In an industry where remakes, reboots and reimaginings are the norm, The Amazing Spider-Man took the biscuit by coming to life only four years after the credits of Spider-Man 3 had rolled. The inital reaction to this Spider-Man reboot was possibly one of the most unanimous in the history of the internet – ‘No! Why? Stop it Hollywood!’
Peter Parker’s story had already been told – why do it again so quickly? More bees were unleashed in bonnets as casting decisions were made, with the 29 year old British actor Andrew Garfield cast as a high school age Peter – too old! too English! Mary Jane was relegated in favour of Gwen Stacy, and the first trailer showcased a jarring change in tone and bothered some critics with a sequence shot in first person perspective – too much like a video game!
Well you know what, this second trailer looks fantastic. Yes, the tone is completely different from Sam Raimi’s trilogy, but refreshingly so. Peter Parker is a different animal, wisecracking with more wit than Tobey Maguire’s take was ever allowed. The mechanical webslingers make an appearance and there’s a brief glimpse of Rhys Ifan’s The Lizard.
The Amazing Spider-Man could revitalise a classic character much in the same way as Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, after all , Spiderman 3 led to the cancellation of Raimi’s take on the webslinger – Batman and Robin anyone?
So make sure and let the movie speak for itself, and check out the trailer below:
X-Men Wow… Comic book movies are awesome, give me more!
X2 Yes!
X-Men The Last Stand Where did Cyclops go? Why is Vinnie Jones here? What the hell? How many directors did this movie have?
X-Men Origins : Wolverine What have you done to Deadpool?! Since when is Sabretooth Wolverine’s brother? Why are Canadians fighting in all these wars? Why are the special effects worse now than nearly ten years ago? Is this supposed to be funny? I’m never going to watch any of these films in a cinema again.
X-Men First Class I lied. *peeks through fingers* Oh. This is actually quite good.
And thus we come to the next movie in the X-Men franchise – The Wolverine (assuming that First class director Matthew Vaughn finishes his other projects before starting on his sequel). It’s been struggling through production hell for the last few years, but finally has a release date: July 26 2013. This means that Logan’s latest outing will be joining Iron Man 3, Man of Steel and potentially Thor 2 in a truly blockbuster summer line up.
Of course it has a lot of convincing to do after the disappointment that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so scheduling it for such a competitive release date is a bold move. Also bold is the timing involved. Star Hugh Jackman is all set to lead in a film adaptation of Les Miserables, and that hasn’t made it’s way out of pre production yet. Throw in another Jackman musical due for release in 2013 and a long overseas shoot for The Wolverine (Darren Aronofsky was due to direct but left the project because of it) and a July release date looks incredibly ambitious. Is there really enough time for Jackman to work on two other movies, Wolverine to be shot and post production to be completed?
Until the cameras start rolling there is no way to know for sure. Here’s hoping that what could be a great X-Men movie- thanks to it source material- isn’t derailed by an overly eager production schedule.
Konami’s latest title NeverDead is all set to receive its first DLC pack on February 21. This bundle of costumes and characters is also accompanied by some new gameplay challenges set in the Asylum level.
First and foremost, the new character: Nikki Summerfield, popstar. The fashionably dressed diva will be available for use in the multiplayer mode, bringing some outfits of questionable practicality to bear with some heavy use of firearms. Leading man Bryce will also receive two new costumes.
The main selling point here however is the expanded gameplay, with three new challenges coming to the Asylum level. The first, Fragile Alliance, is a simple race through checkpoints with added environmental hazards and enemy spawn points to keep you on your toes. Onslaught tasks players with clearing the Asylum of enemies one section at a time, and Egg Hunt has you running around collecting ‘collectibles’ and stashing them in designated score zones.
The game has had something of a rough ride since arriving at the end of January, so can some extra outfits and a popstar keep NeverDead alive?
Bandai Visual have confirmed that the Japanese Blu-Ray and DVD releases of the first volume of The New Prince of Tennis will include special original video animation episodes.
No details on what each OVA episode will entail has come to light unfortunately. The New Prince of Tennis series has been airing for the past five weeks in Japan and streaming for Western viewers through the Crunchyroll anime streaming service.
The series itself is adapted from the manga series of the same name which is a sequel of the manga The Prince of Tennis. New Prince of Tennis takes place several months following the first series.
Stay tuned as more details on The New Prince of Tennis OVA episodes come to light.
PopCap Games, masters of the addictive, are bringing a new title to Facebook. Currently going through a gradual beta launch and releasing in full in March is Solitaire Blitz. Of course this is a new riff on the always installed card game, and looks to bring a social aspect to the game thanks to the Facebook platform. No longer will your solitaire days be long and lonely!
They will be underwater. That’s right, not only solitaire in a “fast paced, social setting” but an underwater one at that. As you can see in the trailer below, the underwater theme has resulted in a ton of cute creatures bobbing about (gotta love the catfish) and some fishy designs for the playing cards.
Like other PopCap titles so titled (Bejwelled Blitz for example), Solitaire Blitz will have it’s gameplay torn into addictive sixty second chunks, and see players competing against the rest of Facebook for leaderboard glory.
If you’re looking for something to make Facebook even more of a time sink, you can access the beta now – just plug ‘Solitaire Blitz’ into the good old search box, and the app will pop right up.
