Ten Movies People Hate... and Why They're Not That Bad

In ten years, which of 2012’s films will you be defending? Some might argue for Prometheus, claiming Ridley Scott's epic ambition overrules his lapses in logic. Others will sing the merits of The Dark Knight Rises, in the face of those calling it the blight on a near-perfect trilogy. Some might say that 48 frames per second was the best thing to happen to modern cinema - but then, in 2022, maybe it will be, so best not to speculate.
Here’s a set of movies that are generally considered failures in one way or another. Some of them famously suffered from production problems, some were over-hyped, some flopped at the box office, some did OK with the critics yet were maligned by fans. All have been unfairly judged.

Even Waterworld.
This article contains mild spoilers for a bunch of movies you've probably all seen.

Waterworld

It cost too much, wore its influences too obviously on its sleeve, and was, for some ungodly reason, stupendously po-faced; no wonder Waterworld suffered a critical pummeling. But ignore its blatant ambition to be ‘Mad Max on water,’ and you’ve got a film which stands up – admittedly on water-logged legs – as dumb, fun escapism today.

Waterworld is peppered with occasionally brilliant ideas. The journey to the lost underwater utopia, for example, remains eerily beautiful, and the obsession with trinkets and resources from 'The Dryland' is an intriguing touch. Director Kevin Reynolds does the best job he can within the limitations of his hugely ambitious set, eking out some arresting skirmishes amidst the endless H20, well-matched by a nonsensical yet unique aesthetic in prop and costume (shouldn't they wear swimming outfits rather than leather straps and Bowie pants?). Ultimately, if you can embrace Kevin Costner’s uber-serious turn as a half-man/half-guppy and a convoluted narrative punctuated by a giant fish-thing cameo that clearly blew half the budget, you’ll have a great time with this one.

Superman Returns

Despite doing well critically, Superman Returns didn’t soar at the box office, and Warner Bros’ subsequent dismissal of a sequel has tarnished its reputation to the point where people will freely call it the worst thing since, well, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. We were, perhaps, too cynical for Superman Returns, a sweetly earnest movie that reflects the sweetly earnest character of Supes himself.

Superman Returns is a love story first and foremost, driven by emotional conflict rather than the fizzy physical.

More of a spiritual descendent than a reboot, Superman Returns tips its hat to the series’ history in a number of ways, not least the inclusion of John Williams’ majestic score and a touching posthumous appearance from Marlon Brando as Jor-El. Brandon Routh - who shares an uncanny resemblance to Christopher Reeve – injects the film with an ideal blend of charm, bumbling awkwardness and gentle melancholy. It's the melancholy that stays with us, though, as Superman Returns is a love story first and foremost, driven by emotional conflict rather than the fizzy physical; although there’s plenty of that, too. Perhaps it was this meditative pace that turned those looking for more visceral thrills away, or perhaps Superman was just too wholesome for a modern audience already fattening up on a diet of grizzled antiheroes.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Stephen Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence is by no means a bad film, but it's settled into the collective consciousness as a ‘mess,’ or the first sci-fi Spielberg ‘screwed up.’ A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a mess, a sprawling meditation on what it is to be human bound in sickly sweet and sticky honey, and a clash between two distinct sensibilities – Spielberg’s and Stanley Kubrick's, the original driver of the project.

Yet it was also Spielberg’s most ambitious sci-fi to date, a maddening mix of huge ideas and missed opportunities. The highlights outweigh the low, though; Haley Joel Osment treads a delicate line between 'synthetic' and 'real' emotion with remarkable nuance, while the whole film is enveloped in a dizzying fairytale mood that's enough to distract viewers from lulls in the narrative. Worth seeing as a curio, a  project built by two great minds that fell short of its extraordinarily lofty ambitions.

Quantum of Solace

Must’ve been a tough gig, making the follow up to Casino Royale. Bond had been rebooted so magnificently with Martin Campbell’s 2006 blockbuster, and we were rabid to see what hijinks 007 would get up to next in Marc Forster’s 2008 sequel. Unfortunately for us, Quantum of Solace turned out to be just like so many other hard-bitten actioners populating our multiplexes – the movie screams "BOURNE!" from the Italian rooftops – and we left disappointed and dejected, ruing the moment ‘gritty’ became the trend du jour.

We can look back on Quantum as a brief – yet thrilling - dalliance with Bond's broken psyche.

But is Quantum really all that bad? The movie speeds along at breakneck pace, offering up some of the best action sequences the series has yet seen, while Bond himself is humanized beyond even Casino, his grief for Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd written in every line of his scowling face. He has become a Bond we can relate to, a Bond mourning for a Bond Girl, and god forbid if he’s going to let a labyrinthine narrative involving Bolivian oil stand in his way of delivering justice. Let’s just hope that come Skyfall he has recovered from his melancholy, and we can look back on Quantum as a brief – yet thrilling - dalliance with his own broken psyche.

Ghostbusters II

Ivan Reitman’s follow up to the 1984 smash hit original sits at a mediocre 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was deemed at the time by prolific critics Siskel and Ebert as one of the “worst movies of 1989.” Critics disliked Ghostbusters II for a variety of reasons, but nearly all deemed it overstuffed and too similar to its predecessor. Bill Murray remains untouchable.

But Ghostbusters II is a fun, at times hilarious, comedy, self-assured and unapologetically for the fans. The movie doesn’t even announce itself with a title; just its iconic logo, that ubiquitous eighties ghost flipping us two fingers. And while Ghostbusters II’s narrative meanders along, it still delivers a pleasurable mishmash of the original’s weirdest elements, reveling in its own crapness and centered by a well-established repartee between its dry central cast. Indeed, caustic-edged humor is what Ghostbusters II is all about; how else can a movie get away with a final battle between a guy who could pass for an aging Finnish rocker, and what ultimately translates into ‘positively-charged mood slime?’ Peter Venkman, so droll it hurts, saves the day in more ways than one.

Alien 3

The negative response to Alien 3 – both critically and within the Hollywood community – must have felt like a slap in the face to first-time director David Fincher after a lengthy and extremely troubled production period. The combination of notoriety and critical backlash subsequently pegged his threequel as the ‘black sheep’ of the franchise (although Alien: Resurrection and Prometheus have since muddied the canon further).
It wasn’t Fincher’s fault, of course. Alien 3 was a case of ‘too many cooks,' Fincher’s original vision relentlessly compromised by studio execs distrustful of the fledgling director.  But look closer and there are still some sparks of magic in here – particularly if you ignore the theatrical release and focus instead on the 2003 work print version, a ‘spiritual’ addition of sorts which adheres far closer to Fincher’s original vision. Here we are presented with a much tighter production with stripped back ‘cat n’ mouse’ horror, where characters are given room to breathe and a nihilistic mood pervades throughout. It’s a longer cut, but the conclusion is much more satisfying.

The Village

Fantasy/thriller The Village was another in a series of M. Night Shyamalan passion projects where you wonder if anyone, at any point, had stepped in and said to the director – “Really, man? Really?”  Laughable ending notwithstanding, The Village is an elegant thriller, for the most part sustaining integrity thanks to beautiful cinematography, an excellent performance from Bryce Dallas Howard in the central role, and well-executed suspense. Shyamalan should be particularly commended for the latter; The Village’s thrills are delivered gore-free, reliant instead on atmosphere and an escalating sense of dread. Go into this without a snarky attitude, and you’ll have a good time.

Hulk

Hulk's a contemplative film, directing its attention to heavy, adult themes and ecological issues.

Has there been a gloomier comic book movie than Ang Lee’s Hulk? This was a movie where the Hulk rarely smashed, and when he did he was really smashing at his crippling internal angst. But Hulk’s more thoughtful than its critics – who understandably went in expecting action bombast - give it credit for. It’s a contemplative film, directing its attention to heavy, adult themes and ecological issues. It’s also a morality tale; look what happens if you try to mess with the natural order by attempting to create regenerating super soldiers!

