Monthly Archives: June 2019
Metroid Prime 4 Dev Is Hiring for Key Art Director Role
Developer Retro Studios tweeted a job listing today looking for an Art Director for Metroid Prime 4.
The listing describes the position as a key role in the game’s development, saying the Art Director will “lead the collaborative development of Metroid Prime 4’s artistic direction.”
Source: @RetroStudios
7 Biggest Surprises of E3 2019
E3 2019 may have lacked some major names - notably a host of missing, upcoming video games - but that didn’t stop the yearly event from delivering a number of delightful surprises that were, to quote one of this year’s biggest surprises, breathtaking.
There may not have been a last-minute Sony surprise during E3, nor an unexpected new console reveal (Project Scarlett’s reveal had been in the cards for a while), but that didn’t stop these seven surprises from causing the IGN E3 newsroom to erupt into cheers, and hopefully delighted you, too.
Banjo-Kazooie Joins Smash Bros. Ultimate
Nintendo took home the award for Best Surprise at The Game Awards in 2018 for its announcement of Persona 5’s Joker as a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character. (OK, fine, I was the one who gave it that award, and the company mailed back the trophy I tried to send them,) And, had it not been for the company’s own massive reveal at the end of the Direct, Banjo-Kazooie’s reveal as the third Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character would have been Nintendo’s biggest surprise at the show.
Here’s Why Everyone Is Freaking Out About HBO’s Euphoria
Warning! Full SPOILERS follow for the Season 1 premiere of HBO's Euphoria.
HBO is known for pushing the envelope when it comes to sex and violence on TV. The premium network has even gone as far as hiring an intimacy coordinator to help oversee sex scenes in the recent Deadwood film, and upcoming Watchmen series. Most recently, HBO premiered Euphoria, a provocative new teen drama starring Spider-Man: Far From Home's Zendaya.
Mortal Kombat 11, Days Gone Remain the Best-Selling Games of the Month
Mortal Kombat 11 and Days Gone are the best-selling games of May 2019 in the United States - both titles were also the best-selling games of April 2019.
Per this month’s official NPD report, Mortal Kombat was not only May and April’s best-selling game, but is now the best-selling game of 2019 year-to-date, dethroning the long-running leader Kingdom Hearts 3. The NPD Group notes that the second month sales of Mortal Kombat 11 are nearly double that of any other game in the Mortal Kombat franchise.
Watch Dogs: Legion’s Permadeath Means Your Favorite Grandma Is Going to Die
Watch Dogs Legion, Ubisoft’s third game in its hacktivist open-word series, asks a lot of questions. Just how far are we willing to let authoritarianism and corporate greed dictate the course of society? What are the consequences of under-funded public services? What happens when ordinary people make a stand? Its most fascinating question, though, is what if every non-playable character was playable?
I recently visited Ubisoft Toronto to meet with the Watch Dogs Legion team and watch the game being played for 45 minutes. At first glance, Legion is what you would expect from the third game in the Watch Dogs series; there’s an open-world where you can drive cars, hack CCTV cameras, and play havoc with people's lives and smartphones. But there’s much, much more to Watch Dogs Legion. Underpinning the entire game is an interconnected network of systems that allow for an astonishing set of possibilities.
Cobra Reigns Supreme in IDW’s New G.I. Joe Series
IDW Publishing is relaunching its flagship G.I. Joe comic in September. Their newest G.I. Joe comic will introduce a dark new status quo where Cobra is apparently in charge of the government and heroes like Duke and Scarlett are fugitives from the law.
This new volume of G.I. Joe will be written by Paul Allor (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe) and drawn by Chris Evenhuis (Monstro Mechanica). Evenhuis, Dustin Weaver and Eleanora Carlini will provide variant covers for the series.
G.I. Joe #1 cover by Chris Evenhuis. (Image Credit: IDW Publishing)
10 Best TV Shows of 2019 (So Far)
All of the shows mentioned on our list had to premiere in 2019.
2019 is another big year for television, with more scripted series in development than ever before. Back in 2018, FX Boss John Landgraf predicted that too much TV will eventually lead to an industry "hangover." But as of this moment, Landgraf's prophecy has yet to come true, with HBO's Game of Thrones amassing a record-breaking 19.3 million viewers across all of its platforms during the Season 8 finale, "The Iron Throne." For now, TV's entertainment power is here to stay.
Every Stephen King Remake (So Far)
Stephen King isn't just an author, he's an institution. His terrifying stories have haunted audiences for generations, in print and on the screen, and it seems like more filmmakers than ever are eager to remake even his most popular tales.
It may seem like there are more Stephen King remakes than ever nowadays but there's already quite a tradition of revisiting his hit films (and his box office failures) on the big and small screen alike. Heck, Stephen King himself even wrote one of them!
The upcoming movie Doctor Sleep, a direct sequel to The Shining, even sees director Mike Flanagan recreate several iconic shots from Stanley Kubrick's 1980 classic.
MCU Phase 4: These Unsung Villains Deserve Their Shot
Marvel Studios might have a herculean task ahead of them in trying to fill Thanos' shoes (New Balance?) and providing fans with a new long-arc big boss for the Avengers (and those Avengers adjacent) to battle, but let's not forget that the MCU's three Phases weren't built by the Mad Titan alone. No, they were built on the backs of Iron Mongers, Killmongers, and many other mongers who squared off against the good guys in one-and-done adventures that helped our heroes level up.
So while names like Galactus, Kang, and even Doctor Doom are being thrown around as possible long-term baddies for Phase 4 and beyond, we thought we'd shuffle through a few mid-card villains and see which ones would be awesome to see in a live-action, if one-off setting. Because not only do we have the upcoming movies (which now could bring in the Fantastic Four and X-Men), but there's also the Disney+ direct-connect Marvel Studios shows - Loki, WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (which is bringing back Daniel Bruhl's Zemo) - and two new Hulu series feturing Ghost Rider and Daimon Hellstrom.
Fans Petition to Make Keanu Reeves Time Person of the Year 2019
Fans have created a Change.org petition to crown Keanu Reeves as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2019.
The Change.org petition simply states "Keanu is the most wholesome person alive, make him the person of the year!” The petition currently sits at over 10,000 signatures with a goal of 15,000 signatures.
A press release for the petition went into more depth, saying "Keanu Reeves is officially an Internet obsession. From the cult-like success of his John Wick movie franchise, to stealing the spotlight in Toy Story 4, to his recent viral cameo in Allie Wong's Always Be My Maybe on Netflix, let's face it - the Canadian-American movie icon is making a resurgence. He's already gained the title of 'Respectful King' on Twitter this week when the Twitterverse realized that Keanu respects his female fans by using the time-honored 'hoverhand' technique as he poses with them in photos, so what's one more title?"