I’ve been really disturbed this summer to read reports on the failure of Tommorrowland that refer to it as an original film. Industry standards like The Hollywood Reporter and Variety have labeled it as an original. The analysis of Tomorrowland is a separate issue. As a simple matter of classification, Tomorrowland is adapted from a pre-existing intellectual property. In fact, it is named after it. Continue reading
One of the biggest games arriving next year to Xbox One and PS4 is Dark Souls III. At E3, Bandai Namco invited us to watch a hands off demo presentation of this highly anticipated game. Here’s our recap:
The hands off demo for Dark Souls III was presented by Hidetaka Miyazaki, who serves as director of the game. In this presentation, Miyazaki took us through a very small but large part of the map. As the game is still in the early stages of being completed, we had about a 45-minute walkthrough and even in its early stages, it looked amazing!
As far as the combat of Dark Souls III goes, this will be more similar to the other games in the franchise rather than of Miyazaki’s BloodBorne (this was a common question asked). You will have a variety of weapons at your disposals. Some of the weapons you will be able to have some fun with are a straight sword, great sword, dual swords, small bow and a long bow. Each of these weapons has it’s certain specialties/abilities. For instance, the dual swords will allow you two hold two swords (of course) which give you the ability to use what they call the “spin” strike. They are used for fast attacks, as is the small bow. The Great sword has a special lunging ability and is a very huge sword which is good for a mid-range attack and will allow you to keep some distance from your enemy and to strike many enemies at once.
The game features some familiar characters like the knights. These knights all have different patterns in the way they move depending on the weapons they are holding. It also has some new characters such as huge dragons and this huge black mass that moves like a snake that just devours everything in it’s way. The dragons of Dark Souls III, come early in the game and you can use their attacks to your advantage towards other enemies in the game. For example, this dragon was breathing fire at you which also ended up killing a group of enemies that were after you. So there are ways of defeating your enemies without having to use face-to-face combat.
When it comes to respawning, you will come across bonfires, torches and graves which you can set fire to to allow you to use as checkpoints in the game. The graves will be hidden throughout the game and Miyazaki says that players will have a lot of fun trying to find them all.
This will be also be the first of the franchise to be exclusively released for the next generation consoles.
To be honest, I have never played a Dark Souls game but after looking at this one, I have been missing out and I can’t wait until early 2016, when this game will be released. Both the visuals and gameplay were visually beautiful and ran quite smoothly.
Hello gamers. It’s Isaac Heras reporting for Nerd Report, here at the 2015 E3 expo. I had a great opportunity during my exploration at this years E3 expo to visit Disney’s Infinity: 3.0 interaction Booth. The most anticipated line of course was the Star Wars edition game, and exclusive based toy figures. The Disney Infinity booth displayed original art, prototype’s of Star Wars figures, and hands on game play console’s. If you want to get your hands on one without buying a PS3 or PS4 version of Disney Infinity, you’re going to need to wait until January for standalone figures. Check out photos of the Disney’s Infinity: 3.0 Booth at E3’s 2015 expo down below. 
UBISOFT trailer of Tom Clancy’s The Division was officially released Live from the Xbox Briefing panel. Nerd Report was there for the E3 2015 EXCLUSIVE XBOX ONE trailer. Tom Clancy’s The Division release date is March 8, 2016. Check it out, and watch the trailer:
Watch the trailer from Gears of War 4. And Nerd Report was there, Live from the Xbox Briefing panel, as we witnessed the EXCLUSIVE XBOX ONE world premiere of Gears of War 4 gameplay. The preview can be seen below. Check it out:
Thanks to Amazon we get our first look at the statue included in the Collector’s edition of Halo 5: Guardians. With a retail price of $250, the Collector’s Edition includes the statues of Master Chief and Agent Locke.
Microsoft announce the Collector’s Edition back in December when the multiplayer beta for Halo 5: Guardians first launched. If the Collector’s Edition seems to pricey there’s always the standard $60 version and a Limited Edition option, which includes a steel book and bonus digital content for $100.