But above all, Hulk concerns itself with the emotional journey of Bruce Banner, a man whose emotional repression manifests itself in hugely destructive physical release.  Viewed this way, it needn’t have been about a giant green monster at all; so sadly human are its core issues. Gloomy indeed, but meditative. Pity about the crappy CGI.

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indy 4 was doomed to fail. It was released to an audience hungry for nostalgic release, an audience who had forgiven or forgotten the plot-holes and questionable characterizations of previous Indiana sequels. Kingdom gave us an older Dr. Jones, a decidedly haggard Harrison Ford lurching round elaborate sets and a plot-hole-laden narrative. Like us, Indy had grown old, and we didn’t like it.

But Kingdom is still an Indiana Jones movie through and through. Silly, stupendous, escapist entertainment, with brilliantly executed action sequences lead by a charismatic and affable central character. Sure, some of Kingdom’s logic is dubious, but the franchise has always concerned itself with flights of fancy; these are family films, after all. And while Ford doesn’t always hit all the right comedic notes, when he gives his trademark smirk and that John Williams theme tune starts up, it’s difficult to deny the magic at work.

Terminator Salvation

Sitting at a woeful 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, Joseph 'McG' Nichol’s Terminator Salvation did just about as badly as it was expected to. Today, the film might be better remembered for star Christian Bale’s notorious rant at its director of photography over any kind of creative merit (although one could argue Bale’s tirade was pretty creative.)

Let’s be honest – Terminator Salvation isn’t a patch on Cameron’s films. It was directed by McG! It is, however, a propulsive action flick that should be commended for moving the series forward with new ideas, refusing to fall back on tired tropes, and being generally better than Terminator 3.This is a darker, grimier Terminator, and while some may find it lacking in charisma, others might find the absence of Cameron’s cuteness – or indeed, poor Kristanna Loken - refreshing.

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Command Prompt 6: Tribes, Awesomenauts and Thirty Flights of Loving

In an attempt to make sense of the chaotic mass we call PC gaming, IGN's Anthony Gallegos and Charles Onyett put together a video show called Command Prompt. Barring any disastrous events or prolonged spells of acute laziness, new episodes will appear every week showing off three PC games.

For the sixth episode we're joined by Xbox Associate Editor Mitch Dyer as we take a look at Hi-Rez Studio's awesomely fast shooter Tribes: Ascend, learn what it's like to be beat down in a 2D MOBA in Awesomenauts and then explore the bizarre world of Thirty Flights of Loving.

 Tribes Ascend

Hi-Rez Studios manages to make a unique feeling first-person shooter with Tribes: Ascend's ridiculously fast and skill-demanding combat.

Awesomenauts

Who knew it was possible? Ronimo Games manages to take the MOBA or DoTA-style gameplay of League of Legends and Dota 2 and implement it in a 2D environment.

Thirty Flights of Loving

Blendo Games, creators of Gravity Bone and Atom Zombie Smasher follow up with a haunting and bizarre story that takes only minutes to play.

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Making a He-Man Movie Work

Given how massively successful Michael Bay's Transformers movies have been, it's no surprise that various studios are pursuing big-budget, live-action revivals of classic 1980s toy lines. G.I. Joe is another recent success, though its sequel has perplexingly been delayed until next year. Despite this delay, it's clear that Sony sees something in G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon Chu. Earlier this week we learned that Chu has been tapped to direct Sony's live-action He-Man film.

Can He-Man find the same big screen success the Autobots and Joes have? As popular as the Masters of the Universe franchise was in the '80s, the previous live-action movie didn't do He-Man any favors. Is it possible to do right by the character in live action? We say yes, and we have a few suggestions for how Chu can dust off the most powerful man in the universe for a new generation.

Blend Fantasy and Science Fiction

You want to know what the problem was with the first He-Man movie? Well, it's hard to narrow it down to just one, but one of its more significant missteps was that it tried so very hard to be Star Wars. Suddenly He-Man, Teela, and Man-at-Arms were freedom-fighting rebels seeking to free Eternia from the clutches of a scary dude in a black cape. All that kooky technology and architecture from the animated series and comics degenerated into generic sci-fi scenery. He-Man fought most of his battles with a blaster, not his sword or rippling biceps.

Yes, the He-Man franchise is more than a little inspired by the likes of Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, and Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics, but that blend of influences results in something more unique and memorable than what unfolded on screen in 1987. Eternia is a strange place that mixes science fiction and fantasy in equal measure. Its residents wield advanced gadgets and soar through the clouds on hovercraft, yet they also dress like they're attending the local Renaissance fair. Most of them wear fur underwear outside their tights, as if they were prehistoric superheroes. The planet is crawling with dragons, monsters, and ancient demons. In short, there's no reason for a He-Man movie to feel so familiar and redundant.

This time around, we want the movie to celebrate the unique visual trappings and style of the source material. It shouldn't fall too far on either side of the sci-fi/fantasy spectrum. Nor should the movie attempt to be a gritty, realistic take on the mythos. There's plenty of room for violence and darkness in Eternia, but Eternia is also a bombastic place full of colorful characters. There's nothing realistic or plausible about any of it. The film shouldn't descend into Flash Gordon levels of camp, but nor should it pretend to be something it isn't.

The Most Powerful Man in the Universe

1987's Masters of the Universe featured Dolph Lundgren as He-Man. Physically, he fit the part well enough. But Lundgren was poorly suited to play the dual role of the burly He-Man and the bumbling Prince Adam. Perhaps it was for the best that the movie didn't even attempt to work that dynamic into the mix.

This time around, we want to see the filmmakers cast an actor who can convincingly play both Adam and He-Man. Digital effects have progressed to the point where it wouldn't be any great challenge to enhance the actor's physique for the He-Man scenes, a la Xerxes in 300. Perhaps even the reverse approach for the Adam scenes, a la Captain America. This time around, charisma and screen presence are more important than muscle mass. As with Superman's Clark Kent persona, Prince Adam is a way for viewers to identify with He-Man and provide him with more personal ties.

That said, it is possible to ditch Adam entirely depending what direction Chu and Sony want to take the film. Before the first animated series defined the He-Man mythos, the early mini-comics packed in with the figures presented He-Man as the leader of a barbarian tribe who possessed one half of the mythical Sword of Power (Skeletor being the owner of the other). Here is where the Conan inspiration was most apparent. That's another possible angle to pursue, but the result would probably be less mass market-friendly than Sony is aiming for.

We also want to see He-Man live up to his reputation as “the most powerful man in the universe” for once. The original animated series was pretty limited in what it could depict as far as violent action, but at least He-Man was prone to juggling boulders and smashing robots with his bare hands. The film, on the other hand, barely conveyed the sense that He-Man was any stronger and more powerful than your average action hero. When he finally held aloft his magic sword, there was no awesome transformation sequence, just a brief fight with Skeletor. The new movie needs to present He-Man as a Hulk or Superman-level hero and deliver action sequences that take advantage of his abilities. At the end of the day, He-Man is really just a superhero in an unusual setting, and the recent slate of superhero movies should serve as direct inspiration.

A real human being and a real hero? Works for us.

And who should play Adam/He-Man? We've felt for a while now that Ryan Gosling is overdue for some sort of major superhero role. No doubt the thought of Gosling decked out in fur underwear will help bring in a heavier female crowd than the average superhero film. But given that Chu is directing, we suspect that G.I. Joe star Channing Tatum may emerge as a front-runner. A He-Man movie with a slightly more comedic tone would probably suit him well given his recent successes in 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike.

Stick to Eternia

While the previous He-Man movie felt too similar to Star Wars in many respects, it also took an unnecessary cue from Star Trek IV. Just as that movie sent the Enterprise crew hurtling back to 20th Century San Francisco, Masters of the Universe plucked He-Man and friends away from Eternia and dropped them onto Earth for a significant chunk of the film. It's one thing to resort to that sort of plot twist in your third sequel, but for a would-be franchise that was just getting its start, ignoring the Eternia setting was unforgivable.

