Month: July 2018

Ahh, that special time of year where we think about sharks more than we normally do. July 22 marks the start of “Shark Week,” which is a block of TV programming themed around sharks. Presumably to celebrate the occasion, Fortnite has added some new shark-themed items.

These include a “Chomp Sr.” outfit (2,000 V-Bucks) and the “Chomp Jr. pickaxe (1,500 V-Bucks). There is also a new emote called “On The Hook,” (500 V-Bucks) which shows your character reeling in a fish (or a shark, I guess) and then showing it off with a smile on your face. All of the items are cosmetic in nature only, just like everything else in the game.

Believe it or not, this year marks the 30th anniversary of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” event. There is a lot of new stuff this year, including Shaquille O’Neal trying to overcome his fear of his sharks alongside Rob Riggle and Ronda Rousey swimming uncaged with sharks.

In other Fortnite news, the game is celebrating its first anniversary by offering up special quests you can complete to unlock birthday-themed cosmetics and an XP bonus. You can check out GameSpot’s previous coverage here to learn all about it.

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris could feature a competitive gaming tournament, bringing gaming to the global event for the first time and making gaming an Olympic sport. Whether or not eSports gets into the Olympics will be decided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the organisation took a further step in the discussion process this weekend.

The IOC and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) hosted an “eSports Forum” at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland this weekend. The purpose of the event was to “[begin] a dialogue to build joint understanding and set a platform for future engagement between the esports and gaming industries and the Olympic Movement.”

More than 150 representatives from gaming attended the event, including professional gamers like Jacob Lyon from the Houston Outlaws pro Overwatch League team. Lyon interviewed IOC president Thomas Bach. Also in attendance was Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer, as well as former NBA player and eSports investor Rick Fox.

During the Forum, participants talked about potential collaboration opportunities, including the big one on everyone’s mind: can gaming be a recognised Olympic sport? However, the Forum’s directive was never to decide something about this, but instead it was meant to continue the discussion around the topic broadly.

“The Esports Forum was a unique opportunity to hear from a wide variety of stakeholders, including some of the top players themselves,” IOC sports director Kit McConnell said in statement. “There was a consensus that future collaboration will be based on ensuring that any activity supports and promotes the Olympic values; and while the goal was not to develop a pathway towards the inclusion of esports on the Olympic programme, we have a strong plan for ongoing dialogue and engagement, and are in a strong position to coordinate and support the wider engagement of the Olympic Movement with esports.”

This eSports Forum followed the Olympic Summit in 2017 when the IOC and people from the gaming community got together to talk about gaming and the Olympics. Looking ahead, the IOC and the GAISF have created the “Esports Liaison Group” that aims to “continue communication and engagement between the Olympic Movement and eSports and gaming stakeholders in order to identify areas of potential collaboration.”

It’s still a long road ahead for gaming at the Olympics. The next discussion will be held at the Olympism in Action Forum in Buenos Aires in October, which will be attended by members of the Esports Liaison Group and people from the Youth Olympic Games. After that, eSports will be further discussed at the GAISF IF Forum in November in Switzerland and then again with each of the world’s 206 National Olympic Committees at the XXIII ANOC General Assembly meeting later in the month in Tokyo. The IOC will then officially put eSports on the agenda to be voted on at the Olympic Summit in December 2018.

A list of events for the 2024 Games in Paris will begin to take form in 2019, while the official list of sports will be announced after the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Last year, Bach–the IOC president–suggested that “violent” video games might not be included in the Olympics if video games do get approved. “We want to promote non-discrimination, non-violence, and peace among people,” Bach said. “This doesn’t match with video games, which are about violence, explosions, and killing. And there we have to draw a clear line.”

Bach suggested that it would be more likely that games like FIFA and NBA 2K would be at the Olympics, though nothing at all has been decided yet.

While gaming has yet to be featured as a medal event at the Olympics, eSports will be a medal event at the Asian Games in 2022. A list of games for the event has not been announced as of yet, however.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part portion of Warner Bros.’ massive Hall H panel at Comic-Con 2018 opened with a LEGO version of Aisha Tyler moderating a pre-recorded panel with LEGO Batman, LEGO Aquaman (both versions–the classic orange-suited one and the Jason Momoa Justice League version), plus Lego Movie stars Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks).

The unfinished, exclusive LEGO Movie 2 footage shown gave attendees a new glimpse at the now-apocalyptic LEGO world–basically, it’s Mad Max with LEGOs. “Everything was awesome. Now, everything is bleak,” Wyldstyle says. Of course, Emmet quickly breaks the mood by cheerily showing up with coffee. In the footage, the movie’s new villain, General Mayhem, kidnaps Wyldstyle. LEGO Harley Quinn points out that rescuing her is a “suicide mission,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to Suicide Squad.

Most importantly, the clip introduced us to Rex Dangervest, a new character also voiced by Chris Pratt, who among his many jobs is a “raptor trainer,” a cute little Jurassic World joke. The two characters show the dual sides of Pratt, who, as the actor pointed out during the panel, started his career as the hapless Andy on Parks and Rec and is now a superhero and action movie star.

Unlike the first LEGO Movie, which was directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the follow-up will be helmed by Mike Mitchell. It’s set five years after the first film and, along with those mentioned above, the cast consists of Jonah Hill (Green Lantern), Will Arnett (Batman), Channing Tatum (Superman), and Stephanie Beatriz (Sweet Mayhem). It releases on February 8, 2019.

San Diego Comic-Con 2018 Coverage

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Fans of The CW’s DC output have come to expect new seasons of their favorite shows to arrive each fall, and this year will be no different. Supergirl is one of the series that returns in October, alongside The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow. The first trailer for Supergirl Season 4 has been revealed at San Diego Comic-Con.

The trailer is extremely dramatic and centres around a voiceover from the evil Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer). He talks about waves of destruction and orders mankind to stand up against “the invaders”–presumably superheroes like Supergirl. There’s also loads of impressively staged city-wide destruction and the debut of a seriously cool-looking new Supergirl suit. Check it out above.

Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl, plus Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, Jeremy Jordan as Winn Schott, and Katie McGrath as Lena Luthor. Season 4 premieres on The CW on October 14.

In related news, it was reported last week that The CW has greenlit the pilot of a Batwoman show. The Vampire Diaries showrunner Caroline Dries is set to write and executively produce. The character will debut during the network’s annual crossover event in December, which will incorporate all the shows in the so-called Arrow-verse.

DC fans also have plenty to look forward to when the streaming service DC Universe launches in the fall. The service will present a variety of new live-action and animated shows, plus classic DC movies and series, and comic books. The first trailers for two of the new shows–the live-action Titans and the animated Young Justice: Outsiders–were also revealed at this year’s SDCC.

San Diego Comic-Con 2018 Coverage