Month: May 2019

After Paramount and Sega unveiled the first official trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie, fans of the blue blur took to the internet to complain about the film’s design of the titular hero. In response, Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler announced Sonic will undergo a redesign ahead of the movie’s release.

“Thank you for the support,” Fowler tweeted. “And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design and you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount and Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be.” Fowler did not clarify what this redesign would entail, nor if the effort to do so will push Sonic the Hedgehog past its scheduled November 19 release date.

Criticism for Sonic’s design in the movie has been aimed at pretty much every part of the speedy blue hedgehog. Most of the dislike seems to stem from the movie version’s legs, torso, teeth, and eyes. Most of the changes to Sonic’s design in the coming movie currently make him appear uncannily human, which some fans have found unnerving. Most likely, the planned redesign will make Sonic look closer to his original cartoonish appearance.

Sonic the Hedgehog sees Sonic partner up with a state trooper to stop Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, a mad scientist and skilled roboticist working with the government to uncover the secrets of the blur blur. In the movie’s trailer, we see the sassy Robotnik devise contraptions to capture Sonic, only for the mad scientist to become more deranged as the hedgehog continues to escape as a result of his super speed.

In the movie, Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz, a seasoned actor who’s been seen on Parks and Recreation and House of Lies, and also voiced characters in the new Duck Tales Show and BoJack Horseman. Dr. Robotnik is played by Jim Carry, an actor well known for portraying that exact archetype in numerous films throughout his career. In an interview, Carry said, “I made sure that there are some winks and nods, and edgy things that are still acceptable to [all] age groups.”

2019’s Call of Duty game from developer Infinity Ward is rumoured to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Whatever it is, the game will be announced in the coming months.

During the Activision Blizzard earnings call today, management confirmed that the game will be revealed before the end of the current fiscal quarter, which means it’ll be announced before June 30. That makes sense, given new Call of Duty games are typically announced in May before getting shown off further at E3 in June. This year could be different in a way, however. Activision typically showcases the new Call of Duty game during Sony’s E3 briefing due to its exclusive content deal, but that won’t happen this year because Sony isn’t attending E3.

On the earnings call, Activision management says it feels “incredibly good” about how the new Call of Duty title is shaping up, and they’re excited to finally reveal it eventually.

Not only that, but Activision boss Coddy Johnson teased that Activision plans to support the game’s release with even more content after launch to keep players engaged.

“We need to do even more to maintain the breadth of our Call of Duty player base beyond the launch quarters,” he said. “The Call of Duty team is hard at work on that for this fall’s big content release, excitement for which is incredibly high around the organisation. We expect that both the launch and the post launch will bring game-changing experiences to our fans.”

Activision is able to create more content for this year’s Call of Duty game because it’s increasing development headcount across the board, including the Call of Duty team. Activision announced it was increasing aggregate headcount for its development teams by about 20 percent following its layoff of 800 people primarily from non-game development roles.

Little is known about the title, but Activision previously said the game will feature a campaign mode. That’s notable because 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 did not include a campaign but instead added a battle royale mode called Blackout.

Additionally, it was confirmed that the Call of Duty series has sold more than 300 million copies since it premiered back in 2003.

Also on the call, Activision said interest in the new Call of Duty mobile game from Tencent is high; the game has more than 10 million pre-registrations on Google Play.

Actor Peter Mayhew, who is best known for his portrayal of Chewbacca in the Star Wars series, has passed away. Mayhew died on April 30 in his home in North Texas, USA. He was 74.

His passing was announced by his family in a statement posted to Twitter. After the news broke, tributes poured in. Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill said, “He was the gentlest of giants-A big man with an even bigger heart who never failed to make me smile & a loyal friend who I loved dearly-I’m grateful for the memories we shared & I’m a better man for just having known him.” Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo opposite Mayhew’s Chewbacca, told The Hollywood Reporter, “Peter Mayhew was a kind and gentle man, possessed of great dignity and noble character. These aspects of his own personality, plus his wit and grace, he brought to Chewbacca. We were partners in film and friends in life for over 30 years and I loved him. He invested his soul in the character and brought great pleasure to the Star Wars audience.”

A number of other actors and celebrities connected to Star Wars and otherwise have responded to the news. Scroll down to see their responses.

Mayhew played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens in a role shared by Joonas Suotamo. Mayhew did consulting work for The Last Jedi to help Suotamo feel capable in the role.

Outside of his film career, Mayhew did a lot of charitable work for groups like Wounded Warriors, Make-A-Wish, and the 501st Legion. He also created his own Peter Mayhew Foundation that supports individuals and families in need.

Mayhew is survived by his wife, Angie, and three children. “His kindness, generosity, and care will live on in the Peter Mayhew Foundation with Angie taking the helm as his voice,” his family said in their statement.

Mayhew’s first big movie role was in 1977’s “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger,” which was released in the same year as A New Hope.

