by Heather Toshiko // May 25, 2012

If you’ve been a fan of Starz’ massive Spartacus series from the beginning, one thing you may be is confused as to the order of events that took place during the various incarnations of the series. Or, you just may want to see everything in the order it was intended and follow along as the characters and situations develop.
Whatever your wishes, Starz seems to have them covered with its just announced plan to run every episode of Spartacus, in chronological order, as one epic viewing event.
Here’s more from the official Starz press release:
For the first time, Starz will air all 29 episodes of Spartacus in chronological order, beginning with “Gods of the Arena,” then “Blood and Sand,” and concluding with “Vengeance,” Friday nights from 9pm – 11pm ET/PT, beginning June 8th.
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Posted in: News · Starz · TV
Tagged: Andy Whitfield, John Hannah, Lucy Lawless, Spartacus, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Spartacus: Vengeance, Starz, TV
by Joe Gillis // May 25, 2012

In the tablet world, Apple’s iPad is pretty much the undisputed market leader. However, that doesn’t stop others from trying to enter the space with tablets of their own.
The next competetor looking to enter the ring is Google, which will reportedly unveal a new Asus-built Nexus tablet at next month’s Google I/O event in San Francisco. The tablet is reported to feature a 7″ screen, be running NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 chip and sell for $199.00 directly from Google’s Play Store.
In addition, the tablet is reported to be running Google’s new Jelly Bean OS instead of Ice Cream Sandwich. No word yet on if it will have anything other than Wifi but we can most likely expect some sort of wireless carrier partnerships will be offered, much like Apple does with AT&T and Verizon.
Whatever happens, with this new tablet announcement expected as well as announcements about new multi-vendor Nexus smartphones, Google’s I/O conference is shaping up to be quite the event. Of course, we’ll keep you updated with news as we get it.
Posted in: Android · Mobile · Mobile Apps · News · Tech
Tagged: Android, Android OS, Android Tablets, Google, Google I/O, Google I/O 2012, Jelly Bean, Mobile, Nexus, Nexus Tablet, Nexus Tablets, Tablets
by John Carle // May 25, 2012

Thus far, Beenox has proven their love of working on the Spider-Man franchise between Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Between the alternate versions of Spider-Man and the original takes on some of his villains, Beenox has shown a deep understanding and respect for the character. Now, they face a new challenge with the tie-in to the Amazing Spider-Man movie. While some major points of their story are often dictated by the events of the movie, Beenox has chosen to open the world up to players much like the previous developer Treyarch had done but has taken steps to improve on their much beloved formula.
In previous titles when a player shot their web, players were forced to let the game instinctually choose an appropriate target for them to sling off of. This was also the case in combat where the foe most often closely centered in the screen became the default target for Spidey to aim at. Now, Beenox has decided to give this control to the player instead with the feature they call the Web Rush for the Amazing Spider-Man game.
Using the Web Rush, time slows down for players, presumably to represent Spider-Man’s hyper-fast reflexes like it was seen in Sam Rami’s Spider-Man film where Peter Parker dodged the bullying of Flash Thompson. During this slow down, players are given all possible targets on screen where they can aim themselves. This can be a great resource for strategically setting themselves into different combat situations.
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Posted in: Activision · Comic Book Games · Comics · Game Trailers · Marvel · Marvel Studios · News · Nintendo · Nintendo 3DS · Nintendo DS · PC Games · Playstation 3 · Trailers · Video Games · Wii · Xbox 360
Tagged: Activision, Amazing Spider-Man, Beenox, Comic Book Games, Comics, Marvel, Marvel Studios, Playstation 3, Spider-Man, Trailers, Video Game, Video Game Trailers, Web Rush, Xbox 360
by Chris Ullrich // May 25, 2012

The ink has barely dried on the contract for Facebook’s aquisition of Instagram and the company has already dropped a brand new camera app for iOS devices. The new app, called Camera for iOS, and is intended to make uploading and viewing Facebook photos faster and easier.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the app features Instagram-like filters to modify users’ photographs before uploading and also offers the ability to upload multiple photos, unlike Facebook’s current app for iOS. The timing of this release is more than likely just a coincidence as the company had to have had this app in development long before their purchase of Instagram.
It’s more likely they were trying to mimic some of Instagram’s features in their own app but then decided it would probably just be easier to buy Instagram and incorporate it info Facebook. Plus, they get one more important thing with that purchase: the users. This new app is just the beginning. Look for an improved app sooner rather than later.
Facebook’s Camera for iOS is available now on the Apple’s App Store. And no, there’s no Android version . . . yet.
Posted in: Mobile · Mobile Apps · Tech
Tagged: Digital Photography, Facebook, Facebook Camera, Instagram, iOS, iOS 5, iPhone, iPhone 4S, Photography, Social Media, Software
by John Carle // May 25, 2012

