One last check of the recent comics x gaming news before E3 officially gets underway. Let’s Go!
Starbreeze Studios, the developer behind Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons announced its dive into the Virtual Reality hardware pool and promises the widest field of view available. StarVR boasts a 210 degree horizontal field of view and 5120×1440 resolution, thanks to dual 5.5-inch displays. The company took over the House of Blues in Hollywood last night with a star studded event to show off the new headset just before E3.
StarVR is set to compete against Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus, but it’s brining Overkill’s The Walking Dead and a literally a VR shotgun as part of its arsenal. Check out the presentation video:
No word of pricing or release window, but the Walking Dead game will be hands on demoed for attendees at E3 this week on the hardware.
Our Thought:
The VR market is quickly filling up before the first hardware even hits consumers Cheeto dusted fingers. With Oculus and Sony’s hardware set to launch next year, Starbreeze better be along quick if they hope to capitalize on early adopters. Is there an appeal for everyone out there to see what it’s like to get eaten by a zombie?
Published this September by Dark Horse Comics in partnership with Electronic Arts and DICE, creators of the Mirror’s Edge franchise, Mirror’s Edge: Exordium will grant fans special insight into the origin of Faith, the protagonist of the new Mirror’s Edge Catalyst video game. Written by Christofer Emgård, narrative director at DICE, with art by Mirror’s Edge in-house artists Emgård, Mattias Häggström, Robert Sammelin, Henrik Sahlström, and Erik Persson, ME: Exordium is a six issue limited series that aims to dive deep into the complex bouncing off buildings world of Mirror’s Edge.
“Set in a world as iconic as it is visually stunning, with one of the most compelling and unique protagonists in popular culture, Mirror’s Edge is tailor made for great comics,” said Dark Horse senior editor Dave Marshall. “It’s an awesome opportunity to be able to kick off our partnership with DICE with this series!”
Mirror’s Edge: Exordium #1
Christofer Emgård (W) Mattias Häggström, Robert Sammelin, Henrik Sahlström, Erik Persson (A)
Robert Sammelin (Cover)
$3.99, 32 pages
On sale September 9
Our Thought:
The first Mirror’s Edge game was a rare new idea from EA, a publisher not typically known for breaking away from sequels and sports. While not a blockbuster, the game did well enough to green light a sequel. GO US! A small miracle when you consider today’s landscape where we all complain about there not being anything new, yet refuse to support new IP. What has me a bit worried though is the creative team on the new book is all from video game developer DICE. While it might not necessarily be a bad thing, we’ll have to wait and see what the end result is. However, the reason Dark Horse has success both financially and artistically with The Last of Us: American Dreams is due to the creative partnership between Neil Druckmann and Faith Erin Hicks. Both are storytellers in different mediums, but they worked together to translate the vastly different languages of gaming and comics in order to create something that felt right in both worlds. I’ll remain optimistic for the time being since the book is at Dark Horse and now they’ve got the resume of quality adapted from video game books (Halo, Last of US, Witcher) which gives them license to try just about anything.
Today, Nintendo dropped big news for fans of the party brawling game Super Smash Bros. During a special video presentation focused on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, the game’s director, Masahiro Sakurai, unveiled a smashing amount of new content for the games, including two new playable characters: Ryu from the Street Fighter series and Roy from Fire Emblem. They both join Lucas from Mother 3 as new playable fighters, and are available for download now! This additional paid content lands alongside a major software update that launched today for both systems, which also includes three new stages and many new costumes for Mii Fighters, including outfits from classic fighting series Virtua Fighterand Tekken. With these new characters, stages and costumes, top fighting game franchises Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter and Tekken unite for the very first time.
