Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 14, 2012 in Videogames
If you’ve been following the site, it’s no secret that I’ve been looking forward to playing BioWare’s Mass Effect 3. Critics have praised the game and while some gamers have voiced concerns regarding everything from day-one paid downloadable content to the doctoring of stock, royalty free photography, I’m still enjoying my experience for the most part. I admit that I’m not a very social gamer but due to BioWare’s new interactive “Galaxy at War” system, you’re almost forced to deal with the multiplayer aspect just to improve your single-player campaign’s ending. Fortunately, there are a couple workarounds for those of you with an iOS device. More after the jump.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 14, 2012 in Videogames
Set for release later this week, Square Enix unveiled latest trailer for Chaos Rings II. As some of you may recall, Chaos Rings served as Square Enix’s first major title for the iOS and Android platforms, praised for delivering a fully-developed, traditional Japanese role-playing experience. Some reviewers have even cited it as one of the best titles the company has developed in recent years — though, I’m sure that’s open to debate. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 13, 2012 in Animation
If you’re lucky enough to live near NYC this Thursday Joe Strike will be interviewing animation legend Fred Seibert at MoCCA: “After putting MTV on the map with a series of unforgettable, no-two-alike animated ID spots, he took over the creatively exhausted Hanna-Barbera studio and engineered a turnaround that brought some of the country’s most innovative young animators to its doors. Their creations – The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo and others – put Cartoon Network on the map. Moving onto an association with Nickelodeon, Fred midwifed second batch of creator-driven cartoons including Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, Fanboy and Chum Chum and The Fairly Oddparents; Frederator Studios’ latest series, the surreal Adventure Time with Finn and Jake is a major Cartoon Network success.”
It’s just a rumor, but Latino Review claims to have the scoop regarding the plot of Iron Man 3, including its potential villain — if you can call it that. Since it’s just a rumor, I’m not really sure how much of a spoiler it’d be but better safe than sorry. If you absolutely want to avoid any rumors about the film, and considering The Avengers hasn’t even hit theaters yet, that might not be a bad idea, then read no further. Otherwise, hit the jump.
If you’re a die-hard fan of Epic’s Gears of War, or just a fan of awesome looking props, you’ll want to feast your eyes on this 1:1 scale replica of snub pistol featured in Gears of War 3. Although I’m not a huge fan of the series, I have a soft spot for ornate Sci-Fi weaponry, and even I have to admit how sweet this piece looks. Read more…
Fans of Marvel’s animated universe are getting ready for next month’s premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man — well, most of them any way. Some are still wondering what happened to Marvel’s The Spectacular Spider-Man which ended its run after two seasons, despite being well received by fans and critics alike.
I’ll be honest, I’m pretty burnt out on the Halo series. It’s not Call of Duty levels of commercial milking yet, but I think I’m good for my share of Spartan adventures. That said, it’s still a huge series and I bet a lot of you still want more, which is why we have a Halo 4 in the first place. This recently released video gives you a first look at Halo 4, as well as the developers in 343 Industries. Check out the full video after the break. Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 11, 2012 in Comic Books
We’ve lost an incredible man. French artist and designer Jean Giraud passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 74.
His influence on comics, movies, and more has been felt throughout the world. From Alien to Tron, from Blueberry to Arzach. His accomplishments are simply staggering. So much has been influenced by him, whether directly or indirectly – it’s impossible to list everything here. But for now I’d like to simply have a gallery of work from the man himself. Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 10, 2012 in Design, Fandom
Olly Moss has been one of my most-watched artists recently. Very few people have the consistently excellent output he’s had. You’ve probably seen his work floating throughout the ‘net at some point, especially his popular posters he’s done with Mondo. Just recently, he released four prints at once, the three original starter Pokémon and Pikachu, which sold out almost instantly. So why not take a look at some of his other work? Read more…
Ever wanted to fight an evil, robotic version of George Washington with a gattling gun? No? Well, I have bad for you then about BioShock: Infinite. IGN recently released a short video featuring the “Big Daddies” of BioShock: Infinite, now called “Heavy Hitters.” Ken Levine tries to make them seem totally different in the interview, but come on guys, they’re this game’s version of Big Daddies. Not saying that the game doesn’t look amazing, though. Video after the jump! Read more…
Here’s a little fun for your day: an alternate Walking Dead intro created by tlunsford in the style of a 70s/80s TV intro. Trust me, it’s better than it sounds. Given that Walking Dead is more about the people than the zombies, something like this makes sense. Tlunsford jokes in the video description, “this new intro for season 2.5 seems to shine a light on the character dynamics of this ragtag group of zombie survivors and the impending daddy issues that Laurie’s pregnancy is sure to bring.” Oh, I’m willing to bet you’re closer to the truth than you think, buddy. Read more…
And now, in the tradition of Ishtar, Waterworld, Pluto Nash and so many other over-inflated, big budget Hollywood turkeys comes…John Carter. John Carter completely lives up/down to its advance thumbs-down buzz: noisy, uninvolving, unlikeable characters, every cliché in the book strung together like pearls on a necklace – and poorly performed. Full disclosure: I only was able to sit through the first half hour of this thing before bailing, so maybe it got better after I left – but I doubt it. Read more…
Want to get excited for a new anime? How about a new Lupin III series? Starting April 4th in Japan, viewers will get to see Lupin III -The Woman Called Fujiko Mine- on the small screen. It’ll focus on Fujiko Mine in particular, and is said to want to recapture the “sensuality” of the series in a “daring interpretation” of the original series. Of particular interest? The staff! Sayo Yamamoto, director of the series Michiko to Hatchin (an excellent cult favorite), will be directing the series, and Takeshi Koike (director of the ridiculously awesome Redline – watch it) will be handling character design and animation direction. An excellent lineup! Read more…
