Monthly Archives: September 2015
Xbox Boss Explains Why Final Fantasy 14 is Not on Xbox One
Square Enix's reborn MMO Final Fantasy XIV has been available on PlayStation 4 for some time now, but no announcement has been made regarding whether or not it will eventually come to the Xbox One.
Unfortunately, it does not appear the game will be headed to the Microsoft platform any time soon. Speaking with IGN, Xbox head Phil Spencer explained this is due to business and platform exclusivity.
"It's business," he said, adding he couldn't speak too candidly about the matter. "As I've grow in this role, and I've tried to learn the third-party exclusivity thing - and you see us doing less of it now -
it's not something I'm a huge fan of."
Spencer cites that he likes to bring different aspects of a game to the Xbox One instead of deal with third-party exclusive titles, citing the Fallout 4 mods coming to the platform and how Microsoft worked with EA to get EA Access. He notes a different situation with Rise of the Tomb Raider, however, since Microsoft is playing an active role in its development and publishing.
Final Resident Evil Begins Filming, Reveals Cast
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter has commenced principal photography in South Africa, Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems announced today. It is the sixth and last installment of the movie franchise based on the Capcom video game series. Locations will include Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Paul W.S. Anderson scripted and directs for production company Constantin Film.
Milla Jovovich reprises her role as zombie slayer Alice. The cast also includes Ali Larter, back as Claire Redfield; Game of Thrones' Iain Glen reprising his role of Dr. Alexander Isaacs from Resident Evil: Extinction; Resident Evil: Afterlife's Shawn Roberts once again portraying the villainous Albert Wesker; Orange is the New Black's Ruby Rose as Abigail; Eoin Macken as Doc; William Levy as Christian; Fraser James as Michael; and model-TV personality Rola as Cobalt.
Xbox Boss Discusses Whether You Should Upgrade to Xbox Elite
Should Xbox One owners upgrade to the recently-announced Xbox Elite? According to Xbox head Phil Spencer, it depends on what they want out of their console.
Speaking with IGN, Spencer explains the Elite was created to offer customers different buying options that will best suit their financial situations and wants.
"We should always make sure we have something for the discerning customer who wants the very best we'll be able to offer, and I want to give them that opportunity," he said of the brand new hardware.
The new Xbox Elite includes a solid state 1TB hard drive and the Xbox Elite Controller, as well as a handful of improvements to the system, the biggest of which being that the console will boot up faster out of energy saving mode.
Doctor Who’s Gomez Talks Missy’s Resurrection
BBC America held a premiere screening in New York last night for Doctor Who’s ninth season, which is set to debut tomorrow. The first two episodes of the season, "The Magician's Apprentice" and "The Witch's Familiar," were shown to great applause from the fans in attendance (many of whom were wearing fezzes or TARDIS dresses or donning sonic screwdrivers). But earlier in the day, I stopped by BBC America’s headquarters in Manhattan to speak with Michelle Gomez, the actress who plays Missy, one of the most popular additions to Doctor Who in years.
Gomez is a kick to talk to in real life, not unlike Missy, perhaps, although I’m pretty sure the actress didn’t have any murderous intentions towards me. More or less. Read on for our full chat, where we talk about Missy’s surprising resurrection, her ‘friendship’ with the Doctor, red herrings, and much more.
Xbox Boss Expects PS4 Price Drop in US
Speaking with IGN in a interview, Xbox head Phil Spencer spoke about the recent price cut on the PlayStation 4 in Japan, expressing his confidence in the likelihood of it soon happening in the west.
"I fully expect they
will drop price. When I think about the playbook they've used in the past, we feel good about the plans we have in place going forward in the holiday. If history tells, then we'll see a price drop from them coming."
Spencer also mentioned Sony's presence at Paris Games Week, suggesting perhaps an announcement could be made at that time. But, he doesn't necessarily feel threatened by the possibility and even suggests it would be a good thing.
Black Mass: 9 Characters Inspired by Whitey Bulger
The newly released true crime drama Black Mass brings the sordid saga of the Boston FBI's Faustian bargain with gangster-informant James "Whitey" Bulger to cinemas.
But Bulger -- who ruled the Boston underworld for two decades while also serving as a top echelon FBI informant and eventually becoming a most wanted fugitive for another 16 years -- has already inspired several roman à clef on the big and small screen.
Here are the nine most notable examples of characters patterned after Whitey Bulger and his violent tale:
This is the one every knows. Jack Nicholson plays a fiendish Boston mob lord (who is eventually revealed to be an FBI informant) in this Best Picture winner from director Martin Scorsese. Although the film is not a direct retelling of the Bulger-FBI saga -- it's actually a remake of the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs -- the filmmakers acknowledged that they modeled Costello after Bulger. (The Blu-ray even includes a featurette on it.) Costello is a vicious, informant-killing devil who plays both sides for his own benefit, corrupting lawmen and ruling the Boston underworld with a vice grip. Sound familiar?
Justice League 3001 to be All-Female Next Year
Justice League 3001 will feature a full roster of women starting in January 2016.
Justice League 3001 #7 cover
Newsarama reports that the line-up will include long-established heroes like Supergirl alongside more recent creations like a gender-swapped Flash.
"It's not because I decided I wanted to write all females," said series co-creator Keith Giffen. "It's not there to say, 'Oh look, we've got an all-female team!' Who cares? It's just the way it shook out." He added, "Some of the characters just seemed more interesting or more appropriate for the kind of stories we're trying to tell."
Timothy Zahn Is Writing a StarCraft Novel
Blizzard has announced two new StarCraft and World of Warcraft novels.
Partnering with publisher Random House, the developer has revealed World of Warcraft: Illidan, written by fantasy author William King, and an original StarCraft novel from Timothy Zahn – author of the beloved Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy.
"He's not just a villain," said Chris Metzen, SVP of Story and Franchise Development, regarding the Illidan novel. "He actually had a super heroic mission to rid the universe of the Burning Legion. We were able to get under the hood and craft a tale about this character and his history..."
Blizzard had fewer details about the StarCraft novel– only that it would explore the "aftermath" of the StarCraft storyline.
Why Iron Man Just Hit the Jackpot
Because Marvel isn't feeling shy about revealing details of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe before the relaunch begins, last week we learned that Mary Jane Watson will be joining the cast of Brian Bendis and David Marquez's Invincible Iron Man in December. On the surface, this seems like a very random change to the status quo of both characters, as if Tony Stark has a quota to fill when it comes to spunky, attractive, redhead sidekicks. But the truth is that Mary Jane is a Marvel character who has been in desperate need of an overhaul for years. A partnership with Tony Stark might be just what both characters need to thrive in the new Marvel Universe.
Once Upon a Time Season 5 Will Have an LGBT Romance
Once Upon a Time is adding an LGBT relationship to the series in Season 5 as Jamie Chung is set to return for a multi-episode arc as Mulan.
At a Season 5 preview Q&A, showrunners Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis discussed with members of the press how Once Upon a Time will catch up with Mulan's adventures in Season 5. They didn't confirm whether Mulan will be one of the characters in the LGBT love story, nor did they address whether it will be between previously introduced OUAT characters or new ones.
"We know that that community has been big supporters of the show, and we would love to tell a love story that reflects that," Kitsis said.
Horowitz continued, "We want the show to reflect the world as it is now. Whether that's going to be with any particular character we're not going to say. It's something we want to do this year, and it's something we think is due and important to do on the show because it's the world we live in."