Original Boba Fett voice actor Jason Wingreen, whose numerous other credits include The Twilight Zone and All in the Family, died in his Los Angeles home on Christmas Day, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He was 95.
Wingreen also appeared in Archie Bunker’s Place and Seinfeld until his retirement in the 1990s. He also served in World War II.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wingreen auditioned for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, a role that ultimately went to Frank Oz. Boba Fett, a masked character who was physically performed by Jeremy Bulloch, had four lines of dialogue in that movie.
Wingreen was not credited for his work–and it wasn’t even widely known that he did Boba Fett’s voicework until around the year 2000. The site reports that it didn’t sit well with Wingreen that he didn’t receive residuals for his performance, especially so because it’s his voice that was used for some Boba Fett action figures.
YouTube’s EzPlays has published the next “Fallout 4 Fights” video and, like the others before it, it’s great. This one shows off an epic battle between 1,000 Deathclaw creatures and 100 Liberty Prime robots.
See for yourself how it all goes down in the video below (via Kotaku).
This isn’t the first mass-scale Fallout 4 battle video we’ve seen. Back in November, YouTube’s Tyrannicon supplied a video of 50 Synths and 50 Raiders mercilessly gunning each other down in the open-world role-playing game. Check it out here.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the last movie in the long-running zombie action series (at least for now), has been described by lead actress Milla Jovovich as “much more gritty and raw” than 2012’s Resident Evil: Retribution.
During a Twitter Q&A today, a fan asked what makes The Final Chapter special. Jovovich, who returns as Alice in the movie, said: “Its [sic] much more gritty and raw than the last one. The action is in your face and very realistic. No slow motion.”
She answered loads of questions as part of the Q&A. Below are some of topics she covered, while you can visit her Twitter page to see all of her replies.
The Final Chapter is set to be released in January 2017, and is once more directed by Paul WS Anderson, Jovovich’s husband. The previous Resident Evil film, 2012’s Retribution, grossed $240 million worldwide, and the series has to date made more than $915 million globally.
On Saying Goodbye:
@MillaJFanRe Its sad of course! I have lived with RE for almost 15 years, so its really hard to say good bye.
Star Wars Battlefront is apparently off to a red-hot start, with analysts recently claiming that the sci-fi shooter from developer DICE and Electronic Arts has sold 12-13 million copies.
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told Fortune that he believes the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC game sold 6 million copies in November and another 6 million in December. Assuming an average retail price of $55 (the game has been discounted since launch), Pachter said Battlefront generated around $660 million in revenue.
Another analyst, Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities, estimated that Battlefront sold as many as 13 million copies so far. He noted that the majority of these sales came before the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and also at a discount.
Note that the numbers from Pachter and Wilson are not official. While EA said Battlefront broke records at launch in November, the publisher has yet to provide any specific sales numbers for the game. If not sooner, those details may come during EA’s next earnings briefing later this year.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer is starting off the New Year by answering questions from fans on Twitter. In the past day, Spencer offered some insight on a number of subjects, including Microsoft’s games lineup for 2016, the future of Alan Wake, and whether or not the company’s streaming tech could hit Xbox 360.
Scroll down to see the subjects and tweets in question.
2016 Lineup and New IP:
@DigitalBiscuit Should be a very good. Shipping more new IP than we have in a long time. Good challenge to make new IP succeed.
Major League Gaming has sold “substantially all” of its assets to Activision Blizzard for the price of $46 million, effectively bringing about an end to the esports company as it was once known. That’s according to a report from esportsobserver.com, which says MLG called a special meeting on December 21 where the company’s board of directors authorized a sale to the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft company.
As part of this change, MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni has reportedly exited the company, replaced in that role by Greg Chisholm. He was previously the CFO of MLG. MLG co-founder Mike Sepso left the company earlier this year and now works as an executive for Activision’s newly formed esports division.
The sale was apparently done with less than 100 percent consent of MLG’s stockholders, pursuant to a certain code of law. But it’s supposedly not sitting well with everyone, according to the report. Head to esportsobserver to get all the details.
In October, a report claimed Yahoo was in “advanced” talks to buy MLG. A source familiar with the matter told GameSpot back then that reports about Yahoo buying MLG are “not true,” however, though they did confirm that MLG and Yahoo held some discussions. These talks are no longer progressing, the source said.
