The Jersey Devil was spotted soaring through the Pine Barrens once again as the triple record-breaking Jersey Devil Coaster took its first full test run Thursday.
Engineering and maintenance experts are completing extensive testing on the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest single-rail coaster. As part of load testing, the team utilizes “water people” to simulate human weight in the roller coaster trains. A water person nicknamed “Mother Leeds” captured point-of-view footage, while drones captured the momentous occasion from above.
New Jersey legend says that Mother Leeds cursed her thirteenth child, which transformed the newborn into a snarling, flying beast that has tormented the New Jersey Pine Barrens for hundreds of years. Six Flags Great Adventure is located in the Pine Barrens, and local Jackson Township folklore places the devil at its Great Lake.
Towering 13 stories, and soaring at speeds up to 58 mph, Jersey Devil Coaster riders will fly single file through the dark and foreboding woods over 3,000 feet of track. The cutting-edge coaster will feature five intense elements including three dramatic inversions.
Key features of the Jersey Devil Coaster include:
Four sleek trains of 12 passengers each sitting low and inline style (one rider per row) with their legs straddling either side of the monorail track;
3,000 feet of soaring, single-rail, I-beam track;
Tension-building ascent up a towering, 130-foot lift hill;
Flying at speeds up to 58 mph;
Intense elements including a steep 87-degree first drop and overbank cutback; and
Three dramatic inversions including a 180-degree stall, raven dive, and zero-gravity roll.
Extensive ride testing, inspections, and NJ state certification will be completed before the first passengers board the ride. The park will announce an opening date for the coaster soon.
A playable demo of SCARLET NEXUS, the new Action-RPG title from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., is now available for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. SCARLET NEXUS will be available on June 25, 2021 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via STEAM.
SCARLET NEXUS is a thrilling Action-RPG featuring a unique dual protagonist storyline where players can choose to play through the game as either Yuito Sumeragi or Kasane Randall and experience the story through their eyes. Interact and learn new details about each character’s squad members and finish both Yuito and Kasane’s playthrough to get the complete SCARLET NEXUS storyline. Beyond the story, both characters allow for different gameplay experiences. Yuito attacks with his blade while Kasane uses kunai for wide, sweeping attacks. Both Yuito and Kasane also feature their own skill trees and will be teamed up with a wide variety of characters through their missions. Combine your squad’s powerful psychic abilities with Kasane and Yuito’s attacks to take advantage of enemy weaknesses and dominate the battle.
The SCARLET NEXUS demo will arrive on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 starting on May 28, 2021
Publisher Kalypso Media and in-house developer Gaming Minds Studios have today announced that economic trade sim Port Royale 4 has launched its debut DLC ‘Buccaneers,’ allowing players to step into the shoes of a notorious 17th century swashbuckler. The new expansion is available for purchase via the Kalypso Store, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store, with the Nintendo Switch™ version to follow later in the year. A release trailer is available below.
In Port Royale 4 – Buccaneers, piracy is at its peak and players will work to become an infamous 17th century Caribbean buccaneer. The expansion introduces the brand-new ‘Buccaneer’ game mode where scallywags-in-training can amass a scurvy crew, capture or build their own pirate fleet (including the vessels the ‘Pirate Barque’ and ‘Galleon’) and raise the notorious Jolly Roger all while exploring 12,000,000 square kilometers of sparkling, uncharted Caribbean. Once players have their sea-legs, the choice is theirs where to train their telescopes: those settlements dotted about the land or the enticing, sea-faring bounty of passing magistrates.
Port Royale 4 – Buccaneers is out now for Windows PC, PS4 and Xbox One and features brand-new missions, additional gameplay features, and an extended soundtrack of jaunty shanties to score all the skulduggery.
Today, SQUARE ENIX® announced that the Red Room Takeover event for Marvel’s Avengers has gone live. First revealed at SQUARE ENIX PRESENTS, the single-player-focused Red Room Takeover event involves a mysterious spy who has hacked into and transformed the Avengers’ HARM Room into a deadly crimson trap. The Red Room Takeover event runs until May 31.
