Death Stranding Has Gone Gold
Death Stranding has officially gone gold, a major milestone on the road to release.
The news was announced by Hideo Kojima on Twitter who thanked everyone from the company that made the game's engine, to his fans:
Got the gold master https://t.co/bCaXp4T43l’s been 3years9m since the studio’s https://t.co/LWCSa0VDGq to mark the 1st step as the new Kojima Productions.Thanks to Sony,Guerrilla,cast members,musicians,artists, staff & fans for supporting us from the start & for all the way thru! pic.twitter.com/LZMlzG7lex
Death Stranding Has Gone Gold
Death Stranding has officially gone gold, a major milestone on the road to release.
The news was announced by Hideo Kojima on Twitter who thanked everyone from the company that made the game's engine, to his fans:
Got the gold master https://t.co/bCaXp4T43l’s been 3years9m since the studio’s https://t.co/LWCSa0VDGq to mark the 1st step as the new Kojima Productions.Thanks to Sony,Guerrilla,cast members,musicians,artists, staff & fans for supporting us from the start & for all the way thru! pic.twitter.com/LZMlzG7lex
Kevin Feige Is Developing a New Star Wars Movie for Disney
Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige is adding Star Wars to his resume. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Feige is working on a new Star Wars movie with Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy.
THR quotes Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn as saying, "We are excited about the projects Kathy and the Lucasfilm team are working on, not only in terms of Star Wars but also Indiana Jones and reaching into other parts of the company including Children of Blood and Bone with Emma Watts and Fox. With the close of the Skywalker Saga, Kathy is pursuing a new era in Star Wars storytelling, and knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a Star Wars film together."
National Film and Sound Archive of Australia to Collect, Preserve Aussie Video Games
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) has announced plans to begin collecting Australian-made video games for archival preservation. The new initiative was announced for the opening of Game Masters: The Exhibition, which will be open to visit in Canberra from September 27 until March 9, 2020.
Eight video games, released between 1982 and 2019, have been selected as the first to be collected, including The Hobbit (Beam Software, 1982), Halloween Harry (Interactive Binary Illusions/Sub Zero Software, 1985/1993), Shadowrun (Beam Software, 1993), L.A. Noire (Team Bondi, 2011), Submerged (Uppercut Games, 2015), Hollow Knight (Team Cherry, 2017), Florence (Mountains, 2018), and Espire 1: VR Operative (Digital Lode, 2019).
Ghost Rider Live-Action Series No Longer Happening at Hulu
Hulu will no longer be moving forward with its planned Ghost Rider spinoff, according to a new report.
Deadline is reporting that Hulu and the Ghost Rider creative team encountered creative differences that could not be resolved. This has led to the streaming service’s decision to halt plans for a Ghost Rider TV series, which would have starred the same Robbie Reyes incarnation fo the character from ABC’s Agents of Shield series on ABC.
In May, Hulu announced that it was planning two new live-action Marvel series for 2020. One was a Ghost Rider spinoff, the other was Marvel’s Helstrom, which is reportedly still on track.
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series – Episode 2 Comes Available Now
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series - Episode 2 was surprise released today during the Oculus Connect 6 keynote, and Oculus Quest and Rift headset owners can continue the story that puts you face-to-face with Darth Vader and allows you to wield a lightsaber and master Force powers in a fully immersive tale.
Vader Immortal's second episode will take players deeper inside Darth Vader's dark fortress on Mustafar, and a big focus this time around is learning to harness the power of the Force from Vader himself, all so players can deliver the "Bright Star" to the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Watch the launch trailer for Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series - Episode 2 below!
Darabont Looks Back on the Making of Shawshank Redemption
Starting in the late ’80s, writer/director Frank Darabont had quite the three-decade run cranking out screenplays, directing movies, and developing television series without much downtime. By his own admission, he didn’t even bother to slow down enough to take in the ones that had crossed over into another level of success.
Case in point: The Shawshank Redemption, which he wrote and directed 25-years ago. At the time of its release in 1994, it was actually a box office disappointment. But it ascended to the level of beloved classic via home video rentals and then seemingly constant basic cable airings, before engendering a die-hard fandom that ranks it up there with the all-time greats.
Samuel L. Jackson Voice Coming to Amazon Alexa, Mother******s
Amazon Alexa will sound a little more furious after Amazon announced a Samuel L. Jackson guest voice pack for its smart AI voice program.
Amazon announced that later this year, there will be a more natural-sounding voice coming to Alexa devices thanks to a new neural text-to-speech software. Utilizing deep learning, Alexa will be able to sound more human and even mimic real human voices starting with Samuel L. Jackson.
Because of the new technology, Jackson won’t just be spitting out pre-recorded lines or phrases. Instead, the AI is mimicking Jackson’s voice. Amazon will offer the Jackson voice pack for a limited-time price of $0.99 for anyone who purchases it this year. There will also be an explicit voice option for Jackson if you’re so inclined.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond Announced + First Hands-On Impressions
Medal of Honor is back in a way you probably didn’t expect. Respawn Entertainment, makers of Apex Legends, Titanfall, and the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is turning its attention to one of new-ish parent company EA’s veteran (but dormant) properties. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is a World War II first-person shooter, as you’d expect. But what you probably wouldn’t have imagined is that it’s a VR game that’s exclusive to Oculus Rift (it is, in fact, published by Oculus Studios). Its release date, for now, is the very vague “2020.”
The new Medal of Honor takes place over three Acts made up of many missions each, and the Respawn team says the campaign lasts 10-12 hours – a lot by VR standards. I played a training level and a couple of missions. In the former, you’re taught the basics, albeit in VR. Some weapons can be held with two hands, upping their accuracy. And it is pretty neat that you can pull the pin out of a grenade with your teeth by raising the held grenade to your mouth.
How Marvel’s Avengers Could Succeed Where so Many Online Co-op Games Have Failed
After a reveal at E3 earlier this summer that left everyone somewhat confused and conflicted instead of excited, Square Enix and Marvel finally gave us a hands-on look at their upcoming Avengers game at Gamescom 2019.
Now that the veil has been lifted a bit higher, we know a lot more about what it as a whole might look like — and how, in fact, it could seriously make story and character matter to players in an online co-op game.
In so many online games out right now, the story just feels like set dressing for the overall gameplay loop. In Destiny, your Guardian exists, but they don’t really have a tangible presence — you’re just a camera with a gun (or sword), and one of many similar murderdrones at that. Similarly, in Warframe or The Division, the player character is a mute slate, devoid of personality save for emotes and whatever character backstory the player conjures up in their own mind.