Monthly Archives: February 2015
J.J. Abrams Talks About New Star Wars: Episode 7 Lightsaber
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams has waded into the ongoing discussion about the new lightsaber design revealed in the first teaser trailer for the upcoming film.
Collider spoke to Abrams at the Visual Effects Society Awards last night, and the director wasn't afraid to admit the decision regarding the crossguard was a controversial one internally, too.
"I will say that what’s been funny is, since the lightsaber’s come out, I cannot tell you how many contradictory emails I have received from people who have both defended it with unbelievably detailed graphics," he said. "I’ve gotten things that are nuts, and I’ve gotten people who’ve shown how it’ll kill you and how it doesn’t make any sense. It’s been the funniest thing to see the arguments that have developed over this thing.
Screenwriter Gary Whitta Talks Star Wars & Starlight
We really are spoiling you with our pod-guests these days. Hot on the heels of Ex Machina’s Alex Garland and Evolve’s Phil Robb, we’ve now got games journalist-turned-screenwriter Gary Whitta joining Chris and Gav for an epic 'cast.
Whitta started out in the games industry in the late 1980s before making the transition to film via The Book of Eli and Another Earth. For the last year he’s been busy working in a galaxy far, far away, writing the first standalone movie in the new Star Wars cycle, which will be directed by Gareth ‘Godzilla’ Edwards and hitting screens December 2016.
Gary talks about his love of The Empire Strikes Back, how the original trilogy inspired his generation of writers and filmmakers, and what working on this new movie has been like as a creative experience.
Mortal Kombat X May Feature Microtransactions
Mortal Kombat X looks set to feature microtransactions, if one of its developers is to be believed.
Speaking to IGN at a recent event for the game, NetherRealm Studios marketing manager Brian Goodman explained that the company wasn't prepared to discuss microtransactions "yet", all but confirming there would come a point in the future where an announcement will be made.
"We are not releasing any details on that yet," he said when asked if the feature would be included in the upcoming brawler. "Nothing to say about microtransactions yet."
Though not an official confirmation, the implication of "yet" suggests we will be hearing about microtransactions in the future.
Living Towers Keep Mortal Kombat X Fresh
In a rare opportunity to sit down and play Mortal Kombat X, I got a glimpse of two interesting new modes coming for the next-gen fighter: Living Towers and Faction War.
Living Towers is, as you'd expect, an iteration upon the tower challenges from 2011's Mortal Kombat. Like the previous version, each tower battle will have a special mod of some kind on it, providing unique challenges beyond the normal scope of an everyday match. Some examples included "Dark Kombat," which saw the screen fade to black mid-match, forcing you to fight without being able to see, and "Juggle Kombat," a low-gravity mod that makes juggle combos go on seemingly forever. Two other mods were named after fan-favorite characters from Mortal Kombat's past. You can read more about that here.
3 More Mortal Kombat X Characters Teased?
Three more Mortal Kombat X characters have been hinted at during a recent preview event attended by IGN.
In the newly announced Living Towers mode, which adds unique gameplay modifiers to standard matches, both Cyrax and Rain had mods named after them. More significantly, these mods involved fully modeled graphical assets related to each of them: Cyrax's trademark bombs, and Rain's water-bubble attack.
Finally, under the description for Kitana's "Mournful" variation, it specifically mentions that in this style, Kitana uses both the staff and glaive belonging to Jade, a fellow former assassin, and long-time friend.
New Mode and Fixes Headed to The Crew Next Week
Ubisoft have released patch notes for a new content update coming to The Crew next week that will tune several major gameplay elements and add a new mode to multiplayer.
In addition to tweaks that will improve the frame-rate in cockpit view and adjust the handling of some vehicles, players will get to experience a new PvP race elimination mode on ten new tracks and access four new faction challenges.
Here's what you can expect when the update rolls out across all platforms from February 12:
- New PvP mode - an elimination race with ten new tracks available.
- Four new faction missions.
Zombie Army Trilogy Gets a Release Date
Rebellion has announced that Zombie Army Trilogy will be released worldwide on March 6 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.
The pack will come bundled with Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 1 and 2, as well as the new Zombie Army 3.
In the zombie spin-off to the Sniper Elite series, players battle demon soldiers across an alternate reality version of WW2 Germany. You can play in co-op with up to four players to take on zombies, skeletons, and perhaps even a demonic Hitler.
Zombie Army Trilogy will be the first time console users get to taste the cult PC series for themselves. For PC users, there is a 60% discount for those who own the first two games on Steam.
For more information about Zombie Army Trilogy, you can visit the game's website. To get an idea of what Rebellion has worked on in the past, read IGN's reviews of Aliens vs. Predator and Sniper Elite III.
Xbox Australia Sticking With Marcos Ambrose For 2015
DJR Team Penske has today confirmed its partnership with Xbox Australia has been extended, and Xbox will be featured on Marcos Ambrose’s car at every V8 Supercars race this year as an associate sponsor.
The initial partnership with Xbox was established back in 2014 when Ambrose drove as a wildcard entry in the final round of last year’s V8 Supercars season.
Fans who can get to Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend will be able to see Ambrose’s new Ford Falcon FG X, which will hit the circuit for 2015 season testing in the Xbox livery it ran as a wildcard at the 2014 Sydney 500. The event is free to enter.
Ambrose published a pic of his new FG X spec Falcon on Facebook today.
DC Comics Is Ending The New 52
DC Comics will end its New 52 imprint this June.
While the New 52 imprint is going away, the story continuity will remain the same, so this is not another reboot or a return to the pre-New 52 DC Universe.
As of June 3, the post-New 52 publishing line will consist of 24 brand new comics, and 25 ongoing comics that will continue without a break in their numbering. Guess “The New 49” just doesn’t sound as good.
“This heralds in a new era for the DC Universe which will allow us to publish something for everyone, be more expansive and modern in our approach and tell stories that better reflect the society around us,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Dan DiDio in a press release. “Whether you’ve been a DC fan your whole life, or whether you are new to comics – there will be a book for you beginning in June.”
Destiny Getting ‘Major Content Release’ This Fall
Destiny is set to get a "major content release" later this year according to an Activision exec.
Eric Hirshberg revealed during an investor call last night that, while the last solid expansion we know about is House of Wolves sometime between April and June, there's more stuff to come too.
"In Q2, we expect to launch the game's second expansion pack, House of Wolves, and later this year, we will announce a major content release for the fall, so stay tuned,"he said. "And a very robust pipeline planned after that."
Earlier this year, a leak suggested a much more feature-rich offering called Comet: Plague of Darkness would be coming with new subclasses, weapon types, PvP maps, story missions, and locations -- and might be large enough to be available on a disc as well.