by Stone Marshall | Sep 27, 2015 | Minecraft News |
The second day of this year’s Oculus Connect conference for virtual reality developers kicked off with an announcement-rich keynote presentation. While the event was short on new game announcements, one big one got the crowd’s attention: Minecraft. A brief video confirmed that the hit game’s Windows 10 edition will launch on the Oculus Rift “next year,” and it will allow players to navigate their blocky worlds in VR with the Xbox One controller.
Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe confirmed that the Oculus Touch handheld controller system will launch in the “second quarter next year,” which is a firmer confirmation than a previous “first half of 2016” estimate. After showing off that system’s impressive “toybox” demo, Iribe confirmed that the Touch controllers will require a second motion sensor “for improved sensing,” so be ready to make room in your home’s potential VR room should you want to try the tech out.
The Touch sizzle reel confirmed that a few previously SteamVR exclusive games would now also launch for Oculus Touch, including Job Simulator and The Gallery: Six Elements. It also had Oculus’ own answer to SteamVR’s Tilt Brush, a “digital clay molding” art app called Medium. “Every great platform has to have a paint app, and this is our paint app,” Iribe told the Oculus Connect crowd.
Additionally, Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney took the stage to show off Bullet Train, an upcoming VR action game for Oculus Touch that includes a warping mechanic much like SteamVR’s The Gallery: Six Elements, meaning characters may potentially be able to move around the world without experiencing VR nausea.
Since virtual reality gaming on PCs demands incredibly powerful performance—particularly to support a 90 frames-per-second visual refresh, in order to reduce nausea and discomfort—Oculus announced a new “Oculus Ready” initiative through which computer manufacturers can slap a sticker on a PC that meets Oculus Rift’s performance minimums. Announced partners for the program include Asus, Dell, and Alienware (itself a wholly owned Dell subsidiary).
Oculus wanted the crowd to know that there’s no shortage of interested Oculus developers, so they took the opportunity to announce that “over 200,000” developers had registered to create games for the new VR platform. The company announced that those developers will see version 1.0 of the Oculus Rift SDK in “December,” ahead of the headset’s launch early next year.
The keynote began with Samsung Senior Vice President Peter Koo announcing an updated GearVR headset coming in November for $99. Like the prior “innovator edition” of GearVR, this will allow users to insert certain Samsung phones into a wearable headset to experience a more rudimentary version of virtual reality. That announcement also touched upon virtual-reality versions of video-streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu coming to GearVR “in the next few months.”
VR Minecraft announced for 2016 at Oculus Connect conference
by Stone Marshall | Sep 26, 2015 | Awesome Book News |
In the final hour of Teen Wolf’s season 5A, five people were resurrected, Parrish was revealed to be a Hellhound, and Lydia was left a catatonic state. And that’s not even mentioning Theo being a chimera, the return of Braedan, and a handful of other huge life events. Let’s just say a lot happened in the season’s final hour.
With that in mind, we talked to showrunner Jeff Davis about all of the twists and what’s to come in 5B. (Yes, we asked about Roscoe the Jeep.)
Let’s talk about the Wild Hunt. “We always start a season talking about different mythologies and this was one of those more fascinating ones, the story of the ghost riders and the idea that the Hellhound, or the black dog, is part of it all the way back to Woden’s Hunt,” Davis said. “So it felt like a good way to start the season off and a potential mythology that we’d plant the seeds for that could pay off in later episodes. And we always knew that we wanted to tie Parrish’s story back to that first big storm and give a first clue as to what he is.”
Why the Hellhound? “We had a couple different ideas [for Parrish] at first, but we ended up on this because we knew that we wanted Parrish’s role to be morally on the fence,” he said. “You don’t know whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy but that he serves a function, that he is definitely there for a reason, that he was drawn to Beacon Hills for a purpose, and the purpose of a Hellhound is they’re a guardian of a supernatural place and that’s what he is. And we’re going to find out just what that role entails in season 5B and how dangerous it’s going to become for the rest of the characters.”
