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Animation software Moho has added support for Microsoft's Surface Studio and Surface Dial.

The post Moho Adds Features Directly For Microsoft’s Surface Studio and Surface Dial appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Microsoft is edging into Apple and Wacom's territory with its all-in-one touchscreen desktop Surface Studio.

The post Microsoft’s Gorgeous Surface Studio Might Be A Cintiq Killer appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Dark Horse Comics have been the most restless publisher of licensed comics based on video game franchises over the past two years. They’ve brought tentpole franchises such as Call of Duty, Tomb Raider, and the often times over looked Mirror’s Edge to comics. Among the biggest in their library has been the mega dollar printing […]

What's the right drawing tablet for you?

‘Territoriality’ plays a central role under our current paradigm of jurisdictional thinking. Indeed, a State’s rights and responsibilities are largely defined by reference to territoriality. States have exclusive powers in relation to everything that occurs within their respective territories, and this right is combined with a duty to respect the exclusive powers of other States over their respective territories.

The post The concept of ‘extraterritoriality’: widely used, but misguided and useless appeared first on OUPblog.

The tablet wars are heating up, and the winners are artists and animators.

The tablet wars are heating up, and the winners are artists and animators.

Will animation artists incorporate the new Apple Pencil stylus into their production workflows?

Digital India by Monica Gupta

बेशक डिजिटल इंडिया बहुत अच्छा प्रयास है औए स्वागत योग्य है पर जिस तरह से नेट वर्क इतना धीमा चल रहा है कि सुबह से दोपहर हो जाती है बस Page is loading. ही चलती रहती है कुछ पोस्ट नही कर पाते ऐसे मे किस मन से सुस्वागत करें हम इसका …

Here’s what you need to know about the Digital India initiative | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis

Several people have changed their Facebook profile pictures after CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Prime Minister Narendra Modi did so and urged other to follow suit to support the Digital India initiative. But wait–this profile picture change actually ties more closely in to Facebook’s own Internet.org strategy, which should not be confused as being congruous with India’s Digital India movement.

So merely switching to a tricolour profile picture has, in fact, nothing to do with the Digital India initiative. Lets clear the air and re-look at the tenets that define the Digital India initiative.

Also Read: From Microsoft’s Satya Nadella to Apple’s Tim Cook, who said what about ‘Digital India’

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1, 2015, the Digital India initiative was started with a view to empower the people of the country digitally. The initiative also aims to bridge India’s digital segment and bring big investments in the technology sector. Via dnaindia.com

The post Digital India appeared first on Monica Gupta.

Midday Tuesday, the Los Angeles Convention Center will open its exhibit hall doors and over 125,000 gamers, press, and VIPs will spend three days talking about and playing video games. Monday was the traditional press conference filled day before the show where each major publisher gets an hour or so in the media spotlight (except Nintendo which happens Tuesday morning). Over the last few years it’s become the unofficial start of E3 and today the latest chapter of console wars was waged.

These lavish presentations full of bright lights, fog machines, and the occasional video game trailer have become a competition between Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation. Sure a case could be made for Bethesda after their take no prisoners flurry of Doom and Fallout 4 on Sunday night, but for now we’ll only examine two of the big three (Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation).

Every year this day has the feel of a heavyweight prize fight in Vegas but with less scripted stuff, and for the most part it’s worth paying to see. This year could be summarized as the year of distinction. Rather than trade jabs or brag about how many units they’ve moved, both Sony and Microsoft stuck to what puts butts in their seats… games. In doing so each showed a shifted focus on different aspects of the market.

When Xbox opened their presentation this morning they did so by having a female lead from 343 Industries take the stage. For those who don’t know 343 Industries are the current developer of Halo games and the unquestionable massive blockbuster in the making Halo 5: Guardians. Huge step for female leaders in the gaming industry. Now as to where Xbox has focused their energy and resource, well it’s easy to see; they’re after the Summer popcorn flick audience.

Halo 5, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Gears 4, Forza 6; all these exclusive experiences coming to the Xbox One and all are created on the premise of generating revenue in excess of 3 times what it cost to produce. You know what? They’ve got a legitimate shot of doing so. Look at Gears 4:

It’s over the top action, it’s entertaining violence, it’s a sequel, it’s Hollywood. The same could be said for the other big titles shown by Xbox.

Sure ID@Xbox exists to keep the footprint of independent creation at Microsoft, but nothing has emerged exclusively out of that camp as a contender for a game of the year award. There are some promising titles coming soon from it, particularly the Cuphead game, but it’s far from a “game changer”.

Xbox’s current strategy is focused on opening wallets with adrenaline rushes to the eyes, and along the way they managed to be first to give console gamers the thing they’ve been clamoring for, Backwards Compatibility! Monday they dropped information on the first true version of this feature we all believe is so simple you’d think it should have been there all along. It’s not a service you’ll have to pay for, nope, Xbox simply wants you to put in an old 360 game and play it on your new Xbox One. There’s still a lot of details to work out including; if the day comes where every game is backwards compatible but has online multiplayer servers that were shut down, what then. But this is a step in the right direction for Xbox and will certainly help them get the audience who haven’t made the transition from Xbox 360 to Xbox One for fear of losing their library.

Remember when we all wanted to burn Xbox at the stake and everyone groaned at DRM protected games and a console that always had to be connected to the Internet. Then when it came in $100 more than its competition everyone all but wrote off Microsoft. They’ve come a long way since those days. Now consider that Phil Spencer was the first corporate face in this new era of consoles to come out, and by focusing on games, say this is why you bought an Xbox One. While Xbox hasn’t fully recovered from their mistakes which led to an almost insurmountable uphill PR battle; they have managed get back up before the count of 10. Xbox is actually giving gamers what we want, deal with it!

