Disney is reportedly unlikely to rehire James Gunn as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which may cause the movie to be postponed.
Variety reports Disney won’t change its decision to fire Gunn after a series of older offensive tweets from the filmmaker recently surfaced. This is despite the Guardians cast recently issuing an open letter supporting Gunn.
MoviePass has had a rough go of it as of late, with the movie subscription service suffering widespread outages last week followed by questions about it potentially going out of business. But in a letter to subscribers, CEO Mitch Lowe issued an apology and promised that changes are on the way.
Lowe said his first priority was issuing a personal apology “for the inconsistencies and unreliability” subscribers have had to deal with as of late. He added that he regrets a failure to address these issues sooner but promised that changes were already in place to help MoviePass continue offering its theater-going subscription service.
Batman and Robin may have the single most iconic partnership in the superhero world, but their relationship isn’t all sunshine and roses. Take the new trailer for the live-action Titans series, for example. When Robin isn’t smashing his boot of justice into evil’s neck, he’s shocking audiences everywhere by saying “F*** Batman!”
That may be a particularly extreme case of Batman and Robin’s relationship turning sour, but there’s definitely a precedent here. Between his antisocial personality and his habit of letting sidekicks die on the job, Batman has had quite a few nasty breakups over the years. Here are the most memorable cases in DC’s comics, TV shows and movies.
Madden NFL 19 keeps its focus where it belongs: its moment-to-moment gameplay. This year’s entry comes with the promise of improved player motion, a more intimate franchise experience, and the return of two hometown heroes as the Longshot story continues with a new chapter.
But does Madden ‘19 have the balance needed to stay between the uprights and keep both newcomers and long-time Madden fans happy? In short: Yes, yes it does.
In a surprisingly – yet welcomed – straight-forward call, Real Player Motion is touted as the marquee gameplay enhancement and allows more control in game-changing situations. In year two of the series’ move to the Frostbite engine, it’s apparent the development team is learning how to maximize the technology.
Producer of the original Japanese Grudge franchise Ju-on, Taja Ichise, has filed a breach of contract suit against the upcoming Sony remake.
Ichise is claiming that Good Universe refused to allow him a producer’s credit he upcoming film, despite the fact that the original contract said the film production company could have the rights to the franchise on the condition it included said credit.
Ichise produced the original Ju-On in 2002, which was adapted in 2004 in a Sarah Michelle-Gellar starring American remake. The upcoming reboot will be based on the 2004 film and will be produced by Sam Raimi. The movie will star Demian Bichir (The Hateful Eight) and Andrea Riseborough (Battle of the Sexes), and Nicolas Pesce will direct from a script he wrote.
On Wednesday at Gen Con 2018, Fantasy Flight Games revealed the newest card game from legendary Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, KeyForge.
Similar to Magic, KeyForge is a 1v1 competitive card game, but instead of using the traditional ‘Trading Card Game’ format where you build a deck out of randomized booster packs, or the ‘Living Card Game’ format where you get all of the cards outright and then buy full expansion sets later, KeyForge will use an entirely new format called a ‘Unique Deck Game’.
What that means is that players will buy a premade 36-card deck that is a completely unique combination of cards from the game. No other deck in the world will be exactly like it, and it can’t be altered or customized in any way, even having its own unique card back and name to distinguish the cards in it.
In the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War’s theatrical release, many fans were blaming Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), whose actions interfered with the Avengers trying to remove the Infinity Gauntlet, for Thanos’s survival and victory but blame could be laid at another hero’s feet, Thor (Chris Hemsworth).
Shortly after Thanos obtains all six Infinity Stones, Thor emerges from the heavens with his powerful axe Stormbreaker, which strikes Thanos in the chest, not the head, a decision that ultimately resulted in half of all life being snapped out of existence. Writer Christopher Markus revealed on the Avengers: Infinity War commentary track that Thor’s decision was fueled by revenge, while adding a humorous anecdote about when this scene was shot.
