Month: November 2019

Bethesda has announced the closure of Human Head studios, alongside the opening of a new studio composed of some of its key staff members. The new developer is called Roundhouse Studios and will operate out of Madison, Wisconsin. Bethesda says it will immediately begin work on unannounced projects.

“Sadly, we had to wind down the business of Human Head Studios and close its doors, which was particularly devastating due to the passion and creativity of the team we’d assembled,” said Roundhouse creative director Chris Rhinehart, in the announcement. “We reached out to our friends at Bethesda for help, and they saw that same creativity and passion in our team. With the formation of Roundhouse Studios, Bethesda offered every employee of Human Head a position at the new company. We are excited our team will remain together, pursuing the work we love, as part of a company we already know and admire.”

Todd Vaughn, senior VP of development at Bethesda, said the company is “excited by the opportunity to bring under the Bethesda umbrella this talented, established development team.”

This announcement was made in conjunction with an update from Human Head announcing the closure. Rune 2, which recently launched on the Epic Games Store, will be its last game under that studio name.

“We want to thank all of you for your incredible support over the last 22 years,” the update reads. “Your passion and excitement for games is what has driven and motivated us for many, many years. We’re really excited for what the future holds for us and look forward to you joining us on this new adventure.”

Human Head was founded in 1997 and also operated out of Madison. It’s known for its work on Prey, BioShock Infinite, and The Quiet Man.

Nowhere in the first episode of The Mandalorian does the main character eat or drink anything. We get to see where he goes to the bathroom, but the Disney+ series doesn’t let us know what his favorite foods are. Well, there’s a new cookbook, based on the theme park Galaxy’s Edge, that gives us deeper insight into the world of Mandalore and it’s food.

You’ve probably watched the first episode of The Mandalorian already, but have you done so while eating food? If you really want to roleplay while enjoying the Disney+ series, why not cook yourself something inspired by the fine warrior people of Mandalore? Insight Editions newest cookbook–available now–has plenty of meals and drinks you can make for yourself at home, all inspired by the stories and cuisine from Galaxy’s Edge. Insight Editions gave us a look at Spicy Mandalorian Stew if you want to cook it up for yourself.

The cookbook features the contributions of best-selling author Chelsea Monroe Cassel and Eisner and Harvey award nominiee Marc Sumerak. The Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook is now available in stores and online for $35, and you can check it out here. If you’re interested in more pieces about cookbooks with licenses attached, you should really watch me cook some recipes from the Overwatch and WWE cookbooks.

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The Uncharted movie continues to take shape. Following the news that Bumblebee director Travis Knight will helm the film, it’s been reported that Mark Wahlberg is set to join Tom Holland in the cast.

According to Variety, Wahlberg is in “final talks” to play Victor “Sully” Sullivan in the adaptation of the hit video game. Sullivan is described as an American treasure hunter, fortune seeker, and businessman, as well as a friend to main character Nathan Drake, the role Holland is playing. Sullivan is a recurring character in the video game series.

This isn’t the first time Wahlberg has been attached to a movie version of Uncharted. Back in 2007, the star was set to play the role of Drake, with David O. Russell (American Hustle, The Fighter) writing and directing. However, Russell left the project in 2011, and the film has been stuck in development ever since.

Knight was announced as director in September, replacing Dan Trachtenberg. Knight scored a big hit last year with Bumblebee, his first live-action film, and he was Oscar-nominated for the acclaimed animated movie Kubo and the Two Strings. Uncharted is currently slated for a December 18, 2020 release.

Hopefully, by now, you’ve finally gotten to watch the first episode of The Mandalorian on Disney+, which has a mindblowing ending. But how does this ending fit into the grand scheme of things when it comes to the Star Wars universe? We have an idea, and it’s all connected to Yoda.

Warning: Spoilers for the first episode of The Mandalorian ahead.

As a whole, Star Wars is all about lineage. The people who birthed you and those who raised you shaped who you are now, and that can be said about real life as well. So the revelation that the Mando (whose name is Din Jarron) finds a 50-year-old alien baby–which is the same species as Yoda–raises a lot of questions. We all assumed Yoda was the last of his species, so where did this baby come from and who are its parents?

The most well-known of this alien species is Yoda, who passed on in Return of the Jedi at the ripe young age of 900. However, another one of this unnamed species was introduced in the Star Wars universe years ago, in Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.

Back in 1999, Star Wars fans were introduced to the Jedi High Council, and one of its members was Yaddle, a female of Yoda’s alien species. The two served on the council together during this time. Yaddle only appeared in Phantom Menace, but her story didn’t end there.

After the Battle of Naboo, Yaddle left the Jedi High Council, where she was replaced by Shaak Ti. This was revealed in the book Ultimate Star Wars. Years later, approximately a decade before the Battle of Yavin, Yaddle was killed at The Battle of Fortress Vader by Lord Vader himself, in a comic book series from Marvel Comics.

So The Mandalorian takes place 10 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin), and 20 years after the death of Yaddle. Considering she’s the only female of this species we’ve seen in current canon, and she worked with Yoda on the Jedi High Council, it’s not too out-there to speculate that Yoda and Yaddle are the parents of the baby in The Mandalorian.

Since this infant is actually 50 years old, that puts its birth around 40 BBY, eight years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. Yoda and Yaddle were presumably on the Jedi High Council together during this time. So maybe part of Yaddle’s decision to leave it was so she could raise their eight-year-old child. And after Anakin killed all the younglings, she could have gone into hiding, before joining other Jedi to try and take down Darth Vader at his battle on Mustafar.

Where the baby went after that is a mystery. Maybe Yoda took it to Degobah with him and had it hidden away while he was training Luke Skywalker. However, this is all conjecture. We don’t know the lineage of the Yoda-like baby at this time. All we know is its age and that there were two others of this species in current Star Wars canon, but considering how many of the characters in the Star Wars movies and TV series are connected, this is a good bet. Yoda and Yaddle could very well be the parents to this child.

In his review of The Mandalorian, GameSpot’s Chris E. Hayner said, “The Mandalorian has made a statement about what a live-action Star Wars TV show looks like. Now, with the remaining seven episodes in Season 1, it needs to make a statement about how a Star Wars plot should unfold over a longer form of storytelling.”

We’ll more than likely learn more about the Yoda baby in upcoming episodes of The Mandalorian. New episodes air every Friday, with Episode 2 landing on November 15.