Monthly Archives: January 2015
The Witcher 3’s Beautiful Ugliness
The world of the Witcher is rough and unruly, defined by greed, corruption and despair. It's a battleworn, ugly world, and in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, this ugliness has never been more beautiful.
Graphical prowess is to be expected, of course. It’s been nearly four years since CD Projekt RED released its last Witcher game into the wild, and as much as The Witcher 2 still looks beautiful on PC, significant advances in technology has allowed for much grander world building. But on the hefty rig I’m playing on, The Witcher 3 looks truly gobsmacking; pores stand out on faces, blades of grass can be counted, curls of hair twist in the breeze.
Flash Producer Spills on Reverse-Flash, Time Travel, Speed Force and More!
Warning: Spoilers through The Flash episode "The Sound and the Fury" follow...
The Flash's "The Sound and The Fury" saw the introduction of another Flash villain, Pied Piper/Hartley Rathaway (Andy Mientus). Rathaway's arrival also afforded us another glimpse at the dark side of what Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg calls "the devil" in Team Flash's midst, Dr. Harrison Wells.
The Flash: "The Sound and the Fury" Review
IGN attended a screening of the episode and Q&A with a small group or reporters where Kreisberg spoke about the decision to reveal Wells as the most insidious of Flash's foes. The devilish demon with a friendly face. There are some of us - myself included - who have continued to imagine and believe that there must be more to Wells' connection to Reverse-Flash, and indeed Kreisberg did disclose that Eddie Thawne's connection to Reverse-Flash will pay off later on this season beginning with a big hint in episode 15 when we spoke to him at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour earlier this month.
Xbox One OneGuide, Digital TV Tuner Confirmed For Australia
Xbox Australia has confirmed that OneGuide is finally headed to Australia. Users registered in the Xbox One Preview program will see the option to configure OneGuide available as of today. In addition, Xbox Australia will be launching the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner in March, 2015.
You'll be able to watch quality Aussie TV shows like... Good Morning America?
OneGuide is Xbox One’s “enhanced TV watching experience” which enables users to navigate and watch live, free-to-air TV, TV On Demand, and other apps via their Xbox One. OneGuide also enables TV playback in Snap Mode, meaning those with incredibly developed multitasking skills (or incredibly short attention spans) can now watch TV on the side while leaving the main screen free for games or other applications. OneGuide can be navigated using the controller or Kinect’s voice controls. OneGuide was available at launch in the US and later made available in the UK in mid-2014.
Ghostbusters Reboot Release Date Revealed
Ghostbusters director Paul Feig has dropped a release date for his upcoming reboot: July 22, 2016.
The news comes hot on the heels of a cast tease, which includes actresses Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy. It's important to note that the cast isn't finalized; these actresses are in early talks.
Suicide Squad Casting Rumors & More
There certainly hasn't been a rumor shortage since the Suicide Squad movie was announced—a Batman cameo, Tom Hardy's many potential replacements—and they're showing no signs of stopping.
Now we've got a few more to add to the mix, thanks to a new report from JoBlo. *Possible spoilers ahead*
First off, Joel Edgerton and Jon Bernthal aren't the only names in the running to take over as field commander Rick Flag. Karl Urban is also being considered for the role (while also up for the villain in the Aquaman film). Additionally, there is going to be a Rick Flag Sr. in the film, and the two actors circling that role are said to be Ed Harris (A History of Violence) and Max Martini (Pacific Rim).
The Huntsman Will be Short 5 Dwarfs
The sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman will have neither Snow White nor her Seven Dwarfs in it.
We've known for awhile now that Kristen Stewart's Snow White would be sitting out the sequel, which will see Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron reprise their respective roles from the 2012 original. Now it appears several other cast members will also not appear in the sequel, titled The Huntsman.
According to Deadline, The Huntsman "will only feature two dwarfs, and it is still unclear who they will be." Definitely not coming back are Nick Frost, Toby Jones and Eddie Marsan.
New Dates for Friday the 13th, Paranormal & Rings
Paramount Pictures has scheduled new release dates for three of its high-profile horror franchise sequels.
Their long-in-development Friday the 13th followup was supposed to open November 13, but has now been shifted to May 13, 2016 instead. Yes, that's a Friday the 13th.
Deadline also reports that Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is moving from March 13 to October 23 of this year, where it will open against Jem and the Holograms as well as The Last Witch Hunter.
Finally, Rings, the third entry in The Ring franchise, is now scheduled to open stateside November 13 in Friday the 13th's old slot.
Wet Hot American Summer Teaser
While there's not a lot to this teaser for Netflix's upcoming Wet Hot American Summer series, it does accomplish three things:
1. Officially confirms that they've managed to reunite the entire cast from the 2001 cult comedy - including Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garofalo, Christopher Meloni, David Hyde Pierce, Amy Poheler, Paul Rudd, and many, many more.
2. Reveals the full title for the show is Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.
3. Announces the show will debut rather soon, given we just found out it was filming this month - with Netflix premiering the series this summer.
We'd heard for a long time that a Wet Hot American Summer follow-up (originally intended to be a film, before it became a series) would be a prequel, and it seems this is still the case - the joke being that the cast, who were already far too old to play teenage counselors in 2001 are now playing slightly younger versions of the same characters, in a story once more set in the summer of 1981.
Average Time Spent On Mobile Games Up 57%
The average amount of time people spend playing mobile games today has grown 57 percent since 2012, according to a new study from The NPD Group.
An online survey conducted on 5,566 people late last year found that the typical mobile gamer spends about two hours a day playing on mobile devices, an increase from one hour and 20 minutes documented in the last study two years ago.
Twice the amount of mobile gamers also reported making in-app purchases this time around.
Liam Callahan, an industry analyst with The NPD Group, explains, "Continued mobile growth will stem from existing customers paying more to play, especially in the free-to-play portion of the market."
The Last of Us Movie to Have ‘Big Changes’
The Last of Us film adaptation will include some "big changes," according to game director and film script writer Neil Druckmann.
Druckmann told Game Informer about the latest developments on the project, including how far along he is with the script.
“I just finished a second draft, and we did a table read with a bunch of actors," he said. "Pretty faithful to the game. There are some big changes, but the tone and what the story’s trying to say is pretty faithful to the game.”
Druckmann also said he's dividing his time between Uncharted 4, at the office, and the Last of Us movie "when I should be sleeping."