Monthly Archives: March 2015
eSports Weekend Calendar: March 13 – 15, 2015
I hope you’ve blocked off your weekend to watch some eSports. ESL is having their big IEM season finale event in Katowice this weekend. The highlight is probably the IEM World Championship of StarCraft II which sees the best in the world battle it out for ESL’s version of the world championship and a $68,000 payday. The folks at ESL have also pulled in some top talent for their League of Legends, CS:GO and Hearthstone tournaments.
Comic Book Pull List for March 11, 2015
This week’s pull list might be a bit on the weird side. After all, when the big offering at Marvel is a revival of Howard the Duck helmed by someone who I guarantee isn’t me (I promise that Chip Zdarsky isn’t my pen name), you know that this week’s pull list is definitely interesting, if nothing else.
Anyway, yes, Marvel follows up on the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy credits with Howard the Duck #1. Over at DC, they’re doing another WB Interactive Entertainment tie-in comic. This time, it’s a comic prequel to WBIE’s top franchise with Batman: Arkham Knight #1. And if you want revivals, we have a couple of those this week too. Bill and Ted are back in the appropriately named Bill & Ted’s Most Triumphant Return #1. And Spawn gets a bit of a refresh in Spawn: Resurrection #1 which is supposed to carry on in the regular series with Spawn #251 next week.
Game Trailers Roundup for March 10, 2015
At some point in time in the not too distant future, I might get time to start writing again. A while back, I remember seeing a post on /r/games_journalism asking why a bunch of small sites don’t combine forces. I’m starting to think that isn’t such a bad idea.
Anyway, let’s start off your Tuesday with a plethora of video game trailers for you to watch. The usual March lineup of games isn’t as strong as they have been in past years. Of note, there’s Battlefield Hardline and… I’ll get back to you. Along with that, there are a total of eight trailers for you to watch. Not a bad way to start your day.
Geek Links of the Week
We’re quickly approaching the 50th anniversary of Star Trek but the best that seems planned is a movie that’s in complete turmoil. Maybe a return to TV is in order for Star Trek. [Vox]
Valve unveiled their new VR headset this week (more on Steam hardware next week) but it might actually already be better than the Oculus Rift. [PC Gamer]
If you watch American TV, you’ve most certainly seen ads for mobile microtransaction bait Game of War starring model Kate Upton. I thought that the $40 million ad campaign was never going to work but the lesson seems to be that if you want to make $1 million per day with a mobile game, hire Kate Upton for your ads. [Bloomberg]
If you thought Civilization: Beyond Earth was underwhelming, you weren’t the only one. Firaxis admitted that they could have tried something more. [Gamasutra]
Were you looking forward to watching HBO Go on your PS4? Not if you’re on Comcast. They’re blocking HBO Go on PS4 and not explaining why. [Tech Dirt]
The World’s Richest Superheroes (Infographic)
For as many great superheroes there are with fantastic powers like your Superman, Wonder Woman, Thor, The Hulk and so on, there are many more superheroes that aren’t endowed with superpowers to save the Earth. While heroes like Batman and Iron Man might dominate on the silver screen, they don’t have their own superpowers. Both superheroes and supervillains have used their money to become among the most powerful people in the world.
So today, we have a handy little infographic to take us through the finances of some of the most powerful men in the Marvel and DC universes.
eSports Weekend Calendar: March 6 – 8, 2015
There aren’t a lot of big matches in this week’s eSports Weekend Calendar. There is the finals of the Heroes of the Storm Big League on Saturday with the semifinals on Friday. Apart from that, it’s group stage action for the big League and Dota 2 leagues. Meanwhile, in SC2 action, GSL wraps up its Season 1 quarterfinals this weekend.
Marvel Releases a New Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer
The shawarma break is over. In two months, The Avengers return to the big screen for their second movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron. This movie is effectively the last major film of Phase Two of the Marvel cinematic universe and will lead into the next Captain America movie that will kick off Phase Three. Not that you’re interested in that. We’re all more interested in a kick-ass blockbuster inspired by the recent Age of Ultron comic arc, even if Hank Pym doesn’t exist in the MCU yet.
Just one note before you watch the trailer: It says that the movie comes out in April but that’s the UK release date. In Canada and America, it opens on May 1st. It’ll probably be a good movie but I don’t think you should hop on a plane and go to London just to watch Age of Ultron.
Comic Book Pull List for March 4, 2015
So I was at my local comic book store this weekend, it’s not a big shop but I was absolutely amazed how many copies of Marvel’s new Star Wars series were unsold. They had like half-a-dozen copies of each issue unsold. I was looking for some old Superman and Justice League copies but they were all sold. Either Star Wars comics aren’t as valuable as Disney/Marvel or my friends at the store expected. And with that being said, Marvel has Princess Leia #1 out this week.
Now, if you want a Marvel comic to be excited about Canadian superstar Jeff Lemire makes the jump from DC/Vertigo over to Marvel at start writing for Disney with All-New Hawkeye #1. And Dark Horse wins best cover art of the week. While most people take drugs to escape reality, one imaginary friend has to be on drugs to remain in reality in Neverboy #1.
Game Trailers Roundup for March 3, 2015
I know things have been quiet around here lately but I have a few posts in the works. I might even be able to finish those reviews, news and columns if I can get a bit of time to get some writing in. I’m so busy IRL that I completely didn’t notice that I didn’t schedule this post to go up yesterday. I don’t know how I managed that.
Anyway, if it’s a new week, then it’s time for us to look at recently released video game trailers. There are eight trailers this week with most of them being for the triplest of triple-A games including three from WB Interactive and two from popular JRPG franchises. Yes, this is the sort of post that makes this series worth it.