TMNT Graphic Novel Crossover With Stranger Things Gets 40% Preorder Discount
The kids from Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things are used to being in the presence of unbelievable beings, so they are probably better equipped to deal with the realization that crime-fighting, talking turtles roam the sewers of New York City. For the rest of us, a Stranger Things crossover with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles likely sounds a bit, well, strange. And yet, that’s exactly what happened in last year’s comic miniseries. If you didn’t check out the cool crossover last year, you’ll be happy to learn that all four issues have been collected and reprinted in a new trade paperback. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things releases April 23 and is available to preorder for $12.41 at Amazon, which is nearly a 40% discount off the book’s $20 list price.
The collected issues feature some fantastic art from Fero Pe and Sofie Dogson, while Cameron Chittock’s story sets the events of this story between the second and third seasons of Stranger Things.
“Eleven, Max, Dustin, Mike, Will, and Lucas are looking forward to a nonthreatening, fun-filled trip to New York City,” the plot synopsis reads. “With the gang hundreds of miles from the otherworldly weirdness of their hometown, they’re sure to catch a break this time–or at least that’s what they think until they encounter a threat both bizarre and familiar. To face that threat, they must unite with a fearsome fighting team every bit as bizarre…but green!”
The last couple of years has been a renaissance period for the TMNT franchise, as the IP has received excellent animated shows and comic book series. IDW’s main TMNT series has dozens of issues available to read–conveniently collected into several trade paperbacks–and the Turtles have crossed over with several other hot properties. Right now, you can pick up some fun adventures starring the quartet as they cross paths with Batman, Street Fighter, and even the Ghostbusters.
For some more great reading, you can also check out The Last Ronin and its Lost Years tie-in, a gritty director’s cut of the miniseries, and an ultimate collection reprint of the original TMNT comic books.
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The Magic Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom One Year Later Is In Experimentation
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is celebrating its one-year anniversary today, May 12, 2024. Below, we look at how its playful sense of experimentation is still leading to new discoveries.
There is no single file for “wagon noise” within The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. At no point in your travels throughout Hyrule will you hear a single track that was meant to replicate the sound of creaking wood moving along a dirt path. That’s because Tears of the Kingdom’s audio system is designed to operate just like its complex physics system. Sounds that happen naturally in the world–wheels turning and hooves stomping, for example–come together just like the wheels and cart themselves. They create a harmonious sound that is made up as you play.
It’s a charming example that highlights what makes pretty much everything within Tears of the Kingdom fantastic. Major elements of the game, from moment-to-moment exploration to the clever physics-based crafting system, encourages player-experimentation and provides an amount of freedom that’s literally sky-high. For much of their adventure, players make things up as they go.
At first, Tears of the Kingdom may have felt less impressive after its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, inspired awe from players. However, the ingenuity of Tears of the Kingdom’s mechanics shined beyond that first impression and continues to show how deep the game’s possibilities are a year after its release. It’s something that even its developers have a hard time believing.
“When I first saw the prototype, I thought this was going to be a great game, but I also knew: This was going to be very, very difficult,” said Tears of the Kingdom lead physics engineer Takahiro Takayama, speaking at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco earlier this year. “I said to myself: Are we really doing this? Development is going to be chaos. The more I thought, the more I worried. I realized that sometimes, it’s important to have the courage to push forward.” Takayama then showed a montage of chaotically buggy clips from Tears of the Kingdom’s early development. “As expected, the world fell apart.”
Players have tried to manipulate every aspect of Tears of the Kingdom, whether it be to solve a puzzle, defeat an enemy, or create something absolutely beautiful.
Take Link’s customizable home near Tarrey Town, for example. Players have the freedom to place sections of the house, including water features, various rooms, and stairs, in whatever manner they please. People have created symmetrical masterpieces and modern marvels that feel straight out of contemporary Los Angeles. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Attach a few stone slabs together to create makeshift scaffolding and suddenly you have a way to make one of Hyrule’s only floating houses. After a bit of construction and plenty of Ascension use, Link’s house will literally sit in the sky, giving you an unobscured view of everything Tarrey Town has to offer.
It’s such a small segment of Tears of the Kingdom – all you do with your house is store weapons, horses, and take the occasional nap, anyways – but players have experimented with the entire Zonai device catalog in order to see what was possible with Link’s abode.
One of the first methods involved using Zonai rockets and hover stones to shoot Link’s house into the sky and then keep it in place by activating the stones. Players found that ending the construction phase of setting up your home left the house in the air.
It goes without saying that Zonai device experimentation is at the core of Tears of the Kingdom, but the structure of the shrine system puts those devices centerstage. And players’ thirst for experimentation is still leading to new discoveries. It was only one month ago that a player used one of the tricks in the book: If all else fails, blow it up.
