SOULCALIBUR VI, the premier 3D weapons-based fighting game will be launching on October 19, 2018

SOULCALIBUR VI, the premier 3D weapons-based fighting game will be launching on October 19, 2018

READY YOUR WEAPONS, STRETCH OUT YOUR MUSCLES, AND PREPARE FOR BATTLE IN SOULCALIBUR VI LAUNCHING ON OCTOBER 19, 2018

SOULCALIBUR VI, the premier 3D weapons-based fighting game will be launching on October 19, 2018 for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, and PC via STEAM®. Along with the announcement of SOULCALIBUR VI’s launch date, we are also debuting details pertaining to the game’s Story Mode at E3 2018.

Taking place in the 16th century, SOULCALIBUR VI sets players on a voyage of discovery as they uncover events from the original SOULCALIBUR to learn hidden truths. The game will also feature a diverse line-up of new and returning characters with their unique fighting styles and weapons including series mainstays; Mitsurugi and Sophitia and newcomers such as special guest-character, Geralt of Rivia, from CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher® series and GrØh who was recently announced.
Lastly, a special edition of SOULCALIBUR VI will be offered… the SOULCALIBUR VI Collector’s Edition will feature a 35cm Sophitia Figure, SOULCALIBUR VI Season Pass, Digital Soundtrack, Collector’s Edition Box, and the full SOULCALIBUR VI game.

Quake Champions | June Update Brings Bots, Gore, and New Features Galore to the Arenas

Quake Champions | June Update Brings Bots, Gore, and New Features Galore to the Arenas

Quake Champions continues to evolve and grow in Early Access thanks to the feedback from the community, and this month’s update is no exception. Live today, the game’s June update introduces innovative features that will make it faster and easier for friends to jump in and get good together, including the launch of one of the community’s most requested features – Bots. Read on for all the gory details!

UPDATES

• BOTS GALORE – Want to hone your skill? Did some quitter bail from a game mid-match, leaving your TDM crew a bit short? Well, now Bots are here to save you. That’s right, the same kind of AI that will soon reach singularity and grow into our apocalyptic overlords now powers (optional) enemies in-game! Featuring a scalable skill level to help players practice and improve in training mode, Bots will also automagically fill slots in live games where needed. This small, first phase of the impending robo-pocalypse – in Quake form – supports Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Instagib modes. More exciting updates on our road to Matrix-style Armageddon are scheduled to come soon!

• GLORIFIED GORE – Gibbing enemies into a misty flower of blood and guts has been a key part of all id games, and Quake Champions already has some juicy, entrails-blasting death scenes. But, what if we told you that the ferocious combat and visceral injury of the Arena could be made even more brutal with the new Gore System added today? Yes, now, in this first stage of Gore, each Champion has received a unique gib-makeover, with attention paid to the individual pieces of armor they wear, as well as their proper organs, cybernetics, and appendages, to create precious works of Pollockian art.  The new Gore System even adjusts the gooey airborne chunks based on the special skins or shaders a Champion is wearing. It’s splatterific!

• AN UPDATED STORE – With the Gore System shredding friends and foes into a super-detailed mess, it’s more important than ever to play dress up and make your Champion unique. To that end, the in-game store has been updated with tons of new cosmetics, allowing players to dress up before they are dressed down.

• AND LOTS MORE – Community feedback is more important than ever, and because of one of the most vibrant and fun communities in gaming, the team has also added the following changes to the game:
  • Multi-Mode Play Lists: Been playing all day and need to mix it up? Now you can change modes between matches while remaining in the Match Lobby. Players can vote on what they want to play next, choosing between two selected combinations of mode and map, and one random option. Stay in the Arenas FOREVER! You know… like Ranger!
  • Killer Cam and Stacks: Quake Champions is fast. So fast that sometimes you can’t even tell how someone survived fragging you. Now, during unranked matches, the new Killer Cam will show freshly fagged players their opponent’s remaining Health and Armor on the death screen. They made the kill with 1HP? Good for them - now get back in there and get revenge with a single machine gun shot!
  • Team Health and Armor Stacks: In team-based modes, the Health and Armor stacks of allies will show onscreen so players can decide whether to suck up that Mega-Health for themselves or leave it for their barely surviving friend.
  • New Progression and Loot Systems: Earning XP has been adjusted to help people climb levels faster. In addition, players who choose to play in parties will receive bonus XP and Favor. Backpacks, Chests and Reliquaries also now have a lower number of duplicates and Shards can be used to purchase Chests. The entire system is faster, easier, and more rewarding than ever.
  • New Way to Try – and Buy - Champs: The roster of Champions has grown since Early Access launched and our free players want to keep trying the new additions. To help make this easier, Champion rental has been removed and replaced with a rotation of free Champions. In addition, Champions can now be permanently unlocked with in-game Favor as well as premium Platinum – in short, you can now try Champions easier and acquire new Champions just by playing.
  • Balance Changes: In addition to the more on-the-surface improvements, Quake Champions is receiving some under-the-hood tweaks to improve the overall balance of the game. These changes include alterations to movement speed, health and armor stacks for Light, Medium and Heavy Champions as well as changes to certain weapon statistics and specific Champions abilities.

