Avengers Academy #36 Review

Avengers Academy doesn't have much time left on the stands. And Christos Gage doesn't seem to mind twisting the knife as readers prepare to bid farewell to this team. Of course, that's really a good thing, as issue #36 is host to all sorts of great character moments. It just hurts so good.

In this issue, the fractured team begins to come together again in order to combat Jeremy Briggs' attempt to de-power the world's superhumans. Many Academy members are forced to make fateful choices during the course of battle. No scene is more stirring than the one between Mettle and Haz-Mat. If you thought their material in issue #35 was tear-jerking, this issue raises the bar again. But Gage also has strong material in store for characters like Reptil, White Tiger, and X-23. Many of these characters have been severely down and out since Briggs launched his attack, and it's satisfying to see them cast aside teenage doubts and become full-fledged heroes again. My main complaint, as with last issue, is that it's disappointing to see Briggs degenerate into full-fledged villain mode. The character was much more enjoyable when readers were able to sympathize and even side with him and his grand plans.

Andrea Di Vito sticks around to render this issue. While it's a shame we couldn't have one, consistent artist for the entire arc (important as it is to the series as a whole), Di Vito fits in nicely with the general tone established by Tom Grummett and others. There are some fun metaphysical scenes involving characters like White Tiger and Reptil that allow Di Vito to branch out and deliver slightly more surreal imagery.

Much of this character building seems to lay the groundwork for future stories, which of course raises hope that maybe Gage won't be done with these characters just because the series is ending. No doubt there's still a wealth of material to explore in the coming weeks.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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Valve reportedly getting into the PC hardware business

Reports are coming out today that confirm long-held rumors that Valve has been looking at some way to enter the PC hardware business. While this doesn't point toward the much-desired "Steam Box" that was rumored a few months back, it's an exciting development nonetheless.

According to The Verge, Valve has confirmed rumors that a job posting for an industrial designer indicates that they are planning to enter the hardware business. However, they did not specify what sort of hardware they're planning to make, only offering the following quote as a sort of clue, "We're frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we're jumping in. Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven't really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There's a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked."

It's not clear whether that quote indicates Valve will be leaning toward making PC accessories such as mouse/keyboard alternatives, or if they have ambitions that go beyond that. And of course, there's always the possibility that Valve is planning to start small with little projects like a gaming peripheral, then work its way up the chain to bigger productions.

We will of course be following this story with great interest, and will report back if any new developments arise.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Karl Urban IGNUK Twitter Takeover

Karl Urban, the star of the upcoming action smash Dredd 3D, doesn't do Twitter. There are people out there claiming to be him, but the Kiwi star of Lord Of The Rings, Star Trek, Chronicles of Riddick and many more, isn't on the social networking site.

All this will change though at 18:30pm BST (or 10:30am if you're PT) today on Friday August 31st as the star of Dredd 3D takes over the @IGNUK Twitter feed for 30 minutes to answer your questions!

"Stop following me!"

Karl will be taking over the 140-character reigns to answer your questions about Dredd 3D, his past and future projects, and anything else you care to quiz him about. So, if you've ever wanted to ask whether the Judge helmet is comfy, if he gets asked medical questions when playing Bones, or just his preferred crisp flavour, this is the time to do it.

To submit a question for Karl simply tweet it to @IGNUK using the hashtag #DREDD3D and we'll try to get as many of your questions answered as we can between 6:30pm and 7pm.

Dredd 3D is out in UK cinemas on September 7th. Get all the latest Dredd 3D info from https://www.facebook.com/dreddthemovie.

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Wanna See The Avengers Again?

Yeah, yeah, yeah -- you've already seen it 16 times. But that doesn't have to stop you from checking out The Avengers again now that it's returning to theaters for a special Labor Day engagement.*

The film's Facebook page says Avengers will be back from August 31 to September 6, which should tide you over until it hits Blu-ray on September 25… But just in case it doesn't, check out old Thanos in the clip below:

*Of course, technically speaking, Avengers is still playing in a handful of theaters, many of them of the lower-end, mom-and-pop variety. But this special run will presumably return it to the big multiplexes of the world, where you can pay 50% more but also not have to worry about sticky floors (or seats).

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN and on Facebook.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- Hearthfire Announced

Bethesda has revealed the next major downloadable content for Skyrim, called Hearthfire. Unlike the vampire-hunting focus of the last add-on, Dawnguard, Hearthfire doesn't seem to do much to enhance combat. Instead, with Hearthfire you'll be able to purchase a piece of land in Skyrim and build your own house.

Within the custom living space you'll be able build kitchens, greenhouses, libraries, alchemy labs and trophy rooms to show off your accomplishments. Outside it sounds like you'll be able to set up gardens, fish hatcheries and beehives to make resource collection a little more convenient. You can also hire a steward to help out with household tasks.