The Doctors caused the Wild Hunt. If you thought the Wild Hunt was the Doctor’s end game … you might be right. “Well, they are tied into a part of it, which is revealed in the fresco that is uncovered at the end. We’ve always described the Doctors as scientists who worship the supernatural and the Wild Hunt is actually the supernatural world’s reaction to what they’re doing by bending science and the supernatural to their will,” Davis said. “So they brought it about themselves in a way. And you’ll see the Clash of Titans that the painting reveals in season 5B.”
So about that painting … Davis wouldn’t reveal details about the painting, other than that one of the figures is a Hellhound, and the other is not.
Where in the world is Doctor Valack? After Valack broke out of Eichen House, he’s been MIA. But Davis promised that we will see him again in the premiere of 5B. “He has a lot to say,” Davis said. “And what you’re also going to realize is he’s not exactly the bad guy he might seem to be. He may actually be one of the good guys.”
The Desert Wolf is coming to town. And she is pissed. “She’s very big in Malia’s story and she’s going to cross paths with Theo actually and they’re going to find that they might have more common goals than they know,” Davis said. “And a lot of it has to do with her relationship with Malia and the reason why she says, ‘If she’s alive, then I’m just going to have to kill her again.’”
There’s more than nudity to Theo’s big reveal. While we’re talking about Theo, Davis revealed that Theo’s ability to transform into a coyote makes him both “very dangerous” and a “talented chimera.” (And yes, Cody Christian was wearing skin-colored underwear in that scene.)
Braeden is sticking around. Not only did Davis say that the writers had been trying to work Braeden back into the story for a while, but he also guaranted that she will be back in 5B.
Could Derek return? With Braeden back, the door is open for Derek to return. Davis simply said the writers aren’t “sure about it yet.”
We haven’t seen the last of Void Stiles. “That’s part of the darkness still lurking inside of Stiles and he’ll have the fear that, is it more than just being possessed? Is there something inside that he has to keep a lid on?” As for the difference between Scott and Theo, Davis added, “Whereas Scott tries to bring out the best in his friends, Theo actually came back for the worst in them. He came back for the angry kid, the killers, and the murderers, he wants that because to him that equates with power.”
There is hope for Roscoe the Jeep. In one of the finale’s more emotional moments, Stiles watched his beloved Jeep get towed away. But worry not, Davis promised there’s still hope. “There is hope for the Jeep,” he said. “Light a candle for the Jeep because the Jeep could still return.
Season 5B is all about resurrection. “We call season 5B a season of resurrection because it’s partly Scott has come back from the dead and he has to bring his pack now back from the dead as well,” Davis said, before adding that they’re currently exploring what side effects Scott might have from his death. “It’s a question of how does death affect him? Will it change him for the worse, for the better? It’s all about what his mother said at the end, give them hope. So he’s got to find hope again.”
Scott and Stiles aren’t making up anytime soon. “It’s going to be rocky still,” Davis said of the beloved friendship. “They were both taken in by an Iago and Theo played them all and pitted them against each other, so they’ve got to get past the underlying resentment and forgive each other and it’s going to take more than one episode.”
Hayden is going to be a changed woman. There’s just something about becoming a chimera, dying, and being brought back to life that changes a person, you know? “All the chimeras that were brought back to life, there is something that’s settled over them, a kind of darkness, partially because they were changed by the Dread Doctors,” Davis said. “They were experiments gone wrong and now brought back to life, they’re all a little bit Frankenstein’s Monster so they’ll each need to be reminded of their humanity. While Scott and Stiles try to rebuild the pack to face what’s coming to Beacon Hills, Liam and Mason will be doing their best to remind the chimeras of their humanity and try to draw them away from Theo.”
Kira’s getting her own episode. After missing out on the fun of the finale, Kira will return in a big way. “We have a really big episode which is all about Kira and Noshiko going off on their own story to try to figure out how to tame the fox spirit within her and it takes place actually in the desert in New Mexico where they have to journey.” In other words, there’s a possibility for a familiar face/place … we hope.
