Monthly Archives: December 2016
Star Trek: Discovery Casts Walking Dead Actress in Lead Role
Star Trek: Discovery has found its lead actress in Sonequa Martin-Green.
Variety reports that Martin-Green, who plays Sasha Williams on The Walking Dead, will star as a Starfleet lieutenant commander, rather than the usual, higher ranking Captain position of most Trek lead characters. Beyond that, nothing else about the character has been revealed, and Martin-Green will reportedly remain a series regular on The Walking Dead.
Martin-Green in The Walking Dead.
Godzilla, Pacific Rim Sequel Titles Revealed
Legendary Pictures has announced the official titles for its upcoming sequels to Godzilla and Pacific Rim.
Director Michael Dougherty's upcoming film will be titled Godzilla: King of Monsters, which is not all that different from the title of the American version of the original 1950s Japanese movie, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Meanwhile, Pacific Rim: Uprising will serve as the name of director Steven S. DeKnight's robot-focused action flick. The film was originally said to be titled Pacific Rim: Maelstrom.
Legendary shared the news in a press release, which also announced the hiring of three production executives. Herbert W. Gains will serve as EVP of Physical Production, Valerie Flueger Veras is on board as SVP of Post-Production, and Sara Flamm will serve as SVP of Physical Production.
New Xbox One Update Increases Download Speeds
The latest system update for Xbox One promises to make download speeds up to 80% faster.
As detailed on Xbox.com, the update will benefit those with high-speed connections (greater than 100Mbps), who "should experience up to 80% faster download speeds". Those with connections less than 100Mbps "should experience more consistant performance that is up to 40% faster than before".
The update also promises to stabilize background downloads in the face of intermittent connectivity issues.
Check out the full list of improvements here.
Recently, Xbox's Phil Spencer announced that almost half of Xbox One owners use the console's backwards compatibility functions to play 360 games, and Microsoft announced its console will be getting Dolby Atmos support.
Logan Was Influenced by the Classic Western Shane
I recently attended a preview of 20th Century Fox’s 2017 movie slate, which included getting to see the first 40 minutes of Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine 3, a.k.a. what Hugh Jackman says will be his last X-Men film. For now, I’m embargoed on talking about what I specifically saw that day, but I did notice something interesting that I can share. Namely, that the classic Western Shane is clearly going to be an influence on Jackman and director James Mangold’s film.
Fox handed out a nice book of stills from Logan after the event, and while we’ve seen most of the images online already, the following text was also included at the front of the collection.
Dialogue from Shane found in the Logan book of photos
Jeremy Irons on Alfred in Justice League and The Batman
I chatted with Oscar winner Jeremy Irons yesterday for his new movie, Assassin's Creed (look for that interview soon), during which time I also asked him about his future appearances as Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe. Here's what he had to say about Justice League and Ben Affleck's solo Batman film.
IGN: I was on the set of Justice League in April and I saw concept art of Alfred in action. You're a tail gunner on the Flying Fox
Amazon Delivers First Customer Package by Drone
Amazon has successfully delivered a customer package by drone — without a human pilot.
Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon and serves as the company's CEO, announced the achievement on Twitter. "First-ever Amazon Prime Air customer delivery is in the books. "13
— click to delivery," he said.
The completed Amazon Prime Air delivery occurred in Cambridgeshire, England, on December 7. The drone works autonomously, flying under 400 feet from warehouse to household.
Amazon Prime Air is only in the private testing phase right now, but the company is hoping to expand the program in the years ahead. In fact, Amazon announced drone delivery back in 2013.
New Naruto Shippuden Pop Vinyl Figures Revealed
Funko has revealed a new line of Pop Vinyl figures, all based on the popular anime series Naruto Shippuden.
This new figure collection features several beloved characters from the series, including Naruto, Tobi, Kakashi and Sakura. See them all in the gallery below:
The "Sage Mode" exclusive variant of Naruto will be available exclusively through GameStop, while the "Six Path" version of the character will be available as a Hot Topic exclusive.
No specific release date for the figures was provided, with Funko simply saying that fans will be able to "collect them all this winter."
This isn't the first time Funko has released Naruto Shippuden figures, as earlier this year the company celebrated Anime Day with the launch of a limited "Kurama Mode" Pop Vinyl figure.
Microsoft Offers Free Game to Celebrate Backward Compatible Milestone
Microsoft is celebrating its 300th game available as part of the Xbox One backwards compatibility program by letting players download a free game.
Lost Odyssey, one of the few JRPGs for Xbox 360, can be added to Xbox Live subscribers' libraries for free before December 31, 2016.
Additionally, Blue Dragon, another JRPG for 360, is now available for download in the Xbox store as part of the backwards compatibility program, but it's not offered free of charge.
This morning Xbox head Phil Spencer said almost half of all Xbox One owners take advantage of the Xbox 360 backwards compatible feature introduced to the system.
Xbox One, Windows 10 Getting Dolby Atmos Support
Microsoft is partnering with Dolby Laboratories to bring Dolby Atmos sound to Xbox One and Windows 10 next year.
Spencer Hooks, the director of gaming at Dolby Laboratories, announced the partnership today, which will make Xbox One the first console to ever support Dolby Atmos. The technology "enhances games to be richer and more engaging," with more precise sound movement above and around the player.
In order to take advantage of this feature with your home theater system, you'll need a Dolby Atmos-supported speaker setup. That said, nearly every pair of headphones can be enabled to enjoy the enhanced experience as well.
Pokemon Go Was the Biggest Google Search of 2016
Niantic Labs' wildly popular mobile game Pokemon Go was this year's most searched Google topic.
According to Google Trends, Pokemon Go topped the overall global 2016 list, edging out iPhone 7 and Donald Trump, which placed second and third, respectively.
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox's R-rated comic book flick Deadpool was the top-searched movie of 2016, with Suicide Squad and The Revenant rounding out the top three. As far as television was concerned, the Netflix-exclusive series Stranger Things outpaced Westworld and Luke Cage to be the number one searched TV show of the year.
For more on this year's most searched entertainment, check out IGN's Pokemon Go review, as well as our thoughts on Stranger Things: Season 1 and our Deadpool review.