High Maintenance: HBO Orders Pot Dealer Series
The hit Vimeo comedy series High Maintenance is coming to HBO with six new episodes.
The series follows a Brooklyn pot dealer known only as "The Guy," who delivers to clients with neuroses as diverse as the city itself. The show is created and written by the married duo of Katja Blichfeld (30 Rock) and Ben Sinclair, who stars as "The Guy."
"High Maintenance has proven to be one of today's most highly-acclaimed online comedies," noted Michael Lombardo, president of HBO Programming. "We are thrilled to bring this sophisticated and clever series to our HBO audience."
"We have been growing this show organically for three years now, and we are elated to bring it into full maturity at HBO, the gold-standard of both online and televised entertainment," said Blichfeld and Sinclair.
Daily Deals: New 3DS XL With Game of Your Choice, $45 DualShock 4, $20 Shadow of Mordor
New 3DS XL With Choice of Zelda, Smash Bros, Monster Hunter and More
For $210 at Walmart, you get a new 3DS XL in black or red, then your choice of a game - a good game. A New 3DS XL on its own is $200, so you're basically getting a game for $10 with your system.
Final Fantasy Dissidia Arcade Gets 10 Minutes of New Gameplay
Square Enix has lifted the veil on two new gameplay videos for Dissida Final Fantasy Arcade, showcasing the game's gorgeous, fast-paced action.
While Dissidia is a collaboration between Koei Tecmo and Square Enix, Sony is also getting involved in the arcade release. According to Square Portal, the PlayStation manufacturer has provided Square with customized PS4 hardware instead of a "traditional" arcade machine. As you might suspect, this grants the developers some additional power to work with.
The Future of Minecraft: Oculus Rift, Motion Controls, and More
Minecraft is a game that always keeps up with the times. Every time a major new piece of tech hits the scene, tinkerers always seem to immediately get to work on getting Minecraft up and running.
Below are 8 awesome ways we might be playing Minecraft within the next decade:
Announced at Microsoft's Windows 10 press briefing, the Microsoft HoloLens is a true augmented reality device. The kicker is that a version of Minecraft is already playable on it! It'll be a few years before we'll be experiencing Minecraft in our natural surroundings, but until then we can dream.
Stan Lee Drops Big Hero 6 Sequel News
Did Stan Lee just reveal that a Big Hero 6 sequel is in the works?
Over the last few years, Lee has gotten a bit of a reputation for saying whatever the hell he wants when it comes to superhero movies. A couple years back, before the Black Panther movie was announced, the comic book guru let slip that that project was in development. Now, it seems he may have confirmed a followup to Disney/Marvel's popular animated movie.
"After Ant-Man, we're going to start playing around with Doctor Strange, the Black Panther, the Inhumans, and then we have to come back for Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Big Hero 6, The Avengers, Captain America," Lee told the Toronto Sun in a recent interview.
Windows 10 Release Date Outed by AMD
Windows 10, Microsoft's new operating system, will release sometime late July, according to AMD president and CEO Lisa Su.
"With the Windows 10 launch at the end of July, we are watching sort of the impact of that on the back-to-school season, and expect that it might have a bit of a delay to the normal back-to-school season inventory build-up," the AMD exec said during last week's company earnings call, as reported by The Verge.
Microsoft has yet to pin down a specific launch date for its new OS, but if AMD's claims are true and Windows 10 is in fact scheduled for a late July release, we'll likely be hearing from the software giant in the very near future.
Game Arts Survey Hints at Return of Classic JRPGs
Game Arts' back catalog of old school Japanese role-playing games could be making a return, according to a survey from GungHo America.
In addition to asking gamers which specific titles from Game Arts' history they've already played, the survey attempts to gauge participants' interest in ports through various PC distribution platforms, as well as which features would be most important in such a release.
Judging by the questions asked, it looks like GungHo Online Entertainment is seriously considering bringing select games from Game Arts' rich library of JPRG classics to Steam and perhaps other digital marketplaces.
The Charnel House Trilogy Review
In The Charnel House Trilogy, I found a box full of dirt and worms in a train compartment, where a groaning freak was protecting it. I understand what that box represents, but I'm perplexed by The Charnel House Trilogy itself, a side-scrolling, low-resolution, point-and-click adventure that depicts a series of unsettling images that never coalesce into a story worth connecting with.
