Tag: spider-man

Insomniac Games Got Hacked….And It’s Messed Up

AdamLeave a comment

Last week, it was reported that Insomniac Games, the studio responsible for some of the most well- received triple AAA Sony exclusives in recent memory such as Marvel’s Spider-Man series and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, got hacked by a unknown ransomware gang called Rhysida. The hackers behind Rhysida claimed to have accessed to massive amounts of info regarding Insomniac Games’ future projects and threatened to release all of it to the public, unless a ransom of two million dollars was paid in one week. I’m willing to bet that Insomniac didn’t meet that offer because it was then reported yesterday, just mere minutes after the supposed ransom deadline expired, there were numerous of files from Insomniac Games that leaked out everywhere all over the internet.

These leaks could each of the following:

  • Massive amount of info regarding one of Insomniac Games’ upcoming installments in Marvel’s Wolverine. These include concept art, cast leaks, gameplay footage, and the entire plot of the game!

  • Insomniac’s entire slate of games they have planned and their intended release dates up until the year of 2030. These include games that were already announced to be in development such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 and Wolverine along with a couple of titles that were not confirmed yet with a clear desire to reveal them later on down the road. I won’t say though what those titles are here but the road map of their upcoming games are all out in the open.

  • Personal info regarding many of the employees that work for Insomniac. These include possible phone numbers, email accounts, home locations, and direct names of folks who work at the company. This indicates that a fair amount of doxing has taken place. Pray to god for the safety of all of those that work at Insomniac Games!

  • More than 1 TB of internal data leaked, estimating about 1.3 million files total. These involve just about everything that I have just mentioned and even more.

While I can’t give 100% confirmation just yet but this may legit be the biggest hacking scandal in regards to video games in a very long time! Not even the hacks of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI or the recent plot leak of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could compare to this! At least that was just one game that didn’t include data about anyone’s email account or the company’s future plans for the next decade. This hacking scandal on the other hand is comparable to that of when Sony Pictures got hacked back in late 2014 (which also ties back to Sony given their current partnership with Insomniac Games). Just about every bit of juicy info that can make for as much clickbait-y headlines in articles as humanly possible! It’s all messed up!

You might think this article might be going over every single detail and game that got leaked but I rather not do that. Not just because if I did that, then I would literally be here all day because of how much stuff got released but out of respect to those at Insomniac Games. Not a single person working there deserve this level of hacking and doxing at any kind! This is a company that has been one of the most consistently reliable gaming studios out there at delivering huge quality games that gives players their full money’s worth! To have all this info that has been revealed of what goes on from behind the scenes is incredibly disrespectful and quite frankly, dangerous! Even if you are someone that don’t care for their games, you would be genuinely heartless to claim that anyone working at Insomniac deserves this kind of treatment!

Hacking has been more prevalent than ever before! With how so much folks spent their time on the internet nowadays to the advancement of technology to the emergence of A.I., there are now over numerous ways to hack into things, particularly in regards to big companies such as Insomniac Games. Whether it’s to force out leaks to upcoming titles to build up anticipation or just to be a dick, it’s much easier to hack than it was in the early days of the internet. Of course, this is not just for gaming as it goes for just about everything involving entertainment and politics but in recent memory, it’s mostly been the gaming industry that has been affected by this.

It just makes you wonder how Insomniac themselves will respond to this scandal! Of course, you pray for the safety and stability of everyone that works there in the hopes that this does NOT lead to any harm of any kind to come to them or their loved ones! Once that is taken into consideration and is dealt with, how will this impact the releases of their upcoming games? Will they push Wolverine back even further to change elements of the story since the entire plot as been leaked? Will they actually commit to an open-world *bleep* game now that cat is out of the bag? Will any of the other previously unconfirmed games be in the works anymore? Those are questions that everyone has got to be asking themselves right now and hopefully will be answered in the best way possible by Insomniac.

If you desire to seek out all the information that got leaked by hackers for the planned future at Insomniac Games, I’m not going to stop you. I understand being tempted to see what’s going on from behind the scenes since there are now plenty of info out there that will give you just that. Even I’m tempting to do so! But, just know when you are looking through all of those leaks is that NONE of this is what Insomniac had in mind! They clearly wanted to give out info about their upcoming entries of their gaming library whenever they felt the desire to and when they felt the most eager to give their fans a taste of what’s to come. They wanted to give out all of this info when they felt the most confident and the most good and ready to do so! This was all clearly not the moment of time that Insomniac was aiming for and that’s just messed up!

