We Watched a Virtual Reality Movie on Oculus
While the Oculus Rift VR headset is certainly an exciting prospect for video games, its creators are also out to prove it can do some special stuff for movies. An animated short film titled Henry had me inside the brightly decorated home of a hedgehog celebrating his birthday. But there are no guests, you see, because Henry’s spiky body stabs anyone he hugs. This short isn’t about wonder or horror like the Oculus Story Studio’s previous effort, Lost, but instead generating emotions in the viewer.
“I started developing Henry with the idea of exploring empathy in VR. How you feel for a character in a VR space,” director Ramiro Lopez Dau, a former animator at Pixar, said. “I think it’s one of the most basic questions of storytelling -- How do you connect with the character? Is it possible? How is it going to feel? -- because you are in the same space as the characters.”
Comic Book Reviews for July 29, 2015
DC Comics tossed a bunch of annuals our way, giving Lobo, Batgirl, Deathstroke, The Flash, and Gotham By Midnight the oversized story treatment. There were also big chapters for Batgirl and Superman, the latter of whose mysterious changes are still, well, a mystery.
Marvel kept Secret Wars going strong while ending Black Widow and delivering the penultimate chapter of Daredevil. And of course we have to mention Ben Kenobi striking back in a standalone Star Wars chapter.
The other publishers were out in full force, delivering issues for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Casanova, Red Sonja, and more.
Check out all of our reviews then, as always, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Jump: The First-Person VR Game From Ex-Destiny Developers
Endeavor One is a new studio formed from and ex-Destiny and Halo developers at Bungie, as well as former Valve folks; after 10 months of development the team has released their first VR game for PC, Jump, a $10 first-person platformer set in real cities. Studio Co-Founder Thomas Doyle told IGN that Jump is one of several VR projects the team is working on, and that it’s designed with an "App Store VR" approach.
"In contrast to a big $60 AAA game,
is this really awesome 5-10 minute experience," Doyle said. "It’s a small, succinct product that provides a pretty awesome experience."
It was created in less than a year, and before a commercial VR headset is even available on the market, but Jump represents a specific focus for Endeavor One. Doyle’s team is exploring non-VR titles as well, but Doyle said the team is excited to "turn things on their ear" with "new story and gameplay experiences we want to bring to bear in VR."
Smash Bros Creator Speaks About Iwata Funeral
Masahiro Sakurai has spoken about his time at Satoru Iwata's funeral earlier this month.
"The smiling face of Mr. Iwata surrounded by flowers was a very nice picture," Sakurai wrote in his Famitsu column.
Sakurai was given one of the guest seats at Iwata's funeral, which took place along with the wake on July 16 and 17.
According to Kotaku, Sakurai was unable to look away from the casket. "Inside there was the still body of Mr. Iwata... He was probably dressed in traditional white funeral garb, his glasses removed, and his nose stuffed
Top Gear’s Clarkson, Hammond and May Sign Amazon Deal
Former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have signed up with Amazon to create a new motoring show.
The new program is planned to rival the BBC's Top Gear and will be broadcast on Amazon's on-demand TV service after the trio opted not to partner with either ITV or Netflix. Former executive producer Andy Wilman will also be joining the trio for the deal.
The new show doesn't have a name yet, but the deal is apparently for three series with the first to be shot later this year and released in 2016. It'll be available exclusively to Amazon Prime subscribers.
Jeremy Clarkson was dumped from Top Gear in March following a physical attack on a producer. The outspoken TV star was originally suspended by the BBC following a “fracas” with a co-worker, before it was determined he couldn't remain on the show. Hammond and May chose to leave alongside him.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Dev Responds to His Fans and Haters
Fight Nights at Freddy’s developer Scott Cawthon has penned a heartfelt response to the game’s community, thanking players for their support while also reprimanding his haters.
“First of all, I wanted to thank the community in general for the huge outpouring of support through emails and in the forums,” writes Cawthon. “I know a lot of you are concerned about me or think that I’m stressed out.
“It’s true that I’m stressed a little; but it’s ok because the result was good. I’ve worked very hard this year, almost non-stop, to produce good games for this series. Even though there may be some debate as to how ‘good’ the games are, I did my best to provide some good scares and a good story. All I can do is judge from the Steam reviews that I’ve been mostly successful; so I’m very happy about that.”
Red Ash Fully Funded by Fuze
Comcept, the team behind Mighty No. 9, has announced that development for its new game Red Ash: The KalKanon Incident can now get underway.
Red Ash: The KalKanon Incident had four days left on its Kickstarter, and still needed over $300,000 to reach its goal. However, Chinese publisher Fuze has now stepped in to fully fund the project.
The full game will be developed for PC, along with ports to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. What this means for the Kickstarter is that all funds raised will be going towards stretch goals. These goals are to be announced at a later time.
Sony Financials Reveal Lifetime PS4 Sales of 25.3 Million
Sony has released its financials for the first quarter of the financial year, revealing the PlayStation 4 continues to exceed all expectations.
3 million consoles were sold in the three month period ending June 30, up from 2.7 million sold in the same window last year. This means lifetime sales for the console now stand at 25.3 million - and it hasn't even been out for two years yet. In contrast, it took the PS2 a comparatively sluggish two years and eight months to hit 20 million units sold.
With sales proving so strong - and continuing to grow - Sony has revised how many of its latest console it plans to sell this year. Where is originally expected to shift 16 million consoles this financial year, it's now predicting sales of 16.5 million, up from 14.8 million last year. If this is correct, the PS4 will sell 38.8 million units by 31 March, 2016.
Riot Games Killed off a League of Legends Champion
Riot Games killed off League of Legends champion Gangplank, the Saltwater Scourge, in the game’s latest patch.
The son of the dread pirate captain Vincent the Shadow was vanquished by Miss Fortune in act three of story-driven event Bilgewater that’s currently underway. According to Kotaku, a message on the game’s client reads: “Gangplank is dead and has been disabled in all queues.”
“Champion death is unprecedented in League of Legends, and we do not take it lightly,” a post on the League of Legends forums reads. “We encourage all Gangplank fans to remain calm for a few days until we can fully assess the situation. At this time, we are not addressing refund requests for him or his skins but please know that over the next several days we’ll do our best to make things right for everyone.”
Male-Oriented Ghostbusters Film Is Still In the Works
While things have been quiet, it seems like the other, male-centric Ghostbusters film is still happening, according to writer Drew Pearce.
Speaking with MTV, Pearce revealed that he just wrapped up his work on the Ghostbusters project, confirming the Russo brothers and original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman are involved.
"I’ve finished my work on that in the last couple weeks,” he said. “Obviously it’s top secret, but there’s a gigantic bold idea that I came up with, and the Russo brothers — who did Captain America: The Winter Soldier and are doing Civil War at the moment — and Ivan Reitman, who did the original movie, are going to take that and run with it. Obviously I cannot tell you what it is, but hopefully in one year’s time you’ll know!"