Happy Star Wars Day and May the Fourth Be With You.
To celebrate, here is an 8 minute clip of the upcoming Lego Star Wars game that will adapt Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Lead through by one of the game developers, this is fun look at what is to come.
Personally, I’m excited about the PlayStation exclusive content The Phantom Limb, which could be related to the C-3PO one-shot by former Starman team James Robinson and Tony Harris.
What if our greatest heroes became our greatest threat? Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced Injustice: Gods Among Us, an all-new game in development by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, creators of the definitive fighting game franchise Mortal Kombat. The game is scheduled for release in 2013 for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system and the Wii U(TM) system from Nintendo.
Injustice: Gods Among Us debuts as a bold new fighting game franchise that introduces a deep, original story featuring a large cast of favorite DC Comics icons such as Batman, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and many others. Set in a world where the lines between good and evil are blurred, players will experience heroes and villains engaging in epic battles on a massive scale.
“With Injustice: Gods Among Us, we are creating an all-new franchise with incredible battles set in the DC Comics Universe,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “NetherRealm Studios is the extremely talented team behind the latest Mortal Kombat hit and it is developing a game unlike any other in the fighting genre.”
“We can’t wait to reveal Injustice: Gods Among Us because it will give our fans and gamers an epic experience as they battle like gods as their favorite DC Comics villains and heroes,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “Our team is excited to make a fighting game that is filled with fast-paced action, incredible story-telling and iconic DC Comics characters.”
About DC Entertainment DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world. In January 2012, DC Entertainment, in collaboration with Warner Bros. and Time Warner divisions, launched We Can Be Heroes–a giving campaign featuring the iconic Justice League super heroes–to raise awareness and funds to fight the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.
About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.
Game trailer
About NetherRealm Studios NetherRealm Studios is a leader in the development of interactive entertainment, and the creator of the billion dollar Mortal Kombat franchise. Mortal Kombat has spawned two theatrical films, multiple television series, and has sold over 28 million games to date. Located in Chicago, Illinois the award-winning NetherRealm team has been working and creating games together since 1992. Additional information about NetherRealm Studios can be found at http://www.netherrealm.com .
INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US (C) 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Developed by NetherRealm Studios. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE are either trademarks or registered trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Nintendo trademarks and copyrights are properties of Nintendo.
DC LOGO, and all characters, their distinctive likenesses, and related elements are trademarks of DC Comics (C) 2012. NETHERREALM STUDIOS LOGO, WB GAMES LOGO, WB SHIELD: (TM) & (C) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s12)
Via ComicbookResources
Just announced for iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad App store is a new interactive Doctor Who video game titled The Mazes of Time. As many have already pointed out, the graphics look far superior to the Wii and Nintendo DS games released earlier this year.
The story follows the adventures of Amy and the Doctor (Rory is MIA as usual) as they attempt to rescue an innocent family, scattered through time by the fallout, from a Dalek attack.
Gameplay is said to mix action and puzzles with the player able to switch between the TARDIS duo.
The new screenshots show a top-down perspective, and while the graphics are fairly basic, remember this is a mobile game.
The tie-in for the upcoming Captain America The First Avenger film, Captain America: Super Soldier, is being released by Sega for a 2011 release. Like other movie tie-in video games, it is based loosely on the film’s universe but has a new plot, this time from Avengers scribe Christos Gage.
Via B4Tea:
The game is basically a third-person action game and is actually set during World War II and will see Cap facing off against his nemesis, Red Skull, within the walls of a castle turned Hydra base. Sega is touting a “highly athletic combat system with fluid platforming and a highly tuned suite of shield attacks,” mentioning that the iconic offensive weapon will be used for “taking out multiple enemies at once, deflecting incoming fire back at enemies, solving puzzles, and scaling walls.”
Back in the day, X-Men was my favorite comic book series (yes, it was so long ago that there was only ONE monthly X-Men book). The 1992 X-Men Arcade Game arrived at the perfect time to reap the popularity of the comic by combining multi-player action similar to what I had enjoyed on Gauntlet and Golden Axe with characters and continuity right out of the comic.
Based loosely on the failed pilot ‘Pryde of the X-Men,’ the game showcased Magneto as the chief baddie along with his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and others such as Wendigo. The game also had various types of mutant hunting Sentinels to keep things interesting. The team lineup was also based on the cartoon, with Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler as playable characters.
18 years later (oy, I’m old), the X-Men Arcade Game has come to the home console market via Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.
I’m still having trouble connecting to that holiday spirit, but this mix of Christmas Carols by Doctor Octoroc really does something for me. Mixing the time-honored carols to the mad music of old NES games is a stroke of genius and just what the Santa ordered.
The music of NES games is both hypnotic and other-worldly. Playing an old NES game often involved a rather serious commitment on the part of the gamer, involving long hours of thumb-crushing frustration mixed with joy. I have strong memories of seeing a little Mario guy in my mind hopping along the furniture of my dentist’s office as I waited for my turn. The repetitive nature of the gameplay mixed with the incredible music made for some of the most impressive game-playing experiences of my childhood.The insane adagios and strong beats were never really appreciated at the time, but it’s nice to see that history is being kind in its reverence.