The only reason to showcase Earth at all is to explore Queen Marlena's past as an Earthling astronaut and her unexpected crash-landing on Eternia. The previous film was intended to acknowledge this plot point. Early script drafts even featured the reveal of a NASA space probe and American flag in the bowels of Castle Grayskull, suggesting that Eternians actually hailed from Earth originally. All of this adds an interesting wrinkle to He-Man's origins, but it may be superfluous for a debut film. As mentioned already, Eternia is an interesting, diverse planet. There are more than enough locales to keep the plot humming along without having to venture off-world.

Caste Grayskull certainly needs to be a focal point of the film. In pretty much any incarnation of the franchise, Castle Grayskull is a source of many secrets and powers, and He-Man is the hero called upon to defend those secrets from villains like Skeletor. What exact power Grayskull contains and how its origins and its guardian, the Sorceress, tie into He-Man's story tends to vary. But regardless, it's a crucial piece of the mythology.

Grayskull did appear in the last movie, though it wasn't quite the wondrous spectacle it might have been. What we didn't see were the actual kingdom of Eternia, its royal family, or Skeletor's domain in Snake Mountain. This movie needs to do a better job of establishing the scope and feel of He-Man's world and the people he's trying to defend. Meanwhile, Snake Mountain can serve as a dark counterpoint to Grayskull and the tranquility of Randor's kingdom.

No doubt the omission of all these familiar locations and elements in the 1987 film was heavily motivated by a lack of budget. He-Man is too colorful and bombastic a franchise to tackle in half-measures. This time around, Sony needs to put enough financial support behind the project for it to truly thrive.

A Larger Cast

If you've ever tried to be a serious collector of Master of the Universe action figures, you know that the franchise is home to dozens and dozens of characters aside from just He-Man and Skeletor. Sadly, only a small handful of these supporting players made it into the previous film. He-Man was joined by Man-at-Arms and Teela, but not even Orko or Battle Cat were deemed worthy enough to buddy up with Dolph. Instead, these faithful sidekicks were replaced by Gwildor. Wait, who?
Exactly.

As far as we're concerned, there's no reason this time for He-Man not to ride into battle atop a ferocious, green tiger and accompanied by a spell-casting, floating dwarf. The trick is in capturing the cooler qualities of these sidekicks and ditching some of the 1980's-era goofiness associated with them. For instance, we don't particularly need Battle Cat to talk, and we can certainly do without his bumbling alter ego, Cringer. The 2002 animated series set the right example by rendering Cringer mute and toning down his cowardly side. Similarly, we want to see less slapstick from Orko and more magical prowess.

Ideally, Teela and her father will have more central roles this time. If the He-Man/Adam dynamic is akin to Superman/Clark Kent, then Teela is the Lois Lane. Her simultaneous disgust at Adam's foppish behavior and attraction to the brawny, heroic He-Man could lend a nice touch of romantic tension to the plot.



We also hope to see He-Man's parents. King Randor and Queen Marlena. Again, Eternia was far too generic and lifeless a setting last time around. We need to see more of its residents and more of He-Man's civilian life as Prince Adam. Whether the movie brings in the more colorful He-Man allies – Ram-Man, Fisto, Zodac, etc. - is up to the filmmakers, but whatever the case, we hope to see the vast supporting cast put to better use.

Fearsome Villains

Perhaps the only thing the 1987 movie did right was casting Frank Langella as Skeletor. In both the original animated series and The New Adventures of He-Man, Skeletor was little more than a bumbling antagonist. He'd hatch a plan, and He-Man would foil it, call him “Bone-brain” or something similarly cheesy, and send him packing until the following Saturday. For a guy with dark magic powers and a skull for a face, Skeletor was about as far from scary as possible.

Conversely, Langella's Skeletor was actually fairly creepy and menacing. He had something of an Emperor Palpatine quality to him, which is one case where the Star Wars similarities paid off. Those are qualities we need to see from the villain in this new movie. We're tempted to say that Langella should reprise his role, if only so he can fulfill the promise he made in the post-credits scene, but that's probably not going to happen. Still, we want a version of Skeletor that inspires fear and dread, not laughter. We want a villain who offers a convincing threat to a guy who can shatter mountains with his fists. No matter how silly or serious the general tone of the movie, Skeletor himself should be dark and imposing.

Looking to the 2002 animated series for inspiration again, it may help the movie to build the ties between Skeletor and King Randor. Right off the bat, that series provided a full origin for Skeletor. He was revealed to be Keldor – a skilled fighter, sorcerer, and revolutionary who was driven insane after his face was scorched by acid. The original animated series also suggested that Keldor was Randor's brother. That plot twist could pave the way for a Hamlet-style showdown between family members. It also lends a more personal touch to the conflict beyond Skeletor's typical desire for power.

Any attempt to explore Skeletor's origin should also lay the groundwork for his onetime mentor and master – Hordak. Hordak's presence is best saved for a sequel, but there's no reason the first movie can't get the ball rolling. Another good choice for future villains is King Hiss and the Snake Men. This group of villains were recurring foes throughout the final season of the 2002 animated series. That series never had the chance to properly wrap up that conflict, so seeing a live-action He-Man film tackle the Snake Men would be a nice consolation prize.

To reiterate our main point, the He-Man franchise is an inherently goofy one. We think it's possible for He-Man to find the same sort of success in Hollywood that other '80s mainstays like Transformers and G.I. Joe have. But success isn't going to come by taking an overly dark and serious approach to the source material and ignoring the fun elements. He-Man offers a challenging blend of fantasy, science fiction, and adventure that's waiting for the proper director to do right by the franchise. We can only hope Jon Chu is that director.

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Konami Employee Wins Gold Medal at Olympics

Have you been watching the Olympics? Here’s something you might not know about the gold medal winner in men’s individual all-around gymnastics: he works for Konami. Uchimara is an employee of Konami Sports & Life Co., a subsidiary of Konami that aims at “providing you an enjoyable and valuable time within your daily life through health and fitness,” according to message from the program’s representative director.

A post on Konami’s official site explains that Uchimara is one of three Konami employees who competed in the Olympics representing Japan, joining Koji Yamamuro and Yusuke Tanaka in gymnastics and Takuro Fujii in swimming. “Konami Sports & Life Co., Ltd. would like to congratulate Uchimura on this great accomplishment, and extend appreciation to his many supporters and fans,” the blog post reads. “Konami will continue to aid in the further development and popularization of sports.”

You can watch Uchimara's performance at the Olympics below:

Konami, of course, is famous for developing Metal Gear Solid in addition to Castlevania, Dance Dance Revolution and many more. More recently, Konami has been exploring social gaming partnerships in addition to expanding the company through ventures like Konami Sports & Life. The publisher’s upcoming slate includes Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

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The Expendables 2 Videogame Review

When you and your bros go to watch The Expendables 2, the goofy Willis/Schwarzenegger/Van Damme trailers will have prepped you for what to expect: explosions, one-liners and cheese. When you go to play The Expendables 2 Videogame, the goofy title screen with its low-res text and lackluster animations will have prepped you for what to expect: explosions, a Stallone sound-a-like, and a four-player shooter that's just mediocre.

Through four chapters packing drop-in/drop-out online/offline co-op, The Expendables 2 casts you in the roles made famous by Sly Stallone, Jet Li, Terry Crews and Dolph Lundgren. Each character has a different armament (a pistol, SMG, shotgun and sniper rifle, respectively), and it's up to you to take them from Point A to Point B killing everything that moves (also known as enemies who are all dressed the same).

The Expendables 2 just doesn't click as a package.

It's your standard top-down arcade shooter. Rather than picking up power-ups, you pick up AKs and rocket launchers. There are collectable Expendables icons that fill in a meter and let you pull off Signature Kills, where the camera zooms in and shows your character impressively slitting a throat or blowing a dude away from pointblank range. Sometimes, you climb in a helicopter and shoot at ground troops via an onscreen reticle.

