Teaser scheduled for New York Comic Con 2022

Nervous times for fans of Nintendo's favorite plumber, Mario Mario, as Illumination has announced that it is getting set to release the first teaser trailer for its upcoming animated movie based on the legendary Super Mario Bros. franchise.

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The teaser trailer will make its grand debut during October's New York Comic Con event, which is?? a regular stomping ground for previews of upcoming films and TV shows. The trailer will be made available online, October 6, at 13:00 PT / 16:00 ET / 21:00 BST, and will give us all our very first look at the new movie in action.

While nothing has been revealed in regards to the movie's narrative or visual style, we do, of course, know that the famous pipe-plunging hero will be portrayed by Chris Pratt, star of the great Guardians of the Galaxy and terrible Jurassic World movies. Joining Pratt in the Mushroom Kingdom will be Anna Ta?ylor-Joy as Princess Daisy, Jack Black as Bowser, Charlie Day as Luigi and... sigh... Seth Roga?n as Donkey Kong.

Look, we'll see soon enough, ok? And, either way, we'll always have the Bob Hoskins flick... Oh wait, that was pretty dreadful. Well, the Sonic movies are kinda fun.

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Smol Juri coming to a desk near me soon

San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2022 is underway, bringing with it a huge selection of video games, movie memorabilia, celebrity signings, exclusive toys, and cosplay �Somewhere in the middle of all of that, there are even some comics. Also in attendance this week is publisher Capcom, which is taking the opportunity to shine a new spotlight on its upcoming fighting sequel, Street Fighter 6.

The attractive Capcom booth has demo booths in which it is showing off a build of the recently revealed fighter. The booth is bedecked in slick graffiti stylings, reflecting the hip-hop-infused visual style of the long-running franchise's next entry. The centerpiece is a cool mural of SF6 poster boy Luke, who is looking a helluva lot cooler splashed on the wall than he does busting out his dopey dance maneuvers. Some exclusive skateboards featuring SF6's initial four character??s complete the wyld st??yle diorama.

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Over in the memorabilia sections, there are a variety of toys, figures, statues, and other collectibles being presented by a variety of merch makers. In regards to Street Fighter toys, Storm Collectibles has brought along painted prototypes of some of its upcoming Capcom action figures. These include models of badass boxer Balrog, Korean assassin Juri, and an unfinished prototype of Darkstalkers' Morrigan.

//twitter.com/Storm??CollectUs/status/1550160307263197184?s=20&??t=1CSlHgHh73PesftHIvvtHA

Also on display at SDCC is a magnificent "life-size" bust of The Strongest Woman in the World, Chun-Li. Sculpted by premium statue maker PCS and featuring silicone skin, punched hair, and glass eyes, it seems likely that this is a prototype of what will be an incredibly expensive retail release.

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Long-time Street Fighter associates UDON are also at SDCC, where they are shilling a selection of SF comics, along with exclusive editions of the Street Fighter Swimsuit Special featuring exclusive SDCC cover art. The retailer also has several cool shirts on the rack, featuring legendary characters such as Sagat, Chun-Li, Alex, and... erm... Amaterasu. Well, I suppose that they are in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

//twitter.com/UdonEnt/status/1549834546497040385?s=20&t=lsWhQcJBaDZbwe?HBOUnoDQ

San Diego Comic-Con 2022 is now open at the San Diego Convention Center. It will close on July 24. Street Fighter 6 launches on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox in 2023. In the meantime, check out our previous reports on the leaked character roster, our thoughts on new heroes Luke and Jamie, a look at the sequel’s intriguing new mechanics, and some of the sequel’s new character themes.

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Capcom demos will be available at SDCC

Since that initial burst of exciting information, Capcom has been good on its word to "go dark" on its upcoming release Street Fighter 6, much to the dismay of the eager fanbase. Still, for anyone attending San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), good news, as the SF6 demo will be in attendance for your perusal. Fab!

Anyone visiting Capcom's booth at the insanely crowded show will have the opportunity to check out the same demo played by press at Summer Game Fest last month. Fighting against a pal or the CPU, players can check out World Warriors Ryu, Luke, Chun-Li, and Jamie in a few fast? minutes of one-on-one warfare. As the first publicly available demo in North America, it's sure to be pretty popular, so be sure to get in line early if you wanna hit the streets and other SDCC attendees (Disclaimer:? Not in Real Life).

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSRqA4igQCo

In addition to the demo, Capcom will be showcasing some cool Street Fighter-themed graffiti art, painted li??ve at the booth over the duration of the SDCC weekend. Attendees can then use the completed artworks as backdrops for photo opportunities. Smash that Like button. Or something. Finally, a special Street Fighter 6 panel will be taking questions from attendees about the ne?w game, and offering up prizes in an impromptu trivia tournament. Sounds fun!

Oh, and if Street Fighter isn't your thing, well, you've got some attitude mister, but fortunately, the Capcom booth will also be hosting demo pods for its epic fantasy adventure Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak and the latest of its 4000 retro compilations: Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium. So you can take time out from the crush and the coughing to play a few rounds of Saturday Night Slam Masters.

