Monthly Archives: June 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp Tracking to Open Bigger Than Original
Ant-Man and the Wasp is set to have a bigger domestic opening than its predecessor, but the movie will still be one of MCU's lowest debuts.
Variety reports the Ant-Man sequel is tracking to make between $70 million and $80 million over the July 6 weekend in the United States.
The first Ant-Man film grossed $57 million in its opening domestic weekend back in 2015. The Marvel movie went on to make $180 million in North America and $519 million worldwide.
For context, Ant-Man and the Wasp's predicted debut will be right below Doctor Strange's $85 million opening weekend haul for 16th place in the MCU. The only movies the sequel would top would be Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Ant-Man and The Incredible Hulk.
E3 2018: Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot Hands-On Impressions
The original Wolfenstein 3D is an iconic FPS that, along with DOOM, helped put first-person shooters on the map. Since its release, murdering Nazis has remained one of the gaming worlds most beloved pastimes, and Bethesda aims to continue the long-running tradition with the release of Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot — its latest VR iteration based off of one of its most successful franchises.
Cyberpilot was first announced during Bethesda’s E3 2018 press conference, and I had an opportunity to go hands-on with the game on the E3 show floor yesterday. Now, a big part of why Wolfenstein is so successful is because of how well it blends over-the-top violence with a thoughtful yet gut-punching narrative of a demented alternate reality in which the Nazi's won the war. Wolfenstein isn't just a silly shooter full of blood and gore, it manages to juggle multiple tones very well. Suffice it to say, Cyberpilot doesn't seem to follow in those elaborate footsteps.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas Brings Toys Back to Life
I didn't know much about Starlink: Battle for Atlas going into E3 this year, other than it existed, it had space combat, and Ubisoft is making it. But when I saw the Arwing and Starfox models, complete with guest appearance by Shigeru Miyamoto at the Ubisoft conference, my level of interest grew substantially. After finally getting a chance to demo the game on the show floor, I have to say not only to I have a deeper knowledge of Starlink: Battle for Atlas, but I think I might be in love.
Fortnite: Soccer Pitches Locations and Pleasant Park Treasure Map for Week 7 Challenges
Valkyria Chronicles 4’s New Class Came From a Bug In the First Game
Speaking with Valkyria Chronicles producer Kei Mikami at E3, he revealed that Valkyria Chronicles 4’s new class, the Grenadier, was actually inspired by a bug they found during the development of the first game.
Apparently toward the end of development, a bug would pop up that caused your squad’s tanks to shoot grenades instead of shells. While they were able to fix the bug, the team actually enjoyed this long range grenade style of play.
They even wanted to add it as a new class in the first Valkyria Chronicles, but unfortunately it was too late in development to make that large of a change and the idea had to be scrapped. They tried to bring it back for the second Valkyria Chronicles, but couldn’t make it work there either.
Aquaman: First Looks at Black Manta and Queen Atlanna
UPDATE: New photos of Aquaman characters Ocean Master (Patrick Wilson) and Vulko (Willem Dafoe) have now been released as well.
The original report follows.
The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly features a cover story on Aquaman, including our first look at Nicole Kidman as Arthur Curry's mother, Queen Atlanna.
The EW cover below also features new images of Jason Momoa as the title character and Amber Heard as Mera:
Cyberpunk 2077 Has a ‘Cool’ Stat, Here’s What It Does
Cyberpunk 2077 is based on a tabletop RPG called Cyberpunk 2020, and while there are plenty of differences, the somewhat ambiguous ‘Cool’ stat was taken straight from the source material.
But what does the Cool stat actually do? Cyberpunk 2020 creator Mike Pondsmith tells me it’s not just about how cool your character is, but also how well they can keep cool under pressure.
“Most gonna fights end because someone loses it and can't keep it together,” Pondsmith said, which he learned from speaking with a friend in the Rangers. “I wanted to get that sense of you project that you're together, you can keep it together.”
Where to Watch the 2018 World Cup Online
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 14, with the first of 64 matches featuring Russia facing off with Saudi Arabia at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT on Thursday.
For the traditional types, the World Cup airs on TV through July 15, and will be broadcast in the US in English on Fox and Fox Sports 1, and in Spanish on Telemundo and NBC Universo. Fox Sports and Telemundo will also stream the matches online if you have a cable subscription, plus you'll be able to watch the games via mobile for iOS and Android through the Fox Sports app and Telemundo Deportes en Vivo if you sign in with your cable provider.
What Did You Think of This Week’s Comics?
E3 may be dominating the entertainment headlines this week, but it was still a significant week for the comic book industry. In particular, Marl's Fresh Start relaunch continues to show promise thanks to a new issue of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman's Venom and the debut of Jason Aaron and Mike De Mundo's Thor.
Scroll down to check out our new reviews and thinkpieces, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
Thor #1 Review
Batman Arkham Developer Rocksteady Makes Statement About Skipping E3
The developer of the Batman Arkham series of games Rocksteady has made a statement addressing its absence from E3 this year.
Game director and co-founder of Rocksteady Studios Sefton Hill posted a message on Twitter acknowledging disappointment from fans.
In his tweet, Hill says the message, which thanks fans for their enthusiasm towards the next project and promises to reveal it when it's ready, is from the entire Rocksteady team.