The official word has come down on the rating for Ridley Scott's forthcoming sci-fi epic Prometheus, which will be rated "R."
This, of course, is cool for fanboys who wanted a darker, scarier quasi-Alien prequel than a possible PG-13 would have offered.
But as the L.A. Times points out, the "R" rating could also limit the pricey Fox film's commercial viability during the all-important summer movie season.
The pinball industry began dying a slow death in 1996, when the first of the major manufacturer closed its doors. Pinball machines are large, require a lot of maintenance, and simply don't bring in as many quarters as an arcade machine or pool table occupying the same space.
Thankfully for pinball-enjoying gamers everywhere that don't want to plunk quarter after quarter in the movie theater game room or drop $4,000 for a table of their own, the quality of digital pinball has been steadily improving year after year.
But which ones to buy? IGN has sifted through the dozens of pinball titles on the App Store to give you the full scoop on which pinball games are the real deal, and which apps are imposters with funky ball physics.
A note on physics
As it stands now, true pinball fanatics don't feel digital pinball physics are up to snuff. They complain about "floaty" balls and other elements that "just don't feel right." As a more casual pinball player growing up, I have no complaints about the current state of digital pinball physics. It's an issue unlikely to effect anyone but the most hardcore.
There are currently two pinball apps that any self-respecting iPhone or iPad owner must have on their device: Pinball Arcade & Zen Pinball. Both feature solid ball physics, several top-notch tables, and online leaderboards to see who among your friends is the true pinball wizard. Both apps also have fundamentally different approaches to the digital pinball market.
FarSight Studios has been making digital pinball for nearly a decade, and Pinball Arcade is the culmination of that effort and experience. The app offers up painstakingly accurate digital recreations of real-world pinball tables originally manufactured by Williams, Bally, Stern and Gottlieb.
Pinball Arcade costs $0.99, and for that price gamers get full access to one free table, rotating monthly. Other tables can be individually purchased for $1.99 - $3.99. Right now six tables are available in total, although FarSight has announced its intention to support the app for years, eventually offering up the majority of the top 40 tables of all-time.
What makes Pinball Arcade a must-own is simple: the app offers up faithful recreations of
. Theater of Magic, Medieval Madness and Tales of the Arabian Nights are all universally loved for good reason. They are incredibly complex, with intricate requirements for "progressing" through each table's various rules and stages. They also flow incredibly well, allowing casual fans to have fun hitting ramps and activating accidental multiballs.
If you sit down for a lengthy session with any of these tables to slowly ferret out its secrets and intricacies and then go back to a pinball machine of a lesser design, the difference will be obvious.
Paying $2.99 or more for a single digital pinball table may seem like a lot in an App Store economy where incredible values can be had for $0.99, but these pinball experiences are worth the price.
Zen Pinball - Zen Studios
Zen Pinball is the other pillar at the top tier of portable pinball bliss. Unlike FarSight, Zen Studios is producing a collection of brand-new, digital-only tables. This allows Zen's tables to include features that simply aren't possible when slavishly recreating real world pinball experiences.
Zen Pinball is available as a free download, and includes Sorcerer's Lair directly out of the box. Five more machines are available for purchase – three licensed Marvel tables for $1.99, and two original tables for $0.99, making Zen Pinball marginally more affordable than Pinball Arcade.
Zen's original designs are both a blessing and a curse. In terms of pure quality and fun factor they simply can't go toe-to-toe with Pinball Arcade's best-of-all-time collection. But Zen Studio's original tables Epic Quest and Sorcerer's Lair show that digital-only tables have a lot of potential.
Sorcerer's Lair features several creative pinball mini games. At specific times the player's ball will be transported to a special mini-table to squish spiders or complete another simple objective. The newer Epic Quest is even more elaborate. As players progress they fight monsters and outfit an adventurer, RPG style. There's even pieces of purple epic loot to collect. Hopefully Zen has more tricks up its sleeve to further increase the complexity of their pinball offerings, while still keeping a solid foundation of ramps, bumpers and flippers.
Rescued the princess in Tales of the Arabian Nights? Defeated the entire cadre of enemies in Epic Quest? There's even more quality pinball to be had on iOS. The titles below might not be quite as polished as Pinball Arcade or Zen Pinball, but they're also no slouches either, and offer up more hours silver ball-slinging fun.
