Tom Cruise is set to produce and star in a fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise. There’s no script or director at this time, but rumor has it that Jack Reacher director Christopher McQuarrie is a likely candidate. Jack Reacher was well done and that direction would definitely be well suited in the M:I universe. As a fan of Tom Cruise and the M:I franchise, I’m all sorts of excited about this news.
Source: IGN
As the tagline reads, “Prepare to get Annihilated.’
The three flavors Cornetto trilogy will come to a “World’s End” as we see the poster from the comedy duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost with director Edgar Wright. The three became a trio when working on the show Spaced. Then went on to do the movies Shuan of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Fans have been waiting for this new movie for a while now. What does this third movie entail? Stay tuned to PowerUp Online for all your news on Word’s End.
After acquiring Lucasfilm, Disney shut down LucasArts as a development house and has restructured the studio as a licensing house. First news of licensing from LucasArts has surfaced in the way of the monumental Star Wars license agreement with Electronic Arts. EA has secured a “multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to develop and publish globally new games based on Star Wars characters and storylines.” Fans of both videogames and the Star Wars franchise are reporting a great disturbance in the Force… as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
The good news in all of this is EA has announced that three of their studios (DICE, BioWare, and Visceral Games) are working on titles set in the Star Wars Universe. Fans of the original Knights of the Old Republic (such as myself) are certainly hoping for a single-player continuation of that epic story while everybody else is undoubtedly clamoring for Battlefront III from DICE. I have no idea what Visceral could be working on, but any speculation is welcome in the comments below. All games being developed by these studios will utilize Frostbite Engine 3.
My hope in this (aside from EA not destroying the brand and milking the franchise) is that maybe 1313 will be resurrected because, well, it looked pretty awesome.
Source: IGN
Hello there true believers!
It’s the one and only Tyler with his first article on PowerUp Online!
Phase 2 of Marvel’s “Cinematic Universe” series started off this weekend with Iron Man 3. This was the first marvel movie since the record-breaking smash at the box office The Avengers. With that in mind, did Iron Man 3 bottle the same lightning that The Avengers did?
This was the first time that Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) was sitting in the director’s chair instead of Jon Favreau. To say that the stakes were high for Black is an understatement. He was directing an Iron Man film, coming off the tails of The Avengers. Black did a great job of directing. The scene that you see in the commercial countless times of all of the iron man suits fighting together was amazing.
I wouldn’t say it was Black’s problem of why I felt sour about this film. You’ve all been hearing all about the controversial twist. Some of you saw it and some have only read it. To put this twist into terms that everyone can understand, remember when you found out that Santa wasn’t real? I felt like I was slapped in the face with how they did the plot twist. It felt as if you should believe some things are just too way out of left field to believe. Now, I’m sorry but with in the same universe that you have Viking gods come from the sky, a man that can turn into a huge green monster and a super solider that fought in World War II was frozen in time, you can pull off anything and everything.
I felt that Iron Man 3 wanted to be more serious than it’s past movies. It wanted to take more a real life approach to how Tony Stark would handle his life after everything that happened. I could nitpick on other little things, but that would just make me another keyboard warrior complaining that the movie wasn’t as great as the source material.
I don’t want to count out that this next phase will be lackluster but there has to be some reality. With how the next Thor movie looks and Captain America’s next movie is being written, they want to give more of a challenge to the heroes and show there mortal side. Take in Iron Man 3 as what it is, an action packed movie with twists and turns. We can all bash it till it’s in crumbs, but we are getting something that wasn’t even doable 10, even 20 years ago. We’ve come out of the dark ages of nipples on bat suits. We are in the golden age of comic book movies. When I left the theater after watching the flick, I had harsh rating to it. I had to realize that, I’m spoiled right now. I just saw a third Iron Man film. I never thought I’d see good ol’ shellhead on the big screen and it was only in my dreams that I would see an Avengers film.
I give Iron Man 3, 4/5 stars.
