The Flickcast

‘Defense Grid 2’ is Coming

Posted on April 26, 2013

The little tower defense game that could keeps on trucking with the official announcement of the sequel to Defense Grid set for 2014. Way back in 2009 during Comic-Con, I got the chance to get hands on with the original Defense Grid before it went to XBox Live Arcade.

Though not being a tower defense guy, I couldn’t stop playing (until the game beat me into submission). Then with the “You Monster” DLC pack that put even more levels, but this time with a Portal theme, at my disposal, I was hooked again.

During our Kickstarter Watch, we put a spotlight on Defense Grid in hopes of helping Hidden Path reach their goal that would eventually lead to the release of Defense Grid 2. Though the million dollar goal wasn’t hit, this bit of news was released yesterday:

Apple’s Developer Conference Sells Out In Minutes, But There’s An Alternative

Posted on April 25, 2013

If you’re a developer of software for Mac OS X or iOS, the event you probably want to go to is Apple’s WWDC in San Francisco. That is, if you can get a ticket.

Turns out tickets went on sale today and sold out in minutes. That’s great for Apple and those who managed to complete their purchases without errors, but what about the rest of the Apple developer community that’s been left out in the cold?

Fortunately, there’s an alternative. It’s called AltWWDC, is organized by the folks behind Appsterdam, runs June 10-14 and best of all, it’s free.

Some of the folks expected to speak at the event include Mike Lee, Saul Mora, Steve “Scotty” Scott and a couple of my old TUAW colleagues, Brett Terpstra and Victor Agreda, Jr. The event takes place at the downtown campus of San Francisco State University, which is only a block from Moscone Center where Apple’s WWDC is held.

New ‘Monsters University’ Trailer Arrives

Posted on April 25, 2013

This looks pretty fun. Look for the movie to arrive on June 21. Meantime, enjoy the trailer below.

Don’t Worry PS3 and Windows Users, ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops II Uprising’ DLC Is Coming for You

Posted on April 25, 2013

Sometimes those XBox 360 users have all the fun, right? That may be what you’re thinking if you’re a user of the PS3 or a Windows PC to get your gaming on and are waiting patiently for some great DLC content like Call of Duty: Black Ops II Uprising.

Well, fear not, as your wait has ended. That’s right, beginning May 16, you PS3 and Windows PC users will have the opportunity to play Uprising, Activision and Treyarch’s DLC Map Pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. This rather cool map pack includes four new multiplayer maps as well as the “Mob of the Dead”, which takes players to Alcatraz island and pits you against hordes of flesh-eating zombies.

But that’s not all, the “Mob of the Dead” also features a cool twist: you take on said zombies in the shoes of one of four Prohibition-era mobsters, which are voiced by some major Hollywood actors: Billy Handsome (Ray Liotta), Al “The Weasel” Arlington (Joe Pantoliano), Salvatore “Sal” DeLuca (Chaz Palminteri), and Michael “Finn” O’Leary (Michael Madsen). All four are serving time in Alcatraz Prison, only to discover that being behind bars is the least of their problems.

Study Says the Most Reliable Windows PC In the World Is a Mac

Posted on April 25, 2013

As fans of Apple and its products, we love things like this. Sure, these kinds of results should be taken with a grain (or three) of salt, but still, it’s kinda cool to see and makes us love Apple stuff even more.

What are we talking about? Well, this week ZDNet reports that based on a new study from Soluto, which uses “data from its massive online database of PC crashes, hangs, and performance metrics to identify the 10 most reliable Windows PCs you can buy today”, the most reliable Windows PC in the world is a 13″ Retina MacBook Pro running Windows via Boot Camp.

How abou that? According to the study, the MacBook Pro is “at the top of the list” with other hardware like the Acer Aspire E1-571, the Dell XPS 13, the Dell Vostro 3560, the Acer Aspire V3-771 and Apple’s 15-inch Retina-equipped MacBook Pro taking the next spots.

What about other vendors like Toshiba, Lenovo or market leader HP? Yeah, they don’t even crack the top ten. Sad, but true.

So, if you need to run Windows and are looking for the best, most reliable hardware out there to run it on, guess you should get a Mac. We’re not really surprised. We could have told you that.

First Look: Michelangelo in ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’

Posted on April 25, 2013

If you’re close to my age, one of your favorite video game memories is most likely being in the arcade playing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game in all its side scrolling, beat-em-up glory. With the upcoming downloadable title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, we may get to relive our past glory while a whole new generation gets to experience it for the first time (without pumping the arcade machine full of $27 in quarters.

In the latest trailer, we get to take a look at Michelangelo in action. The first thing you’ll notice is that the combat doesn’t resemble that of a simple brawler as the moves done by Mikey more closely mimic that of the Batman: Arkham franchise. Combat looks to have a dynamic feel, and though there are bound to be some canned animations (like Mikey’s head spin) it appears as though there will be a plethora of different moves happening during a fight as opposed to a few basic swinging animations from the classic arcade series.

In 27 Days the Date Will Be Announced For the Next-Gen Xbox Announcement

Posted on April 24, 2013

In somewhat of an ominous email I, and probably nearly every Xbox Live member, received today from Microsoft, a date has been announced for the folks at Redmond to reveal their next generation gaming console. A day past 3 months after Sony held their presentation for the Playstation 4, M$ will lay it out for everyone on May 21st at 1pm EDT/10am PDT.

Rumors have flowed a plenty about what the next Xbox (720? Durango? Fandango?) will feature, from features like an updated or even built in Kinect sensor, HDMI passthrough letting it act like a cable box, whether or not it will support Blu-Ray media, to screams that it won’t be able to play used games.

Hopefully most, if not all, the rumors out there will be answered during the presentation, and maybe we’ll even see what the damn system will look like (unlike the Playstation 4, which we’re still waiting on…).

Watch the announcement live May 21, 1pm EDT/10am PDT on Xbox Live, Xbox.com or Spike TV.

Game Review: ‘Injustice: Gods Among Us’ for XBox 360

Posted on April 24, 2013

After the long wait since first seeing glimpses at San Diego Comic-Con last Summer, Injustice: Gods Among Us arrived last week. After all the hype behind it with its roster of heroes and villains facing off against each other in a Mortal Kombat style fighting engine, “What could go wrong?” we pondered. Famous last words right? Well, luckily the team behind Injustice: Gods Among Us at NetherRealm Studios pulled through and gave the best DC fighting experience to date that could possibly rival that of the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

The Long

On the surface, there is a huge appeal to seeing who could win in a fight between Batman and Superman. Comic fans won’t deny that but to create a successful fighter, NetherRealm couldn’t play by traditional comic book rules. While Superman and Batman may be on a level playing field in a comic setting where brain matters as much as brawn, no one is ever going to believe that the Green Arrow can beat up Superman or Doomsday… like ever (sorry Arrow fans). So while the appeal of the game is the premise, it is the nuts and bolts under the hood of Injustice: Gods Among Us that make it a solid fighter.

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