Latest news with #Insomniac
Los Angeles Times
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Vans Warped Tour, the original punk rock circus, returns to Long Beach
Sublime's drummer Bud Gaugh says his most memorable moment at the first Warped Tour in 1995 was when he broke his ribs riding a BMX bike on a half-pipe during their stop in Houston, an incident, he says, later led to his arrest in Florida. 'I got arrested because [Warped Tour founder] Kevin Lyman wouldn't let me go see a doctor,' Gaugh jokingly told The Times . 'I was having a hard time breathing, I could not sleep. So, at the Orlando show that we were playing at, I found a girl whose mom was a nurse and she took me home and we raided the medicine cabinet, and I got some Vicodin and some other things to help me sleep. … Unfortunately I was arrested in the parking lot returning with those drugs in zero-tolerant Florida.' Gaugh was bailed out, and after being on the road for two weeks with broken ribs, Gaugh finally received proper treatment in Massachusetts. 'That was an amazing memory,' he says. This month, Gaugh returns with Sublime to the Vans Warped Tour for the festival's 30th anniversary, playing with late singer Bradley Nowell's son Jakob on vocals. Sublime was recently revealed to be one of the teased secret bands slated to play the shows in their hometown of Long Beach. Long Beach will be one of the first cities to hear their new song, 'Ensenada,' live. 'Thirty years later — I can't even believe I'm saying that — 30 years later and now we get to do it with Jakob, this is insane … and I just can't wait for Jakob to experience it, we get to live vicariously through his emotions as well as our own, it's incredible, it's such an amazing feeling, I'm such a proud uncle.' After a six-year hiatus, the Vans festival is being rebooted in partnership with live events production company Insomniac for a three-city tour in Washington, D.C., Long Beach and Orlando. The Long Beach shows take place at the Shoreline Waterfront on July 26 and 27 and includes an eclectic variety of heavyweight acts such as Pennywise, Sublime, 311, Ice-T, Fishbone, All-American Rejects, the Vandals and more. The festival is also featuring its classic extreme sports showcase of skateboarding and BMX stunts, along with art displays, vendors, the 'Gritty Garage' lounge dedicated to uplifting female musicians and an official Vans Warped Tour Museum pop-up celebrating the festival's 30-year legacy. 'Warped Tour is in my heart, I did a lot of brands. I had Mayhem, Taste of Chaos, I had probably like 40 different branded things, those were more business,' Lyman tells The Times. 'If you're going to come back at my age now — I'm 64 and I've been in the music business 45 years, going back to the Goldenvoice days — you're going to do something from the heart.' Lyman, who is also an associate professor at USC, had been itching to bring back Warped Tour, and the encouragement to revive it largely came from Insomniac founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella. Rotella says that for years, he was 'bugging' Lyman to consider it, and even though Insomniac had previous opportunities to produce other rock events, Pasquale had his sights set on Warped Tour. 'The reason why I went out and asked Kevin is because I knew that there was lots of interest. Everyone wants to be involved with a special event like Warped Tour; it's really in line with what we do,' Rotella says . 'Not only is there a huge crossover with attendees, but I love — we love as a company — community-driven events, and I don't believe that the other brands that are out there, even ones Kevin has been involved with, have as strong a community behind it.' Insomniac is better known for producing electronic dance music festivals such as Electric Daisy Music Carnival, Hard Summer Music Festival and Beyond Wonderland among others, but Rotella is no stranger to the punk rock world that Warped Tour is rooted in. When Rotella was a teenager, he was a surfer and came up in the skateboard and surf communities in L.A., which he says was full of punk rockers. For him, working on Warped Tour is simply a return to a scene and community that's always been embedded in his background. 'I was part of a lot of different communities — graffiti, skateboarding, surfing … I appreciate so many different kinds of art. I love the culture and community behind these different scenes … it's great to be able to knock those walls down and bring people together, expose people to different things and it's a lot of fun. I think Warped Tour does that well.' When Lyman started the Warped Tour in 1995, he had already been a promoter and booker in L.A. for years, initially working for the legendary Gary Tovar, founder of Goldenvoice — the company that puts on festivals such as Coachella, Cruel World and Stagecoach. The inspiration for Warped Tour simply came from the diverse shows he was putting on every night in L.A., and the first festival lineup reflected that, featuring bands including No Doubt, Sublime, L7, Deftones, Face to Face, and many other ska, punk, indie and alternative acts. 'It goes back to 1995. I was working in the clubs 320 nights a year, listening to [bands] every night, I was working Roxy, Whisky, Palace, Palladium, a whole bunch of venues that don't exist [anymore], and watching the audiences and going, 'Why are we isolating them into segments? I think there's a lot more here in common,'' Lyman says. Despite being varied in genre, Warped Tour has always been known as a predominantly punk rock festival. Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge says that when his band first played Warped Tour in 1996, the lineup was mostly punk rock bands and he shared the stage with peers like Rancid, Descendents, Bad Religion and Social Distortion. 'It was like a full-on summer camp for degenerate punk rockers, if you will,' Dragge says. 'We'd done some festivals, we'd done some tours at that time, but nothing like wow, here's all your friends in the same place and eating at the same tables, barbecuing, drinking beers, hanging out, playing dice, playing poker, supporting each other onstage. There was nothing like it. I never went to summer camp, but I imagine this was the craziest summer camp of all time.' Dragge says that even though Pennywise is playing this year with a slew of younger bands across different genres — an experience he says differs from the old-school days of the Vans festival — Dragge constantly gets 'stoked' about seeing and discovering new bands in the scene, and he's excited to witness the fresh talent at this year's Warped Tour. 'It's inspiring, for me. It makes me feel like there's a future and hope for punk rock in general, it's not going away,' he says. Warped Tour has significantly evolved since its humble beginnings, becoming one of the longest-running music festivals in the world. Dragge says, 'Warped Tour deserves the ultimate respect of any festival on the planet' because of what it accomplished with its revolutionary idea to take a festival on wheels nationwide, creating a blueprint for other music festivals, which according to Dragge, is now copied by everyone. 'That's all Kevin's doing and he's going to go down in history as the greatest of all great operators for the biggest, craziest punk rock circus of all time that ran around this globe,' Dragge says.
Metro
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: What's the best superhero game?
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 – the ultimate superhero game? (Sony Interactive Entertainment) The Thursday letters page hopes Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has a sense of humour, as another reader calls for Star Wars: Battlefront 3. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ Binary choice An interesting article about Superman in video games, but I have a hard time imagining that anyone will bother trying to crack the concept when there are easier heroes to put into games. It is still amazing though, how there still aren't that many superhero games in general, even though the peak of the MCU has been and gone. So the question I'm going to ask, of which is the best superhero game, has far fewer options than there really should be. Personally, I think it's probably Midnight Suns, but if we limit ourselves to action games it's really only down to Batman vs. Spider-Man. I would say that Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are much better games than any of Insomniac's Spider-Man games, even though Insomniac rip-off so much from the Batman titles. However, I'd also say that Spider-Man 2 is a better superhero game, in that it gets the character exactly right in terms of character and what he does. The problem with the Batman games is that they're all set in enclosed spaces and even by the time you get to Arkham Knight, everyone's been evacuated from Gotham, so there's no civilians and you don't get to prevent any random crimes, which you absolutely should be doing in a Batman game. I always figured that was a technical limitation but since we've never had a proper sequel the problem has never been solved. Archie Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Unknown success Interesting article about game sales and how it's difficult to tell whether a game is a hit nowadays, or at least not until many months since it was out. I say this because I'm curious right now as to how Death Stranding 2 is doing. I loved it but it is clearly not a cheap game to make, and I don't know anyone else that's played it and I don't remember anyone writing into the Inbox about it. I see some talk of 1.4 million sales in June, but that doesn't seem very much. Not for a game like that. I know that GC said 1 million is considered the bear minimum for a hit but it's dependent on budget. So what does Death Stranding 2 have to do to break even? We usually know that for a movie but never for a game. It's frustrating. I hope the game has done well enough that Kojima won't be impacted but we probably won't know unless something really bad happens. Damdon Quick turnaround A surprisingly interesting set of results for US game sales in May. I certainly didn't get the impression Elden Ring Nightreign did all that well and it's almost funny how Switch 1 sold 44% less than last year and it still outsold the Xbox Series X/S. How they think they're going to come back from that sort of performance in the next generation I don't know. But I do know telling us that the killer app is AI isn't going to work. Love to see the revival of Star Wars Battlefront 2 too. I'm not sure if it's quite extreme enough for EA to make a sequel though. Even if they started right now it'd take them something like five years to make a new one and whole knows what stay the games industry or Star Wars will be in by that point. Mind you, it was only two years between Battlefront 1 and 2, which is very short nowadays, so maybe they can make it quicker if they use the same tech. Maister Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Remaster masters I try to support games and studios I really appreciate with day one buys and think I'll be doing that with Nightdive Studios' System Shock 2 25th Anniversary Remaster, with its slightly delayed release on console