Now don’t get things mixed up. PlayStation is my jam! The warm feels you have about that old 8-bit Nintendo where you had to blow in the cartridges, throw salt over your shoulder, and sacrifice a chicken in order to make it work (not sure about those last two); that’s how I feel about the original PS one. I’ve stuck with Sony through all their missteps and those E3 press events where you keep yelling at the screen begging them to stop showing a demo of a book. This year Sony put up one hell of a show, especially when going in it appeared they might not have much to talk about.

What they did demonstrate on Monday is how radically different their focus is from that of the competition. PlayStation, more than Microsoft, has an uncanny affirmation to the art of video games. Sure, we saw one presentation for their triple-A exclusive planet destroyer of a blockbuster, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Mind blown!

When it arrives, Uncharted 4 will be a contender for game of the year. The only other triple-A title to make an exclusive appearance for PlayStation was Guerrilla Games finally revealing the project they’ve been working on in secret. This world looks epic to say the least and the setting is definitely unique, take a look at Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Both these games are said to be coming in 2016, leaving Sony without a 2015 exclusive blockbuster game. Star Wars Battlefront is available on Xbox One, and if No Man’s Sky were to come out this year it’s still “console debut” on PlayStation. This means it may see a release at the competition.

Where Sony is really leading the charge is in indie games. Their resume in these stylish artistic experiences is unparalleled; Unfinished Swan and Journey just to name a few. While Sony have yet to put out true killer apps that remind us why we bought the PS4, they’ve managed to add real value using games considered too experimental by big publishers. PS4 gets Everyone’s Gone to Rapture, Devolver, and Killstrain; all nice additions to the PlayStation library.

Sony isn’t stopping there. Just look at what Little Big Planet architect Media Molecule is bringing to the table at some point.

Dreams is a game that taps into the artistic zeitgeist of the gaming community. I can’t wait to see what twisted beautiful creations players come up with using the game.

While 2015 is a holding year for Sony they reminded everyone that even though the big games of the year won’t be exclusive to Sony, some of their bonus content will be. For comic fans there’s no bigger game this year than Batman: Arkham Knight. Part of their presentation was showing off the exclusive Scarecrow Nightmare Missions for the game.  It was a level of insanity not yet seen in the Arkham franchise, a level of experimentation perfect for PlayStation. You fired a gun in first person view! You fired a gun in a Batman game!

Yes, we finally saw The Last Guardian again. It’s been 7 years and whole console cycle but the game is still in the works. Though for as long a wait as fans have endured, it just didn’t feel like a PS4 game… at least visually it didn’t. It’s still early with much left to be revealed about the game and it will certainly be a part of the PlayStation Experience this year.

Perhaps Sony’s biggest pop came from another long awaited return.

PlayStation and Final Fantasy have always gone hand-in-hand. It’s one of the many reasons for Sony’s loyal fan base over the years. We saw this game announced some time ago with cheap place holder graphics but seeing how next-level this title looks in its CG trailer; you couldn’t help but be filled with glee.

Sony’s media presentation managed to not bore me when the talk shifted to PlayStation Vue‘s a la carte TV service. It’s a feature that, while not on my wish list, has an appeal for anyone who hates paying 50 bucks a month for cable TV.

Massive kudos to PlayStation for not totally forgetting the Vita. Sony’s handheld is a great piece of hardware that’s never received its due. Many of the games shown during the press conference have Vita ports on the way or remote play functionality.

Also personal note, Sony gets extra points for giving me an excuse to tweet @beckycloonan during their baller a** pre-show. Any time that happens it’s a win for everyone. Now go read Gotham Academy #7.

So while it was far from a bad outing for PlayStation, it did reinforce the fact that the company’s best year is not 2015. In a culture that demands instant gratification, teasing what you’ll be playing in 2016/2017 doesn’t win you the battle.

Ultimately, these companies are on two different paths to lead the industry. Xbox is here to blow sh** up and take your money now. Meanwhile, PlayStation has become the artistic torch bearer of gaming; they’re inventing new types of experiences using the technology at hand… just not for us to use right now.

Who won E3 2015 media day? Well by what we saw from both camps today, it’s apparent Xbox took the win. It’s really the first year they can make that claim. Microsoft showed big games for this year, new ideas, and gave the crowd something we wanted from both systems, first. I’m a PlayStation guy through and through so it’s with a heavy heart I had to give Xbox the W. However, judging by the path Sony laid out for gamers today; I expect E3 2016 to be the biggest year PlayStation has in recent memory. Hopefully by then our cyborg bodies built by robot overlords will be ready.

Media Monday at E3 kicked off with Xbox where 500 dedicated fans camped out Saturday night to join press and VIP at the Galen Center this morning. Head of Xbox, Among all the buisness and media frenzy a small green pond of average fanboy/girl gamers joined Xbox on the floor as they laid out their plans for this holiday going into 2016.

Last year Microsoft delivered on their promise of focusing soely on games, games, and more games. It definitely helped the Xbox One make up some of its lost ground on Sony’s PS4 as the company won the battle of hardware sales on two different months in the past year, including a holiday period. What could Xbox do to follow its success?

Here comes the opening sizzle reel with Laura Croft, and Gears of War. This years motto “Jump Ahead”

343 Industries Bonnie Ross opened things by talking about all the new ip. It’s the first time I can remember a female voice open one of these presentation. Halo 5 is up first

This crowd is going nuts for the first story gameplay from Halo 5. (update with images later on). It’s smooth and the quirky covenant scrub charm is back. Here you’re playing as the game’s new protagonist John Locke.

With his own squad of marines, the team battles the enesmies from Halo 4. That annoying vanishing is back. I should have mentioned right now 4 people are on stage playing a co-op mission that takes place in the main story. A new reels showing off story cinematics and vehicular multiplayer combat is shown.

Halo 5 is playable at e3. The game will see players control two different teams of spartans with the ability to drop in and out at will. The multiplayer is said to be the bigges in the game’s over the top history.

