Monthly Archives: August 2018
How Much Time, Money and Practice Does It Take to Make It to the Pokemon World Championships?
Tomorrow kicks off the start of the 2018 Pokemon World Championships where hundreds of players will descend on Nashville, TN for the annual competition to find who is the very best, like no one ever was. But what does it take to get a shot at taking home a cool first place Pikachu trophy and a chunk of the $500,000 prize pool? To find out, we talked to Carly Clements, a Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) player who just qualified to play in the big event for the first time. Every player’s journey is different, but Carly’s story offers a good look at how much time, money, and effort it takes to go all the way.
(Need a refresher? Check out our primer on how competitive Pokemon works.)
What Did You Think of This Week’s Comics?
It was another big week for the comic book industry, with Marvel's excellent Venom relaunch continuing onward and DC debuting a new Batman comic from fan-favorite artist Kelley Jones.
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.
Batman: Kings of Fear #1 Review
Written by Scott Peterson | Drawn by Kelley Jones
Lara Croft Is Awkward
Throughout the Tomb Raider reboot series, Lara Croft has been building to a transformation. She struggled to find her survival instinct footing in Tomb Raider and began to learn how to adapt to it in Rise of the Tomb Raider. But in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, she's taken on the titular mantle. She'll still get brutally impaled on a mission failure screen, of course, but she has no doubts about who she is or what she's capable of.
Some people would even call her a narcissist. She's so overly confident, Alanah argued in an earlier hands-on session we had with the game, that she'll ignore even her allies in favor of pursuing her adventures. She has a hero complex: Lara believes no one knows better, and no one can do better. No one can save the world but Lara Croft.
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The Grand Tour Game’s Ambition is Greater Than its Execution
The idea behind The Grand Tour Game is a simple but brilliant one. Don’t just watch the show: play it. Arriving alongside Season 3 of the Amazon series later this year, The Grand Tour Game is a weekly episodic racing game that allows you to relive the challenges Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond get up to.
According to one of the developers, who are working closely with the showrunners, the game will be spliced with footage from the show itself, aiming to feel like an interactive version of what you’d watch. For example, Jeremy Clarkson will introduce the upcoming challenge, but at the point the presenters actually get in a car, it’s you behind the wheel instead of them.
This Is Why The Big Bang Theory Is Finally Coming to an End
The Big Bang Theory will end with its 12th season in 2019 and Jim Parsons, Dr. Sheldon Cooper, is the main reason why.
EW has reported that CBS and Warner Bros. TV arrived at the decision to end The Big Bang Theory with its 12th season because Jim Parsons was ready to walk away from the show and "there is no show without Dr. Sheldon Cooper."
During Parsons' tenure on the show, he has racked up "four Emmy wins, one Golden Globe, a voice-over role in the spin-off Young Sheldon, and choice gigs in film and on Broadway."
Dead Cells Killed Nathan Drake and Other Awesome Easter Eggs
Dead Cells is positively loaded with respect and admiration for excellent video games, movies, television, and more. The team at Motion Twin has lovingly tucked away Easter Eggs and references from some of their favorite influences, so we asked them to help us track them down like a nostalgia-fueled scavenger hunt.
Dead Cells is already an amazing game – which you can see from our glowing Dead Cells Review – but it's also deeply smart and chock-full of tongue-in-cheek nods. For example, did you know Dead Cells killed Uncharted star Nathan Drake? Or Dark Souls' Knight Solaire makes a cameo? You can find that and more in the slideshow below!
Octopath Traveler Was July’s Top-Selling Game
The July 2018 NPD report is in, and the Nintendo Switch exclusive Octopath Traveler was the month’s top-selling game.
This marks the second month in a row that a Switch exclusive topped the NPD charts, as Mario Tennis Aces held the top position in June. In fact, Nintendo’s flagship system is doing incredibly well in general, as five of the ten top-selling games in July were Switch exclusives, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey all making the list long after they were initially released.
Beyond Ep. 556: We Love the PS4 Pro 500 Million Limited Edition
BEYOND!
On this week's episode of IGN's PlayStation show Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush and panelists Brian Altano, Max Scoville, and Tom Marks show off the latest special PS4 Pro, the 500 Million Limited Edition.
The crew runs down what they do and don't love about the system's design, discuss limited edition consoles in general, and more. Then, they take a look at the latest on Cyberpunk 2077 and discuss why we haven't yet seen footage publicly, how to get into the Yakuza franchise, why Firewall: Zero Hour is tons of tense fun, and how they feel about Guacamelee! 2 (be sure to check out my review of the Guacamelee! sequel if you haven't already!).
Hans Zimmer Comes Back to DC Films to Score Wonder Woman 1984
Despite previously announcing that he had quit scoring superhero movies, famed composer Hans Zimmer is back for more and is officially scoring Wonder Woman 1984.
Per Film Music Reporter, and originally announced through Zimmer’s official website, Zimmer has returned to compose for Wonder Woman after scoring her theme in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Rupert Gregson-Williams, who is a notable longtime collaborator of Zimmer’s, scored 2017’s Wonder Woman.