New Pixar Movies Revealed at D23: Dinosaurs, Mindtrips, & Princesses

New Pixar Movies Revealed at D23: Dinosaurs, Mindtrips, & Princesses:



Things were busy at Disney’s D23 Expo this past weekend, where several tasty nuggets of information concerning upcoming Pixar titles were dropped.


We now have additional details about Pixar’s upcoming fantasy/adventure Brave, as well as the next Pixar flicks that’ll be directed by Peter Doctor and his Up co-collaborator (and Finding Nemo co-writer) Bob Peterson, respectively.

Anticipation for Pixar’s next release, Brave, remains quite high, despite the so-so reception for the studio’s most recent release, Cars 2. This is a film company renowned for its originality and creativity – and based on theBrave teaser trailer, Pixar’s first venture in the fairy tale princess genre should boast its traditional mix of beautiful computer-generated animation and solid storytelling. At least there won’t be any Larry the Cable Guy in this one, right?
On that note – check out the new official synopsis for Brave:

Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. In “Brave,” a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts.
Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch (voice of Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.

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Untitled Dinosaur/Human Mind Projects

Monsters University will hit theaters in Summer 2013; Pixar’s original offering of that year will follow in the fall, with Bob Peterson making his solo directorial debut. It has been revealed that the latter project takes place in an alternate reality where humans now co-inhabit the modern world with dinosaurs.
Here is the official logline for Peterson’s “hilarious, heartfelt, and original” movie:

What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?

That logline recalls less-than-stellar titles like Super Mario Bros. and We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, but in Peterson’s hands, the premise should turn out much better. It’ll at least be fun to see how Pixar animators bring the ancient creatures to life – whether in a more cartoonish or realistic style, a la Jurassic Park. So long as this doesn’t play out too much like a contemporary riff on The Flintstones, it’s all good.
Check out the preliminary logo for the project (via Collider) below:

Peter Doctor’s next project, by comparison, sounds like one of the most ambitious impending Pixar flicks on the horizon. Just check out the logline below and see what we mean:

Pixar takes audiences on incredible journeys into extraordinary worlds: from the darkest depths of the ocean to the top of the tepui mountains in South America; from the fictional metropolis of Monstropolis to a futuristic fantasy of outer space. From director Pete Docter (“Up,” “Monsters, Inc.”) and producer Jonas Rivera (“Up”), the inventive new film will take you to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind.

The Playlist is reporting that Oscar-winner Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) is working on the script for this film, which reportedly examines the process by which ideas are formed. Doctor could approach that premise from an angle similar to that in Monsters Inc. – by exploring the mechanics of an (pun not intended) imagined world where our thoughts and ideas are literally designed.
Did anyone else think “Pixar does Inception” after reading that description – and get really excited by the prospect?

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Brave will arrive in U.S. theaters on June 22nd, 2012.
Monsters University is scheduled for theatrical release on June 21st, 2013.
Peterson’s dinosaur movie will hit theaters on November 27th, 2013.
Doctor’s “mindtrip” project will be released in theaters on May 20th, 2014.
Source: Collider, The Playlist

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New Xbox dashboard now has a name: Twist Control

New Xbox dashboard now has a name: Twist Control:

During floor demos at Gamescom, Microsoft revealed the moniker of its new, Kinect-centric Xbox 360 Dashboard: "Twist Control." We think we can all agree that this is the best name that the platform's navigation tools have had thus far. Well, okay, "Blades" might give it a run for its money, but it'd be a pretty close race.







Then again, we haven't seen much twisting from the interface -- isn't there a more context appropriate title out there? Something like "Space Windows" or "Wizard Buttons" or "The Telekinesis Engine" or "Intangible Frames" or "The Even Newer Xbox Experience" or "Minority Report" or "Bark Commands at Your Xbox Until Your Neighbors Think That You Are a Legit Crazy Person."

New Xbox dashboard now has a name: Twist Control originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dead Space lands on BlackBerry PlayBook and Android ... well, Xperia Play

Dead Space lands on BlackBerry PlayBook and Android ... well, Xperia Play:

In this chart of non-iPad tablets compared to "obscure" video game consoles, the BlackBerry PlayBook is somewhere between the Philips CDi and the Atari Jaguar. That is to say, the PlayBook hasn't set the world, or really much of anything, on fire. Google's Android OS, on the other hand, is increasingly taking over the mobile space (albeit not the tablet space, where all Android tablets combined are somewhere between the 3DO and the Virtual Boy).







While gaming on Android is still something of a challenge, thanks to a fragmented install base, unique platforms, and multiple stores, that hasn't stopped EA from giving it the ol' college effort. So Xperia Play owners can go to EA's own Flexion Android Store to download EA Mobile and IronMonkey Studios' excellent Dead Space mobile game -- easy! We weren't able to confirm that ourselves, not owning an Xperia Play, so we've put a word into EA for confirmation.







But EA didn't stop there - it's also ported Dead Space to the PlayBook. Premiering today for the same $9.99 price as its far more popular iPad-based twin, the PlayBook audience is getting one of mobile gaming's most successful "core" games. And yes, it's a small audience (smaller than the Xperia Play?) but if EA plans to continue its mobile dominance, it helps to be everywhere.