Here’s the complete rundown of content straight from Nintendo:
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Ryu from Street Fighter®: For the first time in Super Smash Bros. history, a character from the fighting game series Street Fighter® joins the battle. Iconic character Ryu, whose look in the game is based on Street Fighter II®, brings a new fighting style and feel to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. Ryu’s traditional Light, Medium and Heavy attacks can be used depending on whether players tap, press or hold the buttons. Classic Street Fighter®moves like Hadoken and Shoryuken can be activated with just a one-button press, but players who enter the original button combinations from the Street Fighter® series will perform the same actions with higher damage. Ryu can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U or Nintendo 3DS for $5.99 each, or both game versions together for $6.99. Purchase includes the bonus Suzaku Castle stage from the Street Fighter® series. This classic environment provides stable footing on the right side and a series of platforms on the left. It can also be played in Omega form, giving the stage a look and feel much like in the Street Fighter II® original.
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Roy from Fire Emblem: A fan-favorite from his last appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee for Nintendo GameCube, Roy from the Fire Emblem franchise returns to the series more powerful than ever before. Unlike Marth, Roy’s sword is stronger closer to the hilt, so he works better in close range. Roy also now has a Final Smash move in the form of a devastating sword blow. Roy can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U for $3.99, or both game versions together for $4.99.
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Lucas from Mother 3: As previously announced, Lucas is also available to purchase as a new downloadable character. Originating in the Japan-only Game Boy Advance RPG Mother 3, Lucas primarily uses lightning attacks to smash his opponents. Lucas can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U or Nintendo 3DS for $3.99, or both game versions together for $4.99.
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New Mii Fighter costumes: Multiple video games and characters from the past and present are represented in a new set of Mii Fighter costumes now available through the new update. Two costumes from classic fighting game Virtua Fighter are based on the Akira and Jacky characters, with Akira even maintaining his blocky polygonal look from the original game. Tekken fighter Heihachi (and his amazing hair) serves as inspiration for one costume, with additional costumes based on Isabelle from Animal Crossing, MegaMan.EXE from Mega Man Battle Network, ZERO from Mega Man X, the Inkling Girl and Boy and the squid hat from Splatoon also available. All costumes – eight in total – can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii Ufor $6, or both game versions together for $9.20. Costumes can also be purchased individually for $0.75 in either Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, or both game versions together for $1.15 each.
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Dreamland stage: Based on the first Dreamland stage from the original Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64, this stage returns with a few tweaks. The Dreamland stage can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U for $1.99, or both game versions together for $2.99.
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Everything: Players who want every fighter, stage, outfit and accessory featured among today’s DLC releases can buy them all at once. The whole DLC pack can be purchased in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U for $21.96, or both game versions together for $29.16.
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Miiverse stage: Available now to download for free, this new stage for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U features Miiverse posts created by players all over the world. During matches while connected to the Internet, players will see Miiverse posts appear that cheer specific fighters on from the background. These messages will be pulled from individual Miiverse communities that just opened for each Super Smash Bros. character.
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Tourney mode: Scheduled to launch as part of a free update in August, two new Tourney modes are coming to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Community Tourneys let players compete for the highest points in a certain amount of time, while regular Tourneys have a specific set of rules and only happen at select times.
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YouTube replays: Coming exclusively to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U at a later date, this free new feature allows players to post replay videos of their matches on YouTube. To use this feature, players must possess a Google account. Please visit http://www.smashbros.com/us/ for additional details.
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Additional Super Smash Bros. amiibo: Mii Fighters are getting their own amiibo figures! When used in the game, the Mii Brawler, Mii Swordfighter and Mii Gunner amiibo characters can be configured with custom faces and players’ collected accessories and costumes. Four additional Super Smash Bros. characters are also getting amiibo: R.O.B., Duck Hunt, Mr. Game & Watch and Falco. These new amiibo will be available this September, except Falco who will be available this holiday season. Eventually, all playable characters in Super Smash Bros. will have corresponding amiibo figures, including Mewtwo, Lucas, Roy and Ryu.
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Bonus Trophies: After downloading the update, in-game bonus trophies based on Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter®, Roy, Lucas and Splatoon will be available to unlock in play. Players can collect these trophies by completing All-Star mode in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
Our Thought:
Yeah, $30 for all this content is a bit steep. On the other hand, Ryu in Smash Bros! Great job by Nintendo of not forcing gamers to buy this all in one bundle and making each piece available a la carte.
Tomorrow, everything begins. So get ready for a flood of news and happenings.