The NES tunes still refuse to leave my head and remain there in the back of mind like a race memory.
Everyone has their favorites, but here is one list of great vintage NES melodies:
After reading an article about how the holiday season has directly impacted the ‘me gift’ market, I have found that I cannot keep my mouth shut. Sure, it is more important to give than to receive and there are many more people in need than ever before, but… well… what do I get?
The holiday shopping season for consumers has always included a ‘special something’ for the shopper to even the playing field of selflessness and I see no reason why an ailing economy on the verge of depression should change things.
A recent article in Game Informer magazine focused heavily on the finest Gamecube games which is a step in the right direction but still you’re talking real money there. I suggest taking it one step further and buying a Nintendo 64.
Crazy you say?
I maintain that while the N64 system is not up to par with the new generation of online multi-super-bit game systems that allow you to connect with teenagers across the globe eager to own your ass in a game of Rainbow Six, it still delivers the goods.
Even if only for a week, the N64 is a fantastic budget fun machine.
A refurbished system and a pair of controller may set you back a maximum $25 and from there the sky’s the limit!
May I recommend a few choice games that will turn your ice-covered den into a funtastic arcade! For games, start with the essentials:
James Bond in Goldeneye-
One of the best shooters ever on any home console system. Sure, the graphics are primitive but the gameplay is downright addictive. I recall fondly the days that my college buddies and I would enjoy an entire evening of ‘Bond’-ing over this game in the multi-player levels. The trip-mines are key in my opinion. What a surprise that the game has aged far more gracefully than the film itself.
Starfox-
One of the all time best flight simulators, I am also quite fond of the talking animals angle that this game revels in. A franchise that still ranks high in the gaming industry, the N64 game has to be the best of the lot.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire-
The dark time for Star Wars fans also ended up being its most inventive as this cross-market explosion hit gamers, comic fans, and toy collectors all at once! A thrilling tale that takes place during the proper trilogy rather than the CGI-fest that followed it, this remains one of my favorite Star Wars experiments. The game itself is full of great moments from ‘threading the needle’ on Tatooine on a speeder bike to fighting IG-88 on a junk planet.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron-
One of the N64’s many exclusive games, I have long heard of the love for this game and it is well-founded. Long before Battlefront and other vast games that span the entire franchise of Star Wars mythology this game stuck to its guns and took gamers for a wild ride through the best moments in the best of the Star Wars films.
Turok-
Dinosaurs and shooters have never been mixed this well. Turok is one of the last games to stretch the shooter dynamic to embrace new ideas and what a hit it was! Surprisingly later expansions have left gamers cold, but this version still holds up as a fantastic cartridge of joy sure to please the most grudgeful gamer.
At roughly $5 a pop you can set yourself and a friend up for at least a week to a month (depending on how bad the season gets) of solid fun that you will not regret. If you really feel left out, you can hook it up to a VCR and play old VHS tapes at the same time to turn it into a multimedia system but I think you’ll find that the N64 is more fun that you’d think.
So beat the system and look to the past for your fun.
The videogame adaptation of the classic Frank Miller comic book series Sin City has acquired a writer.
Award-winning scriptwriter Flint Dille (GI Joe, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher’s Bay) has started work with Miller on what promises to be one of the most desirable games of 2008.
When asked to comment on the collaboration, Dille said:
Frank and I met during what I call our ‘professional adolescence’ when he was doing the Dark Knight and I was doing the Transformers cartoon series, and we’ve been great friends ever since… Frank and I have been having a party coming up with nasty stuff for the game. In true Sin City fashion, some old characters will return, new characters will appear and — without giving anything away — probably die horribly. It’s great to be working with the Red Mile team on this project: They clearly share Frank’s and my commitment to bringing a new and true Sin City to interactive life.
I imagine that the videogame will be similar to games such as Red Dead Revolver, where players have several characters to work with, each with their own stories.
Personally, I’m thinking that the Marv segment will be the loudest game ever made.
One of the longest enduring adventure characters James Bond has been entertaining Dad and lad (and President Kennedy) for generations. Essentially a live action pulp character who kills with a wry grin, drinks heavily, drives gorgeous cars tricked out with sharpened jacks that spray from the tailpipe and occasionally kisses pretty ladies, it has taken a surprisingly long time to adapt this dashing secret agent for home video game systems.
This is a look at some recent attempts.
GoldenEye
(Nintendo 64)-
Though the Bond franchise had been adapted for the home console and PC format since 1983’s Parker Brothers game, none of the releases really struck it rich (aside from the amazing 1989’s 007: Licence to Kill by Domark). It wasn’t until Rare’s GoldenEye first person shooter that non-Bond fans suddenly noticed that the character could star in some great video games.
