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Imitation in the tech world is normal, even expected, but during Apple’s developers conference Monday, Tim Cook and company were in rare form. They didn’t have much uniquely Apple to show off at all.

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Rod Fergusson made two announcements today, both of which I couldn't be happier about. 

The first is that a new entry of Gears of War, not just the remaster (though that is probably a no-brainer as well) will be at E3. That is the probably the biggest news for fans, as the series has been relatively quiet since Gears of War Judgment vanished into the sunset with little more than a whimper. The second part is that Black Tusk Studios is no more. In its place is The Coalition. While some might see it as just a name change, to me it speaks to how invested the developer is into making this series not just part of their portfolio, but essential to their DNA. In his message (via Gameinformer), he spells it all out in detail. 

Hi everyone - I'm Rod Fergusson, former studio head of Black Tusk Studios.

It’s not what you think.

Beginning today, the Vancouver-based Xbox team working on the Gears of War franchise will be known as The Coalition. What's in a name? In short, The Coalition speaks to who we are as a team, and what it is we're working on.

A coalition is a team of diverse individuals working together for a common purpose, a concept that we feel describes our studio quite well.

Fans will also recognize the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) from Gears of War lore.

When people hear 343 Industries, they associate it with Halo; when they hear Turn 10 Studios, they know that’s who makes Forza. Moving forward, when you hear The Coalition, we want you to think of Gears of War.

To see our new logo in motion, and to learn more about The Coalition, watch a special edition Rodcast [below].

Speaking of Gears of War, we're getting close to E3, where we will share more on what's next for Gears of War. Specifically, Gears fans should be sure to tune in to Xbox Daily: LIVE @ E3, on Monday June 15 at 4PM Pacific to see what we're working on.

Microsoft has really surprised me with the handling of the franchise since they purchased it from Epic, and this is just another cog (pun intended) in that process. There seems to be a real onus on getting back to what made the franchise the behemoth that it is, and I truly can't wait to see what The Coalition has in store. Some of my best gaming memories come courtesy of this franchise, but everyone has different aspects of it that they enjoyed more than others. That said, I want to hear what you hope is in the next installment, what isn't, and what you would like to see from the franchise as a whole. 

Not counting spin-offs, the wait for a new Mega Man game has been so long that its own creator started making crowd-funded rip-offs instead, but at least fans will have a new animated series come 2017, the 30th anniversary of the character."The 1990s Mega Man TV series was cool and different than other series targeted at kids during that time," said [Duncan] Rouleau, whose Man of Action also counts Disney XD's Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel's Avengers Assemble among its credits. "It featured great action, but also brought the laughs."Wh-huh? Action and comedy was somehow a combination nobody ever did before in a cartoon? This strikes me as a bit of a reach. "Mega Man is a character that is even more relevant for today's kids and we are really looking forward to creating something new that still respects the long tradition of the character."Even more relevant how? Because we have easier access to weapons nowadays? Or because cyborg = cyber, so Internet = Mega Man? I shouldn't kid, when this news so clearly made tipster Sly Dante's day. I just pray they keep this theme song: Continue reading "Ben 10 Creators Are Doing a New Mega Man Cartoon" >

The man who created the modern perception of zombies will now bring the undead to the small screen. Variety reports that George A. Romero, director of Night of the Living Dead — the film which redefined the idea of a zombie apocalypse — will write a new TV series based on his Marvel Comic Empire of the Dead. Demarest Films made the announcement at the Cannes Film Festival today, so this project is in the very early stages and doesn't have a network home yet.

Here's the official synopsis of Empire of the Dead's first issue:

Welcome to New York City years after the undead plague has erupted—but just because Manhattan has been quarantined, don’t think that everyone inside is safe! Not only do flesh-eaters roam within Manhattan, but there’s another ancient predator about to take a bite out of the Big Apple!

That other ancient predator they mention? Vampires. The combination of vampires and zombies should be enough to separate this from both The Walking Dead and The Strain, and the idea that the father of the zombie genre himself is writing it (alongside his partner Peter Grunwald) will obviously be a big draw for fans. That's all the information that's out there about this project at the moment, but we'll be sure to keep you up to date.

