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The kiosks are torn down, the free shirts are all gone, and the YouTubers are in editing. Yep, another E3 is finally in the books. Now the hard part of waiting for the games on the show floor to find their way to our homes begins.  Now that the gauntlet of bouncing from appointment to appointment is done, you can read about all the games we got hands on time with.

The Games of Indiecade

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst

Lego Marvel’s Avengers

Rock Band 4

Disney Infinity 3.0

Skylanders Superchargers

Mad Max

Who Won Media Monday?

For now I want everyone to take a peek at a slice of our week through the eyes of independent film maker Ricardo Ramirez.

Xbox Media Briefing and Fan Fest

 

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The week in E3

All photos by Ricardo Ramirez

Thanks for the photos and that’s it for us from E3, read the E3 Wrap Up for a chance to win a prize pack from the show and we’ll do more at SDCC in a few weeks.

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One last check of the recent comics x gaming news before E3 officially gets underway. Let’s Go!

 

Starbreeze Studios, the developer behind Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons announced its dive into the Virtual Reality hardware pool and promises the widest field of view available. StarVR boasts a 210 degree horizontal field of view and 5120×1440 resolution, thanks to dual 5.5-inch displays. The company took over the House of Blues in Hollywood last night with a star studded event to show off the new headset just before E3.

StarVR is set to compete against Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus, but it’s brining Overkill’s The Walking Dead and a literally a VR shotgun as part of its arsenal. Check out the presentation video:

No word of pricing or release window, but the Walking Dead game will be hands on demoed for attendees at E3 this week on the hardware.

Our Thought:

The VR market is quickly filling up before the first hardware even hits consumers Cheeto dusted fingers. With Oculus and Sony’s hardware set to launch next year, Starbreeze better be along quick if they hope to capitalize on early adopters. Is there an appeal for everyone out there to see what it’s like to get eaten by a zombie?

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Published this September by Dark Horse Comics in partnership with Electronic Arts and DICE, creators of the Mirror’s Edge franchise, Mirror’s Edge: Exordium will grant fans special insight into the origin of Faith, the protagonist of the new Mirror’s Edge Catalyst video game. Written by Christofer Emgård, narrative director at DICE, with art by Mirror’s Edge in-house artists Emgård, Mattias Häggström, Robert Sammelin, Henrik Sahlström, and Erik Persson, ME: Exordium is a six issue limited series that aims to dive deep into the complex bouncing off buildings world of Mirror’s Edge.

“Set in a world as iconic as it is visually stunning, with one of the most compelling and unique protagonists in popular culture, Mirror’s Edge is tailor made for great comics,” said Dark Horse senior editor Dave Marshall. “It’s an awesome opportunity to be able to kick off our partnership with DICE with this series!”

Mirror’s Edge: Exordium #1
Christofer Emgård (W) Mattias Häggström, Robert Sammelin, Henrik Sahlström, Erik Persson (A)
Robert Sammelin (Cover)
$3.99, 32 pages
On sale September 9

Our Thought:

The first Mirror’s Edge game was a rare new idea from EA, a publisher not typically known for breaking away from sequels and sports. While not a blockbuster, the game did well enough to green light a sequel. GO US! A small miracle when you consider today’s landscape where we all complain about there not being anything new, yet refuse to support new IP. What has me a bit worried though is the creative team on the new book is all from video game developer DICE. While it might not necessarily be a bad thing, we’ll have to wait and see what the end result is. However, the reason Dark Horse has success both financially and artistically with The Last of Us: American Dreams is due to the creative partnership between Neil Druckmann and Faith Erin Hicks. Both are storytellers in different mediums, but they worked together to translate the vastly different languages of gaming and comics in order to create something that felt right in both worlds. I’ll remain optimistic for the time being since the book is at Dark Horse and now they’ve got the resume of quality adapted from video game books (Halo, Last of US, Witcher) which gives them license to try just about anything.

 

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Today, Nintendo dropped big news for fans of the party brawling game Super Smash Bros. During a special video presentation focused on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, the game’s director, Masahiro Sakurai, unveiled a smashing amount of new content for the games, including two new playable characters: Ryu from the Street Fighter series and Roy from Fire Emblem. They both join Lucas from Mother 3 as new playable fighters, and are available for download now! This additional paid content lands alongside a major software update that launched today for both systems, which also includes three new stages and many new costumes for Mii Fighters, including outfits from classic fighting series Virtua Fighterand Tekken. With these new characters, stages and costumes, top fighting game franchises Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter and Tekken unite for the very first time.