on the 10th of this month. I'm on board with and think they do an excellent and thoughtful job of their manifesto of 'bringing lost and forgotten gaming treasures back from the depths.' I have played System Shock 2 before but will relish a fresh playthrough but have really enjoyed for the first time Powerslave Exhumed and Killing Time: Resurrected from Nightdive Studios. There's so many games I'd love them to take on, like Deus Ex, that maybe might happen if this release does well. Simundo GC: They're definitely the gold standard when it comes to 90s era Western games. Lite preference Spoken to a couple of gamers in real life and one doesn't think there will be Nintendo Switch 2 Lite. I am banking on it. No way am I fetching this version of Nintendo Switch 2. Battery issues, weight, and a myriad of little things not quite right… see YouTube. Games full price around £70 for download keys, maybe if physical. I only want one game, Fast Fusion? I missed out on Fast RMX – a super rare game for Switch 1. I hope Nintendo see the complaints and do what they did with original Switch and make a Switch 2 Lite version, please. Thank you Metro for airing, this so to speak. Simon GC: What battery and weight issues? And no game-key game is £70. Lighten up Won't playing The Last Of Us Part 2 in chronological order mean the flashback at the museum is the first scene? Isn't that going to be really weird? Not that I'm likely to play the new mode. I really liked both games at one point but they feel so overexposed nowadays that I'm just tired of hearing about it, to the point where I don't even know if I'll watch season three of the show. Season two changed a lot of stuff that didn't seem to make any sense, but its biggest problem is that it was so boring. I think it's going to be a mistake dragging the second game out for three seasons, even if it is a longer story overall. I really feel Naughty Dog needs to move on from The Last Of Us and just make something with a little optimism for once. Even the last Uncharted was kind of grimdark, with no supernatural stuff. They need to cheer up a bit, or more importantly try to cheer us up. I don't need to know that the world and everyone in it is awful, I need hope that maybe they're not. And no, the ending of Part 2 does not count towards that. I'm not sure what Intergalactic is about but I hope it's more about fighting robots with not-lightsabers than banging on about religion and faith. I'm not asking them to go back to Crash Bandicoot, but there has to be a middle ground between than and the ultra seriousness of The Last Of Us. Kubert Proper strange Every time it gets pointed out that Valve hasn't made a 'proper' game since Portal 2 it seems so weird to me. I remember 20 years ago when they were being described as the best game developer in the world and the 'Pixar of gaming.' Now I doubt anyone under 30 even realises they used to make games. What saddens me most is it shows Valve were just making games to pay the bills. If they were doing it for the love of the art, they would've carried on even after they made their billions with Steam. I guess sitting around counting your money is more fun? Rascar The lost generation I'm going to be honest here and say that I think the general dislike of the Wii is perfectly justified. I don't think anyone hates it but for me it was the least generation by far for Nintendo. If it wasn't for Super Mario Galaxy there'd barely be anything worthwhile on the whole console and ironically that one sold quite poorly compared to rubbish like New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I guess Mario Kart Wii was okay, since motion controls couldn't ruin that, but Zelda: Skyward Sword was awful and all the new Nintendo franchises were junk like Wii Sports. That game is definitely an important milestone for gaming but it's horribly shallow and barely even pretends to be anything other than a tech demo. I don't hate the Wii, but I do consider it a non-entity that I have no interest in. It was important in terms of getting Nintendo back on top of the game, and no longer bleeding money, but as a console with a lot of enjoyable games… I'd much rather have a N64 or GameCube (I would say or a Wii U but I'm not going to lose credibility by stretching my point too far). We can see today how little Nintendo has kept from that era. A few motion controls in the odd party game and gyro aim. That's it. PlayStation and Xbox don't even have that, so you can easily say that the Wii had no lasting impact on gaming, and it's hard to prove you wrong. Strange that it was the number one selling console of its generation and the Xbox 360, which was the most innovative, did the worst. You could maybe argue that Wii opened up the idea of making games for non-gamers but I'm not sure even that had any lasting impact, beyond mobile games – and they were more influenced by the DS. Tony T. Inbox also-rans Anyone upset about Codemasters not making rally games any more should take a look at this purposefully old school game. Looks great. Edrona I notice there's only a small number of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 review out so far and they all seem to be America. Did you not get sent a copy, GC? Ansel GC: We have one now, but it arrived late. Given how there are no UK reviews yet, everyone else seems to be in the same boat. Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: Will Wii games come to Nintendo Switch 2? Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: What will be the setting for GTA 7? Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: What will be the first Mario Kart World DLC?