And then, you repeat this. Over and over again. If you're just looking to blow stuff up, it isn't a bad time; it just isn't an impressive time. The voice acting will make you chuckle (though Crews and Lundren lend their pipes), the story is non-existent, and the action turns to chaos in huge fights. Whereas Dead Nation and other top-down shooters put a laser sight on every weapon, The Expendables 2 doesn't. Stallone's shots just fly off into the distance; they're helped towards enemies in that direction, but picking off enemies on top of train cars and in elevated towers can be troublesome when you're on the ground.

However, that's really only an issue if you're playing on the Hardcore difficulty. Casual difficulty is nerfed to the point that I'd just run into the middle of enemy groups and start meleeing without a care in the world. On Hardcore, you're taken down quickly if you don't use cover, but taking cover feels weird in a run and gun arcade shooter.



The carrot on the end of the stick is that The Expendables 2 gets easier as you play. You kill stuff and earn XP that you can spend on upgrades for your weapons and attributes; but even these are basic and unsexy. If you want to throw an additional $3 into the game, you can max out all the characters before you even fire your first shot.

In-game, The Expendables 2 looks fine -- it's a bit barren when it comes to environments and textures -- but the general package and ambiance feels so cheap. All the fonts used for text in this game are jaggy, and the menu system has no flair. This is the most rudimentary looking game in terms of presentation I've played in my 5 and a half years at IGN.

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Thor 2 Goes to Iceland

With production for Thor: The Dark World ramping up in England, new reports suggest that the Norse gods of old may be paying a visit to one of their homelands: Iceland.

According to the Latino Review (via Svarthofdi), Thor 2 helmer Alan Taylor is no stranger to the island country; the director spent some time filming there during his stint on HBO's Game of Thrones. When asked about filming there for the fantasy series, Taylor said, "We feel amazing to travel to a world that looks like those we are trying to create. It gives us all inspiration."

Thor: The Dark World stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and Christopher Eccleston. The Marvel epic opens November 8, 2013.

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Even More Marvel NOW! Teasers

After teasing new Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Deadpool, and Captain America series for Marvel NOW!... Marvel's not done yet. Also unveiled today were teasers for what appear to be X-Men Legacy, Fantastic Four, and FF. See below:





Debuting at MTV Geek, it seems Simon Spurrier and Tan Eng Huat will be taking over a relaunched X-Men Legacy, while USA Today revealed that Matt Fraction will follow-up Jonathan Hickman on Fantastic Four and FF, joined by Mark Bagley and Mike Allred, respecitively. Not bad at all.

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The Symmetry of New Super Mario Bros. Wii

You'd think there'd be a difference. Mario's been doing this kind of thing for decades – running, jumping, saving the princess. You'd think he'd have some advantage, some noticeably better skillset than a pair of simple upstarts setting out on their first-ever adventure. But, no. Nintendo decided against that. Nintendo decided that, in 2009's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the world's most famous platforming hero would be able to be matched step for step, jump for jump by a couple of nameless, personality-less Toads.
From Mario's perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense. He should run faster. Jump higher. Something. But, from the designers' point of view, it must have been better to make all players created equal.

Realizing a Dream

When New Super Mario Bros. Wii was revealed three years ago and then shipped to stores in late 2009, it sparked a new revival for 2D side-scrolling platformers – but it was a focused one, not just a general revisit to the genre. 2006's first New Super Mario Bros. on the DS had already done that, so the Wii follow-up's larger contribution wasn't just pulling platformers back into the spotlight, but pulling platformers back into the spotlight with a new emphasis on simultaneous multiplayer play.

It was four-player Mario! A design dream that Shigeru Miyamoto had hoped to realize for decades, finally materialized in Nintendo's fifth console generation. At long last you could set out to rescue the kidnapped princess with friends alongside you, having Mario accompanied by his brother Luigi and the two new characters, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad.

Well, calling them new characters is being a bit generous. These two Toads were about as generic as could be, as Nintendo refused to give them any kind of storyline introduction or even their own names. They were simply there to serve as alternate-colored clones of the red- and green-clothed plumbers. Some fans cried foul at the time – why not use established characters like Wario and Waluigi, or the "normal" Toad, or even the Princess herself to fill those spots?

The answer was simple enough – because the designers wanted everyone to play the same.

Symmetry and Asymmetry

New Super Mario Bros. Wii was designed to offer a wholly symmetric multiplayer experience. You've heard the opposite term thrown around a lot recently. "Asymmetric" gameplay refers to games in which different players experience different things while playing at the same time, and it's a big focus for the upcoming Wii U and its new GamePad controller. "Symmetric" gameplay, then, would refer to games in which every player essentially experiences the same thing. Like New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Whether you're controlling Mario, or Luigi, or Blue or Yellow Toad, your abilities are no different than anyone else's. Everyone runs at the same speed, jumps to the same heights – it's a level playing field for all. And it works well, no doubt about it – New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a brilliantly fun multiplayer experience. It's a good time. Hopping and bopping around, picking up your buddies and tossing them into pits, "bubbling up" when you're about to die and begging your pals to come pop you out so you can keep going. Nintendo's designers picked a good direction for the game.

But it's not the only direction they could have chosen. In the wake of New Super Mario Bros. Wii's success, we got several more examples of ways that four-player simultaneous 2D side-scrolling could be handled with a bit of asymmetry tossed in. Ubisoft's Rayman Origins cloned the approach of pairing two established characters with two generic tag-alongs, but Rayman, Globox and the Teensies all had wildly different animations that made them feel more individual. Kirby's Return to Dream Land took things to the next level by giving each character a different skillset – Kirby could suck up and copy enemy powers as normal, but Meta Knight, Waddle Dee and King Dedede had wholly their own identities wielding a sword, a spear and a giant mallet, respectively.

And Donkey Kong Country Returns, while only two-player, nevertheless made Donkey and Diddy distinct from one another – which enhanced the teamwork element of playing that game with a friend, as you both had your own unique roles to play.

Going Forward

So the question becomes, is there room for a little more asymmetry in the New Super Mario Bros. series, going forward? The upcoming New Super Mario Bros. U will explore one extreme with its "Boost Mode," which will give one player the power to insert blocks into the environment through the GamePad's touch screen while the others run and jump along as normal. Rayman Origins' sequel, Rayman Legends, will similarly invite an extra, fifth player to pick up the GamePad to control the environment-altering new character, Murphy.

But those may be examples of asymmetry taken a bit too far, at least for the crowd who cried foul about the two generic Toad Bros. in 2009 – because the initial expectation for many for a multiplayer Mario design wasn't a game where someone sat off to the side dropping extra bricks into the scene, or even for four players running and jumping around with the exact same skill set. The expectation was more in line with what Kirby's Return to Dream Land delivered – a game in which established individual Mario characters used their established individual skills to each contribute something different to the action.

So you'd have Wario as an option, bulkier and more powerful than the others and unleashing his trademark shoulder-forward bull rushes from his Wario Land series. You'd have Princess Peach, floating through the air with her hovering long jumps, maybe even wielding Parry the Parasol from her standalone platformer Super Princess Peach. Maybe you'd even have Bowser stomping along and breathing fire in playable form, as he has been a time or two in the Mario role-playing games.

The opportunity is there – and, in fact, the template for how it would work was laid down around 25 years ago, way back in Super Mario Bros. 2. Even without letting the villains get into the mix, you've got an established framework for how to make the heroes feel different right there – Mario is the average everyman. Luigi jumps higher than anyone else, kicking his legs wildly in the air. Princess Peach has those floaty long jumps and Toad ("the" Toad) is stronger than the rest. So perhaps it's time for a new Super Mario Bros. 2? (Not to be confused with New Super Mario Bros. 2.)

