Monthly Archives: June 2016
Where Does E3 Go Next?
For all the traditional money-dripping, fan-friendly stage shows and effulgent gameplay trailers, this year’s E3 felt a little deflated. A glance at the desert-like outer limits of the South Hall, devoid of giants Activision and EA, further fuelled the whispers permeating the industry - is E3 in its death throes?
The short answer is no, but just like the mainstream video game industry itself, E3 is going through something of a transitional period. Gaming has changed drastically over the last decade; we have more platforms, more business models, more ways to play, more niches than ever before, and that’s before we get into the biggest questions of 2016: how will consumers react to the new era of console ‘upgrades’? Will eSports (itself a collection of siloed audiences) go truly mainstream? And will VR fulfil on its promise this time? Gaming is in an uncertain but exciting place, in which change and transition is the norm.
Star Trek: Bryan Fuller Reveals New Details on Upcoming Series
Star Trek showrunner Bryan Fuller didn't just want to be a TV show writer—he wanted to be a Star Trek writer. Working on CBS All Access' new Star Trek television show is everything he's ever wanted, according to the man who will be showrunning the series.
"To be able to craft a new iteration of the show with new characters and a whole new adventure and whole new way of telling stories that you haven't been able to tell on Star Trek is honorable and it's a dream come true," Fuller told Collider. "It's hard to articulate that."
Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 Finds New Vixen
Vixen will be returning to the CW DC universe, but it will be a new iteration of the character viewers see in Legends of Tomorrow's second season.
Maisie Richardson-Sellers will play Amaya Jiwe, also known as Vixen, who is the grandmother to the Vixen who headlines her own animated series on CW Seed and has appeared on Arrow, Mari McCabe (Megalyn Echikunwoke).
Richard-Sellers, who previously appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as Resistance commander Korr Sella, will be a series regular on season 2 and have the same powers as McCabe, tapping into the abilities of animals via her Tantu Totem.
Nintendo Discontinuing Devil’s Third Online Multiplayer
Nintendo has announced that online multiplayer support for Devil's Third will be discontinued later this year.
According to Nintendo Support, online multiplayer for the Wii U action game will no longer be available starting December 28, and Golden Eggs will be unavailable for purchase starting June 27 at 9am PT. In addition, the price of Devil's Third has been discounted to $30 on the eShop, effective today.
Nintendo was also careful to note that Golden Eggs will no longer work when online multiplayer is discontinued in December, but the online features for the single-player mode will remain unaffected.
Necropolis Collector’s Edition Available for Pre-Order
Necropolis, the upcoming action adventure game that our preview described as a humorous Dark Souls, is getting a Collector's Edition from iam8bit. It's available to pre-order now for $50 USD and will ship in Q4 2016.
The Necropolis Collector's Edition comes with a code for the game available on Steam, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. While the whole set won't ship until Q4 2016, game codes will be delivered one day before the game launches on its respective platforms. That's July 11, 2016 on Steam and later this season for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The Top PC Games of 2016 (So Far)
It would be hard to argue 2016 hasn't been a great year for gaming. We're just over half-way through and the sheer number of new games is almost overwhelming.
So far we've seen incredible revivals of classic franchises with Doom, fantastic DLC that nearly qualifies as a stand alone game in The Witcher 3's Blood & Wine expansion, and the introduction of a wholly new and fantastic IP with Overwatch.
If you're a PC gamer, things are looking pretty great right now. Not only are newer, faster, and cheaper graphics cards making games look and run amazing, the best games so far this year are destined to be classics. Here then are the top PC games so far, along with our review score.
Multiplayer Zelda Could Come After Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild isn’t even out yet, but series producer Eiji Aonuma may have given us a hint of what’s coming after Nintendo’s open-world adventure game ships in 2017.
“I would like to take what I learned from Breath of the Wild and see if we can somehow fuse those learning points into another multiplayer Zelda,” Aonuma told IGN at E3 2016. “For example, with Triforce Heroes, which followed a similar format of Four Swords, there was a multiplayer involved in that game.”
“That's definitely a possibility and we will continue to
Game of Thrones: Why Ghost Sat Out Battle of the Bastards
This week's episode of Game of Thrones, dubbed "Battle of the Bastards," was missing a key character, and director Miguel Sapochnik has come forward to explain why.
Warning: Minor Game of Thrones: Season 6 spoilers below.
In an interview with Business Insider, Sapochnik explained why Jon Snow's trusty direworlf didn't appear in Season 6's penultimate episode, saying, "
was in there in spades originally, but it's also an incredibly time consuming and expensive character to bring to life. Ultimately we had to choose between Wun-Wun and the direwolf, so the dog bit the dust."
New Rogue One Photos Show Off Deathtroopers
This morning word came that James Earl Jones will return to voice Darth Vader in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and now even more photos and factoids from the prequel have dropped. One image in particular is striking: a Deathtrooper holding what appears to be a toy version of a Stormtrooper.
Check out that shot below:
A Deathtrooper (with toy Stormtrooper) (via EW)
17 Awesome E3 Games You Probably Missed
E3 is a wonderfully chaotic week full of big, loud press conferences and hype-fueled announcements for popular franchises and new, original games aiming to be the next big thing. In all the excitement, it’s easy for the smaller games to fade into the background, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t just as awesome and worthwhile as the rest.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite games from E3 2016 that may have been overlooked.
Absolver is a new breed of fighter. Built upon a simple foundation of blocks and parries rests a highly-nuanced fighting system. You can pick-and-mix moves from diverse fighting styles to create fierce combatants who are then set loose in a beautiful and intriguing open-world. – Daniel Krupa