Standing on a floating island adjacent to the shrine they need to take the gem to, they attach a bomb, a rocket, and a prayer to the gem before using the Ultrahand to stand the contraption upright. They launched the rocket and activated the bomb’s fuse at the same time, hoping it would change the trajectory of the gem mid-flight. It couldn’t have worked better.
The gem flew up with the rocket before being thrown towards the shrine by the bomb’s explosion. A moment passed before the game automatically transported them to the shrine after the gem landed exactly where it needed to, in front of the shrine’s entrance. It was one of those moments that only feels possible in Tears of the Kingdom.
“I swear, it was my first try,” Redditor liftingrussian wrote. “I was just curious as to whether it would do anything.”
That curiosity is what Nintendo’s game so expertly engenders. While Tears of the Kingdom has a structured narrative, the meat of the experience is finding out what’s possible. Can you make a massive bridge of ice blocks by combining this longsword with a Frost Gleeok Horn? Absolutely. Can you glue seven gliders together and still fly them across the sky? Hard to say, but it’s worth a try.
Nintendo aimed to create multiplicative gameplay with Tears of the Kingdom, which it boils down to “sticking two things together to make something new.” It doesn’t matter what those two things are–or even if it’s 12 things–you’ll always find something entertaining that will push your experience forward when you’re experimenting with Tears of the Kingdom.
Players were finding new ways to take out Guardians in Breath of the Wild with amazing trickshots years after it initially launched. We will surely see players come up with new contraptions, new discoveries, and, above all, new experiences long past this first year of Tears of the Kingdom.
Xbox President Talks The Future Of Its Hardware And The Importance Of Backward Compatibility
Sarah Bond, the president of Xbox, stated that she believes her main focus at Xbox has been on “engineering and building that next-generation hardware experience.”
In an interview with Bloomberg, Bond continued to explain that Microsoft’s focus with Xbox is to deliver “the biggest leap ever” for its next-gen hardware, which includes “power and performance.” This does align with what Bond has said in the past regarding how Xbox’s next-gen hardware will focus on “delivering the biggest technological leap ever in a generation.”
As the interview continued, she explained how Xbox is ensuring backward compatibility will be a part of its next-gen hardware.
“It’s also about the ability to be able to play all of the games. I mean, we have people who’ve been playing on Xbox for decades and invested thousands and thousands of dollars and hours with us. And [we want to enable them] to take all those games with them into the hardware of the future.”
Bond went on to explain that when she became president of Xbox late last year, one of the first things she did was create a team dedicated to backward compatibility. She then went on to say that the Xbox team is committed to the idea of being able to play their games wherever they are.
“So our long-term commitment to cross-play is part of that and our commitment to cross-progression and cloud saves. So you can pick up on one device and you can play on another is a part of that.”
Recently, Xbox has found itself in some hot water after the company shut down four of its studios, including Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, and then again by trying to defend its decision to shut down the studios.
Humble Bundle Offers 61 Doctor Who Comics For $25
Doctor Who is a series with a ton of history and unique stories thanks to the universe-spanning, time-hopping adventures of its protagonist, the Doctor, and the frequent regeneration that shapes them into a new character every so often. While the franchise is best known for the long-running BBC series, there are also many comics that expand on the Whoniverse, and you can get a ton of them on the cheap in ebook form with Humble’s Doctor Who Megabundle. The bundle includes comics based on the modern iterations of the Doctor, starting with the show’s return in 2009 up to its most recent series, and also includes a few stories reaching back into the older seasons that ran between the 1960s and ’80s. With this bundle deal, you can snag up to 61 Doctor Who comics if you pay at least $25, but there are also cheaper bundle tiers if you just want a few.
Paying $1 gets you the first tier, which includes the first four comic volumes of stories featuring the Tenth Doctor, played in the show by David Tennant. This is perfect for anyone who wants to see what the series is all about.
If you kick your payment up to at least $10, you get 19 comics. This includes the four books in the $1 tier, plus six more volumes of the Tenth Doctor’s storyline, and three volumes featuring a crossover between the Tenth Doctor and Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor.
The full $25 tier, includes 61 comics covering select volumes featuring the Ninth through Fifteenth Doctors, as well as a few stories about the older versions of the time-hopping hero. You can check out the full lineup of everything included in the Doctor Who Megabundle over at Humble. And as usual, you can also dictate how much of what you pay goes to charity as part of the bundle. With the Doctor Who Megabundle, you can donate to BBC Children in Need, which supports children in need in the United Kingdom.
Humble’s Doctor Who Comics Megabundle is a great way to dive into the franchise, but it’s only available through May 29, so be sure to grab this before it’s gone. You’ll probably also notice that it’s not a comprehensive collection–quite a few volumes are missing that you’ll want to grab elsewhere. Luckily, several volumes are on sale at Amazon, including a few hardcover editions, that can supplement your collection if you’re looking for even more Doctor Who stories.