San Diego Comic-Con 2022 takes place the weekend of July 21-24. Street Fighter 6 will launch on PlayStation, P?C, and Xbox platforms in 2023.

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Prepare to toss a coin

This past weekend McFarlane Toys - the merch manufacturer owned by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane - announced that it had secured the rights to produce a run of action figures based on popular fantasy RPG franchise The Witcher.

While the company had nothing specifically to reveal in terms of designs or prototypes, it was revealed that the first run of figures will be based specifically on characters featured in 2015 release The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, and are optimistically expe??cted to release in the ??fall of this year.

McFarlane Toys are renowned for their great sculpts and complex, intricate detailing, so Witcher fans should definitely keep an eye out for this new range of ??bookshelf-fillers. Geralt is a given, but I'm looking forward to seeing figures for Yennefer, Ciri, and hopefully the wooden tub playset.

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is available now?? on PS4, PC, X?box One, and Nintendo Switch.

McFarlane Toys n??abs the rights to make Witcher figures [Superhero Hype]

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Same story, different names

Another domino has fallen, this one bigger than most of the others but no less inevitable. ?San Diego Comic-Con has been canceled just like all the other conventions that have been canceled.

SDCC organizers made the official announcement this morning, the one everyone expected and was waiting for. The?? world's preeminent comic-con will not take place on July 23. It will not take place at all. This surprises no one but disappoints many. SDCC 2021 has been scheduled though, currently ?set for July 22 through July 25.

Here's a list of some video game conventions that have been canceled or postponed this year. It will do nothing to ease your cabin fever, as you don't really need another reminder that the world is at a standstill. Still, it feels kind of important, as if aggregating canceled trade shows some??how underscores the severity of it all. Here goes: Taipei Game Show, GDC, EGX Rezzed, SXSW, EVE Fanfest, Digital Dragons, MomoCon, E3, RTX, TennoCon, QuakeCon, San Diego Comic-Con, Summer Games Done Quick, and gamescom.

We'll see you in a week or two when it's time to ?write this exact same post a??bout PAX West.

C?omic-Con Announces Plans in Light of the Covid-19 Pandemic [Comic-Con]

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Shoot everyone!

Just last week, Skybound Entertainment and Skydance Interactive announced a brand new VR shooter based on the popular Walking Dead series. Called Saints & Sinners, the studios were looking to leverage the visceral intensity of VR to create the most realistic and plausible Walking Dead game yet. It certainly? had a bit of promise, what wit?h VR titles typically taking the form of tech demos.

At NYCC this past weekend, I got a chance to test it out and I walked away fairly impressed. While obvious technical glitches were present from the build's demo status, the execution of the core concept was surprisingly intuitive. Better still, the game had quite a bit in common with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This is like classic Bethesda b?efore the studio became all worried about rushing out titles with tons of DLC in tow.

Starting out, the demo began with a tutorial on how all of its mechanics and controls work. Considering most people aren't intimately familiar with VR, it was necessary before jumping into the main game. While no platforms have been announced, I played Saints & Sinners on the Oculus Rift with the Oculus Touch controllers. This scheme was adapted to give better finger control for players, which becomes crucial as you move out into t??he game world.

There are a lot of intricacies like attaching weapons to each shoulder and hip, but my clumsiness mostly came from never using these controllers before. As is to be expected with VR, a lot of the motions mimic things that we d?o in our everyday lives. It's incredibly intuitive, making sense after you’ve experienced it once. The enemy-free practice area was perfect for acclimating myself to this because the game can get intense when zombies swarm you.

Guns work precisely as you'd think. You'll need to eject clips manually, insert new ones, and even cock back the barrel before you can fire again. On the assault rifle, I even needed to pull back the operating rod to load bullets into the chamber. It's kind of scary how ??realistic this is, but it does mean you have to think before you shoot.

Or you can be a total idiot like I was and shoot everything. This is where I bring up the comparison to Morrowind because no one is safe in Saints & Sinners. Taking a form similar to old-school RPGs, you can actually kill quest givers and any NPC in the game. You'll obviously be a bit lost and need to rely on discovering clues left behind, but it's a real thrill to become some homicidal maniac and blast everything in sigh??t. That last sentence has likely? put me on an FBI watch list.

As I gleaned from the trailer, melee weapons actually do require a bit of force. When I asked the developers about this, they said it was all in service of grounding people into this world. You wouldn't casually swing a knife around and expect to cut someone, so Saints & Sinners requires you to make larger movements with some force behi??nd them. I figured this would lead to situations where my real arm is moving beyond the game's simulated arm, but the exaggerated movements somehow make sense when you perform them.

There's a lot of sick shit you can do, as well. If a zombie is alone, you can grab its head, knock it to its knees, and behead the thing. You can lob off specific limbs if you want to buy time. You can even slice off legs and watch as the creatures stumble to the ground. The first-person viewpoint makes everything so personal that I could see a lot of people being turned off by the violence on display. It's not Mortal Kombat levels of insanity, but it's so much more i?ntimate than other shooters that it becomes kind of scary.

