Monthly Archives: September 2015
App Store Update: September 2
Every day hundreds of new apps make their debut on the App Store, and hundreds more are updated or reduced in price. We have sifted through the noise and highlighted those select few that might be worth your attention.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
Swap Cops – (Free)
From the creator of Swap Heroes and Swap Heroes 2 comes a new sequel/spin-off that's taking the action to the streets. Swap Cops!
Meet Bryan Cranston’s Superhero Team
Crackle's new animated comedy series SuperMansion debuts October 8th, and IGN has the exclusive debut of several character posters for the series.
From the studio that brought you Robot Chicken, SuperMansion looks at the life of a team of superheroes/roommates, The League of Freedom, led by Titanium Rex. Bryan Cranston not only voices Titanium Rex but is one of the executive producers of the series, along with Seth Green and the show's creators, Zeb Wells and Matthew Senreich.
Check out the posters -- and get some info on the characters -- below!
Daily Deals: Shovel Knight, Mario Maker, Pebble Steel Smartwatch
Shovel Knight Is Discounted On PS4 and 3DS
Disc copies of Shovel Knight are normally $25, but right now PS4 and 3DS copies are discounted to $20.
Mario Maker Is Amazing. Get It For $10 Less
We just gave Mario Maker a 9. If you have Amazon Prime, you can get it for $50. And if you prefer a digital copy, Amazon now sells too, in case you're sitting on any Amazon credit.
Year Walk Dev Reveals ‘Bedtime Stories for Awful Children’
Year Walk developer Simogo has created an illustrated e-book that tells additional stories from the creepy adventure game's world.
Called "Year Walk: Bedtime Stories for Awful Children," the e-book features five different fairytales. And Simogo has translated them into English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.
The e-book tells grim tales. For example, one of the stories focuses on a beautiful teenager who grows jealous of a pretty newborn baby. And what she does to rid the infant from her village definitely comes back to haunt her.
Along with "Bedtime Stories for Awful Children," Simogo is also bringing Year Walk to Wii U with the assistance of Dakko Dakko. For more on the adventure game, be sure to check out IGN's review of Year Walk on iOS.
Top 10 U.S. Box Office Hits of Summer 2015
With the summer movie season now over, let's look at which films fared best at the North American box office.
The top dog was definitely Jurassic World with roughly $643.3 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Trailing in second place was Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron with $457.7 million.
Inside Out, Minions, and Pitch Perfect 2 rounded out the top five.
The latter half of this summer's Top 10 hits include Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Ant-Man, San Andreas, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Straight Outta Compton.
Sony Unveils Tokyo Game Show Lineup
Sony has pulled back the curtain on its games lineup for this year's Tokyo Game Show.
A total of 19 games are confirmed to be playable, including Street Fighter V, Star Wars Battlefront, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, and Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness.
The PlayStation manufacturer is also bringing a handful of Vita titles to the show, as well as Project Morpheus, which will feature several tech demos for expo attendees.
Additionally, Sony shared a digitally-rendered sneak peek at its booth, which you can check out below, courtesy of DualShockers.
Google May Unveil Two New Nexus Phones Soon
Google is reportedly set to announce two new Nexus smartphones at an event in San Francisco on September 29th.
News of Google's plans comes from an unnamed source speaking to CNET, who says that the two phones will be built by LG and Huawei. Both phones will run on Android Marshmallow, which is version 6.0 of the operating system.
The LG Nexus is rumored to have a 5.2-inch screen, while the Huawei Nexus, a first for the company, is said to have a 5.7-inch screen. Both devices are expected to have a fingerprint sensor on the back.
Most of this information is based on rumor and speculation, but we're sure to find out more during Google's event later this month.
Wattam: The Next Wonderfully Insane Game From the Creator of Katamari
Sometimes I get worried about the future of video games. When I walk through the halls of a place like E3 or PAX, I tend to get bombarded with spectacle. Blaring music, flashing lights, and gigantic statues flood the senses. Everywhere I turn, people are trying to hand me flyers, post cards, and lanyards. Explosions, murder, sequels, and remakes fill the air.
Don’t get me wrong – there are a lot of sequels and remakes filled with explosions and murder that I’m absolutely stoked to play, and I have no doubt that they are going to devour my free-time throughout the rest of 2015. But like I said, sometimes I get worried about the future. Sometimes I ask myself, “Is this it?”
I think that very question is why I appreciated my brief time with Wattam so damn much. Developer Funomena’s debut, Wattam is the brain-child of Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi and Robin Hunicke, who produced Journey over at Thatgamecompany before leaving to found this new studio. The crudest, simplest way to describe Wattam is Viva Pinata through the lens of Katamari Damacy.
Thor 3, Captain Marvel May Shoot in Australia
Both Thor: Ragnarok and Captain Marvel may film in Australia, following Disney's positive experience shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on the Gold Coast, which wrapped production just last month.
"The big bosses were very pleased throughout the year it took to shoot out here and now they’re looking at bringing out one of the Marvel films," an unnamed technical specialist told Yahoo! News.
"It was a great experience for the studio who were able to familiarize themselves with the set-up at Village Roadshow (studios) and the crews here. They were also able to work across a lot of different locations which has saved them scouting for the Marvel movie."
Job Simulator’s Convenience Store Level Is the Best Kind of Weird
Owlchemy Games' Job Simulator is one of my favorite games to play using HTC Vive -- and the weird, hilarious, Kwik-E-Mart-esque convenience store job is exactly why. The original kitchen demo had me making soups and sandwiches and microwaving butcher knives as I explored the possibilities of a tiny kitchen. The convenience store job is a bit more in-depth, at least in terms of quirky opportunity.