In Conclusion

The possibilities are there. The template is there. It's just up in the air whether or not Nintendo would ever choose to take New Super Mario Bros. in an asymmetric direction, after setting the definitive symmetric standard three years ago. New Super Mario Bros. Wii was great, and no doubt this year's two new sequels in the series will prove themselves to be solid entries in the franchise as well. But there's an opportunity for Nintendo's designers to refresh this franchise further some time in the future – if they follow the example of games like Kirby's Return to Dream Land and even the old Super Mario Bros. 2, and if they can actually embrace the established diversity of the Mushroom Kingdom's many diverse characters, instead of just tossing us more generic, nameless Toads.

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MANOS - The Hands of Fate Review

What is it?

Manos: The Hands of Fate is an iOS platformer based off the cult-classic 1966 film of the same name. The movie was made most famous by a Mystery Science Theater 3000 mocking and is commonly thrown around in late-night film school conversations as perhaps the worst film of all time. The title borrows nostalgically from the NES era in both gameplay design and style, playing much like an oldschool Castlevania game, with the familiar film characters (and the occasional MST3K nod) thrown in for good measure.

Did we like it?

Fans revel in the schlock that makes Manos an enjoyable movie-watching experience. But sadly, that same philosophy carried over to gameplay isn’t quite as entertaining. The retro feel, audio (including truly great sounds and songs, adapted from the soundtrack) and design are all spot-on and hilarious. But the fun starts to dwindle when the whole experience is marred by bugs, poor hit detection and tough controls.

Device notifications will frequently cause the rest of your gameplay session to chug through at half speed (until death), and you’ll frequently take damage from sure misses (the second boss in particular is a hideous culprit) But it’s the game’s controls that truly drag it down. The actual controls are excellent. Your character navigates brilliantly when you’re successfully hitting the buttons. But the virtual control mappings seem too small. You’ll likely make difficult planned jumps with impressive ease, but in moments of panic you’ll be left frustrated and missing your mark. Couple those issues with no continues and your annoyance might quickly become downright anger.

Should you buy it?

How many Manos: The Hands of Fate midnight showings have you seen? At $1.99 any cult classic aficionado is going to want to throw down against Torgo. Everyone but the diehards are probably going to let the NES-style difficulty, bugs and frustrating controls keep them from getting their money’s worth.


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All-Star Cast Revealed for Dishonored

The voice cast for Dishonored has been revealed, and it's quite impressive to say the least.
Academy award-winner Susan Sarandon, appearing for the first time in a video game, plays Granny Rags – a former aristocrat, she's been driven mad from years living on the streets of Dunwall. Chloë Grace Moretz ( Kick Ass's Hit Girl) voices Young Lady Emily, the daughter of the Empress who is kidnapped after her mother's death.

Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Brad Dourif (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), and John Slattery (Mad Men) also lend their vocal talents to Arkane Studio's first-person action game featuring a supernatural assassin driven by revenge.

And if that wasn't enough, it even stars Princess Leia. Well, Carrie Fisher will be heard throughout the city of Dunwall, broadcasting government propaganda on a speaker system.

“Having such talented actors voice Dishonored's compelling cast of characters adds a rich, powerful element to the game,” said Raphaël Colantonio, president of Arkane Studios. “We want to draw people into this virtual world and make it feel real. This celebrated cast adds wonderful depth and credibility to the overall Dishonored gameplay experience."

Dishonored is set for release in North American on October 9, 2012 and in Europe on October 12, 2012 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

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Codemasters Teases Grid 2

A new trailer has strongly hinted that Grid 2 is on its way. And the trailer's website – www.theracereturns.com – promises that more information will arrive on August 8th.

The trailer keeps things pretty cryptic, with shots a car, a set of spinning wheels, and lots of smoke, before revealing a logo bearing the number 2. But all signs point towards a sequel to Grid, Codemasters' 2008 reboot of the TOCA series. Since 2008, the racing-focused publisher has released two installments of its popular Dirt franchise. Is Grid 2 just around the bend?

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Robert Bowling Talks Human Element and Ouya

Ex-Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling has spoken to Eurogamer about his next project, Human Element.

It will be the first project developed by his new studio Robotoki, and is slated for release on next-gen consoles sometime in 2015. But over the next few years, Bowling plans to release a series of episodic prequels exclusively on Ouya.

Human Element is a first-person game set in a zombie apocalypse. The Ouya prequels, however, will be set 35 years before the next-gen title and will tell the story of how the world came to an brain-eating end.
Bowling said the console's open platform "allows us the flexibility and the freedom creatively to use it as a testbed for all these rapidly prototyped mechanic and gameplay experiences that maybe are too costly and risky to dedicate a full priority list to on another platform."

The prequels will offer a range of different experiences and a variety of gameplay mechanics. "With each episode I really want to focus the scope around either a specific mechanic or an experience that we're trying to deliver," said Bowling.

"Say episode one could be focused on the fortification aspect of survival; finding your location, finding supplies, building fortifications to secure it, building alarm systems within it so you know when it's breached... nailing what makes that fun and exciting and thrilling in a survival scenario. And then once we do that in episode one, episode two could be completely different.

"Episode two could be focused on going out in this world, dealing with that human element much more. Dealing with other survivors, dealing with the moral choices you need to make when you come across scenarios, knowing that you could always fall back to that safe haven you built in the first episode."


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New Super Mario Bros 2 Review

You know that fizzy feeling you get in your brain when you play a great Mario game? Where it feels a bit like it did the first time you ever played one, even though you’re so intimately familiar with it? New Super Mario Bros 2 gives you 80-odd levels of perfectly-pitched side-scrolling platforming with a smattering of new features, but it doesn’t give you that feeling. It’s a surprisingly conservative entry in this continually inventive franchise, and though it’s a masterclass in level design and eternally satisfying to play, it doesn’t move the series forward. When it’s as good as it was to begin with, though, it’s hard to find much else to complain about.

New Super Mario Bros 2 stars the Koopalings (Bowser’s long-neglected junior minions) as villains, who crop up in predictable but nonetheless entertaining boss fights at the end of each of the game’s worlds. Coin-collecting is the ancient video game principle at the heart of the game. Those shiny little discs of gold metal are everywhere, erupting in shimmering cascades from pipes and trailing in the wake of Cheep Cheeps underwater. The new power-ups mostly revolve around turning everything into gold; a golden Flower transforms Mario into a tubby little Midas, transmuting everything around him into coins, and coin blocks can be worn on Mario’s head, leaving a trail of twinkling currency as he runs and jumps.

Golden rings, meanwhile, temporarily gild every enemy in the level, giving you greater rewards for bopping them on the head and causing Koopa shells to spew coins in their spinning path. The game keeps track of your cumulative coin total, displaying it right in your face on the world map and popping up with little congratulatory messages when you reach a new milestone. Something happens when you reach one million, we’re told, but it’ll be a while before anyone finds out what.

There are plenty of old power-ups too, of course, like the Fire Flower, Starman and the Super Leaf, which turns Mario into Raccoon Mario (though the resultant powers of flight are tragically under-used for the majority of the game). The Mega and Mini Mushrooms from the original New Super Mario Bros turn up as well, but only once or twice over the course of the entire game, making them feel a lot less gimmicky than they did before.

Unlike Super Mario 3D Land, it doesn’t feel built for the console

New Super Mario Bros 2’s primary-coloured, whimsical graphical style is as endearing as ever – the Koopas even do a little dance when there’s a trill in the music. Weirdly, though, the 3D effect doesn’t work well at all. Turn the slider up and the detailed 2D backgrounds get blurrier and blurrier, which creates a depth of field effect but also smears all the lovely artwork. Unlike Super Mario 3D Land, it doesn’t feel built for the console – there are no levels with nifty 3D effects, and it’s difficult to find a reason to turn the slider up.