Here’s the complete rundown of content straight from Nintendo:

• Ryu from Street Fighter^®: For the first time in Super Smash Bros. history, a character from the fighting game series Street Fighter^® joins the battle. Iconic character Ryu, whose look in the game is based on Street Fighter II^®, brings a new fighting style and feel to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. Ryu’s traditional Light, Medium and Heavy attacks can be used depending on whether players tap, press or hold the buttons. Classic Street Fighter^®moves like Hadoken and Shoryuken can be activated with just a one-button press, but players who enter the original button combinations from the Street Fighter^® series will perform the same actions with higher damage. Ryu can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U or Nintendo 3DS for $5.99 each, or both game versions together for $6.99. Purchase includes the bonus Suzaku Castle stage from the Street Fighter^® series. This classic environment provides stable footing on the right side and a series of platforms on the left. It can also be played in Omega form, giving the stage a look and feel much like in the Street Fighter II^® original.

• Roy from Fire Emblem: A fan-favorite from his last appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee for Nintendo GameCube, Roy from the Fire Emblem franchise returns to the series more powerful than ever before. Unlike Marth, Roy’s sword is stronger closer to the hilt, so he works better in close range. Roy also now has a Final Smash move in the form of a devastating sword blow. Roy can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U for $3.99, or both game versions together for $4.99.

• Lucas from Mother 3: As previously announced, Lucas is also available to purchase as a new downloadable character. Originating in the Japan-only Game Boy Advance RPG Mother 3, Lucas primarily uses lightning attacks to smash his opponents. Lucas can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U or Nintendo 3DS for $3.99, or both game versions together for $4.99.

• New Mii Fighter costumes: Multiple video games and characters from the past and present are represented in a new set of Mii Fighter costumes now available through the new update. Two costumes from classic fighting game Virtua Fighter are based on the Akira and Jacky characters, with Akira even maintaining his blocky polygonal look from the original game. Tekken fighter Heihachi (and his amazing hair) serves as inspiration for one costume, with additional costumes based on Isabelle from Animal Crossing, MegaMan.EXE from Mega Man Battle Network, ZERO from Mega Man X, the Inkling Girl and Boy and the squid hat from Splatoon also available. All costumes – eight in total – can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii Ufor $6, or both game versions together for $9.20. Costumes can also be purchased individually for $0.75 in either Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, or both game versions together for $1.15 each.

• Dreamland stage: Based on the first Dreamland stage from the original Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64, this stage returns with a few tweaks. The Dreamland stage can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U for $1.99, or both game versions together for $2.99.

• Everything: Players who want every fighter, stage, outfit and accessory featured among today’s DLC releases can buy them all at once. The whole DLC pack can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U for $21.96, or both game versions together for $29.16.

• Miiverse stage: Available now to download for free, this new stage for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U features Miiverse posts created by players all over the world. During matches while connected to the Internet, players will see Miiverse posts appear that cheer specific fighters on from the background. These messages will be pulled from individual Miiverse communities that just opened for each Super Smash Bros. character.

• Tourney mode: Scheduled to launch as part of a free update in August, two new Tourney modes are coming to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Community Tourneys let players compete for the highest points in a certain amount of time, while regular Tourneys have a specific set of rules and only happen at select times.

• YouTube replays: Coming exclusively to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U at a later date, this free new feature allows players to post replay videos of their matches on YouTube. To use this feature, players must possess a Google account. Please visit http://www.smashbros.com/us/ for additional details.

• Additional Super Smash Bros. amiibo: Mii Fighters are getting their own amiibo figures! When used in the game, the Mii Brawler, Mii Swordfighter and Mii Gunner amiibo characters can be configured with custom faces and players’ collected accessories and costumes. Four additional Super Smash Bros. characters are also getting amiibo: R.O.B., Duck Hunt, Mr. Game & Watch and Falco. These new amiibo will be available this September, except Falco who will be available this holiday season. Eventually, all playable characters in Super Smash Bros. will have corresponding amiibo figures, including Mewtwo, Lucas, Roy and Ryu.

• Bonus Trophies: After downloading the update, in-game bonus trophies based on Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter^®, Roy, Lucas and Splatoon will be available to unlock in play. Players can collect these trophies by completing All-Star mode in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.