I can only hope that those from Rhysida that took place in this awful action that they are jailed and fined in the harshest way possible! I’m talking decades behind bars and fines that they won’t be properly paid off even after they die! They took private information from all those great folks at Insomniac Games and let the whole world see it! That is cruel, distasteful, and absolutely f*cked up! I wouldn’t wish that kind of action on my worst enemy! I can only hope this will not lead to any harm to any employee at Insomniac Games or potential firings of any of the staff! They all deserve better than this!

To the great folks of Insomniac Games, I’m so sorry all of you have to put up with this crap! You are perhaps my favorite gaming studio working today, delivering some of my favorite gaming experiences of the past several years! Speaking as a die hard fan, you all deserve much better than this! I can not stress that enough! Good luck getting through all of this and I eagerly await to see what you guys and girls have in store for the future!

Best Animated Movies of 2023

AdamLeave a comment

If there is one medium that was able to shine quite a bright light in the world of cinema, that would be animation. 2023 was an absolutely phenomenal year for animation! Regardless of what your favorite animation studio consists of, you were likely satisfied with at least one of their works in 2023. This is the first time in a while that whenever I hear someone say what their favorite animated film of the year is, I would have a legit hard time arguing with them. I could see almost any reason for any of the films I have on this list being someone’s absolute favorite of the year. If there comes a time where it’s time for cinema to quit underestimating the power of animation, that would be now!

To celebrate all the magnificent achievements in cinematic animation this year, I decided to go over my nine favorite animated motion pictures of the year! Regardless, these are nine animated films that are worth checking out if you haven’t already!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Acting as the highest grossing animated film of 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the one video game movie that feels like it was 100% ripped straight from the games in terms of it’s animation, style, world building, and amount of fan service throughout. It even works quite well as a simple story of a complete zero turning into a complete hero along with the importance of brotherhood. It’s just so much fun seeing characters such as Mario, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and Toad kicking butt together on the big screen for the first time ever. Not even the common tropes from Illumination Animation that brought down their prior movies such as an obvious celebrity heavy voice cast and awkwardly inserted song tracks are able to bring this one down, which likely has to do with Nintendo’s influence. I don’t know how I would feel about this movie if I wasn’t a Mario but since I am, I couldn’t help but be very satisfied with this movie.

Suzume

Makoto Shinkai was at it again in 2023 with Suzume and once again he was able to deliver big time! This is a gorgeous and beautiful film where Shinkai once again lets his imagination and ambitions run wild in the form of animation, proving once again why he is once of the best animation folks in the business and why animation is in fact real cinema. Suzume acts wonderfully as a touching coming-of-age tale along with a strong mediation on grief and dealing with loss, with a strong emotional core as it’s center with it’s lead character of Suzume herself. If you are a die hard fan of Makoto Shinkai, then I can’t think of a reason that you will not love this movie. Even if you are not a fan at all, give this one a shot and you might be surprise how much this will engage and move you.

Elemental

Perhaps it has to with personal life experiences throughout 2023 for me but I most certainly believe that Elemental will stand the test of time as being an absolute gem of Pixar’s library. Maybe not the very best but definitely one that plenty will find to be another worthy addition to their library. It’s looks gorgeous, it’s very charming, the characters are engaging, the music is beautiful, and even the similar themes it tackles are done very well and might even stand out greater than other Disney and Pixar films that have done it to some people. I’m sure glad this film was able to have strong legs at the box office as this might be an encouraging sign for Pixar’s future in movie theaters. I might have not enjoyed The Good Dinosaur but director Peter Sohn was able to win me over in Round Two with Elemental. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend it.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

Here’s a movie that Universal basically left to die! With little to no marketing and only given a 17-day theatrical window before it made it’s way to VOD, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken was a movie that was very easy to miss because it looks as though the studios were wanting you to do exactly that. Which is a shame because judging the film on it’s own merits, it’s actually pretty good all things considered. The animation is bright and colorful, the characters are all likeable, and even if the story feels like a more diet version of Luca and Turning Red, it still works completely well as it’s own thing that it doesn’t hurt the enjoyment. It’s far from the best movie on this list or of Dreamworks library but if you were one of those that dismiss this film or were unaware of it’s existence, I’d say check it out and I think you’ll have a decent time with it.

