Month: April 2018

Note: this article contains no spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War beyond what’s been shown in the trailers.

Every MCU movie has drawn some level of inspiration from Marvel’s comics, and Avengers: Infinity War is no exception. This latest sequel borrow heavily to the 1991 miniseries Infinity Gauntlet, which also explored what happens when Thanos acquires the ultimate power in the universe. But the film also owes a clear debt to a more recent Marvel crossover, 2013’s Infinity. It’s exciting to see Infinity exerting such a heavy influence on Marvel’s movies. After all, that story showcases the modern Marvel Comics at its very best.

Infinity was basically one act in Jonathan Hickman’s larger Avengers saga, one that eventually culminated in 2015’s Secret Wars. That said, it’s a story that stands perfectly well on its own. It tells a very ambitious, two-pronged tale as one group of Avengers head into space while another remain on Earth to fend off an invasion by Thanos and his Black Order. It’s that latter element where the Infinity War movie seems to be drawing most of its inspiration. Infinity was the story that introduced readers to Thanos’ Black Order, powerful minions determined to help their master achieve his goal of dominating empires and wiping out every last one of his children. Infinity even features an invasion of Wakanda as a major set piece, just as Infinity War does.

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Warning: full spoilers for the Infinity Gauntlet comic and the Avengers: Infinity War movie! Read on at your own risk!

As promised, Avengers: Infinity War saw some of Earth’s mightiest heroes meet their end. But rather than wait for the second half of the story to hit in 2019, we’re looking to the comics to examine just how permanent those deaths really are.

Now, it’s important to note that Infinity Gauntlet only loosely inspired the events of Infinity War and its story is really, really different from the movie. The only major common factors are that Thanos is up to no good with the Infinity Gauntlet and the heroes have to stop him.

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In 2013’s iteration of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft was driven by urgency, and most of her decisions were reactive. She responded to drama, or conflict, or struggle only because she had to, not because she was driven to by her ambitions. Five real-world years later, in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft has evolved into someone who’s narcissistic, and destructive, and obsessed with finding the next treasure, or the next artifact that defines her importance. She’ll go far enough to ignore her allies, even if it means starting a war – even an apocalypse – all by herself, because the race to win is more important than anything else.

With that, I think the title of 2018’s addition to the Tomb Raider franchise makes a lot more sense than it did to me initially. This is seemingly intended to be Lara Croft’s darkest story, with the beloved protagonist realizing there’s a human cost to what she previously thought just involved ‘raiding tombs’, and that destruction follows her for a reason. According to the Narrative Director at Eidos Montreal, an increase in drama and tension with her allies was a huge focus of the game, too. This is the Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the dive into the darker parts of her personality, and the confrontation of how her flippant attitude toward messing with historically, culturally significant artifacts can influence everyone, not just her alone.

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Microsoft today reported earnings for the quarter ended March 31, and the company’s Xbox division posted strong numbers. The Xbox business saw revenue rise 18 percent to $2.25 billion, led by gains in software and services, not hardware. Software and services posted gains of 24 percent, and importantly, Microsoft said this was driven “mainly from third-party title strength.” It’s notable because it shows Microsoft can have a successful quarter, even when it relies on games made by other companies. Microsoft’s Sea of Thieves was released on March 20, so it is counted within the quarter, but only for a few days. Still, it’s interesting that it’s not mentioned in Microsoft’s report today, as Sea of Thieves quickly became Microsoft’s fastest-selling new IP on Xbox One.

The company’s fortunes may improve further still when some of its own big games come out later this year like State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3, as well as whatever might get announced at E3 in June.

Additionally, Microsoft announced that the number of “active” Xbox Live users rose 13 percent to 59 million for the quarter. Microsoft said Xbox Live posted “continued growth” across Xbox One, Windows 10, and mobile when it comes to Xbox Live.

Microsoft’s Xbox business unit is part of the company’s More Personal Computing division, which also includes Windows Commercial and Windows OEM and Surface. The More Personal Computing division posted a revenue gain of 13 percent. Microsoft overall–comprising all divisions–posted revenue of $26.8 billion (up 16 percent) and a profit of $7.4 billion (up 35 percent), so it was good times all around for Microsoft this quarter.

The next big event for Xbox is E3, which takes place in June. Microsoft has big plans for this year’s event, and we’re sure hoping to see the next Halo and lots more.

When Apple’s new augmented reality platform ARKit was announced six months ago, it was designed to bring accessibility to a market that previously required developers to create or onboard their own tech. So accessible was the platform that the AR-heavy future that has seemingly been looming for years suddenly felt a lot closer; on the cusp of becoming as omnipresent as that first week when Pokemon GO spread throughout the globe like an infection. 

So are we experiencing the AR revolution? Not quite. We’re yet to see children’s bedtime stories unfolding in exquisite 3D detail as demonstrated in Apple’s ARKit announcement, and it’s safe to say most people are still using tape measures over AR ruler tools in their homes. Pokemon GO is still enjoying a healthy user base, but feels like something of an anomaly; a perfect combination of gimmick and franchise popularity that no AR app has touched since.

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