Our Thought:

Yeah, $30 for all this content is a bit steep. On the other hand, Ryu in Smash Bros! Great job by Nintendo of not forcing gamers to buy this all in one bundle and making each piece available a la carte.

 

Tomorrow, everything begins. So get ready for a flood of news and happenings.

 

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A few days off, one day on, then we go back on the road for another show. Hope your Memorial Day was well spent. I’m Back from Punk Rock Bowling and now we get set for our next destination, Phoenix, for one of the best comic shows around.  Let’s talk about the recent news in gaming and give away some more Secret Wars books. On the rundown today; Ashley Johnson reunites with Troy Baker, Resident Evil gets yet another remake, Arkham adds some new duds, Mad Max, and have you ever wanted to be a cat? Let’s Go!

 

Ashley Johnson grew up for a bit in front of our eyes on the tail end of the ABC sit com Growing Pains. (RIP Boner!) Little did we know back then Chrissy Seaver would grow up to be a pop culture darling when she loaned her voice to the iconic Ellie in Naughty Dog’s masterpiece The Last of Us. Recently, Telltale Games announced the actress would reunite with her TLOU co-star Troy Baker for the latest episode of the Tales From the Borderlands series. She is reportedly voicing a “core” character and from all of the indication of the developers on twitter; she’s stolen the show. Not much else is known at this time but episode three of this series is expected in Fall 2015.

You can catch up on the Tales From the Borderlands games so far digitally through PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Steam. Find more about the game on Telltale’s website.

Our Thought:

If there’s one thing Telltale is the best at, it’s telling a story. If there’s two things they’re the best at, it’s working with the most talented voice actors in the industry. With Telltale’s biggest endeavor still a head of them, it’s almost a sure bet we’ll hear Ashley, Troy, Dave Fennoy, Melissa Hutchison, and most of the previous talent the studio has worked with again soon. Maybe it’s their Marvel project, maybe it’s their “supershow”, but expect news on this soon.

 

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Capcom dropped news over the holiday weekend of a remaster to the Gamecube classic Resident Evil Zero. Earlier today at an event in Japan, Capcom confirmed Resident Evil 0, a remastered version of the popular prequel to the original title in the Resident Evilseries, is currently in development. The game is planned for release on PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC in early 2016.

Here’s a video message from Director Koji Oda and Producer Tsukasa Takenaka about the project:

(If you don’t enable your subtitles, then it’s probably just a message about Japanese pot to you)

Our Thought:

Remaster! Remaster! Remasters!

Enough with the remasters already. At the very least, Capcom, for the most part, have done them based on older games in their library versus other publishers who’ve brought back PS3 games probably still stuck in our disc drives. It’s the same angst I have towards local LA radio station Alt 98.7 about calling Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” a throwback song. Apparently human history didn’t exist before 1999 when Skynet took over. All mostly kidding aside, Resident Evil Zero was one of those things I bought a Gamecube for but never finished. There’s hope this will one will A) be a noticeable visual upgrade and B) be priced at a point that makes it appealing to pick up an old game with a new paint job. We won’t have to wait long to see something about this as it’s sure to be one of Capcom’s offerings on the E3 floor.

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We’re less than a month away from FINALLY getting to play Batman: Arkham Knight. Rocksteady, the studio behind the game, are determined to keep dropping surprises along the way. A few days ago a new live action trailer for the game was released. It’s common to have such videos produced to hype a game. However what’s not typical is having one of the most influential voices in the music industry be a part of it. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor is credited as a music consultant for the video below:

 

As if that wasn’t enough, a new set of Bat-suits were announced as pre-order bonuses for he game. The Batman’s future theme skins include a hefty version of Batman Beyond and a nod to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns with the –built like a tank– old Batman.  These come in addition other previous announced skins and appear to be part of most retailers offerings along with the Harley Quinn pack.

Batman: Arkham Knight releases on June 23, 2015 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Pre orders are available through the game’s website.

Our Thought:

Come on. Is there anyone out there not getting or excited for this game?

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Shockingly the internet managed to, for the most part, agree on its love of the new Mad Max: Fury Road film. In a move that shocked no one, the Mad Max game long in development is back on everyone’s radar.

Avalanche Studios, the developer behind the action packed Just Cause games are behind this open world Mad Max game. You can see by the trailer much of the over-the-top blockbuster badassness is here. In the non-concrete timeline of Mad Max the game takes place before Fury Road. We only have to wait a few short months when the game is released in September for the PS4, Xbox One, and Steam. Find out more about Mad Max at the game’s website.