Quake Champions is available now in Early Access via Bethesda.net and on Steam. For more information, please visit www.Quake.com.

“WONDER WOMAN 1984” is underway

 “WONDER WOMAN 1984” is underway

CAMERAS ROLL ON WARNER BROS. PICTURES’ “WONDER WOMAN 1984”

Director Patty Jenkins Reteams with Star Gal Gadot for the DC Super Hero’s Return to the Big Screen

BURBANK, CA, June 13, 2018 – Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her facing an all-new foe: The Cheetah. Principal photography is underway on Warner Bros. Pictures’ follow up to the Super Hero’s first outing, last summer’s record-breaking “Wonder Woman,” which took in $822 million at the worldwide box office. “Wonder Woman 1984” will also be helmed by acclaimed director Patty Jenkins, and star Gal Gadot in the title role.

As previously announced, the film also stars Kristen Wiig in the role of the Super-Villain The Cheetah, as well as Pedro Pascal. And Chris Pine returns as Steve Trevor.

Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Patty Jenkins, Stephen Jones and Gal Gadot are producing the film. Rebecca Roven Oakley, Richard Suckle, Wesley Coller, Geoff Johns and Walter Hamada are the executive producers.

Joining her behind the scenes are several members of Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” team, including director of photography Matthew Jensen, Oscar-nominated production designer Aline Bonetto (“Amélie”), and Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (“Topsy-Turvy”). Oscar-nominated editor Richard Pearson (“United 93”) will cut the film.

Production will take place in Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, and in the UK, Spain and the Canary Islands.

Set to open in theaters October 31, 2019 in New Zealand, “Wonder Woman 1984” is based on the character created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Tag: Film Review

Tag: Film Review

Cast: Ed Helms, Jeremy Renner, Jake Johsnon, Hannibal Buress, Annabelle Wallis, Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher, Jon Hamm, Leslie Bibb

Director: Jeff Tomsic

Every year, during May, a US-based group of friends come together to play a game of Tag.

It's a tradition that's been running since they were kids - and it's based on a true story.

It sounds like a bizarre proposition, but that's the basis for Tomsic's frat-pack movie. After some 30 years of playing, one of the gang's number Jerry (Jeremy Renner, playing up his action man pretensions) has never been caught.

So Hogan, Bob, Chilli and Sable (Helms, Hamm, Johnson and Buress respectively) gather together with the sole intent of making it this time, given that Jerry is getting married...

There's little plot to Tag, a film that has some briskness of pace, lunacy of execution and is based in some premise of heart, toying as it does with male friendship through the years. (As is especially demonstrated in the real-life credits sequence, and repeated footage of them playing as kids).

However, there are some moments that stand out in this cinematic version of The Washington Post story - albeit for the wrong reason.

An entire sequence based on miscarriage is anything but funny, leaving the film with a sour taste that its initial geniality fails to shake off. It's a woefully misjudged set of moments and deserves to have been struck from the script, leading more to a shocked intake of breath, rather than a shocked laugh.

Equally, the film's final desire to wrap everything up in a mawkish hug is just sickly rather than sentimental - and while the film's final shots really do return to the premise, the journey to get there feels cheapened by some of these moments. Contrasted with the final shots of the original gang playing the game via home movie footage, there's a meanness that pervades some parts of the film which feels definitely unwarranted.

However, Tomsic's slow-mo variations on the action sequences of people getting tagged is quite well executed, a visual bravura touch that may be overplayed, but digs deep into the silly premise of people just playing a kids' game.

The ensemble gel well, and while Fisher's hysterical wife to Hogan may make you question her sanity, the group makes a good fist of pulling off some bromance chemistry, amid the early Bro-vengers assemble montage shots.

Ultimately, Tag brings the prats to the pratfalls, and thanks to a brisk pace, surprisingly it never outstays its welcome, delivering some unexpected LOL moments and some subtle adlibbed one-liners (mainly from Buress) that will cause more mirth than expected.

Animation NOW! festival returns to Auckland for third year

Animation NOW! festival returns to Auckland for third year The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) presents Animation NOW!, a smorgasbord of international animated shorts . Animation NOW! returns for a third festival year as a stand-alone weekend of screenings immediately following NZIFF in Auckland.

