The Flickcast

Gamescom 2013: ‘Skylanders SWAP Force’ Character Reveals

Posted on August 23, 2013

With Gamescom came a slew of announcements from Activision. While you’ve probably already seen the latest BTS on Destiny or heard the news on Call of Duty: Ghosts, you may have not been privy to an exciting tidbit about Skylanders SWAP Force. In addition to revealing two new Core characters and two new SWAP Force characters, Skylanders SWAP Force will be making its way to the next gen consoles.

Though the specific release dates are not set, the Skylanders SWAP Force will be on the XBox One and PlayStation 4. As you’ll see in the screens below, the engine behind the game is able to take the simple and cartoonish style of Skylanders SWAP Force and translate it to gorgeous next gen visuals.

Take a look below at the profiles and vignettes for Zoo Lou, Slobber Tooth, Grilla Drilla and Boom Jet as well as a horde of next gen screen shots as well.

Spoilers! What Is the Statute of Limitations On “Spoilers”?

Posted on August 22, 2013

When did “Spoilers!” become a thing? It used to be understood that when a movie was in the theater you didn’t talk about the ending in a public place. It was also understood that if an episode of a TV show ran, it would be fair game at the water cooler the next day. But then habits changed.

Books became movies. Comics were sold as trades. TV could be DVR’ed or sold as a full season at a reasonable price. And then things changed and the way people behaved changed with it. And M. Night Shyamalan made Bruce Willis a ghost. (Oh, calm down! The title even read spoilers!)

Unfortunately, few things are kept sacred and spoiler free. Right now that seems limited to Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead comics. Even with Twitter pages and hashtags galore, these are still people who have been able to avoid what happens in season 3, episode 9 of Game of Thrones on HBO. Similarly, I was able to make it to the trade released six months after issue #100 of The Walking Dead without finding out the issue’s pivotal plot point.

But that seems to be where it ends. So the question becomes when is it safe to talk about what you’ve seen, heard or read?

Gamescom 2013: Sony Gives PS4 Release Date After Microsoft Maintains Radio Silence on XBox One

Posted on August 21, 2013

Another shot was fired in the next gen console arms race at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany with Sony’s announcement of the PlayStation 4’s release date. Sony lauded the PlayStation 4’s release date of November 15th in a number of countries including the US. What was most noticeable though was that Microsoft said nothing during their Gamescom presentation about the release date for the XBox One. Much like E3 where Microsoft making announcements about the XBox One hours before Sony fired off retaliatory comments, Microsoft was scheduled prior to Sony’s conference. This time though, Microsoft chose silence as the safer route.

Instantly, the flame war arouse online with Sony fanboys taking shots at Microsoft and Microsoft fanboys rising to the XBox One’s defense. On some level, it may come across as cowardly for Microsoft to be silent. Instead of coming out looking for a fight by letting the release date of the XBox One out and trying to stand tall, they held back. Strategically though, it was a move they almost had to make. Shy of saying to the world “And it’s out tomorrow”, Microsoft was at risk of Sony letting the PlayStation 4 release date be a week earlier than whatever Microsoft announced.

This next gen console war has already shown that Sony is aggressively taking the fight to Microsoft with the PlayStation 4. So instead of the story being PlayStation vs. XBox, PlayStation gets the attention and then in a week when Microsoft decides to let out their own release date the stories for the mainstream audience will be solely Microsoft focused and finally allowing Microsoft the opportunity to even release earlier than the PlayStation 4.

‘Grand Theft Auto Online’ Will Take Over Your Life

Posted on August 20, 2013

If you’ve ever played a PlayStation 2, you probably spent a good chunk of that time going through Liberty City as Claude picking up hookers and killing them to get your money back, high speed chases and just general mayhem in Grand Theft Auto 3. The open world was something unlike any game had offered before. Since, GTA has spawned numerous sequels and add-on packs as well as delved into the online world for the first time in Grand Theft Auto IV. With Grand Theft Auto V a month away, Rockstar has added a very large extra incentive to get players hopping onto the GTA V train.

While Grand Theft Auto V will launch on September 17th, on October 1st there will be the release of Grand Theft Auto Online. This will be a multiplayer focused open world with just as much creative freedom as Grand Theft Auto V itself has. In addition to unlockable story pieces, players will accumulate credit to use on rides, housing and gear. This will give a level of customization not found in the single player campaign of Grand Theft Auto V.

