According to FXX, this is the longest marathon in the history of television, surpassing the previous record of 552 back-to-back episodes in 2014, also for The Simpsons.
The 28th season of The Simpsons debuts this Sunday, September 25, at 8 PM ET. Comedian Amy Schumer voices Mr. Burns’ mother in the episode, which is titled “Monty Burns’ Fleeing Circus.”
The new season will also host the show’s first-ever hour-long episode, featuring Empire‘s Taraji Henson and comedian Keegan-Michael Key.
The version of zombie game Day Z for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has not been canceled, despite its developer not saying much about it lately.
Creative director Brian Hicks told Eurogamer recently, “No it’s not dead at all. It’s not dead at all.”
Explaining why we haven’t heard much about DayZ for consoles, Hicks said “99 percent” of developer Bohemia’s development resources are focused on the PC version. PC is the game’s “flagship” platform, he said.
“While there was a lot of push from Sony and Microsoft to get up on their stages and say, ‘Yes, we’re coming,’ our focus has been exclusively (I want to say exclusively because there’s about a one percent development resource trying to keep those platforms at a point at which, once we get to our beta and our bug fixing, we can start pushing forward on that) on the PC,” Hicks added. “We can’t really move DayZ over to these platforms, at least on a playable level for consumers, until the base engine, Enfusion, is complete. Or if not complete, feature-complete so to speak–the core tech is there.”
The report goes on to say that, considering this, development on DayZ’s console versions isn’t likely to begin in earnest until early 2017. Hicks also stated that DayZ would be a likely candidate for Microsoft’s Steam Early Access-like Game Preview program. The PS4 does not offer a similar program, which is part of the reason why dinosaur game Ark: Survival Evolved is not out yet on Sony’s console.
“Once we get to a point with the PC that we’re comfortable and we can start dedicating a little resources into catching up those [console] platforms then we’ll look at doing some announcements and talk about the Xbox Game Preview program, which is what I would imagine is the first place we’ll get to since Sony doesn’t have something similar,” Hicks said
But has DayZ’s time come and gone? Not according to Hicks. He shared that the game recently reached a peak of around 650,000 unique monthly users, with lower peaks standing at around 250,000 or 300,000.
Also in the interview, Hicks explains that, while DayZ creator Dean Hall is no longer actively working on the game (he left Bohemia in 2014 to start a new studio), he still provides informal feedback on the game. The full interview is a great read and touches on a number of other subjects; read it here.
DayZ launched in December 2013 as an Early Access game on Steam, which it still is, almost three years later. Despite being unfinished, the game has sold more than 3 million copies.
2K Games has released a new gameplay trailer for Mafia III, this one shining a light on main character Lincoln Clay’s explosive arsenal of weapons and other deadly items.
As discussed in a neat flashback sequence, Clay has access to a huge variety of weapons, including pistols, rifles, shotguns, and even rocket launchers. He can also outfit weapons with extended clips, precision sights for sniper rifles, hollow-point bullets, and silencers.
Overall, Clay is described in the video as a “precision instrument of death.” Also, his Vietnam squadmate said about Clay, “Fighting to him was like breathing.”
In addition to weapons, Clay can use explosives, molotov cocktails, and even C4. He’s also skilled with a knife, as the trailer so brutally demonstrates in a few sequences.
Transformers director Michael Bay is known for his love of big robots and even bigger explosions. But it seems that the filmmaker is also something of an animal lover, and he has given a role to Freya, an abandoned canine once named “the world’s loneliest dog,” in the upcoming Transformers: The Last Knight. Freya will be seen acting alongside Anthony Hopkins–check them in the video below:
As the clips reveals, Bay decided he would give Freya a role in the mega-budget blockbuster after reading about her in a British newspaper.
Transformers: The Last Knight hits theaters on June 23, 2017. Mark Wahlberg returns from 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction and will be joined by Josh Duhamel, Stanley Tucci, and John Goodman.
Star Wars: Uprising, a mobile game that bridges the gap between Return of the Jedi and The ForceAwakens, is closing down, just a year after it was released. Developer Kabam made the announcement in its forums, explaining that the game had a solid launch, but failed to sustain a big enough audience.
“Despite the best efforts of our team here at Kabam, unfortunately, Star Wars: Uprising will soon be decommissioned,” the studio said. “On November 17th, 2016, all Star Wars: Uprising servers will be shutting down permanently.”
Ahead of the server closure, Kabam stopped accepting payments for the game on September 22.
In a FAQ posted in the Kabam forums, the developer explained that its resources are better served supporting more popular games and making new ones. The developer also said that there will be no way to access player data after the shutdown, so it’s advised that you take screenshots or videos of your accomplishments now before it’s too late.
