Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Holly Scalzo
Hitman, Brussels, and Showing Restraint After a Tragedy
This morning, I couldn’t sleep. At about 3:30 or 4:00 AM I went online; the first reports of what had happened in Brussels were just coming in. I switched on BBC News and felt like it was 7/7/05 all over again. Commuters and travelers were targeted just going about their day, just as they had been nearly 11 years ago in the London attacks. Not much was known this morning, as it had pretty much just happened, and amidst the chaos, everyone was just trying to get their bearings and get to safety. About the only thing that was known was that it had to be terrorism. Coordinated explosions in crowded public places during peak travel times are not a coincidence. It was terrorism, and someone had intended to hurt and kill people.
Last week, it was Ankara and Istanbul; in December, it was Tell Tamer and San Bernardino; in November, it was Beirut and Paris. Every time it happens, it catches us momentarily off guard, and we think, “Really? This crap is still going on? When is this going to end? Will it ever end?” And the usual societal discourse ensues: the condolences, avowals of justice and solidarity, strategies to prepare for the future. These we expect. This is how we grieve.
What we don’t generally expect is, I don’t know, let’s say, news for a video game whose objective is to target and kill people to be announced just a few hours after a horrible terrorist attack. (more…)
Daisy Ridley is “in talks” to play Lara Croft in rebooted Tomb Raider film franchise
Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of famed video game explorer Lara Croft is iconic. But, if you can believe it, almost a generation has gone by since the first Tomb Raider film and a reboot of the film franchise has been in the works since 2011. While there hasn’t been much done in the way of pre-production (there’s no script yet), Daisy Ridley told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday at the Empire Awards that she has been (to use Hollywood lingo) “in talks” to potentially headline the new movie. That’s right, Rey from Star Wars: The Force Awakens might be jumping into another popular franchise. Not bad for an actor who until recently was relatively unknown.
Her costar in The Force Awakens, John Boyega (maybe better known as rogue Stormtrooper Finn), even endorsed the idea of Ridley portraying Lara Croft after allegedly playing the most recent Tomb Raider game, 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, and immediately envisioning her in the role. “She should be [Lara Croft],” he said Sunday.
While this is pretty cool news, keep in mind it’s all still up in the air. Ridley stressed she had not been offered the role, so fans of hers should keep their fingers crossed but maybe not hold their collective breath just yet. Things in Hollywood do have a way of falling apart even when there are more concrete plans on the horizon. I’m still holding out for a Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man 4. (Not really, but you know. It’s one of the great tragedies of recent cinema, is it not? I ask you!).
Posted in Etcetera, News
Tagged Tomb Raider
Conan O’Brien and PewDiePie tame a badger in Far Cry: Primal
Professional Let’s Player and Swedish man PewDiePie joined Conan O’Brien last night to play Ubisoft’s Far Cry: Primal in the most recent “Clueless Gamer” segment. Prepare for the game yourself by time-traveling back to 10,000 BC with the guys, and see their adventures with giant woolly mammoths, rogue corpse-mutilating badgers, and mostly unsuccessful club-throwing and owl-being.
Far Cry: Primal was released yesterday and new episodes of Scare PewDiePie are currently being released every Wednesday on YouTube Red.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Far Cry: Primal
Witness this 8-Bit Cinema adaptation of Mad Max: Fury Road
You don’t have to think Mad Max: Fury Road is the greatest movie of all time to enjoy this 8-Bit Cinema adaptation of George Miller’s latest masterpiece… but it certainly helps. Though the question is kind of pointless as Mad Max: Fury Road is definitely the greatest movie of all time.
The 8-Bit Cinema adaptation turns Fury Road into a side-scrolling beat ’em up, but it’s so indescribably awesome that you just have to watch it yourself. How does one even attempt to describe the guitar-playing Doof Warrior to someone? See? Aren’t you intrigued now? So go watch it already and then follow it up with your first (or fifth) viewing of Mad Max: Fury Road.
So shiny! So chrome!
Songs from Black Keys, Fall Out Boy, System of a Down, more added to Rock Band 4
Harmonix announced recently that more songs have been added to the Rock Band 4 setlist, bringing the total number of songs to 39. These new additions include:
- 4 Non Blondes – “What’s Up?”