Pinball HD from Russian studio Gameprom ruled the iOS pinball roost when it was originally released over two years ago. The tables aren't quite as complex and don't flow quite as smoothly as the best of the best, but Pinball HD still has a lot to like. The only reason this collection isn't in the must-own pile is because it got muscled out by the near-perfect efforts from Zen and Farsight. The free download includes one table, with nine more available for $0.99 - $2.99. The highlights from the purchasable tables include The Deep and Da Vinci Pinball.
Gameprom Standalone Releases
Note: Gameprom's tables that have been collected in its Pinball HD Collection are also available for individual purchase. Instead of cluttering up your iDevice by nabbing the indivual apps, buy them via In-App Purchase from Gameprom's Pinball Collection app linked above.
Frogger Pinball is not to be ignored. Konami's "pinball adventure" is sure to make pinball purists roll their eyes, but the title offers up a huge amount of content including a story mode, several unique stages, boss battles, power-ups and more. The game was developed by Fuse Games, makers of the excellent 2005 DS pinball release Metroid Prime Pinball.
Sonic Spinball isn't a very good pinball experience in any objective sense, but for $0.99 the title is an excellent nostalgia-trip for 20 and 30-something gamers. The title was originally released for the Genesis in 1993, only to resurface on the App Store in 2010.
Can't get enough? Fill your pinball app folder with some of these off-the-wall choices:
Pinball Destruction
Destroy elements from the pinball table itself to progress. It's oddly compelling!
Undead Attack! Pinball
Assault roving zombies and buy power-ups in this gate defense/pinball hybrid.
At one point these titles may have been worth considering, or may get hyped up for other reasons, but they can safely be skipped in favor of the higher quality options outlined above.
Pinball Dreams hit the Amiga way back in 1992, making it one of the very first digital pinball sims. Deveoper Cowboy Rodeo initially released Pinball Dreaming, a faithful iOS port of four classic tables. Later, Pinball Dreams HD offered up remade versions of the original Amiga tables. Pinball Dreams isn't offensively bad or low quality – the pinball gameplay just feels dated and clunky compared to more modern efforts. The title doesn't have the Sonic the Hedgehog nostalgia to fall back on, to boot.
Ice Road Pinball
Ice Road Pinball pops up across the net as a pinball release gamers should consider, but this is largely because developer Matmi was one of the first out the door with an original iPhone pinball game, first releasing Ice Road Pinball in 2009. The title has long since been outclassed by better releases. Matmi's pinball follow-up Multiball Pinball is better, and is worth a look for gamers that just can't get enough pinball on-the-go. But it is still far from being one of the greats.
ESPN Pinball
ESPN Pinball is a bit of an oddity. It contains three sports-themed tables and is surprisingly feature-rich, but it simply doesn't play very well.
Pinball Tristan
Lots of gamers have fond memories of Pinball Tristan from the 90s, but the hard truth is that the game simply isn't that good. Especially in the face of better nostalgic options. If you enjoyed Tristan 20 years ago this is a solid port to relive those memories, but gamers looking for excellent mobile pinball can safely skip it.
Retro Pinball
Epic Pinball (retitled Retro Pinball for its iOS port) was originally published in 1993 by Epic. Yes, Epic. Small world! Like many of the other retro titles now on the App Store, Retro Pinball is best enjoyed as an old school diversion rather than a genuine representation of what digital pinball can now do.
Lesser Indie Efforts
There are literally dozens of other individual digital pinball tables on sale from indie sources – Hyperspace Pinball, Dino Madness Pinball, Pinball Massacre… the list goes on and on. All can safely be ignored in favor of the better-designed and more full-featured tables from larger studios.
"What?! You review Glee but not 30 Rock? What is wrong with you people?!"
"I hate you all. Except Fowler."
You may have noticed… We're not reviewing Glee anymore. If you want, you can go ahead and assume it's because of your constant complaints that the series was even being covered in the first place. It's true. We stopped because of you. You can stop reading now.