[Thanks, Gerry]

Dead Space lands on BlackBerry PlayBook and Android ... well, Xperia Play originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset heads to retail September 6

PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset heads to retail September 6:













Sony's chunky, weirdly attractive new wireless stereo headset for PS3 will arrive in North America on September 6, Sony announced today. The device was previously given a September release window.







In addition to just being bigger than most headsets we've seen, the $100 wireless (with a USB dongle) headset offers virtual 7.1-channel sound, a retractable mic, and on-screen headset status messages when used with a PS3.







You don't really need to see a video to understand how a headset works, but we have one anyway. As a nice bonus, you can see a bit of Uncharted 3 footage!

PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset heads to retail September 6 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Walking Dead Return To Fresh Ink Online

The Walking Dead Return To Fresh Ink Online:

Game Reviews - E3 2012

Blair Butler is joined by Attack of the Show Associate Producer Brian Compton for a head to head Top 5 read list bonanza. Included in their picks are The Walking Dead, DMZ, Invincible Iron Man, New Mutants, Daredevil, Criminal, Locke and Key, Northlanders, Captain American and Bunky, and more. But who chose what? And why did Brian terrify Robert Kirkman at Comic-Con so?

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And for more comic goodness, don’t forget to visit our friends at Comic Alliance and Graphly.com.


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PS3 Cross-Game Voice Chat Not Happening, But Vita's Got it

PS3 Cross-Game Voice Chat Not Happening, But Vita's Got it:

While the PlayStation 3's online service has made great leaps since launch, one key feature it's still missing is cross-game voice chat. In order to voice chat with other players, you have to be playing the same game; one person can't be playing Uncharted while another is playing Flower. We now know the reason for why that is and that it's unlikely to ever happen. Meanwhile, thanks to the abundance of RAM included with Vita, Sony's new handheld does support this very feature.

Its absence on PS3 is due to the way RAM is handled. All of the system's memory is handed over to a game once it's started up and it's not possible to take it back to handle cross-game voice chat.

"Once a game gets RAM we never give it back," SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida told Eurogamer. "It's not possible to retrofit something like that after the fact."

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Awesome Toy Picks: Dex-Starr, B'Dg and Galactus

Awesome Toy Picks: Dex-Starr, B'Dg and Galactus:

Last week we gave you a look at some of the new Young Justice action figures available in stores as well as the harder-to-find Mötley Crüe box set. This week we're going to look up to the stars. We have a couple galactic options for your toy collecting choices. One selection you should be able to find in stores and the other, you might have to search online.

There's been a lot of Green Lantern action figures since the Ryan Reynolds movie hit theaters. The movie tie-in figures have been okay but it has helped to open the door for other non-movie figures. One selection that went unnoticed from the DC Universe Classic line is Dex-Starr, B'dg, Despotellis.

Not only are these guys cute, but they're also bad-asses. Okay, maybe Despotellis isn't really cute or bad-ass looking. He feels more like an added bonus to make up for the other two being more on the smaller size.

There is some articulation. Dex-Starr and B'dg both have movable arms, legs, heads and tails. You can see that the tail is crucial if you want to make them stand. Positioning it just right allows them to stand with ease for your display purposes. Dex-Starr even comes with removable blood. Despotellis...just sort of sits there doing nothing. Again, added bonus.

How big are these guys? They're not very big as they would be in scale with your other DC figures. Even though they're small, they do still retain the detail that DC has been giving figures of this scale.

If you're wondering why they come with such a large package, it's because there is a Stel in the build a figure option, you buy all the figures in the line and you can build the over-sized figure. Because of the build a figure option, you would think that all the figures in the line would come in the same ratio.

I hadn't seen this package in stores before I got lucky and found it. I would imagine if 'collectors' saw these in stores, they might be tempted to snatch them all up. I mean, could you pass up on them if you saw them? The $15-20 price tag might put some people off. Doing a quick search for Dex-Starr on ebay shows a range of prices along with the option of in package or loose.

Speaking of ebay, that's where you might have to look if you want a Galactus figure. An over-sized, 21-inch version is available at Toys R Us and online at amazon. There have been other Galactus figures so let's look at a couple different options.

The first is from the 1995 Fantastic Four line from Toy Biz. His 14" might not have been in scale to the other 5" figures in the line. The mid-90s weren't known for their ultra level of detail that we would see in the years to follow but this is still a nice looking Galactus that can be found on ebay for a decent price.

Besides just being a regular big figure, you'll notice he comes with an accessory. It's actually a...giant drill. Galactus eats planets' energy so why not have him come with a giant drill. It's absurd but that adds to his cool factor.

Also, this Galactus is electronic. You pop in some batteries and turn him on and his eyes and drill lights up. If that wasn't enough, he also makes noise.

The second Galactus is the Mighty Muggs version. He might be easier to find since he was released in 2008.

If you're familiar with the Mighty Muggs figures, you know what he is about. This is another figure that was just too hard to pass by when sitting on the toy shelf. Surprisingly there is a wide range of prices on ebay. Some of them are even higher than the 1995 Galactus.

What it comes down to is you can never have too many Galactuses.

That wraps up this week's edition. Be sure to look for another installment next week to see who gets featured.

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