Sony is banking on Spider-Man being their Marvel meal ticket. They have announced a trio of huge facts for the Spidey movie future.
First is that writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Jeff Pinkner will be scripting The Amazing Spider-Man 3 with hopes director Marc Webb will return. It is set for release on June 10, 2016.
Second and bigger is that Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Ed Solomon are scripting a Venom movie with Kurtzman taking the director’s chair. This should make fans of the villain happy hoping it can erase the memory of Spider-Man 3.
Third and even bigger is that The Sinister Six are getting their own movie. The great thing about this is that Drew Goddard is writing the script and has the option to direct. He is the writer and show runner on the Daredevil series coming to Netflix and directed the wonderful Cabin in the Woods. He is also close to Joss Whedon so my thinking is that if Whedon is handling Marvel for Disney why not pick up one of his friends and cohorts to handle the Marvel side at Sony.
Big things are ahead for Spider-Man and his rogues gallery. Are you entertained?
I finally did it. I knew it would happen eventually. I bought a Wii U. Despite dismal sales and severely lacking third party support I am a Nintendo fanboy at heart and I can only deny Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda and the rest for only so long. I thought I would give you my quick impressions of Nintendo’s successor to the Wii now that I have put more than a few hours into the system (a lot of hours actually).
1. The Wii U feels like Nintendo’s “Dreamcast”. Now I know when Sega released the Dreamcast it was far and above better than the PS1 and I felt was a better console than the PS2 for the short time it lasted. The Xbox One and PS4 have already surpassed the Wii U by leaps and bounds in the horsepower department. Where I am making the Dreamcast comparison is that it is something completely new for Nintendo to attempt and it feels very fresh because of it. Sega teamed with Microsoft to bring the Dreamcast into the online world and had the VMU memory card that went into the controller for a second screen experience never seen in consoles. Likewise Nintendo is accepting that online play is the future of games (a little late) and incorporated the MiiVerse which feels like a simplistic, yet fun online experience. Think of it as Xbox Live without all the dickheads.
The Wii U gamepad has had its importance lessened over the past year with the various apps that Playstation and Xbox offer for a second screen. Smartglass is a fun add-on but has not made me need it in any way and remote play on the Vita is the closest thing to the Wii U gamepad. Nintendo should not downplay the use of the gamepad in the future. They should embrace it more because it is still unique even with Sony and Microsoft doing their best to emulate it.
2. When you actually own a Wii U Nintendo’s marketing of the system is even more horrible than you think. Some people still think the Wii U is a controller that goes with your Wii. Some people know it is a new system but don’t care because they think it is too similar to the Wii. Nintendo is doing nothing to help themselves in this department and it boggles the mind because while the Wii U will never match the numbers of the Xbox One or PS4 with the better marketing it could sell way better than the paltry numbers it is putting up. No commercials I have seen have played up the ability to watch Netflix on the gamepad from room to room or that you can control your TV and cable through the gamepad and Nintendo TVii. The name of the system doesn’t help matters. It is not as sexy or cute as Wii U but Nintendo might have been better served calling it the Wii 2 at least to give consumers (the ones who do not pay attention) a better idea that this is a new console.
3. There are actual games to play. Yes I know for people that bought a Wii U last year this was not the case and there were months with no releases at all but now that the system has been out for a year there are plenty of titles to pick up and get your money’s worth. A lot of people just spent $500 (me included) for an Xbox One for the hope that March’s Titanfall will be as amazing as we want it to be. You have Dead Rising, Ryse and Killer Instinct to hold you over until then but I will be honest and say I am counting down the days until March 11th. For $299 I now have something to play Super Mario 3D World, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Zombi U, Lego City Undercover, Super Mario and Luigi Wii U, The Wonderful 101 and Pikmin 3 with Donkey Kong coming in February and Mario Kart shortly after. Then comes Super Smash Bros. I know the other next-gen consoles will always offer more but for right now I feel justified with the purchase with what I just listed. Only two of those games are third party. I am fine with that. I have no problem playing the Wii U as a Nintendo game only machine especially when their releases are almost always worth the wait.
