Back in January we reported on the breaking news that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes was coming. Yes, we know it was kind of a no brainer but it was great to see it was actually happening! Now we are proud to bring the first official trailer to the Flickcast faithful.

In the trailer below, check out the first official look at LEGO Spider-Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, Deadpool and Black Widow who will be amongst the “more than 100 memorable characters to choose from, each with their own unique powers and abilities, players are in for a brick-smashing adventure”. Those actual gameplay isn’t shown, one can assume it will probably be similar in style to that of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. The trailer also gives a pretty good indicator who one of the game’s big bads is going to be.

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At a minimum of $300 a pop, hitting sales of 400,000 units is nothing to sneeze at. That means that in the first week Nintendo was able to earn a MINIMUM of $120,000,000 in sales off the newly launched Wii U. Factor in that some percentage of these consoles sold were the $350 Deluxe Edition means they the number may be actually be closer to $130,000,000. But how does that compare to console launches in the past?

Back in 2006, the original Wii clocked in sales of 600,000 units in its first week on shelves. That’s a 200,000 unit differential. The Wii U’s launch was more in line with the PlayStation 3’s launch which was also in the 400,000 range that same year showing that the Wii U may be more of a core gamer system as opposed to the mass appeal that the Wii had to non-gamers.

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There are two known facts about The Flickcast’s gaming division (a.k.a. the Bitcast):

1. WallE and I love video games.

2. WallE and I cannot wait until Wreck-It Ralph hits theaters.

So it only makes sense that we would be following the news on the Wreck-It Ralph tie-in video game. Now while we all know that movie tie-in games run a high risk of not living up to expectations for the film, or for games in general, there is a shed of hope for Wreck-It Ralph. After all, it is a game… based off a movie… that is based off of gaming. What could possibly go wrong? Well, don’t answer that as we have seen many a project that should have been a layup go wrong.

In the new teaser trailer, we take a quick look at Wreck-It Ralph but don’t get the opportunity to see his gameplay so that is what leads us to speculate. What is Wreck-It Ralph going to be like? Players have already been given the opportunity to play browser based versions of Hero’s Duty and Sugar Rush on the Wreck-It Ralph movie site as well as a Fix-It Felix iOS game.

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One aspect of LEGO games that has always stood out was the central hub location where players would go in and out of missions. Originally, this was a small location of only a few rooms that chapters could be explored by entering. This was the primary setup for LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones. More recently, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes changed this format with an open world Gotham for players to traverse and go into story missions when they saw fit. Now, Traveler’s Tales needs to switch up for the format again for LEGO The Lord of the Rings.

While it made sense in LEGO Batman’s world for the caped crusader to be able to travel around Gotham at his whim, that just isn’t the case with the tighter narrative that needs to be told during The Lord of the Rings. Even in LEGO format, The Lord of the Rings needs to have a clear beginning and ending location that players can’t just skip to. As anyone who has watched, or especially read The Lord of the Rings, it isn’t the destination that mattered to the story as much as it was the journey that got the heroes there.

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Now it’s no secret that the Flickcast team are fans of the original G1 Transformers as well as Highmoon Studios’ work on the franchise with Transformers: War for Cybertron and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. And when we have all seen the blockbuster abomination from Michael Bay, that doesn’t mean we are closed off to a reimagining of the robots in disguise. Most recently, this has come from Transformers Prime on the Hub network. And with all toy franchises, it was only a matter of time before a new game would be launched for it coming from NowPro.

The Flickcast has shown both the reveal of the game as well as the first gameplay foodtage for Transformers Prime: The Game. Now following the announcement that Transformers Prime: The Game will be a launch window title for the Wii U, we get to take a peek at some of the story for what Optimus and the rest of Team Prime are going to encounter. In the trailer after the jump, a new weapon is revealed that Megatron is intent on powering up to unleash devastation upon the Autobots and the rest of the world.

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One of the most intimidating prospects for a game developer may be the chance to work on a franchise they grew up loving. There is so much pressure put on themselves to uphold the high standards they set because they don’t want to let down themselves, other fans or the creators of it. But it also gives great opportunity for talented teams to make something special that can stand alongside other creative works associated with that franchise. Traveler’s Tales is one of those teams that has shown both love and respect for everything from Star Wars to Harry Potter in the LEGO universe and are undertaking the formidable legacy of The Lord of the Rings in their next game.

