May 27, 2008 – 6:00 am
The next issue in the new post-Civil War Thor series arrives this week, and I have your advance review of it. Spoilers after the jump.
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May 26, 2008 – 12:56 pm
With all the hoopla about violence and adult content in video games, and with new Jack Thompsons popping up every week to decry the fall of society at the hands of the Rockstar Games of the world, one would think stores are handing out “murder trainers” willy nilly nowadays. Quite the contrary, actually. Last week I picked up my copy of Age of Conan, the new M-rated massively multiplayer game from FunCom, set in the Hyborian world of Conan the Barbarian. The game has gotten a lot of pre-release press for being a lot bloodier than its competing MMO’s, and in keeping with the Conan mythos and themes there’s quite a bit of aleing and wenching in the game.
I’m turning 30 next week, and I don’t think there’s any way I could even attempt to pass for younger than 25. But lo and behold, when I went to buy Age of Conan, the cashier at Best Buy carded me! This is the first time in quite a while that I’ve been carded for anything, and it was a rather gratifying experience. She seemed knowledgeable about the Conan game, and it was obvious that the employees had been instructed about how the game should be sold and who it shouldn’t be sold to. I count this as a big positive in the gaming market.
Contrast this to my picking up Grand Theft Auto IV at Circuit City on its release day and not being carded at all. Maybe the Circuit City folks just knew from sight that there was no way I was underage, but it was still a good feeling to know Best Buy is keeping an eye on who gets their hands on M-rated games. The stores and parents-not the lobbyists and conservative talking heads-should be the legislators for keeping kids from playing games they shouldn’t be playing.
May 26, 2008 – 12:08 pm
Daredevil #107 hits stands this Thursday, and here’s an advance review of what you can expect from the first installment of the new “Cruel & Unusual” arc. Beware of spoilers after the jump.
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May 26, 2008 – 11:38 am
The Witchblade motion picture was just announced a week or so ago, and the studio isn’t wasting any time on getting things rolling. Here’s a look at the teaser poster that’s already hit the web, and an official website already is online as well. The site is pretty bare bones for now and doesn’t have anything more than a sign-up area where you can add your name to the movie’s newsletter for now.
The Witchblade movie will be based on the long-running comic book series from Top Cow about a New York City police officer who becomes the wielder of a mystical gauntlet called the Witchblade. The comic previously was adapted as a short-lived TV series starring Yancy Butler.
Have a look at the official site: Link
May 26, 2008 – 11:08 am
Ever since the XBox Live Arcade went online with the launch of the XBox 360, there’s been a steady flow of new games being released every week. I’ve always taken a certain satisfaction in knowing that all the games always would be there for download if I ever got an urge to give some of them a shot that I’d missed when they originally sprang onto the marketplace. And indeed, I occasionally do go back and sample the older wares, and it’s cool to see such a huge selection still available and growing by the week. Granted, a lot of it is arguably crap, but I like to think the consumers can make educated decisions on what they want to spend their hard earned Microsoft Points to purchase.
No longer! Marc Whitten, the general manager of XBox Live, has announced that Microsoft is about to start yanking poorly performing older games from the service. The criteria for a game to be pulled from the service include:
- The game is more than six months old.
- The Metacritic rating for the game is below 65%.
- The conversion rate for the game is less than 6% (meaning that less than 6% of people who download the demo end up unlocking the full game).
Metacritic is a site that collects review scores from various websites for games, movies, music, TV shows, and DVDs, and presents an overall collaborative score for easy digestion. It’s always lurking in the corner for game companies and developers, as many consider the Metacritic score the real benchmark for how good a game is and how well received it is by the general public. This is the first time I can recall hearing a major company cite it as a tool for determining their business practices, though.
Microsoft will be giving three months’ notice before removing games from the Arcade. At the end of those three months, the game will be zapped into the ether, never to be buyable again. If you already own the game after that time, you’ll still be able to play it online and off, and you’ll be able to redownload it as long as you’ve already purchased it.
Source: NextGeneration
May 22, 2008 – 11:01 am
The fine folks at CHUD spoke with Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, this week, and he dropped a few interesting tidbits about the plethora of upcoming comics-to-film adaptations that are happening. Among the notable hints and facts are:
- The Captain America movie will be set during World War II and will be called The First Avenger: Captain America.
- Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk are confirmed as “core members” of The Avengers.
- A director for the Thor film will be announced by the end of the summer.
- Feige strongly hints that the Mandarin will indeed be the main villain for Iron Man 2.
It sounds like Marvel is committed to making a cohesive superhero movie universe, which is exactly how they should be approaching these films. The two Iron Man movies, The Incredible Hulk, the Cap film, and Thor all will be leading up to the release of The Avengers. If the hype and excitement around the first Iron Man is any indication of what’s to come, we can expect huge things for Marvel in the next few years.
Source: CHUD
May 22, 2008 – 10:17 am
The rumors have been rampant ever since the game shipped for the XBox 360, and now it’s confirmed: Bioshock is coming to the Playstation 3. Aside from the official confirmation of the port to the PS3, there aren’t really any details about the new version at this time. The next issue of PSM3, releasing June 5, promises an in depth look at the game on its new platform, but I have no doubt there will be some details trickling out between now and then.
Source: ComputerAndVideoGames
May 22, 2008 – 9:50 am
Summit Entertainment has an eye toward relaunching the Highlander franchise with a remake of the original film from 1986. Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway have been tagged to write the new Highlander reimagining. The original movie starred Christopher Lambert as an immortal locked in eternal conflict, and it spawned several sequels and even moved into the TV realm for three different series. There’s no doubt that Highlander is a lucrative property, and here’s hoping there’s some life left in it yet–no pun intended.
Source: ICv2
May 22, 2008 – 9:42 am
The Runaways are a relatively new superhero team on the comic book scenes, but they’re already in line to get the movie treatment from Marvel. The adaptation is being penned by Brian K. Vaughn, the original creator of Runaways and the writer of a number of top-notch comic series, including Y The Last Man and Pride of Baghdad.
Runaways tells the story of a group of superpowered teens on the run and attempting to step out of the shadows of their evil supervillain parents. Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) had a turn at writing the series recently, and Runaways won a Harvey award in 2006 for Best Series.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
May 22, 2008 – 9:33 am
The next issue of Sports Illustrated will be something of a culture clash, as the world of DC comics invades Major League Baseball. The cover of the new issue, releasing May 26, features Bizarro and a headline story looking at the “Bizarro Baseball Season.” Just another example of comic books reaching mainstream culture, which really isn’t a bad thing at all.
Source: ICv2
