Take-Two Announces New Label Private Division
Take-Two Interactive today announced Private Division, a new publishing label for independent developers.
Private Division has already partnered to publish games from five different studios, including:
- Unannounced RPG from Obsidian Entertainment (helmed by Fallout co-creators Tim Cainand and Leonard Boyarsky)
- Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey from Panache Digital Games (studio led by Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Désilets)
- RPG codenamed Project Wight from The Outsiders (studio founded by ex-DICE developers David Goldfarb and Ben Cousins)
- Unannounced sci-fi first-person shooter from V1 Interactive (studio founded by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto)
Afterparty is an Adventure Game Take on Superbad Set in Hell
I’ve rarely been sold quicker on the premise of a game than when I first sat in a room with the Sean Krankel and Adam Hines of Night School Studio back in March 2015 and they pitched me on Oxenfree. “It’s a point-and-click adventure with a tone of Freaks and Geeks meets Poltergeist, but we want to incorporate the idea of an Aaron Sorkin ‘walk and talk’ as a mechanic.” Sold.
Cut to two years later, and I was sitting in the exact same room at IGN with Sean and Adam once again, ready to hear what their next game was. Well, I’m happy to say that their pitch for Afterparty left me with that exact same assured excitement that I had for Oxenfree.
Lola and Milo, a pair of platonic best friends who’ve spent pretty much every waking moment of their lives together, finally have to come to terms with the fact that college is ending, and their futures are taking them in different directions. Fortunately (unfortunately?), before that can happen, they both unexpectedly die together, only to find themselves in Hell’s equivalent of a DMV line, waiting to be processed for their sins. Problem is, they have no idea what they did wrong to deserve a place among the liars, thieves, and murderers around them. While trying to figure this out, they learn that one of the only ways out of Hell is to best Satan himself (described to me as “Rocky Horror Kanye West”) in a drinking contest.
How AMC’S Walking Dead Has Walked Away from the Comics
After the recent heartbreaking moments of The Walking Dead’s midseason finale, both show-only fans and comic fans alike are left reeling as to where the show will go from here. While the direction of the on-screen journey may be unclear, one thing is for certain -- the show is ready to depart heavily from the source-material from here on out.
Huge comic and potential show spoilers ahead, so be prepared.
The Walking Dead comics will hit issue 175 on January 3rd, 201,8 and through at least 174 issues, Carl Grimes has survived. Unlike the show, Carl outlives the All Out War story arc and continues to be a main player in the print series. While both versions of the sheriff's son lose an eye, the show’s take has seen Carl suffer through many hardships that the comic analogue has not had to endure, leading up to the biggest difference -- his own death.
Are the Ewok Movies As Bad As You Remember?
With the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the time has come once again for everybody to look back on the whole Star Wars movie franchise. But Lucasfilm hasn’t made that easy. There are at least two live-action Star Wars movies that they simply refuse to re-release. (Three if you count the genuinely awful feature-length Star Wars Holiday Special.)
Those films are, in case you didn’t know, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. These two formerly canonical motion pictures were produced in 1984 and 1985 and released on the ABC network in America, and theatrically distributed overseas. They both won Emmy Awards for Visual Effects, and for years they aired repeatedly on television and enjoyed home video releases on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD.
Pokemon Crystal Coming to 3DS eShop in January
Pokemon Crystal will become the latest game in the series to get a 3DS Virtual Console release on January 26, 2018.
The only major gameplay difference between this version of Crystal and the original is a new encounter with Celebi - the legendary Pokemon that was previously only accessible through an extra accessory. It's not clear what the encounter entails, but it comes once the player has completed the game.
Like Gold and Silver on Virtual Console, the game will be compatible with Pokemon Bank from day one. As Nintendo points out, this means Pokemon from all 29 core games in the series can now be imported into the latest games.
This version, again like Gold and Silver, supports wireless trading and battling, as well as the Time Capsule option that allows Pokemon from Red, Blue and Yellow (all also available on Virtual Console) to be traded and battled.
The Simpsons Predicted Disney Owning Fox 20 Years Ago
An episode of The Simpsons seemingly predicted Disney's ownership of Fox in 1998.
Reported by Newsweek, the timely coincidence is seen in an image from Season 10 episode "When You Dish Upon A Star" where Fox is shown to be a division of the Walt Disney Corporation.
The Simpsons predicting Disney's fox takeover in "When You Dish Upon A Star"
Comic Book Reviews for December 13, 2017
It was another big week of new comics. DC gave us a stellar new issue of Miter Miracle and kicked off a key new storyline for The Flash. Marvel welcomed Weapon X into Marvel Legacy and released new issues of Star Wars and Amazing Spider-Man. Elsewhere, AfterShock kicked off the promising new series Monstro Mechanica and Archie Comics wowed us with The Archies #3.
Scroll down to read our reviews for these and various other new releases, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
DC COMICS
Disney Officially to Buy 21st Century Fox for $52 Billion
The Walt Disney Company has set a deal to purchase 21st Century Fox for an all-stock transaction valued at $52.4 billion, Disney announced Thursday. This historic deal will include a number of Fox's assets including FX, National Geographic and Fox's stakes in Hulu.
As part of this announcement, Bob Iger has extended his contract with Disney as chairman and CEO through 2021. Certain Fox assets including Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox Sports and Fox Television Stations, as well as the 20th Century Fox lot in Los Angeles, will spin off into a new company.
"The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before,” Iger said in a statement. “We’re honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings. The deal will also substantially expand our international reach, allowing us to offer world-class storytelling and innovative distribution platforms to more consumers in key markets around the world."
Grab Destiny 2 for £20, Snag Nintendo Switch With Two Games for £319
Rocket League Gets Physical Release Date on Switch
Rocket League developer Psyonix has confirmed the physical version of its acclaimed car soccer smash will be available on Switch in January 2018.
Rocket League will arrive on store shelves for Switch on January 16 in North America, January 24 for Australia and New Zealand, and January 25/26 for Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and South Africa.
The retail version of Rocket League on Switch will match the ones available on PS4 and Xbox One and will contain the full game plus the following additional content:
- Supersonic Fury DLC Pack
- Revenge of the Battle-Cars DLC Pack
- Chaos Run DLC Pack
- Aftershock DLC Car