Update: George R.R. Martin on How the Game of Thrones Books’ Ending Will Compare to the Show
Update 05/21/2019: George R. R. Martin has again addressed how his final two books in the Song of Ice and Fire saga will differ from the ending of Game of Thrones.
In a post saying goodbye to the HBO show, Martin discussed his long-awaited conclusion to the written version of the series, and addressed the biggest question first: will the ending be the same? His answer is non-committal: "Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes."
His point is to say that, while he's working towards a similar end goal to the makers of the show, they had six hours of TV to work with and he'll likely have 3,000 pages of manuscript (and will add more if necessary). The media involved allow for different kinds of expression and explanation.
New Marvel Posters Reveal Who’s Dead and Alive in Avengers: Endgame
New character posters from Marvel highlight who is dead going into Avengers: Endgame and who is left to avenge them.
With a few exceptions, each image was released by its corresponding actor on social media, always with the same caption: “1 month.” Ultimately, 32 posters were shared by the official The Avengers Twitter account with the tagline “Avenge the Fallen."
Notably, every poster that’s in color is associated with a character that's alive at the beginning of Endgame, while the black and white posters signify fallen characters. Check out each one in the gallery below.
These posters have let us know definitively who lived and who died by the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Until now, it was uncertain if characters like Shuri and Wong were still alive. Sadly, the posters indicate that Shuri did not survive Thanos’ snap while Wong was lucky enough to be spared. In the end, there are 16 characters living and 16 that have fallen.
SteamWorld Quest Gets a Release Date
SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech will hit Nintendo Switch next month.
Announced by developer Image & Form, SteamWorld Quest will be available exclusively through the Nintendo eShop starting April 25. This RPG with card-based mechanics will cost $25/€25/£22.5, and will remain exclusive to Nintendo Switch for “the foreseeable future.” A release date announcement video with extra gameplay footage can be seen below.
“The SteamWorld community has asked us to make an RPG for a long time, so I’m really happy and satisfied that we’re delivering such a polished title way sooner than anyone expected," said Image & Form CEO Brjánn Sigurgeirsson. "Since we announced in January we’ve watched the growing excitement among gamers, press and content creators. I’m confident that fans of RPGs and previous SteamWorld games will adore SteamWorld Quest because it’s an absolute gem."
Conor McGregor Announces Retirement From MMA
Conor McGregor, former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight and lightweight champion, has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
The fighter announced his decision on Twitter, with the comments picked up by TMZ.
“I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as 'Mixed Martial Art' today,” McGregor tweeted. “I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition. I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement.”
McGregor previously announced his retirement in 2016 due to the impending birth of his first child, but returned in 2018 to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship in Las Vegas, which he lost via a submission in the fourth round.
April 2019 Xbox Games With Gold Includes The Technomancer and Outcast: Second Contact
Microsoft has revealed the four games coming to Xbox Games with Gold in April 2019.
Xbox One users will be able to grab RPG The Technomancer, and open-world sci-fi Outcast: Second Contact, while Xbox 360 players get the original Xbox version of Star Wars Battlefront II and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2. Both 360 titles can be played on Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility.
The Tehcnomancer will be available all month, from April 1 - 30, while Outcast: Second Contact will kick in on April 16 through to May 15.
As for the classic games, Battlefront II is available between April 1 and 15, and Advanced Warfighter 2 between April 16 and 30.
It’s a mixed bag this month. Our review of The Technomancer scored it a 4.9, citing a poor combat system, unconvincing characters, and bad progression, all of which spoils a complex story and enjoyable world.
EA Lays Off 350 Employees in Marketing, Publishing, and Operations
EA has announced that it will be laying off 350 employees as it makes changes to its marketing, publishing, and operations teams and prepares to ramp down its presence in Japan and Russia.
Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts (EA), released a public statement explaining these "important but very hard decisions," and and that EA is "doing everything we can to ensure we are looking after our people to help them through this period to find their next opportunity. This is our top priority."
The full statement can be read below:
Today we took some important steps as a company to address our challenges and prepare for the opportunities ahead. As we look across a changing world around us, it’s clear that we must change with it. We’re making deliberate moves to better deliver on our commitments, refine our organization and meet the needs of our players. As part of this, we have made changes to our marketing and publishing organization, our operations teams, and we are ramping down our current presence in Japan and Russia as we focus on different ways to serve our players in those markets. In addition to organizational changes, we are deeply focused on increasing quality in our games and services. Great games will continue to be at the core of everything we do, and we are thinking differently about how to amaze and inspire our players.
The Best Huawei P30 and P30 Deals and Contracts Right Now
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The Huawei P30 and Huawei P30 Pro are now available and if you're interested in owning the phone, I have rounded up up all the best SIM-Free and contract deals you can get, plus everything else you need to know.
Alien TV Series: Noah Hawley Pitched an FX Miniseries That Fox Shot Down
Aliens could have been developed into a TV miniseries by Legion show-runner Noah Hawley, but the pitch was declined by Fox.
Deadline (via Bloody Disgusting) reports that Hawley, creator and writer of Fargo and Legion, wanted to bring an Aliens miniseries to the now Disney-owned FX channel in the "recent past," but the proposal was shut down by Fox's Vice Chairman, Emma Watts.
According to the report, Watts has been thwarting numerous attempts to have Fox's film properties 're-purposed' for television. She similarly prevented Searchlight from doing "something" with The Omen franchise.
The Quickest Movie Franchise Reboots
Hollywood has gone from occasional reboots to semi-regular reboots to now building definite reboots into future plans for a mega-franchise. And gone are the days when studios would give viewers a bit of breathing room between an original story and its inevitable re-telling. Nowadays, if a valuable IP doesn't click the first go-round, it's resurrected in just a few years.
With the news that James Gunn's Suicide Squad movie isn't a sequel to the 2016 DCEU film, but a total reboot called The Suicide Squad, we're presented with a grand opportunity to sift through all the recent reboots and marvel at how little time has passed between films.
Black Hammer Has the Potential to Be the Next Marvel Cinematic Universe
Cinematic universes are a big deal these days and it seems like every studio is looking for the next big Marvel-like franchise that can span across movies, TV, and beyond. We’ve witnessed plenty of false starts and minor successes, but so far no other franchise has been able to capture that shared universe spark. That just might change once the adaptation of Black Hammer hits screens because it’s a comic book superhero series that naturally lends itself to the concept of a cinematic universe.
What Black Hammer Is About
Writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dean Ormston crafted a beautiful saga with Black Hammer. Launched in 2016, the series became a massive critical hit and took home the Eisner for Best New Series. It has quickly become one of Dark Horse Comics’ flagship books and the indie series that everyone is talking about. It was no surprise when it was announced that it had been licensed for a live-action adaptation by Legendary Entertainment. The studio has yet to reveal whether they plan to adapt Black Hammer into film or television, or some mix of both, but the flexible nature of the series could easily fit either format.