NBA Playgrounds Keeps the NBA Jam/Street Tradition Alive
NBA Playgrounds is coming to consoles next month.
The game is a return to the arcade-style basketball games of yesterday, like NBA Street and NBA Jam. Officially licensed by the NBA, the game features players both active and retired, with Allen Iverson facing off against modern ballers Steph Curry and George Hill in the opening of the trailer.
Every NBA team is featured in NBA Playgrounds, and the "roster of current and retired" players can be leveled-up. Keeping inline with its arcade-style roots, Playgrounds features "hundreds of over-the-top dunks and moves."
Playgrounds can be played solo, local-multiplayer, or "against the world" online.
Developed by Saber Interactive, CEO Matt Karch calls it accessible enough for anyone to pick up and play, but it still has "a lot of depth for hardcore pros who’ve mastered their game."
New Streaming Service Brings Original Doctor Who to US
Those in the United States can now stream the original 26 seasons of Doctor Who via BritBox, a new subscription service from BBC Worldwide and ITV.
According to Variety, a subscription to BritBox costs $6.99 per month and grants you access to a number of additional British TV shows, including comedies like Fawlty Towers and the original version of The Office, as well as news episodes of dramas like EastEnders and Emmerdale.
BritBox's library of classic Doctor Who episodes is organized chronologically by Doctor and features a variety of playlists, including ones themed around Companions and Monsters. Audio from "lost" episodes will soon be made available on the service as well.
Marvel’s New Warriors/Squirrel Girl TV Series Ordered
The New Warriors are coming to TV, as Freeform has ordered a series based on the Marvel comic about a team of young superheroes. Marvel’s New Warriors will mark the company’s first foray into live-action, 30-minute comedy.
Put into development by Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios last year, New Warriors found its home at Freeform after some notable competition from other cable and streaming outlets interested in the project, reports THR. The cable channel has given the series a 10-episode commitment for its first season.
Dawn of War 3 Getting Open Beta This Month
An open beta for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III will run from April 21-24, Relic Entertainment and SEGA announced today.
The beta will allow players to test each of the game's three factions — Space Marines, Eldar, and Orks — along with "a selection of powerful elite heroes for each." Those interested can register for the beta at the game's official website.
The Masters of War skins, which are included with each pre-order, will also be available to use during the beta.
IGN recently got some hands-on time with the Ork faction. You can also check out our in-depth multiplayer preview and complete faction overview.
Banner Saga 3 Promises Closure as Trilogy Draws to a Close
The biggest promise developer Stoic is making about Banner Saga 3 is that it will provide players with a feeling of “closure and accomplishment”, a fitting goal for the finale of a trilogy. Decisions you’ve made that date back to the original’s 2014 release have implications here, both in how this final act evolves and which characters are involved in it.
“We’re former Bioware, that’s how Stoic got together, and we talk about Mass Effect 3 sometimes and what it was that players thought was lacking in the ending that was provided,” explains Banner Saga 3 producer Zeb West, expanding on his desire to provide players with “closure”.
“Recently we were talking about the changes made to the Mass Effect 3 ending and how they were about delivering closure to elements of the story that weren’t shown at the end. We have tried to take that to heart with Banner Saga 3 and work out a way that we can deliver those details so that people aren’t left wondering what happened to their favourite characters.”
Activision Talks Marvel-Style Call of Duty Movie Universe
Call of Duty is already one of the biggest game franchises, and now Activision Blizzard wants the shooter series to dominate theaters.
In fact, Activision Blizzard Studios is planning a Marvel-style Call of Duty film universe. Hateful Eight producer Stacey Sher and former Disney executive Nick van Dyk, who co-lead the new film company, talked to the Guardian about their aims for the game franchise as it transitions to the silver screen.
Cars 3: Driven to Win Release Date Revealed
Cars 3: Driven to Win releases June 13, the same day as the upcoming Pixar movie upon which it's based.
Cars 3: Driven to Win picks up after the movie's "final big race," extending the story and taking players "through a high-speed competition." There are over 20 customizable characters from the Cars franchise, as well as "iconic settings" like Radiator Springs and the Florida International Speedway.
Local, split-screen multiplayer is also part of the upcoming game, so players can cooperate or compete "at home together."
Cars 3 is developed by Avalanche Software, the developer behind the Disney Infinity series. When Disney announced it would no longer self-publish games, some members of the studio joined castAR, a "mixed-reality entertainment" studio.
Blizzard Wins Lawsuit Against Cheat Making Company
Blizzard Entertainment has been awarded $8.5 million in damages after winning a copyright infringement case against German company, Bossland.
As reported by Torrent Freak, Blizzard has successfully sued the cheat-making company for distributing cheats and bots for several of their games.
The lawsuit began in July last year and the court has now agreed with Blizzard's claims that Bossland is responsible for causing detriment to the company by creating and distributing hacks designed for their games.
Daily Deals: Mass Effect: Andromeda Competition, Overwatch, EA Access
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Overwatch Director Reveals Rejected “Cat in a Jetpack” Hero
Overwatch features a talking scientist gorilla, but apparently another suggested hero design was a step too far - a "cat in a jetpack".
In an entertaining interview with Gamespot, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan spilled the beans on the rejected hero from the game's development:
"We had done a lot of concepting
There was this one hero that was a huge internal debate on the team because we just loved it so much but it didn't make it. It was this jetpack and it had this cat that laid in it, like a cat does.
"Then every once in a while it would paw at the controls. It was a cat in a jetpack. That was one of those moments that helped define Overwatch. We just went, 'Yeah that's probably too far.' But yes. We had a cat hero."