E3 2015: The Review
Every year, E3 sells us a future. Last year, that future felt both predictable and oddly intangible; a result of brand-new hardware that had yet to be firmly established. This year, the future felt exciting, wonderfully varied, and vitally within reach. Announcements of games both new and presumed dead, further proof of the weird power of virtual and augmented reality, and a refreshing focus on diversity - in many senses of that word - made E3 2015 the best in years.
Two of the three major platform owners had assured media briefings this year, though a string of mic-drops made Sony’s the most memorable. During the first hour, three ‘mythical project’ announcements - The Last Guardian, a Shenmue 3 Kickstarter, and a Final Fantasy 7 remake - left the audience reeling with collectively indulged nostalgia, while Guerrilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn and Media Molecule’s Dreams continued Sony’s trend of letting its first-party developers spread their wings into interesting new territory. It was testament to Sony’s success that a false start by Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief's End demo brought the best out of the audience at the LA Memorial Sports Arena: when the demo started working on the second try, everyone roared in triumph.
9 Best Daredevil/Punisher Comic Crossovers
Of all the rivalries in the Marvel Universe, few are as long-lasting or fascinating as the feud between Daredevil and Punisher. Both men wear spandex and battle evil, but one is devoted to upholding the law, while the other has fashioned himself judge, jury and executioner. Sometimes they find themselves on the same side, but these two vigilantes will never see eye to eye.
Recently we learned that this rivalry will play out on the small screen, as Jon Bernthal has been cast as Frank Castle in the upcoming second season of Netflix's Daredevil series. While we wait for the new episodes to materialize, let's look back at the most memorable and influential encounters between Daredevil and Punisher in the comics. These nine stories are essential reading when it comes to understanding their troubled relationship.
Bungie Outlines Plans for Sony-Only Destiny Content Once Exclusivity Expires
Bungie has confirmed that it will release extra content for all players, regardless of platform, once Sony's timed-exclusives expire later this year.
Talking to Eurogamer, Destiny's creative director Luke Smith confirmed the PlayStation-exclusive content will bring a couple of extra strike missions and new exotic weapons - including the Hawkmoon hand cannon - to the Xbox.
"The previously Sony-exclusive strikes will be available this autumn on Xbox," Smith said. "But we're not just re-issuing them. We're
refreshing them completely with the Taken."
Bulletstorm Developer Has Become Independent Again
Developer People Can Fly, famous for Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgment, and Painkiller, has returned to being an independent studio.
Ownership of the company has now returned to the Polish developer, after it had been rebranded as Epic Games Poland in 2013.
Sebastian Wojciechowski continues to be studio director, and People Can Fly is still "actively contributing" to the upcoming Fortnite. The developer is also using Unreal Engine 4 for an unannounced game.
"We, as a People Can Fly team, are extremely excited about new possibilities ahead of us," said Wojciechowski. "We're going to work on a new game, while continuing to partner with Epic and use UE4."
Bungie Teams Up With Red Bull For Exclusive Destiny Promotion
Bungie has teamed up with Red Bull for an exclusive Destiny promotion.
Between now and September, you'll be able to earn bonus XP and access an exclusive quest courtesy of codes you'll find under the tab of any promotional Destiny Edition Red Bull can.
Eagle-eyed Redditors spotted the promotional codes several weeks ago.
"Focused Light is a one-time consumable Bonus XP buff which increases all experience gain by 50% for a period of 30 minutes," states the promotional website. "Each specially marked can includes a code. Multiple codes can be redeemed but only one code can be used at a time."
Driveclub PS Plus Edition Gets a Release Date
Driveclub's long-awaited PS Plus edition will launch tomorrow, developer Evolution has announced.
A post on the PS Blog from Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirms all PlayStation Plus members will be able to play the game on Thursday, June 25. However, the launch will be done in stages in order to avoid a repeat of the issues we've seen previously with the game.
"We’ve spent a long time preparing for this launch after some difficult and unexpected set-backs," he writes. "To make absolutely certain that all players have the smoothest and most stable experience possible we are going to be duly cautious about how we release the game this time around.
Is Superman’s New Weakness Social Media?
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Superman #41!
Today's Superman #41 by writer Gene Luen Yang and artist John Romita Jr. gave us our best look yet at what brought about Superman's new status quo -- one where the whole world knows that he and Clark Kent are one in the same. While we're already seeing the new Superman with short hair, plain clothing and reduced powers in other Superman comics like Action Comics and Superman/Wonder Woman, we've yet to see exactly how his identity was exposed -- until today.
We hopped on the phone with Yang and Romita to hear about why they wanted to tell the story of Superman's identity being exposed, Superman's new "weakness," and how Superman's new look was created.
Tahm Kench is the Newest League of Legends Champion
Riot Games has announced a new champion for League of Legends named Tahm Kench, The River King.
Tahm Kench makes for a fine support or a solo laner. His passive ability applies stacks to the enemy when he auto attacks them, and once he has built up three stacks, his abilities perform differently.
In the support role, Tahm Kench is able to quickly devour his ally in order to render them immune from damage before moving to a safe distance and letting them out. The devour ability can also be used against enemy champions if he has built up enough passive stacks on them.
Tahm Kench can also lash out with his tongue against enemy champions, slowing them, or stunning them if he has built up three passive stacks.
Blindfolded Gamer Beats Super Mario World in 23 Minutes
Twitch user PangaeaPanga has completed Super Mario World blindfolded in just over 23 minutes, a feat he claims on his Twitch channel is a world record.
You can check out the full run in the video below.
PangaeaPanga, who describes himself as primarily a Super Mario World hacker and tool-assisted speedrunner, explains on his YouTube channel that he began learning blindfolded strategies for the game on June 16 and completed a full run today. His attempt included just three deaths and one brief period during which he was temporarily lost.
Channing Tatum Hates G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
Channing Tatum isn't a fan of G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra.
In a recent radio interview with Howard Stern, in-demand Tatum shared some not-so-fond memories of his leading role in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra.
"Look, I'll be honest. I f--cking hate that movie. I was pushed into doing that movie."
According to Tatum, his role in Rise of Cobra was part of a three-movie deal that the then rising star had signed with Paramount.
Tatum admitted to being a fan of G.I Joe growing up, but said, "The script wasn't any good." He did, however, want to play Snake Eyes, an idea that was shot down on the same phone call he found out Paramount wanted him to be in the movie.