Oh damn! World Premiere

The creators of Metroid Prime bring you a barren ravaged world where a girl and her robot companion battle hordes of killer androids to survive. This is Recore (Spring 2016)

Phil Spencer is on stage talking about the game and the state of Xbox. He called today’s line up “the greatest in Xbox history.”  So far, yeah it is!

A new feature for Xbox One, backwards compatibility!

Head of development Mike Ibarra is showing off the feature with Mass Effect on the Xbox One. It’s available this holiday. “we wont charge you to play the games you already own”

A new Xbox controller. Eliete will be available this fall, hair trigger locks, more preciison

Todd Howard from Bethesda is on stage after last nights Fallout 4 triumph. The demo is much of what we saw last night at Bethesda. A bit more of the game’s combat features are being shown including stepping into a mech suit and mowing down enemies with a chain gun.

They closed their portion of the presentation with the same reel from last night.

Todd announces Xbox exclusive feature? PC mods created on well PC can be transfered to Xbox One

EA’s Peter Moore is onstage to talk about EA access. A $5 a month service that grants early access to games and a vault of free old games. Titanfall joins EA access vault this week. Dragon Age INquisition comes to the service later this Summer. Play Fist, Play More, Play for Less. EA access vault is free for Xbox Live members all week.

Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2. New characters, new worlds. A world premiere trailer was shown. Not Suburbia, it’s Zomburbia. This time around the plants are the invaders. Highway to the Dangerzone is making this even more epic. The game arrives Spring 2016. Check out @comicsbeat on instagram for up to the minute pictures.

A car came up through the floor and acsended to the celing! This is Forza Motorsport 6. To celebrate Ford’s GT anniversary the game has the car exclusively this year. September 15, 2015 you can drive it in the game and save thousands of dollars.

World Premiere from Bandai Namco. Dark Souls 3 in Early 2016. It looks freaking nuts from the CG tailer.

Now Ubisoft is showing the Division. A new trailer expaling the game’s story was shown. A virus decimated humanity and you’re part of an elite squad activated as a last resort, you are The Division. Lots of jumping over cars and shooting at people, sounds like fun. This action RPG set in New York. Xbox ONe players get an exclusive beta later this December.

Rainbow Six Siege followed with the announcement that both RS Vegas titles will be free with Siege. A new trailer was shown for Siege. The FPS focuses on team combat. Ubisoft have made this clear blowing up shit gun ho will not win the game. Play it October 10, 2015.

A stylish Windows 10 and Xbox Exclusive came on screeen. It’s an animated co op battle much like Gauntlet but better. Gigantic comes to beta this August.

Another sizzle reels for slew of Xbox games is shown. Including Ark, which we’ll go hands on with at the show this week. ID@ Xbox has some interesting titles coming from more than 1,000 independent developers.

The developers of Gone Home bring you Lunar Station Tacoma. This story driven game takes you through the mystery of a missing crew and launches 2016.

Ashen, from developer Auora44 is a cold fantasy exploration game that will see players survive a world of ghouls and monsters.

Beyond Eyes, is a game about a blind girl that tells a story of hope. Developer Tiger Squid will release the game later this year first on Xbox One.

Cuphead is a game with the look of a 1960’s Disney cartoon. Studio MDHR created the most lunatic game I’ve ever seen. Coming 1936 plus 20 years.

Xbox Game Preview lets users buy and try games still in development. A feature that’s common on PC but first on consoles here. The first titles include The Long Dark , Elite Dangerous,  and Day Z. A few titles will be available today.

Creator of Day Z, Dean Hall is on stage talking about wanting a game that’s “a universe”. He’s showing off the massive MMO called ION. The trailer shows a space thriller the likes of Alien.

Rise of The Tomb Raider.

New gameplay is being shown. The demo begins with Laura making her way out of an icy cave. The game’s looking real good. The ice climbing mechanics from the previous game are back. Laura scales the mountain to get a view of some ruins only to be knocked off by mother nature. As she dangles from a rope attached to her partner she swings to her own rescue and now is running from an avalanche. She Spider-Maned her way onto a different mountain! The demo ended with a trailer that shows some of the game’s story and the tombs she’ll raid. The game launches November 10, 2015.

A new xbox trailer that showcases stuff from Rare like Perfect Dark and Battletoads. 30 hit games in one collection, it’s Rare Replay available this August. 2015 is the studios 30th anniversary.

The studio also has a new game. A premiere trailer using in game footage starts in a cartoony animated beach. Cut to pirates sailing on harsh water and forcing another pirate to walk the plank. This game is Sea of Thieves.

Fable Legends is free to play on Xbox One and PC with crossplay between the two. This co-op version of Fables launches soon.

A new partnership with ValVR and Oculus is being mentioned. An Xbox One controller ships with Oculus.

Microsoft Hololens revelaed in January is like google glass but more futuristic. Now we’ll learn how it works with gaming. The demo is using Minecraft built for Hololens is being shown. Ok Hololens just took the Minecraft world and rendered it on an object in the real world. We’re seeing what Hololens is seeing and I can’t distinguish that it doesn’t exist in the real world when you watch the screen and the stage at the same time.

Gears of War is up next. Rod Ferguson is on stage to talk about Gearrs of War Ultimate edition on Augst 25, 2015. Public multiplayer beta starts today.

Now lets get into Gears of War 4, Game features new characters. The world looks like something out of Walking Dead if it were in the Salem witch trials. Its lighting effects are gorgeously blending with the real world weather. Our heroes storm into a desolate old building full of books and a monster hive. You had a flashlight now itls gone and things go from bad to worse. This character runs through a hallway laced with gross looking pods that you shouldn’t touch even on a dare. These don’t seem like the traditional enemies you faced in previous games. You can still chainsaw them though. Yep it’s called Gears 4 and it hits Holiday 2016.

