Injustice 2 Is Very Similar to Injustice 1
After watching the debut trailer for Injustice 2, I was equal parts nervous and excited. What was with everyone doing their best Iron Man impersonation with armor that morphs over them mid-battle? Is that the new trait activation? How important is this new customization system? Will it ruin competitive play? These are the questions I had going into my hands-on, but after over two hours of matches, that trepidation has turned to a sort of subdued enjoyment. Despite the wild implications of the reveal trailer, Injustice 2, at this point, feels more or less like the same game with some new characters.
First things first: no, those articulated suits of armor are not an actual part of the gameplay. You do acquire pieces of gear to equip (we'll get to them) but you don't "activate" your armor mid-battle. The trait system from the previous installment is intact, and it works just as it did before, which is to say that it's still a limited use buff or ability that compliments each character's play style. For instance, Atrocitus summons Dex-Starr for a short while, who he can coordinate attacks with to build otherwise impossible combos, and Supergirl has a slowly recharging battery of multi-directional eye blasts she can use to zone and pick away at her opponents.
Sonic Boom: Fire And Ice Looks to Return to Speedy Roots
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice wants to correct the mistakes of its predecessor. And it’s doing so by remembering to be a Sonic game.
Fire & Ice’s handheld predecessor, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, catered to exploration over pacing, but Sanzaru Games’ latest foray into the world of the Blue Blur is putting the emphasis back on Sonic and the gang’s need for speed. And that’s good news for fans of Sonic’s earlier days.
As I took corners with reckless abandon, running up walls and hopping on springs, I was reminded of the best modern attempts to bring back the blue hedgehog, Sonic Rush and Sonic Generations. Fire & Ice looks to be hewing more closely to Sonic's traditional formula, though it will have to prove the full suite of levels can live up to the standards of those stronger entries.
Mario Party: Star Rush Uses Repurposed Art From Nintendo Spaghetti-Os
After Nintendo announced Mario Party: Star Rush for Nintendo 3DS at E3 2016, some folks realized the company used recycled character art on the game's box art.
See for yourself below.
I can't believe that Nintendo recycled the art from a Spaghetti-O's can pic.twitter.com/l9u1DHkBHz
— Jirachi's World (@starwindbliss) June 16, 2016
Twitter user @starwindbliss first spotted the similarity, and others chimed to say Nintendo has used the exact renderings, or very similar ones, in other projects, too.
E3 2017 Dates Announced
The dates for next year's Electronic Entertainment Expo have been revealed.
According to a sign on display in the Los Angeles Convention Center's South Hall, E3 2017 will take place from June 13 to June 15.
Sign on display at the LA Convention Center
This year's expo featured several major announcements, including Microsoft's reveal of Xbox Scorpio, Sony's unveiling of a brand-new God of War and Nintendo's exciting new look at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. For our highlights from the convention, be sure to check out IGN's Best of E3 2016 Awards.
Spider-Man: Homecoming Adds Prometheus Star
Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming has added two more actors to its ever-expanding cast: Prometheus' Logan Marshall-Green and Silicon Valley's Martin Starr.
As Variety reports, Marshall-Green is in talks for a "villainous role," while there are currently no details on Starr's character, according to Deadline.
Logan Marshall-Green in Prometheus
Nintendo: ‘A New Kind of Mario’ Game Is Coming
Just as Nintendo is challenging the conventions of The Legend of Zelda with Breath of the Wild, the company is similarly looking to shake up what players have come to expect with Mario.
"We're always challenging ourselves to create something new, so hopefully you'll see a new kind of Mario in about a year or two," Shigeru Miyamoto said in an interview with IGN.
"Maybe next E3 we'll be able to share something."
Miyamoto explained that the challenges Nintendo faces in tweaking the Mario formula are unique from those dealt with in producing Breath of the Wild because of how wide an audience Mario games reach.
Jared Leto’s Joker Design Inspired By Instagram Drug Lords
The design of Jared Leto's Joker for Suicide Squad was inspired by Instagram drug lords, director David Ayer has revealed.
"A lot of it has to do with creating a character with some kind of history and footprint in our world, and not have this sacrosanct being outside of our continuum, our reality," Ayer said in an interview with Yahoo (via Birth.Movies.Death.), noting he wanted Joker's look to be representative of the world today. "In my mind, I took a lot of inspiration from drug lords on Instagram. It’s a great way to understand the lifestyle of a villain."
Ellen DeGeneres on Finding Dory Again
It’s been 13 years since Finding Nemo hit theaters, a film that went on to make $936 million at the worldwide box office. For the better part of a decade it was the most successful animated movie of all time, before losing that honor to another Disney Pixar film, Toy Story 3.
Finding Dory, which is more of a companion piece to the first film than a traditional sequel, has been five years in the making and is set to be an even bigger success. Ellen DeGeneres, probably one of the most well known people on the planet, returns as the voice of Dory, the forgetful blue tang fish.
I caught up with her in Los Angeles to talk about returning to Dory, the love for the Finding films and characters, a possible threequel or cameo in Toy Story 4 and why she thinks a remake of her 1996 rom-com, Mr. Wrong, is long overdue.
Superman Cast for Supergirl: Season 2
After keeping the character off-screen during Season 1, it was recently announced that Superman will be introduced in Season 2 of Supergirl, as the show moves to the CW. Now we know who'll be portraying the Man of Steel in his new TV incarnation, as Tyler Hoechlin has been cast in the role of Superman/Clark Kent.
Hoechlin first gained attention playing Tom Hanks' son in Road to Perdition, and like his fellow CW/DC Comics hero Colton Haynes (Arrow's Roy Harper/Red Arrow), he's a Teen Wolf alum. More recently, Hoechlin appeared in Fifty Shades of Grey and Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some.
Id Hasn’t Ruled Out Consoles for Quake Champions
Despite saying id Software would focus on "one platform," PC, for Quake Champions, studio director Tim Willits said he hasn't "totally
the door on consoles."
"It's a PC game. No excuses. No limitations," Willits told GameSpot. "We drew lines around this game to make the best game we can within the scope." However, id Software does "love
console fans," saying that a console edition of the game could come in the future.
id Software wants to ensure as many PC players as possible get their hands on the game. Quake Champions will run decently with lower-end specs, but it'll "shine on good systems," Willits added.