Beautiful Moments in Gaming (2005-2014)
The past 10 years in video games have pushed visuals to new heights of photo-realism. At the same time, the rise of brave, independent games has given a voice and a palette to artists who may not have had an opportunity in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Between these two spectrum, we’ve been treated with a slew of incredible visual experiences that have provided countless moments of beauty and awe. Here are some of our favorites of the past decade. Oh, and be warned, we dig into some spoilers for games like Braid and The Last of Us.
Fumito Ueda and company’s incredible PS2 follow up to Ico took the slow and somber beauty of their first game, and moved the goal-posts to a completely different planet. From the opening cutscene where Wander and his faithful horse carry the body of a sleeping woman into an ancient and abandoned temple, we knew we were in for something special. The first time we stumbled upon any of the 16 Colossi hit us with a supreme sense of awe, dread, and melancholy, and has made the long wait for The Last Guardian a tough one.
Former Robin Chris O’Donnell Reveals His Favorite Batman
Former Robin Chris O'Donnell has revealed his favorite Batman, and it's not Val Kilmer or George Clooney.
In a new interview with FOX411, O'Donnell said that Adam West was his favorite dark knight.
"For me it will always be Adam West," said O'Donnell. "I loved the show. I just watched a documentary about him and his career and facing the challenge of being Batman. I worked with two very talented actors: Val
and George. We had a lot of fun George and I, but the film was a disaster."
GameStop Says Disc-Based Games Are Here to Stay
GameStop CEO Paul Raines thinks physical games aren't going anywhere. Speaking to Fortune, Raines said disc-based games "will be around forever."
Raines referenced a 50% decline in physical music sales and a 60% decline in physical movie sales, but said "even in a doomsday scenario, disc-based games will be around for a long time."
GameStop is well prepared for the digital-distribution future, even if its corporate leadership believes physical media is sticking around. The company did just under a billion US dollars in revenue from digital sales, which accounted for slightly more than 10% of its $9.3 billion in revenue for 2014.
6 Upcoming Vertigo Comics We Know Are Great
With popular Vertigo series like Fables and The Sandman: Overture ending, the DC Comics imprint is looking to invigorate their publishing line with 12 new series debuting this Fall. I was invited to DC Comics HQ to check out the #1 issue for each new book, and while I can’t give any spoilers, I still want to share which books looked the best and got me the most excited to keep reading.
Before I get to the list, please note that Last Gang in Town #1 wasn’t available for reading, and Lucifer #1 was incomplete at the time of our visit, so those weren’t considered for this list.
Now, here are the new Vertigo comic you should keep an eye on.
Yes, Universal Has Delayed PacRim 2 Indefinitely
While it hasn't been outright cancelled, Universal Pictures confirmed today that Pacific Rim 2 has been put on indefinite hold and will not be opening in 2017 as originally planned.
Few details regarding the reasons why the film has been put on hold have been provided, other than it will allow the "creative team
continue in its efforts to exceed the amazing experience of the first film."
Director Guillermo del Toro recently spoke about the current status of the film, explaining that another project currently has his attention, but the sequel is not facing cancellation.
Opinion: Activision’s Black Ops 3 Publicity Stunt Is Irresponsible
Call of Duty games have never shied away from sensitive and political subject matter, but when Activision’s official Call of Duty account started "live reporting" a fictional terrorist attack, we saw a marketing move exit the realm of entertainment.
2.88 million people follow the @callofduty Twitter account, which recently rebranded its page to reflect its new name: Current Events Aggregate, a faux news outlet whose tagline is "We bring you the real news." The Call of Duty social media page update was pretty believable: Save for the small grey text that said "callofduty," it looked like a media outlet on the Twitter timeline.
It tried very hard to not look like Call of Duty.
Google Announces the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P
At Google's event in San Francisco earlier today, the company announced the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P, thereby confirming reports from earlier this month.
The Nexux 5X, manufactured by LG, is the cheaper of the two new phones, and greatly resembles 2013's Nexus 5. It features a 5.2” HD LCD screen that hides a Snapdragon 808 processor, a 12.3 MP camera that allows for 4K video, and a USB Type-C port. The larger Nexus 6P, courtesy of Huawei, comes with all of the same hardware features, but it instead has a 5.7" display and a more powerful Snapdragon 810 processor.
Twitter Building New Product to Move Past 140-Character Limit
Twitter's well known 140-character limit may soon be a thing of past if a new report is to be believed.
According to Re/code and its sources, Twitter is in the midst of creating a new product that will allow users to publish tweets that exceed the aforementioned limit. What form the product will take, how it will work, and when it will be introduced are all unknown, but talk of the social media platform's limitations has recently become a hot topic at the company, which includes discussions about removing links and usernames from the character count.
This wouldn't be the first time changes have been made to Twitter's character limits. Back in August, it increased the limit for Direct Messages from 140 to 10,000, saying the expansion made DMs "even more powerful and fun," while nothing that regular tweets would be unaffected.
Harvey Winner Chip Zdarsky Declines Award
Comic creator Chip Zdarsky has declined the Harvey Special Award for Humor for the comic Sex Criminals.
In a post on Zdarsky's blog, he explained that the reason he didn't accept the award was that Sex Criminals' writer, Matt Fraction, was left out of the nomination. "I pointed this out to the Harvey Awards and told them I wished to have Matt on the ballot with me, or to remove me completely, and they declined to do either," Zdarsky wrote.
Death Note Movie Has Found Its Light Yagami
Warner Bros. is in final negotiations with Paper Towns' star Nat Wolff to play the lead role in its upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular anime series Death Note.
According to Variety, Wolff will play a student who stumbles upon a notebook that grants him the ability to kill others by simply writing their name on one of its pages. The character, known by fans of the anime as Light Yagami, then finds himself hunted by the law after taking justice into his own hands.
Nat Wolff in Paper Towns