I think what helped me enjoy this so much was that the control scheme didn't feel needlessly complicated. You don't need to make that much in the way of body movement, apart from attacking. With the Oculus Touch controllers, the joysticks on each one are utilized just like every other shooter on the market. The left stick moves you while the right stick turns you. You'll need to move your head to look up and down, but that's a comp?letely natural extension to this control scheme.

There's a backpack system that reminds me of Zombi U, which you just grab from yo??ur shoulder and cycle through with simple clicks. The game doesn't try to go too realistic with having you pick specific items from the bag, instead laying them out on a grid system that sorts them easily. Even ammo, of which you need to throw into its own box, has a simple icon that you can drag and drop into. It's well-thought-out and starts to become second nature within minutes.

That's good, too, because I was told Saints & Sinners would not be skimping on content. The main story is supposedly around 1??5 hours long, though it would obviously become longer if you engaged in side quests or went on a murderous detour. If the controls were some tremendous barrier to making progress (or were just plain too involved and tired you out), most people wouldn't even bother after hearing that.

The only issue I have to mention is that the hand tracking can sometimes lose itself. You can shoot guns with one hand or with both, but I had a tough time getting my other ??hand to attach to the specific point the game wanted. Even swinging a few melee weapons incurred this issue. I know this is a demo, but it's the only point of contention I have in what is otherwise a very promising title.

I don't think Saints & Sinners is going to be a revolution in first-person VR titles. Capcom set the benchmark pretty damn high with Resident Evil 7's implementation of the technology. Sniper Elite VR's E3 demo even impressed me a bit more. What I took away from my time with the demo is that Skydance knows precisely how to work around the current limitations of VR and is trying its damnedest to create an experience Walking Dead fans will enjoy. That it happens to be a sol??id game is just a bonus.

Currently, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is set for a January 23,? 2020 release date. Oculus Rift will likely be the main platform, though Skydance told me it is trying to get the game on as many platforms as possible. For those curious, it will be launching on Steam when it does release.

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Look at those arms!

Marvel's Avengers has had a less-than-ideal rollout, but things are picking up at New York Comic-Con. The latest reveal? Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, is not only ??in the?? game, she's a main character.

Early reac?tions around the Destructoid office are mixed.

On the one hand, we have Bre?tt, who says he "just learned there's a Ms??. Marvel."

On the other, there's Moyse,?? who swooped in with "Ahhh fuck... guess I'm buying this then."

For my part, I've been cautiously optimistic about Marvel's Avengers despite its confused, overly drawn-out marketing be??ats. Mainsta?ys like Iron Man and Thor haven't seemed particularly exciting in Crystal Dynamics' more grounded, realistic aesthetic, but Kamala is a huge step in the right direction.

Let's hope this momentum continues into next year. Avengers hits PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 15.

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Ghost in the machine

Announced this afternoon at New York Comic-Con, Iron Man VR will be released for $40 on February 28, 2020. It's sandwiched right between two big-hitting PS4 exclusives: The Last of Us Part II (which launches first, on February 21) and Final Fantasy VII Remake (which is due on March 3).

On a certain level, PlayStation VR-owning Marvel fans are going to be interested in Iron Man VR regardless – it's said to be pretty entertaining, as far as these things go – but still. Show some mercy!

The game has been in production for three years at République developer C?amouflaj. We've seen some cool proofs-of-concept out of Marvel, but I'm holding out for that first definitively must-have VR game.

If?? you end up getting this, note that two separate PlayStation Move controllers are required.

Marvel's Iron Man VR Soars to PS VR February 2??8, 2020 [PlayStation Blog]

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Dying for a living

Sony Interactive and Kojima Productions have dropped a new character trailer for upcoming odyssey Death Stranding. The two-minute video introduces us to the character of?? Heartman. T??he clip was previously shown to audiences at last week's San Diego Comic-Con event.

In Death Stranding, Heartman plays a BRIDGES associate who spends his time living in short 21-minute periods. After his heart stops at the pre-allocate?d time, Heartman spends three minutes searching for his family in the great unknown before being automatically resurrected by a defibrillator attached to his chest. As such, Heartman lives a very staccato existence, where death is, quite literally, his way of life.

Heartman is portrayed in Death Stranding by Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, who lends his likeness to the flatliner. Refn is known for his esoteric, colourful and often downright weird films such as Drive and The Neon Demon, alongside his recent miniseries Too Old To Die Young. It also goes wi??thout saying that all of the above are uniformly excellent. Fight me.

Death Stranding is scheduled for launch on PS4 November 8.

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Gerry is displeased

To those keeping up with news about Netflix's upcoming Witcher adaptation, this latest bit of news shouldn't surprise you. At San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, The Wrap caught up with Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (showrunner for Netflix's adaptation) and aske??d what would happen once the series ran out of material from the books. Would the video games by CD Projekt be getting adapte?d after? "Extreme long vision is no," Hissrich stated, "we will not start adapting the games."