Mario is such a joy to control that he sometimes feels like an extension of your thoughts. He has a perfect sense of weight to him, and the levels are exquisitely designed to take advantage of his acrobatic abilities. Each world has two castles to break up the normal flow, and some worlds have ghost houses that give Mario platforming a puzzley twist, with disappearing doors and mirrored rooms. There are a lot of secrets, too – some of the levels have second exits that lead you to a new place on the map (or a new world entirely), and you’ll constantly be scanning their perfect geometry for the inviting gaps in the scenery or slight anomalies that could point towards something hidden.

Difficulty-wise, New Super Mario Bros 2 is still a long way from the invigorating cruelty of the old 2D Marios, but you won’t be able to skip through the game without ever dying. If you fail a level more than a few times, the white Tanooki Suit – or the You Suck Tanooki Suit, as it’s more colloquially known – lets you run through the levels as an invincible white raccoon Mario, but that still won’t save you from death by deadly purple goop or falling into lava. The difficulty is offset by the sheer proliferation of coins, though – if you’re any good, you’ll have about 100 lives saved up by the time you’re halfway into the game.

The co-op multiplayer is fun, but inessential – on a small screen, the camera often has trouble keeping both of you in focus at once, and it doesn’t let you run off and explore separately. It feels like another missed opportunity, with no bespoke levels made for co-operative play. Where New Super Mario Bros Wii only really came alive when played with friends, the multiplayer here feels like an optional add-on.

Coin Rush Mode has a more competitive aspect, letting you challenge people via Streetpass to amass as many coins as you can without dying over three randomly selected levels – and under a time limit, too, as if that wasn’t enough pressure. This gives New Super Mario Bros 2 a little longevity, which is desperately needs; the single-player game barely lasts five hours on a first playthrough, though secret-searching and collecting star coins takes much longer.


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Doom 3 BFG Edition: More Horror-Action Than Horror-Survival

When it was first released in 2004, Doom 3 was terrifying. In part that was due to its dark corridors and seemingly endless amount of shock scares as demons spawned from the shadows. If you remember, Doom 3 was state-of-the-art back then, so much so that the remastered BFG Edition still looks really good. It was such an affecting game because, at the time, nothing else looked so authentic.

With the BFG Edition id Software has updated the base game, included the Resurrection of Evil expansion content as well as built in new levels, called The Lost Mission. The BFG Edition is also the first time Doom 3 will be available on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, so if you had a really sad PC in 2004 and never bothered with the original Xbox but pick this up, you'll no longer have to feel left out when your friends get into an argument about the Doom 3 flashlight mechanic.

Speaking of the Doom 3 flashlight mechanic, it's changing in the BFG Edition. Instead of forcing you to use either a flashlight or a gun, id lets you turn a flashlight on whenever you want. The flashlight has a limited charge so it can't stay on forever, but at least you don't need to put your weapon away to shine a light into the darkness. As id Software's Tim Willits recalls, the original flashlight mechanic was "not the best call." He said, "At the time [of its original launch], Doom 3 was pushing PCs to the max. We could not have had that dynamic light at the same time as all the weapon effects. But now we have lots of horsepower. But I've gotten some hate email about switching the flashlight. There have been some people that are pissed. It's kind of cool that care enough after so long to send me an email and say 'I can't believe you're screwing it up.'"

The new missions take place in Hell, where you shoot rockets and plasma pulses at screaming, charging demons as they attack wave after wave and you circle-strafe and hunt down health packs and armor to survive. It feels appropriately Doom-like, but even if you are very familiar with Doom 3, there'll still be some noticeable changes throughout.

"The whole world's a little bit brighter," said Willits. "We upped the player speed, upped the ammo counts, and just by doing those small things have pushed it more towards horror-action instead of horror-survival. One of the big criticisms [of the original] was that people spent way too much time hunting for ammo and not enough time shooting demons, which is what it's all about."

In 3D running on a PlayStation 3, Doom 3 looks surprisingly pretty and runs very smoothly. The 3D effects enhance the fights at times, particularly when you're in larger combat spaces and imps are throwing fireballs and you're returning rocket fire, giving the scene a noticeable sense of depth.

The BFG Edition will also include Doom 1 and 2, so if this is a series that you've somehow completely missed out on so far, the BFG Edition seems like the best way to catch up. It'll be available on October 16.
Id Software still will not comment on what's happening with Doom 4.

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Louie: "Barney/Never" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
Wow, I loved this episode.
There was no real connective tissue at all this week to the two stories told – not even any Louie standup to touch upon anything happening. And there didn’t need to be, considering the two expertly told stories we got.
Little touches can mean so much and I found it fascinating that the Louie on this series and the Robin Williams (as himself) on this series had never met. Was that true in real life? Was Louis C.K. asking Williams to appear on his show their first real encounter? Either way, the two of them played off each other wonderfully, bonding over their shared mixed feelings about the death of Barney, a man Louie called “the biggest piece of S*t I ever knew.”

There was a lot of Louie’s very "real" vibe here, as Louie and Robin shared laughs about this horrible guy, but also admitted they both hated the thought of no one going to this man’s funeral – hence, here they both were.
All of which was an absolutely beautiful setup to the hysterical payoff of all those strippers just losing it crying when they heard Barney was dead. The use of “Sister Christian” over all the shots of the crying strippers was just an amazing comic moment, added to as we saw that everyone in that club, from the DJ to other patrons, was saddened by losing this man who clearly was a beloved figure at Sweet Charity.

The moment where Robin and Louie say goodbye to each other, but only after vowing to be at each other’s funerals, was also wonderful – both funny yet also with a tinge of darkness, as these two men seemed to be implying that they both had fears that no one they knew well would want to come to their funerals.
Honestly, the episode could have ended right there, after just those few minutes, and I would have been satisfied. But then we got “Never.”

This was one of the most out there and odd stories this show has told. It felt more purposely “unrealistic” than most Louie stories, from the moment that woman said she was having her vagina removed. But that didn’t make it any less compelling, fascinating or funny. 

How amazing was it when Never pushed that baby carriage into traffic? Louie is such a small scale (and low budget) show that it always makes even more of an impact when something like that happens. The cars all slamming together, including a truck filled with unspecific hazardous materials, was amazing – only outdone by the homeless man’s head coming off in terms of out of nowhere and amazingly funny “action” in this show's history. 

The oddness of Never kept growing. His insane diet ("You want me to give you raw meat in a bowl?"), his request that Louie give him a bath, the way he threw that rug out the window... And Louis C.K. perfectly portrayed the mega slow burn going on, as he kept his cool, despite things getting worse and worse. Poor Lilly on the other hand is probably traumatized now. I can see why she didn’t want a play date with this kid. He diarrhea'd in the tub! 

All this, plus a spot-on parody of annoying afternoon radio (Yes, Parks and Recreation already did this, but damn it, it was still great here) and a J.B. Smoove closing credits cameo! This episode had it all…

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Rise of the Triad Doesn’t Make Any Sense

It’s been almost two decades since Apogee’s Rise of the Triad was first released. That reaches all the way back to when nonsense ruled the first-person shooting genre, when few attempts were made to develop characters and layer themes. You loaded in, picked up a floating gun and killed absolutely everything you saw. Things bled, exploded, died, you moved on and ten seconds or less later you repeated, shooting and circle strafing until the credits.

With the reboot, Interceptor Entertainment is hoping to keep much of the original’s nonsense intact. You’ll pick up floating weapon icons that bob and rotate in place in stages. Your MP40 will have infinite ammunition and you’ll need it to cut down swarms of fast-moving enemies. You’ll use a weapon called the Excalibat – a baseball bat with a magical eye set in its center that as a secondary fire will launch a wave of explosive baseballs.



When shot enemies will be cut to pieces. Their hands and legs will snap and flip off their bodies and their heads will roll away like gruesome bowling balls. Your character will unload one-liners because dismembering an enemy wasn’t quite satisfying enough. You’ll rocket jump, uncover secret rooms, catch enemies in environmental traps and put together kill chains to drive up a score to post on leaderboards.