Phil Spencer is back on stage enticing the audience to move from the 360 to Xbox One. There will be more reveals on Xbox at E3 during the week. We’ll update this post with assets in a few as things wind down.

We’re just a little bit over a week from one of the biggest video game trade shows around, E3. Publishers and developers are readying snipitets of their upcoming games for a select few to go hands on with. Before the madness ensues, Bethesda Softworks (Elder Scrolls, Skyrim) took it upon themselves to make a major pre-show announcement earlier this week. Meanwhile, Telltale Games revealed they won’t have much to demo at E3, but teased something big for Walking Dead fans. Finally, Microsoft wants to bring the general public a slice of E3…Let’s Go!

The creative force behind popular games such as Skyrim and Elder Scrolls confirmed the long rumored next chapter of the Fallout game series. This past Wednesday Bethesda Softworks officially announced Fallout 4 and dropped the game’s first teaser.

The only things certain about Fallout 4 is that it won’t be coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360. This one will be a modern console and PC only game. But from the trailer we can deduce for certain a return to Vault 111 with some good ol Nuka Cola, oh and it’ll have a dog and well that’s about it. More details about the game will be revealed during Bethesda’s E3 showcase on June 14 at 7pm PST. Fans can watch it live on the developers YouTube channel here.

Our thought:

Since the trailers debut the Internet has given Fallout 4 the scrutinizing response many a film and celebrity have enjoyed. Some have said “it doesn’t look as good as it should”, while others have made fun of the Baahston setting with Fenway Park. Bethesda’s previous entry, Fallout 3, was a technical and visual achievement for previous gen consoles. In this current shiny 4K era, visual achievements are few and far between. The room left for evolutionary leaps rests in the gameplay mechanics. If you enjoyed Skyrim on a PS3 or Xbox 360, then it’s fun to imagine what Bethesda’s mind could do with the power of this new generation of consoles, maybe even giving the game an online capability it’s never seen before.

What’s most interesting about the rumors still swirling around Fallout 4 is its possible release date. The Bethesda online store suggest it could be this year. Its estimated ship date is listed as “TBA 2015,” both before and after Fallout 4 is added to your cart. This could certainly just be a placeholder date because “dates subject to change” is always a thing. If gamers do indeed see the next chapter of Fallout in 2015 then it means Bethesda have pulled off something rare in today’s spoiler filled world. They’d have to have been working on Fallout since 2012 and kept it a secret from the public and press, something I didn’t think possible this day in age. Which will also mean we’ll see a heavy PR campaign bombard mainstream media and your favorite convention this Summer.

How mind-blowing would it be if Bethesda went on stage and said “pick up Fallout 4 this August”? The only thing that could top this is if Gabe Newell from Valve came to an E3 press conference and said Half-Life 3 is on STEAM today, then he Gallagher mallets an old Atari and walks off. Man I could go for some watermelon right now.

Just when we think we’ve got all the answers; Telltale Games changes the questions. While the award winning developers of story driven game adaptations such as Fables, Borderlands, and Game of Thrones won’t have a large presence on the E3 show floor; it doesn’t mean they won’t make waves. This past Tuesday the company’s Director of PR, Job J Stauffer, tweeted the following.

While they’ve previously made it clear their Walking Dead series would not get a season 3 in 2015; they haven’t said what fans will get in its place this year. Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman will be on the official E3 YouTube live stream to help make whatever this announcement is. You can watch it go down here Monday morning.

Also, fans of Minecraft expecting details on Telltale’s Minecraft: Story Mode game will have to wait till Minecon in London, this July 4-5.

Our Thought:

Kirkman has always spoken highly of simply having Telltale come up to him with the story and letting the developer run with it. With Robert on hand for the official announcement it could mean the developer’s first move into synergy with other Walking Dead properties. With AMC well into production on the upcoming Fear The Walking Dead spin-off we could see a game prequel that leads into the show’s debut.

Also, some have criticized Telltale for not showing Minecraft: Story Mode at E3. It’s actually far from a mistake. Minecon is the perfect setting to build a media frenzy with fans who are all but guaranteed to go crazy for the game in a market that often needs more push than the US. Telltale have been more questions than answers as of late but when they do peel back the curtains they have a knack for picking the most opportune time.

While we all knew Sony is sure to show more Uncharted 4 at their upcoming press event. PlayStation let leak the expected news of an Uncharted PS3 collection port for the PlayStation 4. Bluepoint Games, a studio with a portfolio full of stellar ports is tasked with bringing Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection to the PS4 on October 9, 2015.

In addition to the full 1080p 60FPS and texture upgrades, the game not only brings the story modes but includes all the previously available multiplayer goodness.  Buying the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection grants you exclusive access to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End multiplayer Beta version.

Our Thought:

Sony has put too much of its resources on ports. The ratio of good new PS4 experiences to ports is dismally lopsided. I love my PS4, but when I go long periods of time without turning it on… I start to wonder why I even bought it in the first place. Admittedly, when you consider that the PS4 console sales lapped the PS3 within its first year; it translates to an audience of Xbox 360 converts who might not have previously played Uncharted. In a way it makes them a necessary evil towards the success of a triple-A title like Uncharted 4 by removing any kind of high wall putting a #4 on the end of a game might place in consumers minds.

On a side note, Sony would be wise to include the six issue mini-series published by DC Comics as part of the Uncharted collection. Either as a bonus or on disc digital. Cause you know… comics!

Electronic Entertainment Expo or as it’s commonly known, E3, is the biggest trade show in gaming. It takes up the entire Los Angeles Convention Center and overwhelms the senses more so than SDCC ever could. So many have growled about it not being open to the public, but most trade shows typically aren’t for fans. While that’s not likely to change anytime soon, many developers and publishers that contribute to the spectacle of the show throw orbiting events the public CAN attend. Microsoft is taking full advantage of this.