Metro
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Insomniac Games rumoured to be working on three games – but what are they?
The creators behind Ratchet & Clank and Marvel's Spider-Man are said to be juggling three games at once, and only one has been announced so far. The PlayStation 5 might be a disappointment when it comes to Sony exclusive games, but one first party developer has definitely not been letting the side down. Since the PlayStation 5's launch in 2020, Insomniac Games has released three games on the console – cross-gen title Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. The studio is currently working on another PlayStation 5 exclusive in Marvel's Wolverine, which was announced back in September 2021 but still doesn't have a release date. However, it seems this project is only one of many titles currently in development at the studio. According to a rumour on Reddit, derived from a LinkedIn post from an employee at the studio, Insomniac is working on three games in total at the moment. The studio, which employs around 520 people (two or three times the size of most other AAA developers), has worked on three games simultaneously in the past – so this isn't as unlikely as it sounds. Former project director Erin Eberhardt, who left the studio in September 2023, confirmed in July of that same year that an unannounced game was in development at the studio, along with Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. We still don't know what this unannounced game is, or if it was shelved, but an Insomniac leak from December 2023 outed the studio's future slate, at that time, up until 2031. This included a Venom spin-off slated for autumn 2025, Wolverine for autumn 2026, Spider-Man 3 for autumn 2028, a new Ratchet & Clank for autumn 2029, an X-Men game for autumn 2030, and an unspecified new IP in 2031. More Trending While it's likely these plans have changed since then, perhaps the biggest question is if the Venom half-sequel, which was slated for this year, still exists. A side mission in Spider-Man 2 appeared to set up Carnage for a future title, but it's unclear if that symbiote story will roll out over a half-sequel like Miles Morales or the inevitable Spider-Man 3. It was reported by VGC that Spider-Man 2 only used 10% of the dialogue that actor Tony Todd recorded, which may be an indication that a half-sequel was at least planned. Todd sadly died in November last year, so if he didn't already record absolutely everything Insomniac needed that would cause great problems for a future Venom appearance. If the Venom game has been axed, the third title could be Ratchet & Clank. However, considering Spider-Man 2 sold significantly more than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, at over 10 million sales versus around four million, Sony might be pushing for more Marvel titles from the studio. If Wolverine is still slated to come out in autumn 2026, we could see more from the title later this year. So far, we've only seen cinematic trailers, with gameplay still yet to be revealed officially. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Here's every game cancelled by Xbox after devastating job cuts MORE: Xbox bosses loved a game so much they canned it and sacked all the developers MORE: The 10 best video games of 2025 so far – half year report
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Spider-Gwen's New Comic Already Has Fans Reeling, And It's Not Even Out Yet
Marvel's multiverse shenanigans can be hard to keep track of, especially across its many, many different media franchises. The MCU has been following a multiverse arc since Endgame premiered in 2019, and there's reason to believe Insomniac's Spider-Man games might be dabbling in the Spider-Verse in the future. However, the multi-reality concept began in the comic books, where they've been dealing with the multiverse for decades. One of the most prominent faces of these alternate dimensions is Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man's sometimes girlfriend, who in one reality tragically dies, changing the course of the hero's life forever. In a different timeline however, the two's relationship was reversed, and Gwen became Spider-Gwen (or Ghost-Spider, or Spider-Woman) after the tragic loss of Peter. But now it looks like the comics are using some cosmic fuckery to alter things in the comic's 'main' timeline, and fans are less than thrilled. All-New Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider is a new comic run set to begin in August, and when fans saw the synopsis for the series back in May, it immediately raised eyebrows. All-New Spider-Gwen has its titular