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Assassin's Creed 4 updated to 1080p on PS4; drops anchor on PC, Xbox One today
The piratical, bloody adventures of Edward Kenway can now be found on the PC and Xbox One. As we stated in our review, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is "a vibrant historical adventure, drawn from bold characters and edge-of-your-seat sailing." It offers a massive variety of things to do, from hunting iguanas with a sword to swinging from one ship to another like Errol Flynn. Obviously, there's quite a bit of high seas assassination as well. Three versions of the game are now available on PC: the Standard Edition, the Gold Edition and the UPlay Gold Edition. That first incarnation includes only the game, while the latter two offer players access to the game's Season Pass and a host of exclusive downloadable content. The Xbox One game only offers two variations, the Standard and Limited Editions, though the latter offers far more booty than any other version of the game. If those extras aren't enough to satisfy your rum-swilling, plank-walking tendencies, McFarlane Toys has revealed plans to launch a 1,000-piece set of Edward Kenway statues. The images on the company's site look stunningly detailed, but you'll have to shell out $295 for that level of craftsmanship. In related news, a patch has just been released for the PlayStation 4 version of Assassin's Creed 4 which allows it to display its already-attractive graphics in full 1080p resolution. Like all PlayStation 4 game updates, this patch will be automatically downloaded to your system.
Halo 4 Master Chief statue coming to protect your desk from tiny aliens
A limited edition, 12-inch tall statue of Master Chief will be available via McFarlane Toys starting December 6 for $295, the action figure and collectibles company has revealed. The statue depicts Master Chief as he appears in Halo 4 - or more accurately, how he appears on the game, as the pose seems modeled after the Halo 4 cover. Each of the limited run of 1,000 statues will come with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Todd McFarlane, as well as three interchangeable weapons: the Assault Rifle, the Energy Sword and the Boltshot. The statue's official page does not currently offer pre-orders, so if you want to get your hands on Chief before the Covenant Didact other collectors do, you'll want to keep a vigilant watch on the McFarlane Toys site.
McFarlane making Assassin's Creed 3 action figures
Ubisoft has announced a partnership with McFarlane Toys, worldwide purveyors of articulated, authorized licensed memorabilia, the result of which is a forthcoming line of Assassin's Creed 3 dolls action figures.The first series, available at retailers sometime this summer, will include Conner (in both traditional assassin and Ratonhnhaké:ton flavors) and Haytham Kenyway, among others. Figures are six inches tall, give or take, and feature an average of 25 points of articulation. No word yet on when subsequent series will be released or what other characters will be part of this initial run. Personally, we're hoping for a moose.%Gallery-178142%
Master Chief and his cryotube toy set
Master Chief is getting a cool deluxe figurine set from McFarlane Toys featuring everyone's favorite interstellar peace-keeper in a UNSC cryotube. The set includes a posable Master Chief, the cryotube (complete with realistic frost detail) and a pistol, and will be available in August.McFarlane is also developing figurines of Master Chief, an Elite Zealot, a Storm Grunt, a Spartan Warrior, Cortana, a Spartan Soldier and two new enemies, the Crawler and the Watcher.The cryogenic Master Chief appears to be extremely similar to the initial prototype McFarlane showed off in February, which means we still wonder how he goes about turning his head between Madonna's cast-off shoulder pads. At least his all-essential forearms are protected.
Todd McFarlane says Project Copernicus is coming this year
Gamers got their first look at the Kingdoms of Amalur universe in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning earlier this year, but we here at Massively are still anxiously awaiting more details on 38 Studios' MMO branch of the setting, Project Copernicus. Thankfully, it looks like we won't have to wait too much longer. In an interview with START, comic artist extraordinaire Todd McFarlane, who is providing art design for Copernicus, nonchalantly dropped news that the studio is aiming to release Project Copernicus "later in the year." He doesn't expound any further on when exactly we can expect to get our hands on the game, but with any luck we'll be getting some more details before long, so stay tuned folks. Oh, and the full interview is embedded past the cut in case you'd like to watch the full thing. The relevant quote hits at about the 11:50 mark, but the full interview is definitely worth a watch. [Thanks to John for the tip!]
