Monthly Archives: December 2017
Star Wars: All the Major New Aliens in the Modern Movies
Net Neutrality Rules Voted Out by FCC
In a 3-2 vote today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to withdraw its rules on net neutrality.
The rules were put in place during the Obama administration, designed to prevent scenarios in which internet service providers throttled or blocked access to certain websites. The FCC classified the internet as a public utility.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called Net Neutrality "a solution that won't work to a problem that simply doesn't exist," and has favored returning the market to the less-regulated days of 2015. Today's vote is the first step in undoing the regulations put into place by the previous administration.
Supporters of Net Neutrality says its repeal opens up a Pandora's box of problems, with ISPs charging for some content and not others, or packaging deals fast-tracking favored sites while slowing others. Opponents of the regulations say those fears are unfounded, leaning on the promises of freer markets to overcome any issues.
Deadpool Will Stay R-Rated, Says Disney
Disney CEO Bob Iger has addressed the future of Deadpool, confirming Fox's film franchise will remain R-rated following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
"It
clearly has been and will be Marvel branded. But we think there might be an opportunity for a Marvel-R brand for something like Deadpool," Iger said in a call with investors following the news that Disney will purchase 21st Century Fox (via The Hollywood Reporter). "As long as we let the audiences know what's coming, we think we can manage that fine," he added.
The first Deadpool movie was a major success for Fox, earning $783 million worldwide to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. Likewise, Logan did incredibly well for an R-rated Marvel movie, making $616 million worldwide this year.
Adventure Time Is Getting an Open-World Adventure Game
Adventure Time is getting a new open-world adventure game next year.
Outright Games and developer Climax Studios have announced Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC in spring 2018. The game has players explore a flooded Land of Ooo using their newly constructed boat.
Once the Land of Ooo goes underwater, causing familiar kingdoms to be cut off from each other, Finn and Jake go on a journey to find out what happened. During your adventure you'll traverse the dangerous sea to discover new locations across Ooo, recruiting BMO and Marceline to join your crew, and interrogate pirates for clues.
Rare Outlines Sea of Thieves’ Progression System
Rare has answered one of the Sea of Thieves community's biggest questions: what does progression mean in the sea-faring game?
During a recent livestream, the Sea of Thieves team outlined two concepts - how the progression system works, and how that progression system will be in step with Sea of Thieves' primary goal of playing with others.
To become a 'Pirate Legend' - the core objective of Sea of Thieves - players build reputation through exploits and adventures. This is acquired specifically from a set of different trading companies that represent your preferred playstyle.
Snapchat Now Letting People Create Their Own AR Lenses
Snap Inc.'s first desktop application lets users create their own AR lenses.
As reported by the London Evening Standard, the app, called Lens Studios, is now out on Mac and PC. The software is all about making it easier for creatives to get started with AR development and build their own lenses.
Take-Two Announces New Label Private Division
Take-Two Interactive today announced Private Division, a new publishing label for independent developers.
Private Division has already partnered to publish games from five different studios, including:
- Unannounced RPG from Obsidian Entertainment (helmed by Fallout co-creators Tim Cainand and Leonard Boyarsky)
- Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey from Panache Digital Games (studio led by Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Désilets)
- RPG codenamed Project Wight from The Outsiders (studio founded by ex-DICE developers David Goldfarb and Ben Cousins)
- Unannounced sci-fi first-person shooter from V1 Interactive (studio founded by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto)
Afterparty is an Adventure Game Take on Superbad Set in Hell
I’ve rarely been sold quicker on the premise of a game than when I first sat in a room with the Sean Krankel and Adam Hines of Night School Studio back in March 2015 and they pitched me on Oxenfree. “It’s a point-and-click adventure with a tone of Freaks and Geeks meets Poltergeist, but we want to incorporate the idea of an Aaron Sorkin ‘walk and talk’ as a mechanic.” Sold.
Cut to two years later, and I was sitting in the exact same room at IGN with Sean and Adam once again, ready to hear what their next game was. Well, I’m happy to say that their pitch for Afterparty left me with that exact same assured excitement that I had for Oxenfree.
Lola and Milo, a pair of platonic best friends who’ve spent pretty much every waking moment of their lives together, finally have to come to terms with the fact that college is ending, and their futures are taking them in different directions. Fortunately (unfortunately?), before that can happen, they both unexpectedly die together, only to find themselves in Hell’s equivalent of a DMV line, waiting to be processed for their sins. Problem is, they have no idea what they did wrong to deserve a place among the liars, thieves, and murderers around them. While trying to figure this out, they learn that one of the only ways out of Hell is to best Satan himself (described to me as “Rocky Horror Kanye West”) in a drinking contest.
How AMC’S Walking Dead Has Walked Away from the Comics
After the recent heartbreaking moments of The Walking Dead’s midseason finale, both show-only fans and comic fans alike are left reeling as to where the show will go from here. While the direction of the on-screen journey may be unclear, one thing is for certain -- the show is ready to depart heavily from the source-material from here on out.
Huge comic and potential show spoilers ahead, so be prepared.
The Walking Dead comics will hit issue 175 on January 3rd, 201,8 and through at least 174 issues, Carl Grimes has survived. Unlike the show, Carl outlives the All Out War story arc and continues to be a main player in the print series. While both versions of the sheriff's son lose an eye, the show’s take has seen Carl suffer through many hardships that the comic analogue has not had to endure, leading up to the biggest difference -- his own death.
Are the Ewok Movies As Bad As You Remember?
With the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the time has come once again for everybody to look back on the whole Star Wars movie franchise. But Lucasfilm hasn’t made that easy. There are at least two live-action Star Wars movies that they simply refuse to re-release. (Three if you count the genuinely awful feature-length Star Wars Holiday Special.)
Those films are, in case you didn’t know, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. These two formerly canonical motion pictures were produced in 1984 and 1985 and released on the ABC network in America, and theatrically distributed overseas. They both won Emmy Awards for Visual Effects, and for years they aired repeatedly on television and enjoyed home video releases on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD.