Oculus Founder Skips Company Event to Avoid Being a ‘Distraction’
Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, decided to skip this week's Oculus Connect 3 to avoid being a "distraction," Polygon reports.
Speaking at the conference the company revealed it and Facebook, which owns Oculus, would be donating $10 million to diversity initiatives. This announcement comes just mere weeks after Luckey found himself in hot water after a recent controversy over his alleged contributions to a divisive political non-profit came to light.
War for the Planet of the Apes Footage Reaction
Caesar and his apes arrived in Manhattan today for New York Comic-Con, only to find that the Statue of Liberty was doing just fine, thank you. But nonetheless, War for the Planet of the Apes star Andy Serkis, director Matt Reeves and producer Dylan Clark used the occasion to debut a behind-the-scenes look, a seven-minute scene, and the teaser trailer for the upcoming film.
Here’s the logline for War: “In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.”
Archer: Season 8’s Time Travel Plotline Explained
A loud, excited New York Comic Con crowd was treated to an equally raucous panel for Archer today, the animated spy comedy now moving to FXX for its 8th season next year.
For those of you wondering whether Sterling Archer is still alive following the Season 7 cliffhanger, the answer is, not shockingly, yes... sort of. As revealed this summer at SDCC, Season 8 -- also referred to as Archer: Dreamland -- will take place entirely in the year 1947. As the producers explained at the panel today, it will include all of the regular cast back in action, although in slightly different roles with slightly different origin stories.
In this 1947 timeline, for instance, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) is no longer a spy, but rather a private investigator on the hunt for the person who murdered his old partner, Woodhouse - George Coe, the actor who voiced Woodhouse in earlier seasons passed away in 2015.
Tons of New Star Wars Rogue One Toys Revealed
Hasbro revealed a whole bunch of new toys from the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story film opening in December. It also revealed new figures from The Force Awakens.
Among the toys on display are new Rogue One entries into its Star Wars Black Series line of figures, as well as 3.75-inch figures. Perhaps the most exciting of the new Black Series figures, however, is Darth Vader, the original big bad of the Star Wars universe.
Black Series toys are premium 6-inch figures with good detail, while the 3.75-inch are more inline with the sort of action figures you might have buried in a sandbox in your youth. Although the modern 3.75-inch figures, while not as detailed as the Black Series counterparts, are world's above the old (but still awesome) Kenner figures of yore when it comes to detail.
Pokemon Go Will Make Gym Training Easier in New Update
Less than 24 hours after announcing its new update for Pokemon Go, which will make catching rare Pokemon easier, Niantic Labs revealed new additions coming to the mobile game that will make training at gyms easier for players at all levels.
Posting to the Pokemon Go website, the developer explained players will now have the option to bring six Pokemon to a friendly gym, rather than the previous one. The new update will also allow enemy Pokemon's CP to be temporarily lowered during training matches to match the training player's CP. Niantic has not yet revealed when the update is expected to roll out.
The Order: 1886 Dev Announces Oculus Exclusive
Ready at Dawn, the studio behind The Order: 1886, has announced Lone Echo, a space-based VR game for the Oculus Rift.
According to the game's website, Lone Echo includes both single and multiplayer modes, as well as Oculus Touch support. According to the developer, the game's multiplayer mode, called Echo Arena, features "fast-paced" action in zero-gravity. Check out the first trailer below.
Ready at Dawn is also working on De-formers, a "third-person smash ‘em arena combat game" coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
See New Marvel Legends Figures From NYCC
Hasbro and Marvel unveiled several new Marvel Legends figures as part of its New York Comic-Con 2016 showcase, including Sandman, Shocker, Shatterstar, and Old Man Logan.
IGN got a close-up look with these and more figures, including the Legends line based on the upcoming Doctor Strange film. Take a look at the figures below:
For more on Doctor Strange, check out what IGN learned on our set visit to the upcoming film, which hits theaters on November 4.
For all things NYCC 2016, stay tuned to IGN's Comic-Con event hub.
Joe Hill Returns to ‘The Cape’
Joe Hill isn't just a successful horror novelist, he's also got a pretty impressive comic book resume to boot. In addition to his critically acclaimed series Locke & Key, Hill has collaborated with co-writer Jason Ciaramella and artist Zach Howard on a dark superhero story called The Cape. And at NYCC today, IDW Publishing revealed that Hill, Ciaramella and Howard will be teaming up again for a new spinoff called The Cape: Fallen.
Fallen isn't a sequel to the original story, but rather explores the missing three days when the main protagonist Eric disappeared in the original mini-series. We recently had a chance to chat with Ciaramella about this new project, and he told us more about how Fallen fits into the larger Cape universe and whether a full-blown sequel might be in the cards one day.
Lore Podcast Being Turned Into Amazon Series
Today during its New York Comic-Con panel, Amazon announced a television adaptation of popular podcast Lore will air on its streaming service in mid-2017.
As reported by Deadline, The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd will also serve as an EP on new series' ten-episode first season. Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, Brett-Patrick Jenkins, and Lore podcast creator Aaron Mahnke are also on board as EPs. X-Files producer Glen Morgan will serve as the series' showrunner.
Image via Deadline
The Punisher Series Casts Two New Characters
Marvel’s Neftlix Punisher series has added two new cast members.
Entertainment Weekly reports Girls actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who played Marnie’s love interest, musician Desi on the HBO Show, will star as Micro. The character is a former NSA analyst who’s filled with secrets that’ll be “of great value to Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) and everyone around them.”
Micro builds weapons and tech for Castle in the comics, but eventually becomes one of the Punisher’s major villains.
The second cast member joining is Son of God alum Amber Rose Revah, who’ll be starring as Dinah Madani, a “highly-trained sophisticated Homeland Security agent who is vexed by the Punisher.”