Image: Five Thirty Five – Alex Dunford (International Showcase programme)

Myriad voices and styles are packed into six thought-provoking and artistically distinct collections of animated shorts curated by Malcolm Turner and Annie Murray. “We look at the strangely normal aspects of urban life in Crazy Towne, explore the re-occurring dark themes in our modern climate in Dark Hearts, are delighted by movement, mutations and textures in Morph ‘n’ Move, look at stunning hand-crafted animation in Handmade, travel the world through a miscellaneous mix of shorts in the International Showcase and put a spotlight on the best to come out of an animation oasis in Fresh Eyes on Estonia,” says Animation NOW! programmer Malcolm Turner. Two New Zealand shorts will screen as part of the programme. David Midgley’s Tom features in the Dark Hearts collection while Paul James’ Trap will screen as part of the International Showcase. Another highlight will be the Oscar-nominated marvel Negative Space by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata which will screen as part of Handmade. The Festival will screen at Academy Cinemas in Auckland from Friday 10 August until Sunday 12 August. The full schedule is available now, and tickets go on sale from Friday 29 June at the special Festival price of $12.50 each. The six collections screening at Animation NOW! 2018 are: Animation NOW! Crazy Towne 78 mins approx. | Censors rating TBC Sunday 12 August 6:00pm A tumultuous, surreal and sometimes comical ride through the complexities of an urban landscape. Animation – plugged into the right power supply – can take you to some pretty crazy places. Any semblance of real-world norms is jettisoned as a fusion of images, energy and imagination takes charge of the controls and sends us full speed ahead. The power of this programme derives from each work’s ability to maintain the pace, as they race down paths void of the usual signposting and narrative edifice that are part and parcel of conventional cinema. Only in the world of animation could ideas bounce off each other like this and careen inexorably towards one wildly improbable conclusion after another. If you’ve been looking for a place where none of the rules apply, you just took the right turn. — MT https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/film/animation-now-crazy-towne/ Animation NOW! Dark Hearts 78 mins approx. | Censors rating TBC Saturday 11 August 8:00pm A thought-provoking collection dissecting modern fears through animated metaphors. Some animators treat their craft as a kind of creative poultice; a savage form of therapeutic release drawing out all manner of inner demons. Oh God (Betina Bożek), God Bless America (Dane Cree, Michelle Brost) and Parasitic Endeavours (Simon Christoph Krenn) share this visceral willingness to marshal the unique properties of animation to explore the furthest imaginings of what can be done to a human body, in ways impossible in any other artform. — MT https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/film/animation-now-dark-hearts/ Animation NOW! Morph ‘n’ Move 75 mins approx. | Censors rating TBC Sunday 12 August 4:00pm A satisfying exploration of movements, twists and warps that can only be achieved through masterful animation. Morph ‘n’ Move is animation’s street parade moment. It’s a chance to show off all its fanciest moves, wow the crowds and win new hearts. — MT https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/film/animation-now-morph-n-move/ Animation NOW! Handmade 78 mins approx. | Censors rating TBC Saturday 11 August 4:00pm Beautifully crafted objects take on a new life in this wonderful collection honouring the analogue world. This screening includes the Academy Award Nominated short, Negative Space. Some animators just want to see their drawings move, their paintings come to life and their puppets take the stage. To these animators – and they are legion – animation is very much a hands-on medium created with the most physical of materials. They simply know no other way. This programme is our annual tribute to the very best of these works. In them resides a passion to create with one’s own hands and a heroic patience sufficient to build a world and tell a story, one painstaking frame at a time.— MT https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/film/animation-now-handmade/ Animation NOW! International Showcase 79 mins approx. | Censors rating TBC Friday 10 August 6:30pm This is where animation is right now. There has never been a time when more animation was being made by more people in more places. In excess of 4,000 films vied for a spot in Animation NOW! this year. Trying to honour the breadth of what the international animation community is creating is the starting point for this programme. https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/film/animation-now-international-showcase/ Animation NOW! Fresh Eyes on Estonia 77 mins approx. | Censors rating TBC Saturday 11 August 6:00pm A taste of the unique artistic and cultural perspective from a northern oasis of Animation. Animation NOW! has long championed Estonian animation. No country produces such persistently great, immediately recognisable work. It is home to Priit Pärn, one of the undisputed living masters, as well as rising stars such as Ülo Pikkov, Priit Tender, Mait Laas and Chintis Lungren. Animator, musician and VJ Annie Murray journeyed to Estonia and came home with this wonderful programme of the best of the new Estonian animation, it would seem, is in very fine shape indeed. — MT https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/film/animation-now-fresh-eyes-on-estonia/ Visit nziff.co.nz for full programme details Tickets go on sale from Friday 29 June at the special Festival price of $12.50 each.