Guess what’s got my large intestine in a septic knot today, MANmerica? The extreme pussification and dude-slicing feminism that has taken Mad Max: Fury Road—a movie that should have been about two greased up male torsos in a UFC fight on the back of on a loud motorcycle—into a crotch-kicking misandrist fantasy starring some dyke named Furiosa who doesn’t even show us her tits. THE BETAFICATION OF AMERICA CONTINUES. MAD MAX HAS BEEN RUINED.

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As has been the tradition for Suicide Squad thus far, David Ayer’s tweeted the first full-on cast photo, with pretty much everyone (save the Joker and Amanda Waller) in costume. UPDATED: Now with a look at Deadshot’s full costume.

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Behold a smart phone game so clever/horrifying we’ll probably never play it. Night Terrors is a game that puts ghosts into your home. Never use your phone again!

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There have been plenty of fans who have complained about Warner Bros.’ attempts to replicate Marvel’s money-generating Cinematic Universe with DC. But they’re not the only ones — some Hollywood executives also doubt WB can pull it off, because the studio seems to be going about it in the worst way possible.

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Security researcher Samy Kamkar developed a web app that can help you crack Master Lock’s ubiquitous padlock in a matter of minutes. Fiddling with your lock as described in this video gives you three numbers, which the app uses to generate eight three-number sequences, one of which will open your lock.

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I never had the time to play the full Just Cause 2 game when it came out, but I did download the demo for PS3 and had a blast messing around in that world, blowing up pretty much everything I could get my grappling hook on. The game felt like a more ridiculous version of Grand Theft Auto to me, one in which physics didn't matter quite as much and you could constantly use parachutes and a never-ending supply of grappling hooks to zoom around and cause as much destruction as possible.

Five years later, a new trailer has just debuted for Just Cause 3, and the game looks like it's fully embracing that ridiculous anarchy. Pretty much everything you see in this trailer explodes, and this gameplay looks like a pumped up version of what we've already seen in this franchise. The game is reportedly set to come out at the very end of this year for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and I might actually consider buying a PS4 just so I can get in on the action. Let us know what you think below.

It's a very short video, but it displays his main power - making us scratch our heads and wonder, "Huh, is that really the kid from The Road and Let Me In?" Just kidding. He still teleports. And still has no cool costume, because Bryan Singer. Continue reading "BAMF! Here's the New X-Men Movie Nightcrawler in Action" >

Marvel’s new series Daredevil doesn’t look like the company’s other television offerings, like Agents of SHIELD. The violence is bloodier, the palette murkier, the humor darker. But what convinced me this was something way different was the second episode — when the show avoided my least favorite trope.

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The new Star Wars teaser trailer is so awesome, it’s already given Disney’s stock a $2 billion boost, indicating the excitement among investors (nerds) over the upcoming movie.

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You saw a version of it last night — but now here’s the official HD trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. In which absolutely everybody despises Superman, and Batman wants to ask just one. Simple. Question.

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Ever since I saw the first footage for Mortal Kombat X, I've been saying that the violence and gore has made me a little uneasy because of how realistic and visceral it is in comparison with the sort of goofy versions of the game that used to be in arcades back in the '90s. Some people may disagree, but after seeing this video from IGN that puts all of the game's fatalities back to back, I think it's pretty clear that this isn't just your average run-of-the-mill fighting game anymore. If you watch this and don't feel a gut-wrenching reaction to it, I feel sorry for your soul. This is the most brutal thing I've seen in a video game.

Mortal Kombat X arrives in stores on April 14th.

Photo by David Alvarez Photography

I have always had a secret desire to Cosplay and learn how to knit, they both look like a lot of fun, seriously. I have never in my wildest dreams ever thought of combining the two. This cosplay by FangirlPhysics combines the skill of knitting and the fun of cosplay into something I can only describe as cozy. Interestingly enough, she's dressed as Captain America — likely the only Avenger who knows how to knit. H/T: Fashionably Geek

Photo by  Corpus Photography

Let's take a little break from all the Star Wars news, and talk about some things happening with Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The following information might be considered SPOILER territory for some of you, so I'm just throwing out the warning. The information contains a few surprise villain Easter Eggs that will be included in the story. 