Xbox want to bring Los Angeles gamers as close to the action as possible. While their social media guru, Major Nelson and company, will be delivering content from the show floor all week on the Xbox YouTube channel, the company is also putting together Xbox FanFest: E3 2015.

Xbox will give 500 lucky fans a one-of-a-kind ticket for E3 week, the gaming industry’s biggest showcase.  The Xbox FanFest Ticket will include:

• Entry into the Xbox E3 2015 Briefing on Monday, June 15^th, 9:30 am PT, at the Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles.
• Invite to the exclusive Xbox FanFest Party, Monday afternoon, June 15^th, where fans will get to play the best exclusives and biggest blockbuster games this holiday and beyond.
• VIP access to the Xbox esports Celebrity Challenge & Twitch Party sponsored by Xbox.
• Meet-and-greet with some of the industry’s top developers, leaders and influencers.
• Even more surprise events during the week.

To be one of the lucky 500:

Fans can begin lining up at Microsoft at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, starting at 10 p.m. PDT on Saturday, June 13. This Microsoft store is located at 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, though the line will start near the LensCrafters on Avenue of the Stars.

Tickets will be distributed on a first come first served basis beginning at 11am on June 14 at the Microsoft Store at Westfield Century City.

In order to be eligible, fans need to be at least 21 years of age with a valid Xbox Live gamertag (Gold Membership not required)

Our Thought:

Want to know a bit of insider info? Jeff Rubinstein of the Xbox team is a former part of Sony’s PlayStation Blog team. If you previously followed their E3 events, he was primarily responsible for all the run of the mill gamers getting into E3 every year they threw an event. Sony’s followers would line up like it was SDCC in front of the LA Sports Area to try and ensure their entrance into the press conference and be rewarded with a complimentary exhibits pass to E3. How the man did it, I have no clue.

So to anyone considering trying to be one of the 500, do it. Last year those at the Microsoft event had to go through a lottery to try and win their way in. From what I heard, 200 Xbox fans were granted entrance to the Xbox press event and access to the E3 show floor. Jeff’s highest number with Sony was 250, could he top that this year with Xbox? If you’re an LA area SDCC Hall H veteran, you’re no stranger to this and the loot is worth spending a summer night in an LA mall to find out.

With one week left till E3 don’t expect much in the way of major announcements in the next few days. If you’re one of those people that kills time on social media follow @Comicsbeatlive on twitter for some of the sights and free energy drinks of E3. Follow the Instagram account as well for blurry pics from the show as my finger partially covers cameras all week. How can I get fire on this iPhone again?

Do neighbourhoods matter to outcomes? Which classroom interventions improve educational attainment? How should we raise money to provide important and valued public goods? Do energy prices affect energy demand? How can we motivate people to become healthier, greener, and more cooperative? These are some of the most challenging questions policy-makers face. Academics have been trying to understand and uncover these important relationships for decades.

The post Field experimenting in economics: Lessons learned for public policy appeared first on OUPblog.

We’re just a month away from the super comic-con bowl of video games, E3. Soon the entire Los Angeles Convention Center will be filled with creative giants, CEOs, journalists, “models” tempting you with cheap sunglasses or free T-shirts, and those fortunate enough to get into the show.

This special late Sunday night edition of WTGB comes sponsored by my DayQuil binge followed up with NyQuil chasers to even me out and an apology for not being able to write wrap ups for Marvel’s Secret Wars. With E3 and a few other shows fast approaching, there’s just no time to do it justice after that fantastic second issue came out last week. I will be posting digital codes of all the May tie-in and spine series issues at the bottom of Game Beat, starting with this one. Enjoy!

For now let’s turn the focus to all the things we want to see at E3 2015. Which means I can officially confirm Comics Beat will be on the show floor and the press events covering all the comics related games and more… but mostly to collect free bags, shirts, and magazines to level out my coffee table with.

From indies to first party exclusives, E3 2015 will be about games, games, and more games. Being in the middle of a new hardware cycle, the focus for this E3 will be soely on the games coming to the consoles and PC.

Batman: Arkham Knight is the first big release post E3, having a full on playable version at the show is a bit of a no brainer, though I wouldn’t expect any new announcements concerning its content. The boys at Rocksteady are already doing an excellent job of teasing the public, they’ve even released a new Arkham Insider video showing off the “dual play” system.

Ever since Lego announced their toy based game, Dimensions; it’s been radio silent on the Lego Marvel Avengers game coming this Fall. While it won’t be part of anyone’s presentations, the game should be playable on the show floor and word of a hard release date seems like a good bet. I’m curious to see if it will still have all the open world goodness of Lego Marvel Super Heroes.

With the recent word of Telltale Games not releasing Season 3 of their Walking Dead game in 2015, the developer has been vocal about announcing something big to come soon for Walking Dead fans. Telltale usually like to keep things intimate and off the exhibit floor at E3, it stands to reason they’ll be showing a brand new Walking Dead one-shot game that doesn’t tie directly into Clementine’s story behind closed doors once again. Perhaps some art, a teaser; but whatever they show will most likely be their September release.

Then there’s the Secret Wars event going on at Marvel. We know there’s going to be a toy line coming to Toys R Us in conjunction with it . Word has been quiet on how the Marvel’s current buffet of mobile titles or a new game would play off the Battleworld. Remember Marvel Super Heroes, the fighting game on PS1?

It was more or less the Infinity Gauntlet game. While we probably won’t get anything close to that for Secret Wars, we’re sure to hear about at least some kind of add-on content for one of these games tying into Secret Wars.

