Monthly Archives: June 2015
Nintendo’s 2015 E3 Digital Event Review
The wrapper around Nintendo’s digital event delivered on the mandatory charm. Puppet Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Reggie Fils-Aime were perfectly bizarre (Fils-Aime’s fuzzy creation in particular might inspire nightmares), and hit all the right playful, quirky notes.
But there was more to the shtick, as Fils-Aime later explained - this year’s theme for Nintendo at E3 was ‘transformation’. Not long-term transformation - which would involve juicy details on Nintendo’s next console, its mobile future and broader vision - but transformation in its more immediate future. The resulting event was a fun and breezy - yet at heart, inessential - direct focused entirely on upcoming games.
Halo 5: Guardians Editions Preorder Bonuses, Price Tiers Revealed
Microsoft has revealed the prices for each of Halo 5: Guardians' various editions, ranging from $60 all the way to $250.
The Halo 5: Guardians Standard Edition - which comes with an Xbox Live Gold 14-day trial - will cost $60 USD.
The next step up is the Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition, which will cost a full $100. It comes with the animated series Halo: The Fall of Reach, a Guardian model. a Spartan-themed SteelBook, Spartan Locke's Classified Orders, and dossiers on Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris.
Finally, if you've got $250 to spare, you could live large with the premium Halo 5: Guardians Limited Collector's Edition. It contains everything in the Limited Edition as well as additional content, including a commemorative numbered statue designed by 343 Industries. Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn't yet revealed any images of this statue.
Iwata Wants You to Know Nintendo Takes Your Opinions Seriously
Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata has taken to Twitter to talk about reactions to this year's Nintendo E3 Digital Event.
Iwata thanked fans for watching the Digital Event, and added Nintendo takes "opinions of this year's Digital Event seriously," and the company will "work to better meet your expectations."
Twitter user and Japanese translator Cheesemeister3k provided the English language version of an official Nintendo tweet attributed to Iwata.
During the kick-off of today's event, Nintendo officially announced Star Fox Zero for Wii U is being developed in partnership with Platinum Games.
Gears Of War Ultimate Edition Priced
The Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will cost $40 and include early beta access to the upcoming Gears of War 4.
The news comes via The Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson on Twitter. He also adds that the Gears Ultimate Edition will include new improved splitscreen for co-op and versus modes.
In our preview, we reveal that "it is still beautiful, and competitive multiplayer is still terrific."
Game of Thrones: Season 5 Finale Beats Show’s Ratings Record
Game of Thrones' Season 5 finale beat out this year's season premiere to become the most watched episode in the series' history.
"Mother's Mercy" was watched by an average of 8.1 million people, according to Deadline. The previous record holder, the Season 5 premiere, brought in 7.99 million viewers. The record is even more impressive considering last week's finale went head-to-head with Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Deadline also notes viewership for the finale was up 13% compared to the previous week's episode, and 14% compared to Season 4's finale.
Nintendo Offers Up eShop Savings to Celebrate E3
Nintendo is offering savings of up to 30% on games sold in the eShop.
The savings event is in celebration of E3, which, in case you didn't know, is happening right this very second. Wii U and 3DS games are part of the sale, and the sale covers full titles and digital-only games, too.
Some highlights of the sale include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for $35, Super Mario 3D World for $42, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf for just $21.
There are a bunch of games currently reduced, and Nintendo took it upon itself to organize them by franchise. So you can hoard a whole grip of Zelda games, pick up four separate Just Dance titles, or get a hold of LEGO games for both Wii U and 3DS.
Guitar Hero Live Release Date Announced
Activision has announced that Guitar Hero Live will be released on October 20, 2015.
The next entry in the long-running Guitar Hero franchise will cost $100 and is currently planned for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U. Select mobile devices will also support the game.
Guitar Hero Live is taking a new direction for the series' revival, including a first-person perspective with full-motion video and a redesigned controller that positions the buttons to feel more like moving between different strings. Guitar Hero TV Mode is a 24-hour playable music network that will offer preset, scheduled programming with various genres taking different hours of the day.
Marvel Congratulates Jurassic World on Beating Avengers
As you may know by now, Marvel's The Avengers no longer has the bragging rights of scoring the biggest North American debut of all time. It was dethroned this past weekend by Jurassic World, which just so happens to star Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy leading man Chris Pratt.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige tweeted the following congratulatory note and image today to the new champs: "Congrats Mr. Spielberg @UniversalPics @Legendary @LeDoctor @colintrevorrow and especially @prattprattpratt"
Final Fantasy VII Remake Boosts Square Enix Stock
In the wake of the surprise announcement of a Final Fantasy VII remake at Sony's E3 2015 press conference, Square Enix's stock value has increased.
Bloomberg reports Square's stock jumped 2.9 percent to 2,956 yen at the close of Tokyo's trading, the highest it's been since 2008.
No gameplay was shown, but the trailer made Final Fantasy VII appear to be a complete overhaul of the original PlayStation game released in 1997. It will debut on PlayStation, although its release window has not yet been announced.
The Walking Dead and New Spinoff Both Set for Comic-Con
AMC have announced their San Diego Comic-Con panel schedule, revealing that not only will The Walking Dead once more be present, but the new spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead, will also be coming to SDCC. Also announced is a panel for Into the Badlands, AMC's upcoming martial arts series, which will be moderated by our own Roth Cornet!
All three shows are bringing nearly their entire casts, along with producers from the respective series. Here's how the panels break down...
The Walking Dead
- Panelists: Stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, Michael Cudlitz, Lennie James and Sonequa Martin-Green, along with Executive Producer and Showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer Robert Kirkman, Executive Producer, Director and Special Effects Make-up Supervisor Greg Nicotero and Executive Producer David Alpert.