Halo 4's Master Chief steps boldly into the physical realm
We first got a look at Halo 4's Master Chief with this epic picture of him being born from an exploding robot womb, and the physical version made by McFarlane Toys stays true to that rendition, right down to the placement of the chink in his armor. If Microsoft approves this prototype, Halo 4 will mark a departure from previous armor designs, which have generally offered more coverage around Master Chief's vital organs, and more mobility around the neck and shoulders. Because that's what armor should do.For example, the Halo 4 version offers a squishy black bullseye over Master Chief's heart, while in Halo 3 that area was covered in sturdy green armor. The bicep patches in the above design look large enough to carry your emblem of choice (unicorn), but not to stop advanced-technology bullets from piercing your skin as previous armor versions do. Also, he's fighting a galactic war, not practicing advanced yoga -- there is no reason for that much uncovered space on his hips.Microsoft will decide if this prototype is close enough to in-game reality before it launches in the fall as part of McFarlane's Halo 4 lineup, which will include brand new weapons, characters and vehicles. This year McFarlane also plans to drop two new product lines based in the Halo universe: Micro Ops, which offers classic figures at 1:100 standard size, and Halo Avatars, 2.5-inch physical renditions of Xbox Live avatars.
The making of a McFarlane Halo figure makes us feel old
Video games are great and all, but most of us at Joystiq HQ still harbor a penchant for action figures, born from youthful days and being forced to play outside now and again. As we've matured, however, so has the toy industry, and action figures these days are way more awesome than the stuff we had growing up. Kids these days don't know how good they have it, either. The above video, for instance, showcases the state-of-the-art rapid prototyping technologies used by McFarlane Toys to create their hyper-detailed Halo figures. Back in our day, action figures took months to prototype, and we were happy about it! And another thing! Back in our day, the words "3D" and "printer" would never share space in the same sentence, let alone be used in conjunction with one another to describe an actual thing. Get off our lawn!
McFarlane's Halo: Reach figures infiltrate Toy Fair 2010
[Kotaku] A couple weeks back, McFarlane Toys announced it would be producing a line of action figures for Bungie's upcoming Halo: Reach. Nothing too surprising there, as most of us with any kind of flat open surface can attest -- you have lots of Halo toys already, right? Well, we hope you're ready to at least look at some more, because that's what this post is about! Kotaku attended this year's Toy Fair show in NYC today, where the preliminary packaging and prototype images for the toys were presented. The original announcement for the figures only detailed that we could all expect Halo: Reach stuff from McFarlane this year and well into 2011, but it would appear the initial run is being limited to Noble team (the Spartans the game revolves around) and at least one Ghost-riding Grunt. Hit up Kotaku for the images.
Microsoft ditches Family Guy special... for being Family Guy
Face? Meet palm. Microsoft's decided to pull out of its co-sponsoring of "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" after execs attending the taping came to the sudden conclusion that Family Guy-caliber jokes were to be told, tackling such topics as "deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest." We're not sure how 10 years and over 120 episodes of offensive precedence bypassed Redmond's radars, but man, that's gotta be some strong personal bubble. A Microsoft representative said of the taping, "it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." The show will still air November 8th, pre-recorded Microsoft references in tow, but with a new as-of-yet unnamed sponsor. All we have of the now-doomed partnership is this brief video from the Windows "741" student site -- it's after the break. [Via The Raw Feed]
Windows 7-branded 'Family Guy' special to air November 8th
Of all Microsoft's advertising moves, this certainly falls in more clever side of the spectrum. Redmond et al. have announced they'll be "sponsoring" a November 8th variety special on Fox, "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show." The episode'll be a mix of live-action musical performance and animated shorts with the usual celebrity cameos you've come to expect. This show will be commercial free, so long as you don't count all the Windows 7 that'll somehow be integrated -- and that's the most interesting mystery of all, how Microsoft will get its brand recognition without too many jabs from showrunner Seth McFarlane and company. If you don't recall the last time McFarlane teamed up with a big company to enliven its image, check out video from "Burger King presents Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy," a venture also done in tandem with one of the ad agencies responsible for this new deal, Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. It's just after the break. Update: As commenter Zebb reminded us, Bill Gates pulled off a cameo in Frasier "answering caller questions" about Windows XP. We couldn't help but add it to the post just below, jump to the 2:20 mark for the relevant scene.