Continuing on, Hissrich said, "I can only attack one season at a time, I'm so excited for this one, the rest kind of makes my mind explode right now. If someone says 'what happens in Season 7,' sure I have thoughts. Fingers crossed, we get there." So while there may be some original material down the line if the show lasts long enough, we definitely won't be getting a new take?? on the recent game trilogy.

While that may be disappointing to fans of what CD Projekt has done, I certainly respect the decision. So often in media, we retell the same stor??ies ad nauseum that it becomes pointless to even engage in multiple versions of it. While it's clearly fine to adapt the same storylines over different mediums, bringing something new to the established lore and characters does a lot more than just retreading water.

So similarities in appearance aside, The Witcher on Netflix will not be a game adaptation.

'The Witcher' Showrunner Says Netflix Series Will Never Adapt?? the?? Video Games [The Wrap]

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Superman is looking good

After months of speculation, Netflix has unveiled a teaser trailer for its upcoming adaptation of The Witcher. Revealed during San Diego Comic-Con today, we now have an idea of what Cavill and co will look like in motion for when the series finally does arrive. Honestly, he seems apt for the part. I know his tur?n as Superman in the recent DCEU films?? wasn't the best, but Cavill seems to be better suited for playing a mostly stoic figure than I gave him credit for.

Along with that, the costume design doesn't look half bad. I suppose all the hub-bub about the pre-production shot of Cavill was for naught. Netflix seems to be pulling out all the stops here and the series looks to authentically recreate what CD Projekt did with its games. Now hopefully the overly serious tone of this trailer lightens up a bit because The Witcher series a??t least understands when to lighten the mood some.

We still don't have an exact date for when the series will hit the streaming service, but everything is on track for its planned 2020 release.

The Witcher | Official Teaser | Netflix [Netflix via YouTube]

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'Let's Meet Sonic' airs August 4

OK K.O! Let's Be Heroes is doing a crossover episode with Sonic the Hedgehog on August 4, and my goodness, just look at the little punk! I hope he channels some of that '90s TV series energy.

The wacky Cartoon Network show is jam-packed with loving nods to video games and gaming culture in general, so I can only imagine how many references the new episode, "Let's Meet Sonic," will manage to fit in. Even just this short first-look foota??ge out of San Diego Comic-Con has a few nostalgic riffs.

It's also been confirmed that Roger Craig Smith and Colleen O'Shaughnessey are lending their familiar voices. The OK K.O.! Sonic and Tails special will debut on Sunday, August 4 at 4:45pm Eastern on Cartoon Network. If you have access to the Cartoon Network video app on iOS or Android, that'll work too.

I don't watch OK K.O.! (or much TV at all these days), but every clip I've seen has made me chuckle. If I had kids, this would be one of those shows t?hat I, the ancient adult, would not-so-sneakily love.

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Also, first expansion pass details

There are a lot of superheroes in the Marvel universe, which means that the big get-togethers are going to naturally exclude someone's favorite. But, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is going to launch without so?me of the obvious names. Fortunately, a cou?ple of them will be added in due time.

During this afternoon's Marvel Games panel at San Diego Comic-Con, we got word that Cyclops and Colossus are coming to Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order as free DLC. The update to add them to the roster is scheduled for August 30 -- six weeks after the game's launch dat?e of July 19.

Marvel also confirmed that the MUA3 expansion pass is made up of three different groups of superheroes. The first is the Marvel Knights, and the characters are Blade, Moon Knight,?? Punisher, and Morbius; this quartet releases sometime this fall. The second DLC will be made up of X-Men. Th?e last characters in the expansion pass are from Fantastic Four. (There's not a lot of wiggle room here for speculating which four it'll be.)

But, the highlight is Cyclops and Colossus. They're a little far off, sure, but at least they'll eventually be included. They're such expected names that it's a little weird for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 to omit them in the first place.

@NintendoAmerica [Twitter]

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'For Hall H attendees only'

"What's the deal with Marvel's Avengers" is how Jordan started his gigantic E3 preview, and, informative as his write-up may be, it still seems like a perfectly valid question. E3 came and went, and the general populace saw hardly anything about Marvel's Avengers that would help nail down exactly what type of game it is. Fortunately, a proper gamepl??ay reveal is scheduled for San Diego Comic-Con so that everyone can ge??t a first-hand look at the nuts and bolts of this intri?guing superhero game.

Not so fast! As DualShockers noticed in a recent press release, it seems like what happens at SDCC will stay at SDCC. Square Enix's wording is very calculated, saying (emphasis mine): "Join Shaun Escayg, Creative Director at Crystal Dynamics, and the performance cast of Marvel's Avengers for a special presentation that will include new information and the first public gameplay reveal for Hall H attendees only."

Why? Assuming this is correct and Square Enix doesn't immediately upload the footage, why keep everyone in the dark? There was significant disappointment after the E3 reveal didn't show enough.?? This is an opportunity to reverse that perception for everyone -- not just the ones who can make it to an extremely crowded convention.

There's a decent chance that the SDCC presentation will be the same gameplay that was shown to press at E3 behind closed doors. That was good enough to earn a nomination as one of our Best of Show games. That seems like something you'd want people to see! Why spoil a privileged few while keeping the rest of your demographic on an information blackout? Sometime?s there's such a th??ing as holding your cards too close to your chest.

