Outcast: 'A Darkness Surrounds Him' Review

Robert Kirkman's latest show gets off to a flawed start.

Confirmed: John Boyega to Star in 'Pacific Rim 2'

Boyega joins the sequel hot off the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Box Office: Ninja Turtles 2 Suffers in Anti-Sequel Summer

TMNT 2 is the latest sequel to bring in some disappointing numbers.

Review: Eye in the Sky

Gavin Hood's military drama is an impressive achievement.

Saturday 22 June 2013

Comic Book Sales: May 2013


May was a slightly smaller month in comics, but it still had its hits and one of them was Brian Wood's brand new Marvel NOW! X-Men series. The title - which has become known as the "adjective-less" X-Men - was the highest selling comic of May, and it seems that the many delays the title suffered may have helped it more than people expected! The comic sold a very impressive 177,000 copies. In TEN's monthly Comic Sales report, we're going to be talking the hits and misses of last month, but first, here's the Top 10.


Top Sellers

Marvel: As I mentioned above, Marvel's top-selling comic of last month was Brian Wood's X-Men with Age of Ultron #7 and #8 rounding out their Top 3. Just missing out on a spot in the Top 10 was Kieron Gillen's Iron Man #9 which settled for No. 11 selling just over 78,000 copies.

DC: As you can see from the grid, Scott Snyder's Batman title continues to be DC's best-selling book with nearly 130,000 copies sold last month - and that number will surely go up next month when Snyder's next big story Zero Year begins. Justice League remains just behind Batman, however this may change soon with DC's Summer event Trinity War just around the corner.
Outside the Top 10, DC's Justice League of America #4 has a place at No. 12 (77,856 copies sold), with DC's last Top 20 title being Green Lantern #20 which is at No. 19 with 67,414 copies sold.


Meanwhile, over at DC's Vertigo imprint Scott Snyder launched his new mini-series The Wake. The book came in at a respectable No. 40, however I was expecting a higher entry considering just how big the writer is at the moment.

Image: It was yet another great month for Image as the publisher's The Walking Dead continues to sell very strongly. The Walking Dead #110 ranks at No. 13 with 76,455 copies sold. However, that wasn't all as J. Michael Straczynski's new book Ten Grand also launched last month as part of the publisher's relaunched Joe's Comics imprint. It made a very good debut ranking No. 24 with over 57,000 copies sold. However, Image's new series Bounce left something to be desired, with a somewhat lacklustre launch leaving it at No. 95 with 24,259 copies sold. Still, Image remains the only independent publisher whose sales numbers stack up quite equally against the big two (Marvel and DC).

Other Publishers: While none have quite the chart presence as Image, many other independent publishers had books in the Top 100. Dark Horse's Star Wars series - written by chart-topper Brian Wood - continues to do well charting at No. 41 with 44,310 copies sold.
Meanwhile, Boom Studio's new series Regular Show got off to a good start ranking No. 56 with 38,466 copies sold.
IDW managed to get two titles in the Top 100 last month with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #7 at No. 68 (32,188 copies sold), and their TMNT ongoing series at No. 78 with 27,759 copies sold.

Cancellation Watch!

Marvel have started cutting away at their lower selling titles recently with Dark Avengers, The Winter Soldier, Red She-Hulk, Gambit and the long-running titles X-Factor and Journey Into Mystery all being cancelled. The news also came recently that the first cancellation of one of Marvel's all-new Marvel NOW! titles is Morbius: The Living Vampire - hardly surprising seeming as the title was selling worse than all Marvel's other recent cancellations (apart from Journey Into Mystery). Last month saw #5 of the series, and some of its lowest numbers yet with just over 15,000 copies sold leaving it at No. 149. The series is ending in September with its ninth issue.

So what could be next for Marvel's itchy cancelling finger? Venom, Scarlet Spider, and Fearless Defenders would all be safe bets, as all three seem to be dropping in numbers fast. This could mean that Cullen Bunn will have a little more time on his hands as he is the writer of two of those titles. We'll keep you updated on all the cancellation rumours.


However, while Marvel may have a few struggling titles it has to be said that it is DC who is worse off. Almost all of the new titles the publisher has been launching are quickly turning into utter failures! This includes The Phantom Stranger (No. 135), JLA's Vibe (No. 150), and JLA's Katana (No. 152). However, it is Batwing that is still DC's lowest selling, not yet cancelled book by a long shot. The book's May sales were a measly 13,302 leaving it at No. 161. It seems then that Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray's creative shake-up did little to help this title and DC may soon have no option but to give up on it.

This month saw the launch of two new DC titles, The Movement and The Green Team, both of which struggle to leave a mark on the charts debuting at No. 74 and No. 77 respectively. I can't help but think that these two books share a similar future to the aforementioned Vibe, Katana, and Phantom Stranger...

If you liked this feature than be sure to like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter as we do it every month! Thanks for reading, and feel free to let us know in the comments below what you're reading at the moment!


Monday 17 June 2013

UK Top 10 Games: 17th June 2013

This week the much-hyped PS3 exclusive, The Last Of Us, goes straight to No. 1 with the third biggest launch of the year (behind Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite). It's also the first Sony exclusive to top the UK charts since the Vita's launch when Uncharted: Golden Abyss came in at No. 1. It pushes last week's No. 1 - GRID 2 - down two places to No. 3.


