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Stan Lee, the legendary co-creator of many of Marvel’s superheroes, has died
From behind his typewriter, Marvel’s Stan Lee used to answer fan mail with that authoritative declaration when he really wanted to drive home a point in his “Stan’s Soapbox” column. But there’s never enough that can be said about the man who helped define pop culture as we know it today.
Along with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Lee created many of Marvel’s most famous characters… The Spectacular Spider-Man… The Mighty Thor… The Incredible Hulk… The Fantastic Four… “Stan the Man” had a way with adjectives. Sadly, he passed away this morning at the age of 95.
After shepherding his comic creations towards the silver screen in the 80s and 90s, Lee lent his voice to more than a dozen video game adaptations starring Marvel’s mightiest heroes. Most often playing himself (starting with 2000’s Spider-Man), Lee closed the book on his voiceover career with an appearance in Insomniac’s Spider-Man earlier this year as a Short Order Cook.
Lee was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2008 for “his groundbreaking work as one of America’s most prolific storytellers.” The National Endowment for the Arts’s advisory committee also recognized Lee’s fight against injustice in his comics, adding, “His complex plots and humane super heroes celebrate courage, honesty, and the importance of helping the less fortunate, reflecting America’s inherent goodness.”
As Lee would say, “Nuff said!”
New Retail Releases: Fallout 76, Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee/Pikachu, Hitman 2, More
Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong, thanks to this week’s brand new retail game releases…
Fallout fans will be able to return to The Wasteland in an entirely new way this week as Bethesda will add multiplayer gameplay to the franchise for the first time in Fallout 76 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Xbox One owners interested in upgrading to an Xbox One X will also be able to opt for an Xbox One X 1TB + Fallout 76 Bundle.
Pokemon fans will be able to experience a familiar locale in a new way this week as well with Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee! and Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu! for the Switch. The two games will revisit the Kanto region, and players will need to use a throwing motion with a Joy-Con (or the optional Poke Ball Plus controller) to catch Pokemon in the wild. Two special console bundles (a Switch + Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee! + Poke Ball Plus Bundle and a Switch + Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu! + Poke Ball Plus Bundle) will also be available.
More familiar settings can be found this week in Activision’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy, which collects the first three games in the series on the PS4 and Xbox One. It’ll be joined on store shelves by a pair of new-to-the-Switch games, including SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, a compilation of SNK’s pre-NeoGeo offerings, and the console debut of 2K’s Civilization VI.
New adventures (and targets) await Agent 47 this week as developer IO Interactive has ditched the episodic structure for the assassin’s newest game, Hitman 2, which will launch for the PS4 and Xbox One (and on the PC as a download-only title).
The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA Tour (PS4, Xbox One), a golf simulation from HB Studios, and Trailblazers (PS4, Switch), a futuristic racer from Supergonk, will make their way to retail shelves everywhere after first appearing as digital titles earlier this year. And Epic’s Fortnite: Deep Freeze Bundle will give fans the chance to obtain the Deep Freeze Costume Set and 1,000 V-Bucks for the free-to-play Battle Royale shooter.
Finally this week, DICE and Electronic Arts will deliver Battlefield V: Deluxe Edition to the franchise’s on the PS4 and Xbox One a few days ahead of the launch of the Standard Edition.
A complete look at this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Square Enix puts Kingdom Hearts III in the Pooh Corner with this Winnie the Pooh trailer
Microsoft held their X018 event in Mexico City last night, and while it was pretty light on new game announcements, the consolemaker did team up with Square Enix to show off Winnie the Pooh’s inclusion in Kingdom Hearts III.
It looks like players will get to play through a minigame based on Bust-A-Move during their visit to the Hundred Acre Wood, but I think the most important part of this trailer in that Pooh gives Sora a rocket launcher that shoots honey in the shape of a giant bumblebee (and which is naturally named the Hunny Launcher).
Kingdom Hearts III will be released for the Xbox One and PS4 on January 29, 2019.
Tetris Effect’s Launch Trailer is out of this world
How do you make Tetris relevant for an entirely new generation of gamers? You give it to Tetsuya Mizuguchi (the creator of Lumines and Rez) and let him go nuts.
