Other networks aside, the Legends of Tomorrow route seems more likely if we’re ever going to see the Justice League on the small screen. Some major players will get their own shows, while others will appear as important supporting characters. Picture a Superman series that has him mentored by Martian Manhunter or frequently teaming up with Green Lantern, or possibly a Wonder Woman show with her travelling to Gotham for one season and helping a mopey billionaire to lighten up a little. Not everyone needs their own show, and some might even need as little as a featured episode. Given that we’ve already got duplicate characters in the TV and movie worlds (the Flash, for example), this shouldn’t be too much of a prob
We also received confirmation this week from NetherRealm Studios that long-time Mortal Kombat veteral Liu Kang will be joining the Mortal Kombat X roster. With just a few weeks left until release, the Mortal Kombat developer is releasing information at a rapid rate, so we’re sure to see even more reveals and rumors hit the streets s
The TV universe has taken a different path due to the medium. It started with Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, though the series was relatively grounded at first with Oliver not even using his iconic name until much later. More fantastical elements began to creep in, until The Flash spinoff kicked off and __ became massively popular, and we started to meet more major players: Black Canary, The Atom, Mr Terrific, Hawkgirl and Hawkman, Vixen, Firestorm, Black Canary again, White Canary (that’s the first Black Canary, post-resurrection) and many, many more. Metahumans became big news, and we’ve even delved into alternate universes and magical artifa
As games like League of Legends succeed, developers and distributors look towards their success and analyze how it can be applied to their products. H1Z1 attracted a lot of recent attention for going back on their initial statement that in-game payments could not be applied to ammo or guns by implementing airdrops, a system that would allow players to pay a fee and have a plane drop off supplies that may contain weapons and ammo. The developers say that the possible consequences of these drops—attracting zombie attention, possible raiding by other players,and the rare drop rate of weapons—even out the potential for unbalancing the game. But players weren’t satisfied, and many asked for refunds when the airdrops were announ
Fading demand for local multiplayer. Perhaps most important in the disappearance of local multiplayer is decreased demand. Players want better graphics, and better graphics means cutting split-screens. Since online multiplayer games sell better than solely single-player experiences, developers include them—even when they are essentially clones of other popular series. Online multiplayer games are always available (provided your internet or the server isn’t down), there are always people waiting to play, and they don’t require graphical sacrifices. Online multiplayer games also constitute more of a challenge—while your friends’ talents might be all over the place, online ranked matches mean you can almost always find somebody at your skill le
Distributors clearly have a lot to gain from online multiplayer games, especially with the popularity of microtransactions and the increasing popularity of DLC—more maps, more costumes, and more weapons often tempt gamers into paying more. This works well for free-to-play games like League of Legends or other MOBAs, but announcing DLC before a game’s release often draws criticism. Many players argue that paid DLC encourages some developers to omit necessary or desired player content for higher prof
H1Z1 ‘s developers aren’t the only ones pursuing this avenue. Peter Moore, COO of EA, told Kotaku that he believes that microtransactions will one day be a part of every game , and that this shift is a difficult time for both developers and gamers alike. “We’re just picking our way through and nobody is any way trying to gouge anybody,” Moore s
Piracy has long been a scourge of gaming, affecting and frustrating both developers and players, for intertwined but different reasons. Game distributors have tried many things to combat piracy. It started with CD keys and progressed to DRM that limits the possible number of installations or requires internet access at all times. Some developers even include code that will glitch pirated games, leading to some truly hilarious resul
Plants vs. Zombies 2 already has 10 “premium plants” for a total cost of more than $30 altogether, tax included. And that’s just plants. You can also pay for upgrades and in-MOBA game Walkthrough coins. To my knowledge, Plants vs. Zombies never went higher than $20 for the whole game, with no micro-transactions, so I can only assume PopCap is making a truckload off of this. Now I know people like to point out how less than 10 percent of people who play free-to-play games participate in micro-transactions. This makes it seem like the companies are doing what’s best for the player by offering a portion of their game for free, while only making a small chunk of change on the side to get by. It’s a compelling narrative that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. This number conveniently leaves out how much money they’re actually making from those ten percent of people who want a full gaming experience.
