Rumor: The Legend of Zelda TV series in development at Netflix

Posted on February 7, 2015 by John Scalzo

legendofzeldaThe Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nintendo will team up with Netflix to produce a television series based on The Legend of Zelda.

Allow me to pause while you momentarily freak out. Ready? OK. The source of the rumor appears to be an insider within Netflix, who the Wall Street Journal quoted as saying that a Legend of Zelda adaptation would be like “Game of Thrones for a family audience.”

While there’s nothing impossible about Nintendo working with Netflix on a Legend of Zelda series, the game publisher has been notoriously protective of their characters ever since the Super Mario Bros. movie bombed back in 1993. Though this wouldn’t be the first television show based on The Legend of Zelda. DIC Entertainment produced an animated adaptation back in 1989 and I’m totally onboard with the Netflix show borrowing as much from the cartoon as they want (especially “Excuuuuuuse me, Princess!”)

Almost a year ago, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told investors that the company wwants to increase the amount of licensing deals they make for the use of their iconic characters. These deals would take Nintendo’s characters to areas the company has never worked with before and a live-action television show would certainly fit the bill.

Neither Nintendo nor Netflix had any comment on the Wall Street Journal’s report.

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Kickstarters Need To Kick It Up A Gear

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Andrew Rainnie

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It’s the start of a new year, which means analysts are pouring over statistics from the previous 365 days, especially to do with the weird and wonderful world of crowdfunding, which still appears to be more of an art than a science.

So what have we learned? Kickstarter revealed that investment in the Games category is down to $89.1 million in 2014, compared to $105.6 million the previous year. Yet successful projects were up from 1,481 to 1,979. That’s nearly a difference of 500, suggesting investors are backing smaller projects that have a larger chance of success. According to Kickstarter’s own stats, the overall rate of success for Games is 34.18%, 5.5% less than the total success rate of the site, which sits at 39.68%.

In short, video games donations and numbers were down.

A lot.

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Abandon hope, all ye who watch this new trailer for Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

Almost two months from now, Bandai Namco will release Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin for the PS4 and Xbox One. The Scholar of the First Sin package (which include all three downloadable expansion and other gameplay improvements) will mark the first time a game from the Dark Souls franchise will be available for new-generation consoles, though a PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 re-release is also planned.

To get gamers in the right mood, the publisher has released a brand new trailer for Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin that focuses on the game’s world and the brutal combat that players will be forced to endure. Good luck.

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin will be available on April 7.

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Rebellion will release Zombie Army Trilogy on March 6

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Rebellion has announced that Zombie Army Trilogy, their game that asks how World War II would have gone differently if Hitler were a zombie in control of an undead army, will be released on March 6.

Zombie Army Trilogy will bring the first two episodes in the series to the PS4 and Xbox One for the first time while also concluding the story with an all-new chapter. Naturally, the game will also be released for the PC and players who already own the first two games will receive a 60% discount if they purchase the complete trilogy.

In addition to the expanded campaign, Zombie Army Trilogy will include an exclusive Horde Mode as well as four never-before-seen playable characters.

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Xenoblade Chronicles 3D will be released on April 10… and here’s a new trailer

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

Nintendo dropped a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3D that gives us another look at the portable remake of the beloved Wii RPG. But the key takeaway from this video is the card at the end that confirms the game’s release date: April 10, 2015.

In other Xenoblade Chronicles 3D news, Nintendo has confirmed (via Twitter) the game will include a special StreetPass mode that will allow players to collect Tokens to unlock music and character models. Tapping a Shulk Amiibo figure (which will be exclusive to GameStop and reportedly will be in very short supply) will also add Tokens to your coffers.

And don’t forget, if you haven’t upgraded your 3DS, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D will exclusively be available only for the New 3DS XL.

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Shadow of Mordor wins eight awards at 2015 DICE Awards but not Game of the Year

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor won eight awards during last night’s DICE Awards ceremony (out of nine nominations), but it was unable to snag the big prize. Instead, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose to award “Game of the Year” to BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition.

But don’t feel too bad for Monolith Productions and their romp through the Lord of the Rings universe. Shadow of Mordor’s eight wins included “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming,” “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Character,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” and “Outstanding Technical Achievement.”

The third game in the Dragon Age series was only able to walk away with a single other award: “Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year.”

Bungie’s Destiny (which took home four awards) and Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Mobile Game of the Year” and “Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year”) were the only other multi-award winners last night. Though Nintendo’s pair of Smash Bros. games were awarded “Handheld Game of the Year” (Super Smash Bros. For 3DS) and “Fighting Game of the Year” (Super Smash Bros. For Wii U).

The complete list of winners can be found after the break.

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New trailer details Weekly Faction Wars, Dynamic Challenge Towers in Mortal Kombat X

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

NetherRealm has been slyly hinting at Mortal Kombat X‘s Faction War mode for a while now, but the game’s newest trailer finally laid it all out for us. When players first launch Mortal Kombat X, they’ll be asked to join one of five Factions (Lin Kuei, White Lotus, Brotherhood of Shadows, Special Forces, or Black Dragon). After that, everything they do in the game will earn points for their Faction in the weekly war.

Players will also be able to compete in inter-Faction challenges and perform “Faction Kills” on players that belong to a different Faction. About all we don’t know is what the winning Faction will receive every week.

The trailer also gave us a quick look at the new Dynamic Challenge Towers that will be included in Mortal Kombat X. According to NetherRealm, the Dynamic Towers can change hourly, so there will always be a new Challenge waiting to be conquered.

Mortal Kombat X will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14.

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Activision confirms Skylanders 5, Call of Duty 2015, “unannounced initiatives” during quarterly presentation

Posted on February 5, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Just as the sun rises in the east, Activision uses their first quarterly financial presentation of the year to talk about the next games in the Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises.

Dennis Durkin, the publisher’s Chief Financial Officer, had the task of revealing the non-news that Call of Duty 2015 and Skylanders 5 will be released this Fall. As expected, Call of Duty 2015 will be developed by Treyarch while Skylanders 5 is being described as “innovative.” Durkin finished his remarks by revealing that Activision also has “several unannounced initiatives” in the pipeline that they’ll talk more about “in the months ahead.”

Then the CEO of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg, took the stage to talk about Destiny. He confirmed that the game’s second expansion, House of Wolves, will be released in the Spring. He also said that Destiny 2 is in development, though we won’t see it this year. But Bungie is planning to launch a “major content release” connected to the franchise for this Fall.

Finally, Blizzard’s CEO, Michael Morhaime, said that both StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void and Overwatch will be available for beta testing this year. However, Morhaime would not comment on either game’s final release date, which means that both will probably slip to 2016.

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