It was previously reported that Doomsday would be in the movie, but Badass Digest solidly confirms it in their report. One of the other villains that is mentioned is KGBeast, who is one of Lex Luthor's evil agents. The site explains:

"Yes! Lex Luthor has many agents making his dark agenda a reality, an agenda that includes keeping an eye on all metahumans, mainly a woman who walks the streets today but who is seen in pictures from the 1800s. A wonder woman, you might say. At any rate, one of Luthor's agents has a name, and that name is Anatoli Knyazev. Hardcore fans will recognize that as the name of the KGBeast, a Batman villain introduced in 1988's classic Ten Nights of the Beast storyline. In that story the Beast, an enhanced agent of the KGB, came to the US to kill ten targets, and he did it with extreme measures, including poisoning an entire 200 person dinner party to get one guy. He battled Batman to a standstill, and at one point when entangled in the Batrope the KGBeast cut off his own hand to escape. He of course put a cybernetic gun on the stump, as you do."

The report says that we won't see this version of KGBeast in the movie, but the character's name is in the script. It's more of an easter egg for all the fans that I guess could possibly lead into something more. 

There's one other big easter egg that you will find in Batman v Superman. Apparently, the Joker already exists in the cinematic universe that they've set up and Superman knows about him. Unfortunately, we wont see him in the movie either, but who knows where it will lead.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how all of these upcoming movies tie together. 

It sounds like Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams is ready to get to work on Sam Raimi's big screen adaptation of the hit video game The Last of Us. During an interview with IGN, she talked about how her casting was progressing and she told them that "it's looking like a yes."

Williams, who plays Arya Stark in the HBO fantasy series, was a huge hit at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. It was there that her name was dropped as being in the running to play the character Ellie from the popular horror-action game. According to the actress, she wasn't familiar with the The Last of Us until fans on Twitter, which included Ashley Johnson, the original voice of Ellie, fan casted her for the role. It's at that point that she got her American agent to set up a meeting. She said,

“I had a meeting with [producer] Sam Raimi and [game director] Neil Druckmann. They said they’d love ‘if you would moderate the panel at Comic-Con, but you’d need to watch the walk-through and know your s*** because there are massive fans of this and we wouldn’t want it to go wrong.’ I was doing so much work for ‘Thrones’ that I didn’t want to half-arse do it, so I said I’m not going to [moderate]. They said fine, but they’re gonna announce they had talks. So the way it was left is they want me to do it, and I want to do it. But there’s no script, no director, and no anything else. So at this moment, it’s looking like, ‘Yes,’ but it’s still such early days. If they make it in 30 years, they can’t have a 40-year-old Ellie. So at the moment, it’s looking good, and I’d love to do it. Hell yeah.”

The story follows "hardened survivor, Joel, and Ellie, a young and capable girl, on their journey through a radically transformed world. Set twenty years after an infectious pandemic spread by the cordyceps virus ravaged the course of humanity, these two people, who were brought together by chance, must make life-altering decisions in order to survive. The Last of Us explores themes of survival, loyalty, love, and redemption in an emotionally charged expedition across a post-epidemic United States."

Druckmann is currently writing the screenplay, so I have high hopes for this movie. One thing is for sure, Williams is perfect for the part. 

On the heels of Suicide Squad's cast announcement, I have a bittersweet taste in my mouth. While I do like the thought of Jared Leto, Will Smith, Tom Hardy, and others portraying some of the baddest villains out there, I have a foul taste in my mouth. "What about the television actors?" I think, remembering the solid performances of Michael Rowe as Deadshot on Arrow. The same can be said for many other actors in the DC universe right now, such as Nick Tarabay, who recently made his debut as Captain Boomerang on Flash. Not long after his debut, it was announced that his former Spartacus cast mate Jai Courtney will be playing the same character in Suicide Squad.