- FOX
More to the point, we stopped reviewing Glee because you actually (mostly) stopped complaining about it. And those of you that actually liked the show, you stopped watching it. You stopped reading about it. It's no coincidence that readership of Glee articles on IGN has dropped along with the viewer ratings of the show itself. Less people are watching it, less people are reading about it and now… less people are writing about it.
Blame Glee.
What's important to note is that reviews of Glee on IGN used to actually do very well. We didn't expect to review the show after the first episode or two, but surprise, surprise, the interest there after all. It was clear many of you were watching the show… and liked it! And so did we.
Yet here's a series that rocketed to popularity and now wallows in the "Meh" category of weekly viewing. It was a one-of-a-kind choice in primetime: a series that successfully integrated song and dance into an hour of scripted television. Fame did it for six seasons, but that was more than 20 years ago. Glee was easy to love, at first. It was funny. It was dramatic. They sang songs we liked. And it was fresh and new. And then it became popular. Perhaps too popular. Album collections were produced at what seemed like a weekly pace. The cast went on a concert tour. That tour became a 3-D movie spectacular. A spin-off reality series gave contestants a chance to guest star on the series. Glee was everywhere! And we were on Glee overload.
Of course, this wouldn't have been a problem (or at least not a problem we couldn't have overcome) if the series at the heart of the hype remained strong and/or got better. But it didn't. What was once fresh and new became old and stale… and it's only three seasons in. So what happened? What has pushed the viewers away? How did the series go from appointment television to a months worth of unviewed listings on my DVR? Well, it turned out that Glee didn't really have a story to tell.
- FOX
"Is this thing on?"
How often can we get wrapped up in whether or not New Directions places at Regionals and gets to Nationals? It's a fine season long goal, but it's not something you can really keep coming back for. Certainly, the writers know this, which is why there's plenty more going on at McKinley. There's on-again/off-again relationships and… off-again/on-again relationships. Who's dating who? Who's marrying who? Who's having whose baby? Over and over and over. Again, this could be fine material. There's plenty of great television that thrived on dating, sex and scandal. But Glee just seems to be rehashing and stumbling over their own stories and characters.
You either have characters that never change or grow (Rachel, Finn, Schuester) or characters that change week to week (Quinn, Santana, Sue Sylvester). It's hard to stick with a series when characters you're invested in never evolve. Season after season Rachel has been a selfish pain in the ass. And not in a fun, evil kind of way. Just a stupid, selfish character. And we've gotten no payoff. No comeuppance. No change of direction. She doesn't even change her pained facial expression when she sings.
It's also hard to stick with a series when characters you're invested in are a different person every week. In the past year or so, Quinn has covered being a chain-smoking punk, a vindictive birth mother, a born again Christian, a judgmental best friend, a future Harvard-attending goodie-goodie and a struggling paraplegic. She changes her personality nearly every episode, so that she can (awkwardly) fit into any conflict the writers want to put her into, even if it doesn't match what came before.
And the music hasn't helped anything. You could say the song choices are the problem, or the obvious theme episodes hinder creativity. But my biggest problem was the presentation. They were either on a stage or in the choir room. It was either a song battle or a heartfelt confession. And that's about it. And more often than not, the songs had only the vaguest tie to the story happening in that episode.
Simply put, Glee became a struggle to watch. The song performances became trying, the characters remained annoying, the repetitive plots kept repeating. The viewers left the series, the readers left the reviews and IGN stopped covering the episodes week to week. So, for some of you Glee haters out there, you're welcome. You got your wish. We're not reviewing Glee. And for the rest of you that watched the series at first, but have stopped keeping up with it week to week, well… you're probably not even reading this anyway.
Back in early April, Xbox 360 gamers got their hands on two maps that have yet to be released on the PlayStation 3. The Sanctuary and Foundation maps came to 360 on April 10th for Call of Duty Elite members, though no date was specified as to when PlayStation 3 gamers would have access to the new content.
Well, wonder no more, PS3-owning Modern Warfare 3 players. Call of Duty Elite's Twitter account has revealed that the Sanctuary and Foundation maps will drop on PS3 this Thursday, May 10th. These maps will be for "PS3 ELITE Premium members," according to the Tweet.
There's little doubt at this point that Sony intends on continuing the Killzone franchise in a major way. Here's what we already know: Sony-owned developer Guerilla Games, the studio that created the Killzone franchise, is spearheading three Killzone titles with the help of fellow first-party studio Sony Cambridge.