Season 5B picks up the same night as the finale. “511 happens the same night as 510,” Davis said. “Lydia will be taken to Eichen after it’s deemed that her injuries from Theo have essentially driven her into a catatonic state and that the only place that may be able to help her is Eichen House.” Furthermore, Davis teased a “very interesting” story for Lydia at Eichen House. “She’s a bit like Linda Hamilton in the asylum at the beginning of Terminator 2.”
Stiles and Malia are going to have to deal with their dark sides, but romance is still possible. Aside from exploring Stiles’ dark side, Davis said, “Malia has her own dark side to deal with in the fact that she’s going to break Scott’s rules which is that we don’t kill people or at least we don’t murder people, because she’s very determined to murder her mother.” And yet, he promised that “the relationships are very much on our mind every day because we love romance at Teen Wolf and it’s always interesting when they break up, they get back together and seeing the different variations on that and creating these kind of tragic romances.
“One of my favorite romantic scenes from a movie is from Last of the Mohicans when he says, ‘You stay alive! I will find you! Stay alive!’ And those are the kinds of things that we strive for, which are not necessarily scenes of soap opera where one person says I love you, you’re the greatest thing in my life, I couldn’t live without you, but more along the lines of ‘Stay alive becuase I can’t live without you’, which is underneath that. That’s what we strive for.”
Teen Wolf boss answers season 5 finale burning questions, talks potential Derek return
by Stone Marshall | Sep 26, 2015 | Awesome Book News |
With one of the most successful summers on record, the book on 2015’s summer tentpoles has been closed. Normally, this would worry us, as this is a stereotypical dead zone for theatrical releases. However, 2015 looks like it was so stuffed with quality releases that they’ve actually scheduled some of this year’s better efforts in a time when your choices are limited to either a rock or a hard place. We know the multiplex looks barren right now. Better things are coming, though, and soon! Enjoy this list of 10 great-looking films that are slated to drop within the next 30 days.
Pawn Sacrifice – 9/16
The story of Bobby Fischer’s historic chess match against Soviet champion Boris Spassky in 1972 seems like it would be more fodder for a documentary than a narrative film. But with Tobey Maguire and Liev Schreiber playing the roles of Fischer and Spassky in Pawn Sacrifice, a story that highlights the Cold War in one of its most unlikely battle grounds becomes something notable on the box office calendar. The film promises to delve into Bobby Fischer’s rather interesting and eccentric behavior on, and off, the chess board; and it looks like some top-form acting is going to be the ultimate result if Maguire’s performance in the trailer is anything to go by.
Black Mass – 9/18
With Mortdecai behind him, Johnny Depp could definitely use some films in his “Win” column. Judging by the advanced word we’ve been hearing, as well as the killer pair of trailers Warner Bros has released for the film, it looks like the story of Whitey Bulger and his reign of terror was just the ticket. Even better still, the rest of the film’s cast looks solid as anything, as Joel Edgerton and Benedict Cumberbatch directly flank Depp in the film’s all star cast. Black Mass should be – at the very least – fun to watch; but with everyone’s favorite Pirate looking scarier and scarier every time we watch the ads for this one – we won’t be surprised if he scares up some Oscar gold come next year.
Everest – 9/18
Real-life disasters can make for good drama, but only if those involved remember to keep the subject matter at a reasonable level of spectacle. Baltasar Kormákur’s Everest looks like it remembers how to balance the two elements, as well as add in a third factor: heart-stopping fear. One of several entries on this list that manages to use 3D, it looks like if the cast of Everest doesn’t impress you, then the visual prowess of the film’s use of the third dimension just might pick up the slack
The Intern – 9/25
While The Intern does have the potential to be a lukewarm experience that’s being buried in the September doldrums, all signs point to a charming comedy surprise. While the original pairing of Michael Caine and Tina Fey is too delicious to completely forget, the new teaming of Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro is nothing to sneeze at. Especially because from the looks of it, Robert De Niro is in “charming old man” mode, and it looks really good on him.