Our Thought:

With the heat from the astonishing response to Fury Road, it only makes sense WB would want to capitalize with both green lighting a film sequel and the release of the video game. Where most games based on movies fail is in not giving developers a proper cycle to make the game. It doesn’t have to mirror the film at all, but something that lives in that universe should speak to it as a whole. Most games never achieve this because they’re rushed to coincide with their counterpart movie. Avalanche have been at work on Mad Max for more than two years with next-gen hardware. They’ve got a great chance at being more a Riddick than a Bad Boys: Miami Takedown (I could barely type that without vomiting)

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Finally to wrap things up something came into my inbox that just had to be shared with the world. It doesn’t have to do with games based on comics or vice versa, but it’s importance is no less diminished. Some time ago a game let you step into the hooves of being a goat. Chewing up everything insight, head butting objects out of spite, it was all there. Now cat lovers can rejoice!

Catlateral Damage is a first-person destructive cat simulator where you play as a cat on a rampage, knocking as much stuff onto the ground as possible. That’s the F**king description!

The game is available on PC download platforms. You can find out more about Catlateral Damage on the game’s website.

Our Thought:

Haven’t you ever wanted to wreck everything and blame it on the dog? As a society what’s left to conquer?

 

 

Now let’s giveaway a bunch of Secret Wars books (digitally)

I won’t tell you what’s what because I’m an awful human being; but here’s a few of codes for last week’s Secret Wars offerings including Battleworld, Secret Secret Wars, Loki, Planet Hulk, and more… (First Come First Served) Marvel.com/redeem

FMC6RDN62A6P

FMC19QSFR5LU

FMCTHKXQBTPL

FMCSI3LPWUSA

FMC53APWGV7W

FMCG8V9PYIHN

FMDQL3E9RUJX

 

 

 

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Archie previously revealed that the Worlds Unite crossover is going to feature two huge video game characters (Mega Man and Sonic) teaming up together. The publisher confirmed several more beloved franchises from Sega and Capcom that are coming out to play in the storyline. A brand new teaser from the crossover shows some wish fulfillment that you wouldn’t believe. Everything from Golden Axe to the obscure Alex Kidd franchises are contained in the full scope of this crossover. Here’s a quick lowdown on some of the different franchises teased in the image released today from the publisher.

Let’s kick things off with Sega:

Alex Kidd

• First Appearance: Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986)
• Why do we care?
• Kidd was Sega’s answer to Mario in the late 80s, and while he hasn’t been seen in a little while, we still have a soft spot for the Kidd.

Billy Hatcher

• First Appearance: Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (2003)
• Why do we care?
• Anything from Sonic Team is worth a second look.

Golden Axe

• First Appearance: Golden Axe (1989)
• Why do we care?
• College.

NiGHTS

• First Appearance: NiGHTS into Dreams… (1996)
• Why do we care?
• NiGHTS was one of the first games to take advantage of the video game art form featuring a heroine flying around on the Sega Saturn.

Skies of Arcadia

• First Appearance: Skies of Arcadia (2000)
• Why do we care?
• The game is an early 3D RPG sporting good characters and a strong setting.

Panzer Dragoon

• First Appearance: Panzer Dragoon (1995)
• Why do we care?
• Dazzling visuals and a unique approach to gameplay made this game an essential entry into the Sega Saturn library of games.

Onto the Capcom games:

Breath of Fire

• First Appearance: Breath of Fire (1993)
• Why do we care?
• Breath of Fire is a Japanese title early on in the NES library that contained an actual plot and cast of fleshed out characters.

Ghosts N’ Goblins

• First Appearance: Ghosts N’ Goblins (1985)
• Why do we care?
• Ghost and Goblins was one of the first games that really challenged gamers on consoles while still being fun and intuitive to play.

Monster Hunter

• First Appearance: Monster Hunter (2004)
• Why do we care?
• While the game initially may seem archaic to some American gamers, there’s something mystifying and deceptively simple about the original Monster Hunter that makes it an incredible game to play.

Street Fighter

• First Appearance: Street Fighter (1987)
• Why do we care?
• Street Fighter earned it’s acclaim as a staple game among fans in the arcade fighting scene.

Okami

• First Appearance: Okami (2006)
• Why do we care?
• Okami took it’s time melding Japanese folklore with a more cerebral Zelda-style game design.

