SDCC 2013: San Diego Comic Con News Round-Up

If you’re not aware, last week there was a little gathering of people from the wide-world-of-comics in San Diego. For those unfamiliar, the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC of short) is a yearly event that has grown exponentially in size and importance since 145 people in 1970 to over 130,000 attendees in 2012. From comic books the show has expanded to include video games, movies and television, attracting big announcements and stars from these industries. Some argue that SDCC has outpaced its comic book roots, but there is no denying the importance of this event to the comic book industry.

We’ve gathered a number of the biggest announcements in the list below as well as a video run-down in more detail in order to give a central location for your SDCC news. Please feel free to leave any comments below the article if we missed anything as we’re more than happy to continuely evolve this article to include as much relevant information as possible.

From the Movies coverage of SDCC we’ve decided to break it down by comic book affliation rather than production company:

Movies

• DC Comics
  • Arguably the biggest announcement of SDCC 2013 was that the follow-up to the 2012 Summer movie Man of Steel with be a Batman vs. Superman movie slated for 2015. Zack Synder and David Goyer from Man of Steel return to head the project, and while Henry Cavil will donning the Superman suit again there is debate to who will/should be playing the role of the dark knight.
  • A Flash Movie was announced, slated for 2016.
  • The Justice League Movie, long awaited, has been rumored to be pushed back to 2017.
• Marvel
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past, the follow-up X-Men: First Class, has been slated for 2014 and there were a number of cast members on the panel with a few characters confirmed to be making an appearance such as Bishop. A general plot has been discussed involving time travel and Wolverine.
  • Captain America: Winter Soldier (April 2014) continues to look amazing with more art and screen shots shown.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy will be making it’s way to the big screen August 2014 and while only a few concept images have been shown so far it has garnered some fan attention at SDCC so far.
  • The big news from Marvel at SDCC 2013 was the announcement of the Avengers sequel title: Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. While Hank Pym will have his own movie later, it has been confirmed Ant-Man won’t make an appearance in this movie and Ultron will instead has a new origin story – much to some peoples apprehension/glee.

• Vin Diesel will be returning to the role of Riddick in Sept 2013 in simply titled Riddick movie as well as a motion comic prequel.
• Many many more movies were discussed such as Kick Ass 2, 300: Rise of an Empire, Robocop, Godzilla, and Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

 TV

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had it’s pilot episode shown, and while the mystery of Agent Coulson’s return was hinted at it wasn’t explained. Viewers reactions have been very positive so far. The show will air on ABC on September 24th.
• The cast of The Walking Dead gathered in a panel to discuss the next season, though not much details were discussed – rightfully so, surprise is a big draw.
• Game of Thrones had it’s own panel with a large number of characters who have met their end showing up to montage of death scenes.
• The Simpsons announced two crossovers: Family Guy and Futurama.

Video Games

• Batman Arkham Origins had a number of announcements and some confusion at SDCC, but in the end it summed up: Robin and Batgirl won’t be in the game and while Copperhead was announced the character has undergone a remake (that we like) along with a trailer.
• It was confirmed in Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 2 that Clementine will return much to everyone’s joy.
• Lego Marvel Superheroes continues to expand the roster of announced characters and trailers!

Comics!!!

•  Image Comics celebrated the 10th Anniversary of The Walking Dead with the promise of even more violence and conflict to come.
• Dark Horse Comics announced a number of things at SDCC:
  • A new Terminator series from Stracynski
  • Gail Simone will pen a new Tomb Raider comic
  • Black Beetle will return in a second series
  • A new Halo comic set after the events of Halo 4 was announced
• The end of the Marvel’s Ultimates Universe might be coming as Galactus kicks off the “Cataclysm Event” in Marvel’s next arc.

We also have a video format of all this SDCC news!

Again, please feel free to let us know if we missed anything from SDCC 2013 that you would like to see added to this article (we’ll credit your addition) in the comments below
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D&D and NeverWinter Party - PAX East 2013

The floor show is not the only place that PAX East action takes place. Some of the best places to meet people, play games and socialize are the parties that take place after the Expo Hall closes. Some are large loud affairs akin to the raves or clubs, while others - which I prefer - are more intimate affairs that allow actual conversations while still having a great fun vibe to them.

One of these more subdued parties was the D&D and Neverwinter Party. Taking place in a a private room of a popular local Boston restaurant the party had everything: MMO game demos, D&D creators and even the famous writer R.A. Salvatore.

