A couple weeks ago, Nickelodeon released the first trailer for its new animated reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, the network has set a premiere date for the CG show and will be airing two back-to-back episodes on Saturday, September 29 at 11am.
According to EW.com's Inside TV, Nick has created 26 half-hour episodes featuring a funnier, quirkier team of turtles: Leonardo (American Pie's Jason Biggs), Raphael (The Lord of the Rings' Sean Astin), Michelangelo (Teen Titan's Greg Cipes), and Donatello (Rob Paulsen, the original voice of Raphael in the '80s and '90s cartoon).
Who knew slicing fruit would have so much staying power? Tiny Australian studio Halfbrick first released Fruit Ninja to the App Store way back on April 20, 2010. Since then the game has received over a half-dozen major updates and has been ported to Android, Windows Phone and Xbox 360 Kinect. Thanks to its flagship fruit slicer (and new mega-hit Jetpack Joyride) Halfbrick is no longer such a tiny studio.
Halfbrick has a variety of tricks up its sleeve to celebrate the game’s two-year anniversary. Most notably, players can grab the title 100%-free just by visiting Halfbrick’s special anniversary website. The company has also announced that Fruit Ninja’s biggest update yet is due out this Thursday. Gamers can already get a sneak peek at the game's new merchants Gutsu and Truffles:
From Gutsu’s new cart of goodies players will be able to purchase three new power-ups: Berry Blast, Peachy Time and Bomb Deflects. All three boosts are purchased with Fruit Ninja’s new Starfruit currency, earned at the end of each gameplay session.
Keep it locked to IGN.com for more on Fruit Ninja’s updates, as well as the continuing adventures of the fat merchant and his pig.
Check out the final American Ninja Warrior page with our partnership with DC Comics. The new strip is available in this week's issues, featuring Mike Cartwright, a rookie cop in the Gotham City police squad.
This is the fourth G4 comic strip, which you can find in the DC and Vertigo periodical comic lines. Head to your local comic book store to pick up a copy of your very own!
Catch up on the comic here:
Don't forget to tune in on Sunday, May 20th for the premiere of American Ninja Warrior, only on G4.
Check out the new American Ninja Warrior page with our partnership with DC Comics. The new strip is available in this week's issues, featuring Mike Cartwright, a rookie cop in the Gotham City police squad.
This is the third out of four G4 comics, which you can find in the DC and Vertigo periodical comic lines. A new page will be revealed each week until Wednesday, May 16th. Head to your local comic book store to pick up a copy of your very own!
Catch up on the comic here:
Don't forget to tune in on Sunday, May 20th for the premiere of American Ninja Warrior, only on G4.
There's nothing quite like a monkey with a laser mounted to its jetpack fighting a ninja lizard, space sheriff, and robot Incredible Hulk. Awesomenauts is absurd and hilarious. For the most part, it's entertaining to play, too. It distills a complicated, largely PC-only genre down to its essence, and it does so mostly successfully. Awesomenauts is one of the first instances of a multiplayer online battle arena on consoles, and when it isn't stumbling over its own simplicity, it does a great job of bringing something exciting to a new audience.
Think of the MOBA genre like inverse tug-of-war – two teams with distinct hero characters push against waves of human players and their AI companions; whichever group breaks through the other side first takes home the win. Turret placements block routes, summon spots spawn additional help, and hidden paths allow players to flank their foes. Awesomenauts builds a complex layer of strategy around a bare-bones 2D core, and this is where thoughtful players will discover smart tactics.
They're the folks who'll realize retreating is smarter than sacrifice, and that the on-the-fly character upgrades they'll earn because of it are more important than another kill. Staying alive means not contributing to the other team's resources, too, as you'll drop plenty of currency for them when killed. Letting them clean up and buy upgrade their dynamite, rocket, or knife abilities will end you.
Awesomenauts is a lot of work, and the more you put into each match the more you'll get out of it, both short- and long-term.
You can hide behind your robots to take on turrets.
This is the biggest issue with Awesomenauts. As you're starting out and discovering the strengths and weaknesses of each vastly different hero, higher-ranking players will slaughter you. Not because their level means they're stronger – everyone starts out even and without upgrades – but because the unlockable characters are considerably better than the limited starting selection.
They're more capable, have better weaponry, and are just more capable of killing your team. There's a stark, immediately noticeable imbalance that adds a stacked rock-paper-scissors sense to the roster.
I hated Awesomenauts for a few hours. The wacky Saturday morning cartoon theme, western music, and simple destructive gameplay was fun, sure, but the grind drove me mad. Eventually, I learned, adapted, and improved. Awesomenauts is unforgiving for newcomers, even though it's structurally simple, and the growing pains are awful if you're not enduring it with someone else.
Don't forget to spend the money you earn. Your team relies on it.
Even if you're a vetted MOBA nerd, this separate spin on the same idea makes you look at the genre in a new light -- dimmer, perhaps softer, rather than plugging in a new bulb altogether. That Awesomenauts is a multiplayer game first and foremost – don't bother with bot matches alone – means you're likely to play it in the company of others.
Without friends, the battlefield is lonely and frustrating, so make sure you're bringing friends in from the get-go. It turns an amusing game into a strong and strategic one.