I was able to get some hands-on time with the game Rocket League and it was such a great experience to play and was a real high adrenaline game where you must calculate where you strike on the ball will help you or give your opponent a chance to score a point. A very well designed and simple game that allows you to customize and personalize your car with over 1 billion combinations within the game.
Rocket League is a futuristic action-sports game where players pilot rocket-powered vehicles in an enhanced version of soccer by driving their vehicles into the ball and other players in a variety of arenas. Rocket League uses an advanced physics system to simulate realistic interactions between cars and the ball, where mass and momentum determine how hard balls and cars hit each other, creating a unique and visceral playing experience
Rocket League Key Features Include:
New Season Mode:
Players now can enjoy a full single-player experience with Season mode, bolstered by extensive vehicle customizations, unlockable items, multiple arenas, and more.
Fully Upgraded Online, Local and Splitscreen Multiplayer Modes:
Fans of the original will love the returning options for two- to four-player competition, from on-the-couch split-screen competition to the robust online play.
Team-focused Gameplay:
Rocket League’s team-oriented play compels gamers to learn short- and long-term tactics and strategies to stay in the game, challenge their friends, and stay atop the monthly leaderboards.
Physics-driven Vehicle Interactions:
Built with rocket-equipped vehicles capable of aerial attacks, passes and shots, and physics-driven ball action, Rocket League is a wild, visceral action-sports experience.
Content Overload:
Rocket League builds upon its predecessor with a healthy array of completely new unlockable vehicles, arenas, more than 100 customization items, and other surprises.
Dedicated Gameplay Servers:
Super-smooth online gameplay guarantees an even better Rocket-Powered Battle-Car experience.
Broadcast-Quality Replays:
Gamers can play with, stylize, and create the ultimate replay of entire games with the new replay system. Fast forward, rewind, or view the action from anywhere in the arena!
Rocket League Is due to come out July 7, 2015 for PS4 and PC.
Released at the Sony press conference at E3 2015, The Last Guardian trailer was received with standing ovation. Continue reading
Sony has a new trailer forStreet Fighter V. Two more characters return to the Street Fighter series like you’ve never seen them before! You can pre-order at http://www.STREETFIGHTER.COM for beta access. Continue reading
When I told Jennifer Beals I was a writer for The Nerd Report, she confessed, “I’m a wannabe nerd.” We were at a party for the premiere of her new TNT drama Proof, and I had a chance to speak with her. Proof premieres tonight at 10PM on TNT and airs Tuesday nights.
Beals plays Dr. Carolyn Tyler, a surgeon hired by a dying billionaire (Matthew Modine) to find proof of life after death. She meets a little girl in the pilot who has some convincing evidence so we can imagine who else she might treat each week. Beals shared the nerdy details of her medical research with us, and indulged me as I geeked out a little over my favorite Jennifer Beals movie.
Jennifer Beals in Proof on TNT
Nerd Report: Is this the first role where you played a doctor?
Jennifer Beals: Yes, I think lots of lawyers but not a doctor.
Nerd Report: It’s something a lot of actors play, especially on television, but is it a very different breed of professional?
Jennifer Beals: Well, I love the science and as an actor, I love learning as much as I can before I start shooting or during shooting. We had an amazing cardiothoracic surgeon come in he taught me how to do sutures, one handed sutures. He was explaining how you have to make sure there’s an economy of movement because time is of the essence. You can’t waste time even just using two hands. When you do it with one hand, it’s literally you put your finger underneath like that and you pull it out because time is of the essence and you need every little moment.
Nerd Report: Are we going to see that on screen in an episode?