The Red Room Takeover starts after nearly two weeks of players investigating the “Rooskaya Protocols,” a mysterious program that has infiltrated AIM Synthoids. It is believed that Protocol Chips collected from hacked AIM tech hold the key to unraveling the enigma, but whatever, or whomever, made the Rooskaya Protocols has also corrupted the Avengers’ HARM Room. Now, players must uncover encrypted messages addressed to Black Widow from an old friend who has taken over the HARM Room, turning it from a training facility into a deadly trap. The threats are no longer virtual: players must defeat the deadly onslaught and regain control of the HARM Room.
Players who complete event-related missions with any Super Hero in their roster will be rewarded with valuable in-game resources as well as a special themed animated nameplate that any of their Heroes can use.
It’s time to light a (virtual) smoke, pound the pavement, and ask the tough questions because today, publisher Assemble Entertainment and developer DigiTales Interactive are thrilled to announce that sci-fi noir interrogation simulator Lacuna is out now for Windows PC via Steam! In the game, players will wrap themselves in the sodden trenchcoat of grizzled Central Department of Investigation (CDI) agent Neil Conrad as he seeks to unravel a mystery that could have immensely dire consequences.
Dive deep into a complex system of branching dialogue options, dynamic conversations, shifty NPCs, and multiple unique endings that will have players guessing until the very end. Conrad must trust no one, ask plenty of questions, and keep his eyes peeled for important clues as he searches for answers in his unorthodox quest to get to the bottom of this conspiracy.
Watch the Lacuna launch trailer:
“Lacuna is a thrilling mystery that takes everything players love about the Noir genre and envelops it in a sci-fi twist, while updating the point-and-click genre for modern players seeking something fresh,” said Assemble Entertainment CEO Stefan Marcinek. “Players loved the prologue, and we’re pleased to finally allow them to get to the bottom of the mystery!”
Jasmin Pfeiffer and Julian Colbus, Co-Founders of DigiTales Interactive, added, “Lacuna is our debut title, and we can’t believe it’s really finished! It’s a work of passion that has accompanied us since our university days, and we are so happy we can finally share it with the world and see the decisions players will make. We believe that games are the best medium to tell an immersive and poignant story, and we hope that you will get exactly that from our game.”
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will reprise their roles as the delightfully wicked Sanderson Sisters in the live-action comedy “Hocus Pocus 2,” the spooky sequel to Disney’s 1993 Halloween cult classic “Hocus Pocus.” The film will premiere exclusively on Disney+ in 2022.
Singer/actress Bette Midler (“The First Wives Club,” “Beaches”) returns as Winifred Sanderson, with Sarah Jessica Parker (“Sex and the City”) and Kathy Najimy (“Sister Act”) back as her sisters, Sarah and Mary, respectively. In “Hocus Pocus 2,” three young women accidentally bring the Sanderson Sisters back to modern day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on the world.
“Hocus Pocus 2” will begin production this fall under the direction of Anne Fletcher (“The Proposal,” “27 Dresses”), who is taking over directing responsibilities from her friend and colleague Adam Shankman (“Hairspray,” “The Wedding Planner”), with Lynn Harris (“The Shallows”) serving as producer. Shankman is currently in production on “Disenchanted” for the studio, which he is directing, but will remain on this project as an executive producer along with Ralph Winter (“Adrift”) and David Kirschner (“Curse of Chucky”). Steven Haft (“Tigerland”) is co-producer.
Fletcher and Shankman first met in 1990 when they were both dancers for the Academy Awards® broadcast. Shankman went on to hire her as his assistant choreographer, working together on over 100 different jobs. Fletcher’s first directing gig was in 2006 on “Step Up,” which Shankman produced.
“As heartbroken as I am that I won’t be able to direct my friends Bette, Sarah Jessica and Kathy in what is sure to be nothing short of a major event for Disney+ due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn’t be more pleased to be handing over the reins to Anne, who has brought so much laughter and joy into people’s lives with her previous work,” says executive producer Adam Shankman. “I am still grateful and proud to help shepherd this ingenious project as executive producer alongside producer Lynn Harris, whom I have loved and admired as a colleague and friend since she helped get me the job choreographing ‘Boogie Nights.’”
