Saturday March 26 - XBOX ALL NIGHTER
Crysis 2
Monday March 28 - MUSIC MONDAY
Rock Band 3
Tuesday March 29 - FAMILY GAME NIGHT
NBA JAM - Live Arcade
PLAY Fight Night with EA Developers
Wednesday March 30 - GAMERCHiX LADIES NIGHT
Borderlands
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Xbox Live Event Calendar March 26 - 31
Saturday March 26 - XBOX ALL NIGHTER
Crysis 2
Monday March 28 - MUSIC MONDAY
Rock Band 3
Tuesday March 29 - FAMILY GAME NIGHT
NBA JAM - Live Arcade
PLAY Fight Night with EA Developers
Wednesday March 30 - GAMERCHiX LADIES NIGHT
Borderlands
Comics to Video Games: Nick Fury @ Comicvine.com
Comics to Video Games: Nick Fury
Added by Ray "StrongProtector' Carsillo on March 24, 2011 from COMICVINE.COM
Nick Fury's appeared in games before, but what could he do in his own stand alone title?
Nick Fury is one of the Marvel universe’s most important movers and shakers and his history is a long and storied one. World War II hero. Longest ever tenured director of SHIELD. Master manipulator of heroes and villains alike. But Nick Fury has never been the most dynamic of characters by his lonesome and is best known, especially nowadays, as working with a large group of people, whether leading a group of heroes or pulling strings behind the scenes in order to get to what he feels is best for the security of the world. So how could we make Nick the centerpiece of his own game while still playing to this strength?
The easy way out of an article like this would’ve been to just make this some World War II first-person shooter. But we’ve all seen that before and it’s not like Nick has some super powers to mix things up a bit. Plus, you move away from the group dynamic that I think Nick needs. No, this game would have to take place in the modern era and so I recommend featuring the Secret Warriors and making a hybrid game that combines RPG and gameplay elements from a game like Mass Effect 2 and action elements from a game like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
The first problem we would need to consult is the plot and that Nick doesn’t typically leave one of his many secret bases unless it is a severe threat or he is meeting with someone in person (and even then it might just be a Life Model Decoy). Luckily, HYDRA and Leviathan have been pretty busy lately in the comics and keeping Nick active and so this could be our reason for him to have that more hands on approach.
Baron von Strucker would be a logical choice for an antagonist in Fury's game.
I’ve never been good at coming up with a great conspiracy theory, but I’m sure Jonathan Hickman would be willing to lend a hand on fleshing out the plot since we’re using the characters he’s currently writing and could help come up with an original story since we know all the players who will be involved. We have the Secret Warriors, Leviathan, and HYDRA all mixing it up once again for the fate of the free world. Contessa and Baron von Strucker would have to make an appearance somewhere I’m sure.
Now to get back into the gameplay. Much like Mass Effect 2, we’ll have Nick take point of a three-person party with the other two party members being chosen from the Secret Warriors. What would be interesting about this dynamic is while Nick is taking headshots at HYDRA agents, depending on whom you chose from the team, you could have Quake stunning enemies with concentrated seismic tremors while Druid acts like a mage from a fantasy based RPG boosting powers or casting spells from a distance to help strike down the foes of freedom. I’m still not sure if we’ll have Phobos or Hellfire available since they’re technically dead at this point, but this would still give you five Secret Warriors for Fury to choose from as he hops around the world quelling threat after threat.
The Secret Warriors would assist Nick in most of the game's missions.
It wouldn’t be an RPG though if there wasn’t a leveling up system. I still might include a morality meter like in Mass Effect 2, at least for how the team reacts to Nick, but the traditional leveling up system will be very different. Sure, you can upgrade powers, health, and weapons depending on what character is leveling, but Nick Fury is known for having many pieces in motion at once on his worldwide chessboard. So instead of there being a shared XP system like in most RPGs and everyone leveling up rather evenly, team members who are not with Nick on certain missions can be assigned various secondary tasks, much like your assassin trainees in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and in only that way can they level up while you’re out performing your plot required duties. For example, if you always use Slingshot and Stonewall on your team, but then a mission comes up where Eden Fesi's teleportation powers might prove interesting and you haven’t been sending him on secondary missions, he might not be able to pull his own weight on the plot’s primary mission you want to use him for.
