Overwatch Made the Internet (and Me) Lose Its Mind Last Night
I had decided on a nice evening to myself. I bought a semi-expensive steak from one of the supermarket shelves that’s harder to reach. I spent more than £5 on wine. Between turning the potatoes and warming a skillet, I would casually check the results of the fermenting internet conspiracy I had been monitoring all day. I went home. At 1am, I watched a Discord chat community of thousands tear itself apart in search of prime numbers, base64 sequences and datamoshed imagery. It was fantastic.
Sombra is Overwatch's supposed 23rd character, and has been the subject of an Alternate Reality Game (or ARG) since the game's release. By this point, she's something like the Godot of Overwatch - a figure one talks about, speculates on, even loves in absentia, but never sees. Months of cryptic, miniature hints about the character – who, depending on which crackpot screed you’re reading, is an invisible stealth melee user, a teenage hacker, a rogue AI, or all of the above – have slowly splintered the dam holding back an absolute torrent of internet froth. Yesterday, it broke, and I was happily washed away amidst it.
X-Men: New Mutants Film World Is “Really Fascinating”
Though 20th Century Fox has yet to confirm the casting of any of the rumored leads of the upcoming X-Men spinoff movie The New Mutants, all three stars are eager to become a part of the X-Men film world.
In March, it was reported that The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy, Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams and X-Men: Apocalypse's Alexandra Shipp were cast as Magik, Wolfsbane and Storm, respectively, though Fox later denied the report. Since, all three women have come out to state their enthusiasm for the project, with Taylor-Joy confirming her interest in The New Mutants to IGN while promoting her new sci-fi thriller Morgan.
Splatoon’s Creators Pick Sides: Callie or Marie?
“It felt like it has been a while since we created a brand new franchise,” Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami told IGN of Splatoon, Nintendo’s competitive multiplayer shooter released back in May 2015. The game’s final Splatfest competition may be over, but Nintendo hasn’t forgotten the fans who helped its new IP succeed. “We’re really happy with the response to Splatoon and with the amount of fans who are supporting it.” Since launch, Splatoon has sold 4.42 million worldwide on Wii U.
IGN spoke to Nogami and Nintendo EPD general manager Katsuya Eguchi during Gamescom. Both men oversaw the creation of Splatoon by younger developers at Nintendo. The duo are credited as co-directors on the first Animal Crossing, released in 2001, as well as a wide swath of other Nintendo games.
Fallout Shelter Update Adds Nuka-World Characters
Bottle and Cappy—Fallout 4's Nuka-World mascots—have made their way over to Fallout Shelter in the game's 1.7 update. They've arrived with a quest, and once you complete it, they'll "visit your vault bearing gifts," according to the patch notes.
Tapping on Bottle and Cappy when they visit will earn players rewards. Additionally, if there's a quest you don't feel like doing, the new update allows you to skip them. Speaking of quests, there are a bunch of new ones, including weekly and special limited time quests. New challenges, too.
Fallout Shelter is available on iOS, Android, and PC. While the Android and iOS versions have been available for a while, but the PC edition of Fallout Shelter arrived in July, and update 1.7 is the first update since the one that came with Fallout Shelter's PC debut.
Dear Esther Coming to Console Next Month
Dear Esther will arrive on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 20, developer The Chinese Room and publisher Curve Digital announced today. It'll cost $10.
The spooky narrative-driven exploration game's next-generation edition, called Dear Esther: Landmark Edition, is tweaked to "finesse the experience on consoles," with graphic and gameplay adjustments. Developers Jessica Curry, Dan Pinchbeck, and Rob Briscoe will also provide the director's commentary mode for Dear Esther, giving interested players a behind-the-scenes look into the game's process.
Dear Esther was originally released on PC in 2012; its console release will kick off a celebration of its legacy. On September 30, The Guardian is holding an event in London to discuss the game's impact and development. Tickets are £10 and available through The Guardian. On October 14, a live playthrough and soundtrack performance of Dear Esther will be held at the Milton Court Concert Hall in London. Tickets are £22.50 and available through The Barbican.
Comic Book Reviews for August 24, 2016
With August winding down, DC added one more new title to the Rebirth lineup in the form of Blue Beetle Rebirth #1, while also kicking off the ongoing series for Deathstroke and The Hellblazer. At Marvel, Extraordinary X-Men #13 began a new storyline, Star Wars #22 returned focus to Han, Luke and Leia and several more Civil War II tie-ins hit the shelves. Elsewhere, Dark Horse premiered a new Wild West comic called Kingsway West, IDW launched new Godzilla and Atomic Robo series and BOOM! Studios delivered a very enjoyable Power Rangers annual.
Scroll down t ocheck out our reviews for these and various other new releases. And be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
Dominic Monaghan is Super-Creepy in Pet Clip
Pet gets its UK premiere at FrightFest tomorrow (Friday) but before then we've got our hands on a new poster and clip from the film.
Pet stars Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings) with the official synopsis as follows:
This psychological horror follows Seth, a lonely man working in an animal shelter. His monotonous routine is broken one day when he bumps into Holly, a girl from school who he soon becomes obsessed with. However, when she rejects his advances, Seth’s obsession reaches a terrifying new level, with Holly hiding secrets of her own.
Pet is due to his UK screens February 2017, with the poster and that creepy clip below...
Mortal Kombat XL Might Be Coming to PC After All
After a few months of believing Mortal Kombat XL is a console exclusive, it looks like it's coming to PC as well.
A Tweet from Mortal Kombat co-creator and NetherRealm creative director Ed Boon over the weekend had a "cryptic" message inside, which isn't too difficult to work out.
Maybe we should Karry eXtra Long People who Care? pic.twitter.com/rvq6spBojz
— Ed Boon (@noobde) August 22, 2016
The capital letters in the tweet read "MKXL PC," and there's a nice close-up shot of a computer-y component for good measure.
Scientists Confirm Existence of Closest Habitable Planet to Earth
A number of researchers have presented evidence which points to what is now believed to be the closest habitable planet to Earth.
According to a study posted on Nature, the planet Proxima b is in orbit around Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our own sun.
Respawn Makes Titanfall 2 Changes After First Technical Test
Respawn has responded to player feedback following the first weekend of the Titanfall 2 tech test, vowing to change several key elements of gameplay.
In a lengthy blog post, multiplayer game designer Steven DeRose explains in detail why certain changes were made for the second game, and how player worries about them will be addressed.
The post is absolutely worth a read (if only because seeing a designer explain their designs is always interesting), but a list of the key changes being made is below: