New Sonic Comic Pays Tribute to Sega Genesis Era
With 2016 being the 25th anniversary of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, fans can expect a lot of major new Sonic projects across various forms of media (including today's announcement that Sonic will be joining the growing lineup of characters in Lego Dimensions). But comic book fans also have a lot to look forward to. This July, Archie Comics will be publishing a new one-shot special called Sonic: Mega Drive #1. It's no coincidence that this issue is named after the international version of the Sega Genesis console, as it pays homage to that classic, 16-bit era and features a story set after the events of Sonic & Knuckles.
Stormtroopers Have Invaded Walt Disney World
While construction has begun on the full Star Wars-themed land coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World (along with a version at Disneyland in California, as well), that project isn’t expected to be completed for several years. However, visitors to the Orlando, FL theme park will still find plenty of new Star Wars experiences these days, thanks to several recently-added elements, along with a new nighttime show debuting this month.
During a recent visit to Hollywood Studios, I got a look at many of these inclusions, along with a preview of what to expect from the new “Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular” nighttime show.
Destiny: Rise of Iron Isn’t Available for PS3, Xbox 360
Bungie revealed plans today for Destiny’s Rise of Iron, a new expansion coming to PS4 and Xbox One in September, but it won’t be coming to last-generation consoles.
Since it's launch in September 2014, Destiny and its previous three expansions have all been available for Sony and Microsoft consoles. Destiny: Rise of Iron will cost $30 USD and it requires the last expansion, Destiny: The Taken King, which is sold separately.
During the announcement, Bungie acknowledged that fans on last-gen platforms may be upset before the company moved on to detail the new content coming to Destiny: Rise of Iron. If you play Destiny on last-gen systems, you can carry over your character and inventory over from PS3/Xbox 360 to PS4/Xbox One respectively.
Destiny’s Next Expansion Has Officially Been Revealed
After several leaks, Bungie has revealed what's to come in Destiny's next major expansion.
The Destiny: Rise of Iron expansion debuted during a livestream today on Bungie's Twitch channel and is set to release on Sept. 20 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Rise of Iron will cost $30. Watch the official reveal trailer below.
Rise of Iron will take place in a new area on Earth called The Plaguelands and will include, among other new content, a new six-player Raid, a new social space called Felwinter Peak, a new cooperative three-player Strike, and a Light level increase. Rise of Iron will require the base Destiny game as well as The Taken King to be played.
Overwatch: Widowmaker’s ‘Frustration Threshold’ to Be Lowered
It seems Blizzard is constantly keeping an eye out for possible balance changes in Overwatch.
There are planned changes for McCree, D.Va and Reaper, and apparently there is also internal testing going on related to Widowmaker at the moment, too.
In response to a question on the Battle.net forums, game director Jeff Kaplan replied: "Widowmaker is on our radar. We are discussing her. We have some internal experiments going to see if we can keep her viable while lowering the frustration threshold a little bit. Right now, this is just exploration. If something more comes of it, we'll let you know."
Minecraft 1.10 Update Adds New Blocks, Fossils, Polar Bears
Mojang has released its latest major update for Minecraft, version 1.10, also known as Frostburn.
Frostburn primarily makes changes to the the hottest and coldest areas of the game, adding polar bears and a new Skeleton variant, Strays to frozen biomes while fossils and a stronger Zombie type, Husks will pop up in deserts.
There's also a new technical block for Creative mode admins which allows for templates of structures to be placed with the help of "Redstone trickery".
Here's Mojang's list of changes (although you can see a far more detailed version on the Minecraft Wiki):
- Many bug fixes
Blizzard CEO Meets With World of Warcraft Nostalrius Server Developers
Blizzard recently invited the core development team of the fan-made World of Warcraft legacy server Nostalrius to its campus in Irvine, California.
The legacy server ran a "vanilla" version of World of Warcraft that that's since been lost to years of patches and expansions. Blizzard shut down Nostalrius earlier this year for breach of its terms of service, but a petition for Blizzard to introduce legacy servers gained over a quarter of a million signatures.
At the meeting, which was attended by Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime along with multiple other World of Warcraft executives, the subject was discussed for five hours, despite the meeting being only scheduled to last for two.
Skylar & Plux Gets Release Window, New Gameplay Trailer
Developer Grip Digital announced its upcoming 3D platformer Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island is coming to PS4, PC, and Xbox One January 2017.
In addition to the release window reveal, Grip Digital also released a new gameplay trailer showing off Oasis, a never-before-seen area in the game, as well as a new "time manipulating gadget."
The new gadget slows time and allows players to create "time-bubbles to change the environment around them."
Skylar & Plux was first introduced at the 2016 Game Developer Conference. After playing it during GDC, we said the game does a fine job of scratching that old school 3D platforming itch seen in games like Banjo Kazooie or the original Ratchet & Clank. The bright, colorful, and varied levels shown off "felt wonderful," and showed off the games crisp, responsive controls.
Harmonix’s Next VR Music Game Detailed
Harmonix has further detailed its upcoming virtual reality game, Harmonix Music VR.
The music game will launch with four game modes, according to a post on the PlayStation Blog. The Beach allows players to visit "a relaxing, surreal landscape" with hidden secrets, while The Easel lets players create 3D art that reacts to music.
The third mode, titled The Dance, will let players choreograph dance routines for zany looking characters to start a party before "wreaking havoc" in Giant Mode.
Finally, the fourth mode is called The Trip and allows players to cue up their favorite song and surround themselves in bizarre environments, according to Polygon.
Person of Interest Creators on the Show’s Passionate Fans
With Person of Interest heading into its final two episodes, including the finale on June 21st, IGN has an exclusive preview clip from the upcoming Season 5 Blu-ray and DVD release, as the show's creators and a key cast member look back on the series.
"Finale for the Fans", which will also be available to those with a digital season pass to Season 5, is a round table discussion between creator/executive producer Jonathan Nolan, executive producer Greg Plageman, executive producer Denise Thé and Michael Emerson ("Harold Finch"), in which the POI team discuss the series, how it evolved and how they came to decide how it would end.
I had the pleasure of moderating this conversation, and in the clip below, the POI EPs talk about the show's fanbase and what it was like shooting in New York.