Hearthfire will also allow you to adopt children and take care of them while they live at your home. Bethesda has set the price of Hearthfire at 400 Microsoft Points and plans to release it on September 4 on Xbox Live.

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Tokyo Jungle Gamescom trailer -- Enter the pomeranian

In Sony's bizarre upcoming PSN title, Tokyo Jungle, you can actually play as a pack of wild pomeranians struggling to survive in the ruins of Tokyo. If that doesn't sell you on this game then we're not sure what will. Thankfully, even if you're not into pomeranian survival games, there are plenty of other beasts you can control which are highlighted in the trailer below.

http://www.gamesradar.com/tokyo-jungle-gamescom-trailer-enter-pomeranian/

While the pomeranian is an enticing option, we're struggling to think of a single animal listed in the trailer that we don't want to play as. Bear? Check. Pack of dogs? Check. Pack of chimps? Oh yea. Velociraptor? Do you have to ask?

Tokyo Jungle released in Japan just after E3 in June (we checked out an import copy), and is confirmed for North America although we don't have a release date just yet. 

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Need for Speed: Most Wanted: Vita's Hidden Gem

“This is going to be the best racing game on Vita this year.” It’s a bold statement, but one that Alex Ward, Vice President of Criterion, doesn’t make lightly. He’s talking about the Vita version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which is being shown for the first time at Gamescom, and it’s no surprise he’s happy about what the development team has achieved with the game.

Incredibly, the Vita version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted is essentially the same as the PS3 and Xbox 360 games. “Everything from what we the ‘TV game’ is here on the small screen,” he announces. And when he says everything, he means it – every highway, back street, bridge and tunnel. All of the cars, the meet-ups, the challenges and the drive-through garages – they’re all in the game, and importantly they haven’t been cut down or changed to fit the Vita.

“This is pretty much the PS3 version of the game shoehorned onto Vita very tightly,” he continues. “This is a very technically ambitious thing to do - there aren’t any open-world games on Vita so far. To keep the world the same, to not make any compromises – that’s what we’ve done.”

So when you get behind the wheel of a BMW M5 in Need for Speed Vita it’ll feel exactly the same as it does on PS3. The handling is just as sharp and responsive, the drifting as perfectly pitched, which is impressive considering the differences between two machines. “On handheld the physics are very hard to get right because you’re very limited on memory but the handling is pretty much the same,” explains Ward. “We can do the same demo on Vita that we can on PS3.”

Better still, all of the detail from the home console game is carried over too, so as a race progresses your car gets scuffed and scraped, and damaged with every knock it takes. There will be races at different times of the day too, and while Criterion is still hard at work populating the city and implementing many of the features, we did see the switch from daytime to dusk, with your car’s headlights flickering into action to illuminate the tarmac ahead.

Impressively, Ward promises that all of the cars will feature in the game, and they look fantastic on Vita’s small but punchy screen. “These cars are the best cars ever to appear in a Need for Speed game,” he enthuses, “and they’re the same here as they are on PS3 and 360. To get them onto Vita like this is ******* insane.” And like its bigger brother, Vita’s recreation of the city of Fairhaven will be littered with supercars waiting to be found. Stumbled upon a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S? Simply jack it and it’s yours to keep.

Multiplayer will be fully supported, with all of the modes and challenges making the jump onto Sony’s handheld. Unfortunately cross-play isn’t going to feature – the idea of PS3 and Vita owners going head-to-head was a little too ambitious – but it will fully support Autolog. So when you race on the Vita version – or indeed any version of the game, including iPad – you’re constantly earning Speed Points that accumulate on your Autolog profile, all of which help bump you up the Most Wanted leaderboards.

Need for Speed will make use of Vita’s unique functionality too, and the touchscreen can be used to quickly access HUD information in the middle of a race. But Ward was quick to iterate that it won’t impact how the game plays, and that thankfully “you won’t be driving using the touchscreen.” Or the gyro, we hope.

Most Wanted on Vita is an ambitious project, then, but one whose ambition is more than matched by the talent of the developer behind the game. Criterion’s racing pedigree is unquestionable, and with Hot Pursuit and now Most Wanted it’s brought the Need for Speed name back to the top of its game. While some developers outsource handheld versions of big franchises to enable them to focus on the home console versions, it’s a testament to Criterion’s commitment that it kept the project to itself. “It would’ve been really easy to do Vita out of house,” says Ward. “We did that on some of our previous games. But when I saw the specs for the Vita, I knew we had to do it.”

I’m thankful they chose to do it, too.

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Alex Simmons is IGN’s UK Editor-in-Chief and cannot wait to eat up the tarmac in Fairhaven. Follow his petrol-fueled ramblings on IGN and Twitter.

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