Monthly Archives: April 2017
Prison Architect Dev’s New Game Is a Claustrophobic Departure
Scanner Sombre, the newest game from Introversion Software, has you finding your way through a labyrinthine network of caverns, guided only by scans from a light detection and ranging scanner.
The game is a complete change of tone from Introversion's Prison Architect, which, in spite of its heavy subject matter, was almost a lighthearted sim game.
Creative Director Chris Delay calls it "a total departure" for Introversion.
The goal of Scanner Sombre is to make your way back to the surface in complete darkness. The LIDAR produces a static "neon 3D image" to help you make your way through the oppressive blackness of the underground. However, "not all is as it seems, and you might not be alone."
MCU Will Be ‘Very, Very Different’ After Avengers 4
Whether it's called Phase 4 or not, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to see drastic changes after Avengers 4.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige chatted with Collider about the future for the universe. Though he was tight-lipped about where things go with the untitled Avengers 4, he did hint at a new direction.
"We have an idea, and it’s gonna be very, very different."
Feige even hinted that what would seemingly be called Phase 4 could end up being something entirely new:
"Certainly as we get to Infinity War there is a sense of a climax if not a conclusion to, by the time we’re at untitled Avengers 4, the 22 movies that will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU
‘No Guarantee’ of Star Trek 4 Being Made
While Spock actor Zachary Quinto is optimistic about Star Trek 4, he admitted there's a chance the follow-up film might not happen.
Speaking on The Today Show (and spotted by SlashFilm), Quinto discussed where things stood with Star Trek 4. "I know that they are working on a script for another one and we’ll see how that all plays out, but the nice thing about that experience is that the time in between those big tentpole films allows us to go off and cultivate a lot of different creative experiences for ourselves.
"… I’m hopeful that we’ll do another one, but there’s no guarantee."
Rosario Dawson Won’t Appear in The Punisher Series
While promoting her latest film, Unforgettable, Rosario Dawson revealed that she won't be making an appearance in Marvel's new Netflix Original series, The Punisher.
Dawson is a regular face, playing the series-bridging nurse, Claire Temple who has so far appeared in every Marvel Netflix show. However, when speaking of the upcoming addition to the streaming service's shows, it appears that Claire Temple won't be making an appearance:
"I really wanted to do a cameo on The Punisher, but it doesn’t always work that way."
When asked about her connecting role in the overall series by Collider, Dawson replied, "I love it! It’s amazing, seeing people’s reactions online."
Daily Deals: PlayStation Virtual Reality Headset for Under £320
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PlayStation Virtual Reality is Back in Stock at a Cheaper Price
Amazon have restocked on PSVR headsets and have priced them at £319.99.
The Troubling Psychology of Pay-to-Loot Systems
“In behavioural psychology, that randomised system of reward is the one that creates the most addiction,” says Emil Hodzic, who runs the Video Game Addiction Treatment Clinic. “That’s the one that causes all the drama.”
This comment comes from an interview about microtransactions tied to random number generator (RNG) card packs, or what I call “pay-to-loot”. It’s a system that exists beyond genres and irrespective of the price of a game. It’s becoming more common, too. You can find it in Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Gears of War 4, Dirty Bomb and Hearthstone, to name a handful of names that constantly arose while researching this piece.
Why Bots Are Still Relevant to Games Today
One of my favourite memories from my teen years is teaming up with my siblings to play Perfect Dark deathmatch on the Nintendo 64. Not against each other, but a team of simulants, or bots—AI designed to mirror the playing tactics and styles of real players. This was a time before digital downloads, one click matchmaking and vast online communities became commonplace and the novelty factor of playing with or against AI bots was enormous. Without the Internet, multiplayer gaming was restricted wholly to local multiplayer, or to a LAN if you were lucky enough to have multiple PCs and the space. The idea of jumping online to play a few quick rounds of deathmatch was but a dream at that point, but the creation of AI bots meant that solo players could have a sweet taste of the action.
A Look Back at the First Year of Overwatch
Looking at the sheer force that is Blizzard’s Overwatch, it can feel a little strange to realise that it’s only been out for a year. Thanks to an all-round open-arm embrace by the public at large, a universe that has extended its reach to animated shorts and comics, the continued support and community-driven focus of Blizzard, and the exciting competitive side seen in seasonal play and the first Overwatch World Cup -- for many people out there, a world without Overwatch would be hard to imagine.
It's also worth mentioning that while we're officially a year in, this was a game that had a full head of steam well before release. Overwatch hit the ground running the moment it was announced. “Come release time, honestly, to me it kind of felt that we were out already,” Overwatch Principal Designer, Geoff Goodman confesses. “Even at that point we had being seeing cosplay and the public had embraced a lot of what had been shown.”
The Fate of the Furious Tops Box Office for Second Weekend
The Fate of the Furious held strong in first place at the domestic box office for its second consecutive week, while Unforgettable and The Promise had underwhelming debuts.
Universal's eighth Fast and the Furious film, which surpassed Star Wars: The Force Awakens with the biggest worldwide opening of all time, earned an estimated $38.7 million at the domestic box office. As noted by Variety, this marks a 61 percent drop from its $100.2 million domestic debut last week.
Damon Lindelof on The Leftovers Big Season 3 Questions
Warning: Full spoilers for The Leftovers: Season 3 premiere follow.
Last week I presented the first half of my conversation with Damon Lindelof about the third and final season of The Leftovers. In this second half, we dive into spoilery topics coming out of the Season 3 premiere, including certain missing characters and other characters getting rather dramatically blown up. Lindelof also discusses the season’s big flashback opening, the premiere’s final scene (and what appears to be a flash forward), and more of his approach to crafting this concluding year of the HBO drama.