Jake Gyllenhaal made plastic, portable, still dreamy
McFarlane Toys has announced that it's making a line of collectibles based on Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's forthcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time motion picture. The movie's due out next May, and as fate (or marketing) would have it, so are the toys. The toymaker doesn't have anything for us to actually look at yet, but there are plenty of details to be had on just exactly what we can expect to be taking up shelf space at your local toy store / comic book merchant / Jake Gyllenhaal fan club gift shop. Unlike many of McFarlane's figures, the 4" and 6" mini-Jakes and pals will be fully articulated. We're not certain, though, if the promised "battle horses" will be as limber. A playset (yep, they still make those) is also in the works, as is something wholly non-action-figure: A replica Dagger of Time, complete with "disappearing sand," LED lighting and -- because safety trumps cool -- a "soft vinyl blade." We imagine it'll be perfect for dealing with "huggable plush sand monsters" and "Tickle Me Nizam."
McFarlane drops first details on ODST toys
McFarlane Toys is expanding its already impressive lineup of figures and vehicles based on the Halo series with new additions from Bungie's upcoming Halo 3: ODST. Planned for release in October -- the game hits September 22 -- the Halo series 6 figure "The Rookie" stands 6" tall, comes packaged with an ODST medal and is hopefully not the only squad member from the game getting the poseable plastic treatment. (Hey, even if the basic figure's the same, there are still minor coloring and equipment differences.)Also, does it strike anyone else as odd that the only part of an ODST's body not covered in armor is his fingertips?[Via Video Games Blogger]%Gallery-66356%
Grab your own Grifball Spartan at San Diego Comic Con
Click to kung fu-gripisize image If you're attending the San Diego Comic Con and are a fan of all things Halo 3, then you'll likely be excited to hear that Toys R Us and McFarlane Toys are teaming up to sell the exclusive figure you see above during the show. Only 6,000 of these Grifball bad boys (or girls, because you really don't know who's under that 200 billion-dollar suit of armor) are being sold at the show, and you can grab your own for $15. We suggest making this a priority stop, as the figure features a Bomb, Gravity Hammer, Recon armor, and Sword Hilt, with the latter two being pretty big deals in the world of spinning space rings, we hear. Also, 6,000 isn't a lot when you consider 126,000 people attended the show last year.San Diego Comic-Con goes down from July 23-26 at the San Diego Convention Center.%Gallery-49402%
Toys 'R' Us, GameStop get Halo Wars figs this month
McFarlane Toys has announced that Toys 'R' Us, GameStop and an unnamed third retailer will be exclusively selling the company's new line of Halo Wars figures early. The three retailers will begin selling three different 3-packs of the figurines sometime this month, while other retailers will begin selling the toys after the Halo Wars launch in March. Each of the three "First Look" retailers will have an exclusive 3-pack on offer, each containing three 2½ inch UNSC or Covenant figures. McFarlane announced late last year that each pack will priced from $9.99 to $11.99. Find out where each pack will be available in the list below. TBA -- UNSC TROOPS (Blue)1 Spartan (with assault rifle) 1 Marine Infantry (with assault rifle) 1 Spartan (with dual magnums) Toys "R" Us -- UNSC TROOPS (Red)1 Spartan (with dual magnums) 1 Spartan (with assault rifle) 1 Marine Infantry (with assault rifle) GameStop -- COVENANT TROOPS (Purple)2 Elites (with Plasma rifles)1 Grunt (with Needler)
Entertainment Earth shows off exclusive pale-yellow EVA figure
