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Dark Horse will publish The Art of The Last of Us Part II this June
Dark Horse Books will peek behind-the-scenes at one of this year’s most-anticipated games with their next artbook… Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II.
The game will make its PS4 debut on May 29, but fans will have to wait until June to dip into The Art of The Last of Us Part II. Spanning 200 pages, the book will be available as a Standard Edition ($39.99) and a limited Deluxe Edition ($89.99), though both will contain “an exhaustive collection of original art” and “intimate creator commentary” about the game’s design:
Follow Ellie’s profound and harrowing journey of vengeance through an exhaustive collection of original art and intimate creator commentary in this deluxe full-color hardcover volume: The Art of The Last of Us Part II.
Created in collaboration between Dark Horse Books and the developers at Naughty Dog, The Art of The Last of Us Part II offers extensive insights into the making of the long-awaited sequel to the award-winning The Last of Us. The Deluxe Edition also features an exclusive cover and slipcase, as well as a gallery-quality lithograph.
The Art of The Last of Us Part II will be available in bookstores on June 16.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PS4
Tagged The Last of Us Part II
Warner Bros. releases first trailer for Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge
Warner Bros. Animation gave us our first look at Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge earlier today when they shared a brand new trailer with IGN.
Scorpion’s Revenge will focus on Scorpion’s quest for revenge against Sub-Zero, including his first meeting with Quan Chi, and his entrance in the Mortal Kombat tournament. But the R-rated film will also follow the heroes of Earthrealm as they do battle with Shang Tsung and Goro in an animated retelling of the first game:
Based on the worldwide hit game created by Ed Boon & John Tobias, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge spotlights the once-in-a-generation tournament between the champions of Outworld and Earthrealm – a competition that will ultimately determine the fate of Earth and all its citizens. Lord Raiden, protector of Earthrealm, must gather the greatest fighters of his realm to defend it from the evil Shang Tsung in the battle to end all battles – Mortal Kombat!
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge will be available to purchase on Blu-ray and through video-on-demand platforms this Spring.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge animated movie will be released in first half of 2020
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Warner Bros. Animation will release Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, an animated extension of the fighting franchise, sometime during the first half of 2020.
Patrick Seitz will reprise his role as the titular spectre in Scorpion’s Revenge, and he’ll be joined by a few other famous kombatants, including Joel McHale (Community) as Johnny Cage and Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) as Sonya Blade. Other voice actors scheduled to appear in the film are Jordan Rodrigues as Liu Kang, Steve Blum as Sub-Zero, Artt Butler as Shang Tsung, Darin De Paul as Quan Chi, Robin Atkin Downes as Kano, David B. Mitchell as Raiden, Ike Amadi as Jax Briggs, and Grey Griffin as Kitana.
Rounding out the cast is prolific voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, who provided the intimidating growl of Goro in 1995’s Mortal Kombat film adaptation. He’ll return to the franchise in Scorpion’s Revenge to once again voice the Shokan Prince.
We don’t know which corner of the Mortal Kombat universe that Scorpion’s Revenge will adapt, but it seems likely that it’ll delve into Scorpion’s quest for revenge against Sub-Zero after the cold-hearted ninja murdered his family.
Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon is credited as a Creative Consultant on the film, so wherever the plot goes, presumably it’ll have his blessing.
Studio MDHR serves up a first look at The Art of Cuphead
Dark Horse Comics originally announced The Art of Cuphead all the way back in March of 2019, and they planned to publish the 160-page book (featuring “early concepts, production work, and early ideas” from the game) this past October.
Unfortunately, the book’s release was eventually pushed back to the Spring of 2020, but Dark Horse had a good reason for the delay. With the extra time, the publisher was able to expand The Art of Cuphead to a whopping 264 pages, including content from the game’s upcoming expansion, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course:
Each page of this curated collection of artwork is designed to capture the vintage look and feel of the 1930’s. Take a gander at the game’s traditional hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation. Peek at the early concepts, production work, and early ideas that went into the making of Cuphead’s characters, bosses, stages and more including never-before-seen content from the upcoming DLC!
Relive the most cherished and challenging moments of Cuphead and Mugman’s adventure to reclaim their souls from The Devil, all in a way you’ve never seen before! Guided by personal insights from game directors Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, take a one-of-a-kind trip through the Inkwell Isles and discover an all-new appreciation for Cuphead’s animation style and challenging retro gameplay.
The Art of Cuphead will now be released on March 17, and the game’s developer, Studio MDHR, shared a sneak peek at the book earlier this week on Twitter:
For the Art of Cuphead, we scoured our notes & archives with @DarkHorseComics to assemble the most comprehensive look ever at the game's creation. Here's a sneak peek at just two of the book's in-depth spreads.