Marvel's Avengers Gam?eplay Footage to be Shown at San Diego Comic-Con Panel for Attendees Only [DualShockers]

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Sabrina, Dark Crystal, Hill House, Umbrella Academy

Netflix hosted Friday’s final event on the main stage of the 2018 New York City Comic Con. It was appropriate titled, Netflix and Chills. But as the host was quick to point out -- this was the seasonally appropriate kind of Netflix & Chills, not the teenage colloquial kind. It was a sneak peek at their forthcoming supernatural, occult, or just plain old spooky series, namely The Haunting of Hill House, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Umbrella Academy, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

Umbrella Academy

This one may be flying under the radar for many. It’s an adaptation of a Dark Horse limited series comic from 2007. The comic, of the same name, was (and this was my first chill of the evening) created by My Chemical Romance co-founder Gerard Way. The series stars, among others, Ellen Page, Tom Hopper (Black Sails) and Mary J. Blige. The series focuse?s on even??ts begun when 40 women who weren’t previously pregnant suddenly give birth to babies with superpowers. Six of these babies are taken in by a benevolent mentor to begin The Umbrella Academy, where they train to be superheroes.

We didn’t see any full scenes or episodes, but the teaser they shared looked incredible (translation: dope). Page and Hopper already have nothing else to prove, and young Aidan Gallagher, who plays a 40-year-old man trapped in a young boy’s body, gave off such stage presence just giving an interview that I’m excited to see that translate into his performance onscreen. Yet, it was Mary J. Blige who, when asked to describe her character in one word, go?t  the biggest reaction saying “Evil, evil, evil!” She elaborated that it’s “absolutely refreshing” to play the character -- she’d always wanted to play a superhero or supervillain to learn martial arts or how to shoot a gun.

Umbrella Academy drops February 15.

The Haunting of Hill House

It’s not the first time The Haunting of Hill House has been adapted, but it’s the first since 1999 and also the first time they’ll actually give full title attribution to the Shirley Jackson book it’s based on (in both the 1963 and 1999 adaptations it was called, simply, The Haunting). In another first, it’s a tel?evision series, not a m?ovie or a play. 

Let me be clear now: this looks scary AF (yes, we’re going to continue to beat this into the ground until no one on this site ever uses it again). During the first preview, an extended look at a standalone scene from the series, the audience was yelling at the screen long before anything scary happened, in anticipation of the moment they knew they were coming. Probably half of them were yelling at the character to “get out,” perhaps believing this to be one of these choose your own adventure series we’ve been hearing about. But the moment didn’t happen when we thought it would. It sidestepped?? expectations and drew out the suspense beyond breaking point.

Then we got to speak to the cast, which, at least on stage, was overpowered by the amazing Carla Gugino. The series revolves around the haunting experienced by five children and their parents who’re attemptin??g to flip a mansion (there’s always a reason that Victorian mansion is half off!) and their lives in adulthood when one of them writes a best-selling book based on the events of their childhood.

Mostly, the cast gushed over director Mike Flanagan and his craft for horror, going so far as to call it Flanagan’s “horror opus.” Ensemble cast member Oliver Jackson-Cohen quipped, in dead seriousness, that when he watched the series, and he knew there was a particularly ?bad scare coming, it stills scared him so much that he screamed. And then he screamed again. 

Feeding off this promise of terror, Gugino offered that ?they might have another sce?ne to share with us. The audience pleaded to see it, and the cast obliged. The lights went dark and we saw another scene. When the lights came back on, this happened, and the audience was treated to another scare in person.

The series tease was that the first five episodes, or half of the season, will feature the events of the same day from a different sibling’s perspective. Presumably, the second half will focus on the adult version??s of the siblings, years later.

The Dark Cyrstal

As the series is entirely puppet-based, we had on-hand, Lisa Henson, Executive Producer and daughter of franchise creator Jim Henson, as well as director Louis Leterrier. It was Leterrier who pushed the concept for the series to Henson. The series is a prequel that leads up to the events of the original 1982 film The Dark Crystal. It’s also singlehandedly the reason I had nightmares as a three-year-old. Those Skeksis be scary. Second real chill of the night.

At first, Leterrier and Henson played coy, reiterating that they’d just wrapped filming “one?? week ago” and subsequently had nothing to share, but, as their enthusiasm for the project continued to build onstage, it was clear they had something up their sleeve. We did end up getting some behind the scenes interview footage with crew members discussing the project, and finally, new footage highlights that formed less of a teaser than a boiled down to essence taste of what’s to come.

Clearly a passion project for director Leterrier, he couldn’t stop gushing about how technology, and advances? in technology, didn’t influence the filmmaking. There’s no CGI. It’s all real puppeteering and real sets. What technology allowed was for the team to use green screen to remove wires and puppeteers, in ??effect, allowing them to do much more with the old technology than could be done in the original films. It was shot the same way and is designed to feel the same way as the originals. The audience approved this statement with a singular nod of its collective head.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

I’ll just say this about TCAOS, coincidentally, an anagram for TACOS, forever now known as, this also looks scary. Surely, TACOS isn’t the horror piece that The Haunting of Hill House is, but there’s no doubt it will deliver its share of bone-chilling moments. We got a preview which seemed to show this tak?e on the ’96 ABC sitcom as a mix between the original, and something much darker -- a tone that has been widely publicized by Netflix’s marketing thus far.