Closely following the story of the film, this game combines first person shooter aspects with simple puzzle games and gadgets like the laser wristwatch. The real treat here is the multi-player. Everything from machine guns to rocket launchers to wall mines can be used to kill your roommate and whoever else happened by. In college, this was one of the most loved games and considered by many to be the reason to buy the N64 in the first place. The game captures the charm and action appeal of the films while utilizing the strengths of the N64’s graphics engine to the utmost.
A grand first outing.
Agent Under Fire
After acquiring the Bond franchise, EA Games decided to give the go-ahead for its first game without a film to base it on. They also decided to not base their Bond on Pierce Brosnan and instead our hero ends up as a kind of George Lazenby model… which frankly I prefer.
Not as strong a game as GoldenEye, Agent Under Fire offers gamers a totally unique storyline, new gadgets (including a jet pack and a rappelling mobile phone), and excellent driving sequences.
At the time, this game was viewed as a kind of disappointment, but in retrospect it’s a clear success and indicator of things to come. The only real failing that I can stand by with this game is that the bullets look more like candy being shot by Shriners than deadly gunfire from secret agents. The conclusion, an intense chase sequence through underwater tunnels, is really well done and should be included in a Bond film one day.
Nightfire
The follow-up to Agent Under Fire is far and away a great success. Nightfire incorporates Brosnan‘s likeness (but strangely not his voice), includes a musical opening sequence and features an underwater ‘driving’ sequence straight out of The Spy Who Loved Me.
The story is your typical Bond fare… a mad super villain has an over the top evil plot and Bond has a short time in which to stop him before everyone dies. Gameplay and locations are varied and includes a missile platform in space which Bond must disarm.
Arguably one of the most enjoyable Bond games, it’s also the last one to feature the first person shooter format (unless you count GoldenEye: Rogue Agent).
Everything or Nothing
Finally, we get to the big leagues, Everything or Nothing. Written by Bruce Feirstein who worked on the films GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough, this is the first James Bond video game that feels like a movie and in fact has been referred to as the 2004 Bond film by fans.
Willem DeFoe provides the voice for the ex-KGB heavy Max Zorin who has stolen nanotechnology capable of eating metal. Forging an army of tanks coated in platinum (which acts like a kind of bug spray for the metal eating nanites), he leads a coup in Russia in his attempt to take over the world.
Again, the locales are all over the world, including a driving mission in New Orleans and an elaborate shoot out in a vast ruined temple. Utilizing the likeness and voice of Brosnan, this game introduced the concept of ‘Bond time’ which allows for the player to achieve absurdly impossible feats after realizing key context items in a particular situation. Again, the game also includes loads of gadgets including the Q-Spider which players can maneuver via a handheld remote control.
Easily the best Bond game to date, Everything or Nothing raised the bar for adventure games while delivering the video game experience that James Bond fans deserved from the beginning.
From Russia With Love
A follow-up to the grand ‘Everything or Nothing’ features the return of the best and most dashing Bond of them all, Sean Connery.
Adapting the best Bond film to date, From Russia With Love has it all and is the only Bond retro game experiment this far (fans already provided a wish list to EA Games after the game was released for further film-to-game adaptations).
The game detours from the game here and there (developing a Spectre-like evil organization named Octopus), but fans of the classic film will not be disappointed to find that a painstaking attention to detail has been paid to this game. From Connery’s hat toss to the hand to hand combat maneuvers that made Connery’s Bond such a brawler in comparison to his less deadly successors.
Much like Everything or Nothing, gadgets are the forte in this game, but they are detailed to fit into the 1960’s chic that the Bond films were known for. This goes for everything from the belt repelling device to the portable helicopter-robot and even the vintage cars… which I wept over as I demolished them in Istanbul.
Connery’s noticeably older brogue is a bit of a distraction here, but it really is a mind-blowing experience to maneuver the ‘real’ James Bond through a game for the first time. Not only does it sound and look like Connery, the CGI character even moves like him, right down to his skidding on the leather soles of his shoes.
One of the most difficult and challenging of the Bond video game series, From Russia With Love belongs in your videogame library.
EA Games has recently sold the Bond video game license to Activision, who are currently developing a game to coincide with Bond 22, leaving many gamers rapt with anticipation over what will be done with the pixilated secret agent.
I suppose until then, we’ll have to cool our heels and our tempers with an ice cold martini.
The tie-in for the upcoming Captain America The First Avenger film, Captain America: Super Soldier, is being released by Sega for a 2011 release. Like other movie tie-in video games, it is based loosely on the film’s universe but has a new plot, this time from Avengers scribe Christos Gage.
Back in the day, X-Men was my favorite comic book series (yes, it was so long ago that there was only ONE monthly X-Men book). The 1992 X-Men Arcade Game arrived at the perfect time to reap the popularity of the comic by combining multi-player action similar to what I had enjoyed on Gauntlet and Golden Axe with characters and continuity right out of the comic. 
The videogame adaptation of the classic Frank Miller comic book series Sin City has acquired a writer.
GoldenEye
Agent Under Fire
Nightfire
Everything or Nothing
From Russia With Love
The Daily P.O.P. 