Monthly Archives: February 2016
Earthbound Meets The Goonies in LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway Devs’ New Game
New development studio Foam Sword has announced its first game, Knights and Bikes.
The studio, made up of devs from games such as LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank, and more, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to get the project off the ground.
Knights and Bikes is a co-op action adventure game Foam Sword says draws inspiration from "The Goonies, Earthbound," and the developers' childhoods.
Set on the island of Penfurzy off the coast of 1980s Cornwall, England, the two main characters Nessa and Demelza explore the island in search of new locations, new recruits for their gang, treasure, and "getting into trouble."
Wii U Sales Pass 12 Million, Amiibo Hits 20.5 Million
Nintendo’s Q3 financials reveal Wii U hardware sales are up and amiibo are selling exceptionally well.
As of December 31, 2015, 12.6 million Wii U units have been sold, an increase from Q2’s total of 10.73 million. The uptick in hardware sales could be attributed to strong numbers from Splatoon, which has sold 4.06 million since it launched last May. Super Mario Maker has sold 3.34 million units since its release last September.
Nintendo has also reported 20.5 million amiibo figures have been sold, as well as 21.5 million amiibo cards. Sales figures of amiibo were not reported in Q2 but sales were considered “robust”.
Fine Bros. No Longer Seeking to Trademark ‘React’ Videos
Last Tuesday, the Fine Brothers sparked a great deal of controversy when they announced a licensing program called “React World”. As a result of the backlash, the Fine Brothers have since reversed their decision to move forward with the “React World” program and apologized for the controversy in a statement released earlier today.
The Fine Brothers intend to rescind all of the “React” trademarks and applications, which include “React”, “Kids React”, and “Elders React”, as well as “release all past Content ID claims”.
“React World” was a plan to trademark and license the “reaction video” format, as well as the word “React”, which many people objected to because so many people already make react videos. The Fine Brothers have built a successful business out of showing people, young and old, reacting to anything and everything. Their plan was to provide tools and assets for others to make react videos on their own channels.
PlayStation Plus Vote to Play Back ‘By Popular Demand’
Sony’s Vote to Play feature for PlayStation Plus members returns next week. Voting opens on February 9 and the game with the most votes will be added to the March monthly games line-up, free for PlayStation Plus members.
The nominees for March are Broforce (from South African studio Free Lives), Assault Android Cactus (from Australian team Witch Beam), and Action Henk (from Dutch developer RageSquid).
To cast a vote PlayStation Plus members can access Vote to Play under the dedicated PlayStation Plus section on the top left corner of the PS4 home screen, or visit the PlayStation Plus section of the PlayStation Store, where you’ll also find details for Vote to Play.
LEGO Star Wars: Episode 7 Rumored
A listing on the Amazon Italy site suggests that Warner Bros. Interactive's next big announcement could be LEGO Star Wars: Episode 7. A leaked email from the Warner Bros. Interactive PR team revealed that the company would be making a "massive announcement" on February 2, which would involve "two of the world's most popular entertainment brands."
Here's the email from Warner Bros. If it's not Batman I will be sad. pic.twitter.com/uvwOrRI12b
— Paul Tamburro (@PaulTamburro) February 1, 2016
Arrow: How Felicity Has Inspired Laurel
A show like Arrow has to keep some big secrets, which meant when I visited the Vancouver set a few weeks back, I wasn’t allowed to see what was being filmed on another soundstage, as I visited the Palmer Technologies offices. As it turned out, the Arrow crew were right in the midst of filming the most recent episodes – hence the secrecy, as they didn’t want anyone to know Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) had ended up in a wheelchair by this point.
All of which is to say, that’s why you won’t see me ask about this big new development for Felicity in the following interview with Rickards and Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance/Black Canary). On a typically long night for the Arrow crew -- this interview was done at midnight and they'd still be filming for several hours -- I spoke to the Arrow cast members about the threat of Damien Darhk this year, the relationship between Felicity and Laurel and where they stand in the ever-present Oliver & Felicity vs. Oliver and Laurel debate.
Speedrunner Beats The Witness in Under 26 Minutes
The Witness may have hours of gameplay, but one speedrunner recently beat it in just under 26 minutes. Check out the video below, but be warned: there are major spoilers.
Known as Azorae, this speedrunner is no stranger to puzzle games; his most popular YouTube videos are runs of Portal and The Talos Principle.
In a response to the video, Azorae writes he has memorized his strategy, and didn't use cheat sheets to help solve the puzzles. Even The Witness creator Jonathan Blow was impressed by Azorae's performance, and tweeted out the video today.
Tomasi Talks Curses, Carpentry in New Dark Horse Comic
Horror comes home with House of Penance, the latest original series from Dark Horse Comics. Cobbled from the creative team of writer Peter Tomasi and artist Ian Bertram, House of Penance is a labyrinthine tale of personal pain, set to the real life backdrop of Sarah Winchester's Mystery House.
In advance of its April release, IGN conducted an email interview with Tomasi to talk story, inspiration, and the many twists - both narratively and architecturally - that lie ahead. We also have two exclusive pages from inside the first issue.
Black Knight Comic Canceled by Marvel
According to writer Frank Tieri, Marvel Comics has canceled the ongoing series Black Knight, making the comic the first of Marvel's All-New, All-Different series to be discontinued.
Image via Marvel Comics
The Black Knight writer announced the cancellation today on Facebook, confirming that issue #5 will be the series' last. "The bottom line," Tieri wrote, "is the market is what it is these days and the sales just weren't there."
iZombie Meets 50 Shades as Liv Gets Kinky
Things are about to get kinky on iZombie… Or at least, Liv (Rose McIver) sure would like them to be kinky, thanks to the latest brain she ate.
I visited the Vancouver set of iZombie, as this week’s new episode, “Fifty Shades of Grey Matter,” was being filmed, and watched a very funny scene being filmed, in which Major (Robert Buckley) and Ravi (Rahul Kohli) are interrupted by Liv, who has some very uncharacteristic suggestions for the two of them.
IGN has an exclusive clip of this scene, which you can check out below!
As Malcolm Goodwin (“Clive”) explained, with a laugh, about what’s happened to Liv, “She eats horny librarian brain… or sexy librarian brain… but it’s really horny librarian brain, that’s really what it is.”