Nick will do whatever is necessary in order to complete the mission.
Another aspect of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood I want to incorporate is the parkour movement aspect. Many, if not all RPGs, can feel very stiff when it comes to movement. Nick Fury is a secret agent though in peak physical condition and has trained all the members of the Secret Warriors himself. So why not have it where you can pull the camera back a little and climb and sneak through various bases and scenarios with your teammates to give it that real espionage feel? Or even have sections where you can choose to have members of your team break off from the group. Have Slingshot race around to the side of a base and flank your enemies or provide a distraction while Nick climbs up and crawls through some ventilation ducts. These choices could really provide a deep strategy aspect to the game as you try to decide what teammates to bring and how to progress through a level.
Another staple of Nick Fury stories is that he has a lot of flashbacks so even though we don’t want to make it the focus, we could have a couple of World War II levels to set up certain missions where Nick teams up with Captain America, Bucky, and/or Wolverine. This could help draw people in with some more name recognition and provide some variety incase we only use the five remaining members of the Secret Warriors as team choices. Or maybe have a few levels where Nick's agenda could go against those of the Avengers or other heroes to really put a twist on things as Nick and the Secret Warriors could face off against friends and allies.
So what do you think of a possible Nick Fury espionage RPG with his Secret Warriors? What twists and turns could be made to the plot? Should Nick call in favors from some more well-known heroes in the Marvel universe for cameos?
Added by Ray "StrongProtector' Carsillo on March 24, 2011 from COMICVINE.COM
Nick Fury's appeared in games before, but what could he do in his own stand alone title?
Nick Fury is one of the Marvel universe’s most important movers and shakers and his history is a long and storied one. World War II hero. Longest ever tenured director of SHIELD. Master manipulator of heroes and villains alike. But Nick Fury has never been the most dynamic of characters by his lonesome and is best known, especially nowadays, as working with a large group of people, whether leading a group of heroes or pulling strings behind the scenes in order to get to what he feels is best for the security of the world. So how could we make Nick the centerpiece of his own game while still playing to this strength?
The easy way out of an article like this would’ve been to just make this some World War II first-person shooter. But we’ve all seen that before and it’s not like Nick has some super powers to mix things up a bit. Plus, you move away from the group dynamic that I think Nick needs. No, this game would have to take place in the modern era and so I recommend featuring the Secret Warriors and making a hybrid game that combines RPG and gameplay elements from a game like Mass Effect 2 and action elements from a game like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
The first problem we would need to consult is the plot and that Nick doesn’t typically leave one of his many secret bases unless it is a severe threat or he is meeting with someone in person (and even then it might just be a Life Model Decoy). Luckily, HYDRA and Leviathan have been pretty busy lately in the comics and keeping Nick active and so this could be our reason for him to have that more hands on approach.
Baron von Strucker would be a logical choice for an antagonist in Fury's game.
I’ve never been good at coming up with a great conspiracy theory, but I’m sure Jonathan Hickman would be willing to lend a hand on fleshing out the plot since we’re using the characters he’s currently writing and could help come up with an original story since we know all the players who will be involved. We have the Secret Warriors, Leviathan, and HYDRA all mixing it up once again for the fate of the free world. Contessa and Baron von Strucker would have to make an appearance somewhere I’m sure.
Now to get back into the gameplay. Much like Mass Effect 2, we’ll have Nick take point of a three-person party with the other two party members being chosen from the Secret Warriors. What would be interesting about this dynamic is while Nick is taking headshots at HYDRA agents, depending on whom you chose from the team, you could have Quake stunning enemies with concentrated seismic tremors while Druid acts like a mage from a fantasy based RPG boosting powers or casting spells from a distance to help strike down the foes of freedom. I’m still not sure if we’ll have Phobos or Hellfire available since they’re technically dead at this point, but this would still give you five Secret Warriors for Fury to choose from as he hops around the world quelling threat after threat.
The Secret Warriors would assist Nick in most of the game's missions.