The game will feature a single player mode where you infiltrate an island overrun with cultists trying to destroy Los Angeles. To stop them you’ll use a drunk missile launcher to fire clusters of unpredictable spinning explosives, use a flame wall gun to ignite enemies and watch as they flail around before exploding, and pick up other strange tools of destruction. Infiltrator is still working out how all the alternate fire modes might function, but the examples given so far have especially interesting implications for multiplayer. For instance, the Split Missile launcher will fire out missile in different directions, and the alternate fire might cause them to converge on the same point and collide, which could be useful for splattering a player hiding behind a pillar.

While shooting at others online, expect the type of experience that emphasizes control of fixed weapon spawn points. Particularly powerful weapons may also be set on top of traps, so if you wait for someone to walk into the room to try and scoop up a coveted weapon, you might be able to drop the floor and watch as they’re skewered in a spike pit, or crush them under bricks, or burn them with jets of fire.



Built with Unreal Engine 3, this version of Rise of the Triad looks great so far, the perfect kind of experience for someone who just wants to sprint and shoot and not have to think about much beyond where the next enemy might attack from. Though it’s only scheduled to launch on PC, Interceptor is open to creating a console version as well if there’s interest. The only sticking point could be the user sharing features. Rise of the Tried will be completely moddable when it’s released. Interceptor is very enthusiastic about giving users the ability to generate and share content and isn’t very interested in putting together a version that doesn’t allow for that.

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Let's See Those New Assassin's Creed 3 Kills Again

By our count, Connor kills about 15 dudes in the new Assassin's Creed 3 trailer.

First he gets this guy with his hook rope thingy.

Then he chops this guy.

He uses this guy as a human shield, Total Recall style (old Total Recall, not new lame Total Recall).

He sprays this guy's blood on the snow.

He stabs this guy with his buddy's bayonet.

These guys get it on the docks.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!

He slow motion jumps on this dude who's just standing there.

Two guys get it here.

He breaks this guy's neck.

And then he jumps out of the sun to kill this guy.

Daemon is a Senior Editor at IGN. It took him all afternoon to figure out how to make animated GIFs. You can follow him on Twitter.

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Sleeping Dogs Items Come to Team Fortress 2

Valve has announced a Sleeping Dogs crossover for Team Fortress 2. Players who pre-purchase Sleeping Dogs on Steam before August 14th will receive eight new items for free. A new King of the Hill map called Kong King is also listed as “coming soon.”

The Sleeping Dogs items include new weapons and clothing, as well as a “Red-Tape Recorder” that reverses enemy construction. A full list of the Sleeping Dogs items is available at the official Team Fortress site.

Sleeping Dogs will hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on August 14th. This marks the game’s second crossover, following < http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/25/sleeping-dogs-offers-bonus-to-just-cause-2-players target=_blank>a special bonus for Just Cause 2 playersannounced last week.

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Diablo III, Skylanders Push Activision Earnings Past Expectations

In its second quarter 2012 earnings call today, Activision Blizzard reported that sales of Diablo III and Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure put revenue even higher than the company was expecting. Diablo III in particular has been purchased more than 10 million times, while Skylanders sales continue to soar. CEO Bobby Kotick noted that, including toys, Skylanders was the best-selling game of the first half of 2012 and its toys have also outsold the best-selling action figure line in the United States and Europe. “Our performance was driven by strong audience demand for our great games,” Kotick said.

Activision Blizzard earned $1.05 billion overall, with $343 million (32%) coming from digital channels. Despite the successful quarter overall, World of Warcraft continued to lose subscribers, shedding more than one million (but remaining the number one subscription MMO). Meanwhile, Activision reported that a la carte Call of Duty downloadable content sales are down, though Call of Duty Elite continues to thrive with 12 million users overall, 2.3 million of which have purchased a Premium account. Earlier today, Activision also announced the final pieces of Modern Warfare 3 downloadable content.

Kotick also commented on parent company Vivendi’s potential sale of Activision Blizzard for the first time, saying “While we're unable to comment on Vivendi's behalf, we continue to remain focused on strong execution, the delivery of great games and the provision of superior shareholder returns as we have for over 20 years. Our strategy has served us very well in the past and will position us very well for the future.”
Looking forward, Activision Blizzard will launch World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria on September 25th, Skylanders Giants in October and Call of Duty: Black Ops II on November 13th. Beyond that, Blizzard continues to develop Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Blizzard All-Stars (formerly Blizzard DOTA), and “an all-new MMORPG in the future,” which we last heard referred to as Titan.

Activision Blizzard expects to make $4.3 billion for this fiscal year, up $1 million from initial projections, but Kotick noted that “the next few years are going to be challenging.” He added that “when you look at the things that have an influence on the consumption of entertainment, unemployment data is very concerning, and when you look at what’s happening in Europe there are a lot of challenges that are going to continue to affect the microeconomic outlook. I think we are at the late end of the cycle, and the late end of a console cycle is always going to have its share of difficulties.”

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A Virus Named Tom Review

With a title like A Virus Named Tom, you’d be right to wonder just what kind of game you’re getting yourself into here – but don’t fret. Apart from being perfectly safe to install, A Virus Named Tom presents plenty of entertaining and silly backstory to keep things interesting. Moreover, its clever take on puzzle gameplay is likely something you’ve never encountered; a bizarre, yet compelling hybrid of Pac-Man and a sort of rotational connect-the-dots exercise.

Confused? Okay, here’s how it works: you play as the titular virus set loose in the engineering database of a large corporation with the mission of infecting their devices and causing them to malfunction. You do this not because you’re evil, but because the mad scientist who invented you is seeking revenge after being recently fired for his increasingly insane inventions. Your goal is to connect a series of interlocking pieces to one or more hubs by rotating them to form an unbroken chain. At first this is ludicrously easy, and you’re essentially only battling the clock to get a higher score or finish before time runs out and you lose. But things get increasingly difficult as the corporation discovers you and implements a series of more and more stubborn challenges to impede your quest.

Eventually, these challenges will come in the form of active subroutines (that manifest themselves as spider-like creatures), which patrol a region of the map you’re playing on and kill you by touching you. As you go on, the spiders get tougher, faster, and smarter, becoming increasingly problematic. You'll also constantly encounter different defensive subroutines: encryption, for example, that makes it impossible to see the shapes of pieces until you connect them to a hub, or self-contained virus that must be destroyed using timed "glitch bombs" in order to complete a map. Indeed, the learning curve in A Virus Named Tom ramps up rather quickly, and by the final levels, casual players will be tearing their hair out in frustration. Still, you’ll come to learn that, while A Virus Named Tom does allow you to complete maps in a variety of ways, it also clearly wants you to see the gimmick or “perfect route” through a map in the minimum number of moves, like a puzzle game would. This double challenge helps add replay value to a game that would otherwise be a one-and-done affair.

If the gameplay proves to be too much of a challenge, though, A Virus Named Tom allows you to rope in up to three buddies, locally, to co-op through the story with you. The game really comes into its own here, as the challenge level feels like Goldilocks’ proverbial porridge tasted: just right. Friends can divide labor: one can distract/destroy the spiders while the other rotates and reveals pieces, for example. Or, they can divide maps into segments and handle a local area themselves – something the game will often force them to do, anyway, with force fields. Either way, communication, timing, and most of all, a solid plan will serve you well. It's disappointing, of course, that you can't find partners to play with online, but in a game that requires intricate co-operation and co-ordination, it might be better to avoid random jokers from the internet, anyway.

Regardless, co-op in A Virus Named Tom is a blast, but if you get tired of making nice, you can always play the game’s versus battle. Essentially this game mode is a combination of Bomberman and the Chinese board game Go, with the objective being to draw a border around territory, lock it down, and blow up your opponents using “glitch bombs.” The only way to unlock locked territory is to hit someone with a glitch bomb (which expands outward along grid lines when it explodes), so a lot of versus mode become about trying to force people into fairly obvious traps without much in the way of tricks up your sleeve. As a result, the versus mode, completely lacking the puzzle element of the campaign, isn’t nearly as much fun as co-op or single-player.


