Category: Gamespot

PlayStation VP Adam Boyes announced this week that he is leaving the company for a game development job. Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has spoken out to wish Boyes well.

“Best of luck in your new endeavors, my friend,” Spencer said. “Looking forward to seeing what you do with the next step in your career.”

Boyes replied, “Thanks Phil – should be a wild ride. Thanks for being a classy platform leader at Xbox!”

Boyes, who had worked at PlayStation for more than four years, will be returning to “the world of game development,” though he did not elaborate where he would be headed to next.

Prior to working at PlayStation, Boyes served as the director of production at Capcom USA, where he built up a production team. He worked at Capcom for three years, before parting with the company in early 2010. Boyes was also a member of the board of directors for Starbreeze Studios, developers of Payday 2, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and upcoming first-person shooter, Overkill’s The Walking Dead.

Adam Boyes appeared on stage at E3 2015 during PlayStation’s conference, where he famously presented the reveal of Final Fantasy VII Remake and theKickstarter project for Shenmue 3. Boyes has been a prominent face of PlayStation in the last few years even partnering up with Sony Computer Entertainment president Shuhei Yoshida to poke fun at a certain rival company. GameSpot interviewed Boyes at GDC earlier this year, in which he discussed the upcoming PlayStation VR.

Powered by WPeMatico

Fallout 4‘s next expansion, Vault-Tec Workshop, comes out later this month, but you won’t have to wait until release to see it in action.

Bethesda has announced that it will show off the content as part of a livestream scheduled for this coming Tuesday, July 12. The event will be broadcast on Twitch.

Vault-Tec Workshop is priced at $5. It allows players to create a “massive” vault and outfit it with a number of new items. Players can also conduct experiments on dwellers.

Here is the expansion’s official description:

“Build a brighter future underground with the all-new Vault-Tec Workshop. Create a massive vault and attract new dwellers using pre-war industrial kits complete with retro-nostalgic furniture, lighting, and art. And like every good Overseer, run Vault-Tec approved experiments on your dwellers to learn what makes an ideal citizen. Vault-Tec has given you the tools, the rest is up to you!”

Following Vault-Tec Workshop will be the substantial-sounding Nuka-World, which is definitely Fallout 4’s last expansion.

Powered by WPeMatico

[UPDATE] The blood packages have been removed from eBay. However, you can still buy them at developer Portalarium’s own Make a Difference store. As part of this, Portalarium will donate a percentage of the sale price to charity.

People have already purchased three of the reliquaries, shelling out as much as $8,000. At press time, there are only two more available.

It’s unclear why the blood was removed from eBay, but as Kotaku notes, it might have something to do with eBay’s “Human remains and body parts policy.” On the list of prohibited items is blood.

The original story is below.

Famous game developer Richard Garriott, who created the iconic Ultima series and also went to space, is now selling his own blood on eBay.

Garriott had his blood drawn during a livestream yesterday to promote his new RPG, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. If you’re up for it, skip to around 19 minutes to see it happen (via Kotaku UK).

Garriott then handed over his blood to artist Steve Burdniak, who built six reliquaries containing his blood, along with executive producer Starr “Darkstarr” Long’s. These are now on sale on eBay for $5,000 each.

“The Lord British Blood Reliquary is a beautiful and unique piece of art made of bakelite, copper, nails, glass, and mirrored glass that can be hung on your wall,” reads the item’s description.

Its dimensions are 4.75″ x 9″ x 1.” Here is what it looks like:

For $5,000, you get a lot more than blood. Also included is Episode 1 of the game itself, a number of digital items including a /bloodrain emote (see the full list here), as well as the opportunity to visit the Portalarium offices in Austin, Texas (travel costs not included).

Go to eBay to learn more about this.

Shroud of the Avatar was revealed in March 2013. Garriott and his team successfully funded the game on Kickstarter, while the developer continues to accept pledges on its website.

Powered by WPeMatico

Microsoft has confirmed that Halo 5‘s monthly expansion releases has ended. In the latest weekly update blog post, developer 343 Industries mentioned this, but also teased that “there’s still more on the way.”

“While you won’t be seeing updates every month moving forward, nor updates the size of the Warzone Firefight release, we’re happy to let you know that there’s still more on the way,” the developer said. “Things we have yet to talk about or discuss. Things that I have seen, and I think you will like. These and more are in the works, so in short, there is indeed more to come. Rest easy.”

There have been eight free Halo 5 expansions released to date, the last of which, Warzone Firefight, launched at the end of June. It was Halo 5’s biggest and most substantial free update ever, featuring things like the Warzone Firefight mode, new maps, and a lot more.