4. I can’t help but play the “what if?” game. Now that I am entrenched in Super Mario 3D World I am convinced that only a few changes would have made Nintendo’s console a success. If they could have just released 3D World when the system launched instead of Super Mario Bros. Wii U (which we have seen a lot of over the past few years on Wii and 3DS) there would have been a true system seller. This game is getting wonderful reviews (9.5’s and higher) and for good reason. It is the best 3D Mario since Super Mario 64 but more on that in my review when the game is done.
If Super Mario 3D World could not be released in time for November of 2012 why not just hold off the console until it is ready? Nintendo had a whole year head start and it got them nowhere. Imagine a world where Nintendo holds off the Wii U until a September 2013 release, still two months before the Xbox One and Playstation 4, and launches with a 3D Mario game that people see is getting near perfect scores along with Pikmin 3, Lego City Undercover, The Wonderful 101 as well as third party games like Batman: Arkham Origins and Assassin’s Creed IV releasing on the system in October. Then hit them with the news that there won’t be a post-holiday drought with Donkey Kong coming in February and Mario Kart in March. I believe the Wii U could have sold the same four million units worldwide from September to January that it took them almost a year to sell.
Here is the trailer for Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow which was previously known as All You Need is Kill. Douglas Liman (The Bourne Identity) directs the sci-fi movie which sees Tom Cruise relive the same set of events over again, each time learning more and more about how to defeat alien invaders.
Just think of it as Groundhog Day with guns, aliens and Emily Blunt in the Andie MacDowall role.
Bethesda has announced that their huge MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online, will release on PC April 4, 2014. The Xbox One and PS4 versions will release later in June 2014. No reason was given for the delay but developing an MMO for consoles is no easy task. They announced The Elder Scrolls Online as a PC title initially.
I want to play The Elder Scrolls Online but still am not on board with paying a monthly fee to do so. I understand the need to make revenue off of all of your work put into the game but I can’t justify paying for a full $60 game then $15 a month after. At least not until I hear about the results.
Is anyone out there planning on picking up The Elder Scrolls Online at release? Or do you just want The Elder Scrolls VI?
Can one trailer make me forget about Ferris Bueller and Moe Sizlack taxiing their way around New York and running away from lizard babies in Madison Square Garden?
No, it can’t but it is a step in the right direction.
That’s a lot of Snake coming at your face. Phrasing, I know.
The cover to Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is here and it is a great big Snake face fest. Look below for the exact same cover just with a PS3 logo at the top. Fanboys will complain one looks better than the other.
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes releases on March 18, 2014.
That game is how long can I wait before I laugh uncontrollably to the point of almost depriving my brain of too much oxygen.
I invite you to watch the trailer to the Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending. They are following up Cloud Atlas with this sci-fi movie where Channing Tatum is some kind of bounty hunting elf and Mila Kunis is the future Queen of the Universe. I can’t believe I just typed that just as much as you can’t believe you read it. Already going out on a limb and calling this “Most Unintentionally Funny Serious Movie of 2014”. Am I the only one that got a weird David Lynch Dune vibe?
Maybe I am not giving it a fair shake. I need to watch it again.
If you watched the VGX’s this past Saturday I am sorry. You really should have just skipped it and watched all of the trailers after the “awards” show was over. I luckily did this and avoided what was, by all accounts, the worst thing to happen to video games since E.T. on Atari 2600.
It is weird that among all the new games shown that an already released game will be my first buy of the new year. Square confirmed that they are releasing this past spring’s amazing Tomb Raider on Xbox One and PS4. Titled Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition the game will include all of the DLC and the game’s graphics have been given a boost for the next generation systems. The most noticeable is that Laura’s appearance has been redone so that she more resembles her voice actress Camilla Luddington (giggity).
Tomb Raider was one of my favorite games of 2013 and will certainly appear on my “best of” list in a few weeks. I am normally not for double dipping but I will take the time to play through it again even if it is only a bit prettier.
Solid Snake will return on March 18th in Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. It will release on Xbox One, PS4 and Xbox 360.
Along with that announcement was the news that the Xbox would be receiving exclusive content like Playstation. You can play as Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid on PS1 when you purchase Ground Zeroes on Playstation. The Xbox content will be an exclusive mission where you play as Raiden from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. You can see the video of Raiden’s return above.
Snake must love taking on giant robots because this is releasing only a week after Titanfall.
