Monthly Archives: June 2017
Nintendo Working to Scale Up Switch Production
Nintendo knows it's not meeting Switch demand currently, but the company is working to improve the situation.
"What we are doing, as quickly as we can, is scaling up the production to make more available into the marketplace, to get to the point where every consumer who wants a Nintendo Switch can find a Nintendo Switch," Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's president and chief operating officer told IGN in an interview at E3 2017.
"That’s what we’re trying to get to. I’m not going to tell you when we’ll get there, but our goal is to improve our supply chain so that more product is available to more consumers. And that is a key focus."
Nintendo sold over 900,000 Switch systems in March in the United States, followed by over 280,000 in April. Worldwide, Nintendo sold more than 2.74 million Switch consoles in its launch month, surpassing the company's original goal of 2 million.
Sly Cooper Animated TV Series in the Works
A Sly Cooper animated TV series is in development.
Technicolor Animation Productions, the same studio behind the Sonic Boom TV show, has teamed up with Sony to work on the Sly Cooper TV adaptation. The series will follow Sly Cooper and his two best friends, the muscular hippo Murray and the intelligent turtle Bentley, as they steal and try to save Sly's city while being on the run from Inspector Carmelita Fox.
The show will also feature a few of Sly Cooper's villains and promises to retain the franchise's blend of action and humor. No release date for the show has been set yet and there are no details regarding the voice cast.
"There is no doubt that teenagers will be happy to rediscover their beloved game as a series, while younger kids will be charmed by the debonair raccoon and his exciting universe," said Sandrine Nguyen, Managing Director, Technicolor Animation Productions.
Batman, Spider-Man Composer Danny Elfman to Score Justice League
Danny Elfman, the composer behind 1989 Batman and Spider-Man, is set to score Justice League.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Elfman has taken over for Junkie XL, who recently departed the project to work on Warner Bros.' Tomb Raider movie. This will be the first time Eflman composes music for Batman again since 1992's Batman Returns.
Along with the two Tim Burton Batman movies and the first Spider-Man film, Elfman has also scored the Men in Black trilogy, Spider-Man 2, 2003's Hulk, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Dick Tracy, and the 1990 The Flash TV series. Justice League will also see Elfman reunite with Joss Whedon, as the composer was brought in to add additional music for Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Pikmin 4 ‘Progressing,’ Says Shigeru Miyamoto
Development on Pikmin 4 is still well underway, according to Shigeru Miyamoto.
In an interview with Eurogamer Miyamoto said that, even though he can't share any new details about the game, Pikmin 4 is "progressing." In a separate statement, Nintendo followed up on Miyamoto's comments, confirming "that Pikmin 4 is in development but that is all we can confirm at present."
The fourth installment in the series was first announced back in 2015, when Miyamoto revealed the game was "actually very close to completion" and that the "Pikmin teams are always working on the next one." A year later, Miyamoto revealed that Pikmin 4 fell down "a list of priorities" at Nintendo, which was why there have been little to no updates on the game since its announcement.
Life is Strange: Before The Storm is For the Fans
Life is Strange: Before the Storm does not feature any supernatural powers. There will be no rewinding in Chloe Price’s 16-year-old life, no alternate realities or time-bending. This is not Life is Strange 2, which DontNod is quietly working on in Paris.
Instead, Before the Storm is a prequel developed by Colorado-based Deck Nine Games, and it’s focused on Chloe Price and her relationship with Rachel Amber. And relationships, says Deck Nine, are what fans loved from the original.
It’s certainly what I loved from the original, and what I’ve seen from Before the Storm, it’s going to offer all the wonderful angst that comes from close teenage friendships, or indeed, romantic relationships. Chloe and Rachel’s relationship was ambiguous in the original Life is Strange, which opened up a lot of options for exploring what it might have looked like in the prequel.
Super Mario Odyssey: All Gameplay, News, Trailers
Nintendo first showed footage of Super Mario Odyssey back in October 2016. Assuming all goes according to plan, you’ll be able to play it on October 27, 2017.
In Super Mario Odyssey, Mario leaves the Mushroom Kingdom and visits all kinds of new places. Most strikingly, one of them looks very much like our world, complete with skyscrapers and humans who are much taller than the cartoonish plumber. Read on for everything we know so far about Super Mario Odyssey.
During Nintendo's E3 video presentation, we finally got a release date for Super Mario Odyssey: October 27, 2017. We also got a new trailer that showed a ton of things we'd never seen before, including Mario throwing his hat on enemies and objects to inhabit them.
Wrestling: Why Samoa Joe is the Perfect Foe for Brock
After taking a brief break from wrapping up wrestling last week, I realized "Hey, it's been a while since I've NOT wrapped up wrestling." Now I'm a bit thrown. Now I'm all "How do I even wrap up all the wrestling?" I'm sure I'll figure it out as we move along here, but this may be a bumpy flight.
Basically, not much has changed in a week, which shouldn't be big of a surprise to anyone. My headline this week is - shocker! - pretty much the same as it was going to be last Wednesday.
Last week, I would have gone more into depth about Joe's amazing segment with Heyman and that close intimate threat of physical pain followed by the actual physical pain and how awesome that was and how I really, REALLY wanted it to become a hallmark for Joe. As in, from now until Great Balls, I wanted Joe to have squash matches with jobbers that would start with him backing them into a corner and then explaining, in detail, all the horrible things he was about to do to them. That was my heart's fondest wish.
Crackdown 3: Microsoft Clarifies Terry Crews’ Role
Crackdown 3's new trailer definitely included Terry Crews, but it wasn't entirely clear if he would be in the game. Thankfully, he officially is, and he will be a playable character in some form.
Speaking to IGN, design director Garett Wilson said, "He's a playable character. I think I'm OK to tell you that. I probably shouldn't say any more. He definitely is a playable character, and he's a character in the narrative, so he's in the opening cutscene and things like that."
It's unclear whether Crews' character, Commander Jaxon will be playable in the campaign (he did not appear to be pickable in the E3 campaign hands-on), or would be playable in the game's multiplayer modes. Wilson did confirm that both the actor's voice and likeness would be used.
Yoshi Switch Developed With Unreal Engine 4
Nintendo's upcoming Yoshi game for Switch is being developed with Unreal Engine 4.
Epic Games senior marketing manager Dana Cowley shared the news in a post on Twitter.
The adorable platformer is one of many upcoming Switch games being developed with Unreal Engine 4. In fact, Epic Games Japan rep Takayuki Kawasaki told Automaton (translation via Gematsu) that "in Japan, there are about 20 titles being developed that use Unreal Engine."
X-Men: Chastain May Play Dark Phoenix’s Antagonist
Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, The Martian) is reportedly in negotiations to portray the antagonist of X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
The Hollywood Reporter claims Chastain, whose deal has not been sealed, is up for the role of "Lilandra, the empress of an alien empire called the Shi’ar, who leads the quest to imprison and execute Dark Phoenix
, leading her into conflict with the X-Men. (She also commands an alien super-team named the Imperial Guard but it is unclear if that group will be featured in the movie.)"
In the Marvel Comics, Lilandra Neramani is the Princess-Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire, a humanoid species with avian-like attributes. She also became a longtime love interest of Professor Charles Xavier.