The Avengers Defeats Dark Knight, Harry Potter

Marvel's The Avengers has passed The Dark Knight at the third highest-grossing domestic release of all time.

The Marvel epic has so far earned $538.1 million domestically to the second Christopher Nolan Batman film's final tally of $533.3 million.

Two James Cameron blockbusters -- Avatar and Titanic -- are No. 1 and No. 2 with $760.5 million and $658.6 million, respectively.

On the all time worldwide grosses front, The Avengers is also No. 3 behind, yes, Avatar and Titanic. With a global current total of $1,331.3 billion, The Avengers has surpassed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2's cume of $1,328.1 billion.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/02/the-avengers-defeats-dark-knight-harry-potter

E3 2012: The Eve of the (Nintendo) Storm

From where I'm sitting, looking out over the downtown Los Angeles skyline from my loft apartment, everything is peaceful. Serene. Quiet. On the weekend, downtown L.A. is a virtual ghost town, absent of all the suits and professionals that occupy it during the week. This city isn't as compact as many others. Thousands commute for hours to get here, leaving shells of buildings with very few occupants when the vast majority of businesses aren’t open. Except this weekend.

Slowly but surely, Los Angeles is springing to life. Thousands are coming into town this weekend, preparing for an onslaught of activity that actually starts tomorrow, not Monday, as it normally would. And at the heart of much of this activity is Nintendo.

(L to R) Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime have arrived at E3 2012. (Source: Nintendo)

Led by Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo is seemingly preparing one of the biggest video game showcases we’ve ever seen. Not just from the publisher itself, but in the grand scheme of E3 as a whole. It’s tradition for first party publishers to hold a keynote press conference that lasts an hour or two. Through various means, Nintendo is effectively holding four of these. Four. That’s over four hours of announcements, details and discussion about its current portable platform, the 3DS, and its upcoming console - Wii U. And that’s not counting the various interviews, videos and hands-on impressions that will follow on sites like IGN.

By sheer volume, this seems like it is Nintendo’s E3 to lose. True, the company has much to prove, but it clearly has a lot to say. Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, it will discuss Wii U’s hardware through an online presentation. It claims Tuesday will be about software, presumably with a strong emphasis on Wii U. That evening it plans to have a developer roundtable - once again focused on Wii U. The next night, it’s hosting a software showcase. By process of elimination, that one is likely locked on 3DS. Despite the need to bring its home console to the show in full force, the publisher can’t forget its portable audience, less it stumble once more with system.

An older version of Wii U's controller, as shown at E3 2011.

Covering a first party publisher like Nintendo is a busy affair at any E3. There are plenty of games to see, even when one platform is struggling, as Wii did at last year’s show. There are plenty of interviews to conduct. Plenty of opinion and perspective to give. This year is poised to be one of the busiest years in recent memory. Even if third parties aren’t quite ready to showcase all of their software - or hold back titles from being playable - Nintendo  is ready to share its vision, with the exception of formalizing its precise launch plans.

From a bird’s eye view, Los Angeles is quiet. Only a few isolated cars travel down streets designed for hundreds more. But Nintendo is already here, finalizing its plans for the week. It’s preparing to unleash a storm, to bring a flurry of announcements the likes of which it hasn’t done in several years. It’s dedicating presentations to distinct hardware and software elements, adding more events to its E3 agenda than ever before.

Nintendo is ready.

Are you?

Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com, the leader of the IGN Nintendo team and watches over all things Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and WWE. Follow his E3 2012 coverage and commentary on Twitter, Tumblr and IGN.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/02/e3-2012-the-eve-of-the-nintendo-storm

Star Trek: The Next Generation is beaming to theaters!

Star Trek is headed to theaters! And no, we're not talking about the sequel to J. J. Abram's Trek franchise. Star Trek: The Next Generation is headed to the big screen!

In anticipation for TNG's 25th Anniversary, and the highly anticipated July 24, 2012 release of Star Trek: The Next Generation - The First Season Blu-ray, Fathom Events will host a one night only screening of two episodes from the series.

The event will be held on Monday, July 23, 2012 at 7 PM in select theaters nationwide. Some theaters will also host late night screenings. Tickets for this event will be available starting Friday, June 8. You can head over to Fathom Events for more ordering info. The episodes being screened are "Where No One Has Gone Before" and "Datalore."

Fathom states that, "This special event will include exclusive looks at the massive restoration of season one, never-before-seen interviews with the original cast members and behind-the-scenes looks at the artists who created the original FX elements and photography during the making of the show. Audiences will also be privy to an unseen sneak-peak of "Measure of a Man.'"

Be on the lookout for a review of Star Trek: The Next Generation - The First Season on Blu-ray in July. If you haven't already, you can pre-order the Blu-ray on Amazon. Also, check out our review of Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Next Level, the first TNG Blu-ray -- a sampling of great things to come. You can also watch the trailer for the upcoming set below:

R.L. Shaffer wants you to "make sure that history never forgets the name...Enterprise." Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and more!

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/02/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-beaming-to-theaters

Best Games Quotes of the Week - June 2

So all the really interesting stuff is supposed to be uttered in the seven days or so, but, wouldn't-ya-know-it, even in the so-called dead week before E3 there's plenty going on. Lawsuits, gaffes, hyperbole, ignorance and passion are all on offer, as we deliver up the best quotes in gaming from the past week.

