Van Damme to Star in Original Amazon Series
Jean-Claude Van Damme is set to star in an original Amazon pilot titled Jean-Claude Van Johnson.
The action comedy staring Van Damme received a pilot order, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the show, the action star will play as a version of himself, a famous actor and martial artist who comes out of retirement to resume his alter-ego: Jean-Claude Van Johnson, an undercover private contractor.
While Van Damme's character uses the cover of acting to get his work done, the pilot will see Johnson play a lead role in a reimagined action film version of Huckleberry Finn, which lands him back in middle of the danger that he craves.
Pitchford: 80% of Gearbox Staff are Working on Battleborn
Of the 300-person staff at Gearbox Studios, approximately 80 percent are working on the upcoming team-based shooter Battleborn.
This is according to Gearbox head Randy Pitchford, who revealed the statistics to Polygon during a recent podcast interview.
Pitchford claims the group working on Battleborn is collectively larger than the groups used to develop the previous two major installments in their blockbuster FPS franchise.
Far Cry Primal Patch Adds Expert Mode
Far Cry Primal received a day one patch alongside launch today, which adds an Expert Mode.
The patch notes from Ubisoft state that in Expert Mode, Takkar's health is halved compared to hard difficulty. The A.I.'s attack speed is increased by 1/3, enemies aren't shown on the mini-map unless tagged, and they'll will take longer to forget about you when you hide. It also reduces your aim assist, makes several weapons' aim assist box smaller, and reduces your damage.
The day one patch also includes some stability improvements, a better aim reticle, improved beast companion behavior, and rebalanced XP rewards, among other tweaks. It comes in at just over 560 MB on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Community, Firefly Stars Join DC’s Powerless Pilot
Christina Kirk, Dany Pudi, and Alan Tudyk, and will join Vanessa Hudgens in the NBC pilot Powerless, which is set in the DC Comics universe.
According to Variety, all four actors have been cast in series regular roles, should the project be picked up past the pilot.
Danny Pudi
The workplace comedy is set in the DC Universe, and follows the lives of everyday folks in a world teeming with superheroes. Hudgens will star as Emily Locke, an insurance claims adjuster who isn't amused by the superheroes who inhabit the city.
PlayStation VR Presentation Coming Soon
Sony has sent out invites for a PlayStation VR event being held in the middle of March.
The invite-only event will be held on March 15 in San Francisco. The "exclusive press event" will begin with a presentation on the PlayStation VR, formerly code-named Morpheus. That begins at 2pm PT, followed by several hours of hands-on demos.
The event will be held as part of the 2016 Games Developers Conference. With the $600 Oculus Rift coming soon, and the Vive coming in at $800 in April, will this be the event where Sony reveals PSVR's price and date?
Officer Downe ‘Better Than Any Marvel or DC Movie’
Mark Neveldine, the co-director of Crank and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, expects big things for his upcoming Officer Downe movie, going so far as to claim it will outshine all of the Marvel and DC films.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Movie Crypt podcast (via EW), Neveldine made the bold claim that Office Downe will be "better than any Marvel movie or DC movie ever made." He also praised the performance of the film's leading man, saying, "Kim Coates is Officer Downe," before adding, "It’s old school Gene Hackman s–t."
Farming Simulator 17 Announced
Focus Home Interactive has announced that Farming Simulator 17 is heading to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at the end of this year.
Giants Software is once again developing the newest installment in the series. "Each time we release a new version together
we reach more people, and we look forward to expanding this reach even further in the coming years," said Thomas Frey, vice president of Giants.
While new features are promised for Farming Simulator 17, Focus and Giants aren't pulling back the curtains on those details just yet. Last year, the companies brought online multiplayer to consoles for the first time in franchise history with Farming Simulator 15.
Xbox Games with Gold for March Unveiled
Microsoft has officially announced the four games coming to Xbox Games with Gold for March 2016.
For Xbox One players, you'll get the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, available free for Gold users throughout the month of March.
Dark Souls-inspired Lords of the Fallen is the second game for Xbox One, and will be a free download for Gold subscribers from March 15 through April 15.
For Xbox 360 players, Gold members can download the massive real-time strategy game Supreme Commander 2 from March 1 through March 15.
Gearbox's loot-shooter classic Borderlands rounds out March, and Gold members can grab it from March 16 through March 31.
As with previous months, both Supreme Commander 2 and Borderlands will be available for Xbox One users as well through backwards compatibility.
Star Wars: Episode 8 Using Drones to Stop Spying
Disney and Lucasfilm are reportedly utilizing drones to ensure spying doesn't happen during filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII in Croatia.
Making Star Wars (via MosCroatia) reports there is a Star Wars team that will go to drone warfare with people using drones to get pictures of the set and cast of Episode VIII. And that's on top of apparently 600 guards.
Star Wars: Episode VIII has already begun filming, with the movie premiering December 15, 2017. New cast members for the sequel include Benecio del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran.
Daily Deals: PS4 With BB-8 and Battlefront, Xbox Live, Massive PSN Sale
Get a PS4 With Star Wars: Battlefront, Save $100 On BB-8
It was only a matter of time; someone finally bundled BB-8 with a PS4. The PS4 Battlefront bundle is normally $350, and BB-88 is around $150, so this is like saving $100 on your very own smartphone-controlled, rolling astromech droid.
