Marvel to Launch Black Panther and Gwenpool in April
Marvel released their full lineup of solicitations for April 2016 today. Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze's Black Panther series will finally be debuting that month, even as Marvel continues the build-up to Civil War 2 and kicks off an ongoing Poe Dameron comic.
New Series:
- Black Panther #1
- Captain America: Road to War #1
- Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three - The Bitter Medicine #1
- Empress #1
- Gwenpool #1
- Moon Knight #1
- Spider-Women Alpha #1 (one-shot)
- Star Wars: Poe Dameron #1
February’s Xbox One Update Adds Fixes, Avatar Store
The Xbox One System Update coming in February will add a new Avatar Store, more improvements to social features, and a compact mode for the Xbox App.
According to Xbox Wire, these updates and more will begin rolling out in the Xbox One Preview Program. Members of the program will be able to see who is in a party before joining it and compare Gamerscore with friends on a new leaderboard.
Microsoft has also made it easier to join friends’ Twitch broadcasts, rearrange pins on the Xbox One Home screen, and re-enabled the ability to hide games from the “ready-to-install” list so you’ll no longer need to look at the beta tiles in your list.
Deadpool ‘Denied’ Permission to Screen in China
20th Century Fox's upcoming Deadpool movie won't be making its way to China, as the nation has reportedly "denied" the studio permission to screen the film due to its graphic content.
According to reports from local Chinese media, Deadpool's intense violence, nudity and strong language have resulted in the R-rated superhero movie being withheld from the region. A "source close to the decision" at China Film Group confirmed to THR the validity of these reports.
Pee-wee’s Big Holiday Trailer and Premiere Date Revealed
Netflix has announced that its upcoming original film, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, will make its debut on Friday, March 18.
The movie, which stars Pee-wee Herman, takes the comedic icon on a new adventure after he has a "fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger" and decides to take a holiday for the first time in his life. For a sneak peek at the film, check out the teaser below.
In addition to Herman, Pee-wee's Big Holiday stars True Blood's Joe Manganiello and Stalker's Jessica Pohly, as well as Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat and Stephanie Beatriz of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Wonder Woman Movie Logo Debuts
Warner Bros. is ramping up to its Wonder Woman solo movie, starting today with a new logo and social media pages.
The logo, as seen on the Gal Gadot-starring movie's new Facebook page, is a lot more intricate and angular than the typical design -- though it still features the crossed, double-Ws iconic to the third member of DC Comics' leading trinity.
Ex-Sony Online Boss Opens New Studio, Announces First Game
Former Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley has opened a new studio called Pixelmage Games and announced that their its game, Hero's Song, will be co-funded on Kickstarter.
Hero's Song is a open world, 2D pixel art action RPG that bills itself as a "hardcore action RPG for hardcore gamers." The game features a dynamic world creation system where every time you start a new game, the back story is completely different based on what gods you chose to make up your pantheon. Choice of gods affects aspects like the terrain, what races exist and what their histories are, and even your own character's family tree. Players can host their own servers which can support hundreds playing on them at the same time.
How BioShock and Dead Space Influenced Perception
In the wake of Irrational Games’ demise, it might be time to start putting the studio in its proper historical context. As its former members scatter to the wind to work on or start their own projects, it’s fair to call Irrational the video game industry equivalent of an Ivy League university (it’s fitting, really, as Irrational itself was borne out of Looking Glass Studios – another fallen development house staffed by men and women who have, in many cases, gone onto legendary careers). Those who studied there seem to have a master’s-level understanding of and craft for game development, and their new games come with a built-in level of excitement.
One such group is The Deep End Games, headed by former BioShock Infinite lead designer Bill Gardner (though Bill’s time at Irrational dates back to SWAT 4). Most of its dozen members have Irrational on their resumes, with a bit of ex-Visceral talent in the mix too in the form of former Dead Space level designer Ben Johnson. The new team is hard at work on Perception, a new first-person, narrative-driven horror game for PC (and since you’ll ask: the team wants to bring it to consoles, but is focusing on the PC version for now and has not made any announcements regarding a possible Xbox One or PlayStation 4 version).
Metal Gear Online Launches on PC as Beta Ends
Konami has officially launched Metal Gear Online for PC, today.
According to a Steam post, Metal Gear Online is available and players who log in and play at least one game between today and January 26 can earn a 3000 Gear Points to spend on customizations.
The PC beta for Metal Gear Online went live last week but was disabled temporarily the following day due to a potential exploit that was found. It did come back online later that day.
Ballistic Armor Maker Creates Bulletproof Boba Fett Armor
Ever wanted to wade into battle in full Mandalorian chiq? Thanks to the armorers at AR500, the gun manufacturers at Heckler and Koch, and other industry leaders, you might soon be able to with this Boba Fett-inspired, bulletproof body armor.
Called the GalacTac project, the armor is the sum of contributions from SOG Knives, Surefire, TEA headsets, and Team Wendy.
Photo: AR500 Armor
Designed by artist Ryan Flowers, the armor is made of steel plates mounted on AR500's Guardian plate carrier with a Armasight flip-down night vision scope. Flowers previously distributed less heavy-duty versions of the armor off his website for paintballers, airsoft players, and Mandalorian culture enthusiasts. While technical details haven't been released, AR500's previous offerings are good against rifles and handguns.
Heroes of the Storm Offers $4 Million Prize Pool in 2016
The Global Championship Circuit is coming to Heroes of the Storm this year, and over $4 million is up for grabs in total.
The 2016 GCC sees the best teams from Australia / New Zealand, China, Europe, Korea, Latin America, North America, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan competing in a seasonal format across spring, summer, and fall. It all culminates in a Global Championship event.
Blizzard has shared a breakdown of the Spring Global Championship and the events leading up to it. The big event is happening in Seoul, South Korea from April 1 - 3, and has a prize pool of $500,000. The regional events are underway, and are taking place between now and the beginning of April, with prize pools ranging from $18.5k up to $100k.