It wouldn’t be an RPG though if there wasn’t a leveling up system. I still might include a morality meter like in Mass Effect 2, at least for how the team reacts to Nick, but the traditional leveling up system will be very different. Sure, you can upgrade powers, health, and weapons depending on what character is leveling, but Nick Fury is known for having many pieces in motion at once on his worldwide chessboard. So instead of there being a shared XP system like in most RPGs and everyone leveling up rather evenly, team members who are not with Nick on certain missions can be assigned various secondary tasks, much like your assassin trainees in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and in only that way can they level up while you’re out performing your plot required duties. For example, if you always use Slingshot and Stonewall on your team, but then a mission comes up where Eden Fesi's teleportation powers might prove interesting and you haven’t been sending him on secondary missions, he might not be able to pull his own weight on the plot’s primary mission you want to use him for.
Nick will do whatever is necessary in order to complete the mission.
Another aspect of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood I want to incorporate is the parkour movement aspect. Many, if not all RPGs, can feel very stiff when it comes to movement. Nick Fury is a secret agent though in peak physical condition and has trained all the members of the Secret Warriors himself. So why not have it where you can pull the camera back a little and climb and sneak through various bases and scenarios with your teammates to give it that real espionage feel? Or even have sections where you can choose to have members of your team break off from the group. Have Slingshot race around to the side of a base and flank your enemies or provide a distraction while Nick climbs up and crawls through some ventilation ducts. These choices could really provide a deep strategy aspect to the game as you try to decide what teammates to bring and how to progress through a level.
Another staple of Nick Fury stories is that he has a lot of flashbacks so even though we don’t want to make it the focus, we could have a couple of World War II levels to set up certain missions where Nick teams up with Captain America, Bucky, and/or Wolverine. This could help draw people in with some more name recognition and provide some variety incase we only use the five remaining members of the Secret Warriors as team choices. Or maybe have a few levels where Nick's agenda could go against those of the Avengers or other heroes to really put a twist on things as Nick and the Secret Warriors could face off against friends and allies.
So what do you think of a possible Nick Fury espionage RPG with his Secret Warriors? What twists and turns could be made to the plot? Should Nick call in favors from some more well-known heroes in the Marvel universe for cameos?
Free Hellraiser Prelude Comic Online
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Review: Streets of Gotham #21 from Gotham Knights Online
Review – Streets of Gotham #21
Title: The House of Hush Finale
Written by: Paul Dini
Art by: Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs
Cover by: Dustin Nguyen
Release Date: March 23, 2011
Official DC Snyopsis: The sequel to “Heart of Hush” concludes! The life of Tommy Elliot takes a shocking new turn as “House of Hush” reaches its final soul-searing chapter. Secrets are revealed, lives are torn apart and a deadly new villain rises to threaten the existence of Batman and his allies.
Review by: Cesar Rodriguez
Well, it’s here, the final issue of Streets of Gotham has arrived. All the characters and plots that Dini has been building over the last several months finally reach their climax in this concluding issue. Looking back at the entire series, if there is one character who stole the spotlight more than any other, it was definitely Hush. Dini obviously must have come to really love the character during his stint on Detective Comics, because it often felt like he couldn’t resist using him on this title repeatedly. Not that I’m complaining, because quite frankly he made Hush into kind of a bad ass. This chapter opens with Hush betraying his new ‘allies’, Judson Pierce and Doctor Death, only to then be captured by a very unsuspecting villain after trying to settle his own score by himself. Those friends of his really could have come in handy right about now. Pierce, while dying from a gunshot, then remembers how he came to this point by showing us in flashback just why he spent so many years in prison. After awakening Dr. Death, the two of them manage to escape but Pierce unfortunately has a little chemical accident, and if you read comics you know that for some reason strange chemicals always have a handy way of bringing out the most bizarre side effects, as opposed to deadly infection of course.
