Monthly Archives: December 2015
Doom vs. Quake: Which Has the Greater Legacy?
In the ultimate first-person-shooter civil war, id Software’s two flagpole shooter IPs - Doom and Quake - have their respective histories squared off against each other in an epic breakdown to determine whose legacy is richer: the 2.5D daddy of shooters, or his 3D upstart son.
Earlier this year, I interviewed Tim Willits, creative director at id Software, and he drew a pretty big line in the sand. According to him, “Quake was actually more influential than Doom was.” For Doom fans, thems sure sounded like fighting words, while the Quake faithful may feel vindicated by one of the influencers behind both id Software franchises.
Oculus Rift Pre-Orders Coming Early Next Year
If you’ve been waiting for Oculus Rift pre-orders to open up, your wait may soon come to an end.
Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey took to Twitter to share encouraging news on the Oculus Rift’s launch. The virtual reality headset is “on-target” for a Q1 2016 launch and pre-orders are expected to come “soon after the new year.”
Luckey followed that up with another tweet, assuring prospective buyers to not stress over the holiday as Oculus VR will give fair warning before launching pre-orders.
@PalmerLuckey Preorders are coming soon after new year. Enjoy a stress-free holiday, we won't launch preorders without warning!
David Fincher and Charlize Theron Team Up for Netflix Series
Mad Max: Fury Road actress Charlize Theron and House of Cards director David Fincher are teaming up for a brand-new Netflix-exclusive drama series called Mindhunter.
According to Deadline, both Fincher and Theron are on board as executive producers with Fincher also expected to direct. Additionally, the outlet has received reports that screenwriter Brit Joe Penhall is handling the script.
Mindhunter is based on the 1996 a book by special agent John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. It's titled Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, and offers a behind-the-scenes look at a number of Douglas' biggest cases, as he hunted down some of history's most infamous serial killers.
Get Ready for ‘The Unbelievable Gwenpool’
Fresh off her latest appearance in Gwenpool Holiday Special #1, this bizarre heroine is getting her own ongoing comic book. Today Marvel announced (via Entertainment Weekly) that a new Gwenpool comic will be launching in April 2016.
The Unbelievable Gwenpool will reunite writer Christopher Hastings and art team Guruhiru (comprised of Chifuyu Sasaki and Naoko Kawano), who previously introduced Gwenpool into the Marvel Universe via a series of backup stories in Marvel's Howard the Duck comic.
Gwenpool #1 cover by Guruhiru
Limitless: Photos From Bradley Cooper’s Return
Edward Morra (Bradley Cooper) continues to be a troubling presence in the life of Brian Finch (Jake McDorman) in CBS' Limitless, and on the next new episode -- airing January 5th -- he'll once more make contact with Brian.
Bradley Cooper returns for an episode ominously titled "The Assassination of Eddie Morra," which, yes, involves an assassin who is attempting to kill Morra.
IGN has the debut of exclusive new photos from the episode (both in-character and behind-the-scenes), as Morra boldly approaches Brian right in the heart of the FBI, despite the relationship between the two men still not being known to almost anyone, the FBI included. As Morra asks for even more, Brian will have to make some big decisions about how far he's willing to go to protect Morra.
9 Force Awakens Comics We Want From Marvel
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
We're pretty happy with the state of Marvel's new Star Wars comics so far. It felt weird to rank all of them seeing how they are all so darn good, but we did it anyway. If we had to have a problem with the current lineup, it would be that most of the books have been confined to a pretty narrow segment of the Star Wars timeline. We want to see more comics that venture outside the confines of the Original Trilogy and explore the tumultuous period after Return of the Jedi. With The Force Awakens now in theaters, we can only assume Marvel now has the greenlight to play in a whole new sandbox.
Dragon Ball Z Is Now Being Used to Sell Ford Cars
Ford has released a Dragon Ball Z-themed commercial for its line of eco-friendly vehicles.
Check out the new advertisement below, in which Dragon Ball Z’s Krillin and Gohan present three wishes, all of which are fulfilled by the 2016 Ford Focus.
What do you think of Ford's attempt at appealing to anime fans with its new commercial? Will it prove to be an effective marketing tool or has the car manufacturer misjudged its target audience? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments.
Earlier this year, Goku and Freiza returned to the big screen in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection of "F." Check out our review, in which IGN's Shawn Saris praised the film for its "great animation" and "classic DBZ humor and action."
The Knick Is Looking for a New Director for Seasons 3 and 4
The Steven Soderbergh directed historical medical drama The Knick is in need of a new filmmaker.
Viewers of the show know that The Knick season two ended on a radical change, and the director has explained that this was all planned out from the beginning. The intention now is that a different helmsperson will step forth for seasons three and four, with the show changing hands every two years.
Indiewire went into great, spoiler-filled depth with Soderbergh about the second season's resolution. He also assured fans that showrunners Jack Amiel and Michael Begler are already plotting out new stories, and have a list of potential filmmakers to pull in for the foreseeable future.
James Cameron Reveals Avatar 2 Release Date Plan
Avatar 2 is reportedly hitting theaters at Christmas 2017, with the sequels opening in 2018 and 2019.
Speaking with the Montreal Gazette, Avatar director James Cameron confirmed the potential release dates of the trio of sequels and spoke about the how each film relates to each other.
“Christmas of ’17 is the target,” Cameron said. “At least, that’s what we’ve announced. But I don’t consider that to be as important as the fact that when we get all three films done, we drop them a year apart. I call it a met-narrative that runs across the three movies. Each film stands alone, but it also tells one much larger story.”
The Force Awakens Has Record-Breaking Monday
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has broken yet another record, setting a new all-time domestic high for Monday.
According to Variety, the film earned $40.1 million yesterday, eclipsing Spider-Man 2's $27.2 million record. As it currently stands, J.J. Abrams' space epic has now made $288.1 million in North America alone. Additionally, The Force Awakens raked in $41.7 million internationally yesterday, bringing the film's total global earnings to a staggering $610 million.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens made movie history this weekend, not only breaking box office records by earning $247 million domestically, but also outpacing Jurassic World's global debut with a worldwide opening of $529 million.