That isn't to say that The Charnel House Trilogy's three-chapter mystery is overly secretive, only that, unlike the train it takes place on, it never arrives at a distinct destination. In fact, one of the game's central enigmas is overtly revealed in much of the preceding dialogue, causing later events to land with too little weight, their power sucked away by lines that unearth secrets before they're given enough time to fester and simmer. This occurs in the game's central chapter, Sepulchre, which was originally released as a standalone short in 2013, and is notable for its overt but unsettling story of Harold, a man on a train. Yet like so many allegorical works, Sepulchre is not really a story about a man on a train--it's a story about mistakes and consequences, about how a single choice sets devastating events into unstoppable motion.
It's difficult to analyze a game like this without divulging key information, and almost every detail of Sepulchre--its main character's profession, the name of the aforementioned groaning freak, the state of the train's windows--points to its obvious conclusion. And its that lack of subtlety that proves the chapter's ultimate unraveling. This kind of setting has been used in a similar manner in fiction many times before, leaving the game's individual sights and sounds to provide most of the impact. I did find myself pulled in by some of these details: the high-pitched buzz that punctuated an important moment, the horror of the lights blinking off and on again, and the troubling sight of particularly oversized luggage among them. Yet given all the foreshadowing, I was only mildly disturbed; with the wind snuffed from Sepulchre's sails so quickly, I could only wonder which path it might take to arrive at its obvious finale.
Sepulchre is bookended by another story, told in chapters titled Inhale and Exhale. Inhale is remarkably short, and unusual in how it almost parodies other point-and-click adventures, to the game's overall detriment. The Charnel House Trilogy is hardly humorous, so Inhale's self-referential in-jokes, such as the heroine's sarcastic description of an object behind a lamp that clearly isn't there, sets a tone the ensuing adventure doesn't follow through on. It is an odd prologue, providing some background on Alex, The Charnel House Trilogy's other main character, but its out-of-place humor, its focus on puzzles, and its failure to adjust object interaction dialogue after certain story events make it a poor tone-setter for what's to follow. (Alex's reactions to books in her bookcase, for instance, make no sense once the related puzzle has been solved.)
Exhale is the final and longest chapter, and its story is simultaneously more straightforward and more vague than Sepulchre's. The events that led to Alex's presence on the train are plainly exposed, yet the game's attitude towards her is more positive than its ultimate depiction of Harold. Alex's choices drove her towards her predicament, yet her horror is not self-made in the way Harold's is. Alex's role as victim allows The Charnel House Trilogy's horror elements to finally bloom, driving Alex to learn hair-raising truths, and intriguingly, to interact with her past more directly than Harold does. Alex's awareness of her unusual circumstance is the game's most successful narrative beat, as it happens. She accepts the supernatural turn of events, and uses it as an opportunity to grow. What she discovers is horrifying, but where Harold can only accept fate, Alex tries to direct it.
There are other players in this story whose roles are left mostly unexplored, though The Charnel House Trilogy's conclusion hints that there will someday be answers to lingering questions. If you wonder why I haven't described the game's puzzles in much detail, it's because there isn't much to describe. You have an inventory that holds objects like your wallet, or cigarettes and a lighter, but most of the time, the dialogue informs you what you must do and where you must go; your interactions aren't usually puzzle-solving so much as they are direction-following. The Charnel House Trilogy is focused almost exclusively on its story, a story I wish impacted me more than it did. Inhale's in-jokes about adventure games and video game reviewers left me cold; Sepulchre's obvious foreshadowing neutered the story before it had any hope of grabbing me. It was Exhale that pulled me in, and its final, unresolved events left me longing for clarity, yet thankful for story strands that give me something to chew on. Overall, however, I am left puzzled by The Charnel House Trilogy, not because I don't understand it, but because its mishmash of themes and tones can't find a way to coexist.
The Charnel House Trilogy Review
In The Charnel House Trilogy, I found a box full of dirt and worms in a train compartment, where a groaning freak was protecting it. I understand what that box represents, but I'm perplexed by The Charnel House Trilogy itself, a side-scrolling, low-resolution, point-and-click adventure that depicts a series of unsettling images that never coalesce into a story worth connecting with.
