Super Mario Bros. will be out on Blu-ray in a steel case – in the UK
British-based pop-tech site, Zavvi, is releasing the “Exclusive Limited Edition” of Super Mario Bros., the movie, on Blu-ray this February. Needless to say, the movie did not receive many positive reviews. In fact, the late Bob Hoskins (Mario), reportedly said he hated making the movie. Contrast that with John Leguizamo (Luigi) who said he “grew to love it”. Given all of that, it’s easy to see why this movie is not out on Blu-ray in the United States (yet). Still, if you haven’t seen the movie and you’re terminally curious, rent it, but be warned (and in short): Super Mario Bros. is not a good movie. It is also the reason Hollywood continually turns video game movies into a joke, with Assassin’s Creed being the latest. Worse, it’s not region-free: it’s restricted to Region 2 which means you’ll have to live in Africa, the Middle East, Southwest Asia, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and/or their dependencies to get it. Technically, you can import Region 2 Blu-ray players if you like, but why go through all that trouble just to get a terrible movie? Other than the steel case, the only good part about it is it will have Bonus Features such as “Making of”, the Original Electronic Press Kit, and Behind the Scenes/Storyboard Galleries. Yet it has no multiple languages, even in the age of Blu-ray. Why is it being released? Who knows? Perhaps it’s Zavvi’s way to earn a quick buck (or Euro, in this case), but the case does look presentable, which makes it look like a collector’s item. If you enjoy the movie and live in the Region 2 area, then by all means pre-order it. Otherwise, you’re better off staying away.
Black Sea Games is a new-and-not Indie studio, here's what to know about them
Crytek, the studio known for various payment problems regarding their employees, closed five of their development studios go at the beginning of December. One of those five studios was Crytek Black Sea, based out of Sofia, Bulgaria. Here’s the interesting part, though: after the ties with Crytek were cut, Black Sea’s original founder Vesselin Handjiev decided to rejuvenate his studio with a tweaked name and a goal to make great games in the company’s post-Crytek era. Handjiev has been at the helm since Black Sea Studio’s founding in 2001 and the company released both Knights of Honor and WorldShift before working with Crytek. Now, as Black Sea Games, the studio hopes to refocus their efforts on making “hard-core games that will entertain you over and over again.” According to PC Gamer, the studio already is hard at work with an unannounced project. As PC Gamer says, the game Arena of Fate a free-to-play MOBA was in the works prior to the studio’s closure by Crytek and that game’s fate “isn’t known.” What’s interesting to note is that, on Black Sea Games’ official Twitter, @BlackSeaGames, the first tweet announcing their existence came in mid-November, a month before the studio’s closure by Crytek was made public: Hello World,Black Sea Games, an independent game studio was just launched with one mission… to entertain you! — Black Sea Games (@BlackSeaGames) November 11, 2016 Nonetheless, a week ago the company opened their official website, blackseagames.com, and will continue to fill it as the studio, and its games, develop. As Black Sea Games continues development of their games and their studio as a whole, we’ll be sure to report what’s new and need-to-know. Via: PC Gamer
Android users can now pre-register for Super Mario Run
iOS users currently have Super Mario Run for their devices, but that doesn’t mean Android won’t get the game any time soon. Nintendo has now enabled pre-registration for Super Mario Run on Google Play, where users will be notified when Super Mario Run is released. The news was officially tweeted by Nintendo of America on Twitter. We still do not know when the game will hit Android but we should expect within the first few months of the new year. Attn @Android users: Pre-Register now to be notified when the official #SuperMarioRun is available on @GooglePlay https://t.co/rYJAIDUdO5 — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 29, 2016