The Green Inferno – 9/25
After a year of being delayed, Eli Roth’s controversial horror film The Green Inferno is finally seeing its day in cinemas. How controversial has this film become? Enough that its reputation for grossing audiences out has not only almost landed the film an NC-17 rating, but it also has people supposedly passing out at advanced screenings. Glad to see Eli Roth may not have lost his touch after all this time, though we’re intensely curious if this film is as disturbing as folks say it is, or if they just can’t handle good horror in a sea of mediocre studio product.
Mississippi Grind – 9/25
Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) needs a lot of money, and fast – lest his gambling debts leave him unable to walk, or live for that matter. With a crazy plan of traveling down the Mississippi river and hitting all of the gambling action he can – with fellow gambler Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) by his side – what could possibly go wrong? If the fact that Mississippi Grind is the latest film “from the creators of Half Nelson” has anything to say about that, it’s that anything and everything will go wrong – and you’ll either laugh or cry accordingly.
Sicario – 9/25
Denis Villeneuve ‘s take on the war on Mexican drug cartels looks to be, at the very least, a star-studded affair – headed up by Emily Blunt’s tough FBI agent, Kate Macer. Knowing Villeneuve’s pacing and usage of suspense, though (particularly from his work on the highly underrated Prisoners), we’re hoping that the action drama Sicario is more of a heart-stopping work of beauty. With Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro joining in on the fun, the odds are looking pretty good that we won’t be disappointed.
The Walk – 9/30
With Robert Zemeckis making realistic-drama-at-high-altitudes his current thematic obsession (see Flight with Denzel Washington, if you haven’t yet), the legendary director has now turned to history to inspire him once more. The Walk tells the true story of Phillipe Petit’s wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, and while we’ve seen this recounted in the 2008 documentary Man On Wire, we now get to see Joseph Gordon Levitt take on the story in a more narrative form. If you thought Everest was going to trigger your vertigo, then the 3D possibilities on this flick will definitely have you covering your eyes with your popcorn bucket.
The Martian – 10/2
Matt Damon is going to science the shit out of Mars, and to do it, he’s going to need an assorted cast of actors from various disciplines to help him out. With The Martian casting everyone from Kristen Wiig and Donald Glover to Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jessica Chastain (with mainstays like Jeff Daniels and Sean Bean in between), it looks like Damon will have all the help he needs. Drew Goddard’s script and Ridley Scott’s direction both look in top form, balancing the humor and the gravitas of a film that puts Damon’s Mark Watney in the most dangerous spot in the universe – forcing him to carry almost an entire film on his back.
Legend – 10/2
What’s better than one Tom Hardy kicking ass and taking names? That’s right… TWO Tom Hardys kicking ass and taking names! Take that formula and apply it to the real life story of Ronald and Reginald Kray – the twin kingpins of organized crime in 1960’s London – and you’ve got a concept that doesn’t have to try hard to attract viewers. Of course, the overall sweetener is that Legend also boasts a script written and directed by L.A. Confidential scribe Brian Helgeland – and he definitely knows a thing or two about period crime pieces.
10 Really Exciting Movies That Are Coming Out In The Next 30 Days
by Stone Marshall | Sep 25, 2015 | Awesome Book News |
Once Upon A Time fans have only one week until the return of the series to ABC. Once Upon A Time Season 5 has been teased as an epic season, and fans will have the chance to see why starting next Sunday.
At the end of Once Upon A Time Season 4, Emma sacrificed herself for Regina’s happy ending. She became the new dark one, and the Dark Swan is the focus of the first half of Once Upon A Time Season 5.
Emma’s family and friends will do all they can to stop her full transition into the Dark Swan. At the end of the episode, Emma vanished. The first scene for the Season 5 premiere, shared in a previous Inquisitr report, showed Hook, Regina, and her family trying to figure out where Emma went when she vanished.