Last year Toei Animation announced that they had green-lit a CG animated Saint Seiya film. Today roughly a year since Toei made that announcement, they have revealed the director for the hotly anticipated film.
We can now confirm that superhero anime Tiger & Bunny’s director Keichii Satou has been tapped to direct the film for Toei Animation. The film itself has no other details revealed other than that it is most likely a retelling of the events of Masami Kurumada’s original manga series of the same name.
A promotional image for the CG animated Saint Seiya film can be seen above. No release date has been confirmed with a mere listing of ‘coming soon’ on Toei’s official website.
New screenshots of 2K Games and Digital Extremes’ The Darkness II have today been released, just in case you weren’t already convinced about checking out this game. The Darkness II is set to continue the story of the current Darkness wielder and Mafia Don Jackie Estacado, who now faces a new enemy known as The Brotherhood. An ancient secret society bent on controlling and using The Darkness for themselves.
With only a few more days till The Darkness II gets released in Australia on February 10 for Xbox 360, Playstaion 3 and PC. It’s safe to say that it’s going to be one hell of a game.
If you are excited about Gravity Rush (Gravity Daze in Japan) and want your Playstation Vita to reflect that excitement, then Japanese console and handheld skin creator Dezaegg have two skins up for pre-order. Each are also a protective sheet for your touch screen and come with matching wallpapers. To access the wallpapers for your Vita, you have to download them from here and transfer your chosen wallpaper to your Vita.
The two screens will not see a release until March 1 for ¥1,480 (US$19.30/AU$17.90). If you are in Japan at the moment, then standard retailers will stock the two skins. For the rest of us (which will be most of us), then you have to order them from Dezaegg official site. Gravity Rush/Daze is out now in Japan and will be ready for launch in the West. You can check out the skins below.
Sony has released the final details on both the Portable and Car Charger for release in Japan. These were both shown off at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show. Expect the Car Charger first, as it has a release date of March 22 and it will retail at ¥1,500 (US$19.55/AU$18.10). For those who are anxiously waiting to import the Portable Charger, then you will have to wait until April 5. Also expect to drop ¥4,500 (US$58.65/AU$54.30) for this possible necessary accessory.
The Portable Charger will boast 5,000mAh, enough juice to charge the Vita 1.5 times. However, the charger itself needs to be charged, which will take seven hours. In order for the charger to work, you will need both the AC adapter and the USb cable from your Vita. The USB cable will charge the Vita from the Portable Charger (and presumably the Car Charger), while the AC adapter will charge the Portable Charger.
Check out both the Car and Portable Charger in the gallery below.
In this week’s issue of Dengeki PlayStation, Falcom has lifted the lid on the Playstation Vita port of The Legend of Heroes Zero no Keisei, which is the sequel to Sora no Keisei trilogy, in which Trails in the Sky is the first of the three games. First up, a name change. When the game was first announced, it had the name The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Keisei Event Full Voice Edition. That has been changed to its final name: The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Keisei Evolution. It is also slated for a summer 2012 release, which is a more concrete release than the 2012 date the game received when it was revealed. It will be priced at ¥6,090 (US$79.30/AU$73.60).
The games biggest change is the amount of voice work that will be done. Over 150 characters in the game will now have voices, hence why the placeholder title included “Full Voice Edition.” The recording of the voice, revealed in an interview by Dengeki Playstation, may take two months to complete. Main character Lloyd will take up to 1,200 pages of dialogue in the game. Now that is a lot of talking.
While the full voice acting is the biggest addition, it is certainly not the only addition. The visuals will get an update over the Playstation Portable visuals, with animated character shots during scenes of conversation and improved effects on shadows, water and depth-of-fields. A new opening movie is also being developed, alongside new arrangements of the game’s soundtrack. The Vita version will also have mini-games, which will utilise Vita-specific features such as gyro and rear touch. It is unknown whether the features will be used during the main game. Trophies and additional sub-quests will also be included.
PSP version
When the game was announced, the teaser site mentioned Pyramid Inc, creators of the Patapon games. This is the studio who are developing the game, allowing Falcom to focus on new entries of the series, mainly Nayuta no Kiseki, the next entry of the series, and the entry after Nayuta no Kiseki (Falcom are really planning ahead). Falcom CEO Toshihiro Kondo revealed in the Dengeki Playstation interview that he chose Pyramid to develop the game because he is close friends with members of the development team and that he got the chance to see some of the research and development projects. The focus of other titles was also a factor, despite the fact that there was an option for Falcom to develop the game.
Chara-Ani was also mentioned with the announcement, but their role was unknown.In the interview, Chara-Ani producer Tadakazu Hiraga revealed that they are the planners, producers, managers and distributors of the game. Quite a lot of roles for the one company. Apparently, the publishing of the game will be handled by a third company known as Kadokawa Games, not Falcom. Kondo revealed, however, that they did keep an eye on development and checking out the data involved to assure a faithful port.
For those who are really interested in the title, then you might like the fact that there will be a conference over at Nico Nico Video that will be focused on The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Keisei Evolution, as well as other Falcom “Keisei” productions. It is planned for the 9th of February (this Friday) at 6pm Tokyo Time (4am Eastern/1am Pacific/8pm AEDT).
