Overwatch Passes 25 Million Players
Overwatch has now passed 25 million players, Activision Blizzard announced today.
Word comes by way of the game's official Twitter account, which tweeted out the milestone with the message "The world needs heroes, and over 25 MILLION have answered the call! The fight for the future isn't over yet, though... Are you with us?"
It should be noted that the 25 million figure, which is up 5 million from October, is presumably referring to total registered Overwatch accounts. Blizzard hasn't released sales numbers for the multiplayer shooter.
Your Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2016
Last week, we asked you all to vote for your favorite comic book-based TV show of 2016 and after the votes were tallied, the winner had battled their way through a hallway of thugs and goons to take the number one spot.
With plenty of offerings from both Marvel and DC, on both traditional TV channels and streaming services, the clear champion (with almost half the votes!) is Season 2 of Marvel's Daredevil. Yes, the inclusion of both Punisher and Elektra, along with some stunning fight choreography, helped the series rise up and claim victory.
Coming in a somewhat distant second, with 14% of the votes, is the CW's The Flash. Following that, The Walking Dead -- still TV's number one show, even with diminished ratings -- comes in third with almost 9%. Another AMC comic book adaptation, the new series Preacher, takes fourth place while Marvel's other Netflix series last year, Luke Cage, rounds out the Top 5. Check it out!
Someone Collected All 1,262 Wii Games
An avid Nintendo Wii collector claims to have completed their set of all 1,262 Wii games released in North America.
User NintendoTwizer posted pictures of their completed collection on the NintedoAge forums, along with some insight into why they set out to own every single North American Wii game ever released. They've also managed to collect all 12 uniquely colored first-party Wiimotes, which you can see in the middle of the massive display.
Image via NintendoTwizer on NintendoAge
RTX Hits Sydney February 4-5
RTX is coming to Sydney's International Convention Centre at the beginning of February, and here are the unmissable highlights of the show if you're planning on checking it out.
Hands-on with the Switch
Nintendo's bringing the Switch to RTX, so you can go hands-on and see whether or not the next Nintendo console is worth that pre-order. While you wait, here's what we thought of it.
Hands-on with Halo Wars 2
The sequel to the popular 2009 RTS game will also be playable at RTX. Here are 4 reasons why Halo Wars 2 has something for everyone.
Star Trek’s Brent Spiner to Guest on The Blacklist
As the element that gives the show its title, The Blacklist has provided "Red" Reddington (James Spader) and Liz Keen (Megan Boone) with plenty of notable criminals to pursue and that will continue in an upcoming episode featuring Brent Spiner.
IGN has the exclusive info on Spiner's role, which will take place in a February episode of the series.
Brent Spiner
The Star Trek: The Next Generation icon, whose recent credits include Independence Day: Resurgence, Outcast and Blunt Talk, will play a Blacklister with the compelling nickname of The Architech.
New York Times Drops Comics From Bestseller List
Comic books have been unceremoniously dropped from the New York Times Bestseller lists.
When the email subscription for the February 5th NY Times Best Sellers List went out, it included a note saying, “Beginning with the advance BSL edition that will be delivered today for February 5, 2017 there will be revisions to multiple categories in the publication. These changes will span weekly and monthly lists.” Those “revisions” were the removal of the Bestseller lists for hardcover graphic novels, softcover graphic novels, and manga.
This was first picked up on by literary agent Charles Olsen, who posted the news on Twitter.
Graphic novels can no longer be @nytimes bestsellers as of February 5th. No explanation for change, I think we deserve one. Please RT!
Black Panther: Official Cast and Plot Synopsis Revealed
Production has commenced on Black Panther, Marvel Studios announced Thursday. The Ryan Coogler-directed film will shoot in Atlanta and South Korea.
Chadwick Boseman reprises the title role of Wakandan king T'Challa. The cast also includes Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Fantastic Four), Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Sicario), Angela Bassett (American Horror Story, Green Lantern), Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (Rogue One), Letitia Wright (Urban Hymn), Winston Duke (Person of Interest), and Sterling K. Brown (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story).
Boseman's not the only actor making his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Black Panther. Captain America: Civil War's Martin Freeman, John Kani, and Florence Kasumba are back as Everett Ross, T'Chaka, and T'Challa's security chief Ayo, respectively. (T'Chaka's appearance in the film lends credence to the report that the film includes a flashback to the 1990s.) Marvel also confirmed that Andy Serkis will reprise his Avengers: Age of Ultron role as the villainous Ulysses Klaw.
Resident Evil 7 Proves VR Is More Than Just a Gimmick
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard’s 10 hour campaign can be played entirely in virtual reality — every jump scare, every grueling boss fight, every disgusting enemy encounter, experienced up close and uncomfortably personal with the help of Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.
As someone who was initially skeptical about how a full-length, entirely VR-optional game would work in VR, I was surprised to discover that it was actually… pretty good!
So far, most successful or well-known virtual reality experiences have been created specifically with VR in mind: Job Simulator, Batman: Arkham VR, and so on. These games take advantage of VR’s unique offerings to craft moments that wouldn’t be the same played on a screen. Seeing your hands in-game using PlayStation Move or the HTC Vive controllers goes a long way to make you feel physically present in a virtual world, even if you are just sloppily putting together cartoon sandwiches in a comedy game. But while it’s important for developers to identify what some of VR’s specialized capabilities are sooner rather than later, the result has been a lot of games attempting to experiment with the same few ideas, over and over again. It’s easy for VR skeptics to feel unsure about whether these isolated mechanics are enough to carry a full-length AAA game campaign.
Former Rockstar North President Announces New Game
Former president of Rockstar North, Leslie Benzies, has announced a new video game, Everywhere, using Amazon's free game engine, Lumberyard.
Everywhere is the game's temporary title, and there are no further details currently known about the project, including its genre, gameplay, and what platforms it might appear on. However, Benzies did reveal that his studio has a long-term vision for the title, with the goal "to create a platform where players can be entertained, and also entertain others while blurring the lines between reality, and a simulated world."
Benzies also confirmed that his team will use Lumberyard's client and cloud features "to create a new type of game that was never before possible for today’s massive gaming communities.”
8 Mass Effect Andromeda Figures Coming From Funko
With Mass Effect Andromeda nearing release, Funko has unveiled eight new figures based on the game.
The Pop! vinyl collection features characters from Mass Effect Andromeda. There's the hero Sara Ryder, for instance, along with Peebee, Liam Kosta and even the main villain Archon.
Funko actually revealed two of the Mass Effect Andromeda characters earlier this week, along with an Overwatch set of figures. The company also recently released The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt figures.