Monthly Archives: August 2015
Why WWE 2K16 is Deeper Than Ever
Professional wrestling, in terms of the physical performances required, is a pretty complex thing to emulate compared to something like, say, baseball, or tennis. In order to make a wrestling game that all the millions (and millions) of wrestling fans can play, a lot of that has been traditionally been streamlined or abstracted, but WWE 2K16 marks another step away from that, just as last year’s game did. WWE 2K16 adds extra layers of nuance that might seem small, but they actually invite players to wrestle smarter, and make better strategic decisions.
The biggest expression of this is how the reversal system has been fleshed out. Fans get nervous whenever reversals are brought up, because how they’re handled can have a massive effect on match flow, to the point of ruin in some cases. But so far, the changes and additions that Yukes and Visual Concepts have made are helping immensely.
Tokyo Ghost Has Sci-fi Dystopia and Sick Motorbikes
Rick Remender is one of the best known names in comics today. If you want a comic with hard-hitting action, unexpectedly humorous dialogue, and plot twists sure to make your brain spasm, he's your man.
You may know him from his work on Uncanny Avengers and Captain America at Marvel Comics, but he's also been putting out several creator-owned books at Image Comics, including Black Science, Low, and Deadly Class. Now he's preparing to add one more, Tokyo Ghost (drawn by Sean Murphy), set in a dystopian future where people are so obsessed with their technology that they have holographic screens in front of their faces 24/7. The best kind of sci-fi worlds are ones that could actually happen, and given that most of you are probably reading this on your phone is an eerie reminder that this future might not be so unlikely. The story follows a pair of constables -- Debbie Decay and Led Dent -- as they explore the Isles of LA in 2090 to hunt down a murderous hacker.
Humble Star Wars Audiobook Bundle Now Available
The latest Humble Books Bundle is centered on a galaxy far, far away.
The current bundle features a selection of Star Wars audiobooks for charity. The base set, which you can get for contributing any amount, nets you Star Wars: The Original Radio Drama and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. Paying $15 or more also gets you Return of the Jedi and the Dark Forces Collector's Trilogy.
The most rewards come to those who pay more than the average, which is sitting at approximately $13 as of the time of writing. That amount gets you The Empire Strikes Back, Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith, Dark Empire, and other unspecified books to be announced later. Humble Bundle promises $215 worth of value in audiobooks.
Sons of Anarchy Spinoff in Development at FX
Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter is reportedly working on a spinoff for FX's popular motorcycle gang drama.
EW reports it is still in very early in development, but is said to be focused on the Mayans, an Oakland-based biker gang seen in previous episodes of Sons of Anarchy.
Mayans president Marcus Alvarez (Emilio Rivera) in Sons of Anarchy.
M. Night and Joaquin Phoenix May Team Up Again
Oscar-nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix is reportedly in talks to star in a new feature film helmed by M. Night Shyamalan.
According to Deadline, the movie will begin filming in November and takes place in Philadelphia, which is Shyamalan's hometown. The director and Phoenix previously worked together on Signs in 2002 and The Village in 2004.
Joaquin Phoenix in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.
Big Bang Theory Star Tops 2015’s Highest-Paid TV Actors
Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons is the highest-paid television actor of 2015, earning a whopping $29 million between June 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015.
According to Forbes, who assembled the list of male TV stars, Parsons' co-star Johnny Galecki was close behind, raking in $27 million. The list includes money these stars make in addition to their TV gigs, hence Parsons -- who has kept busy on Broadway and in commercials on top of his huge hit sitcom -- making a bit more than Galecki, despite the two actors and their co-star Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting signing massive new deals for Big Bang last year that now bring them $1 million each per episode in addition to a more than 1% cut of the show’s back-end profit. Big Bang Theory's Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar also made the Forbes list as well, each earning $20 million in the past year.
Margot Robbie Talks Fearing the Joker
Actress Margot Robbie has admitted that she was intimidated by Jared Leto's Joker when she started working with him.
"At first it was kind of confronting but now I'm so used to it, I think if I ever saw him out of makeup now I would be really confused," she said in an interview with The New York Daily News.
"Actually, I saw him out of makeup once and I was actually petrified of him," she said. "I was too scared to go up and didn't know who that person was, and when he got back into his makeup I was far more comfortable."
Street Fighter 5 Worldwide Beta Test Dates Revealed
Street Fighter V players eager to get back into the beta fight will be able to do so this weekend.
According to the Capcom-Unity blog, beta testers may begin logging in on August 28 at 4 PM PST. The beta will run through September 2 at 7 AM PST.
Capcom expects the servers to run continuously throughout the five-day beta period, barring any server resets for maintenance.
“Although we want you all to experience the awesomeness that is Street Fighter V during this time,” Capcom said, “please note that this is a beta and users may run into connectivity issues. The data is extremely helpful to us, as it will ensure that the final product will have the most optimal net code.”
Star Wars Scores 4-Week IMAX Monopoly
IMAX has scored a deal to screen only Star Wars: The Force Awakens on all of its North American and most of its European screens for four weeks when it opens this December.
According to Hollywood Reporter, this means any other films opening at that time won't be able to compete with the Disney release. "Warner Bros.' In the Heart of the Sea, set to open Dec. 11, will get only one week in Imax. Fox's The Revenant, set to go wide Jan. 8, might get a crack at Imax screens by the Jan. 15 weekend," claims THR.
The last time IMAX committed its screens to a movie for a month was for The Hobbit and its sequels. No other movie has had a similar deal since.
LG’s Flat 4K OLED TVs Go on Sale This Month
LG is preparing to unleash its flat, 4K televisions upon the world.
In a press release, the Korean company announced that it's set to release four brand new OLED TVs before the end of August, with two of those TVs being the 65- and 55-inch 4K EF9500 units, the industry’s first flat 4K TVs that feature OLED displays.
LG is also preparing to sell the 55-inch EG9200 unit and, for those that are fans of curved TVs, the 55-inch EG9100. Both are said to be "thinner than any smartphone" at only 4.8mm thick - that's only slightly smaller than Sony's X900C and X910C series 4K TVs.