Attention collectors: Entertainment Earth has netted the exclusive rights to release this special edition Halo 3 pale-yellow EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) figure. The $15 figure comes complete with needler and flare and ships sometime in April. For those looking to add this to their collection, EE recommends you pre-order soon because the product will be limited. But they always say things are extremely limited... don't they?[via THEBBPS]
McFarlane's Halo Points program is live
McFarlane Toys just announced that their Halo Points program has officially launched (finally), meaning that anyone who has collected armloads of Halo action figures can redeem their cardboard points for exclusive goodies. To redeem your Halo action figure points, simply print off the redemption certificate (PDF), fill it out, stuff it in an envelope with your Halo Points and wait. Recon, katana and golden Master Chief prizes all await your order. [Thanks, TOMCATS]
McFarlane unveils final Halo Wars figure sculpts
Recently, McFarlane unveiled the final sculpts for the mini Halo Wars figures that they announced back in September and, with the unveil, announced the pricing will be between $9.99 and $11.99. You can view all four sets of new Halo Wars mini-figures including the traditional UNSC troops along with blue and red variants as well as a set of purple Covenant. Seriously, how adorable is that purple Grunt? Each set includes three 2.5" figures with various weapons and will release to retail March 2009.[Via HBO]
McFarlane announces Halo Wars figures for '09
To compliment their already expansive sets of Halo 3 figures, Todd McFarlane and crew just announced that they'll be releasing Halo Wars figures to retail beginning March 2009. The first series of Halo Wars figures are actually mini-figures, 2.5 inches tall (aww, shucks!), rotatable at the waist and sold as a three pack. At release, the first series will be comprised of four different sets including Spartans, Marine Infantry and Covenant with each set packaged with various weapons. You can get learned about all four different Halo Wars sets after the break and view the work-in-progress figure sculpts in the gallery below. Lovely, aren't they?%Gallery-31539%
Win a set of Comic-Con exclusive Halo figures
Do you recall the two Comic-Con exclusive Halo action figures that Todd McFarlane announced would only be available for purchase in San Diego later this week? Do you have a painful itch to own both exclusive figures but will not be able to attend this year's Comic-Con funnery? Well, we have good news. The McFarlane crew are giving away a set of the Comic-Con exclusive Halo figures via Spawn.com and all you have to do to enter is register by July 31st. Then, if you win, you'll be the proud owner of both an EVA "HellSpartan" and a CQB active camouflage figure. Your winning odds are pretty slim, but for those who aren't attending Comic-Con (see: us) it's your only chance at owning the exclusive figures other than overpaying for them on eBay.
Series 2 Halo figures and points websites now live
After a much too long hiatus, we're proud to say that it's Halo action figure news time! Huzzah! And today we have a treat for Halo action figure fanboys, because Mr. Toddy McFarlane just updated Spawn.com with all kinds of Halo goodness. First off, the Halo 3 Series 2 mini site is now live, allowing you to view each and every figure, view photos, download wallpapers and analyze each one in super sexy Quicktime VR. But that isn't all friends, because McFarlane just updated us on the Halo Points program. Halo Points, for the uninformed, are included with each and every Halo action figure purchase. Buy enough figures, collect enough points and starting this Winter you can earn exclusive Halo swag. Want a Halo 3 lithograph? You'll need 100 points. Looking at owning a red, blue or active camo Halo figure with Recon armor? Dish out anywhere from 200-300 points and you can haz Recon. There's even a gold Master Chief for 500 points. It's either time to start making some action figure purchases or time to take up the hobby of dumpster diving. Recon figures are way worth getting banana peel in your hair.[Thanks, TMD] Source - Halo 3 Series 2 figures Source - Halo Points