As for the big three…

Per usual, Microsoft will start the round of June 15 press events. Xbox head, Phil Spencer, brought a strong showing in 2014 that translated to boosted sales for the Xbox One. He’s certain to follow the same game centric formula as last year. On the non-gaming front, we don’t expect them to waste valuable time going over all the services, however a demonstration of the Xbox One’s long talked about DVR functionality might be in order. Could we also see a redesigned version of the Xbox One? While the 360 went through some variants in its lifetime, it never happened as quickly as this one would, should it be part of Microsoft’s announcements for E3.

Where Halo 5: Guardians places in the Xbox presentation will be very telling in terms of aces up Microsoft’s sleeve. The game’s hard release date of October 27 is just a few months away. We’ve seen a ton of art and pieces of the story thanks to its viral “Hunt the Truth” campaign. If Xbox’s presentation opens with Halo, weather it’s campaign gameplay or multiplayer, it would indicate Microsoft will end with the official announcement of the new Gears of War game for Xbox One, maybe even alongside footage from the original GOW remake coming to the new console. With, Quantum Break delayed to 2016 and original unproven IPs set to be announced; closing their press event with a new installment of a proven franchise makes the most sense.

Sony PlayStation will close E3 Media Monday at the LA Sports Arena. We’re sure to hear a lot of bragging about the millions of units PS4 has sold to date during their presentation. As for what they’ll show and announce during their time in the media’s eye… Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is a given. Even though it’s been moved to 2016 and an extended preview was previously shown during PlayStation Experience in Vegas; Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann will be onstage to tell us something we don’t know about the game that will make the wait feel that much longer.

If Druckmann is indeed on stage, what better time than having the eyes of the world watching to bring out Sam Rami and show the first clip of The Last of Us movie. Sure it’s a long shot, but E3 has a history of huge surprises. Could we also get the Uncharted trilogy remastered for PS4? So far the PlayStation 4 has been all about porting Sony’s previous system classics to the new one with The Last of Us Remastered and the next up God of War remaster. PlayStation has a ton of things they need to update consumers on such as their VR Project Morpheous, backwards compatibility, and the other big game of PS Experience No Man’s Sky. They could have an out of the blue announcement, but with so much they’ve previously confirmed yet not put in our hands they simply don’t need one.

There’s also the PlayStation Originals which brought us the polarizing Brian Michael Bendis adaptation of his creator owned book, Powers. Because of the season 2 announcement, it stands to reason the debut series was a success on some level for Sony. Why else would they be willing to invest further money in more episodes. If it exceeded their expectations expect solid viewer numbers to be part of their humble brag and some art or still from season 2 to be included. One of the few surprises Sony could have waiting in the wings might be an expansion of PS Originals content, maybe other adaptations of popular comics. Personally, I’m rooting for Matt Fraction’s Sex Criminals mainly due to my wanting to see Chip Zdarsky awkwardly appear onstage during another big presentation.

Nintendo is actually the gray area of the show. Their Tuesday June 16 digital press conference has already dropped news ahead of itself. According to Nintendo, we won’t be seeing the delayed Legend of Zelda for Wii U. They are however bringing the Nintendo World Championships to the show from the –long long long– ago film The Wizard. Would there really be much of a point to having Fred Savage and the Power Glove appear during a press event that no one will physically be in attendance for? Mario Maker will also be available that week for the general public to try at select retailers during E3.

The Wii U and DS are likely to have announcements about new Pokemon, Metroid, and Animal Crossing but those would probably be leaked a bit before the show. Nintendo also has the slim possibility of being the only console company showing off hardware with their rumored new “NX” system in development. Currently no details are known about the system. Nintendo wouldn’t want to deter any future Wii U sales by even talking about new hardware that isn’t coming out this year so the possibility that we’ll see it at the show is highly unlikely.

What do you want to see during E3 2015? Who do you think will win this year’s E3? What size shirts do you all use?

Also here’s codes for digital copies of Secret Wars 1-2, Magneto, and Mighty Avengers. (First come first served) We’ll also be giving away physical copies of all the May Secret Wars books at the end of the Month thanks to my LCS and if you’re in the LA or Long Beach, CA areas go buy your Secret Wars at Pulp Fiction. All this month they’re selling every new Secret Wars issue (and tie-ins) 50% off. 

Marvel.com/redeem

Magneto 18- FMC1M3NNXDX8

Mighty Avengers 18 – FMDUEP80DYIR

SECRET WARS 1- FMCJG76UTQDV

SECRET WARS 2- FMD7GMLM7F4B

Yesterday the earthquake felt around the world was from the millions chanting “Yes!” in unison after the reveal of the new Star Wars film trailer. Today at Celebration, the aftershock came in the form of a game footage reveal for EA’s new Star Wars Battlefront game. Since it’s reveal at E3 last year, not much had been seen or revealed from the game. Now we know most of the crucial details. Look at the astonishing new video below along with info from the game’s developer, DICE (Battlefield) :

Here’s the rundown:

• - The game will release on November 17, 2015 on PS4, Xbox One, and on Origin for PC.
• - While the game doesn’t have a traditional story mode, all the online goodness takes place on four planets: The desert planet Tatooine, the forest moon of Endor, the desolate frozen wasteland of Hoth, and the previously unexplored Sullust, where Imperial outposts manufacture weapons. Instead of the traditional campaign, Star Wars: Battlefront features a series of missions, playable alone or via online and local co-op.
• - You’ll be able to play as your favorite characters including Darth Vader and Bobba Fett. Also, the Millennium Falcon will be a part of the aerial combat. A documentary style piece was shown that had iconic elements from other Star Wars characters like Han Solo.
• - On December 8, owners of the game will have access to free downloadable content featuring the new planet of Jakku revealed as part of the new JJ Abrams movie. Those who pre-order the game will have access to it a week early on December 1.
• - No Jar-Jar or prequel era stuff, it’s all original trilogy folks.

With all the new canon from shows like Rebels and the new Marvel published comics, the game could have a bottomless well of additional elements and content to turn Battlefront into a massive world that takes away our need to go outside on the weekends.