Using an eye-blistering arrays of colors, along with a unique soundtrack and full PlayStation VR support, Mizuguchi applied his trademark aesthetic to the Tetris franchise to create In Tetris Effect. Still not convinced? Don’t worry, all of these tricks are on full display in the game’s Launch Trailer:
Tetris Effect is Tetris like you’ve never seen it, or heard it, or felt it before—an incredibly addictive, unique, and breathtakingly gorgeous reinvention of one of the most popular puzzle games of all time, from the people who brought you the award-winning Rez Infinite and legendary puzzle game Lumines. Fully playable on either a standard display (up to 4K and 60fps on a PS4 Pro), or optionally in mind-blowing 3D on PS VR.
Music, backgrounds, sounds, special effects—everything, down to the Tetris pieces themselves, pulse, dance, shimmer, and explode in perfect sync with how you’re playing, making any of the game’s 30+ stages and 10+ modes something you’ll want to experience over and over again.
A challenge for the mind and a feast for all the senses, Tetris Effect is the perfect excuse to play Tetris again… and again…and again, and again, and again and again and again and again and again and again and…
Tetris Effect launched today, and it’s exclusively available for the PS4.
The NPD Group shares list of best-selling games on PS4, Xbox One, and Vita… also the Saturn, PS1, N64, GBC, and Dreamcast
The NPD Group has never been too keen on sharing their historical lists of best-selling games, but that might be changing. Using data from the analyst firm’s vast archive, Mat Piscatella recently tried to pull back the curtain a little bit by sharing the list of best-selling games on several legacy consoles (the Saturn, the original PlayStation, the Nintendo 64, the Game Boy Color, and the Dreamcast) and a nearly defunct handheld (the Vita). He also examined the best-selling games through September 2018 on two modern consoles (the PS4 and Xbox One) and published a list of the top-selling titles for each year from 1995 to 2017.
It’s a very interesting collection of information, and the lists provide our best window yet into what games were considered popular in the United States in the 1990s and into today. (more…)
Tetris Effect, Deracine, Omen of Sorrow, more coming to PS Store this week
The eye-popping visual style employed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi invades the ordered puzzle landscape of Alexey Pajitnov in this week’s PlayStation Store update.
Tetris Effect is a new spin on the classic puzzle game for the PS4 that includes ridiculously colorful psychedelic visuals, full PlayStation VR support, and a huge number of new modes and play styles.
Speaking of the PlayStation VR, players can also use their headsets this week to try out Deracine, the first VR game from From Software. Players take control of a spirit in a boarding school, and they need to “prove its existence and build a unique bond with the students as the world is uncovered through discovery and exploration.”
Spirits, ghouls, and ghosts are also at the center of Omen of Sorrow, a new fighting game for the PS4 which stars classic monsters such as a werewolf, Dracula, and Frankenstein’s Monster.
Finally this week, 2K Games will bring back their midway minigame collection, Carnival Games, for the PS4. And the vehicular combat of Road Redemption, from Pixel Dash Studios and EQ Games, will also come to the PS4.
You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store after the break. (more…)
Fortnite will add NFL-themed Outfits on November 9
Are you ready for some Football Royale? Epic Games and the NFL have announced that NFL-themed Outfits will be available to download in Fortnite beginning this Thursday, November 9, at 7:00 PM.
According to an update on Epic’s official website, jerseys will be available for all 32 NFL teams, plus an additional Fortnite-styled jersey:
Each Outfit can be swapped to any of the thirty-two NFL teams, plus an additional unique Fortnite team. You’ll also be able to choose any number from 1-99 to place on your jersey to complete the official NFL look.
A trailer for the “Fortnite X NFL” crossover has been embedded above.
Kingdom Hearts III lets its hair down in a new trailer featuring the cast of Tangled
Square Enix has dropped yet another trailer for Kingdom Hearts III from their magical tower… and I mean that quite literally, as this video clip takes us to the Kingdom of Corona and the world of Disney’s Tangled:
As Rapunzel leaves her mysterious tower for the first time with the help of charming bandit Flynn Rider – Sora, Donald and Goofy join the pair on their adventure to the kingdom, taking on the Heartless along the way. The new trailer also showcases some of the unique combat players can enjoy in the Tangled-inspired world as the team defeats the Heartless with the help of Rapunzel’s magical golden hair.
Kingdom Hearts III will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on January 29, 2019.