Spoiler TV shared photos from the Once Upon A Time Season 5 premiere, titled “The Dark Swan,” this week, and the photos do show Emma with Rumpelstiltskin. It has been teased in previous spoilers that he will become a mentor for the new dark one. The photos do not show Emma in her dark gear yet though. She is dressed very much like a peasant.
Adam Horowitz teased more about Emma’s dark side to TV Line recently, and fans will see a new side to Emma Swan during Once Upon A Time Season 5.
“She’s a very motivated Dark One. There’s a real driving force behind what she’s doing and why, that we will unfurl. It’s not like a rampant, uncontrollable evil that’s been unleashed. Emma as a non-Dark One was a very smart person who did things for a reason, and I think that translates.”
As for the appearance of Rumple with Emma, Edward Kitsis revealed that fans would learn more about that in opening of the premiere. He said, “She did not travel time; she did travel realms. And why Rumple’s there will be immediately explained within the first act of the premiere.”
There is more to Once Upon A Time Season 5 than Emma Swan. Mulan will return to the series for the upcoming season. Jamie Chung appeared in the role on the series in previous seasons, and she developed feelings for someone. There is a possibility that those feelings would be explored this season.
Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis teased to Entertainment Weekly that they would explore a LGBT relationship this season. Horowitz teased, “We want the show to reflect the world as it is now. Whether that’s going to be with any particular character, we’re not going to say.”
However, with Mulan’s return, many fans are speculating that the relationship in question will be a relationship with Mulan and Aurora. Fans will need to tune in to find out what happens next.
Once Upon A Time will return to ABC on September 27.
‘ONCE UPON A TIME’ Season 5 Spoilers. The Arrival of the Dark Swan and More Teased
by Stone Marshall | Sep 25, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Square Enix introduced Dragon Quest Builders in demo mode at TGS 2015, and it was full of surprises. Even if it made consistent efforts to polish its looks and add new elements, the game still shows its heritage.
Minecraft is the first thing that comes to mind when starting to play Dragon Quest Builders, but until the latter becomes a true rival for the Mojang and 4J Studios’ creation, some improvements are mandatory.
Common elements are easily discernable, the inventory bar being the first that pops out. Also, there is an equipment belt where you can holster various weapons and tools, and you can browse through it by pressing up/down on the D-pad. To dig, you generally use the hammer just as in the trailer of the game.
If you believe all actions are intuitive, think again. Even for such an elementary task as digging, gamers should know that a simple attack/dig (square button) only hits objects positioned on the same level as you. L1 and R1 buttons allow you to aim the hammer at block situated higher or lower than you, whereas if you want to aim and hit enemies or blocks that are above or below, the shoulder buttons do the trick. Speaking of digging, the demo limits the vertical mobility to about four levels downward and 40 levels upward, making it way less open world than its predecessors.
Moving on to the unique aspects of the game, the general visuals are cute and stay true to the Dragon Quest spirit. Moving around and performing actions feels flawless. As opposed to Minecraft’s “jump in the water and learn to swim” approach, Dragon Quest Builders has a soft learning curve due to its schematic system that shows you how to easily build stuff. An interesting addition is that the settlements that you construct will gradually attract NPCs.
The gameplay would benefit from a first-person mode. From the fiddling with the controls in third-person, it is blatantly clear that for precise aiming and efficient working in closed spaces, first-person is paramount.
Developers announced that the game will feature a story mode and a campaign objective, but it’s the players’ choice how and when it accomplishes them. Building your cube-spaced-world can continue indefinitely after the ultimate boss fight. However, for those who only desire to share their creations with the community, a pacifistic mode will be available.
The demo offers only a fraction of the game’s full potential. Some gameplay adjustments and a couple novel elements might help the open-world RPG construction game depart from the nagging comparisons with Minecraft.
On Jan. 28, 2016, Dragon Quest Builders will be released in Japan on the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. For now, there is no information about an international launch.
Dragon Quest Builders: Minecraft Clone Or Is It Much More? Release Date Revealed
