Discussing Shadowverse’s New Control Meta
Shadowverse’s third expansion, Tempest of the Gods, came out yesterday, and the set of 104 new cards promises to significantly shake up the anime-infused CCG’s gameplay. To find out a little more about the development of the set and the future of the game as a whole, I spoke with Game Producer and Executive Director at Cygames, Yuito Kimura. Read on to find out about how the team thinks the game will slow down, their strategy of turning Take Two into a competitive format, why cards like Owlcat exist, why Blood Moon may be OP and more. (Oh, and you should also check out my chat with Lead Game Designer Naoyuki Miyashita and Card Designer Yuichiro Sato, which is more of a class by class, card by card analysis of Tempest.)
Harmonix Lays Off 17 Staff
Rock Band developer Harmonix has suffered another batch of layoffs, letting go of 17 staff.
“Today we made the difficult decision to say goodbye to 17 talented people as we restructured to align with our current and anticipated development needs,” the studio confirmed via a statement to GamesIndustry.biz.
“These people all played a role in making Harmonix and its games what they are today and we are more than grateful for their contributions. We are working to ensure that they are taken care of as we make this change.”
Harmonix just released the Oculus-supported Rock Band VR last week and also has the VR karaoke game SingSpace in the pipe for mid-2017. The studio is also working on DropMix, a physical music mixing game where players collect cards to create unique song mixes, which is being developed in partnership with Hasbro. Harmonix continues to produce new downloadable songs for Rock Band 4/Rock Band Rivals.
Channing Tatum to Voice Netflix’s George Washington
21 Jump Street star Channing Tatum has signed on to voice George Washington in Netflix's first animated film.
Deadline reports the movie, titled America: The Motion Picture, will be an R-rated revisionist history about the founding of the United States. Tatum will be voicing the lead as Washington, but there are no details about additional characters and cast members.
America: The Motion Picture will be directed by Matt Thompson (Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo) from a script by Dave Callaham (The Expendables). Both Thompson and Callaham are also producing the movie along with Peter Kiernan, Reid Carolin, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller. No details yet on a release date and if the film will be coming to theaters.
Twitter Handles No Longer Count Toward 140-Character Limit
Twitter has today confirmed that Twitter handles in replies will no longer count toward the 140-character limit on Tweets.
The social media juggernaut has outlined that who you’re replying to will appear in small text above the Tweet, rather than within the text of the Tweet itself, leaving users the maximum 140-character limit to conduct conversations.
“When reading a conversation, you’ll actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet,” explained Twitter product manager Sasank Reddy in the company’s announcement.
The Justice League Assembled to Present New Footage
Director Zack Snyder assembled his cast at CinemaCon Wednesday to present some new footage from his next DC movie, Justice League.
Snyder was joined onstage by Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), and Ezra Miller (Flash). Gal Gadot, who is overseas recuperating from her recent childbirth, sent a pre-recorded greeting to the National Association of Theatre Owners' annual convention.
There wasn't a whole lot of new footage shown so much as an extended trailer with a couple of extra moments and lines of dialogue.
#CinemaCon My Boys pic.twitter.com/V9q9ZbcuCV
— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) March 30, 2017
Comparing the New It to the Original
If you're having trouble sleeping lately, it's probably because the first trailer for It has hit the Internet. This is the second time Hollywood has adapted Stephen King's beloved 1986 novel, after the 1990 TV miniseries, and the remake looks to be even more terrifying than the original.
Despite the change from small screen to big, and the gap of 27 years, we have noticed some pretty direct similarities between the two versions in the new trailer. Check out our slideshow comparison below (drag the slider between images) to see what's changed and what's remained the same in this tale about a demonic clown terrorizing a band of heroic children.
It is directed by Andrés Muschietti (Mama) with the screenplay by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman. The story will be based on King's novel and follows the small town of Derry, Maine, whose children suddenly begin to mysteriously disappear. A group of young kids -- the Loser's Club -- find themselves going up against the evil clown Pennywise, who's been murdering and kidnapping children for centuries.
The Wonder Woman Footage We Saw Looked Good
Warner Bros. showed attendees at Wednesday's CinemaCon never-before-seen footage from the DC superhero's solo film, opening in June.
Director Patty Jenkins and cast member Chris Pine were on hand to present close to ten minutes of footage to the National Association of Theater Owners. (Gal Gadot was overseas, having just recently given birth, but she sent a pre-recorded greeting.)
Four scenes were shown, the first two being a boat journey sequence followed by an action scene in London and then a major battle set-piece set in World War I Belgium.
Check out the slideshow below for our breakdown of the footage (be mindful of some SPOILERS):
Judging from the footage screened at CinemaCon, Wonder Woman looks pretty good. The scenes provided an overview of the look and tone of the film, Diana's (Gal Gadot) personality, her relationship with Steve Trevor (Pine), and her journey from innocence to the more world-weary warrior we meet in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Oculus Co-Founder Palmer Luckey Leaves Facebook
Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Oculus VR and the designer of the Oculus Rift VR headset, is leaving Facebook, a representative for Oculus has confirmed to IGN.
Luckey's last day at Facebook, which accompanied Oculus back in 2014 for $2 billion, will be this Friday, March 31. A representative for Oculus provided the following statement regarding Luckey's departure:
"Palmer will be dearly missed. Palmer's legacy extends far beyond Oculus. His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and build an industry. We're thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best."
The Oculus spokesperson could not provide further comment on the details regarding Luckey's departure, which was first reported by UploadVR.
Go Behind the Scenes of Kong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island gave viewers a new version of the gigantic gorilla, and now Warner Bros. and Legendary are providing a behind-the-scenes look at how the monster movie was made.
The Art and Making of Kong: Skull Island offers a new perspective on the movie with concept art and photography. Below, IGN has eight exclusive images from the book that showcase various monsters and Tom Hiddleston on set.
The hardcover book is out now and available on Amazon.
Kong: Skull Island has been a beast at the box office this month, and the new film stacks up well with the modern series.
Fast and Furious Franchise Would Cause $523M in Damage
The thing about a street fight is the street always wins — and leaves whoever started the fight with a massive bill of damages.
Insurance company InsuretheGap.com (as spotted by THR), has assessed all of the damage done throughout the first seven films in the Fast and Furious franchise, and determined that the real-life cost of every car crash, car explosion, and car crashes into buildings that then explode would cost over 419.4 million pounds, or about $523.3 million USD.
The W Motors Lykan Hypersport, seen flying through the air between three buildings in Abu Dhabi during Furious 7, is the mot expensive car destroyed in the entire series, with an estimated $3.46 million USD value. 169 cars sustain some form of damage throughout the series, while 142 are absolutely destroyed. (There's a good chance The Fate of the Furious will considerably up these numbers if the scenes teased in its latest trailer are any indication.)