While there are still some wacky “aunts” in play, this Sabrina seems to bring a lot more of the witch to the series, despite the dropping of the word from the title. The preview we saw (audience members were also treated to the first episode, but critics were asked not to review) highlighted plenty of Satan and murder. Fun fact, Sabrina was originally introduced as an Archie Comics character in 1962, getting in on that witchy vibe two years before Bewitched debuted.

Needless?? to say, Sabrina won’t be a part of the next TGIF. 

Sabrina gets back on her broomstick October 26.

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Clementine's done running

Next week sees the start of the final season of Telltale Games' award-winning adventure series, The Walking Dead, based on the comic book and TV show of the same name. Telltale have released a launch trailer for episode one, Done Running.

Clemetine, driven a?lmost to despair by the horrors she has had to endure, will be forced to hold up in an abandoned schoolhouse, where she will no doubt use the courage and resourcefulness she has displayed since season one to protect a group of children who look to her as their guardian.

Utilising a new engine, while still maintaining the series' trademark air of drama, tragedy and tough-decision making, The Final Season could prove to be Telltale's magnum opus and finest hour, in wh?at ?has arguably become a stale genre as of late.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season E1 - Done Running launches on August 14 on PS4, PC ??and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch release forthcoming.

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Clem's last stand

Telltale Games has released a demo for what could prove to be the company's magnum opus, the long-time-coming final season of their interactive action adventure The Walking Dead.

Available now on PS4 and Xbox One, the demo gives players the opportunity to experience fifteen minutes of the first episode of The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Telltale have shaken things up a ?little with a new combat system and an over-the-shoulder camera, just two of the benefits provided by the developer's new eng?ine.

In The Final Season, beaten-down protagonist Clementine, who has known nothing but survival her whole life, hunkers down in an abandoned schoo?l-house, where she dedicates herself to pro?tecting a group of children from the murderous Walkers, and equally dangerous humans. How the long-suffering Clementine's tale concludes is down to you.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season launches on PS4, PC a?nd Xbox One August 14, with a Switch releas??e to follow.

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The box... THE BOX...

Last week at SDCC, Treyarch unveiled a special collector's edition for their upcoming military shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The Mystery Box Edition, which is generally themed around this year's Zombies mode, is now available for pre-order??, although supplies are selling fast.

The Mystery Box comes complete with a copy of the game in an exclusive steelbook along a whole host of goodies. These include a comic, a 1000-piece jigsaw, a phone-grip, art lithographs and much more. The box supposedly features creepy sounds and light-up effects, but, yeah, I dou??bt it has this video's "dry-ice" ef??fect going on.

Anyone wanting to pre-order this edition of the game should head on over to their favourite online retailer. Amazon were initially stocking it at $200, but appear to have currently sold out (though further batches have been showing up). GAME in the UK still have pre-orders open, at a price of £180. Finally, the official Call of Duty store has seemingly sold out of PS4 editions, but is still taking orders on X?box One?? and PC. It looks like fans who haven't secured an edition already may need to prepare for the hunt.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches October 12 on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

Master the mystery.

The "Mystery Box" Collector's Edition for #BlackOps4 is available for pre-order now: //t.co/syVIL2u53V pic.twitter.com/EoQuLwMgfb

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) July 23, 2018

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I'm amazed they didn't do Mercy first

Blizzard's popular online shooter Overwatch is no stranger to merchandising, and its catalogue of goodies is about to grow even bigger with the ann??ouncement that the brand is teaming up with Hasbro for a range of NERF guns based on its lovable cast of heroes an?d villains.

For those less inclined, NERF produce "weapons" that fire out sponge projectiles and arrows. Originally launching in the very late '60s, the toys blew up huge in the early '90s and are still selling well today. Ehh, you know this. The safe, soft "bullets", darts and bats led to the coining of the phrase "nerfing" within the video game community;  to reduce the overall power of a character, weapon or some other in-game element. This is a practice that Overwatch ironically knows all too well.

The first NERF gun in the new Overwatch range is based on the shotgun of everybody's favourite edgelord, Reaper. You'll have to buy two for that true-to-life feel, oh, and just chuck them to the ground when the eight-shot clip is empty, that's what yer boy Gab??riel does. The NERF replica has also been given a whiter colour scheme, lest someone think you'?re toting around an actual sawn-off like Kyle Reese.

The Nerf Rival Overwatch Reaper Wight Edition will be made available in 2019.

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Stay awhile and read

Blizzard's legendary dark adventure series, Diablo, is to be immortalised in comic-book form, courtesy of publ??ishers Titan Comics. The four-issue miniseries will hit the printed page later this year.

