Monthly Archives: October 2017
This Comic Belongs on Your Horror Movie Binge List
Now that it’s October 31st, Halloween devotees might be winding down on their horror must-watch lists, but there’s one more essential piece of frightful storytelling you should experience: Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 3 (issues 35-41 of the Swamp Thing series, previously collected and published as Swamp Thing Vol. 3: The Curse). The entire series is a fantastic example of the pulp/horror genre, but this story arc is one of the best works to come from the brilliant collaborative team of writer Alan Moore and artists Stephen Bissette and John Totleben, certainly deserving of a place on your shelf between classic Frankenstein movies and Tales From the Crypt DVDs.
Some background information is helpful, but for the most part you’d be fine diving into the series at the point that Book 3 begins. Anthropomorphic vegetable swamp creature Alec just wants to protect his fellow humans, animals, and earth from threats to their existence, which usually take the shape of big game hunters, power-hungry scientists, and supernatural entities. That’s about it in a nutshell. From Book 3’s exciting plot featuring updated classic horror monsters to its mindblowing (and occasionally stomach-churning) artwork, below we’ve outlined a few of the reasons you should spend some valuable Halloween hours on this series, and give your Cronenberg and Carpenter films a much-deserved rest.
PUBG “Never Banned Anyone For Honking at Streamers”
Following PUBG streamers and honking car horns at them in-game has never been treated as a bannable offense, according to creative director Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene.
"A lot of our Steam reviews say 'don't buy this game because they ban people for honking at streamers,'" Greene said. "We've never banned anyone for honking at a streamer."
'Stream honking' surfaced as a popular method to annoy PUBG streamers several months ago. But while some players have been banned for 'stream sniping,' repeatedly hopping between lobbies with the intent to kill or harass specific streamers by using their live stream as a cheat sheet, Greene insists the honking itself has never resulted in a player being banned.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Has Sold 18 Million Copies
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has now sold over 18 million copies, according to C.H. Kim, executive producer and CEO of newly formed studio PUBG Corp.
Creative director Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene added that 40 percent of PUBG players play on the game's first-person servers.
"I was expecting maybe 10 percent of players would enjoy
, but it's really shown huge numbers," he said, adding that North American and European players are especially fond of first-person mode.
PUBG Dev: “I Don’t Want to Win a Game of the Year Award”
Speaking to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds creative director Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene, I asked what he thought of Early Access games like PUBG being considered for Game of the Year awards, and he somewhat surprisingly told me “Personally, I don’t want to win a Game of the Year award.”
“While I would love to win it for the team, I think this year there have been far better games.” Greene specifically called out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn as “masterpieces of game design and storytelling.”
“They're just wonderful, wonderful games... I think they will probably win it. I would hope they would win it.” Greene said the award “would be a nice feather in their cap” for the PUBG Corp. team, but reiterated “I don't know if we deserve it.”
PUBG Releasing on Xbox Game Preview in December
Today PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developer PUBG Corp. announced the wildly popular Steam Early Access shooter, which has sold over 18 million copies, will be launching on Xbox Game Preview on December 12 for $30.
Xbox Game Preview is essentially the Xbox version of Early Access, allowing players to buy a still in-development version of PUBG. Creative director Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene said it’s “essentially a beta version,” and that it will allow them to work with the community to balance the game before its final release.
G-Sync Gaming Monitors that’ll Make the Most Out of Your Nvidia GPU
If you have an Nvidia graphics card, you owe it to yourself to invest in a G-Sync monitor. Variable refresh rate technology makes a huge difference in the smoothness and responsiveness of your games.
Best Deals on G-Sync Monitors
Nintendo Aiming for 2 to 3 New Smartphone Apps Annually
Nintendo plans on continuing to create new smartphone apps, adding two to three each year.
Company president Tatsumi Kimishima discussed Nintendo's app approach during a six-month financial briefing for fiscal 2018. On top of new games, he said, "we will continue services for applications that have already been released."
He highlighted, for example, Super Mario Run getting version 3.0 in September. Kimishima stated the update has increased user engagement for the game, which has surpassed 200 million downloads.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 Changes Loot Crates
The progression system in Star Wars Battlefront II is undergoing some changes following the beta, and Electronic Arts has outlined what players can expect.
In a post on its official website, EA said it looked at feedback from those who participated in the beta and has made several changes to the loot crate system in Star Wars Battlefront II. Epic Star Cards have been removed from crates, and players will need to reach a certain rank in order to craft upgraded Star Cards.
While a few weapons will be made available in crates, the rest can only be acquired by playing the game, with each locked behind specific milestones. Additionally, players will be able to unlock class-specific items and gear by playing as that class, as reaching specific milestones will grant them crates specific to that class.
Super Mario Odyssey Sells 2 Million Copies in 3 Days
According to Nintendo's estimates, Super Mario Odyssey sold over two million copies during its first three days of availability.
That figure includes both physical and digital sales, as well as copies of the game included in Switch bundles, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima revealed during the company's latest financial briefing. Kimishima went on to say Nintendo would like to see Super Mario Odyssey become an "evergreen title that has longevity in the market beyond this holiday season."
During the briefing, Nintendo revealed the SNES Classic has also reached two million units sold. Meanwhile, Super Mario Run has surpassed 200 million downloads worldwide, though the company says the mobile game has "not yet reached an acceptable profit point."
World of Final Fantasy Coming to PC
World of Final Fantasy is coming to PC next month, Square Enix announced today.
The game, which follows siblings Reynn and Lann as they explore the vast land of Grymoire, will be released on PC via Steam on November 21 for $40 USD. World of Final Fantasy will include Steam achievements, trading cards, full mouse and keyboard support, and a few bonus legendary creatures and characters, like Sephiroth.
Those who purchase the game before November 28 will qualify for the Day One Edition, which comes with a digital soundtrack sampler and a wallpaper.
World of Final Fantasy was released last year for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. In IGN's review, we said "World of Final Fantasy's adorable critters make up for its lack of exploration and repetitive combat."