Netflix Experimenting With Original Advertisements
Netflix is testing advertisements that tease the service's original programming before and after users watch a video, reports say.
The company is showing trailers for Netflix originals, such as Orange is the New Black or Marvel's Daredevil, before and after viewers in select markets stream a video, according to Cord Cutter News. However, Netflix said it runs experiments and tests like this often, and has no plan to implement any third-party advertisements in the future.
“We are always testing new things via the service, many of which never see a rollout," a company spokesperson said. "We have nothing more to add at this point.”
Twisted Metal’s Sweet Tooth Joins Rocket League
The action-sports mashup Rocket League has an official release date, and it's bringing an iconic character to the roster, developer Psyonix announced today.
Rocket League is coming to PS4 and PC July 7, and will feature 8-player cross-play between the two platforms, according to the PlayStation Blog. The trailer above shows Sweet Tooth's iconic ice cream truck of Twisted Metal fame, as well as numerous other vehicles, partaking in the chaotic soccer game replete with car pileups and acrobatic flips.
As the sequel to 2008's Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, Rocket League essentially plays like a soccer game on steroids from the driver seats of numerous customizable cars. Psyonix is showing a playable demo at E3 in just a few weeks, shortly before its early-July release date.
Gears of War Developer Renamed ‘The Coalition’
Black Tusk Studios, the studio currently developing the next Gears of War game for Xbox One, has been renamed "The Coalition," Studio Head Rod Fergusson announced today.
"Beginning today, the Vancouver-based Xbox team working on the Gears of War franchise will be known as The Coalition," Fergusson said in the announcement. "What's in a name? In short, The Coalition speaks to who we are as a team, and what it is we're working on.
"A coalition is a team of diverse individuals working together for a common purpose, a concept that we feel describes our studio quite well."
Fergusson continued, "Fans will also recognize the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) from Gears of War lore.
Star Wars Comic Delivers Huge Twist for Han Solo
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Star Wars #6!
Writer Jason Aaron delivered a pretty significant twist to the Star Wars mythos today with the release of Star Wars #6. That issue culminated with the surprise reveal that Han Solo has a wife named Sana Solo.
Art by John Cassaday
Aaron's Star Wars takes place in between Episodes IV and V and has been largely focused on the Rebellion's efforts to press their advantage in the aftermath of the Death Star's destruction. Issue #5 saw Leia and Han reluctantly team up for a new smuggling mission. This twist came as the two found themselves marooned on a remote planet after failing to sneak through an Imperial blockade. Han's efforts to woo Leia with fancy Corellian wine were already going poorly when Sana showed up with blaster drawn.
The Goal Is to Make Jurassic World as Big as The Avengers
Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow probably won't direct any sequel to the restarted franchise, but says his job to relaunch it and make it as prominent as the Avengers and Star Wars.
When IGN asked the director about plans for a new trilogy, the director said: "I think what they wanted
the most was to have it identified as a franchise again. That was the top priority. Can you take this and bring it back into the forefront of people's minds? When they think of what the big franchises out there right now they're going to say Avengers, Star Wars, and then Jurassic Park is in that arena. Tall order.
"I knew the only way to do it was to create a singular experience that worked on its own – that would give people that same feeling."
New Batman Figure Gives the Dark Knight Some Color
Square Enix has revealed a new Play Arts Kai Batman: Arkham Knight figure with added tones of blue and yellow to accompany his normal black and grey. The figure is set to be an exclusive offer for San Diego Comic-Con 2015.
The figure features a metallic sheen and battle scars on the armor from Batman's various tussles with villains. Additionally, several interchangable hands with different textures and a cape that "more realistically replicates the movement of cloth" will be included.
Fans can pre-order this figure for $100 via the official Square Enix store website. Online pre-orders cannot be picked up on-site at SDCC and will ship after August 31, 2015.
Community Creator Talks Finale and Season 7 Potential
Note: Spoilers for the Community: Season 6 finale follow.
So is Community really, really over? If you watched the Season 6 finale, you know it had a bigger sense than ever of truly saying goodbye, as the episode dealt with possible futures for the characters (via imagined “Season 7” scenarios) and found Elroy (Keith David), Abed (Danny Pudi) and Annie (Alison Brie) all move away, with only a “maybe, probably” regarding whether they’d be back.
Community: Season 6 Finale Review
Given the show’s long, strange, turbulent history and what a gift the sixth season was -- given the show was outright cancelled by NBC last year, only to be saved by Yahoo -- it wouldn’t be a shock at this point if this was the end. But Deadline is reporting Yahoo and Sony (who own and produce Community) are actually having discussions about a possible seventh season.
XCOM 2 Reveal Trailer – Rewind Theater
This week we got our first look at XCOM 2 and the war to free Earth from alien occupation by way of an action-filled cinematic trailer depicting an XCOM attack on an Advent and alien patrol. You can probably pick up on many of its hints on your own (watch the original trailer below if you missed it), but to dig deeper and unearth some juicier secrets, I sat down with the brains behind the game: Creative Director Jake Solomon and Lead Producer Garth DeAngelis. Watch the video above to hear them elaborate on how the classes and abilities shown will affect gameplay in XCOM 2.
0:00:32 - Alien cities are traps to lure in citizens for mysterious purposes; they're built on top of real-world cities.
Counterfeit Amiibo Reportedly Appear Online, in Some Stores
As more Amiibo fly off digital and physical shelves, certain individual figurines are reportedly showing disparities between how they look, and how they actually should.
Reports of the counterfeit Mario, Link, Samus and Pikachu Amiibo first surfaced at Info Amiibo. According to the site, the impostor items have appeared in online stores, as well as some Brazilian marketplaces.
According to Info Amiibo, the fake figurines are merely cosmetic, and lack the chip necessary for the toy-to-life feature of Nintendo's Amiibo. And as for the appearance and materials of the counterfeit versions, there are apparently telltale signs of improper cloning: Link's face is distorted, Pikachu's arms are completely fused to his body, Samus' head is far smaller than it should be, and Mario's overalls are made of a different texture. The plumber's color scheme is also slightly off, and the fireball is not as transparent, judging by comparison images made by Nintendo Inquirer. The packaging of these figurines is also different than anything released by Nintendo.
Planetside 2 to Release on PS4 This Month
Free-to-play online shooter Planetside 2 will leave beta and officially release on the PlayStation 4 on June 23.
The announcement was made on the PlayStation Blog, where the developers explain the PlayStation 4 will have exclusive content different from its PC counterpart, including a new battle map called Koltyr. Future updates on the PS4 will also include additional features, events, and marketplace items.No PlayStation Plus subscription will be required to play.
Planetside 2 is a massive online first-person shooter with a focus on large-scale combat fought between players in the air, on the ground, and in vehicles. It recently set a Guinness World Record for having the most online players engaged in a single battle. The number came in at over 1,000 people.