Written by Marv Wolfman of Crisis on Infinite Earths and The New Teen Titans fame, Diablo will be illustrated by Piotr Kowalski, whose art recently featured in similar video game comic tie-ins such as Bloodborne and Wolfenstein.

There is little info in the way of plot, but the story will recount the? grim adventure of a group of "zealous scholars and crusaders as they discover the true origins of humanity." You can check out two cool teaser images by Kowalski in the gallery below.

Diablo III, the best game in the serie?s (boom) is available now on PC, P?S4, PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

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School's out forever

At SDCC this week, adventure-lovers Telltale Games released a quarter-hour chunk of footage from the first episode of the dramatic swansong to their hugely popular series, The Walking Dead.

Tellingly subtitled The Final Season, the episodic adventure will see long-time protagonist Clementine, who has been forced to en??dure more than her own share of hardship, ho??ld fort in an abandoned schoolhouse, defending a group of children from the ravenous Walkers and equally-dangerous humans.

Those eager to get a glimpse of the action can check out the showreel below. The first episode of The Walking Dead: The Final Season will be a??vailable for download on August 14 for PS4, PC and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch? release to follow later in the year.

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Home is calling, not sure if this trailer is

Director James Wan has quite the prolific filmography. He started with Saw and from there became one of the most dependable horror directors in the business. The Conjuring and its plethora of sequels and spin-offs is arguably the biggest horror brand on the market. His success in that genre led him to Furious 7, which became the highest gross film in the Fast & the Furious franchise. Everything he touches turns to gold, but will he have the Midas touch with Aquaman?

Saturday afternoon at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. finally revealed the hotly anticipated trailer and it feels par the course with everything else that's come out of the DC wing of WB. Certainly doesn't look as good as the Shazam! trailer, but I'm willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt at least until reviews are out. We'll see if Jason Momoa and Amber Heard can get the DC Extended Universe back on track when Aquaman hits theaters on December 21, 2018.

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Riddikulus

The Fantastic Beasts franchise was always going to face an uphill battle. After the 10 year journey that was the Harry Potter eight-film franchise, going back into this world with a new setting, new characters, and new mysteries would take more than just a familiar name to get fans back into it. While Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them didn't exactly measure up to the very best of the Harry Potter films, it did s?uccessfully enough set the stage for a trilogy exploring some pretty dark days of wizarding and witching.

It also made more than $800 million and scored the very first Oscar for a Wizarding World film. This November, the series will continue with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and at Comic-Con Saturday afternoon, Warner Bros. released a new trailer for the film giving us? our first look at some mean-ass cats and the legendary Nico??las Flammel.

The post It would be a crime not to w??atch this Comic-Con trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwal??d appeared first on Destructoid.

Sit down, be humble

It's no secret the output of the DC Extended Universe has been less than exemplary. Yes, the movies have all made money, but only Wonder Woman has established itself as a box-office, fan, and critical darling. After the disaster that was Justice League, Warner Bros. is no doubt looking for another win for the franchise. Aquaman has a chance to set the series back on the right track this winter, but if it fails, something tells me Shazam! might do the trick.

Saturday afternoon at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. released the first official trailer for the Spring 2019 superhero flick and it looks pretty good. As somebody who knows nothing about Shazam, it comes across like Big meets Spider-Man and frankly, after everything else DC has put out in over the past few years, I can go for a fun popcorn film like this. Even if it's another o?rigin story.

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Featuring a three headed monster speaking of our sins

I am a staunch defender of the 2014 Godzilla soft-sequel-reboot as a worthy member of the Godzilla family. Sure it wasn't great but for a westernized adaptation of a purely Japanese creation it held onto some of the more subtle themes, such as birth from dest??ruction and embracing the monsters you create.

When we last saw the titular villain (hero?), Godzilla was leaving the ruins of San Francisco and returning to the sea from which he came. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, we will see him return after our rampant sacking of our planet through industrialization and mining for natural resources causes the planet to go into defense mode, bringing forth legenda??ry protectors to flush us out like a bacteria. Today at the Warner Bros. Comic-Con panel we got to see the first full-length trailer which showed off Earth's defenders as Mothra, Rodan, and ultimately King Ghidorah, all of whom will do battle with Godzilla in an effort to save the planet by destroying us. Perfect!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters will be the third in Legendary's surprisingly well done MonsterVerse that so far comprises the aforementioned 2014 Godzilla, and 2017's Kong: Skull Island. This will ultimately lead to Godzilla vs. Kong which is supposed to tie in with King of the Monsters but how at this point is still unknown.

Even just from this small snippet, I can tell we are in for another great monster movie that hopefully manages to bring some of the social commentary that was present in science fiction for years back to the forefront. Unfortunately, King of the Monsters won't be out until May 31st, 2019 so like Godzilla himself, we w??ill have to lay in wait to se?e how it all turns out.

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Ohhhh, Mercy Mercy Mercy me...

It's the weekend again, good people of Destruc?toid. For many of us, a week of work and other chores can be put to rest, replaced by a couple of days of reflection, relaxation and some other third thing.