hero's story rewoven into the fabric of the Marvel universe. Using the Cosmic Cube, a powerful object that can reshape realities, Gwen becomes part of Earth 616, the 'Prime' reality in Marvel's various continuities (the MCU universe name began as 616, but has since become a bit more complicated as the franchise has gone on, and is now called Earth-19999). How does this work logistically? What does it mean for both Gwen and Peter to be alive in the same universe? Does this not completely change Peter Parker's trajectory in the main 'canon?' There are plenty of questions the comics will likely answer when they start rolling out next month, but right now, a lot of Spider-Gwen fans are less concerned about how Marvel is going to explain all of this, and more bothered by how this undermines Spider-Gwen's story. Spider-Gwen isn't just another hero with the same powers as Spider-Man. Her entire premise is to be a deliberate remix of his story, an exploration of the parallels between both of their worlds, and she is at the center of one of the most compelling 'what if' scenarios in comic books. Plopping her into the 'main' story runs counter to her very premise. Some fans think this is the natural end result of her rise in popularity after the Spider-Verse films, while others argue that Spider-Man lore has become so convoluted that this feels like Marvel running out of ideas. It's entirely possible this is merely an extended vacation in the main continuity before Gwen heads back to her original life, but the official synopsis says she's 'here to stay.' We'll see how Marvel handles this reality-altering storyline, and whether this will crossover with the main Spider-Man books, when the first issue is released on August 20. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Metro
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Neil Patrick Harris is Deadpool in new Marvel VR game
Wade Wilson has a new voice (Marvel/Meta) Marvel has announced a new VR game centred around Deadpool, from the studio behind 'Splosion Man and Comic Jumper. There are a huge number of Marvel games in development at the moment, including Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra and a new fighting game from Arc System Works, but now another has been added to the pile at Summer Game Fest. Surprisingly, it's a VR game starring quippy anti-hero Deadpool, created by Twisted Pixel ('Splosion Man) and Oculus Studios in collaboration with Marvel Games. Even more surprisingly, Deadpool has a brand new voice, in Neil Patrick Harris, best known for starring in How I Met Your Mother, Netflix's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, and Doogie Howser, M.D. Marvel's Deadpool VR features a new original story, where the superhero is pulled into a portal to Mojoworld. After he signs a dodgy contract without reading the fine print, he's sent off to visit a bunch of locations from across the Marvel universe, facing villains both iconic and, as noted by the developers, 'not-so-iconic'. The gameplay blends parkour and combat, with a style described as 'if you can imagine it, you can probably do it'. Based on the trailer, you can shoot, throw your gun, wield enemies in a grappling beam, shove people against propellers, and skewer heads with your swords. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. As you'd expect from Deadpool, it's all appropriately meta, with one nod levelled at a certain web-slinger on PlayStation: 'Spider-Man gets Insomniac, and I get this sh*t?' If you're a fan of Deadpool, this seems to be hitting all the right notes and Harris seems like a perfect fit for the character. We'll have to see though, if it can match the heights of fellow superhero VR title, Batman: Arkham Shadow. While Twisted Pixel were originally known for games like 'Splosion Man and Comic Jumper on the Xbox 360, in recent years the studio has created VR titles. The combat in Deadpool appears to be an evolution of their last action game, 2019's Path Of The Warrior. Marvel's Deadpool VR is slated to release late 2025 and is exclusive to Meta Quest 3 and 3S. If you fancy more Marvel games, Insomniac is working on a Wolverine project, an Iron Man game is in development at EA, and a throwback beat 'em up titled Marvel Cosmic Invasion is set to launch this year. Wise-cracking to a whole new level (Marvel) Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Jurassic World Evolution 3 lets you breed dinosaurs and it's out this year Arrow MORE: Call Of Duty 2026 campaign has a brand new setting for Modern Warfare says leak Arrow MORE: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate gets Switch 2 upgrade but there's a problem