If I’m going to buy overpriced Japanese t-shirts, there’s only one retailer I really trust — Uniqlo. Stylish, well-crafted, and comfortable to wear, their t-shirts will often catch your eye with with quirky prints or bright colors. In Japan, the retailer teamed up with Konami to release a line of Metal Gear-themed shirts celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary. I’d probably kill for a few of these designs, but seeing as their shirts usually retail for around $45 a piece at conventions, I’m not sure if I have the cash to spare. The shirts will be available this April, but I have no idea if you’ll be able to find them in any of the three Manhattan locations located in the US. You might have better luck at major anime conventions later this summer — otherwise, a trip to Japan might be your best bet. Check out more photos after the break. Read more…
Animated shorts never seem to be as good as the actual shows they’re based off, but with Community making its return to NBC later this month, something’s better than nothing.In the first installment of Community: Abed’s Master Key we catch up with the study group as they discover their study room tables missing due to budget cuts. Dean Pelton makes Abed his unpaid intern/assistant, handing him a key — as to what the key actually does, we’ll just have to wait and see. Only the first part has been released so far, but future installments will be available via Hulu. Community returns from its hiatus March 15th, 8PM Eastern/Pacific on NBC.
I’m not sure how many of you have been keeping up with Ridley Scott’s Prophets of Science Fiction — not every cable provider carries the network it airs on — but it’s been a pretty good season so far. The season’s coming to an end, but what better way than to feature the man behind the force itself, George Lucas. The season finale airs tonight at 10 PM Eastern on Science.
A Star Trek drinking game? Why not, someone had to do it. Truth be told, there are a few episodes seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation I wouldn’t care to sit through unless I had some drinks in me. It’s been years since I first stumbled across Beer Trek, a site dedicated to creating the ultimate Star Trek drinking game. When I say dedicated, of course, I use the term rather loosely. It’s more of a compendium of rules for series, characters, situations, etc. Trying to memorize all of them would be fruitless and trying to follow them could lead to some serious alcohol poisoning.
Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming — Fox has decided to cancel Terra Nova, and will not be renewing the series for a second season. The series seemed popular enough to sustain an audience, but viewership declined over the course of its 13 episode run, leaving studio execs with the choice of footing the bill for the show’s enormous budget, or cutting their losses. Given Fox’s track record with shows like Firefly and The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I’m sure everyone could have guessed which option they’d pick. That being the case, the series did seem to suffer from poor writing, and the premise didn’t seem all that original to begin with. Read more…
To help commemorate tonight’s release of Mass Effect 3, I thought I’d post this interesting bit of fan art. Until today, I never knew salt was something people actually used for artistic purposes, but as you’ll see in this time-lapsed video, salt art can be quite impressive. No doubt it’s incredibly time consuming, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue for Bashir Sultani, the artist responsible for the piece. It actually took around two and a half hours for him to complete it, though I imagine someone who isn’t used to working with salt might have taken much longer. If you’re interested, he has entire YouTube channel dedicated to the art and it’s definitely worth checking out.
I always have difficulty writing about the passing of artists and visionaries who inspired so many over the years. It’s as if nothing I could write or say could even begin to express the loss the industry faces each time it happens. Nevertheless, it’s only appropriate that we honor them for their contributions. This time it’s Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual artist whose work dictated the visual direction for films and series such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Battlestar Galactica, and even Raiders of the Lost Ark, but is best known for his work on Star Wars. Read more…
Here’s the latest trailer for second season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and perhaps the most breathtaking yet. The clips they’ve used contain some fresh footage, and are spliced together beautifully. The music is also quite striking, in a haunted sort of way. Then again, if you’ve already read George R.R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings or A Storm of Swords, then you’d find it appropriate given the events that will take place this season.
Looking for bizarre promotional products for the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man film? Here’s one of the oddest: Spider-Man nail polish. Sure, given the market that the new movie is aimed at, this isn’t too surprising, but I can’t help but feel that fan girls won’t really flock to this. The most terrifying thing here is the names, though. “Just Spotted the Lizard??” Is that a euphemism or something? “Call Me Gwen-ever?” Really? Read more…
Here’s something neat coming up soon: the Smithsonian American Art Museum is featuring a new exhibition called The Art of Video Games, from March 16th to September 30th. It’ll feature art from a large array of games, from Pac-Man and Mario to Zelda and Metal Gear. To kick the whole thing off, the first three days will be Gamefest – at which you can experience panels, interviews, and musical performances. Check out the full listing of games here, and the events you can attend here!
What happens when two people get a little too into their table tennis? Maybe you throw the paddle down and walk away angry? Not these two, instead they get into a ridiculously over-the-top fight featuring slow-motion, explosions, and fire. Combine a little bit of the Street Fighter IV trailers with a dose of anime styling and you’re starting to get close to the kind of ping pong battle to expect. Start your Saturday right and check out the video after the break. Read more…