Gaming-wise, I put some time back into Overwatch, which, all things considered, is one of my favourite video games of all time, and I've been playing since, like, '86, so that's some pedigree. Regardless, Blizzard's current obsession with homogenizing the entire roster to fit in with an aggressive DPS style is pretty tiring, with the news that my main gal, Mercy, getting YET ANOTHER REBALANCE making my eyes roll so har?d I look like M. Bison.

Speaking of Bison, I've also been putting some solid time into Street Fighter, particularly Super Turbo, which remains an awesome fighting game, even if its so fuckin' broke that you can get jump-kicked, but then reverse it into a 20% damage-causing throw. Still better than Street Fighter V.

But enough of my yakkin' what about you beautiful people? What are you playing at the moment, or lining up for the weekend? Are you still travelling that Octopath? Will you be partaking in Splatoon 2's shocking race war? or maybe you're leaving games to o??ne side to focus on the ongoing San Diego Comic Con. Whatever you've been up to, let us know below.

Have a g??????????????????????????reat weekend, from all o?f us at Destructoid.

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Take it with a grain of salt, folks

San Diego Comic-Con is well underway. Movies and shows are making their debut, and trailers are surfacing on YouTube. Warner Bros. has yet to announce anything yet (its panel is scheduled for Saturday morning) but there are already rumors circulating online about the upcoming Joker standalone movie - namely key plot details and information regarding the clown prince of crime's r??eal name. 

Take everything below with a grain of salt, ??please. 

According to That Hashtag Show, this Joker's real name is Arthur Fleck (played by Joaquin Phoenix.) We'll start Fleck's story as he moves back to live with his ailing mother, Penny, in her apartment. Fleck will then become involved in the life of one Sophie Dumond (played by Zazie Beetz of Deadpool 2 and Atlanta fame,) and begin spiraling int?o maniacal madness, eventually becoming the Joker we all know and dre??ad. 

I have my reservations about this. The Joker seldom receives much in the way of explicit character details; because really, it doesn't matter. The Joker is a traditionally ambiguous character, and many talented writers and directors have taken advantage of that nature to great effect in outings like The Dark Knight, Suicide Squad and The Killing Joke. ??;I'll be open to whatever Warner Bros. throws a??t me, but damn if I won't be skeptical.

EXCLUSIVE: Details Surrounding Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘JOKER’ Real Na??me & Family Revealed [That Hashtag Show] 

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Escape from Alcatraz

Treyarch revealed a new trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 at SDCC this week, giving us our first real look at Blood of the Dead, a Zombies mission which sees the fan-pleasing re??turn of some classic charac?ters and maps.

Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai, all of whom made their names by smashing undead skulls in Black Ops' previous Zombies mode, find themselves trapped in a living nightmare inside The Rock - no, not Dwayne Johnson - but A?lcatraz prison, San Francisco.

In this re-imagining of Black Ops 2's Mob of the Dead sc??enario, players?? will face of against hordes of grim creatures, eventually coming face-to-decaying-face with Alcatraz' most feared prison guard, Brutus, now in his fully-undead, fully-pissed-off form.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches October 12 on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

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What's in the boooox?

During their panel at SDCC yesterday, Treyarch announced a collector's edition for their upcoming military shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. I say "military shooter" but this set is clearly inspired by the game's equally-as-important Zombies mode.

The Mystery Box Edition includes a copy of Black Ops 4 in an exclusive steelbook, a 10th anniversary 1000-piece jigsaw (that's Makedonski sorted), an issue of Dark Horse's new Zombies comic, three art lithographs, a Black Ops 4 PopSocket (a fancy phonegrip), specialist patches and FiGPiNs of the four time-hopping heroes of this year's Zombies outing.

Mystery solved, then. The box itself also includes light-up features and will make spooky sound effects. You could keep... chocolates in it or something. It's your call, I'm not your parent. The set will also include the Black Ops Pass, good thing too, as apparently it's a mandatory obligation if you want to play any of this entry's DLC.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches October 12 on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

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'A Whale's Vagina'

San Diego Comic Con, or SDCC as the kool kidz? call it, opens today. Thousands upon thousands of attendees, cash burning a hole in their Black Widow costume, are expected to attend the annual event, which will be used as a platform by various industries to showcase the latest trailers, gameplay clips, merchandise and franchise news.

Out of SDCC we usually get a ton of announcements concerning video games, movies, TV, anime... everything except comics, really. Upcoming toy prototypes make their debut, passionate cosplayers bring their A-game, while stars from blockbuster movies get asked questions they can't possibly be expected to answer, like "What's going to happen in Avengers 4?"

Are you expecting anything in??? particular from SDCC 2018? Maybe there's a figurine reveal you're waiting on, a TV announcement you have your fingers crossed for, or some gameplay footage you're eager to check out. Perhaps you're lucky enough to be in attendance this year, what are you gonna get up to? are you cosplaying? Will you take enough bottled water with you?

Let us know below what mind-blowing news, previews and predictions you're expecting from this year's San Diego Comic Con. If you're going, have fun and be safe, brothers and sisters. Oh, and if you s??ee Tessa Thompson milling about, get me her autograph, please.

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