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GaymerCon: The First LGBT Gaming Convention

GaymerCon, the first convention focused on LGBT geek culture, will debut on August 3rd, 2013. The event will take place in San Francisco, CA, and will celebrate under-represented groups in the gaming realm while also illuminating the presence of alternative sexualities both inside and outside the digital space.

"The goal of GaymerCon is to create a space where geek identified LGBT people can come together and build community," says GaymerCon Director of PR Benjamin Williams. GaymerCon Director Matt Conn also comments: "Historically, there has been very little content with LGBT themes or options in video games and other geek media. We hope to show the world that this audience not only exists, but is flourishing."

The organizers of GaymerCon are currently seeking funding through a Kickstarter campaign. The current goal, $25,000, will help the organizers secure a venue in San Francisco as well as produce more programming for the convention. At the time this article was written, an impressive $8,695 has already been raised with a full 29 days remaining.

Gamers interested in attending GaymerCon can contribute $30 to the Kickstarter campaign to reserve a two-day pass to the event, which will save attendees 5 to 10 dollars off the presale/door price. And according to the campaign home page, the organizers will "...turn you into a robot or something" with a $700 pledge!


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Hawkeye #2 Preview

It looks like we're not the only ones that loved Hawkeye #1 from Matt Fraction and David Aja. Not only did it make me care about Clint Barton the man, it also introduced Pizza Dog and Landlord Bro, both of whom now have their very own Twitter accounts. But in all seriousness, Hawkeye #1 was a beautifully rendered and engaging comic that was able to be more than just another superhero book.
Take a look at this gorgeous unlettered preview of issue #2, on sale September 5, and you'll see what I mean.

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Bethesda “Not Yet Satisfied with Dawnguard’s Performance on the PS3”

The saga concerning The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PlayStation 3 continues unabated. The chatter has recently revolved around PS3 gamers not getting a patch other platforms already received, as well as a Bethesda executive noting that Dawnguard DLC wasn’t even announced for platforms other than Xbox 360. But then news broke that PS3 gamers may indeed receive the Dawnguard DLC after all.

Today, Bethesda has confirmed that Dawnguard is up and running on PlayStation 3, but there’s a catch: it’s not running well. Posting on its official blog, Bethesda notes that it’s “not yet satisfied with Dawnguard’s performance on the PS3. We would like for everyone to have a chance to play Dawnguard, but we aren’t going to release it for PS3 knowing that some people’s experience in Skyrim will be worse. We do everything we can to have our content available to all; from our free updates, to user mods, to paid DLC. We’re as disappointed as our fans when that isn’t the case, but we’ll continue to push for that reality.”

The post doesn’t technically confirm that Dawnguard will actually be released for PlayStation 3; in fact, the wording can be interpreted that it may never come out. However, we’ve reached out to Bethesda for official comment and clarification.

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Diablo III Has More than 10 Million Players

In its second quarter earnings report today, Activision Blizzard confirmed that as of July, more than 10 million people have played Diablo III. This is up four million from the figures announced after the game’s launch and supports the game’s continued success at retail.

According to an Activision Blizzard earnings call that followed, the company said that Diablo III is the best-selling PC game of the first half of 2012 and once again reiterated that changes are coming to the game in the future. Elsewhere in the earnings report, Activision Blizzard also revealed that World of Warcraft subscriptions are down by more than one million.

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Mass Effect 3: Leviathan DLC Announced, Wii U Launch Title

During its summer showcase today, EA officially announced Mass Effect 3’s Leviathan downloadable content. According to EA, the content allows players to “discover more about the origins of the Reapers as they race across the galaxy to unravel the mystery that surrounds the fabled Leviathan.” It'll pack new planets and characters, but you'll still play as Commander Shepard.

Leviathan was originally revealed by leaked files extracted from the Extended Cut endings. Later, the content was confirmed by voice actor Anthony Skordi (who plays Leviathan). BioWare also hinted at new Mass Effect 3 content during Comic-Con, showing a teaser that included a red Atlas Mech underwater.
Specific details about Leviathan haven’t been announced, but we know it follows the search for Leviathan, a rogue reaper who has indoctrinated a mining colony. Look for it this summer on 360, PS3 and PC.
It was also revealed that Mass Effect 3 will be a launch title for the Wii U and pack a digital motion comic (similar to the Mass Effect 2 one for PS3) that allows Wii U players to make choices and build their Shepard's history.

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Final Modern Warfare 3 DLC Plans Revealed

Activision has announced the final pieces of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s season of content.
On August 9th, the Chaos Pack will launch on Xbox 360, offering a brand new Special Ops Chaos Mode, three new Face Off maps and four new Special Ops missions. The Face Off maps include Vortex, U-Turn and Intersection (previously released for Elite subscribers on Xbox 360 in June and PlayStation 3 in July). The Special Ops missions include Vertigo, Arctic Recon, Light ‘Em Up and Special Delivery.

On September 6th, the Final Assault Pack will launch, adding five new multiplayer maps. The maps include Boardwalk, Gulch and Parish (which leaked out earlier this week) as well as Decommission and Offshore, which hit Xbox 360 in July.

As always, the packs are arriving first on Xbox 360. Each pack will be available for $14.99 (1,200 Microsoft Points), but the content will arrive first to Premium Elite members for free. This will mark the end of Modern Warfare 3’s content season, which includes 29 separate pieces of content overall.

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Rise of the Triad Returns

Apogee Software and Interceptor Entertainment are bringing back a long-dormant shooter with Rise of the Triad. The original was released way back in 1995, and involved fast shooting, bizarre weapons and, at least for the time, surprising amounts of gore.

This updated version is being built using Unreal Engine 3 and will feature a 20 stage single-player campaign as well as a multiplayer mode. Like in the original, you'll still be able to fire Drunk Missiles and rejoice as enemies explode into bits, as this version will include a full dismemberment system. As one of five playable characters, you'll be able to check out Rise of the Triad later this year on Steam.



It seems like Apogee and Interceptor are taking advantage of Valve's platform by including the ability to build and share levels through Steamworks. If you don't care about building and sharing levels, you'll still get plenty of other ways to extend the play experience beyond the base content, as plenty of secret areas, collectibles and modes (such as God mode, Elasto Mode, Shrooms Mode and Dog mode) will be included.





Did this announcement just trigger a nostalgic rush? Or do you have no idea what Rise of the Triad is?


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Nikita Influenced The Dark Knight Rises

The look of The Dark Knight Rises' Catwoman was influenced more so by a classic foreign action film than by her comic book counterpart.

Clothes on Film interviewed TDKR costume designer Lindy Hemming who said, "Selina Kyle we decided was a kind of female version of Bruce Wayne, she is a cat burglar and an opportunist, so must, rather like James Bond, be able to ‘pass’ or be ‘hidden in plain sight’. My influences were La Femme Nikita, and Audrey Hepburn, with a medium dose of Thierry Mugler thrown in for theatricality. All her clothes were designed by me, and made by / in our workshops, including all her underwear which needed to be worn under the cat suit. Whatever event she decided to be at, she could invent a look that would work, from Maid at Wayne Manor, to Woman Going to a Funeral at the airport."



And for the film's climactic scene (SPOILER!) featuring Selina and Bruce at a European cafe, Hemming said the character's blue dress was a symbolic choice: "She is now, like Bruce Wayne, living in the ‘normal’ world, and should look like any other holidaymaker in Italy. To her (Anne Hathaway) and myself, that kind of blue signifies happiness and has good connotations. Wish we had seen more of it, but it’s a mysterious scene."



Hemming also said the "trickiest character to nail down was Marion [Cotillard] as Miranda Tate [aka Talia Al Ghul], who must not be given away during the course of the film, but who needed to look ethnic in some way that might relate her to Ra’s A Ghul by the end quarter of the story. Very Difficult."

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