- The Black Keys – “Fever”
- Disturbed – “Prayer”
- Duck & Cover – “Knock Em Down”
- Eddie Japan – “Albert”
- Fall Out Boy – “Centuries”
- Halestorm – “I Miss The Misery”
- Heart – “Kick It Out”
- Heaven’s Basement – “I Am Electric”
- Lightning Bolt – “Dream Genie”
- Rick Derringer – “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo”
- Rush – “A Passage To Bangkok”
- Scorpions – “No One Like You”
- Slydigs – “Light The Fuse”
- Soul Remnants – “Dead Black (Heart of Ice)”
- System of a Down – “Spiders”
- White Denim – “At Night In Dreams”
Anyway, the full setlist is only a fraction of songs available for play as there are over 1,500 songs available to download from the Rock Band Store, and songs can be transferred over from the previous Rock Band games. So there’s sure to be something for everyone.
Rock Band 4 will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on October 6th. A trailer featuring the new tracks has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Splatoon’s third North American Splatfest pits Hot Dog lovers against Marshmallow fans
In the tradition of history’s great fights — Rocky versus The Big Russian, Ali versus Frazier, Arnold versus The Predator — comes the next Nintendo-sponsored Splatoon Splatfest this weekend. The third North American event hopes to put to rest the great debate over Hot Dogs versus Marshmallows as the best thing to roast over an open fire. Previous bouts have settled Dogs and Roller Coasters as superior to Cats and Water Slides, respectively.
The next North American Splatfest runs for 24 hours and is scheduled to start on Saturday, August 8th at 12:00 AM (Eastern Time) and will end when the clock strikes midnight (Eastern Time) on August 9th.
Nintendo UK will send you random packages in the mail… let’s hope they skip the Bob-Ombs
Have you ever noticed all the ads for companies that offer a monthly (or weekly) subscription for a box of random goodies? If you watch TV regularly, you must have seen at least one of these commercials. They have them for makeup and beauty care products, dog treats/items, snacks, video games, razors, tea, candy, toys/collectibles, books, baby samples, and even multiple places that will send you recipes plus all the ingredients you need to cook that meal. There’s probably even a bunch that I don’t know about. Or don’t want to know about. It’s possibly a little out of control, but people love getting packages and random surprises, so I can see the appeal.
Now Nintendo UK is throwing its hat into the monthly subscription box ring. As an alternative to the popular Loot Crate, which sends out nerdy toys, collectibles, and clothes, Nintendo is set to launch their own box — the “N-Box” (which should really look into maybe having a different name) — which will offer Nintendo items and merchandise featuring iconic characters.
MCV is reporting that the N-Box “will feature toys, clothes and other merchandise inspired by and branded with Nintendo icons such as Mario, Zelda and Pokemon” and that the boxes “are expected to be available individually, with gamers also able to subscribe to a three-, six- or 12-month plan.”
The N-Box is expected to debut pretty soon, and for now will only be available for UK consumers. Yet another reason to be jealous of the UK.
It’s Always Blocky in Minecraft… because Rob McElhenney is directing the movie
Have you heard? Word on the Internet is that there’s going to be a Minecraft movie coming out… sometime. There’s really no information on it just yet. But here’s one thing we do know, the director of the film has been announced to be It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Rob McElhenney.
McElhenney has mad credits on Sunny for creating, writing, producing, directing, and starring as Ronald “Mac” McDonald… not to mention snagging colleague and funny lady Kaitlin Olson. The announcement was made in a succinct blog post from Mojang, which offered no other information about the project. While McElhenney’s ascension to the position remains a temporarily confusing but delightful mystery, we have noticed some fun similarities between Minecraft and several recurring Sunny characters.
Minecraft aficionados will certainly remember the Creepers, which are very reminiscent of the infamous Green Man (Charlie Day’s Charlie, high out of his mind, in a full-body green spandex suit), who first debuted in the season three episode “The Gang Gets Invincible.” And who can forget Day Man and the creepily suggestive Night Man, which viewers may recall from Charlie’s weird musical, “The Nightman Cometh,” from the end of season four. Both characters seem to parallel the protagonist “Steve” and the mysterious Enderman.
With these concurrent elements in mind, McElhenney now seems like a natural fit for the film. It almost begs the question, was Notch just a huge Sunny fan all along?