The NPD Group has released its report for June, revealing which consoles and games sold the best during the summer month in the United States. Starting with hardware, Nintendo’s NES Classic, which was brought back on June 29, was the month’s best-seller in terms of total units. However, Sony’s PlayStation 4 took the top spot as it relates to overall dollar sales.
This makes sense, of course, because the NES Classic costs significantly less than the PS4. Still, it’s an impressive performance for Nintendo’s classic system, especially when you consider it launched at the very end of June. Hopefully the rumoured N64 Classic comes next.
Also of note is that June 2018 was the first time since NPD’s tracking began in 1995 that a NES console was the best-seller in terms of unit sales.
While the Xbox One didn’t finish first, it had a strong June 2018. Sales, on a dollar basis, rose by nearly double compared to July 2017. Additionally, Nintendo Switch sales jumped by more than 50 percent, while PS4 dollar sales of course grew as well.
Overall, hardware spending in the US for June 2017 jumped by 52 percent year-over-year to $350 million. As mentioned, all major home consoles experienced growth, and the NPD Group said this was driven in part by the popularity of Fortnite, price cuts and bundles, and the re-launch of the NES Classic.
In terms of game sales, Nintendo’s Switch-exclusive Mario Tennis Aces was the best-selling game of June 2018 in the US. It passes the N64’s Mario Tennis to become the all-time single-month sales leader for a tennis game since NPD tracking began. Sony’s PS4-exclusive God of War was No. 2 in June, and it remains the second best-selling game of 2018 behind Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5. Another new Ubisoft game, the racing title The Crew 2, launched at the end of June and finished in the No. 4 position. Notably, it was outsold by Grand Theft Auto V, which was released nearly five years ago.
Another notable takeaway from June 2018 software sales is that the Switch was the only console that showed game sale growth in June. Additionally, full-game download sales grew “significantly,” thanks in part to GOTY/Remastered/Anniversary re-releases.
Overall, software sales in June 2018 across console, portable, and PC hit $374 million, which is down 1 percent compared to the same period last year. With hardware and software combined, total June 2018 gaming revenue jumped 25 percent to $1.1 billion.
*Titles marked with an asterisk do not include digital sales*
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Top 10 3DS Games
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While it may feel like we’re living in the waning days of pop YA sci-fi/fantasy-lit film adaptations (an era ushered in by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001 and one that lived large throughout the 2000s), the genre, it seems, still has a few flutters of life left in it yet. The pop YA sci-fi/fantasy The Darkest Minds, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and based on the novels by Alexandra Bracken, may scratch the very particular YA itch possessed by those who grew up with the genre (and who perhaps miss it), but will certainly not usher in a new, secondary post-modern wave of post-Potter YA adventures. Unless, of course, and by some wild chance, it earns hundreds of millions of dollars.
In one of the stranger and more surprising pieces of news this week, Bethesda has announced a partnership with mixed martial arts company UFC to have one of its competitors promote Bethesda games in Australia and New Zealand. As part of this, UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is becoming a “brand ambassador” for Bethesda in ANZ regions.
Whittaker, who was already a big fan of Bethesda’s games and is from Australia, will work with Bethesda on “various initiatives” to promote the release of Fallout 76 in November.
ZeniMax Australia boss Simon Alty said in a statement that Whittaker is a “perfect fit” to become Bethesda’s brand ambassador for ANZ regions. “Rob’s at an incredibly exciting time of his career and Bethesda is also in the process of announcing and releasing game-changing titles, so we can’t wait to see what we can achieve together,” he said.
For his part, Whittaker said he’s turned to gaming in the past to help relieve stress and recover after getting his body bashed in UFC fights. “I look forward to collaborating with Bethesda as they reveal more details about their upcoming releases and sharing this excitement with my followers and their community,” he said.
Fallout 76 launches on November 14 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Unlike previous entries in the acclaimed RPG series, Fallout 76 is an always-online, multiplayer-focused game, so it will be interesting to see how the community responds. A beta will be held prior to launch, and you can guarantee yourself a spot by pre-ordering.