When you look at LEGO The Lord of the Rings at first, what you may notice first is the world going on behind the characters. There is a blend of both picturesque landscape combined with scenics from the films created out of LEGO. Much like they did with LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, LEGO The Lord of the Rings will have a large open world format with side quests for players to take part in instead of just following the story of the game.

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Because we know just how important Skylanders are to both geeks and the parents of young aspiring geeks, we’ve got the reveal trailer for the latest Giant coming to Skylanders Giants and he goes by the name Crusher. Now as much as you’d expect a wrestler looking behemoth, Crusher actually more closely resembles a stone golem with a massive hammer.

Though we haven’t gotten the chance to get hands on with any of these Giants yet, we are wondering just how they will play in comparison to their smaller Skylander counterparts. Aside from the special moves like moving heavy objects and pulling islands closer together with their chains, it looks like the Giants dole out massive damage to regular sized foes based on the trailer

Take a peek below at Crusher in action after the jump.

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After being announced by Activision as the top grossing toy line of last year, people are already lining up in anticipation of the release of Skylanders’ next endeavor, Skylanders Giants. To help satiate this group of kids, parents and gamers alike are the latest character reveals from Activision from Gamescom.

Gamescom brings two New Skylanders to the mix. While we have only seen three of the eight Giants, there are still a host of the smaller Skylanders which will be making a debut in Skylanders Giants. Chill is a new Water Skylander with a doublesided spear, the ability to toss ice bricks and even throw a narwhal at her opponents. The slingshot equipped Shroomboom is a Life Skylander that can launch himself or poisonous mushrooms at opponents or set up a barrier of the same mushrooms around himself to detonate.

Check out the full profiles of both new Skylanders and the latest Gamescom screen shots after the break and stay tuned to the Flickcast for more on Skylanders Giants before its Fall 2012 release.

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So while the Wii U most likely isn’t going to be the most epic or groundbreaking piece of hardware ever released, one thing you can almost certainly count on is it being sold out in stores day one. Especially after the massive shortages of the Wii, gamers and non-gamers alike are going to be ready to go and get the Wii U either for themselves or as that early Christmas purchase that is going to be so coveted come December 25th. But how do you make sure you get one of these on the very first day? The answer my fellow geeks is the midnight launch.

Now for those of you who have never attempted a midnight launch or overnight sale, here are some important pieces of advice that will help you survive (and hopefully enjoy) this risky endeavor. First is to figure out where you are going to get your system. Some stores like Gamestop will most likely be opening doors at midnight but they also do a preorder system. Make sure as soon as the Wii U goes up on preorder, you get one otherwise nothing else will matter if you show up to Gamestop and every one of their fifty systems already has a claim on it.

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The name itself is somewhat deceptive. LEGO Batman combined with the DC Super Heroes. Is it another entrant into the LEGO Batman franchise or the start of a new series focusing on more of the greater DC universe? And with trailers featuring members of the Justice League, why didn’t they go with LEGO Justice League or at least LEGO Batman 2: Justice League? LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes gives a lot of what is expected as well as some interesting gameplay and story design choices as well.

Gameplay:

At its core, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is a puzzle solving game with light combat elements. Players must figure out how to traverse from point A to point B in a room using the special techniques and powers of the game’s heroes. Both Batman and Robin have multiple suits, each with different power sets, to aid in this and are aided by Superman’s unique abilities later on. Superman can’t walk through electric fields, but Batman has a suit that can. Robin can’t melt gold beams but Superman can shoot his heat vision to accomplish the task. And for some reason, Robin has both a hazard suit to clean up toxic waste and a snow suit which lets him freeze stuff.

Interspersed between puzzles is light combat. Enemies can often be taken out in a single hit and multiple targets can go down quickly with a quick shot from the batarang. Combat is also one of the fundamentals that hurts the gameplay. During the levels where players can be both Superman and Batman or in a later level where players can be Wonder Woman, both characters are essentially invincible. There is no threat as they have steel health hearts and cannot take damage. And because both can fly as well, there is no fear of them falling during platforming sections. The second players realize this, the excitement of the combat sections is lost.

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If there was ever a movie to not surprise us with a tie-in video game announcement, Wreck-It Ralph would be it. What is surprising though is that the video game adaptation of Wreck-It Ralph, the Disney animated flick that revolves around a video game villain who wants to become the hero, is being limited to only the Nintendo platforms.

In the film Wreck-It Ralph, characters from all over gaming’s past and present make cameos from those we have seen to what is sure to be a bunch of star studded surprises as well. Whether that happens in the game remains to be seen.