Best Doctor Who Comics Deals On Amazon
Alan Moore’s Newest Graphic Novel Will Teach You How To Cast Magic Spell And Contact The Dead
Alan Moore is one of the most widely celebrated writers in comic books, but the legend is finally getting ready to call it a day with one last comic book. First teased two decades ago, The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic will be released this October and contains “a clear and practical grimoire of the occult sciences,” from Moore, who is also a practicing occultist. Made in collaboration with his late friend and co-author, Steve Moore, this 352-page hardback book mixes writing, illustration, and advice on how to cast a few spells and has been discounted from $50 to $46.50 ahead of its release.
In addition to the two (unrelated) Moores, the book also features contributions by Kevin O’Neill, Melinda Gebbie, Jose Villarrubia, Steve Parkhouse, John Coulthart, Rick Veitch, and Ben Wickey.
“Its contents include profusely illustrated instructional essays upon this ancient sect’s theories of magic, notably the key dissertation “Adventures in Thinking,” which gives reliable advice as to how entry into the world of magic may be readily achieved,” the official synopsis reads.
“Further to this, a number of ‘Rainy Day’ activity pages present lively and entertaining things to do once the magical state has been attained, including such popular pastimes as divination, etheric travel, and the conjuring of a colorful multitude of spirits, deities, dead people, and infernal entities from the pit, all of whom are sure to become your new best friends.”
If you’re not looking to accidentally summon dark forces into the land of the living, you can check out Moore’s comic books. After decades in the industry, Moore’s rich body of work includes the groundbreaking superhero tale Watchmen, the anarchistic V for Vendetta, and the creepy From Hell. Watchmen is available in several deluxe formats–including a luxurious hardcover version–while V for Vendetta comes with a replica of V’s signature mask. You know, the one that all the cool kids in Anonymous wear. Check out the best Alan Moore graphic novel deals in the list below.
Alan Moore graphic novels
The Road, A Major Influence For The Last Of Us, Is Getting A Graphic Novel Adaptation
The Last of Us draws inspiration from several sources, but one of the most apparent influences is The Road. Written by Cormac McCarthy, the novel was first published in 2006 and would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize. Later, it would get a movie adaptation starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron, bringing the post-apocalyptic journey to a wider audience. The book apparently isn’t done branching out to other forms of media, as The Road: A Graphic Novel is now up for preorder with a scheduled release date of September 17.
$25 (was $27)
This is the first-ever graphic novel adaptation of McCarthy’s hit novel. It follows the same story threads, with a nameless father and son duo trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland–and it’s every bit as bleak as The Last of Us. It clocks in at 160 pages and was personally approved by McCarthy before he passed away last year. In other words, it’s all but guaranteed to hit the high standards of the iconic novelist.
Ahead of its release, you can preorder The Road: A Graphic Novel for $25 (down from $27).
If you’re interested in checking out more of McCarthy’s work, you’ll find several of his books on sale right now. This includes No Country for Old Men, Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, and his debut novel, The Orchard Keeper.
You’ll also find All the Pretty Horses for ($10 (down from $18), which won the National Book Award. However, it’s hard to go wrong with anything from the McCarthy catalog, as most of his work is highly praised. Here’s a short list of the best deals available right now.
Fans of post-apocalyptic fiction should also check out Fanatical’s Build Your Own Trinity Bundle, which lets you select up to seven games for as little as $1.53 each, including the post-nuclear open-world RPGs Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.
Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom.
Best Cormac McCarthy Book Deals
What The Hell Is Happening At Xbox? | Spot On
Earlier this week, Xbox leadership made the decision to close multiple high-profile studios including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, the studio behind Prey and Redfall. Though the unfortunate truth is that layoffs and studio closures are becoming increasingly common in the gaming industry, the internet was quick to point out that these two in particular felt a bit… confusing. Largely because they seem to go against many of Xbox’s previous statements and goals.
Back in 2023, Xbox reportedly claimed that Hi-Fi Rush had been a success for the company and it planned on reinvesting in the team in the future. The studio also admitted they had neglected to give Arkane Austin proper support, and expressed a desire to work alongside the team to improve Redfall. So what happened?
All this confusion has resulted in discussions around what the platform holder’s intent for the future of Xbox is, and speculation on what part Game Pass plays in it. On this episode of Spot On, Lucy and Tamoor discuss the closures, the aftermath of them—including some confusing statements from an exec—and what the future of Xbox may look like.
Spot On is GameSpot’s weekly news show in which managing editor Tamoor Hussain and senior producer Lucy James talk about the latest game news. Given the massive video game industry’s highly dynamic and never-ending news cycle, there’s always something to talk about. Unlike most news shows, Spot On will dive deep into a single topic instead of recapping all the news. Spot On airs each Friday.