But, it wasn't the only new entry this week, with the 3DS's Animal Crossing: New Leaf also making a strong debut at No. 2 - making it the biggest 3DS launch yet for a non-Mario game.

The final new entry of the week is less of a big name, with Rugby Challenge 2: Lions Tour Edition making a respectable debut at No. 12.

Here's the Top 10 in full:

1. (-) The Last of Us
2. (-) Animal Crossing: New Leaf
3. (1) GRID 2
4. (7) Tomb Raider
5. (2) FIFA 13
6. (11) Injustice: Gods Among Us
7. (5) Far Cry 3
8. (4) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Legendary Edition
9. (8) Luigi's Mansion 2
10. (10) Assassin's Creed III

 
 

Monday 10 June 2013

E3 2013: XBOX One Release Date Announced


Today at their E3 conference, Microsoft announced the release date for their upcoming XBOX One console, as well as perhaps the most dangerous part of a console launch: The price.

The console will launch November 2013 in over 20 countries, with a price set of $499 in the US, 499 Euros in European countries, and £429 in the UK. Quite a high price tag, but a judgement cannot be made until we have the PS4's price to compare it with.

So what do you think? Is this price in your budget, or too much to ask? Let us know in the comments below.
And for the latest gaming news, be sure to stay here at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Battlefield 4 DLC Comes To XBOX One First

Going against their usual Call of Duty-centred strategy, Microsoft announced at their E3 conference that their upcoming XBOX One would be getting Battlefield 4 DLC first!


The DLC shown was Battlefield 4: Second Assualt and looked absolutely incredible graphically. Taking place on a huge ship at sea, there were explosions and water effects galore! Battlefield fans surely won't be disappointed...

For more on what's happening at E3 2013, stay with us here at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Microsoft Points Will Not Be Used On XBOX One


Rumoured for sometime, but announced today at their E3 conference: The XBOX One will not use Microsoft's endlessly confusing Microsoft Points system, and will instead use real money transactions.

Good news for people tired of trying to figure out the value of those weird points...

For more on what's going on at E3 2013, stay with us here at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Dead Rising 3 Announced For XBOX One


Today at their E3 conference, Microsoft announced Dead Rising 3 - a new entry in Capcom's zombie franchise coming exclusively to the new XBOX One console. The game features a new protagonist, Nick Ramos, and takes place in an open-world city that "wouldn't have been possible" on the previous generation of consoles.

The demo featured huge hoards of zombies, and made use of Microsoft's Smartglass technology which was used to call in artillery.

The game is due for release this winter. For more on what is happening at E3, stay with us here at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Crimson Dragon Announced For XBOX One

Today at their E3 conference, Microsoft revealed another exclusive for their upcoming Xbox One console. The game is called Crimson Dragon, and has a gameplay style very similar to that of Panzer Dragoon.


Few details were announced aside from a short trailer that was unfortunately completely silent due to a technical hiccup.

For more on what's happening at E3, stay here with us at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Project Spark Announced For XBOX One


At their E3 conference today, Microsoft announced Project Spark for the Xbox One. A game that turns making a game into a game of its own. The games you can create can apparently be played on "any screen," but it may just be Microsoft screens e.g. Windows Phone.

The demo showed a whole world being made at an impressively fast speed, using both Kinect's voice recognition and Microsoft's Smartglass technology.

The two developers went on to fight some "pissed off" flying goblins. The gameplay was made up of cartoonish action in the demo, but the developers promised that there ate an infinite ways to play depending on what is made.

For more on 2013's E3 conference, stay with us here at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Killer Instinct Announced For XBOX One


At their E3 conference today, Microsoft announced the long-rumoured new title in the Killer Instinct series!

Few details were given, but you can assume it will be exclusive to XBOX One.

UPDATE: Later on some more gameplay footage was shown with the game, and XBOX One's DVR capabilities were also shown off recording one of the matches.

Also, one of the male developers behind the new Killer Instinct said something to his female co-host which is sure to become a meme: "Just let it happen, it will be over soon." Oh dear...

For more details stay with us here at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Minecraft Coming to the XBOX One

At their E3 conference today, Microsoft announced that the insanely popular Minecraft would indeed be coming to their new XBOX One console.


Few details were given, with just one short trailer shown - but stay with us here at TEN for all the details on what's going on at E3:





E3 2013: Forza 5 Announced With Drivatar

At their E3 conference today, Microsoft announced the much-expected Forza 5 for their XBOX One console. The developers have been working on a new feature - the ridiculously named driveatar - which promises a much more human-like AI.


For more on what's going on at E3, stay here at TEN:

 
 

E3 2013: Sunset Overdrive Announced For XBOX One


Today, Microsoft announced at their E3 conference the first XBOX game developed by Ratchet and Clank's Insomniac studio. Ted Price announced the game as Sunset Overdrive. It is a highly stylised game for the upcoming XBOX One console.

Few details were given about gameplay or story, but trust us when we say it looks insane. Whether the game will be XBOX One exclusive or a launch title for the console is yet to be announced.

For more on what's going on at E3, stay with us here at TEN: