Infinity video game, dubbed “2.0.” It’s the exact same concept as Skylanders, but with Disney characters, you know? Still, the action-figures-and-portals business is still big, so Disney is introducing their other properties into Infinity: Marvel! Yes, the entire Avengers crew is in, along with Loki and MODOK. Spider-man and Green Goblin also make an appearance, but perhaps the most unexpected characters to show up were Rocket Raccoon and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. I guess it’s good for cross-promotion, though! I’ve included the announcement trailer below. Read more…
Tags: Disney, Disney Infinity, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on May 2, 2014 in Television 
The Simpsons LEGO episode is coming up on May 4th, and Hulu has uploaded a new trailer to give fans a peek at “Brick Like Me.” It looks like they’re really going hard on the “alternate universe” angle. The funny thing is, the creators of the episode said they’ve been working on this way before The LEGO Movie and the LEGO Simpsons Figures (with sculpted features rather than the plain yellow heads), so that explains some of the obvious differences. Still, while I’m not much a Simpsons fan, I am a LEGO fan, so this could be entertaining to watch. Check out the video! Read more…
Tags: Lego, The Simpsons
Posted by Bob Muir on May 1, 2014 in Television 
Well, that wasn’t entirely unsurprising. The sci-fi series Almost Human, which airs on Fox, has been canceled by the network after only one season. The show featured Karl Urban as a human detective partnered with a lifelike robot played by Michael Ealy. The show never quite impressed critics, and I can attest to being disinterested, despite enjoying Urban. Part of the show’s misfortune, however, stemmed from Fox’s decision to air the episodes out of order, messing up minor continuity and how the characters reacted to each other. My girlfriend stuck with the show and was quite annoyed at how this ruined the show’s pacing. You’d think after Fox did the same thing to Firefly, they would have realized not to mess with a show’s continuity like that, but that’s Fox for you. Read more…
Tags: Robots, Science Fiction
Posted by Bob Muir on May 1, 2014 in Cinema 
It’s always a shame when the world loses another talented actor. This time it’s Bob Hoskins, who has died at age 71. Hoskins was an accomplished actor, who has appeared in many films and TV episodes. However, there were certainly some films he was more well-known for than others. Growing up, I remember watching him in the Peter Pan sequel Hook as Smee. He played Mario in the infamously bad Super Mario Bros. movie, which has gained a cult following in recent years. For me (and many others), his defining role was Eddie Valiant in the brilliant Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Thanks for all the great performances over the years, Bob. Read more…
Tags: Mario Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Apr 30, 2014 in Cinema, Star Wars 
After much speculation, we now know the stars who will be warring in Star Wars Episode VII. As expected, Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) all return. The newcomers are John Boyega (Moses, Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (an unknown), Adam Driver (Adam Sackler, Girls), Oscar Isaac (Llewyn Davis, Inside Llewyn Davis), Andy Serkis (Gollum, The Lord of the Rings), Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), and Max von Sydow (who’s been in tons of stuff). Read more…
Tags: Disney, Episode VII, J.J. Abrams, Star Wars
Posted by Bob Muir on Apr 30, 2014 in Videogames 
Nintendo ducked out of the E3 conference game last year, declining to host a big conference at the event in favor of a longer digital broadcast of Nintendo Direct, a series of mini-conferences with smaller, spread out announcements released throughout the year. This year seems to be the same, with Nintendo planning to air a Nintendo Digital Event — why not Nintendo Direct? — on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at 9AM PT. Furthermore, there will be online coverage throughout the show from Nintendo Treehouse, the legendary localization department that’s worked on some of Nintendo’s best games. But that’s not all that Nintendo has planned. Read more…
Tags: E3 2014, Nintendo, Nintendo Direct, Super Smash Bros.
Posted by Bob Muir on Apr 29, 2014 in Videogames 
I can’t blame you if you haven’t purchased a current-gen console yet. Yes, the PS4 and Xbox One are no longer considered “next-gen,” but that doesn’t mean everyone has made the switch from their PS3 and Xbox 360 yet. That’s why it’s good to hear about plans like this one. Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi MMO-FPS Destiny will be released on all four of the previously mentioned systems, which means many players may pick it up on last-gen consoles. But if you upgrade your system, you won’t lose all your progress. Read more…
Tags: Bungie, Destiny, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
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