One Bond. Six classic Bond missions. That is the premise behind October 16th’s 007 Legends, the latest installment of the Bond franchise from Activision from Eurocom, the same studio responsible for 007 Goldeneye and 007 Goldeneye Reloaded. While it was already revealed with the game’s announcement that the six and final movie tied in to the game would be the upcoming Skyfall, Bond fans quickly began speculating which 007 films would make their way to 007 Legends.
With the trailer and screens below, Moonraker has been revealed as the first chapter for 007 Legends. Originally starring Roger Moore, Moonraker was the most sci-fi-esque Bond film, featuring a space station that was home to the villainous Drax and his minion for hire, Jaws. The film also featured one of Bond’s leading ladies with the second most obvious sexual innuendo for a name, Dr. Goodhead.
The 007 Legends trailer features Drax, Jaws and Goodhead, including the infamous scene of Jaws having a high voltage wire shoved into his metal mouth. It also shows Bond using one of his infamous gadget and the Moonraker laser, much improved from its original N64 design.
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Posted in: Activision · Announcements · Game Trailers · Games · News · Playstation 3 · Screen Shots · Trailers · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: 007, 007 Legends, Activision, Announcements, Dr. Goodhead, James Bond, Jaws, Moonraker, News, Playstation 3, Video Games, Xbox 360
by John Carle // May 24, 2012

Since their inception, the LEGO licensed games have followed a pretty standard formula. Players start off in a central hub where they can select missions to enter, check their progress and buy more characters to play as. After years of this between Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, the franchise was due for a change.
Not only is LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes the first LEGO game to feature voice acting for the characters, but it will be an open world format. How this will impact gameplay will be interesting as this has never been attempted by any of the LEGO franchise games before. It may be a structure similar to a GTA game where players meet up with NPCs and receive missions or maybe even an Arkham City style where Batman receives updates from Alfred or Oracle, which would make sense using both the Batman franchise as well as the new voiceover being added to the game.
Take a peek below at the trailer and screen shots for LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes to see Batman, Superman, the Flash, the rest of the Justice League and all the villains in action. You even get a brief glimpse of the friendly antagonism between Batman and Superman as well. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is coming to all major consoles and handhelds on June 19th.
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Posted in: Comic Book Games · Comics · DC · DC Entertainment · Game Trailers · Games · News · Nintendo · Nintendo 3DS · Nintendo DS · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Screen Shots · Video Games · Warner Bros · Wii · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Bane, Batman, Catwoman, Comic Book Games, Cyborg, dc comics, Flash, Green Lantern, Joker, Lego, LEGO Batman, LEGO Batman 2, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Lex Luthor, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, PC Games, Playstation 3, PS Vita, Robin, Superman, TellTale Games, Trailer, Video Games, Wii, Wonder Woman, Xbox 360
by John Carle // May 24, 2012

Since their announcement in the upcoming Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Transformers purists have debated how the Dinobots would fit into the G1 canon storyline for the game. As stated in our previous post which revealed Grimlock in combat and Slug, Snarl and Swoop’s designs, the Dinobots were created on planet earth in the cartoon. Now, High Moon Studios has taken a step in ret-conning Transformers history along with Hasbro by retelling the origin story of the Dinobots in a different way.
As seen below, the game’s director Matt Tieger talks about the process of rewriting history with Hasbro’s blessing and reveals the new origin to the Dinobots for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Original a crack special ops unit, the group falls victim to the experiments of Decepticon mad scientist Shockwave. Using a connection to earth (I won’t spoil the whole video for you), Shockwave creates the new designs for the Dinobots.
Take a look below and make sure to give your thoughts on the Dinobots and their new origin story. Stick to The Flickcast for more on the Dinobots and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron before it launches late August of this year for XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.
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Posted in: Activision · Developer Diary · Games · News · Playstation 3 · Trailers · Transformers · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: Activision, Grimlock, Hasbro, High Moon Studios, Matt Tieger, PC Games, Playstation 3, Slag, Sludge, Slug, Snarl, Swoop, Transformers, Transformers G1, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Transformers: War for Cybertron, Video Games, Xbox 360
by Joe Gillis // May 24, 2012

