Monthly Archives: June 2016
Mafia 3: How it Tackles a Hugely Turbulent Time
The Mafia series is renowned for compelling storytelling and three-dimensional characters, but have you ever stopped to think about how important its city settings have been to making it so believable?
“The city is a character in its own right," says Haden Blackman, studio head at Hangar 13 and creative director on Mafia III. “That was certainly established in Mafia II that Empire Bay is a character in its own right, so we wanted to bring that forward
...
was really important to us.”
It wasn’t just the case for Mafia II, either. In the original Mafia, the 1930s city of Lost Heaven was a combination of San Francisco and Chicago. Lost Heaven facilitated the rags-to-riches tale of Tommy Angelo during the Great Depression, which helped to position the protagonist as a sympathetic character, creating a compelling context for why he might want to join the Italian Mob.
3DS Sales Pass 60 Million Units Worldwide
Nintendo 3DS has reached a new sales milestone, as global sales for the platform have now surpassed 60 million units.
"May was a milestone month for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems," Nintendo said in a statement provided to IGN, noting the entire 3DS family—including the standard, XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL and 2DS models— is "the current generation’s top-selling dedicated-gaming platform."
As of March 31, 3DS sales were at the 58.5 million mark, but have since climbed past 60 million, thanks in large part to last month's $20 price drop for the 2DS, lowering it to the suggested retail price of $80. Nintendo notes that NPD Group's data shows a "38 percent sales boost over April and a 148 percent increase year-on-year" for the handheld, which comes just one week after the budget-friendly model's price was slashed.
Mel Gibson Working on Passion of the Christ Sequel
The Passion of the Christ is getting a sequel, as Mel Gibson is moving forward on a film that tells the story of Jesus' resurrection.
Braveheart writer Randall Wallace confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he's started work on a script, noting it's become too difficult to keep the project a secret any longer.
Jim Caviezel as Jesus in The Passion of the Christ.
Hunger Games Series Director May Take on Battlestar Galactica
Universal restarted development on its long-awaited Battlestar Galactica film earlier this year, and now it looks like the project may have found a director.
According to Deadline, Francis Lawrence -- the director behind Constantine, I Am Legend and the final three Hunger Games films -- is currently in talks to helm the project. Additionally, the outlet has heard that Lisa Joy -- who is executive producing and writing HBO's upcoming series Westworld, based on the 1970s film, with her husband Jonathan Nolan -- is on board to write the script.
Fast 8: Charlize Theron’s Villain Likened to Hannibal Lecter
Charlize Theron will star as Cipher in The Fast and The Furious 8, and according to the film's composer, Brian Tyler, her villainous role will both disturb and intrigue viewers.
"It’s like a siren kind of thing," Tyler told Entertainment Weekly. "There’s no question the havoc and villainy she brings
you’re attracted to it. There’s something where you can kind of see yourself in this villain that makes it more disturbing and, at the same time, more interesting."
Millions of Twitter Passwords Exposed
Nearly 33 million Twitter accounts' usernames and passwords have reportedly leaked and that information is being sold online, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The data is available via LeakedSource, which published a blog post on June 8 indicating that a user had provided a copy of all the Twitter user information for the site's database, which can be accessed for a fee. Though no specific number has been given, Twitter reportedly told the Journal that the company has informed millions of users about the security issue and is requiring them to create new passwords.
How Supergirl Could Join the Arrowverse
Spoilers for The Flash Season 2 finale follow.
With the recent news that Supergirl will be flying from CBS next season to join her superhero cousins at The CW, fans are excited at the prospect of Kara Danvers and company lining up more closely with the worlds of The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. But there’s one big question in particular surrounding this move, and it has to do with the fact that, technically speaking, Kara doesn’t even live in the same world as Barry Allen and Oliver Queen.
Of course, that’s not necessarily a big deal in the Arrowverse, where the Flash proved this past season that visiting alternate Earths is easy enough. In fact, he even met up with Supergirl when he used the Speed Force to jump across an even greater obstacle than the dimensional barrier -- yep, the Flash managed to cross networks and show up on CBS.
Fallout 4 Free Right Now For Xbox One
UPDATE: The old adage "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is" rings true itself. The game and DLC are no longer free on Xbox One, as it appears to have only been a temporary glitch in the system.
Whether it's a pricing glitch or an unannounced promotion, Xbox One owners can get Fallout 4 on the Xbox store for the low, low cost of zero dollars.
It's actually more than just the game currently offered at no cost. The Automatron DLC, Digitial Deluxe Edition, Wasteland Workshop DLC and the Season Pass are all now listed on the Xbox Store for free.
Bethesda Outlines Fallout 4 Mod Roadmap
Following the launch of Fallout 4 mod support on Xbox One, developer Bethesda has outlined its summer improvement plan for the feature.
In a new post Bethesda described a number of ways in which it intends to improve mod support this summer, including working with Microsoft and Sony to increase mod storage limits on consoles—currently, mods are limited to 2GB. Improvements regarding the UI for mods both on the website and in-game will also be added, with the goal of helping users find mods quicker.
And on that note, Bethesda intends to improve its comments system on the mod details page, so that modders can receive improved feedback on their creations. For stolen content, the developer is looking to revise its system of mod reporting.
Sony Takes Top Spot for Game and Console Sales for May
Sony's console again holds the top spot in sales for the month, according to numbers released by the NPD Group. PlayStation 4 was the top selling console for April 2016, and the month previous, as well.
PS4 exclusive Uncharted 4 was the best-selling game for the month.
Sony has managed to beat out its competitors most months since the PS4 launched, with very, very few exceptions. Back in October, Halo 5 drove sales of Microsoft's Xbox One to the top of sales for the month, but generally speaking, Sony has dominated sales numbers in the US.