We’ve contacted MLG for comment in an attempt to get more details and will update this post with anything we hear back.
A 911 dispatcher in Florida has been reprimanded and demoted after an investigation found that the man was observed playing a handheld video game while on duty back in October.
Local news site WPBF reports that Palm Beach County, Florida communications training officer Charles Morris received a written reprimand this week for the incident on October 21. It was found that calls for service were delayed, apparently due to Morris’ gaming habits (via NeoGAF).
From the WBPF report:
“In one such instance, a hit-and-run incident in Lake Park was held for 40 minutes before being dispatched, the report said. Another call for service following a shooting was held for nine minutes before Morris dispatched a unit to respond.”
There is no word on what game(s) Morris was playing.
Authorities added that this is the third documented instance of Morris neglecting his job responsibilities between October 2014 and October 2015, though it’s unclear if video games were also involved.
The big Xbox holiday sale’s latest batch of deals are now available, with Xbox Live Gold members getting bigger discounts. Among the current deals for Gold members are Elite: Dangerous for $28, Alien Isolation for $7.50, Zombi for $13, Velocity 2X for $10, and Rise of the Tomb Raider for $40.
The fourth week of PSN’s holiday sale is now live, offering discounts for all PSN members (and even better prices for Plus subscribers). Highlights include Bloodborne for $28, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin for $15, Fallout 4 for $50, Tearaway Unfolded for $20, Roundabout for $4.50, and Nidhogg for $4.50.
The new Humble Bundle is the third Square Enix bundle, with more games having just been added. For as little as $1, you can get titles including The Last Remnant and Murdered: Soul Suspect. Beating the average adds in the first two Just Cause games, Final Fantasy XIV, and more, while paying at least $9 gets you everything, including Tomb Raider: Game of the Year Edition, Hitman Absolution: Elite Edition, and Lara Croft & The Temple of Osiris.
You can save 20 percent at Green Man Gaming using the voucher NWYEAR-20PERC-WTHGMG.
The fourth week of PSN’s holiday sale is live, offering discounts for all PSN members (and even better prices for Plus subscribers). Highlights include Resident Evil Revelations 2 for $15, Breach & Clear for $2.25, Mega Man Legends for $7, and Suikoden II for $2.50.
Amazon prices are accurate as of publishing, but can fluctuate occasionally throughout the day.
GameSpot’s gaming deals posts always highlight the best deals we can find regardless of retailer. We also occasionally use retailer affiliate links, which means that purchasing goods through those links helps support all the great content (including the deals posts) you find for free here on the site.
Final Fantasy XV will launch in 2016, game director Hajime Tabata confirmed today. This release timing was already strongly hinted at, but now it’s absolutely confirmed as part of a blog post.
“We will finally release FFXV this year, in 2016!” Tabata said. “In development, previous phases required wisdom and strength. However, moving forward the final phase will focus on effort and willpower.”
Here’s more from Tabata’s statement:
“I vow to you all that every member in the team will do their best to the very last possible moment taking responsibility and pride in their craft. We will do everything we can do to finish FFXV to create an experience we are incredibly proud of and one that you will enjoy and treasure.”
“The whole FFXV team appreciates all of the support from each and everyone one of you this past year. I cannot tell you how much it means to all of us.”
The next Active Time Report, where more news about Final Fantasy XV is expected to be divulged, is scheduled for later this month.
It’s been a long time coming for Final Fantasy XV. The game was originally announced years ago as Final Fantasy Versus XIII. It was later was re-named Final Fantasy XV and shifted from last-generation consoles to current platforms. The game’s main concept, world, and story were kept intact during the transition, though there have been some changes.
For lots more on Final Fantasy XV, be sure to read GameSpot’s in-depth interview with Tabata, which covers topics like the game’s extended development, meeting fan expectations, and lots more.
Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter mobile game has received a Halloween-themed makeover.
A new update to the iOS and Android game introduces a range of content themed around the spooky holiday, including cobwebs and skeletons in players’ vaults. In addition, you can dress up your inhabitants in all manner of different costumes, including one based on Friday the 13th‘s Jason Voorhees.
This update, like others before it and the game itself, is free. Bethesda makes money from the game through the sale of in-game lunchboxes. In the two weeks following the game’s release in June, it generated more than $5.1 million in revenue from iOS alone, according to one research firm.