These new TV spots don’t really give us much more information than we already have. Still, it’s nice to see the PR machine is cranking up to full power in anticipation of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Of course, if you’re like us, you don’t really need a reason to see this movie and will probably be there at midnight when it opens. That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to see these new TV spots.
Although, and maybe I’m in the minority here, I’m still not sold on Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Sorry folks, she just seems like the weakest link here and I can’t shake that feeling no matter how much I try. Let’s hope she doesn’t ruin the experience.
The Dark Knight Rises hits theatrs on July 20. Click through for the videos.
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Posted in: Movies · Trailers · Video
Tagged: Anne Hathaway, Bane, Batman, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Comics, DC, Movies, The Dark Knight Rises
by Joe Gillis // May 24, 2012

If you’re an Android user who also enjoys using the Google+ social media service, you may have been a bit miffed to see the iOS version of the G+ app get a big update a few weeks ago. Well don’t worry, your time has come.
That’s right, Google today took the wraps off a big update for the Android version of the Google+ app and with it has come several improvements to the UI including the big thing you may love or hate: giant pictures. The new app also makes starting a hangout with your pals possible from a mobiel device.
In addition, there’s also a new navigation ribbon on the left side, much like the desktop version, that features quick shortcuts to all the areas of Google+ you might need to go to. You also get some new transitions as you scroll through feeds, the ability to download pics as wallpaper, the ability to edit posts inline and more.
The new app is available through the Google Play store. So, what do we think?
Posted in: Android · Google · Mobile · News · Tech
Tagged: Android, Android 4.0, Android OS, Apple, G+, Google, Google Plus, Google Plus App, ICS, iOS, iPhone, Mobile, Social Media
by John Carle // May 23, 2012

With a game as hyped as Diablo III, there have been lots of stories circulating around the net since its launch last week. The first was someone who fought through the crashing servers and was able to complete the game in just 13 hours. The next tale came about someone who did a speed run and beat the entire game in six hours after an 11 year wait to get his hands on the game.
There were even reports of someone getting a character to level sixty within the first few days of launch, not to mention the thousands of people who took off work to play the game on launch. But with the crazed fandom, there also comes the possibility of tragedy as well.
Tech blog Buildstarted.com was the first to report the first real world Diabo III related death. Buildstarted reports the loss of his friend and coworker, 32 year old Russell Shirley. After not hearing from his friend for two days, the writer called Shirley’s landlady who found Russell in front of his computer, lost to an apparent heart attack which may have been caused by his gaming binge.
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Posted in: Games · News · PC Games · Video Games
Tagged: Death, Diablo, Diablo III, Games, Gaming Addiction, Health, PC Games, Russell Shirley., Video Game News, Video Games
by Chris Ullrich // May 23, 2012

One thing you can always count on with a Baz Luhrmann movie is that it will be full of spectacle. Said spectacle may take the form of exotic song and dance numbers, sweeping vistas or elaborately choreographed gunplay, but it will always be there.
His next production, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is no exception. It has contemporary songs, dancing, singing and spectacle galore, as you can see from the first trailer for the movie we’ve got for you today.
Heck, it’s even in 3D. That’s a dimension Luhrman hasn’t explored bofore. It will be interesting to see what he does with it. If this trailer is any indication, he’s going to do a heck of a lot.
Look for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton, to hit theaters this Christmas. Check out the trailer after the break.
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Posted in: Movies · News · Trailers
Tagged: Adaptation, Baz Luhrmann, Carey Mulligan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joel Edgerton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movies, Novels, The Great Gatsby, Tobey Maguire, Trailers
by Jonathan Weilbaecher // May 23, 2012
The DC animated universe is fantastic. Bruce Timm has been masterminding gold standard animation for nearly two decades, and his crew is finally taking on one of the most important Batman stories ever told, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
This epic two-part animated event has already been officially announced, but The Hollywood Reporter has announced the principle voice cast:
Peter Weller (Robocop) will star as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Modern Family’s middle child Ariel Winter will play Robin… Also in the cast are David Selby, the veteran actor who starred in the original Dark Shadows soap opera as well as the classic 1980s soap Falcon Crest; Wade Williams (Prison Break) as Harvey Dent/Two-Face; and Michael McKean as Dr. Wolper, the psychiatrist who releases the Joker from the insane asylum.
Fan favorite Michael Ironside played the role in a classic episode of Batman: The Animated Series that payed homage to the seminal story. While it would have been nice symmetry to have him back, Peter Weller is an amazing choice for the role.
The story is being split into two animated features, the first of which will be hitting shelves later this year, followed by the second part in early 2013.
Posted in: Adaptation · Announcements · Casting · Comics · DC · DC Entertainment · Movies · News · Warner Bros
Tagged: Adaptation, Batman, Bruce Timm, Comics, DC, Frank Miller, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller, The Dark Knight Returns, Warner Bros