What’s great about this issue is that it really does feel like the final issue of a long story as many of the characters undergo some sort of change that wraps up their story for the time being. It looks like Pierce may have a future as a new addition to Batmans ever growing rogues gallery, and Hush… well, let’s just say that he won’t be posing as Bruce Wayne any longer. At the same time, it’s obvious that Dini had plans for many more issues as there were several subplots that were laid out but now abandoned (Catwoman, Bedbug) now that the book is being canceled. This certainly isn’t the end of Dini’s career on Batman, as he has a new mini series coming up, so there may be a chance that any future plans he had may be brought to another title someday. Dustin Nguyen’s art will probably be the first thing that pops into my head when I think about this book,as he brought his unique art style to render what is definitely the best rogues gallery in all comics, and while his work on Batgirl is great as well, I feel like his style just works so much better when dealing with the scummy and twisted villains of Gotham.
As a huge fan of crime fiction and film noir, I remember when Streets of Gotham was first announced and being quite intrigued by the street level nature of what at the time promised to be a successor to Gotham Central, a book I continually champion as being one of the best comic books ever made. It turned out that while Streets of Gotham was indeed a gritty street level comic, it chose to focus on the other side of the law, which I feel is just as interesting of a premise. I’m going to miss reviewing Streets of Gotham, especially considering that this was the first book that I was given to review for this website, and while not every issue was a home run, it sure was a fun ride. Obviously the adventures of Batman, and the various villains who appeared throughout this comic will never end, but with so many Bat-titles these days it is probably for the best to trim out a few.
Score: 3.5/5
Link to GKO website/review:
Review – Streets of Gotham #21
Boom! Studios To Distribute Avatar Press Graphic Trades
BOOM! Studios announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Avatar Press to distribute their graphic novels to the book trade. This agreement will see BOOM! distributing Avatar to the United States via BOOM!’s existing relationship with Simon & Schuster and Canadian distribution through BOOM!’s existing relationship through HarperCollins Canada.
The new BOOM! Studios/Avatar mass market partnership sees two of the top ten Direct Market publishers teaming in up for a unique relationship, extending both brands into the mass market.
“The Avatar library is an excellent compliment to the existing BOOM! list that doesn’t cannibalize our Studios and KABOOM! offerings, but rounds out what we are already doing,” said Founder and CEO of BOOM! Studios Ross Richie. “Avatars’ CEO William Christensen is a brilliant businessman and has a proven track record of great Direct Market success. Avatar has great growth potential in the mass market book trade, and we look forward to being an excellent partner in their continued expansion!”
“Distributing via BOOM!, Simon and Schuster, and HarperCollins enables Avatar to bring its world-renowned, best-selling catalog of the biggest creators in the business to a wider audience,” said Avatar Press publisher William Christensen. “Top talent like Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, and Garth Ennis continue to show sales growth and fan interest.”
Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Canada begins distribution of Avatar Press’ eclectic line of independent graphic novels on March 21, 2011 and will also begin accepting returns as of that date. Diamond Comics Distributors Inc. will continue to accept returns for all Avatar Press books up until March 20, 2011.
BOOM! Studios began distributing their original and licensed graphic novels through Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Canada in July 2009.
Avatar Press is known for publishing such comic book luminaries as Alan Moore (NEONOMICON), Garth Ennis (CROSSED, CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD), Warren Ellis (FREAKANGELS, BLACK SUMMER), as well as New York Times bestselling author George R.R. Martin (FEVRE DREAM) and licensed comics based on George A. Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.simonandschuster.com.
HarperCollins Canada publishes fiction, non-fiction, and books for children, as well as religious and reference books. HarperCollins imprints in Canada include HarperCollins, Harper Perennial, HarperTrophyCanada, Collins, and Phyllis Bruce Books. These imprints publish many of Canada’s finest writers, including Bonnie Burnard, Charlotte Gray, Lawrence Hill, Barbara Kingsolver and Kenneth Oppel as well as writers and leading authorities from Canada and around the world, such as Nick Cave, Tim Flannery, Theo Fleury, J.L. Granatstein, and General Rick Hillier. For more information, please visit http://www.harpercollins.ca.
About Avatar Press
Avatar Press is a leading independent company publishing a wide variety of comic books and graphic novels by the most talented and celebrated creators in the industry. Among their fine products are highly-regarded creator-owned titles such as George R.R. Martin’s FEVRE DREAM, Alan Moore’s NEONOMICON and WRITING FOR COMICS, Warren Ellis’ FREAKANGELS and BLACK SUMMER, and Garth Ennis’ CROSSED and CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD, as well as licensed comic projects including NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. For more information about Avatar Press and their publications, please visit www.avatarpress.com or contact info@avatarpress.net.