Are you excited about Battlefront? If you haven’t already, does the announcement want to make you buy a PS4 or Xbox One?

Coming off of WonderCon, this is gonna be a short one in the world of gaming crossing over with comics.

DC Universe Online is still very much alive and kicking with robust communities of players still devoting hours upon hours of their 2nd lives in the comics based MMO. Since its debut in January of 2011, the game has been well supported with new content, and today publisher Sony Online added what they call “munitions” to the game.  Munitions is all about big guns and big explosions. With it, you will learn to harness a vast array of conventional and modern weaponry to control and defeat your enemies.  If you have not yet downloaded DC Universe Online, you can do so for free. Munitions can be purchased at character create or you can gain access to it automatically when you become a DC Universe Online Member.

DC Universe Online is available for PS4, PS3, and PC.

Zen Studios has released tons of themed tables based on everything ranging from classic moves to retro games. Zen Pinball 2 is about to get the Marvel Studios treatment on April 21st when they release Avengers: Age of Ultron Pinball. The Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron table will allow players to relive the struggle of Earth’s mightiest heroes, including Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye against Ultron and his seemingly endless army. The table features dedicated game modes for each member of the Avengers team, including a first-person sharpshooting mini-game starring Hawkeye, a spectacular aerial melee combat sequence between Iron Man and Ultron, and selectable difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, or Hard) to cater to each player’s individual skill level.

The studio is cautious not to have any potential movie spoilers incorporated in the table. Anyone wanting to enjoy slapping your steel balls at Ultron can rest assured knowing they’ll still go into the movie spoiler free.

Zen Pinball 2 is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Wii U.

Last Friday’s digital release of Batman: Arkham Knight the comic book series saw the beginning of a new storyline that points to the potential first encounter of Arkham Knight and Bruce Wayne. Part two of this story releases on Comixology this Friday.

A new installment in the Deus Ex series was confirmed by a new cover for the latest Game Informer magazine. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will take place two years after Human Revolution. It focuses on humanity’s fear of augmented people after the conclusion of the previous game. No release date is set yet, but it’s coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

DC Comics previously published adaptations of the franchise, but no publisher has announced anything in support of this new game. If one will be created, it’s typically an announcement for SDCC.

Gaming Comics in Stores This Week:

Batman: Arkham Knight #2 (DC COmics) (Printed edition collecting 2nd arc)
Mortal Kombat X #5 (DC COmics) (Printed edition)
Sonic The Hedgehog #271 (Archie Comics)
Sonic Boom #6 (Archie Comics)

Batman: Arkham Knight is already one of 2015’s most anticipated games. It looks like fever has climbed a few degrees. A listing on Amazon suggests the Harley Quinn DLC bonus may contain more than previously thought. “For the first time in the Arkham series take on the role of Joker’s psychotic side-kick Harley Quinn and wreak havoc inside the Blüdhaven Police Department,” the description read. “With this exclusive Story Pack experience events in the lead-up to Arkham Knight as you infiltrate Blüdhaven to rescue your partner in crime: Poison Ivy. Delve deep into Harley’s demented nature and utilize her devastating baseball bat to smash, crash and bash your way to a friend very much in need.” Gamestop already has the Red Hood story DLC as a pre-order exclusive and this Harley Quinn DLC looks to be available at other retailers. PlayStation owners will receive a console exclusive Scarecrow Nightmare DLC that was announced in December at PlayStation Experience in Las Vegas.

In addition to all that, today a new 8min gameplay video was released. While it doesn’t show much about the game we don’t already know, it does give clues to the Scarecrow’s plan and shows off how truly next-gen this title looks in action.

In the category of not-so-good Batman: Arkham Knight news, a statement was released officially pushing back the game’s release date from 6/2/15-6/23/15. While it’s only a three week delay, seeing new footage makes it feel like another three years. The move was most likely made to capitalize on a potential bump coming out of the industry trade show E3 in Los Angeles in early June. Which makes sense from a promotional stand point. Why have only one week in the spotlight before the show when you could be the first blockbuster game coming out of the biggest video game sales pitch in the world?

Batman: Arkham Knight and its DLC are in stores June 23 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Currently DC Comics digital is releasing a lead-in digital comic. Available every Friday, Batman: Arkham Knight the comic is written by Peter Tomasi and picks up right after the events of Joker’s demise in Arkham City.

Also coming from WB Interactive is Netherrealm’s Mortal Kombat X. This week the studio confirmed one of film’s most infamous game hunters, the Predator, would be a playable character in the game as part of the Kombat Pack DLC which includes additional fighters and alternate costumes. As long as we’re putting in Predator content a Danny Glover would be sweet. Regardless, the alien hunter is available as part of either the $99 special edition version of the game or the DLC can be purchased as a separate bundle for $30. It will be available when the game launches on April 14. Jason Voorhees was also previously teased and confirmed along with the returning Liu Kang.

Currently DC Comics is also publishing a lead-in digital comic book series titled: Mortal Kombat X. If the characters who appear in the book are any indication of who we’ll see when the game is released today could have been an announcement for the Outworld tyrant, Havik.

Telltale Games, the studio behind the game adaptations of Fables and The Walking Dead, have another franchise some of you might know. Their Game of Thrones episodic experience is set to release its third chapter titled The Sword in the Darkness. It’s available for download this Tuesday March 24 for PC owners, and PlayStation owners in the US. On March 25, Xbox owners everywhere and PS owners in the rest of the world will be able to access the next chapter in the Forresters’ story. Finally, March 26 will see iOS and Android devices get the game. Individually each episode cost $4.99 or season pass options are available on some platforms.

Check out the full trailer below to catch you up on events so far.

Currently the developer is also in the middle of their Tales From the Borderlands adaptation while getting set to release a new episodic story series based on the popular Minecraft. Telltale Games also teased follow ups to Walking Dead including a pre season 3 game much like The Walking Dead: 400 Days came before The Walking Dead: Season 2.