Uprising came out in September 2015 for iOS and Android devices. As you can see in the gameplay trailer above, it is an isometric action game that bears a resemblance to Blizzard’s Diablo series. Players can outfit their character with a variety of weapons, while real-time cooperative play is also included.
Ahead of Uprising’s server shutdown, it looks like the game has been removed from iTunes and Google Play, as it did not show up when GameSpot searched for it on both platforms. The game’s website remains operational, at least for now.
Star Wars Battlefront players will be doubly rewarded this weekend. EA has announced that it’s holding a Double XP event for the game this weekend, starting today (September 23) and running until Sunday, September 25.
According to the Star Wars Battlefront live events calendar, the Double XP event is being held to celebrate this week’s launch of the Death Star expansion. The add-on arrived on September 20 for people who own the season pass; it will be available for everyone else to buy on October 4.
Death Star is Battlefront’s third paid expansion, following Outer Rim and Bespin. The fourth and final one, Rogue One: Scarif, comes out this holiday; it is based on the upcoming movie.
Though Death Star is only out for season pass-owners right now, all Battlefront players benefited from the new patch that came out alongside it this week. It raised the level cap to 90, made a number of hero/villain changes, and fixed a lot of bugs. You can see the full patch notes here.
Do you plan to play Star Wars Battlefront this weekend to check out the Death Star content and/or make use of the Double XP event? Let us know in the comments below!
One successful action franchise isn’t enough for Tom Cruise. Alongside the Mission: Impossible movies, the star is also turning the Jack Reacher films into a series, with the second movie, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, hitting screens next month. Three new TV spots have been released–check the first out below and the others at the end of this story:
Cruise once again plays the super-tough ex-military cop Reacher, who deals with a web of corruption in the way he knows best–with lots of shooting and hitting. The film is directed by Edward Zwick, who previously worked with Cruise on 2003’s The Last Samurai, and also features Avengers star Cobie Smulders. It is based on the 18th of Lee Child’s bestselling novels, 2013’s Never Go Back. To date, there have been 20 Reacher novels.
Publisher FDG Entertainment tweeted the picture below, which appears to show the game running on Sony’s portable device. “Thank you all for voting to port Oceanhorn to PS Vita,” the company said.
Oceanhorn, the full name of which is Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas, is already available on PC and mobile devices. It was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 7. No further details are available for the PS Vita version, but we’ll bring you more information as it’s released.
The Oceanhorn series contains obvious references to Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda franchise, riffing on its art and gameplay mechanics. FDG Entertainment says the game is a “carefully crafted love letter” to classic action adventure titles, containing influences from not only Zelda, but also Final Fantasy and Seiken Densetsu (known as Mana in the west).
Oceanhorn and its sequel are developed by Finnish studio Cornfox & Bros.
Dead Rising 4 sees the franchise return to its roots in a way, as the game brings back elements from the first entry including main character Frank West and the Willamette setting itself. However, Frank West voice actor TJ Rotolo was not brought back for the new game and now Capcom has explained why.
As part of a fan Q&A this week, Dead Rising asset manager Trant Lee-Amies explained that Frank West has “evolved” since the last time fans saw him. “We wanted to work with someone to provide a more grizzled, older take on Frank at this stage–just don’t ask him about his age,” Lee-Amies said.
Dead Rising 4 takes place 16 years after the events of the first game. As such, Capcom decided to cast a new actor for the role that “reflected his age while still retaining the charm and humor that made him such a hit with fans.”
Capcom has not yet revealed who is voicing Frank West in Dead Rising 4, but Lee-Amies is excited for the opportunity to finally tell fans who it is.
“We think Frank’s new voice actor has done a phenomenal job, and we can’t wait to share more of him with you in the future,” Lee-Amies explained.
Lee-Amies went on to say that actors get replaced all the time in media and entertainment, pointing to the James Bond series as an example. “It’s no disrespect to history or previous actors–TJ has done a bang-up job,” Lee-Amies said. “It was a chance to with a new game to progress the franchise as best we can with a different vision just as we see new James Bonds over the years.
2K’s Mafia III is getting a mobile version, it has been announced. Mafia III: Rivals, as it’s called, will launch for iOS and Android devices on October 7, the same day that the console and PC edition comes out.
According to the announcement, Rivals is set in the same setting–New Orleans (called New Bordeaux in the game)–but is played from a “whole new perspective.” The game’s characters, locations, and events are based on those in developer Hangar 13’s Mafia III. But the mobile game is more of an RPG.
Here’s how it’s described in a press release:
“Begin your life of crime squaring off against rival gangs in battle RPG combat. Recruit and train 40 crime bosses from the Mafia III universe as they join your crew, and destroy any foes getting in the way. Outfit New Bordeaux’s newest hit squad with an assortment of deadly weaponry and other gear. Join up with friends and battle players worldwide to see who has the deadliest crew in New Bordeaux.”