Guerilla confirmed at GDC that Killzone titles are in the works for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Perhaps the third game is for the yet-unannounced PlayStation 4? It's all conjecture at this point.
But according to Siliconera, Sony may be ready to show the next Killzone game very soon. "Sony Computer Entertainment is recording a teaser for a future Killzone game," Siliconera reports with information from an unnamed source. "The upcoming title takes place after the events of Killzone 3."
Siliconera has text purportedly from the voiceover from the trailer. The voiceover, according to Siliconera's source, was written for a female "who has ties to the Helghan Autarch."
The site notes their source can't (or won't) pinpoint whether the trailer is specifically for the PS Vita iteration of Killzone. However, specifically referring to the game as taking place after the events of Killzone 3 points us in the direction of a possible Killzone 4 for PS3, per Guerilla Games admitting that it's working on an unannounced Killzone title on PlayStation 3.
Sony just announced an outrageous sale on PlayStation Network beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, May 8th, for all PixelJunk games currently on the PSN. This is to celebrate the tenth year of PixelJunk's developer, Q-Games, as well as in anticipation of the newest PixelJunk game, 4am, which launches on May 15th.
The sale will last for a week. Here are the kinds of discounts you can expect.
So if you were waiting to buy some PixelJunk games, now's probably the time!
O.K. then, everyone who was worried that all the questions raised by last week's five-year time jump would go unanswered can rest easy. For the most part. If "Earthlings," this week's episode of Young Justice, is any indication, the show hasn't completely abandoned these matters.
With the bigger plot business of this season set up last week -- the whole Justice League as galactic outlaws and alien invasion is imminent thing -- we can pause to catch our breath, if only slightly, with a fleshing out of what exactly went wrong between Miss Martian and Superboy during the previous five years.
- Warner Bros./Cartoon Network
The answer: Well, technically we still don't know! But Conner does fill Adam Strange's girlfriend Alanna in -- and by extension, us -- with some vague details. It seems that Superboy was designed to not physically age past his current appearance, and as Alanna notes, a shapeshifter could be the perfect partner for such a person. But Megan apparently left Conner "no choice" but to break up with her at some point… Is it because she likes to mind-wipe folks nowadays, as she did to that poor Krolotean sucker at the end of "Earthlings"? Alien drool for the win… I guess.
Meanwhile, it's pretty cool seeing Adam Strange come into his own as a superhero type this episode. When we met him last week, he was just a lab coat, but give a guy a jetpack and a sweet wardrobe and it'll do wonders. I'm no Adam Strange expert, but I liked what I saw here, including a typical Young Justice redesign of his costume. It actually makes sense that the guy would wear such a thing.
- Warner Bros./Cartoon Network
And then there's Beast Boy, a fan favorite character of course who I really took to this week. Not only is he kinda funny, but it turns out he can really kick some ass when need be. The climactic action scene when he (in gorilla form) and Superboy (in Superboy form) were tearing that alien ship apart from the inside was pretty great. Also, we got a better sense of his origin and connection to the team this time out as a quick psionic flashback revealed that his mom (last seen in "Image") is no longer with us, the result of some nasty business orchestrated by Queen Bee. But before that happened, Megan was adopted into their family (either legally or in spirit; in either case, Garfield calls her "sis" and the two have obviously forged a strong bond in the intervening years since they first met).
(Though by the way, is that a violation of Garfield's privacy when she probes his mind to see what's upsetting him at the lake? Just saying…)
Ultimately, it's a relief that we got semblance of character and back story in this episode, but it all still feels outweighed by the heavy action and plotting. And we're left with a few of question marks as well -- what did Megan do to that Krolotean, and has this become a common trick for her these days? Is her darker White Martian side coming out? And what did she learn this week about the Justice League's missing 16 hours?
- Warner Bros./Cartoon Network
Some notes: Does the team's setting out to bomb the Krolotean facility's Zeta tubes equate with the planned murder of said Kroloteans? That's what bombs do, right? Kill people? Looks like Beast Boy has picked up where Wally left off, and is now in charge of collecting the team's souvenirs. Makes sense. And speaking of which, no sign (or mention) of Kid Flash, Aqualad, Roy or Artemis again. Give it time, I think. Oh, and are we getting a Bat Family episode next week?!