It was expected that Warzone Firefight would be Halo 5’s latest expansion, as 343 previously said the game’s free DLC campaign would wrap up in June 2016.

Given that Halo 5’s playerbase continues to grow, some nine months after release, it makes sense that 343 would continue to support the game with more content. We’ll bring you more information about the teased add-ons as it becomes available.

Also in the blog post, 343 said the team is “hard at work” on more updates to the Warzone Firefight mode. An update that fixed the “back button” scoreboard and post game carnage report sorting went out this week.

“As we speak, teams are looking at all of the data and feedback you’ve generated so far, and evaluating as they work towards future updates for the mode,” 343 said. “While we don’t have a final ETA just yet, you can rest assured that work is well underway, and that you’ll be hearing about more details soon. Oh, and fixes for Tidal lighting are being worked on, too.”

343 also shared some standout statistics from Warzone Firefight so far:

• Total Kills: 413,373,178
• Total Deaths: 93,339,237
• Average Lifetime: 104 seconds
• Total Power Weapon Kills [excluding vehicles]: 21,470,685

Additionally, 343 confirmed in the blog post that Halo 5’s free Forge tools for Windows 10 will not require Xbox Live Gold. The developer also shared a few more details on the Halo 5 content browser for Xbox One and PC, which has been in the making “for quite some time.”

“Like Forge itself, it’s been built from scratch to ensure that it is the most powerful it has ever been,” 343 said.

You can read the full blog post on Halo Waypoint.

Powered by WPeMatico

Each week we search and gather up the coolest comic book art you won’t see in actual comics. The reason you won’t is because professional artists often draw sketches for fun or commissions and post them on their websites, blogs, and Tumblrs. Some artists even arrange commissions through their sites so be sure to check them out. This is a way to see the artists working on one book draw characters from other comics or publishers.

Mike Henderson posted a couple new pieces on his Instagram this week. You can buy his original art here.

Ryan Stegman posted new daily sketches on his Tumblr. You can buy or pre-order sketches here.

Paolo Rivera posted the Wolverine vs. Hulk image he did for Sideshow Collectibles on his blog along with some process images.

Khary Randolph posted some commissions from Florida Supercon on his Instagram.

Patrick Zircher posted a couple sketches on his Twitter page.

Franco posted some recent paintings on his Instagram. You can buy his original art here.

Joel Gomez posted a couple new sketches on his Tumblr.

Gabriel Hardman posted the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sketch cover he did for the Hero Initiative on his Twitter. You can bid on it and others here.

Dustin Nguyen posted new sketches on his Instagram.

Mike McKone posted an Archie commission from Baltimore Comicon on his Twitter.

Jim Cheung posted new art on his Instagram this week.

Brett Booth posted a new sketch on his Twitter page.

Agnes Garbowska posted some recent commissions on her Tumblr.

Peter Nguyen posted some new sketches and art studies on his Tumblr.

Chris Giarrusso posted a Spidey pic on his Facebook, which you can buy here. He also posted more sketch cards on his website.

Denis Medri posted new sketches on his Deviant Art page.

Todd Nauck posted Nightcrawler and Arrowette sketches on his Tumblr.

Skottie Young posted new art on his Tumblr. You can buy his original art here.

That’s it for this week. Let us know which ones you dug. We’ll have more awesome art next time.

Powered by WPeMatico

The Secret Life of Pets is set to have a dominant opening weekend at the US box office. The talking animals movie is projected to make $95 million in its debut weekend, Variety reports.

Estimates say that the Illumination-produced animated movie, which is distributed by Universal Studios, will have a $35 million to $38 million opening day. It opens in 4,329 North American theaters.

It’s also expected to pass Finding Dory, which will take the second spot with about $18 million. Despite The Secret Life of Pets‘ strong performance, it won’t outpace Finding Dory‘s impressive animation opening weekend record of $136.2 million.

The Secret Life of Pets opens in North American theaters today, July 8. It stars the likes of comedian Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family), Kevin Hart (Central Intelligence), Jenny Slate (Zootropolis), and Ellie Kemper (21 Jump Street). It also features the voice of Finding Dory‘s Albert Brooks.

A trailer for The Secret Life of Pets was shown during this year’s Super Bowl. You can watch it here, along with the rest of the Super Bowl trailers and video game ads.

Powered by WPeMatico

The Assassin’s Creed movie producer Jean-Julien Baronnet is opening a new production company, Marla Studios, that’s devoted to adapting video games into movies. Baronnet left his five-year position as CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures in April.

