Three Nintendo-published GameCube games are reportedly in the pipeline. Unsurprisingly, they are some of the console’s best games: Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Eurogamer reports that the GameCube’s Animal Crossing is being tested, too.
That the Switch will play GameCube games through the VC is something of a big move, as the Wii U does not play games from that console. Additionally, it’s claimed that there will be an upgrade program where people who bought GameCube games via the VC on an older console can “upgrade” them to the new hardware for a small price.
Eurogamer also reports that Nintendo is looking to add support for the Wii U’s GameCube controller adapter, though the company is reportedly not committed to this yet.
The company has said not to expect any more news about the Switch until January 2017, when the company will reveal the console’s price, specs, and launch lineup at an event. The console goes on sale in March 2017.
Ocean’s Eight is the upcoming spinoff from the popular Ocean’s series, featuring an all-female criminal crew. It has now been reported that Homeland star Damian Lewis is set to play the movie’s villain.
According to The Wrap, Lewis is in “final negotiations” to portray the film’s main bad guy. Lewis is best known for his Golden Globe-winning part in the first two seasons of Homeland, as well as his ongoing role in Billions and the acclaimed war drama Band of Brothers.
Ocean’s Eight stars Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, and Sarah Paulson. It is directed by The Hunger Games‘ Gary Ross, and produced by Steven Soderbergh, who helmed the original Oceans trilogy. The film is slated to open on June 8, 2018.
Last month, Matt Damon, one of the stars of Soderbergh’s movies, confirmed that he will appear in the new film, presumably reprising his role as Linus Caldwell. “I’m doing a little bit in the movie,” he told ET. “The cast is phenomenal, and I’m excited to see what those women do with it. It’s going to be fun.”
Ocean’s Eleven earned $450 million worldwide in 2001. While the two sequels weren’t quite as successful, they all proved to be considerable box office hits, helping the franchise reach more than $1.1 billion at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo.
In a blog post today, Final Fantasy XV game director Hajime Tabata discussed at a high level some of the free updates coming to the RPG in the future. He said the “great reception” the game has received has allowed the developer to “expand [its] plans even further” in terms of post-launch support.
“We want you to enjoy Final Fantasy XV for a long time to come,” he said. “We have been listening to your ideas on how to make the game experience even better, and so in addition to the previously announced content, we’ll be providing free updates to the game throughout the coming year.”
Square Enix didn’t get into specifics, but said the plan is to “enrich certain aspects of the game.” There will also be “gameplay enhancements” for Chapter 13, as well as buffs to ring magic, among other things. Specifics about the free updates are coming at a later date.
After those updates come out, Square Enix will put its sights on Final Fantasy XV’s story and add more scenes and sequences.
“We’re hoping to delve deeper into the story, adding scenes that will give you new insight into character motivations, such as why Ravus walked the path he did,” he said. “We will need a little time with these, as they’ll need to be localized and voiced in other languages, but we’ll let you know the details once everything is set.”
Tabata went on to say that, in the “long term,” the idea is to make “certain key characters” beyond the main four playable. Square Enix is also considering adding customizable avatars.
“Other features we have in mind include letting you carry over stats from a previous playthrough, and adding items that introduce new playstyles, such as low-level runs and god mode,” Tabata said. “We’re also examining readability tweaks–increasing font size–for certain languages. On top of that, we’re looking at content you can enjoy in real-time, including new bosses with exclusive rewards and achievements, and limited-time hunts.”
All of these updates will be free. Beyond those, Square Enix will also offer paid expansion. As announced previously, these are (working titles):
FFXV Holiday Pack
FFXV Booster Pack
FFXV Episode Gladiolus
FFXV Episode Ignis
FFXV Episode Prompto
FFXV Expansion Pack: Comrades
That last expansion, Comrades, will introduce online co-op.
“While it’s safe to assume fans and outsiders will find some aspect of Final Fantasy XV disappointing–be it the shallow story or finnicky Astrals–it would be hard for anyone to deny that Final Fantasy XV is a fascinating game after giving it a chance,” reviewer Peter Brown said. “Where its characters fail to impress, Final Fantasy XV’s beautiful world and exciting challenges save the day.”
Last week’s Game Awards 2016 was a big success in terms of viewership. Officially announced figures for the show reveal that it racked up 3.8 million views online, up significantly from past years. In 2015, the show reached 2.3 million viewers, and a year before that, it had 1.9 million.
Show creator and organizer Geoff Keighley told Polygon that it was “encouraging” to see The Game Awards’ reach grow both in the US and abroad. “Our goal is to bring this show to as many gamers as possible, and this unique distribution approach continues to pay dividends. The interest and response to the show in China was especially exciting to see,” he said.
Keighley’s production company worked out a deal with Chinese internet giant Tencent (which owns League of Legends developer Riot Games and a portion of Epic Games) to stream the show in China. The country was hugely important to the overall viewership spike, accounting for almost 1 million viewers. According to a report, the number of gamers in China exceeds the US population.
The upcoming Marvel show The Inhumans has found its showrunner. The series will premiere next year, and will be led by Scott Buck, who is also performing the same role on the new Marvel Netflix show Iron Fist.
As reported by Variety, Buck will be executive producer and showrunner on The Inhumans. Buck has previously worked as a producer on the likes of Dexter, Six Feet Under, and Rome. Iron Fist, meanwhile, is part of Netflix’s roster of Marvel shows, and Buck has overseen all 13 episodes of the first season, which hits the streaming service in March next year.
The first season of The Inhumans will comprise of eight episodes, and the show premieres on ABC in September 2017. It is a co-production with IMAX, and the first two episodes will get a worldwide release in IMAX theaters. They will run for two weeks from Labor Day 2017 (September 4) in 1,000 theaters in 74 countries, before making their small-screen debut on ABC on September 26. The TV versions will include extra footage.
These opening episodes will be shot entirely with IMAX cameras, while some of the action scenes in the other six will also use the large-format technology. IMAX itself approached Marvel with the idea, and are financing the first two episodes.
An Inhumans movie was first announced in 2014, but no longer appears on Marvel’s schedule. The announcement was before Spider-Man: Homecoming and Ant-Man and The Wasp had been added to the studio’s lineup. In addition, the story of the genetically created superhero race has already been explored on TV in Agents of SHIELD.
The Inhumans were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in a 1965 issue of Fantastic Four. Led by hypersonically voiced Black Bolt, their first self-titled comic line ran from 1975 to 1977. They have subsequently appeared in a variety of limited and ongoing series over the past four decades.
To mark Sonic’s 25th anniversary, art house Cook & Becker are releasing this big art book collecting all kinds of concept and promotional images from the series’ history.
Just in time for the confluence of the Rogue One hype train and the holiday gift-giving season, several Star Wars LEGO sets are 20% off their usual prices on Amazon today.
In the real world, Joey Designs works as an architect. In Planet Coaster, though, he’s busy recreating some of the world’s biggest/best actual roller coasters for anyone who wants to use them in their park.