Publisher Electronic Arts has mentioned a couple of titles that you may be interested in: A new Dead Space (Dead Space 3,perhaps?) and a new Need for Speed (Need For Speed: Most Wanted 2, maybe?). Both games will be coming out in fiscal 2013, so basically by March 2013.
No other information about the games is available at the moment, but if you've played the series upon which they are based, you can probably make a fairly decent guess about what they'll be like.
Mass Effect 3 has generated over $200 million in sales since its release in March. The conclusion to BioWare's trilogy was met with mixed reviews from gamers, but one thing is certain: that's a lot of money. EA shouldn't get too excited though, The Avengers made the same amount in one weekend.
I bought Mass Effect 3 and I saw The Avengers. You're welcome, economy!
Electronic Arts is committed to the next generation of consoles. In a recent financial filing, the company said it will spend $80 million on "development of games for Gen4 console systems."
While the company isn't ready to say which titles it's developing for the PlayStation 4 (or whatever it will be called) and the next Xbox, it's nice to know that EA is thinking ahead, and when these systems do eventually launch, their will be games out for them.
Let's move from EA's future to its past. In the last year, EA reports a strong quarter and a fiscal year highlighted with $1.2 billion of digital revenue,
"In the coming year, we break away from the pack," said Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello. "With a very different profile than the traditional game companies and capabilities that none of our new digital competitors can match."
The Witcher 2 Romance Guide, the guide that lies before you, will hold your hand through Geralt’s pursuit of almost every woman he encounters. This is the third installment in a little series I like to call Rated-Teen Beat. We're going to be dishing about Geralt and his many conquests. Don't hate the player; hate the game. But don't hate the game either, because it's The Witcher 2 and it's awesome.
Witchers are monster hunters who have been trained, and altered, from a young age, to fight monsters and survive brutal attacks. Your monster hunting skills have been acquired over years of battles, but your love making skills, that’s all you.
Seriously though, Geralt is what one might call a “man whore.” If you need help making sure your Witcher is as slutty as your heart’s content, you’ve come to the right place. I should note, however, Geralt can’t bang every love interest in one playthrough of The Witcher 2. There is a split at the end of Chapter 1. You’ll have to side with Iorveth or Roche, both will allow you access to specific women. If you want to get with as many ladies as possible, and why wouldn’t you, side with Iorveth. If you do, you’ll be able to get better acquainted with Mottle, the Succubus, and Cynthia, as well as all the whores you can hold with two hands. If you choose Roche, you’ll have to settle with Ves. No matter which path you choose, it leads to prostitutes, so there’s that.
If you’re concerned Geralt’s promiscuity may cause some health concerns, keep in mind Witchers are sterile. They are also immune to diseases, STDs included. Safe sex is happy sex, folks.
Before you even get a sword, you get to sneak a peek at Triss’ boobs. In The Witcher 2’s prologue you can choose “On the day of the attack.” If you do, you’ll wake up in bed next to a totally naked Triss.
Quest: The Rose of Remembrance When you begin this quest you must allow Triss to accompany you. In the garden, a group of thugs will attack, their defeat activates a cutscene. In the dialogue tree select “You could use a bath.” This initiates a water sex scene, complete with a magic striptease. No really, she takes her clothes off with magic.
Quest: Ave Henselt! Defeat all of the challengers in the tournament in Chapter 2. After you take down all your competition, Ves will challenge you. If you want to hit that, make sure you hit that. You can’t sleep with her until you defeat her. Following your victory choose these dialogue options.
Quest: The Prison Barge In Chapter 1, you have the choice of whether or not to save some girls from a burning tower. If you do, one of the girls will have sex with you in Chapter 2. It’s the reward Mario has always wanted. Once you make it to Chapter 2, complete the quest The War Council, and leave Vergen through the Mahakam Gate. When you see a cart with a red roof, go left, and you’ll see Mottle.
Mottle is one of the elf girls you saved. I guess she’s pretty stoked you saved her because it only takes three words to get her to put out, which has to be a record. Choose “Tempt?” and then choose “All right.” That’s all. Initiate graphic elven sex scene. After the sex talk to her again and you’ll get a key to the Tunnel of the Founders.