That isn't to say that The Charnel House Trilogy's three-chapter mystery is overly secretive, only that, unlike the train it takes place on, it never arrives at a distinct destination. In fact, one of the game's central enigmas is overtly revealed in much of the preceding dialogue, causing later events to land with too little weight, their power sucked away by lines that unearth secrets before they're given enough time to fester and simmer. This occurs in the game's central chapter, Sepulchre, which was originally released as a standalone short in 2013, and is notable for its overt but unsettling story of Harold, a man on a train. Yet like so many allegorical works, Sepulchre is not really a story about a man on a train--it's a story about mistakes and consequences, about how a single choice sets devastating events into unstoppable motion.
It's difficult to analyze a game like this without divulging key information, and almost every detail of Sepulchre--its main character's profession, the name of the aforementioned groaning freak, the state of the train's windows--points to its obvious conclusion. And its that lack of subtlety that proves the chapter's ultimate unraveling. This kind of setting has been used in a similar manner in fiction many times before, leaving the game's individual sights and sounds to provide most of the impact. I did find myself pulled in by some of these details: the high-pitched buzz that punctuated an important moment, the horror of the lights blinking off and on again, and the troubling sight of particularly oversized luggage among them. Yet given all the foreshadowing, I was only mildly disturbed; with the wind snuffed from Sepulchre's sails so quickly, I could only wonder which path it might take to arrive at its obvious finale.
Sepulchre is bookended by another story, told in chapters titled Inhale and Exhale. Inhale is remarkably short, and unusual in how it almost parodies other point-and-click adventures, to the game's overall detriment. The Charnel House Trilogy is hardly humorous, so Inhale's self-referential in-jokes, such as the heroine's sarcastic description of an object behind a lamp that clearly isn't there, sets a tone the ensuing adventure doesn't follow through on. It is an odd prologue, providing some background on Alex, The Charnel House Trilogy's other main character, but its out-of-place humor, its focus on puzzles, and its failure to adjust object interaction dialogue after certain story events make it a poor tone-setter for what's to follow. (Alex's reactions to books in her bookcase, for instance, make no sense once the related puzzle has been solved.)
Exhale is the final and longest chapter, and its story is simultaneously more straightforward and more vague than Sepulchre's. The events that led to Alex's presence on the train are plainly exposed, yet the game's attitude towards her is more positive than its ultimate depiction of Harold. Alex's choices drove her towards her predicament, yet her horror is not self-made in the way Harold's is. Alex's role as victim allows The Charnel House Trilogy's horror elements to finally bloom, driving Alex to learn hair-raising truths, and intriguingly, to interact with her past more directly than Harold does. Alex's awareness of her unusual circumstance is the game's most successful narrative beat, as it happens. She accepts the supernatural turn of events, and uses it as an opportunity to grow. What she discovers is horrifying, but where Harold can only accept fate, Alex tries to direct it.
There are other players in this story whose roles are left mostly unexplored, though The Charnel House Trilogy's conclusion hints that there will someday be answers to lingering questions. If you wonder why I haven't described the game's puzzles in much detail, it's because there isn't much to describe. You have an inventory that holds objects like your wallet, or cigarettes and a lighter, but most of the time, the dialogue informs you what you must do and where you must go; your interactions aren't usually puzzle-solving so much as they are direction-following. The Charnel House Trilogy is focused almost exclusively on its story, a story I wish impacted me more than it did. Inhale's in-jokes about adventure games and video game reviewers left me cold; Sepulchre's obvious foreshadowing neutered the story before it had any hope of grabbing me. It was Exhale that pulled me in, and its final, unresolved events left me longing for clarity, yet thankful for story strands that give me something to chew on. Overall, however, I am left puzzled by The Charnel House Trilogy, not because I don't understand it, but because its mishmash of themes and tones can't find a way to coexist.
Here’s a Closer Look at BvS’ Batman Costume and Batmobile
Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan got an up close and personal look at the Dark Knight's new costume and Batmobile for Zack Snyder's upcoming film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
As a huge fan of the Caped Crusader, Jordan was granted VIP access to the Warner Bros. Batman Exhibit studio tour in Hollywood. In fact, the NBA superstar got a chance to get behind the wheel of Ben Affleck's sweet ride, as reported by Bleacher Report.