Net Neutrality Rules Now in Effect
The rules of net neutrality are once again in effect for those in the United States.
As such, the Federal Communications Commission can now prevent internet service providers from tampering with your service for unjust reasons.
While net neutrality was initially enacted back in 2010, it was overturned by the courts last year. Fortunately, it looks like the commission's revised rules, which passed through the necessary legal hoops earlier this year, are sufficient enough to stand for now.
The Verge notes that we're not completely out of the woods yet, as these new rules are "largely meant to preserve the status quo." Internet providers can no longer throttle traffic speeds or block access to specific websites, but you can be sure these companies will be taking it back to court to once again attempt to get this ruling overturned.
Tembo the Badass Elephant Lives up to his Name
I never expected SEGA’s next platformer would star a rampaging elephant parody of Rambo. Yet here I am, dashing and spinning around in a game from the makers of Pokemon and Sonic the Hedgehog. Tembo the Badass Elephant is developer Game Freak’s throwback, drawing heavy inspiration from 16-bit mascot platformers. “Tembo is an Asian elephant whose best friend is a military general,” developer James Turner told IGN when the game was announced a few months back. It’s all a bunch of nonsense and I want more of it.
Wasting no time, I blast through a quick tutorial providing the rundown on how to maneuver a special forces-trained elephant. Tembo’s actions are immediately recognizable to me as he performs his best imitation of Sonic the Hedgehog, jumping, dashing, and spinning his way around zones. In addition to the Sonic-like running and jumping, Tembo can uppercut, slide kick, and even use his trunk to put out fires with a reserve of water.
Cel-Shaded Transformers Game Leaked
A new Transformers game from Activision is allegedly in the works and features cel-shaded graphics.
Titled Transformers: Devastation, this still unannounced game was leaked to Pure Xbox. Apparently, the title is a cel-shaded brawler for Xbox 360 and likely Xbox One. Accompanying this leak is a large collection of screenshots, one of which you can see below.
Watch Leaked Footage of Ryu and Roy for Smash Bros.
Footage showcasing Ryu from Street Fighter and Roy from the Fire Emblem series as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has been leaked.
The leak was a result of hackers exploiting a Japanese update for the games that went up earlier than expected, according to Nintendo Everything. The newly unveiled treasure trove of leaks contained images of a Splatoon trophy, costumes from Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Mega Man and Animal Crossing, and some new stages such as DreamLand 64. The biggest discoveries are the two victory videos from Classic Mode showing Ryu and Roy in action.
Here's a look at Ryu:
Riot Games Donates LCS 2014 Fines to The Trevor Project
League of Legends developer Riot Games has announced it will be donating all of the collected LCS 2014 fine money to The Trevor Project.
The charity, which offers "crisis intervention and suicide prevention services" for LGBTQ youth, will receive a total donation of $31,850, according to Riot's announcement.
"For the first major donation, we wanted to see the money collected from the 2014 make a difference to one cause," the studio said. "When we sat down and thought about what was meaningful to us as a community, one cause resonated with most of us—the fight against harassment and discrimination."
Just Dance 2016 Confirmed
Just Dance 2016 has been outed in an Instagram post.
Instagram user Averagelatindude posted the image, as seen below, revealing a promotional banner containing the logo for Just Dance 2016 alongside Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and The Division logos.
He included the hashtags “justdance2016,” “E32015,” and “E3times,” alleging the game will be unveiled at E3.
Dota 2 Reborn Announced, Beta Coming Next Week
Dota 2 is getting a complete overhaul, aiming to provide a more intuitive user experience.
Valve has revealed numerous updates for Dota 2 Reborn, which includes a new interface, new engine, and all-new custom games. Dota 2 players will get their chance to preview the changes in an upcoming open beta.
The official site details a dashboard redesign updating party management, invites, voice chat, and featuring a new party beacon that allows players to set themselves to “open” status and broadcasts to friends that they are looking for more party members.
Players can now interact with friends’ customizable miniprofiles and activity feeds. Friends can also compare their performance with heroes and their playstyle with the new interface.
UPDATE: PSN Recovering After Tonight’s Outage
UPDATE June 13, 12:14 a.m. PDT: PlayStation Network services have been restored, according to the official status page, which states "all services are up and running."
UPDATE June 13, 12:09 a.m. PDT: PlayStation Network services appear to be coming back online for some users. The official status page still states "services are experiencing issues."
Sony's PlayStation Network is currently offline, with users reporting issues with logging into the service.
Secret Wars and Bravest Warriors Sell Huge in May
Diamond Comics released their sales figures for May 2015 today. Unsurprisingly, Marvel's Secret Wars #1 was the best-selling single issue for the month. However, it faced stiff competition from Boom! Studios' Bravest Warriors: Tales of Holo John #1, which was included in Loot Crate's May subscription box. Both comics are estimated to have sold over 500,000 copies.
Secret Wars was a success for Marvel overall, with issue #2 and several tie-ins (including A-Force #1 and Old Man Logan #1) ranking among the top ten best-sellers. Two issues of DC's weekly Convergence event also cracked the top ten.
Star Wars Special Effects Company Making VR Experiences
Industrial Light & Magic – the company behind Star Wars' famous special effects – has formed a new group to make immersive, story-based experiences in virtual reality and other mediums.
Called the ILM Experience Lab (ILMxLAB), the division will combine talent from Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound, and ILM for projects in VR, augmented reality, real-time cinema, theme park entertainment, and "narrative-based experiences for future platforms."
No concrete projects have been announced yet, but the studio's launch video below, which shows off a real-time, user-created scene on Tatooine, gives us a glimpse at what could come.
ILM President and Lucasfilm Executive VP Lynwen Brennan told The Hollywood Reporter new Star Wars content will come to mass-market VR goggles, though "the initial, most high-end experiences will be in the