What are your thoughts on the latest Arkham Knight news? Have you played Telltale’s GOT? 

Yesterday in New York City, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Pro 3, the latest iteration of its fully-featured PC/tablet with pressure-sensitivity and an abililty to run any PC-based creative software from Adobe's Creative Cloud suite to Toon Boom, Maya and ZBrush, to post-production filmmaker tools like Assimilate’s SCRATCH and RED’s CineX.

Microsoft is discontinuing support & security updates for both the XP operating system and XP applications (Internet Explorer, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc) ... effective April 8th.

In the event that you are unable or unwilling to upgrade to Win7 or Win8 there are a few steps that can significantly reduce your vulnerability:

- Do NOT routinely login using an account that has Administrator rights.

Avecto's Analysis of "Microsoft Security Bulletins from
2013" highlights that

- 92% of critical XP vulnerabilities would be mitigated if users are NOT logged-in with Administrator
rights.

- 100% of Internet Explorer (IE) vulnerabilities would be mitigated if users are NOT logged-in with
Administrator rights.

- Do NOT use Internet Explorer.

Microsoft is not updating/securing it.

Use Chrome or Firefox. Enable auto-update.

- If using Chrome; consider the ScriptNo plug-in.

- If using Firefox; consider the NoScript and Ghostery
plug-ins.

- Do NOT use Microsoft applications for XP.

Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Visio, etc. for XP
are NOT being updated/secured. Rather ...

Use XP applications that are continuing to be updated.
Consider Libre Office (a fork of OpenOffice). Enable
auto-update.

If you must keep Microsoft applications for XP installed,
default the file associations (defaults) to their respective
viewers, not the full applications.

- Uninstall Java.

- Uninstall Flash.

- If you must use Adobe Reader; keep it VERY up to date and do NOT use it when logged-in with Administrator rights. Enable auto-update.

Editor’s Note: Last Friday, we posted about how Microsoft has recruited Superjail! co-creator Christy Karacas to promote their Surface tablets. The video that Christy starred in was nicely produced, but noticeably short on details about how he uses it and what he thinks of it. Thankfully, Christy left a terrifically informative comment on that post in which he shared his thoughts about the Surface tablet. With his permission, we are republishing his review below. It’s particularly timely, too, since tomorrow in New York City, Microsoft will unveil the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets.

Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet Review by Christy Karacas

For people who want to know, I think it’s a great tablet and I have been using it very often during Superjail! season four production. I use it for sketching/thumbing/boarding on the go. The most important thing I’m looking for in a tablet is a natural drawing experience/interface. I use a Wacom Cintiq to make Superjail!, which is great in my opinion, but obviously that’s a big and powerful non-mobile workstation I can’t take with me.

If you download the Wacom driver for the Surface tablet, the pen pressure/sensitivity is great and I’ve had no latency issues—meaning you can draw very quick and fast which I like to do—and the line doesn’t lag behind the actual pen in your hand. This was a problem I had with previous tablets/laptops.

Prior to this, I owned a Toshiba Portege tablet PC, and used it often to thumb/board during season one. The pressure sensitivity on it kind of sucked and so did the speed, but I would still use it as an option when not in the office or out of town. After season one, I stopped using it. (It was also very heavy and huge by today’s standards…haha). I would only work at the office or home and if I thumbed outside of work, I would do it on paper and then re-draw it in Flash which was kind of a pain in the ass. But when boarding, I like to get away from the office sometimes. I love storyboarding in cafes or bars so I can let my mind wander, people watch, get ideas, etc. I work so often I find a change of workspace inspiring and necessary.

As far as ‘negatives,’ I honestly don’t have any. My biggest hurdle was getting used to Windows 8 as I have a Mac at work and still run Windows Vista at home. I wasn’t used to the ’tiles’ system that is the interface of Surface, but it was just a matter of getting used to it. There is an automatic brightness sensor so when I was drawing sometimes my hand would cover the tablet and the screen brightness would change, but I just disabled that setting so it’s not an issue.

I haven’t and don’t think I would use the Surface for full animation because of its screen size (being a tablet) but I wouldn’t really want to animate in a public space anyways. I would want to work in the quiet of my room or studio. But I do really like storyboarding/thumbnailing in active cafes/bars/even the subway-I don’t know why but I get really good ideas in the subway—and for that, the Surface is great. I boarded a huge chunk of the premiere of Superjail! season 4 on the airplane to San Diego Comic-Con. I was able to email the .FLA file to my storyboard team right on the plane directly from the tablet—super convenient and allows me to get work done, send it to the storyboard artists and keep production flowing while I’m away. The battery life also impressed me—better than my iPhone which I seem to have to charge twice a day.

I think iPads look really nice, but they don’t have the pen driver support, only those blunt ‘stylus’ type pen interfaces that I can’t stand. Also, the iPad can only run apps, not true software like Flash which I need to make Superjail! I know there are more and more tablets on the market these days so there are probably going to be lots of new options.

The Microsoft guys approached me and let me play with it, I loved it and agreed to do the video. Also I have to say that I am really sick of Mac constantly updating their OS. It’s really annoying, and for some reason I find Flash runs better on PC. My PC at home has NEVER crashed making this show—not once! But the Macs at work sometimes do crash when we have a really heavy file. Flash really wan’t designed to do this kind of animation, but that’s a whole other discussion.

So yeah, for directors and storyboard artists, or anyone who wants to sketch digitally away from their workstation with a really sensitive natural pen interface, the Surface has worked out really great for me and I love using it.

Animators as spokespeople doesn’t happen often, but Microsoft is trying it out in anticipation of their launch of Surface Pro 2 tablets next week. To reach visual artists, they produced this online video with Superjail! co-creator Christy Karacas as its star.

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