How They Are

“That’s just how they are sent. They are trained assassins, just like Agent 47.” 

Hitman Absolution producer Luke Valentine on a trailer featuring sexy-killer-nuns who, apparently, are pretty easy to kill.

IGN

Troubling Piece of Marketing

"The latest Hitman Absolution trailer pairs gratuitous violence with sexualised imagery to create the most troubling piece of marketing material I think I’ve ever seen."

Keza MacDonald has a problem with that trailer.

IGN

Up This Guy

“I have this little neighbor next door. He comes over and tells me about playing Call of Duty, and he's talking about, ‘Aw yeah, I slit this guy in the throat and then I stuck a grenade up this guy's ass.’ He's describing it in all this detail, and that makes me uncomfortable. I don't think that's good for him.”

Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Story-Telling Animal, describes a manoeuvre previously unexplored  in shooting games.

Kill Screen

Alone in the World

Image: Fast Company

"We want playing our games to entertain people on many different levels. Deeper down, I want to make a connection with the player, and it’s the way, to me, of saying to the person playing the game that they’re not alone in the world."

Tim Schafer explains his creative motivations.

Fast Company

Games Suck

"Games suck, frankly. Compared to where they could be, all games suck. It's going to be exciting to be part of a $100 million development team, or a $500 million, or a $1 billion dollar team.”

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford embracing the big-budget future.

GamesIndustry International

Things Go Off Script

“What we’re talking about are those unexpected moments that get you out of your seat cheering. I’m not talking about random stuff – in video games that’s just irritating. I mean that, in FIFA 13, when things go off script, it happens for a reason. They make sense after the fact – after that moment when you just weren’t expecting them.”

FIFA 13 executive producer David Rutter understands the beautiful game.

IGN

It Was Going To Be

"We had a good base to work from, and it was going to be all about improving everything. We listened carefully to fans and critics and we were going to implement everything we possibly could."

A former 38 Studios employee on the next Kingdoms of Amalur, now likely dead following the developer laying off all its staff.

Joystiq

Horrible Sexism in Games

“I didn't meddle. If I did meddle there wouldn't be all this violence. All this horrible sexism in games.”

Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee on his part in 38 Studios downfall.

Kotaku

An Incorrect Logo

"BBC News makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all images broadcast, however very occasionally mistakes do happen. Unfortunately an incorrect logo was used during a segment on last week's News at One bulletin and we apologize to viewers for the mistake.”

The BBC seemed to be suggesting that Master Chief would be involved in the Syrian crisis.

Eurogamer

Apple is a Big Player

“Gaming has kind of evolved a bit. More people play on portable devices. Where we might go in the future, we'll see. Customers love games. I'm not interested in being in the console business in what is thought of as traditional gaming. But Apple is a big player today and things in the future will only make that bigger.”

Apple’s Tim Cook offers up a sliver of the company’s thinking about games.

The Verge

Eat a Sandwich

“We want monsters to be a challenge to the player every single time you fight them, not a speedbump for the player. We don’t want fighting monsters to be boring or you can eat a sandwich or do five other things while fighting a monster.”

Elder Scrolls Online gameplay designer Maria Aliprando knows how we play MMOs.

PC Gamer

Hong Kong From

“Obviously the game was originally True Crime: Hong Kong from Activision. I can’t speak to why they let that go. I’m not going to speculate on their behalf. All I know is, they’ve gotta be crazy.”

Square Enix U.S boss Mike Fischer won’t let Sleeping Dogs lie.

Venturebeat

A Settlement

Bad day at the office for Bobby.

"Activision's refusal to pay their talent and attempt to blame EA were absurd. This settlement is a vindication of Vince and Jason, and the right of creative artists to collect the rewards due for their hard work."

An Electronic Arts statement following Activision's settlement of a lawsuit against Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella.

The Verge

Stop

“How do I stop them?”

A fake movie trailer for a Tetris movie was only slightly dafter than real games-movies.

Destructoid

Yeah

"Yeah, it's just plain greed."

Analyst Michael Pachter explains publishers' likely motivation for on-disk DLC.

CVG

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/02/best-games-quotes-of-the-week-june-2

E3 2012: Assassin's Creed Vita Revealed?

Looks like some secrets just won't keep until E3 -- if NeoGaf is to be believed. Over on the videogame forum, a poster claims to have the July issue of Game Informer, and inside are the first details on Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation for the PlayStation Vita.

Set between 1765 and 1780, which is anchored around the end of the French and Indian War, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation will supposedly cast players as a French black female assassin named Aveline. The details point to Ubisoft Sofia developing the game, it not being related to Desmond, and "multiplayer specifically tailored to the Vita experience." The poster said Liberation will launch alongside the console version of Assassin's Creed III on October 30th.

Ubisoft offered a "no comment" when approached for this article.

Of course, take all of this with a grain of salt for the moment as it is just information from a message board. If you have the issue of Game Informer, go ahead and confirm the details in the comments below. Otherwise, watch the Ubisoft and PlayStation E3 press conferences on IGN Monday to see if either party sheds some light on Assassin's Creed Vita.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/02/e3-2012-assassins-creed-vita-revealed