Jennifer Beals in Proof on TNT
Jennifer Beals: I think so. I don’t know how they’ll edit it together, but it got to the point where I would be up watching YouTube videos just even about how to listen to the heart correctly. There are different points where you listen to the heart and when you see the stethoscope, there’s the diaphragm which is the wider part and then there’s the bell, which is the part that scoops up like that. The bell is used primarily for lower tones, so you can hear things that you wouldn’t be able to hear necessarily with the diaphragm. It was fun, so I became a little bit of a nerd watching all the different nurses show how to listen to the heart properly.
Nerd Report: The premise of the show is fascinating, looking for proof of an afterlife, but no matter how long the show runs, can you really come down on either side on the show?
Jennifer Beals in Proof on TNT
Jennifer Beals: Well, I don’t know. That’s Rob Bragin’s job. That’s not my job but it’s not even looking for proof of an afterlife. It’s looking for proof either way. I think that’s what differentiates this show from other shows that might look at the topic of the afterlife is that you’re also looking at it from the eyes of a skeptic who’s giving the theories that it’s a hallucination, who’s giving the theories that it’s a synaptic event in the brain in the moments just before death. So I think it could fall either way, and there’s moments in the show. It’s not all oh, feel good, feel good, feel good, ghost. It’s not that. It’s not that show.
Nerd Report: Do a lot of scenes happen in the hedge maze?
Jennifer Beals: There’s a few. I love the maze. The maze is really fun.
Nerd Report: Was it as difficult a maze as it appears on the show?
Jennifer Beals: It’s pretty difficult. You could get lost in there. You could definitely get lost in there but once you’ve shot in there a little bit, you start to have markers to get in there.
Nerd Report: Is it liberating to play a character who has no hesitation to say exactly what she means?
Jennifer Beals: Yes. I love it because it’s usually how I am. Not to her degree but it’s really fun. It’s really fun to say what’s on your mind.
Jennifer Beals and Edi Gathegi in Proof on TNT
Nerd Report: The pilot uses the story of this little girl. Who are some of the other patients Dr. Tyler meets?
Jennifer Beals: Oh, I can’t tell you that. All I can say is I just finished shooting the finale and my mind is just astonished at how far we’ve come. When I watch the pilot and I see the beginning, and I see all the seeds that are planted in that space of time and how they flower in the end, it’s extraordinary to me.
Nerd Report: So it all pays off?
Jennifer Beals: Yes, and then there’s more questions always. There’s always more questions.
Nerd Report: Ideally, would you like to be involved in another long running series?
Jennifer Beals in Proof on TNT
Jennifer Beals: Oh, I’d love it. This series. I said to Rob, “I’m not done yet. Just write 10 more.” Because I didn’t feel tired. I felt really engaged and excited, honored to be part of it and wanted to just keep going. Every day is excitement to go to work because what’s going to happen? We get to talk about life after death all day long and have these kinds of conversations. Is there or isn’t there? If so, then why? If not, then why? What evidence do you have for it? We would share articles, Caroline [Rose Kaplan] would share articles with each other that we found. Sean Carroll is a friend of mine at CalTech and I would watch his lectures on YouTube.
Nerd Report: I remember you are a runner. You once said you run 10 miles a day. Did they incorporate that into Dr. Tyler for you?
Jennifer Beals: It was already there but the running was really important to me. It sounds so odd, “to get right,” but to make sure that it wasn’t an actress running, but that it was somebody who actually runs. I don’t run at that pace, but to get that right.
Nerd Report: One of my favorite movies is Vampire’s Kiss. When you got that role and got to the set, did you have any idea what kind of movie they were making?
Jennifer Beals: Well, we rehearsed first, so at rehearsal when Nicolas started with his character, working on his character, I had no idea he was going to be doing that. I thought, “Oh, okay, I get it. This is the kind of movie we’re making.” I didn’t realize it and because I was a supporting character, it’s my job to support Nic.
Nerd Report: You’re not in the alphabet scene, but did you see him rehearse it?
Jennifer Beals: No, no, I didn’t see it in rehearsal. It’s hilarious.