Nimona

Disney’s trash turned out to be Netflix’s treasure with this animated fantasy adventure in Nimona. A movie made for kids that pulls no punches and will likely find a bigger audience with teens and young adults due to the film’s own subject matter and mature themes that come to play. It’s beautifully animated, incredibly engaging, has messages and representation that feels genuine, stellar voice work from Chloe Grace Moretz and Eugene Lee Yang, and Nimona herself is one of the most generally lovable protagonists in recent memory, managing to being the right kind of an “obnoxious” character. If this truly is Blue Sky Studio’s last film they ever do, not only is it grateful that they got to see their final work in a complete form but they were able to save their best film for last in the form of Nimona! Disney will certainly regret letting this film get away from them!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Of all the feature films that have we have gotten so far involving the TMNT brand, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is probably the very best one since the 1990 original. The animation is top notch, learning the “right” lessons from Into the Spider-Verse, the characters are all well-utilized, defined, and bounce off each other perfectly, the story feels fresh yet faithful to the turtles themselves, the score is absolutely killer, the action is a lot of fun to sit through, and it’s able to exist in it’s own sandbox as being the kind of thing that can stand proudly on it’s own along with being among the best of what the Ninja Turtles have offered throughout their history. While I won’t go as far to say that it’s a perfect film in it’s own rights, it’s certainly a perfect TMNT film and one that will likely be the one to get a new generation into this successful running franchise. And if the next film and the new 2D series that’s in the works is as good as Mutant Mayhem, then this next wave of Ninja Turtles fans will have plenty to be spoiled by!

The Boy and the Heron

Perhaps the biggest animated film at the moment, The Boy and the Heron is another winner from the creative minds at Studio Ghibli. This makes for easily one of the best English dub anime flicks in recent memory, with the entire cast of Robert Pattinson, Mark Hamill, Gemma Chan, and Dave Bautista giving very strong vocal performances. Hayao Miyazaki succeeds once again in telling story that feels as witty as it is tragic, knowing how to balance both distinct tones and making it’s core set of characters feel more human than you could imagine. It’s not my absolute favorite from Miyazaki, with some issues in terms of pacing and certain story beats, but The Boy and the Heron is definitely worth your time and should be seen in a theater. Between this and the previously mentioned Suzume, it’s nice to see more animated films made outside of America getting the recognition that they deserve.

Merry Little Batman

What’s this? A new Batman animated film that takes place on Christmas and puts the spotlight on Batman’s own son in Damian Wayne? You bet and believe it or not, it works quite well. Nothing to get you in the holiday spirit in Gotham then a fun knock-off of Home Alone, where Damian has to learn at such a young age to become the Batman his father always wanted for him. It’s also neat to get a glimpse at a Bruce Wayne that is more happy and a Gotham City that isn’t as corrupt as before, giving the sense that Bruce had accomplished his destiny as Batman. And I don’t think the Joker has been this much fun in AGES! I’m not too crazy on the designs for most of the characters and you can definitely tell this was cater to young children, but for what it’s worth, Merry Little Batman is a cute, enjoyable superhero Christmas special that will likely put you in a good jolly mood the whole way through. It’s sure nice that this and eventually Coyote vs. Acme were able to escape the clutches of the evil Warner Bros and get released. Take that, David Zaslav!

And my pick for the best animated film of 2023 goes to…..

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

To be honest, did you really think it was going to be anything else? Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse shows that the Spider-Verse could in fact make lightning strike twice. Everyone involved with the making of this movie wanted to take everything to the next level without holding anything back and they are able to exceed greatly with a sequel that manages to be as good as Into the Spider-Verse and in some ways, even better. The animation might be the very best I’ve ever seen in any film, the entire cast is perfect with everyone feeling like they are absolutely in LOVE with their roles, Miles and Gwen are some of the most interesting, engaging, and layered protagonists in any comic book film, the themes and morals of the story still resonate and fits the core elements of Spider-Man perfectly, and there’s plenty of well earned fan service throughout that never gets in the way of the main central storyline. While it does end on an obvious cliffhanger, it will no doubt make anyone excited to see how they will wrap up the story in the third and final installment. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the best animated film of the year and one of the very best films of the year, period! Bring on Beyond the Spider-Verse 

Also, to Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and the those at Sony Animation, PLEASE treat your animators right this time! Don’t put them through hell like you did with Across the Spider-Verse! We all can wait and be patience if it has to take a few more years for the next film to come out! Let’s not encourage crunch culture any longer and make sure the animators are treated with respect next time around! Please and thank you!