Monthly Archives: June 2018
Former Telltale Games CEO Sues Studio
Telltale Games co-founder and former CEO Kevin Bruner is reportedly suing the studio he helped start in 2004.
The Marin Independent Journal reported Bruner's lawsuit. He and Telltale parted ways last year, a move Bruner's lawsuit alleges was the result of Lionsgate investing in Telltale in 2015 and pushing for a new CEO. The suit claims some Lionsgate board members wanted to bring in an "outside" CEO to replace Bruner. Although it eventually did so by installing former Zynga General Manager Pete Hawley as chief executive in September 2017, that was some five months after Dan Connors took over the position on an interim basis following Bruner's Telltale exit.
Netflix Saves Lucifer Following Fox Cancellation
Netflix has made a deal with the devil - the streaming service has resurrected Lucifer, renewing the comic book series for Season 4 after Fox canceled the show in May.
After the news broke, star Tom Ellis took to Twitter to celebrate the renewal and thank fans for their support through the #SaveLucifer campaign.
Spider-Man PS4 Newspaper Teases Iron Man And More Marvel Easter Eggs
Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 made a showing at E3 2018 with an action-packed trailer featuring what appears to be the Sinister Six and a tease for their mysterious leader, but thanks to a free Daily Bugle newspaper distributed to E3 attendees, there’s now a whole lot more to pore over. Here’s everything we found in our read-through, including Easter eggs for Iron Man, Daredevil, and what we think is the setup for a late-game plot twist.
Before you check out what we found, make sure to watch what was shown at E3:
Warning: it’s impossible to tell which parts of the newspaper are tied to actual in-game events and which are just there for fun, so treat everything below as a potential spoiler!
How The Last of Us Part 2 Redesigned Combat for Ellie
Watching The Last of Us Part II’s stunning E3 demo, it’s immediately clear that this is a very different game than its predecessor. Compared to the Infected from the first game, the enemies in the demo are people who can think, coordinate, hide, and react in ways most of Part 1’s enemies never could, and Ellie herself has matured far beyond who she was before.
After a behind closed doors demo of The Last of Us Part II at E3 this week, we spoke to co-game directors Kurt Margenau and Anthony Newman about how the team rethought everything about combat and traversal to make Ellie feel different not only from Joel, but from the younger version of herself we played in the first game and its DLC.
Why Nintendo Sees Switch Online as the Virtual Console Successor
Nintendo confirmed earlier this year the Virtual Console would not come to the Nintendo Switch, the service spread across a number of Nintendo consoles that offered re-releases of classic titles. But that doesn't mean the company has abandoned this specific method of offering older games, it hasn't abandoned delivering them to players on the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo Switch Online, coming this September, is currently slated to launch with a lineup of original NES games, with some featuring online enhancements, as part of the subscription price. And speaking to IGN at E3 2018, Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime said Nintendo envisions Switch Online as a VC successor of a sort, one with a lineup that will expand over time.
Never Alone Creators Reveal New Game Beyond Blue
The creators of BAFTA award-winning Never Alone have announced a spiritual successor, Beyond Blue.
Beyond Blue, a game about exploring the ocean depths, will be available on Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and developer E-Line Media is currently targeting an early 2019 release date.
Set in the near future, players will assume the role of Mirai, the lead on a research team tasked with exploring the ocean utilizing groundbreaking new technologies. Players must manage resources and prioritize objectives in high-stakes situations to achieve success during the crew's expedition.
The concept for the game came from discussions between E-Line and BBC Studios during the BBC's production of Blue Planet II.
Batgirl’s New Costume Has a Classic Look
Batgirl is going back to her roots with a new costume featuring a more classic look.
Polygon reports Barbara Gordon will soon leave Burnside and return to Gotham City in Batgirl #26. As such the new costume, by Sean Gordon Murphy, ditches the purple-and-yellow color blend in favor of the more classic blue-and-yellow design.
“This is supposed to be a version of the costume that she was working on when she still lived with her dad,” writer Mairghread Scott said. “That’s why it looks so much like her original Batgirl: Year One outfit.”
The new design will allow Batgirl to be more tactical and stealthy, which she'll need as the hero will soon be battling a villain named Grotesque, who's making art pieces out of human body parts.
The Man Behind The KazHiraiCEO Parody Account Has Been Revealed
The popular parody account @KazHiraiCEO has come to an end, and the man behind the mask has been revealed.
The account lampooned Sony CEO and former PlayStation head Kaz Hirai, commenting on events over the last few years from the Sony hack to E3 press conferences and more.
In an open post to Twitter, the account owner Mark Doherty revealed his identity and brought about the end of an era, which was initially supposed to cease following Kaz Hirai's decision to stop down as CEO of Sony in February.
Spider-Man PS4 Becomes Marvel Comics Canon Thanks to Spidergeddon Event
Insomniac's Spider-Man PS4 game will soon become Marvel Comics canon thanks to the upcoming Spidergeddon event.
Polygon reports Peter Parker from the upcoming video game will feature in the comic alongside his white spider-emblem. Spidergeddon will include dozens of different versions of the Marvel superhero, such as Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales.
Spidergeddon #0, image via Polygon.
Opinion: Devil May Cry 5 and Crackdown 3 Are Suffering From a Similar Identity Crisis
Microsoft’s E3 presentation showcased many games, but none were quite as strange to watch as Crackdown 3 and Devil May Cry 5. As their respective trailers played over the course of the show on Sunday, there’s one thing that was evident with these two titles that had nothing else in common otherwise, and that’s they seem to suffer from an identity crisis.
Crackdown 3’s development has been openly displayed as troubled for some months now, having missed several release windows before only last week being officially confined to the increasingly crowded window of February 2019. Microsoft had to show the crowd that the game had life in it, yet the only thing that really came across is how it just seems to exist without any solid grasp on itself.