Quest: With Flickering Heart
I can’t help you complete the quest: With Flickering Heart, but I can tell you to side with the Succubus. As a general rule of thumb, side with the person you want to have sex with, they like that.
The fastest way to get the Succubus is to first buy surgical tools from Felicia Cori before investigating the corpses in the catacombs. There will be a fresh corpse, check its arms for a metal fragment, then turn the body over to find Dandelion’s poetry book. Talk to Dandelion to convince him to help you lure out the Succubus.
Next meet Dandelion in the village at night. The Succubus will only appear if he correctly recites the poetry from his book. You must use these responses:
When the Succubus appears you can speak with her, or Dandelion can. It’s easier to sway the Succubus with Geralt, but both are possible. If you do go with Dandelion you must say “Like the others?” to begin the proper dialogue sequence. If you stick with Geralt, you’ll skip that first step. Either way you must choose these options:
As you might guess, next you need to speak with Ele’yah. When you do, choose these:
The next conversation will be with Iorveth. It is vital that you acquired the metal fragment from the corpse, if you don’t, the necessary dialogue choice won’t appear. Assuming you’re on track, say the following to Iorveth:
This sets up a cutscene where Iorveth claims Ele’yah has fled town. Head back to the village and Ele’yah will attack you. Defeat him and go see your next conquest, the Succubus. When you go back to her, say “Sounds good to me.” It does sound good to you because you’re about to get some sweet Witcher on Succubus action. Be warned: Everything is fair game when a tail is involved.
Quest: A Tome Truly Rare
Getting Cynthia to give it up can be a bit a challenge. First you have to complete the quest The Secrets of Loc Muinne and the subquest, Dearhenna’s Journal. Not so fast sailor, you have to complete it in the correct manner to trigger the proper version of A Tome Truly Rare. The Secrets of Loc Muinne can end three ways. Only one ending leaves Cynthia alive and in town. Get that one. If you do, you’re on the right path. (That path leads to her pants.)
If you need help going down that path, here are the basic steps:
If Geralt did exactly what I told him to do, Cynthia will be waiting at the Loc Muinne Inn. Find her, and say these things:
Ladies and gents, you’ve just nailed Cynthia.
Quest: Anytime. All of them. Found in the basement of the inn. The inn has a basement, go down there and the ladies will go down, well, you know. All of the lovely ladies require a bribe of at least 100 orens. Paying them more than that won’t get you a better sex scene, so save your money. Each woman has a unique intro video, but they all share the same sex scene choreography.
If you sided with Iorveth, you’ll only be able to knock +5 boots with the camp followers during the mission: Where Is Triss Merigold? If you sided with Roche, you’ll be able to access these ladies anytime. The women at the Flotsam brothel require a bribe too. 100 orens will get you the basic service package. The generic whores, Birdie, Big Bust Miriam, Arseleta, have the same moves, but the unique whores, Licking Lucy and Whistling Wendy, will do some pretty special stuff.
EA announced today that it's made over 1.2 billion dollars in "digital revenue" during its fourth fiscal quarter. That is a massive 47 percent year-over-year growth.
Full game downloads were also up 76 percent year-over-year, pushed by Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3. This comes right alongside the news that EA's digital distribution service, Origin, has 11 million registered players, generating approximately $150 million in 10 months.
Digital revenue also gets a boost from EA's Play4Free group, whose lineup generates almost $2 million per week. The press release states that "several more EA brands will be introduced in the Play4Free portal in fiscal 13." Could we see a Dead Space or Mass Effect title in the works?
Digital sales are also helped by EA's acquisition of developer PopCap, whose newest Bejeweled game is EA's top selling title in Apple's AppStore.
EA further predicts that digital revenue will continue to grow, expanding by 40 percent in fiscal 2013.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE AVENGERS. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET!
The tried and true Marvel Studios tradition of inserting scenes with Easter eggs midway or after the credits of its films continues with The Avengers. And while the surprise reveal that comes midway during the film's closing credits -- right after the fancy actor roll call -- might make total sense to comics fans, there are surely a lot of you out there saying, "Just what the heck was that all about?"
Well, we've got you covered.
