Monthly Archives: September 2018
Why Moon Knight Is Marvel’s Most Underrated Series
Marvel has had a pretty strong year in 2018, with titles like The Avengers, Black Panther and Venom relaunching to impressive sales and critical acclaim. But amid all the fuss over Marvel's Fresh Start relaunch and major crossovers like Infinity Wars, one book seems to be consistently overlooked. Moon Knight has been one of Marvel's most underappreciated books for years now. That's more true than ever in 2018.
The series has a very strong track record dating back to 2014, when Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire delivered a dramatic new take on Moon Knight and his split personalities. Even though Ellis and Shalvey only remained on the book for six issues, they established a winning template that subsequent creative teams were able to follow and build upon. If anything, I was concerned when Marvel revealed that the series would be shifting in a different direction with last year's Marvel Legacy relaunch. Fortunately, the series has only gotten better under writer Max Bemis and artists like Jacen Burrows and Paul Davidson.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout Player Count Revealed
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's battle royale mode, Blackout, will feature 80 players when the beta launches next week, although that number may change for launch or at some point in the future.
Speaking to Game Informer, Treyarch co-studio head Dan Bunting said that while they "they had tested internally with 100 players, the studio is putting the quality of gameplay first over hitting an arbitrary number."
“What’s really more important to us than a number is that the gameplay experience is as refined as it can be, that’s it the ideal perfect format for what players are going to play,” Bunting explains. “So we’re starting with 80 players, but we’ve gone higher than that. Whenever we launch a game as a beta or whatever, that’s the beginning of something. We’re going to actively be participating in the community and taking feedback, making changes and adapting, evolving the game as feedback rolls in. So there’s a lot that can go on that can happen beyond that first impact of the game going out there.”
Stolen Wizard of Oz Slippers Finally Recovered After 13 Years
Dorothy's famous missing red slippers from The Wizard of Oz have finally been recovered after 13 years.
CNN reports the FBI has found the shoes, which are one of the pairs Dorothy actress Judy Garland wore in the classic film. They vanished back in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum, located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, with an unknown thief successfully stealing the prized slippers.
The shoes are said to be valued at $2 million to $3 million. It took federal authorities quite a while to recover the slippers due to a lack of evidence and fingerprints left behind by the thief.
Amazon Hits $1 trillion in Market Value
Amazon has joined an extremely exclusive club of two publicly traded US companies that have reached the $1 trillion mark in market value.
As reported by CNBC, Amazon hit this market cap Tuesday morning after shares rose by almost two percent, making them worth $2,050.50. Because the outstanding share count was reportedly 487,741,189 shares, the math added up to the overall market value hitting that magical tredecuple digit number.
According to CNBC, analysts are citing an “ever-diversifying portfolio” from Amazon as an explanation for what drove the stock’s value upwards. A growth in Amazon Web Services is also noted as a major factor in the company’s recent success.
Destiny 2: Cayde-6 Leaves Heart-Wrenching Letter
Bungie shared last words from the beloved Hunter as we say goodbye to Cayde-6 on the bittersweet day that marks Destiny 2's Forsaken launch – Tuesday, Sept. 4.
Ikora, Zavala:
If you’re reading this, shame on you. You didn’t notice me slip out the back door. Step up your game, my buddies.
Here’s the play. I’m going back to the Reef. Not just for a mission or two—I’ll be staying there for a few days to help out our old pal Petra Venj with a few things. Nothing too serious, just picking up some patrol slack.
As always, you know the conditions of my Dare, bla bla bla. If I need any backup, I’ll hit up my favorite Guardian. Enough said.
Battlefield 5: 64-Player Battle Royale Mode Is Officially Called Firestorm
Battlefield 5 developer DICE has finally shed just a little more light on its “reimagined” battle royale mode that will make changes to the popular multiplayer style in interesting ways.
Officially dubbed Firestorm, the mode was given a proper name in a new overview video called This Is Battlefield 5. It places players into 16 teams of four as they work together to remain the last group standing. It will take place on what DICE calls the largest map in Battlefield history. It’s referred to as a “sandbox filled with destructible buildings, weaponry and vehicles."
Though that is all the information DICE gave on Firestorm, it appears that, like other battle royale modes, the map will continually shrink - though in BF5, it will likely be done as a ring of fire closes in on the remaining sections of the map.
Esports Games ‘Contradictory to Olympic Values’ Says Committee President
The International Olympic Committee is still unsure of whether esports have a place in the future Olympic landscape, and Thomas Bach, the IOC President, is clear that esports "promoting violence or discrimination" will not be accepted.
The news came as Bach spoke with Associated Press reporters at the Asian Games this weekend, where esports featured for the first time, albeit as a demonstration sport (meaning that any medals achieved would not count towards a country's final tally). Arena of Valor, Clash Royale, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Pro Evolution Soccer and StarCraft II all featured as tournaments.
Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD Listing Surfaces On UK PSN Store
It looks as though Noctis and co may be making their way to consoles in chibi form in the not too distant future.
The UK PSN store is currently showing the icon for an HD console edition of the game, although attempting to purchase it results in an error message.
Originally announced back at Gamescom 2017 and released earlier this year, Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition is an abridged version of the console RPG designed specifically for mobile devices, retelling the original game's story with chibified character designs and a more streamlined approach.
Destiny 2’s Annual Pass Will Not Feature New Planets
Bungie has confirmed that although there will be new locations included as part of Destiny 2's new Annual Pass, these will not include any new planets.
The news comes courtesy of Polygon, who report on a recent Q&A with game director Steve Cotton and project lead Scott Taylor.
During the session, the developers were asked whether the Annual Pass would feature new locations to visit, with Taylor confirming that there would be new places to visit but that these would be restricted to what the developers call "bubble" locations as opposed to new planets. Cotton affirmed that there will be no new planets added over the course of the next year.
Sony Is Blocking Cross-Play Because ‘PlayStation Is the Best Place to Play’
A Sony executive has seemingly poured cold water on the idea of an upcoming cross-play solution.
According to The Independent, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said during Germany's IFA electronics convention, "On cross-platform, our way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play. Fortnite, I believe, partnered with PlayStation 4 is the best experience for users, that's our belief."
"But actually, we already opened some games as cross-platform with PC and some others, so we decide based on what is the best user experience. That is our way of thinking for cross-platform."