Monthly Archives: March 2018

Twisted Metal Creator’s Studio Shuts Down

David Jaffe's studio, The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency has shut down in the wake of a cancelled project.

Jaffe, who has previously helped create God of War and Twisted Metal, which both made IGN's list of top 100 PlayStation 2 games, tweeted about layoffs at the studio last month, after the project it was working on was cancelled.

New Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Trailer Drops

The game that lets you create your own wizard and live out your Hogwarts fantasies on mobile is now open for registration.

If a mobile Harry Potter RPG that lets you live the virtual life of a Hogwarts wizard-in-training sounds good to you, you can sign up on Google Play for notifications when the game officially releases.

A new trailer for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery also dropped today, showing off the upcoming game.

In Hogwarts Mystery, you get to create your own wizard and experience the Hogwarts lifestyle, attending classes, learn useful magical skills from the Harry Potter universe, and "form friendships or rivalries with other students."

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Dope Director to Adapt Black Hole

Charles Burns' graphic novel Black Hole is getting a film adaption, and Dope writer and director, Rick Famuyiwa, will be at the helm of the project.

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Famuyiwa has signed on with Plan B and New Regency to write and direct the film.

We described Dope as "a bustling, hustling urban coming-of-age comedy that also has some smart, serious stuff to say about identity and empowerment," in our review, which should stand Famuyiwa in good stead to tackle Black Hole's underlying themes of sexual awakening and the transition into adulthood.

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Nintendo More Interested in New Peripherals Than ‘Switch 2.0′

Nintendo will reportedly aim to increase the number of peripherals for the Switch in its second year on the market, rather than update its base hardware.

According to The Wall Street Journal's sources, Nintendo's focusing on better manufacturing and shipping of its current Switch model, to keep up with demand.

Alongside that, the sources say that "Switch features in the coming year could also include additional network-related features and peripherals to be attached to its USB Type-C port."

Nintendo Switch turns a year old this Saturday, March 3. With sales of the console now the fastest ever in the USoutselling the Wii U in under a year, and expected to sell 20 million more units in the next fiscal year, it's fairly clear why Nintendo wouldn't want to fragment or confuse its player base by releasing a new model.

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Fortnite Jetpacks Delayed

The still slightly mysterious item is on its way, but not as soon as we'd hoped.

Black Panther Dialogue Muted in India to Avoid “Hurting Religious Sentiments”

Black Panther has had a sentence of its dialogue removed in India so as not to offend religious sensibilities. Mild spoilers for Black Panther to follow.

io9 reports that at a domestic screening in India, the use of the name of the Hindu god Hanuman wasn't very well received.

Subsequently, the line "glory to Hanuman" from the leader of the Jabari tribe, was muted in screenings across the country.

There's some disagreement over whether this decision came from India's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), or the film's producers, but either way, they obviously thought it best to err on the side of caution when it came to potentially upsetting their audience.

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Forza Horizon 3 Is Still the Finest Thing on Four Wheels

Master Chief. Marcus Fenix. They were unlikely suspects on the spectrum of marketable mascots, perhaps – one is a mysterious husk hidden behind an opaque mask and the other looks like a dollar-store Dolph Lundgren that ate Bret Michaels whole and unironically wears his bandana as a kind of trophy. But Microsoft mascots they became, succeeding where Blinx the Time Sweeper, Voodoo Vince, and Clippy all failed before them.

Depending on how much stock you place in the nature of a review aggregator like Metacritic, a huge part of the reason for the enduring popularity of the likes of Master Chief and Marcus Fenix is surely tied to the quality of the games wrapped around them. The first Halo is the highest-rated Microsoft exclusive on the original Xbox (in fact, it’s the highest-rated game on the console, full stop). And Halo 2? Number three on the all-time list.

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Paladins Dev Throws Shade at New Overwatch Character

Hi Rez Studios' President Stew Chisam has hit back at accusations that Paladins: Champions of the Realm, Hi-Rez's online team-based game, copied Overwatch, Blizzard's online team-based game, with some playful shade.

On Twitter, Chisam drew comparisons between the look and abilities of Overwatch's latest hero Brigitte Lindholm, and those of Paladins' Ash.

"Quick poll," Chisam tweeted. "If I happened to notice and point out any similarities between these two characters, would that make me the Pot calling the Kettle black, or the Kettle calling the Pot black? This will keep me up tonight unless I get a clear answer."

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Black Panther Stars Reunite for New Miniseries

Black Panther stars Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira will reunite to work on a new miniseries based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americanah.

As reported by Konbini, Gurira will write the miniseries. A few years ago, a photo of The Walking Dead and Black Panther actress reading Americanah was posted on Twitter by Melissa McBride, who plays Carol in AMC's aforementioned zombie series.

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