Monthly Archives: February 2017
Josh Gad Keeps Trying to Get Daisy Ridley to Spoil Star Wars
Josh Gad is currently doing what any of Star Wars fan would do if they were filming a movie with Daisy Ridley: continually tricking her into "work conversations" that result in him trying to get her to reveal The Last Jedi spoilers.
The context: Star Wars star Daisy Ridley and Frozen voice actor Josh Gad are currently filming a Kenneth Branagh-directed adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. Gad is a huge fan of Star Wars and once publicly begged J.J. Abrams to cast him in The Force Awakens, so after Disney revealed Star Wars: Episode VIII is titled "The Last Jedi," Gad used his close proximity to Ridley to his advantage.
Nintendo Cancels Project Giant Robot
Project Giant Robot, Nintendo's experimental Wii U game, has officially been canceled.
The title, which never had an official name, wasn't included in Nintendo's latest earnings report. The company confirmed to Polygon that it made the decision to cancel the game "after considering our overall product and development strategy.”
Project Giant Robot was first announced at E3 2014, and centers around using the Wii U GamePad to build a robot and eventually battle with it using the built-in motion controls. The game was still being listed as part of a "Launch Schedule of Primary Nintendo Products" in Nintendo's Q3 earnings report last year.
Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop Coming to the West in April
Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop will be brought to the West for the Nintendo 3DS in April.
Rising Star Games, in partnership with Office Create, will deliver the cooking sim, which includes 60 different recipes of sweets and puddings to create via 160 different minigames, later this year. Players will use the 3DS' stylus "and even the microphone to cool, slice, stir, bake and decorate their creations," according to Rising Star Games. "The more sweets you create and complete, the more your shop expands."
The game will also include a competitive multiplayer mode for two to four players.
"We are honored that so many players around the world have taken Mama to their hearts," Office Create said in a statement accompanying the announcement. "We are thrilled to be able to bring the latest Cooking Mama experience to fans and newcomers alike."
PlayStation Plus February Free Games Revealed
The lineup of free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers in February has been revealed ahead of its availability next week, with five games playable on PS4.
The full list, all of which will be available from Tuesday, February 7 is below:
- LittleBigPlanet 3 - PS4
- Not a Hero - PS4
- Starwhal - PS3/PS4
- Anna: Extended Edition - PS3
- Ninja Senki DX - PS Vita/PS4
- TorqueL - PS Vita/PS4
We awarded LittleBigPlanet 3 a 6.8 when it came out in 2014, saying it was "a beautifully-designed game" but "is let down by unimaginative co-op & bugs." Not a Hero is a side-scrolling shooter, designed by OlliOlli creators Roll7.
Green Lantern Corps: John Stewart Explained
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) soldiers on with plans for a new Green Lantern-themed movie (and yes, even Ryan Reynolds has been mentioned in these early days as possibly returning as Hal Jordan). In 2020, Green Lantern Corps is scheduled to arrive in theaters, featuring a number of familiar names from the history of the space-faring, peace-keeping force. But leading the charge will be Jordan and his fellow GL John Stewart, who will join together in what has been described as “Lethal Weapon in space.”
One of the more significant members of the Corps, John Stewart was created by artist Neal Adams and writer Dennis O’Neil back in 1971. A historic figure in his own right, Stewart could wind up being one of the shining lights of the Green Lantern Corps movie. So let’s take a look at how he kicked off his superheroic career in the comics, what his powers and abilities are, and how he could be depicted in the GLC movie…
Paris Hilton Was Almost a Boss in South Park RPG
South Park: The Stick of Truth at one point featured a boss fight against Paris Hilton, according to Obsidian Entertainment CEO Fergus Urquhart.
"I don't know that I should say this, but I'll say it anyways: There was a boss fight with Paris Hilton at one point and her boss attack was the 'vag blast,'" Urquhart revealed during this latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered.
With regard to her "vag blast" attack, the Obsidian CEO added, laughing, "However you're picturing it in your head, that was it."
Urquhart said he believes the Paris Hilton idea came from their studio, but also noted that Trey Parker had no shortage of amazing ideas for The Stick of Truth. "When we say we made a game, we made four games and you got a quarter," he explained. Urquhart then clarified that it wasn't "like we had 400 percent of a game and in the last month we cut it." During development, Obsidian had an idea for a massive treehouse that "made sense at one point," but ultimately didn't fit within the context of the final game.
Bethesda Parent Company ZeniMax Acquires Escalation
Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media has acquired Escalation Studios.
The Dallas-based studio, which was formed by Tom Mustaine and Marc Tardif in 2007, co-developed the SnapMap level editor featured in id Software's 2016 first-person shooter, Doom.
"We have continually been impressed with the team at Escalation that Tom and Marc have assembled," Bethesda VP of Development Todd Vaughn said. "Their commitment to quality and innovation has made significant contributions to the projects we’ve worked on together, and we’re excited to have them join ZeniMax."
Powerless: Vanessa Hudgens on Exploring DC Comics’ Comedy Side
Though Vanessa Hudgens has had great success in TV movie musicals – including High School Musical and Grease Live – she’s never been a regular on an ongoing series until now, as she takes on the lead role in NBC’s Powerless. A comedic take on the world of DC Comics, Powerless, debuting Thursday night, stars Hudgens as Emily Locke, a new employee at Charm City’s Wayne Securities - a company that creates devices meant to protect people in a world filled with superhero/supervillain battles.
I sat down with Hudgens to discuss Powerless -- which also stars Alan Tudyk, Danny Pudi, Christina Kirk and Ron Funches -- the unusual situation of the show filming an entirely new pilot episodes after original showrunner Ben Queen departed the project, Emily’s upbeat attitude and more.
Nintendo Accidentally Reveals Switch Developer Menus
An unedited version of a new Nintendo Switch advert has revealed the upcoming console's developer menus - seemingly revealing that Switch devkits come with 64GB of internal storage.
Spotted by NeoGAF, the accidentally revealed commercial includes several cuts to a Switch in developer mode, rather than the gameplay footage added in later to other versions.
You can see a reupload of the unedited advert below, although it will likely be taken down soon:
The developer screens don't reveal too much, although one screen points to devkits coming with 64GB of internal memory, rather than the retail version's 32GB.
John Wick Could Get a Prequel TV Show
John Wick could be headed to television with a prequel TV series, according to director Chad Stahelski.
Speaking to /Film at a press event for John Wick: Chapter Two, Stahelski explained that while they wanted to tell a prequel story with the upcoming sequel movie, "it just didn’t fit quite where we're at." Instead, it sounds like Lionsgate is interested in telling that story on television.
Stahelski said he and screenwriter Derek Kolstad "basically almost have a prequel written," though they'd rather "save that for other aspects of the property." He went on to note that "Lionsgate is very interested in doing a John Wick TV show, which they find "very appealing" because of the additional creative freedom that medium provides. "I think in TV you could really expand on what that is, and greater than we could in just a two-hour film," he explained.