Variety reports that Baronnet has already spoken to video game companies and is hoping to start development on Marla Studios’ first film by next year. Baronnet spoke to the site about what it takes to properly adapt video games to movies.

“Producing a video game adaptation is a special process that not only requires movie production know-how, but also a deep understanding of gamer values and the video game creative process,” he said. “The key is to have a close relationship with the game designers and to work with them on the key creative angles that will best cope with the game’s DNA. The key is to recognize the passion of gamers, given they spend hundreds of hours in that world. That makes it essential for the ‘universe’ of the game to be as accurate as possible.”

Saying that, Baronnet notes that it’s important that movies don’t play copycat to the video game’s story and characters. He added that there’s a “need for the stories in video game adaptations to have a universality to them.”

“Marla Studios will help the video game companies consecutively in three areas: determining, along with the video game companies, the artistic angle and the artistic package that will serve best the IP; negotiating with the Hollywood studios a contract that will give the game company a strong creative control and high pay back; and last, but not least, implementing a deep collaborative process with the key creative people at the video game company at each stage of production,” Baronnet said.

Baronnet believes there’s room for video game movies to turn into big franchises, as people “are starting to tire of superheroes, but still have a big appetite.” Despite his beliefs, this year’s Deadpool made $760.3 million globally, becoming the highest-earning R-rated movie ever. On top of that, Captain America: Civil War became the 25th movie ever to pass $1 billion at the box office. Civil War’s earnings pushed the Marvel Cinematic Universe past a total of $10 billion at the global box office.

Video game movies haven’t performed quite as well as their superhero counterparts. Warcraft pulled in a respectable $422.3 million worldwide, thanks in large part to its success in China–it beat out Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the Chinese box office. However, that’s the most money a video game movie has ever made at the box office.

Last year’s Hitman: Agent 47 only pulled in $13.1 million during its opening weekend, finishing its stint in theaters at $82.3 million–it’s also one of the worst-reviewed game films of all time. We’ll have to wait and see how Assassin’s Creed performs both financially and critically later this year. It opens in theaters on December 21.

In addition to the upcoming Assassin’s Creed, Baronnet worked on four other Ubisoft franchises including the Rabbids television show and the Tom Hardy-helmed Splinter Cell movie.

Powered by WPeMatico

Turtle Rock and 2K’s decision to turn Evolve into a free game appears to be a success, at least in terms of the number of people playing it. Its popularity has surged since its re-release, bringing it to heights not seen since it originally launched.

While still not in the Top 10, Steam’s list of its most popular games shows Evolve: Stage 2 as the No. 17 game today, July 8. The list is determined by peak player count; Evolve hit 25,167 earlier today. That’s a far cry from the top titles, like Dota 2 (906,072), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (615,231), and Team Fortress 2 (73,553), but it’s a more-than-respectable figure nonetheless.

In fact, that number puts it close to its all-time peak, which third-party tracking site Steam Charts has listed as 27,403. That came back in February 2015, the month the game was released. More strikingly, it’s a dramatic increase from where it’s been in recent months. Steam Charts has its peak player counts in the hundreds for much of this year, with January being the only month in 2016 where it topped 1,000 concurrent players prior to this week.

Evolve: Stage 2 is a free download, with all of its content available to be unlocked by simply playing the game. There is, as of yet, no way to spend money on anything in it. Turtle Rock considers this release to be a beta as it tests out a large number of changes.

Powered by WPeMatico

Rockstar’s celebrated open-world western, Red Dead Redemption, launched today on Xbox One through the console’s backwards compatibility program.

The game itself is on sale (it’s marked down to $7.50 for Xbox Live Gold members), and now it’s been revealed that some of its DLC packs are completely free.

As spotted by Slickdeals, the Liars and Cheats and Legends and Killers multiplayer packs are free. Liars and Cheats adds things like an Explosive Rifle and horse races, while Legends and Killers introduces nine new maps and the tomahawk weapon. Additionally, it adds a number of characters from Red Dead Revolver, including Red Harlow and Annie Stoakes.

Another multiplayer pack, Myths and Mavericks, is also free; this expansion adds nine new maps, as well as more characters from the single-player campaign.

On the single-player side, DLC such as the Hunting and Trading Pack, as well as the Outlaws to the End Co-Op Mission Pack is also free.

You can visit the Red Dead Redemption Xbox Store page to see all of the available content.

Developed by Rockstar San Diego, Red Dead Redemption was released in May 2010 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game received rave reviews, including a 9.5/10 from GameSpot.

Powered by WPeMatico