Xbox One players have two more games they can now play on their console. Microsoft’s director of programming for Xbox Live, Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, took to Twitter to announce that the Xbox One now supports two more Xbox 360 titles via backward compatibility.

Both Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge and RedLynx’s Trials Evolution join Xbox One’s forever-growing backward compatibility list. These titles are available to download starting today.

Developed by Team Ninja for the PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is an enhanced Ninja Gaiden 3 port that includes the original DLC, as well as a variety of performance enhancements and improvements. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge released nearly a year after the initial game’s March 2012 release date and brought alongside a host of changes like increasing the speed of kunai climbing, introducing new weapons like the lunar staff and kusarigama, improving enemy AI, and more.

Trials Evolution was developed by RedLynx. Released for the Xbox 360 in April 2012 before speeding to iOS and PC in 2013, Trials Evolution–the fourth mainline entry in the Trials franchise–tasks you with facing and overcoming a variety of motorcycle trials in a bid to claim the top spot on the leaderboards. Trials Evolution includes two course editors (Lite and Pro) that allow you to create and share courses online.

In our Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge review, we called the update “a welcome gesture, and one that makes for an improved action game–yet a hundred small fixes are no substitute for a game built from the ground up to be a challenging, fluid, and fulfilling action extravaganza.”

In our Trials Evolution review, we said it’s “a great game that not only tests your skill and patience, but keeps you laughing at the ridiculous scenarios.”

The next big video game movie, Detective Pikachu, opens in theatres soon. Ahead of its premiere, reviews have started to show up online. To help you get an idea about if the movie is worth your time and money, we’re putting excerpts from the reviews into a roundup.

The movie, which loosely follows some elements of the video game of the same name, features Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Pikachu. He teams up with a character played by Justice Smith, who can speak to Pokemon, in an attempt to find out what happened to his father.

In GameSpot’s review, critic Mike Rougeau said, “Detective Pikachu should prove enjoyable for any and all Pokemon fans, young or old. It presents fun answers to the fantasy of what life would be like if Pokémon were real. It introduces new wrinkles to the world of Pokemon, although not all of them completely work. Still, as the first official live-action trip to the world of Pokemon, Detective Pikachu presents characters I want to see again and a setting I’d like to return to.”

Detective Pikachu was directed by Rob Letterman, who previously directed Shark Tale, Gulliver’s Travels, and Goosebumps.

You can see a rundown of Detective Pikachu review exceprts below, while more information on the film’s critical reception can be found on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

Detective Pikachu

• Directed By: Rob Letterman
• Written By: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek Connolly, Nicole Perlman
• Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe
• Release Date: May 10 (United States)
• Runtime: 104 Minutes

GameSpot

“Detective Pikachu should prove enjoyable for any and all Pokemon fans, young or old. It presents fun answers to the fantasy of what life would be like if Pokemon were real. It introduces new wrinkles to the world of Pokémon, although not all of them completely work. Still, as the first official live-action trip to the world of Pokemon, Detective Pikachu presents characters I want to see again and a setting I’d like to return to.” — Mike Rougeau [Full review]

Associated Press

“A neutered Ryan Reynolds tries hard but can’t make this live action-meets-animated movie gel. It’s plodding and listless and really not funny or smart enough. Turns out, you can’t copy Deadpool tricks for the PG set.” — Mark Kennedy [Full review]

IGN

“Despite the film industry’s resistance to video game movies, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu has landed a critical hit. Sure, not everything goes off without a hitch, but the lifelike Pokemon provide a nonstop stream of delights to make the weaker aspects of the movie forgivable. Smith’s character gives the story an emotional weight and Reynolds delivers an endearing comedic performance that’s closer to his subversive Deadpool schtick than you’d expect. While video game movies haven’t had the best track record, this movie is by and far the best example of how to do one right.” — Joshua Yehl [Full review]

Variety

“While the cultural significance of Detective Pikachu is virtually self-evident, you do have to be fairly well invested in the Pokemon franchise to appreciate the result, which feels like Legendary Pictures’ half-baked attempt to get in on the massive popularity of the Pokemon phenomenon without necessarily understanding or respecting the underlying IP.” — Peter Debruge [Full review]

Entertainment Weekly

“As the wisecracking voice of Pikachu, Ryan Reynolds deserves some sort of special citation for doing the best he can without Deadpool’s f-bombs (or a decent script) to lean on. But the main problem is that the film’s gumball-mayhem plot is so frenetic that it’s impossible to determine if it makes a lick of sense. Maybe that was the point.” — Chris Nashawaty [Full review]

The Wrap

“Is there a Pokemon whose power is to move through your eyeballs and brain and then leave absolutely no impression? Because that was my experience of watching Detective Pikachu, a CGI-heavy live-action/animation hybrid based on the popular game-anime-manga franchise (and specifically on the eponymous Nintendo game).” — Alonso Duralde [Full review]

USA Today

“While the pint-sized Sherlock gives Detective Pikachu heart and soul, the rest of the film lacks its title character’s verve.” — Brian Truitt [Full review]

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