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Microsoft flashes its 'Halo 2' remake and Atari documentary at Comic-Con
What do Halo: The Master Chief Collection and the Atari landfill-dig have to do with comic books? Not much, really, but that doesn't mean that Microsoft isn't at this year's San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) trotting them out to those in attendance. Let's start with Master Chief. The big green galoot has a boxed set of the games he starred in coming out this November, Redmond has seen fit to drop a trailer for the collection's gorgeously overhauled Halo 2 cinematics and we've embedded it below. What's more, MCC's developer Certain Affinity announced that the map that introduced the world to Halo 2's multiplayer, "Zanzibar," is getting the remake treatment alongside "Lockout," "Ivory Tower," "Coagulation" and "Ascension." The final of the six remastered maps will be revealed at Gamescom in Germany next month. If that isn't enough Halo news, we've also embedded video from the Halo: Nightfall panel that recently took place at SDCC.
Here's the first look at Ridley Scott's live-action 'Halo' project
Back at this year's E3 we learned that Halo: Nightfall would tell the origin story for a new character in Halo's sci-fi universe, and we're finally getting to see some of the show in motion. And, well, there are a couple of instances where it looks pretty similar to the Alien not-a-prequel, Prometheus. That almost assuredly isn't a coincidence given the fact that Prometheus' director Ridley Scott is serving as executive producer for the show. It's hard to tell exactly how the episodic series is going to turn out based on a teaser trailer (embedded after the break), but we can tell you that in its 74 seconds there's a distinct lack of Master Chief and a whole lot of talk about an element that "selectively kills humans." How's that for mystery? You'll be able to check out the exploits of Agent Locke and his crew after Halo: The Master Chief Collection releases this November. Update: Video of the entire Halo: Nightfall panel from Comic-Con is also embedded after the break.
Comixology now offers DRM-free comic backups, but only from select publishers
When Amazon purchased Comixology, it was a herald of change: iOS users lost the ability to purchase comics in-app, Android users were gifted with a new purchasing system and, now,the digital book seller is going DRM-free. Sort of. Comixology CEO David Steinberger announced today that DRM-free backups of select comics are now available to download in PDF and CBZ format, giving readers the ability to enjoy their content outside of the Comixology ecosystem for the first time. That said, it's somewhat limited: backup downloads are only available to book published by Image Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Zenoscope Entertainment, Thrillbent, Top Shelf Productions and MonkeyBrain Comics -- in other words, publishers that have already dabbled with DRM-free comic distribution.
Pilot one of the robots from 'Pacific Rim' with Oculus Rift at Comic-Con
We're not sure how many of the new Oculus Rift VR kits have shipped out to developers already, but it looks like a healthy amount are in San Diego right now. That's where Comic-Con is happening this week and, following the X-Men VR demo we already heard about, Legendary Pictures and Oculus have teamed up for Pacific Rim: Jaeger Pilot. It lets attendees take control of the 250-foot tall Jaeger "Gipsy Danger" (no drift connection necessary) and do battle in a virtual reality combat simulator against the kaiju Knifehead (the first one you see in the movie). The whole experience is built in Unreal Engine 4 using the same assets Industrial Light & Magic worked with for the movie. Sure, you've seen the movie, and maybe even in IMAX 3D, but we're pretty sure even Guillermo del Toro's directing tricks can't add up to feeling like you're there, fighting an 8,700 ton monster off the coast of Alaska. It's all in Legendary's booth #3920 for all four days the show is open, from Thursday through Sunday. Don't have a ticket? There's a video preview embedded after the break, but it can't compare to diving into a VR world with Oculus -- maybe we'll be able to enjoy it at home by April 2017 when Pacific Rim 2 arrives.
