Month: May 2019

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is the latest movie in the hit action series, in which Keanu Reeves stars as a former assassin reluctantly brought back into action. It hits theaters later this month, but some critics have already seen the movie, and their first reactions are rolling in via social media.

The movie is directed by Chad Stahelski, who helmed John Wick: Chapter 2 and co-directed the first movie. It also stars Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Halle Berry, Lance Reddick, Asia Kate Dillon, Anjelica Huston, Jason Mantzoukas, and Mark Dacascos.

The reactions on Twitter so far are very positive. Unsurprisingly, many critics have highlighted the action sequences, which go beyond anything seen in the series so far in terms of their scale and invention. There is also praise for the way the movie broadens the mythology of its hitman underworld, plus the performances from Reeves, Berry, and Dillon.

Check below for a roundup of reactions. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum releases on May 17. For more, check out the latest trailer and this tense first clip.

The Strong Museum has announced the 2019 round of inductees into its World Video Game Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include Windows Solitaire, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Kart, and Colossal Cave Adventure.

They were selected by a panel of experts from a pool that also included Centipede, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, Myst, NBA 2K, Sid Meier’s Civilzation, Candy Crush Saga, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Those titles will have a chance to enter the Hall next year.

In a statement, the museum said this year’s four inductees have all “significantly affected the video game industry, popular culture, and society in general.”

The World Video Game Hall of Fame opened at the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York in 2015 with the aim of honoring the best, most influential games ever. To enter the Hall of Fame, a game must have “enjoyed popularity over a sustained period and have exerted influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general.”

Microsoft released a celebratory video to mark Solitaire’s inclusion in the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Microsoft Casual Games boss Paul Jansen said Solitaire getting inducted into the Hall of Fame is a “historic day” for what he said is one of the most-played games ever. Windows Solitaire launched in 1990 as a tool to teach users how to use a mouse.

Mortal Kombat series creator Ed Boon said on Twitter that NetherRealm is “very honored” for Mortal Kombat to be added to the Hall of Fame.

Some of the previous Hall of Fame inductees include classics like Donkey Kong, Halo: Combat Evolved, The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon Red & Green, and World of Warcraft, among others. The inductees are on display permanently at The Strong Museum.

2018 World Video Game Hall Of Fame Inductees

• Microsoft Windows Solitaire
• Mortal Kombat
• Super Mario Kart
• Colossal Cave Adventure

Previous World Video Game Hall Of Fame Inductees

• Donkey Kong
• Doom
• Final Fantasy VII
• Grand Theft Auto III
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• John Madden Football
• The Legend of Zelda
• The Oregon Trail
• Pac-Man
• Pokemon Red and Green
• Pong
• The Sims
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Space Invaders
• Spacewar!
• Street Fighter II
• Super Mario Bros.
• Tetris
• Tomb Raider
• World of Warcraft

Metallica singer James Hetfield has a small role in the new Ted Bundy movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Vile, and Evil that stars Zac Efron as the serial killer. Hetfield plays the police officer who caught Bundy for the first time–for a traffic violation. It’s a pivotal moment in Bundy’s life and the movie, and Hetfield “absolutely nailed the part,” according to Efron.

Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, Efron said he expected Hetfield–who has limited acting experience–to ask for some advice or a note. He didn’t.

“James Hetfield, to his credit, he came in and he absolutely nailed the part,” he said. “He just crushed it. It’s like he’s been acting his whole life. He did a great job.”

“James Hetfield is the shit.”

A Netflix movie, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile follows the crimes of Bundy but told from the vantage point of his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, who is played by Lily Collins (Tolkien, To the Bone). Kaya Scodelario, Jim Parsons, John Malkovich, and Haley Joel Osment.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile hits Netflix on May 3; it is directed by Joe Berlinger. He was nominated for an Oscar for the documentary Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.

Netflix paid a reported $9 million to acquire the film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival back in January. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Vile and Evil will also have a limited theatrical run.

BioWare’s newest game, Anthem, received a mixed critical reception upon release in February. It sold very well but it might not have had the impact some expected it to. BioWare later delayed a lot of the game’s anticipated content, leading some to worry about its future. Some of Anthem’s top developers are now speaking up to stress to fans that that BioWare is committed to the project. Anthem’s head of live services, Chad Robertson, said on Twitter that BioWare remains fully committed to the game and expanding it with new content.

“We remain 100% committed to Anthem and look forward to showing players the new content we are working on,” he said. “We want to make sure we aren’t overpromising, so our updates on what’s coming in the game will be focused when we have things near completion.”

A “big team” is working on Anthem’s upcoming content across BioWare’s Austin and Edmonton studios, Robertson added. The teams are specifically working on “improving the game.”

BioWare lead producer Michael Gamble weighed in as well. He said BioWare’s commitment to Anthem “has not changed,” despite what you might have heard.

In April, BioWare acknowledged that it hadn’t done an optimal job of communicating with fans. Going forward, BioWare plans to stay quiet until work is closer to being finished.

“A lesson we have learned is we have been talking about things too early. There are so many factors that can cause us to pivot on our plans–whether it’s bugs & stability issues, player feedback, or complications with a feature that require us to take more time to deliver it,” BioWare said. “Our goal is to tell you about new content and features once the work is closer to being done.”

As part of BioWare’s effort to communicate with fans and involve them, BioWare is launching a Player Feedback Environment (PFE) server for Anthem’s PC version. The purpose of this is to give a small amount of players access to new content before it’s released publicly to share feedback with BioWare.

“We believe in Anthem. We believe the game will be great, but we recognize getting there will take a lot of hard work,” the developer said. “We want to do that work and we want you all to join us on the journey to get there.”

The Call of Duty franchise continues to soar. Activision announced today that the shooter series has now cleared 300 million copies sold since it debuted back in 2003.

For comparison, the Pokemon franchise passed 300 million copies sold after the release of Ultra Sun and Moon back in 2017. Meanwhile, the Sonic the Hedgehog series reached 350 million copies a few years ago. Exact numbers for other franchises are tougher to track down.

The Call of Duty series premiered in 2003 with Infinity Ward’s World War II shooter Call of Duty. No mainline Call of Duty game was released in 2004, but a new entry has launched every year since, with development shifting around between Activision-owned studios like Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games, with support from other owned studios like Raven Software and High Moon, among others.

Activision has not provided a breakdown of sales by individual title or brand, but the Black Ops and Modern Warfare brands are believed to be the most successful.

The next Call of Duty game is launching later this year, and it’s rumoured to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 from Infinity Ward, which created the brand. The game will be announced in the coming months. On top of that, a new Call of Duty mobile game from Tencent is coming.

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