LEGENDARY OVER-THE-TOP ACTION SERIES RETURNS WITH DEVIL MAY CRY 5

LEGENDARY OVER-THE-TOP ACTION SERIES RETURNS WITH DEVIL MAY CRY 5

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LEGENDARY OVER-THE-TOP ACTION SERIES RETURNS WITH DEVIL MAY CRY® 5

The Latest Chapter in the Much-Loved Gaming Franchise Arrives on Consoles and PC in Spring 2019

SYDNEY – Jun. 12, 2018 – At the Microsoft E3 2018 Media Briefing today, Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, announced Devil May Cry® 5, the latest title in the iconic 16 million unit selling action series. Devil May Cry 5 will be releasing on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC in Spring 2019. The announcement trailer can be downloaded here.

The Devil May Cry® series, known for its blend of high-octane stylized action and otherworldly characters, grew to be a global success since its first release in 2001. The main protagonist of the series is Dante, a demon hunter and son of the Legendary Dark Knight and demon Sparda and human Eva. Throughout the Devil May Cry series, the eternal battle between the forces of good and evil plays out through the lens of this supernatural family drama, as the Son of Sparda Dante, seeks vengeance for his brother’s corruption and his mother’s murder.

Now, 10 years since the last iteration, Devil May Cry® 4, Director Hideaki Itsuno and the core team have reunited to conclude the long awaited Sons of Sparda saga.

Several years have passed in Devil May Cry 5 and the threat of demonic power, long since forgotten, has returned to menace the world once again. The demonic invasion begins with the seeds of a “demon tree” taking root in Red Grave City. This hellish incursion attracts the attention of the young demon hunter, Nero, an ally of Dante who now finds himself without his demonic arm, the source of much of his power. As Nero heads to Red Grave City in his motorhome named “Devil May Cry” with his partner Nico, he ruminates on how everything started. The loss of his demonic arm, the demonic invasion, and Dante’s unknown whereabouts. Things must be settled once and for all.

Capcom’s proprietary in-house RE Engine ensures that with Devil May Cry 5, the series continues to achieve new heights in fidelity, featuring ground-breaking graphics that utilise photorealistic character designs and stunning lighting and environmental effects. The game features three playable characters, each of which offer a radically different stylish combat play style as they take on the city overrun with demons. Adrenaline-fuelled boss fights play out against destructible environments in the striking streets of Red Grave City.

ICONIC FIGHTING FRANCHISE, DEAD OR ALIVE, RETURNS IN EARLY 2019!

ICONIC FIGHTING FRANCHISE, DEAD OR ALIVE, RETURNS IN EARLY 2019!

ICONIC FIGHTING FRANCHISE, DEAD OR ALIVE, RETURNS IN EARLY 2019!

Witness DOATEC’s Greatest Showdown To Date; DEAD OR ALIVE 6, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via STEAM.

Sydney, 12th June 2018 – Team NINJA is proud to announce the triumphant return of the celebrated DEAD OR ALIVE fighting game franchise with DEAD OR ALIVE 6, currently in development for PlayStation®4 Computer Entertainment System, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and digitally on Windows PC via Steam®. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the developer revealed that aspiring fighters will be able to experience the sixth DEAD OR ALIVE World Combat Championship in Early 2019; and every fight will be presented in amazing detail, allowing fans to discern intricate facial expressions unparalleled to those seen in previous entries.

The DEAD OR ALIVE Tournament Executive Committee and hosts of DEAD OR ALIVE 6, DOATEC, already released the names of the first set of fighters involved in this installment - including the owner of DOATEC, Helena Douglas. Other notable fighters include the eighteenth master of the Mugen Tenshin clan, Hayate, and past DEAD OR ALIVE (DOA) tournament winners; Kasumi of the Mugen Tenshin clan, the ultimate ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, the ever-entertaining host, Zack, and the most recent tournament winner, the scorching soul Jann Lee!

Two new locations have been scouted to host key matches in the sixth tournament: the remarkable DOA Colosseum, complete with three bold statues showcasing famous fighting stances, and The Throwdown, a gritty back street where raw unfiltered fighting can take place in its prime. Select locations, such as The Throwdown, allow the live audience to get even closer to the action than ever before - with some unruly fans breaking the rules and pushing fighters back into the centre of the ring. Combined with the fan-favourite ‘Mass Destruction’, where fighters can use the environment in their attacks, this tournament is set to be one of the most entertaining ever hosted by DOATEC.

To celebrate the sixth DEAD OR ALIVE World Combat Championship, Team NINJA & DOATEC have released a trailer showcasing footage from the preliminaries, alongside images of our returning competitors in and out of action!