Available on March 17, 2020!! https://t.co/U8DWSzpad1 pic.twitter.com/CKGPyOOSKC
— Studio MDHR (@StudioMDHR) January 7, 2020
In addition to The Delicious Last Course, Studio MDHR is also working with Netflix to produce The Cuphead Show! Perhaps some concept art from the animated series will make its way into The Art of Cuphead as well.
Paramount debuts Sonic’s redesign in a new trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
Paramount has been plugging away on a Sonic the Hedgehog movie for a few years now, and they gave us our first look at the Blue Blur’s cinematic debut back in April. While the clip was “endearingly goofy,” Sonic just didn’t look like Sonic… and the response from fans was brutal.
But rather than take their lumps and release the movie as is, Paramount delayed the theatrical release of Sonic the Hedgehog into next year and promised to rework the character’s design. This morning, the production company unleashed the first trailer featuring the redesigned Sonic… and it’s actually pretty great.
Sonic’s redesign gave the character his gloves back, and he now looks much closer to his Genesis counterpart in every way. Paramount even winked at their earlier misfire in the opening seconds of the clip (“I’m Sonic, a little ball of super-energy in an extremely handsome package.”). But best of all, the same goofy energy that pervaded the first trailer is still there in the new trailer, and Jim Carrey is still doing his crazy Jim Carrey thing as Robotnik.
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie will be out in theaters on February 14, 2020. I’m cautiously optimistic.
Posted in Etcetera, News, Retro
Tagged Sonic the Hedgehog
Dark Horse’s The Art of Super Mario Odyssey is now available
Nintendo produced hit after hit for the Switch during its first year on the market in 2017. Breath of the Wild at launch… Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in April… Splatoon 2 in July… and Super Mario Odyssey in October. If you’ve got fond memories of that last one, then you should definitely pay attention to the latest tome from Dark Horse Comics.
The Art of Super Mario Odyssey is available on store shelves today, and it is packed with more than 360 pages of “concept art, preliminary sketches, and notes from the development team,” as well as “insight into some early ideas that didn’t make it into the game itself”:
In October of 2017, Super Mario Odyssey took the gaming world by storm. Now, discover the art and expertise that went into creating one of Nintendo’s best-loved games! This full-color hardcover volume clocks in at 368 pages and features concept art, preliminary sketches, and notes from the development team, plus insight into some early ideas that didn’t make it into the game itself! Explore the world of Super Mario Odyssey from every angle, including screen shots, marketing material, and more, to fully appreciate this captivating adventure.
The Art of Super Mario Odyssey is now available to purchase for $49.99, and a trailer for the book has been embedded above.
Posted in Etcetera, News, Switch
Tagged Super Mario Odyssey
An animator is making a game based on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show with his kids
Jesus Lopez is a game animator with an extensive resume of impressive titles, including DuckTales Remastered, The Simpsons: Tapped Out, and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. But the projects he works on in his spare time (with his kids) are equally impressive, as YouTube user SwankyBox recently discovered.
In the video embedded above, SwankyBox delves into Lopez’s hobby of remaking World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. in the hand-drawn art style of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. The late 80s/early 90s cartoon was well-loved partly because of each episode’s live-action introduction from Captain Lou Albano (as Mario) and Danny Wells (as Luigi). But the weird and wild animation of the main story segments also created new corners of the Mushroom Kingdom that the games would never explore, such as the Pasta Land that Mario and friends visit in the first episode.
It’s this locale (with its “trees” made of forks and spaghetti) that Lopez is attempting to recreate, and he’s been documenting his progress sporadically over the years in a five-part video series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5). While the game hasn’t progressed beyond World 1-1 just yet, Lopez would like to create a series of original levels after he perfects the animation.
Lopez has been working on this project (again, with his kids as co-developers) for the past three years and he has no plans to release it for public consumption. But I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
Posted in Etcetera, News, Retro
Tagged Super Mario Bros.
Bumblebee’s Travis Knight is the latest director to sign on for the Uncharted movie
Sony Pictures has spun the Wheel of Fortune one more time and come up with another new director for their film adaptation of the Uncharted franchise.
Dan Trachtenberg, who is best known for directing 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane, previously occupied the director’s chair for Uncharted: The Movie, but according to a report on Deadline, he has decided to step down. Thankfully for Tom Holland, who will play a younger version of Nathan Drake in the film, Sony Pictures has already recruited a replacement… Travis Knight, the director of 2018’s Bumbleebee and 2016’s Kubo and The Two Strings.
As long as nothing else goes wrong with the Uncharted adaptation, filming is still expected to begin early next year. But the movie’s previously-announced December 18, 2020 release date will most likely have to change.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Uncharted: Drake's Fortune