The move was reminiscent of the announcement of Ezra Miller being cast as The Flash the same day the second episode ratings were announced for the television show starring Grant Gustin. It's a disrespectful move by Warner Brothers that angered, among others, Arrow himself, Stephen Amell.

Amell was not alone in his criticism. In fact, there was a vocal majority who thought Gustin deserved the movie role, second episode be damned.

I understand the nuance and struggle that would come along with a shared universe, but in the case of Gustin, and at some point Amell, it's a bit shitty to completely dismiss the television world of superheroes. Two guys lay the foundation for characters seemingly unknown to the mainstream community and then don't get the opportunity to embody the role on the big screen. What's the difference between the guys cast in the films and these guys who bust their ass year in and year out to bring us the magic on a week to week basis?

There are a lot of reasons to say no, I'll admit. The Flash or Arrow could get cancelled by the time their respective movies go to screen. Actors who appear in films are going to eventually want more money to appear on television, thus driving more money and affecting the product. These aren't the reasons DC is not giving these guys the limelight, however.

DC has really been big on star power, as of late, in an attempt to combat Marvel's still flourishing movie scene, and I think it's a bad approach. First off, television seems to be the biggest advantage DC has over Marvel in terms of live action drama at the moment. With three shows topping the ratings on their respective channels, it's hard to argue that DC doesn't have a leg up against Marvel's standalone Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the time being, and that gap is closing. S.H.I.E.L.D. has only gotten better since IMPLEMENTING EVENTS FROM THEIR FILMS IN THE TELEVISION SERIES. With the Daredevil series coming soon (May 2015) to Netflix, who's to say next year the two won't be on solid ground come next year?

When people went to go see Batman Begins, they didn't go to see Christian Bale. They went to see Batman. Did Bale lend himself to the role well? Of course, and parts of his portrayal will forever remain with the character's legacy. First movie out, though, Bale did not put butts in seats, Batman did. Ultimately, when it comes to hero films we want the hero, and not the guy behind it.

So who better to star in a film about characters lacking mass appeal than the guys who put them back in the spotlight? I guess what I'm getting at is if star power is all we cared about, DC, then we'd be clamoring for you to bring George Clooney back for Batman and Robin 2. Instead, we bury the performance of Brandon Routh as Superman in 2006 and then in 2014 applaud him for his portrayal of The Atom in Arrow. Guys like Amell and Gustin have already won us over with their portrayals of heroes, so why hope lighting strikes twice and take a risk with other guys?

We live in an era where television as of late has rivaled and at times surpassed film. Embrace it, DC, and don't make our cinematic world as convoluted as the comics world.

In case you're having trouble remembering that most of America gains an extra hour at some point over the weekend, this dramatic trailer for Saving Daylight is the ultimate reminder.

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A hero to us all somehow managed to record a previously unreleased clip from Avengers: Age of Ultron that was shown at the Marvel event on Tuesday. Marvel takes the security of their content really really seriously. They had security guards with night vision scopes at the Comic-Con panel for their animated Spider-Man show on Disney XD, which surely is of less interest than this. The cynical side of me wonders if this is a deliberate leak, but maybe our anonymous pirate is just very intrepid.

The video shows a conversation between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) about visions shown to them by Scarlet Witch, leading to a fight that maybe presages the upcoming Captain America: Civil War. The quality isn't great because it was filmed on the sly, but it's still a tantalizing tease that makes me wonder if some of the more apocalyptic scenes from the trailer are Scarlet Witch induced visions. 

Seth Rogen is set to star alongside Christian Bale in director Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs biopic, which is set up at Sony Pictures. I never really thought about who they'd cast as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in the Aaron Sorkin' scripted movie, but Rogen seems like a solid choice. 

The movie is based on Walter Isaacson’s biography Steve Jobs, and according to Sorkin, the movie will be divided into three long scenes, each taking place backstage before one of Jobs' famous product launches. Those products are said to be the Mac, NeXT (after Jobs had left Apple), and the iPod.

