Ubisoft Trained With Bolivia’s Army for Ghost Recon Research
Today at DICE, Ubisoft VP of Editorial Tommy Francois discussed the process of creating immersive open worlds, highlighting the importance of thorough, first-hand research.
While there's value in reading books and consulting other sources of information, there's no replacement for on-hand experience, Francois explained during his panel, titled "Creative Maturity Through Life Experiences – How to Build Engaging Open Worlds."
"When you create a world, I think it’s actually a trap to only read books," he said, noting "the most important thing" in the "fight for player immersion" is first-hand experience. "It needs to start with our own immersion," Francois added. "How do we do this? We go smell the grass. We have to get out from behind our computers."
Avengers Standoff: What Is Pleasant Hill?
Marvel kicked off their latest Avengers crossover today, and we finally know the source of the conflict in Avengers Standoff.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill#1
Before this issue, Marvel didn't reveal much about the Avengers Standoff conflict beyond the fact that it involves a seemingly innocent town named Pleasant Hill and a dark secret that pits the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. in conflict against one another. This issue offered readers their first introduction to Pleasant Hill, as seen through the eyes of a confused, amnesic young man named Jim. Jim found the town's residents to be extremely helpful and accommodating, except for when he attempted to leave.
Ant-Man Writer Confirms He’s Coming Back for Sequel
Writer Adam McKay says he'll be coming back to the Marvel universe to have a hand in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
The writer of the first Ant-Man told Nerdist that he's not sure just how involved he'll be, but he confirmed he has been talking with Marvel and is planning to be a part of the project.
"We’ve been talking to Marvel actually,” McKay said. “We just talked to them the other day, and it looks like I will be involved. I don’t know if it’s gonna be right from page one. But it looks like I will definitely be involved. There you go. There’s a little headline for the fanboys!"
McKay is known most for his comedies, from Anchorman to Talladega Nights, but he visited more serious subject matter with his most recent movie, The Big Short. It took an inside look at the recent housing market collapse. McKay said he learned from the experience that he loves "not being restrained by a genre."
Flexible Smartphone Lets Users Control Their Apps With Bending Gestures
Flexible smartphones are still a ways off, but a new prototype phone gives us our best look at what such devices could be capable of.
Created by a group of researchers from Queen's University's Human Media Lab, ReFlex is a prototype flexible smartphone that can be controlled simply by bending it. The device was made using a 720p LG Display Flexible OLED touch screen, an Android 4.4-powered board, and several bend sensors and haptic feedback motors.
Agents of SHIELD Promo Shows the Return of a Major Threat
ABC has released its first promo for Agents of SHIELD's midseason premiere, and it's brutal. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD returns to air on Tuesday, March 8, bringing with it "a danger unlike any the world has ever seen." Check out the video below.
The preview teases Inhumans and the highly anticipated Secret Warriors, the group showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen have been slowly building to for the first half of the season. Ward will also return—though not exactly Ward anymore—after a mysterious Inhuman inhabits his body.
Penn Jillette Defends Video Games as Art
Penn Jillette, magician and co-creator of the bizarre unreleased SEGA CD game, Desert Bus, expressed his support for the video game industry this morning at DICE, defending it as an art form and shooting down the notion it breeds violent behavior.
While Jillette doesn't play very many games himself, the famed magician wasn't afraid to defend the medium during this morning's panel with Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford, titled "Assumptions and Expectations with Interactivity and Magic."
Penn Jillette at DICE 2016
Daily Deals: Fallout 4 Season Pass, Shadow of Mordor, Wii U With Free Amiibo and Game
Get Fallout 4's Season Pass Before the Price Goes Up
Update: get the season pass on PC for $24 with code FEBURY-SVINGS-20PERC.
It seems Fallout 4's DLC plans have gotten a bit over-ambitious. Bethesda now says it plans to raise the cost of the season pass to from $30 to $50 on March 1. If you buy the season before then, or if you've already purchased one, you'll get all three DLC drops they've announced. While I'm not a fan of the high pressure sales tactic, at least they're giving gamers some opportunity to score it for its original price, and they're honoring purchases that have already been make.
Kingsman 2: Julianne Moore Up for Villain Role
Oscar-winning actress Julianna Moore is reportedly up to star as the villain in Kingsman: The Secret Service 2.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Moore is in talks to join the sequel cast that includes Taron Egerton. Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn is apparently set to return to the director's chair for Kingsman 2 as well, after flirting with the idea in the past.
Julianna Moore in Still Alice
The ‘Netflix for Comics’ App Comes to iPhone
Digital comic book app ComicBlitz is now available for all iOS devices from the iOS App Store. The "all-you-can-read" service initially launched only for Apple's iPad, but has moved over to the iPhone as well.
Image via ComicBlitz
The app itself has changed, too. Users no longer have to provide a credit card up-front, and can now access free comics "just for signing up," CEO Jordan Plosky says. "This way, you get to experience the platform before you have to commit to anything." New users will be able to access "all of ComicBlitz's standard features," as well as read free comics, and "add to custom lists" and to "offline reading queue
4 New Ninja Turtles Movie Posters Revealed
Paramount Pictures has revealed four new character posters for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Check them out in the slideshow below.
Out of the Shadows is a sequel to Michael Bay's 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. Megan Fox will return alongside Will Arnett, with Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, and Noel Fisher as Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo, respectively.
Tyler Perry will take on the role of Baxter Stockman—a part Perry was very excited to play. Brian Tee will play Shredder, with Brittany Ishibashi playing his daughter Karai. WWE Superstar Sheamus is set as Rocksteady, while Gary Anthony William plays Bebop.