About BOOM! Studios
Award-winning “Best Publisher” BOOM! Studios (www.boom-studios.com) generates a constellation of bestselling comic books and graphic novels with the industry’s top talent, including Mark Waid series IRREDEEMABLE, Stan Lee’s SOLDIER ZERO, THE TRAVELER, and STARBORN (the first new series in print from the industry icon in 20 years), new HELLRAISER comics written by Clive Barker as well as 20th Century Fox’s PLANET OF THE APES, 28 DAYS LATER, and DIE HARD, Philip K. Dick’s DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, and The Henson Company’s FARSCAPE. BOOM!’s recently rebranded all-ages imprint, kaboom! will see publication of PEANUTS, SPACE WARPED, Roger Langridge’s SNARKED!, Scholastic’s WORD GIRL and DUCK TALES, as well as continuing to publish fan-favorite Disney Afternoon series DARKWING DUCK, CHIP ‘N’ DALE RESCUE RANGERS along with Disney standards MICKEY MOUSE, DONALD DUCK, UNCLE SCROOGE, and WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND STORIES.
Bryan Singer Owns His Mistakes On Superman Returns
Another (semi) FAIL.
The best interviews are always, always the candid ones. It’s rare that you see it in the celebrity world, but sit down and pay attention when it does … because you’re going to learn something.
Bryan Singer recently sat down with VoicesFromKrypton to give a master class in being candid, discussing the cold, hard truths relating to his work on Superman Returns, which is arguably — arguably, commenters — the least of the films in that franchise. It’s not a terribly lengthy interview, but the filmmaker packs quite a lot into it.
“I think that Superman Returns was a bit nostalgic and romantic, and I don’t think that was what people were expecting, especially in the summer,” he said. He also noted that he’d spotted plenty of women in line for The Devil Wears Prada, but very few for comic book movies. “I really do think I was making the film for that Devil Wears Prada audience of women who wouldn’t normally come to a superhero film.”
Ouch. That’s probably going to come back to haunt him at some point. If you’re the one doing the haunting, just remember that he’s the one who admitted it when most would have simply just not spoken up at all.
Singer also adds that his love for the original Superman movie may have been too great, which in turn cast Returns as too much of an homage. “I embraced the comic-ness and made this alternate, bucolic Metropolis. Then there was the music and the whole thing,” he said.
“But I am very much in love with the Donner picture, and for me the journey was exciting because I got the chance to reprise those images and explore it. When you’re fascinated by something and you love it, part of making the movie is trying to please everyone and make a successful movie, but part of it is an experimental kind of thing.”
Here is a link to the article: CLICK HERE
The best interviews are always, always the candid ones. It’s rare that you see it in the celebrity world, but sit down and pay attention when it does … because you’re going to learn something.
Bryan Singer recently sat down with VoicesFromKrypton to give a master class in being candid, discussing the cold, hard truths relating to his work on Superman Returns, which is arguably — arguably, commenters — the least of the films in that franchise. It’s not a terribly lengthy interview, but the filmmaker packs quite a lot into it.
“I think that Superman Returns was a bit nostalgic and romantic, and I don’t think that was what people were expecting, especially in the summer,” he said. He also noted that he’d spotted plenty of women in line for The Devil Wears Prada, but very few for comic book movies. “I really do think I was making the film for that Devil Wears Prada audience of women who wouldn’t normally come to a superhero film.”
Ouch. That’s probably going to come back to haunt him at some point. If you’re the one doing the haunting, just remember that he’s the one who admitted it when most would have simply just not spoken up at all.
Singer also adds that his love for the original Superman movie may have been too great, which in turn cast Returns as too much of an homage. “I embraced the comic-ness and made this alternate, bucolic Metropolis. Then there was the music and the whole thing,” he said.
“But I am very much in love with the Donner picture, and for me the journey was exciting because I got the chance to reprise those images and explore it. When you’re fascinated by something and you love it, part of making the movie is trying to please everyone and make a successful movie, but part of it is an experimental kind of thing.”
Here is a link to the article: CLICK HERE
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