Monthly Archives: December 2016
Modern Warfare Remastered Update Adds Maps, Supply Drops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered's latest update out today is adding the remaining original maps as well as new modes and microtransactions in the form of supply drops.
As originally promised, the six remaining maps, Bloc, Countdown, Pipeline, Showdown, Strike, and Wet Work, will all be added for free. The Winter Crash map, originally exclusive to PC, will also be available to play. In addition, Gun Game and Hardpoint are being added as two new game modes.
Activision also revealed that two special weapon camos, Gift Wrap and Ugly Sweater, can be unlocked by completing challenges on Winter Crash.
Overwatch’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ Event Now Live
Overwatch's latest seasonal event, the holiday-themed Winter Wonderland, has rolled out to players starting today and will end on January 2, 2017.
If you're familiar with Overwatch events then you know the drill. All earned or purchased loot boxes during the event have been replaced with Winter Loot Boxes housing over 100 appropriately themed cosmetic items including icons, sprays, victory poses, emotes, highlight intros, and skins like the Torbjorn Santa skin and Winston amazingly imagined as a yeti.
Additionally, the Winter Wonderland event is adding a new brawl: Mei’s Snowball Offensive. The brawl is a six-versus-six, single-elimination mode where everyone plays a modified version of Mei. Her weapon no longer sprays frost or fires icicles, but instead shoots one-hit-kill snowballs, and must be reloaded by finding piles of snow around the map. In this brawl Mei's ultimate has similarly changed, turning her blaster into a semi-automatic, continuously firing version when activated.
Fast 8 Trailer Has Most Watched First Day of All Time
After the cast and crew took over Times Square to debut the first trailer, The Fate of the Furious' premiere look has broken a worldwide record as the most-watched trailer in its first 24 hours.
Director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) revealed on his website that the first trailer for the eighth Fast and Furious film was viewed 139 million times in its first 24 hours of availability around the world. That number beats the previous record-holder, the first Beauty and the Beast trailer, which racked up 127.6 million views during its first day of release. Disney's live-action remake of the animated hit had taken the record from Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.
Ben Affleck Talks Batman Solo Film Status
It seems Ben Affleck is in no rush to make his solo Batman movie, as the script for the film is still not finished.
While doing an interview with The New York Times during a Facebook Live Event, Affleck talked about his career and why he decided to star as Batman in the DC Cinematic Universe. The discussion eventually turned to the upcoming solo Batman movie, titled The Batman, and how its script is coming along. According to Affleck, he doesn't want to get the film out just to meet a release date.
"I’m a real believer in not doing, not reverse engineering projects to meet a window or a date, but rather like when you get the right story or you get the right idea or you get the right thing, then you make the movie," Affleck told The New York Times.
Pokemon TCG Getting Sun and Moon Expansion
Break out your Pokemon trading cards; the game is getting a Pokemon Sun & Moon expansion pack.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game: Sun & Moon expansion will be available on February 3, 2017. Fans can pick up the expansion—which introduces more than 140 new cards—at Toys "R" Us, GameStop, and other hobby shops across the United States and Canada.
Lunala & Solgaleo in the Pokemon TCG Sun & Moon expansion
40 brand new Pokemon straight from Pokemon Sun & Moon are heading into the TCG, along with new Alolan variants of classic Pokemon. The expansion will also introduce Pokemon-GX, which are super-powered Pokemon with "a huge impact on the game," according to The Pokemon Company. Of course, those who pick up the Sun & Moon expansion will have the chance to receive Legendary Pokemon Solgaleo and Lunala.
South Park Funko Pop Figures to Be Released Next Year
Funko has revealed a set of figures based on Comedy Central's animated hit South Park.
Five characters from the show will be getting the Pop! vinyl figure treatment, including Cartman, Butters, Ike Broflovski, and Mysterion. Zombie Kenny will also be available exclusively at Hot Topic. You can view the figures below, courtesy of Funko.
The four-figure series plus the exclusive Kenny figure from Hot Topic will be available in February.
Other popular franchises to recently get Funko figures include The Witcher, Stranger Things, and Batman: The Animated Series.
Watch the First Episode of SHIELD’s New Digital Series
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD might be on its winter hiatus, but ABC and Marvel are delivering a special treat for fans of the series: Slingshot, a six-part digital series following Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez during the time between Seasons 3 and 4.
The complete six-part part digital series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot is currently streaming on ABC.com, ABC's mobile app, Marvel.com, and ABC’s and Marvel’s respective YouTube channels, and you can watch the first episode here on IGN. Check out "Vendetta" below:
Slingshot tells the story of Yo-Yo as she "struggles to balance the restrictions of the recently instituted Sokovia Accords, the worldwide agreement that regulates and tracks those with superpowers, with a personal mission she’s desperate to fulfill. The mission will test her abilities, her allegiances, and will feature some tense encounters with the most popular SHIELD team members."
Everthing You Need to Know to Read Inhumans vs. X-Men
You'd think Marvel's heroes would have their fill of fighting each other for a while, what with all the fresh battle scars from Civil War II. But that's not stopping the X-Men and Inhumans from going to war in Marvel's latest crossover event. That war gets underway this week with the release of Inhumans vs. X-Men #1.
To help get you prepared for this crossover, we've broken down the essential things all readers need to know before reading IvX #1. Why are these two teams fighting? What's the difference between a mutant and an Inhuman anyway? Read on to find out.
Square Enix Reveals Final Fantasy VII Remake Figures
Though the Final Fantasy VII Remake has yet to be given a concrete release date, Square Enix has revealed new action figures based on two of the game's most popular characters that fans can purchase in the coming months.
Square's toy line, Play Arts Kai, will be releasing figures of protagonist Cloud Strife and supporting character Barret Wallace for an April and May launch in Japan. Get a look at both below:
The two are currently listed at 15,984 yen, which comes out to approximately $139 USD. There are currently no announced plans to bring the figures to other territories, but various merchandise, including some from Final Fantasy VII, in the Play Arts Kai store has previously released elsewhere.
What Vader Was Up to Between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One
While he’s not expected to have a ton of screen time, it’s still nearly impossible for Star Wars fans to hold back their excitement over seeing Darth Vader appear in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. After all, this is one of the most iconic movie characters ever – someone IGN named the greatest villain of all time.
In Star Wars continuity, Rogue One is Vader’s first live-action movie appearance after we see Anakin Skywalker fall to the Dark Side of the Force in Revenge of the Sith. But what happened in those two decades in-between? Below, you'll find what we know about Vader’s actions in-between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One, thanks to the official canon Star Wars novels and animated series that have used him in that time period.