The Flickcast – Episode 216: The Dark Knight Has Fallen

Posted on August 16, 2013

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Joe once again dig deep into all the geek news, views, and more, you could possibly need. The boys kick it off this time around with a discussion on “Blockbuster” screenwriting and movies and the recent interview with writer Damon Lindelof.

There’s also more discussion on Expendables 3 and the final casting for the movie and the success and relative merits of World War Z. Then, they shift gears and talk about who should play Batman in the next movie now that Christian Bale is out. Who do they like? You’ll just have to listen.

They also get into other topics like the absurd charms of the movie Olympus Has Fallen, a recent fan poll ranking Star Trek movies that put Into Darkness last, even after the parody movie Galaxy Quest, recent leaks of trailers for X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy, the current state of sci-fi movies and a whole lot more.

This weeks picks include Joe’s pick of the A&E TV series Longmire and Chris’ pick of the recent sci-fi movie Europa Report.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook, Google+ or via email.

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Movie Review: ‘Jobs’

Posted on August 16, 2013

Why they didn’t go with the title jObs is anyone’s guess.

At the end of the film, we see a comparison between the actors and the people they played, none of whom are credited. And despite spending two hours with these fellows, there aren’t many you could name. Cliched as it is to say, but that’s a metaphor for the entire film — it’s so concerned with covering all the major events in the history of Apple Computers and simply the looks of its founders and key people that it misses the mark giving the viewer a sense of what made founder Steve Jobs tick.

Granted, the movie opens with a fantastic scene of Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) announcing the iPod. Kutcher’s inflection, body language, and script are dead-on as he builds the audience’s anticipation, teasing them with hints and pauses and mere suggestions — there’s a mix of delight and arrogance that’s electric. Even if you’ve never heard Jobs speak, the performance still conveys the feeling of being in the presence of a great man at the peak of his strengths

It’s too bad the film likewise peaks in this scene. We flash back to Jobs’ college years where we’re told he’s a renegade, a rebel, the guy who doesn’t wear shoes and drops acid and casually mentions to a fling that he has a girlfriend He takes a hit in a field with his girlfriend (Amanda Crew) and after copious amounts of dancing, he lies back, restless. His girlfriend queries, “You’re thinking about your parents, aren’t you?” a tear rolls down Steve’s cheek, and the audience laughs.

How Can You See Through Nostalgia Colored Glasses?

Posted on August 15, 2013

Since we heard the announcement, WallE and I have eagerly anticipated the release of Ducktales Remastered. We didn’t want to get our hopes up because we have seen HD versions of games screw it up, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. But with Capcom, we had a little more faith as they have shown us they can do retro right. Whether it was updates on retro titles or making retro styled games like the most recent Mega Man titles, Capcom had figured out the formula. Don’t change stuff. Just make it look better when possible.

Today after a war with a PSN ID, WallE purchased and downloaded Ducktales Remastered. And as fun as it was to see the new fully animated sprites in the 2.5 D world, I just don’t feel comfortable reviewing the game. Not because it is a bad game by any means but because I can’t tell how much of what I love about it is based off the game itself or just my memory of both the game and the franchise. The mechanics and challenge are still there but if I had not had the level of investment in Ducktales, would I care about Ducktales Remastered as much as I do?

‘Everquest Next’ Beta Signup is Live

Posted on August 14, 2013

Fifteen years ago I almost started an arduous trek down a very dangerous rabbit hole. I installed Everquest on my PC and luckily most of my friends weren’t playing so I avoided its clutches. I then saw the power of it in full effect with my roommate my Freshman year of college as I had a roommate who literally spent 14 hour binges without leaving his desk.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a gamer and have gone to extremes but even that was a bit too much for me. Since, I have carefully navigated past the waters of various MMOs like City of Heroes, World of Warcraft and DC Universe Online only getting just a taste and not allowing myself to be caught in their web.

Just over a week ago, those who have been stuck in the Evercrack trap found out they will be returning to it with Everquest Next. While Everquest II floundered, players maintained a strong base into Everquest even well into the days of World of Warcraft’s reign. Now, they will be rewarded with a new MMO that redefines the rules for what people expect from a massively multiplayer online RPG. You’ll be able to see a highlight of all the new features in the video below.

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