“Now more than ever, people need to laugh. We should be laughing every day, and there is so much fun to be had with these three unbelievable women playing delicious characters from such a beloved film,” says director Anne Fletcher. “I am so grateful to be able to play a part in bringing these witches back to life, and to be working with my friends at Disney again makes it all the more special. This is a movie for everyone, from the fans who grew up with the first film to the next generation of viewers, and I can’t wait to get started.”
The Dark Knight must combat a unified front of classic DC Super-Villains, diffuse an escalating mob war and solve the mystery of the Holiday Killer in Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two, the thrilling conclusion to the two-part entry in the popular series of DC Universe Movies. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the feature-length animated film – which will be accompanied by the latest DC Showcase animated short, Blue Beetle –arrives July 27, 2021 on Digital and August 10, 2021 on Blu-ray. Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two is rated R for some violence and bloody images.
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two will be available on Blu-ray (USA $34.98 SRP; Canada $39.99 SRP) as well as on Digital. The Blu-ray features a Blu-ray disc with the film in hi-definition and a digital version of the movie. In 2022, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two will be available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack as a combined film presentation with Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One.
Inspired by the iconic mid-1990s DC story from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two continues as the Holiday Killer is still at large and, with Bruce Wayne under the spell of the venomous Poison Ivy, Batman is nowhere to be found. Liberated by an unlikely ally, Bruce quickly uncovers the real culprit: Poison Ivy’s employer Carmine Falcone. The Roman, his ranks decimated by Holiday and his business spinning out of control, has been forced to bring on less desirable partners – Gotham City’s rogues’ gallery. In the meantime, Harvey Dent is confronting battles on two fronts: attempting to end the mob war while also dealing with a strained marriage. And, after an attack that leaves Harvey hideously disfigured, the District Attorney unleashes the duality of his psyche that he’s strived his entire life to suppress. Now, as Two-Face, Dent decides to take the law into his own hands and deliver judgment to those who’ve wronged him, his family and all of Gotham. Ultimately, the Dark Knight must put together the tragic pieces that converged to create Two-Face, the Holiday Killer, Batman and Gotham City itself.
Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, Batman: Under the Red Hood) leads an all-star cast as the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne alongside the late Naya Rivera (Glee) as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, Josh Duhamel (Transformers, Las Vegas) as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Billy Burke (Twilight, Revolution, Zoo) as Commissioner James Gordon, Katee Sackhoff (The Mandalorian, Battlestar Galactica, Batman: Year One) as Poison Ivy, Titus Welliver (Bosch, Deadwood) as Carmine Falcone, Julie Nathanson (Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay) as Gilda Dent, David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Dune, Ant-Man,) as Calendar Man & The Penguin, Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Batman: Arkham Knight) as The Joker, Amy Landecker (Your Honor, Transparent) as Barbara Gordon & Carla Vitti, Fred Tatasciore (American Dad!, Family Guy) as Solomon Grundy, Alyssa Diaz (The Rookie, Ray Donovan) as Renee Montoya, and Alastair Duncan (The Batman, Batman Unlimited franchise) as Alfred. In addition, Robin Atkin Downes (The Strain, Constantine: City of Demons) voices both Scarecrow & Thomas Wayne, John DiMaggio (Futurama, Disenchantment) is the Mad Hatter, Laila Berzins (Genshin Impact) is Sofia Falcone, Jim Pirri (World of Warcraft franchise) is Sal Maroni, and Zach Callison (The Goldbergs, Steven Universe) is Young Bruce Wayne. Additional voice work was provided by Gary Leroi Gray and Rick Wasserman.
The entire filmmaking team returns for Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two as led by supervising producer Butch Lukic (Justice Society: World War II, Superman: Man of Tomorrow), director Chris Palmer (Superman: Man of Tomorrow), and screenwriter Tim Sheridan (Reign of the Supermen, Superman: Man of Tomorrow). Producers are Jim Krieg (Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) and Kimberly S. Moreau (Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Executive Producer is Michael Uslan. Sam Register is Executive Producer.