MMORPG - Neverwinter Saga Demo

While the lines at the Neverwinter Sage Demo on the PAX East show floor stretched around the booth for much of the weekend, here we had easy access to two laptops. Each one had a different character model - one was a warrior the other was a mage. Now, I'm normally not a MMO player, but I was immediately struck with the easy of accessibility that Neverwinter Saga presented. There are the standards for MMOs present, such as cool-downs and abilities that were beautifully rendered and smooth. What really stood out to me was the little tweaks to the formula: gone is the endless comparing of loot to decide if the tiniest of differences will give you one more damage per second (DPS). In Saga these numbers are still there, but there is also a simple summary under the two items that breaks down the differences in an easy to see and quickly decide format. Being at the Neverwinter Party also offered me the opportunity to talk with the CEO of Cryptic Studios to discuss all the features and direction that their game hoped bring. Again, I'm not a MMO player, but seriously, even after playing as the Warrior for nearly an hour I really just wanted to hop back in and re-roll as the Mage.

Dungeons and Dragons

I'll probably get some flack for this, but again, I'm not a huge TableTop gamer either. Still, the impact and influence that Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) has had on the RPG genre can not be denied. Here at the D&D and Neverwinter Party people had the chance to sit down with two of the creators of the D&D Tabletop game and discuss the next iteration of the game. The most stand-out feature of the next rule-set was when they told me that in a unique twist, players will have the chance to submit the rules THEY want in the game. This is exciting and daunting at the same time. Some of these fans have been playing for decades and truly invested in the stories, camaraderie that ensues and adaptive nature of a tabletop RPG. There are also those who are not as invested. It's an interesting experiment that is sure to shape the future iterations of D&D for better or worse.

R.A. Salvatore

Of course, as the creative writer and mastermind behind the lore of the Neverwinter series, R.A. Salvatore was present at the party. This offered the unique opportunity to meet one of the most well-known writers of the fantasy genre. I don't know how many other times the chance to sit down and chat with Salvatore for hours would present itself. As an avid reader, especially of the fantasy and sci-fi genre, this was a great moment.

As you can see, events such as the D&D and Neverwinter Party offer something not found on the PAX East Expo Hall floor. While this event was invite-only, they often keep a few extra spots for fans from the show floor. So remember, it's HIGHLY recommended that if you see something great on the show floor ask if they are having a party. I really enjoyed this party and the intimate atmosphere allowed me to really enjoy everything offered - something a more crowded and loud event would not be able to do. It was also a great place to meet new people and make friends. The people at D&D and Neverwinter have just made a constant attendee of their future parties and I can't wait for another one, hopefully next year at PAX East 2014.

State of Decay: Gameplay Interview - PAX East 2013

Since their first announcement at E3 in 2012 State of Decay from Undead Labs has managed to pique the interest of a community not satisfied with the current video game offerings for the zombie survival genre. Ears perked at the mention of a realistic sandbox zombie survival game. With everything mentioned and the promise of more to come the most head-turning announcement wasn’t the real-time building, realistic degradation of materials and social interactions, but that this impressive vision was coming to the Xbox Live Arcade.

For any developer, console or PC, the list of features in State of Decay would be daunting. Starting off with the barest of supplies – literally a branch to defend yourself – you’re set loose to survive. How to survive is completely up to you as you meet new characters and explore the world. Each new member might bring with them unique and useful attributes, as a doctor or mechanic, but they’re also a mouth to feed.

Full Article: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2013/03/25/state-of-decay-pax-east-2013/

Samsung Series 7 Gamer Laptop Preview

While at the New York Comic Con we had the chance to take a hands-on preview of the latest gaming laptop from Samsung: The Samsung Series 7 Gamer. An entry in their Series 7 laptops that was designed with the gamer in mind that packs advanced graphics and the power to use it.

Full Article: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/10/23/samsung-series-7-gamer-laptop-preview/

New York Comic Con: Comics, Video Games, and COSPLAY!

The New York Comic Con has been bringing people together to celebrate the work of comics and more since 2006. Since then they’ve expanded to include many other pop-cultural institutions such as Television, Anime, Manga, Video Games and even full feature length films. Due to the large overlap in the interests in 2010 the New York Anime Festival was joined with the New York Comic Con. From a respectable beginning with an estimated 33,000 attendees the comic convention has grown exponentially to take over the Javits Center with an attendance of over 105,000, according to the official New York Comic Con website.

Read the full article with over 150 pictures in the cosplay gallery: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/10/19/new-york-comic-con-2012-comics-games-and-cosplay/

XBLA Summer of Arcade Review: Wreckateer on Kinect

As the second game in the Summer of Arcade 2012 promotion – and the only Kinect title – Wreckateer has garnered a lot of attention and skepticism. Developed by Iron Galaxy Studios, Wreckateer is at its heart a “high score chase” game in veins of another catapult-to-knocking-down-buildings game. Entering a market wary of cartoonish graphics and casual user targeted Kinect games, Wreckateer tries to launch itself above expectations.

Full Review: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/07/25/ftg-review-wreckateer-xbla/