As you know, Rogen is mostly known for his crazy comedic roles, but he should great in this. It might be a role that will open up a whole new level of dramatic parts for the actor, just like Moneyball did for Jonah Hill. 

Here's a detailed synopsis of the book that the film will be based on:

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

Via: Variety

Deadline has announced that Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is Marvel's choice to play the titular Sorcerer Supreme in the Doctor Strange movie, and talks are about to begin. Awesome. Question: If Strange faces off against Tom Hiddleston's Loki at any point, will the internet shut down in bliss?

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The opening cinematic to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been released online for you all to check out, and it's gloriously epic in every freakin' way! It's called "The Trail," and it features witchers Geralt of Rivia and his mentor Vesemir tracking down Geralt’s long lost love, "the immensely powerful, raven-black-haired sorceress -- Yennefer of Vengerberg."

This is a seriously impressive looking game. Everything I've seen from it has been absolutely breathtaking. The game is based on the critically-acclaimed novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, and I'm looking forward to playing this one. Maybe even one day it will be adapted into a movie!

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features a vast, living, open world full of meticulously created quests and Points of Interest, 35 times bigger than the one in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Experience a realm where morality is not a simple choice between good and evil and where every decision ripples through the one hundred hours of gameplay CD Projekt RED has hand-crafted to meet the needs of the RPG fan.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on February 24th, 2015.

Brent Sims' Grave Shivers is an anthology of short horror films surrounding children at bedtime, with plenty of monsters and gore—and in one case, a little girl's plus defender.

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Tom Hanks' classic 1984 comedy Bachelor Party is set to be adapted into a TV series by ABC. Bachelor Party was Hanks' second big feature film after Splash, and it's a hilarious movie that is a must see for any comedy fan. The series is described as being a half-hour comedy anthology series.

Variety says that the show will "examine relationships and the institution of marriage through the lens of three couples: one about to get married, another recently divorced and a third just falling in love. They will experience the trial-by-fire that is the modern day, co-ed bachelor/bachelorette extravaganza."

This isn't the first classic Hanks' movie to get a TV series order. Fox recently announced that they are developing a series based on the 1988 movie Big. I wonder how Hanks feels about his movies being turned into TV shows.

Just in case you've never seen Bachelor Party, I included the original trailer for it below. 

Here’s the thing: I don’t play video games. Like, at all. Ever. That is because when I was a child my older brother hogged the NES and I seldom got to play, and now 25 years later I am really really bad at them. I still do the thing where I move my whole body. It’s kind of embarrassing. But this Assassin’s Creed Unity story trailer had me saying, “Hell yeah, I’m ready to travel the Eagle’s path!” So maybe I’ll give it a whirl.

When my husband is playing video games, I actually would prefer him to always play Assassin’s Creed games, because I’ve always loved historical fiction, and they generally have a story that’s interesting for me to watch. This one looks no different.

In Assassin’s Creed Unity the French Revolution is in full swing and the city and its people are embroiled in chaos. As the people of Paris find themselves wrapped up in an epic, bloody struggle, Arno will have to navigate shifting alliances, betrayal, and conspiracies to steer the revolution and uncover the truth. 

Assassin’s Creed Unity comes out on November 11 on XBOX One, PS4, and PC. The trailer also has information on various pre-order bonuses.

Man of Steel writer David Goyer is allegedly working on a Krypton show. But will the alien-set series have Russell Crowe's weird bird/bug dragon? It doesn't matter, since everyone dies anyway.

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Not that you were in any particular doubt of the superhero genre's new domination of television, but the premiere of The Flash was The CW network's most watched program ever, earning 6.84 million viewers in the "Live + 7-Day" Nielsen ratings. Suck on that big red streak, Arrow.

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Dealing with the legal ramifications of a curse or monster? Henry Parish, attorney at law, promises to end your legal woes in this lawyerly ad spoof. After all, bringing about the apocalypse is sure to make those pesky criminal charges go away.

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