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two – Special Features
Blu-ray and Digital
● DC Showcase – Blue Beetle (New Animated Short) – Sufferin’ Scarabs! Silver Age Blue Beetle is back! And, had he ever starred in a 1960s Saturday-morning limited-animation cartoon with its own jazzy earworm of a theme song, it would have been just like this! Welcome to the adventures of Ted Kord, alias the Blue Beetle, as he teams up with fellow Super Heroes Captain Atom, The Question and Nightshade to battle that nefarious finagler of feelings, Doctor Spectro.
● A Sneak Peek at the next DC Animated Movie – An advanced look at Injustice.
● DC Universe Movies Flashback
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2
Batman: Hush
● From the DC Vault
Batman: The Animated Series – “Two-Face, Part 1”
Batman: The Animated Series – “Two-Face, Part 2”
Want to check out more animated DC Super Hero entertainment before seeing Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two? HBO Max has a wide array of DC Universe Movies available for viewing. And you can catch up on all of the comic book source material by visiting DC UNIVERSE INFINITE (US-only).
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two will also be available on Movies Anywhere. Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can access all their eligible movies by connecting their Movies Anywhere account with their participating digital retailer accounts.
In The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes, the year is 2003, and in the shadow of the Zagros mountains in Iraq, a military unit comes under fire from Iraqi forces. The resulting firefight causes a heavy tremor, opening up a rift in the earth that swallows both sides, causing soldiers to fall into the ruins of a buried Sumerian temple. With all communication severed, our protagonists are trapped in a terrifying underworld they must navigate to escape, unaware that something ancient and evil has awakened in the shadows and has found a new prey to hunt.
Before a more in-depth look at House of Ashes’ gameplay, which will be revealed on Thursday, May 27 at 9:00am PT, you can get a first glimpse of its unique atmosphere in this teaser trailer:
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes will be available this year on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4 and PC.
For more information about The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes and other titles from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America, please visit our website, follow us on Facebook, or join the conversation on Twitter.
Today, indie studio Voyvod Arts is glad to introduce you for the first time to the brand-new universe of One Spirit, a coming of-age visual novel set in an alternative world where the Cold War never ended. The story takes place in Sysica, a fictional country from Eastern Europe that struggles to move on after decades of being a puppet state. Through the story of Yuri Danilin, and many other characters, players will discover the harsh reality of this dying nation – and its consequences for the people he loves.
The first teaser trailer of One Spirit hints about the political implications that lie behind the disappearance of a young activist, and how they reflect on the characters’ development, psyche and everyday life.
Voyvod Arts is planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter next summer to help finance the game, scheduled for release in Q2 2022. Details of the campaign will be announced closer to the date. In the meantime, you can check out for more updates and upcoming features of the game in the devlogs on the Steam page of the studio.
All roads lead to Fear Street… In a first for Netflix and for the horror film genre, Netflix is announcing that the upcoming Fear Street Trilogy will be released as an epic summer movie event over three consecutive weeks this July:
FEAR STREET PART 1: 1994 releasing globally on Netflix on July 2, 2021.
FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978 releasing globally on Netflix on July 9, 2021.
FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666 releasing globally on Netflix on July 16, 2021.
“We filmed all three Fear Street movies over one crazy, bloody summer. It’s a dream that audiences now get to experience the story in the same way – back to back to back, with only a week of waiting in between. I can’t wait to welcome everyone into the world of Fear Street in 1994, 1978 and 1666!”
– Leigh Janiak, Director of the Fear Street trilogy
“Fear Street fans are in for a treat – and some major surprises. Readers know that the book series is rated PG. But the movies are rated R. That means a lot more thrills – and a lot more terror! I have seen Leigh Janiak’s epic trilogy releasing on Netflix in July and I can tell you the scares and the SCREAMS are more than I ever expected. What fun to see the horrors of Shadyside come to life!”
– R.L. Stine, Author of the best-selling horror series Fear Street