Viewtiful Joe

• First Appearance: Viewtiful Joe (2003)
• Why do we care?
• This is one of those major gamecube built around the personality of the main character that can rewind time. Viewtiful Joe was an original idea in the space of video games.

A full prologue is launching along with Free Comic Book Day on May 2nd from Archie, after that this comic is directly spinning off into an epic 12-part crossover. Thanks to Comics Alliance for the cover. The tale is broken up into a flipbook featuring separate Mega Man and Sonic versions. Ian Flynn is writing the story. The Sonic comic includes art from Adam Bryce Thomas, with the Mega Man portion complete with art contributions from Patrick Spaziante, Jonathan Hill, Powree, Ryan Jampole and Jamal Peppers.

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Video game giant Capcom is putting out a tribute book of art, called Capcom Fighting Tribute. And it’s open to artists fan and pro:

This collection will offer a chance for hundreds of professional and fan artists to show off their artistic skills and pay homage to their favorite characters, settings and moments from the fighting games of Capcom!

All styles of art are welcome – digital painting, traditional media, anime, cartoon, pixel-based, even sculptures – whatever best expresses the artist’s love for this timeless collection of beloved video game franchises.

Properties included in the project are Street Fighter™, Darkstalkers™, Rival Schools™, Red Earth™, Star Gladiator, Power Stone™, Cyberbots, Capcom Fighting Evolution™, Puzzle Fighter™, Pocket Fighter™, Final Fight™, Battle Circuit, Captain Commando, Armored Warriors, Knights of the Round, The King of Dragons, Avengers (Hissatsu no Buraiken), and Capcom original characters Ruby Heart, Son-Son, and Amingo!

Sounds cool right? Sort of. BUT on the submissions rules, it states:

There is no payment to artists for artwork used in the Capcom Fighting Tribute book. All selected artwork becomes the property of Capcom.

Accepted artists can however makes up to 200 prints of their piece and sell those, I suppose. But this is yet another example of the “no pay” model that seems to be getting more and more normal.
Artist Reilly Brown noticed this and sounded off on his Deviant Art page:

I’m a professional, I get treated like a professional, paid like a professional or I don’t do the job.
All this really is is an attempt to get free content (that they will own forever) for a high-priced product.
I know what you’re thinking– “but I love Capcom games!  Even though I’m a professional working on another property, I want to draw a Capcom character too!”
Well shit, bro, I love Capcom too, and I’ll tell you, nothing’s stopping me from drawing those characters all damn day if I wanted to.  But I’m not going to give those drawings– that time and labor– to a company who plans on making money off of them FOR FREE.  Until I give them that art, I still own that art and can do whatever I wish with it, or at least whatever I’m able to with characters that I don’t own the trademark for, such as put it on my website, which the rules for this “contest” bans.

A lot of us are so numb to the plethora of free content on the web that this seems almost normal—is this any different than what you see on Tumblr every day? but remember, Capcom is a PROFESSIONAL company and charge money for their games. I know that if they actually PAID for all the submissions the book would probably be too expensive to even put out, but…is that really where we are these days?

The continuing devaluation of art is going to be one of the big stories of 2015 and beyond. I’m not sure what the solution is, but as Brown suggests, artists should “have more respect for your profession.”

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Archie Comics has acquired the rights from Capcom to turn the Mega Man video game into a monthly comic book series.

Here’s more from the press release: “Be there from the beginning as Rock is transformed by Dr. Thomas Light into Mega Man! Join him as he battles Dr. Albert W. Wily and his ever-growing army of cyborgs. These exciting new stories are told by Rock himself.”

Mega Man’s first issue will contain 32 pages of full-color illustrations. The $2.99 comic will hit the stands on May 4th.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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So you thought you used to play 2D games. If you had taken a look behind the screen, then you'd have seen this. The featured game is Ghosts and Goblins [Makaimura] from Capcom, a classic 8-bit video game for the arcades, released in 1985.

Like many other Sevensheaven images this image is available as a high-quality art print. Visit the Sevensheaven shop portal for more info.

I'd love to get invited for Ffffound.com and share my artwork there as well. If you can invite me or know someone who can, I'd be very thankful.

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I've always had a soft spot for Street Fighter. Forget Primal Rage, Killer Instinct or Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter was the fighting game for me! I even loved the terrible 1994 film version when it came out. Ryu has always been one of my favorites. Can you guess the next two? Check out more video game art and characters over at the Autumn Society for their "8-bit and Beyond!" show premiering this Friday, August 7th, at 6pm! Hadōken!!!

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