But one more time, remember that spoilers follow!
O.K., then. Let's do this.
Ready?
You want to know who the purple-faced freakazoid is at the end of the film? It's Thanos, of course. The Mad Titan!
Thanos, the Mad Titan
Thanos shows up ever so briefly when "The Other" -- Loki's point man with the Chitauri -- breaks the news to his boss that the Avengers just kicked the butts of the God of Mischief and his alien army. Their invasion of Earth has failed. Standing with his back to the camera amid the cosmic otherness that seems to be becoming for Marvel, Thanos turns to reveal his distinctive mug and only-a-mother-can-love chin ridges to the camera. And then… cut to the rest of the credits! So it was who actually ordered the attack on Earth…
Of course, this all makes sense. We'd been hearing for ages that a second villain might be showing up in The Avengers. Red Skull was frequently mentioned, but of course Thanos' infamous weapon the Infinity Gauntlet did show up in a blink-or-you-miss-it moment in the Thor movie last summer in Odin's weapons room. (The Infinity Gauntlet also made an appearance at Comic-Con a year before that!)
But who is Thanos?
Created by that cosmic-tale stalwart Jim Starlin, Thanos first showed up in Iron Man #55 in 1973 and has been more or less a mainstay of Marvel Comics' outer-space stories since. He's one of the Eternals, an "evolutionary offshoot" of the human race who have superpowers and get to do cool stuff like hang on Saturn's moon Titan and live for a really long time. This is not unlike another super-race in Marvel lore, the Inhumans, who Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said could be getting a movie soon too.
In the comics, Thanos is not an Inhuman. But the Marvel movies have tinkered with their source material before to make it fit onscreen, so who knows? Maybe the Inhumans and the Eternals will be combined to some degree. Either way, it seems likely that Thanos will play some kind of role in that movie, if and when it happens. But even more likely is the character's connection to The Avengers 2. He will be back in the sequel, it seems, and he'll be ready for Earth's Mightiest Heroes this time!
Bookmark this page and check back soon as we'll be breaking out a full "Thanos: Everything You Need to Know" feature, but in the meantime... fear the Mad Titan!
O.K., we saw the film again on opening day here in the U.S., and obviously that absolute last scene of The Avengers is in fact an added treat. Sure to disappoint some viewers, confuse others, and delight even more, the 30-second or so bit comes after the last credit has rolled. It's a wordless gag as the Avengers all sit around a shawarma shop, exhausted and munching away on pita sandwiches after the film's climactic battle has ended.
This is of course a reference to a line Tony Stark has during the final moments of the fight, after the Hulk has caught him during his plummet from the sky. He suggests going for shawarma around the corner, doing that Stark quip thing that he does so well. It plays as a throwaway line, but when the image of the entire group appears after the credits, it's a great moment -- and a very Whedonesque one at that. The shot feels like something you'd see in a Buffy episode, in fact, and while it's humorous, it also fits the film's themes -- and the entire Marvel movie oeuvre to date -- very well. you'd want to go chow down with your buds after a hard day's work like that, and who needs to chit-chat after everything you'd just been through? That's the sign of a real family actually -- there's no need to make small talk.
You could also read into the bit as a commentary on the whole Easter egg phenomenon as well. After hooking us in time and again with Nick Fury cameos and mysterious hammers in the desert, it's almost like Marvel Studios itself is saying, "O.K., whew. Finally, we did it. Now let's eat." Love it.
Microsoft has made its $99 Xbox official. The 360 with Kinect and a 4GB HD is available in Microsoft stores, and is only sold with a 2-year commitment to Xbox Live at $14.99 a month. Check it out on the official Microsoft site. Print the coupon and stop by a Microsoft store for the cheapest ever Xbox.
My question: is this kind of subsidized console going to catch on? We did the math, and the ultimate savings over traditional Xbox ownership is about $39 over two years, but the $15-a-month version of Gold might have some extra content.
So what do you think? Is this a good idea or not? Anyone planning on picking one up?
Every day hundreds of new apps make their debut on the App Store, and hundreds more are updated or reduced in price. We have sifted through the noise and highlighted those select few that might be worth your attention.