Here’s the official word from Activision:

Get ready for classic arcade video game action with a whole new modern look and feel as Activision Publishing Inc. and Disney Interactive today announced a collaboration to produce and distribute a Wreck-It Ralph video game. As a story extension to the highly anticipated upcoming blockbuster film of the same name from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the Wreck-It Ralph video game is set to inspire a whole new generation of young gamers as a classic, arcade-style side scroller featuring Ralph – the misunderstood villain of his own arcade game who sets out to prove he can be a hero too.

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After a two game hiatus since Beenox took control of the Spider-Man franchise, the webcrawler is returning to New York City with the tie-in release of The Amazing Spider-Man. It’s what fans of the series have wanted. As much as a linear experience has helped with the storytelling of the previous two Beenox games, it prevented them from capturing the true feel of the best games of the character’s past. Swinging through an epic metropolis at breakneck speeds is what being Spider-Man is all about.

In the developer diary after the jump, The Amazing-Spider-Man’s executive producer Brent Nicholas walks us through some gameplay footage that shows just how exciting Beenox’s take on swinging through the city is. One thing they point out is how the camera draws in closer to Spidey during his swings and drops as a way to show how fast the player is falling. Hopefully this won’t affect the ease of swinging through because of the limited view.

This trailer also gives more perspective on the Web Rush.  Using the web rush ability, players are able to more accurately travel through NYC by deciding where their lines will actually be shot instead of just depending on the game to choose for them.

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When we revealed the LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes “Open World” trailer, we also heard the first glimpse of the newly voiced LEGO Batman and Superman. Now, with their latest trailer, Traveler’s Tales lets us take a peek at more of the LEGO DC Super Hero family in action with voices for the first time.

In the video after the jump, Batman, Superman, the Joker and the Riddler are all finally seen in their full LEGO glory. Instead of being restricted to physical humor, an additional layer of depth is added to the LEGO games franchises by allowing characters to be voiced for the first time. Batman does a try hard gritty imitation of Christian Bale from the recent Nolan trilogy.

Superman seems like more of an airhead than ever. And the combination of the two has the makings of comedy gold. Just from the two interactions between the two stars from the trailer, there are already so many more potential character building set ups now available to the duo. Add in voice to the rest of the cast and this could very well be the best LEGO game yet.

Take a look at the full LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes trailer below and stick to the Flickcast for more as LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes hits all major gaming platforms next week on June 19th.

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When Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure came out, Activision was likely hoping to cash in on the name recognition of Spyro to get their product off the ground. Now, not even a full year since the game came out, this E3 trailer shows that they know that Spyro is no driving force behind their game and that the Skylanders franchise has taken on a life of its own with the last game’s title character not even appearing in this new story trailer for Skylanders Giants.

In this trailer, both new and old characters are given distinct voices and personalities as they discuss the myths about the Giants that will become the focus of Skylanders Giants this fall. What is most interesting is that the trailer specifically says, “Over 40 new characters”. This is a much higher number than originally announced which had stated only eight new Skylanders and eight Giants would be coming to the new title. This may have been prompted by Activision’s announcement that Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and the figures were such a huge seller since its release.

Take a peek after the jump at the latest story trailer for Skylanders Giants and let us know your thoughts.

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When movie makers started taking toy lines from twenty years ago and made it into movies like Transformers or G.I. Joe, the concepts at least made sense. But when Battleship was announced that it was coming to the big screen, the only thing more frightening than what would appear on screen was the chance that a game adaptation of the film might be made as well. Traditionally movie tie-in games are quick cash ins to coincide with the film’s release, a few exceptions being the much beloved Spider-Man 2 or X-Men Origins: Wolverine games. Now, a strategy game that started on a table top using red and white peg and miniature ships has made its way to the world of movie tie-in first person shooters.

Gameplay

Battleship consists of two main gameplay aspects. Where players will spend most of their time is in a traditional military FPS. While traversing the tropical beaches of Hawaii, players’ choices are limited to three human weapons, a pistol, a shotgun and a carbine, two alien weapons, one resembling a turret gun and another similar to a sniper rifle, and grenades. The lack of variety of weapons or just the sheer lack of different weapons is disappointing as it doesn’t feel like the game really gives a player the opportunity to progress and earn better items. In terms of control, the game moves and shoots in a fairly standard manner, not doing much to try and set itself apart from other shooter combat scenarios but still at least getting the basics right.

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