Lucid Games, one of the studios formed after the closure of Project Gotham Racing developer Bizarre Creations, is said to be preparing for a mid-May reveal of a new game. The next Xbox is also going to be revealed mid-May; this has led to some speculation that the studio is working on a racing game for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox successor. Given the background of the staff at Lucid Games, that speculation is leaning towards an upcoming reveal for a new installment in the PGR franchise. It’s been several years since we’ve seen a new PGR game and having an established franchise make a comeback for the next Xbox’s launch would definitely be beneficial for system sales. This is all a bunch of rumors and speculation, however, so we’ll have to wait until the actual mid-May reveal to see how right or wrong we really are.
Source: Joystiq
With sales of the downloadable title exceeding expectations by five times, it’s understandable that Ubisoft would consider making this one-off a franchise. Michael Biehn, the voice of Blood Dragon‘s protagonist, stated in an interview with Microsoft’s Major Nelson that Dean Evans, the creative director for the testosterone-filled retro throwback, has a sequel in mind for Blood Dragon. It’s likely, given the success of the downloadable game, that we will be seeing more of Rex Power Colt in the future. The beautiful, neon laser filled, post-apocalyptic future.
Source: Joystiq
The angriest gamer you’ve ever heard is getting his own video game adventure! Titled Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures and planned for release on PC through Steam, this retro-styled action platformer is also heading, appropriately, to Nintendo’s most recent consoles: the WiiU and 3DS. James Rolfe, the man behind the Nerd, got his start as the Angry Nintendo Nerd with his review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES.
No word on whether or not the game will be coming to XBLA or PSN, but I’m sure we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that no matter what platform this lands on, hopefully it’s not a steaming pile of donkey dung smothered in skunk anuses.
Source: Destructoid
Tomb Raider developer is prepping to announce a new game soon according to a LinkedIn profile. Matt McCulloch is a level artist with Crystal Dynamics and is reportedly working on “wildly cool environments for a soon to be announced title for Crystal Dynamics.” A job posting on Crystal Dynamics’ website for a senior artist position clearly states “a brand new AAA game” which further suggests a new intellectual property.
With E3 right around the corner, it’s easy to hope that “soon” means “really soon.”
Source: Destructoid
Upcoming Ubisoft sequel to the long-running Splinter Cell franchise is bringing back the popular Spies Vs. Mercs multiplayer mode which was disappointingly absent from Sam Fisher’s last outing. Fans of the franchise have something to rejoice about amidst their complaints about the disappointing lack of Michael Ironside (which, granted, is a very valid complaint).
It’s been over a decade since Silicon Knights released the highly regarded GameCube exclusive Eternal Darkness. Since then, fans of the game have been demanding a sequel. Silicon Knights and Nintendo ignored these demands and went on about their business. Since its release in 2002, Silicon Knights has developed the critically and commercially disappointing Too Human and X-Men Destiny. The studio has been troubled with bad press all around including these critical disappointments as well as law suits and former employee complaints. Needless to say, it hasn’t been a good few years for Silicon Knights.
Nevertheless, we’re expecting a spiritual successor to their horror classic. Though the teaser posted on IGN and the game’s official website have no mention of Silicon Knights, it is clearly stated that the game is in development from the creators of Eternal Darkness. Titled Shadow of the Eternals, this pseudo-sequel is in development at Precursor Games, a new development studio and likely the result of Silicon Knights’ troubled past. Denis Dyack is said to be involved in the project.
Shadow of the Eternals is being crowdfunded with the campaign beginning on May 6. It is in development for WiiU and PC currently. A synopsis of the game and the trailer are below:
When Detective Paul Becker is called to one of the bloodiest gang massacres in Louisiana state history, only two survivors remain from a brutal conflict between two rival cults. As Becker begins his interrogations of the suspects, their combined recollections will uncover the truth about the ‘Eternals’.
Featuring an ensemble cast of heroes and villains, Shadow of the Eternals will span over 2500 years of history throughout Egypt, England, Hungary, and the United States. Players will question the perception of reality as they try to balance the mechanics of combat, magick, and sanity events to progress through the adventure.
Shadow of the Eternals will take players on a memorable journey throughout time; weaving historical fact with disturbing fiction to create an experience unlike any other.
Sources: GamesRadar, Kotaku, IGN
PowerUp Online 