Mumbo Jumbo launched Luxor Evolved for $6.99 earlier this month, then promptly dropped the price to $4.99, and finally $2.99. Now the title has been discounted even further, to just $0.99. Not a nice move for early adopters, but at $0.99 the retro neon remake should be very hard to pass up.
WB's one-on-one Batman brawler is once again half-off.
Zombiez! – (Free)
Zombiez! is best described as an undead-themed Lemmings. Instruct your zombies to climb, dig, build and more in order to get them safely to the exit. The App has gone free for a limited time.
Several new playable Skylanders have been added, including Warnado and Wham Shell. The Universal app also now supports the high-res display found in the new iPad.
Note: Yep, we've decided to begin weekly reviews for The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! For some reason we can't put our finger on, the timing just felt appropriate... Moderate episode spoilers follow.
With the Avengers movie shifting Marvel Studios' films into a more cosmically-oriented direction, it's only fitting that Season 2 of Earth's Mightiest Heroes continues to do the same for the show. The series continued its gradual build-up towards the big Kree/Skrull War conflict, but in the process introduced both a legendary Avengers foe and a very unusual team of "Space Avengers" called the Guardians of the Galaxy.
The episode handled Michael Korvac very well considering the limited, 21-minute time span. The character was always meant to be a cautionary tale of what happens when one ordinary man is given god-like power, and Korvac's gradual breakdown over the course of the episode captured that descent into madness. As in the original story, his desperate attachment to his girlfriend, Carina, providing just the right touch of humanity. The fact that so much of "The Korvac Saga" was reduced or eliminated for this episode was probably for the best.
But in the end, it was really the Guardians of the Galaxy who stole the show. Considering that the episode was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (who created the version of the Guardians the episode utilized), that's only to be expected. Hawkeye had a great line, "There's a tree and a raccoon scowling at us, man. Are we firing?" That pretty much kicked off hostilities between the two groups as they embarked on the obligatory "let's fight each other for a while until we unite to battle a common foe," shtick.
It might not have been the most clever or surprising plot, but it was a hell of a lot of fun. Whether it was Iron Man vs. Quasar, Hulk vs. Groot, or Black Panther vs. Adam Warlock, the battles were consistently engaging and visually memorable for a show that doesn't always boast the strongest animation quality. The vocal work was also particularly noteworthy thanks to all the guest stars. There was the inimitable Kevin Conroy as Star-Lord, of course. Kirk Thornton's Warlock and Troy Baker's Korvac were also particularly well done. Although, as a long-time fan of Rocket Raccoon, I can't say I ever pictured the character with a heavy British accent.
This episode may not have had quite the epic scale and sense of doom the original Korvac Saga did in the comics, but it ended on a suitably tragic note that leaves the door open for the villain's return. On a more somber note, the episode was dedicated to the memory of its director, the late Boyd Kirkland. At least Kirkland was able to go out in style with one of the better episodes the series has seen to date.
If you need help creeping out girls with you vast Pokemon knowledge, check out this video. Simple Pickup has put together a compilation of their best, and worst, Pokemon pick-up lines. I assume they were inspired by one of my favorite memes, Dat Ash. Prepare to be amazed and offended.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in the works, but according to Ubisoft's Michel Ancel, it will probably be a next-generation title. Ancel, the creator of Rayman, confirmed the game was still in development in an interview. He also mentioned Beyond Good & Evil 2 would require better tech than what the current generation of consoles can offer.
Based on translations, it sounds like yes, the game is very much in the works. Ubisoft wants to make sure this game is ambitious as possible, and they need the proper tech to support the camera angles, graphics, and combat they want. Since a next-gen console hasn't been announced yet, they can't announce which platforms it will be on, or even what year it will launch.
Below you'll see a concept trailer for Beyond Good & Evil 2. Ancel commented on the video's Mirror's Edge vibe, but Ancel denied that game was an inspiration. The concept for the video was created before Mirror's Edge was released. Ancel even added Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia were closer to the concept of BG&E2.
I can definitely see Ubisoft using Beyond Good & Evil 2 has a next gen launch title. I think that would be great for console sales. But next-gen consoles are a ways off still, so Beyond Good & Evil fans are going to have to wait a while, maybe even a few more years.
Do you think Beyond Good & Evil 2 will be worth the wait?
