‘The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD’ Launches with Amiibo Feature That Has Fans Concerned

May 20, 2021November 5, 2021 Jamal Michel

Back in February, the folks at Nintendo dropped an official trailer for the highly anticipated release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for the Nintendo Switch. The high-definition remaster of the 2011 classic, originally released on the Nintendo Wii, was announced during February’s Nintendo Direct stream, to the thunderous applause of countless Zelda fans. What followed were several announcements, including Skyward Sword themed Joy-Cons (with preorders currently sold-out practically everywhere) available the same day as the game’s July 2021 release.

Martial Arts, Reviews, Video Games

HBO Max is Hosting a ‘Mortal Kombat’ Watch Party with the Kast Tonight

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Patrick Strange

Heyyy NOC Readers! It’s Kuya P and I just got word from my friends over at HBO Max that they have gathered some of the amazing cast to do a watch party for Mortal Kombat currently in Theaters and streaming now on HBO Max!

Martial Arts, Reviews, Video Games

FIGHT! The NOC Team Review ‘Mortal Kombat’

April 24, 2021April 24, 2021 Patrick Strange

Heyyy! It’s Kuya P and I got together a few of the NOC Family members’ Laura Sirikul & Mike Manolo to discuss… okay, FIGHT over Mortal Kombat out now in Theaters and HBO Max! Who will win? Place your bets now.

Interview, Martial Arts, Streaming, Video Games

NOC Exclusive Interview: ‘Mortal Kombat’ Star Joe Taslim

April 23, 2021May 15, 2021 Patrick Strange

Heyyy! It’s Kuya P back again with another NOC EXCLUSIVE! I was lucky enough to sit down for a quick conversation with Actor, Joe Taslim who will be appearing as Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat premiering in Theaters and HBO Max this Friday!

Reviews, Streaming, Video Games2 Comments

NOC Review: ‘Mortal Kombat’ is Not a Flawless Victory

April 22, 2021August 17, 2021 Mike Manalo

It’s ironic that this would be a review I’m covering following Godzilla Vs. Kong because it actually has the opposite problem. It’s great from a POC standpoint. But it’s just not a very good movie, I’m afraid. Yes, it’s my unfortunate responsibility to tell you that Mortal Kombat is a dud. It’s a bland entry to the list of barely passable video game adaptations that would ultimately leave Shang Tsung starving, because it has no real soul to suck from it anyway. While not completely atrocious, it is about as forgettable and lifeless as, say, 2018’s Tomb Raider reboot.

Interview, Streaming, Video Games

NOC Exclusive Interview: Ludi Lin and Max Huang of ‘Mortal Kombat’

April 22, 2021May 15, 2021 Patrick Strange

Heyyy! It’s Kuya P back again with another NOC EXCLUSIVE! I was lucky enough to sit down for a quick conversation with Actors, Ludi Lin & Max Huang! Both will be appearing as Liu Kang & Kung Lao respectively in Mortal Kombat premiering in Theaters and HBO Max this Friday!

Interview, Martial Arts, Streaming, Video Games

NOC Exclusive Interview: ‘Mortal Kombat’ Star Chin Han

April 22, 2021May 15, 2021 Patrick Strange

Heyyy! It’s Kuya P back again with another NOC EXCLUSIVE! I was lucky enough to sit down for a quick conversation with Actor, Chin Han who will be appearing as Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat premiering in Theaters and HBO Max this Friday!

Movies, Video Games1 Comment

Get Over Here… and Watch the Opening of ‘Mortal Kombat’

April 20, 2021April 20, 2021 Keith Chow

In anticipation of the film’s theatrical and streaming release on Friday, April 23, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have released the opening seven minutes of Mortal Kombat, the reboot of the famed 1995 adaptation of the legendary fighting game. Watch it below in all its gory glory:

News, Video Games

20 Iconic Bethesda Games are Coming To Xbox Game Pass

March 11, 2021June 3, 2021 Jamal Michel

Earlier this week, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, officially announced their acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. Speculations of the move had been mounting for months leading up to the multibillion dollar acquisition of one of gaming’s most robust publishers. In a sweetening of the pot today, Xbox announced the 20 blockbuster titles joining their Game Pass library by the week’s end.

Movies, Streaming, Video Games1 Comment

Prepare for ‘Mortal Kombat’ with the New Trailer

February 18, 2021May 15, 2021 Mike Manalo

It’s finally here! Warner Bros and New Line unleashed the first official trailer for Mortal Kombat! And with every blood-soaking, bone-snapping moment, they’ve made it clear that this is the uber-violent gore fest that we never got in the original campy (yet classic) 1995 film! This is the R-rated brutality initially promised to us when we first picked up the controllers to our Sega Genesis and selected our fighters! And I guarantee, that’s something so many of us have been waiting so long to finally see! And at long last it is finally here. So prepare yourself… for Mortal Kombat!

Movies, Streaming, Video Games

Get Over Here, Character Posters from ‘Mortal Kombat’

February 17, 2021May 15, 2021 Mike Manalo

T-Minus 18 hours until the trailer drops for the Mortal Kombat reboot, and WB has revealed more character posters than Shang Tsung has souls! The character posters are our first glimpse at characters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Kung Lao, Kano, Sonya Blade, Mileena, and more! The motion posters are all on Twitter and look really epic, like this one of Scorpion:

Martial Arts, Movies, Streaming, Video Games

Test Your Might with These New Images from ‘Mortal Kombat’

January 18, 2021May 15, 2021 Mike Manalo

We’re getting a Mortal Kombat reboot this year folks! That’s right! From producer James Wan, and directed by newcomer, Simon McQuoid, the latest and greatest adaptation of everyone’s favorite gore and blood-filled fighting game franchise is hitting theaters and HBO Max April 16, 2021!

News, Video Games

Botched Release of ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Proves it May Not Have Been Worth All the Hype

December 16, 2020June 3, 2021 Jamal Michel

I remember back in 2006 when our most pressing concern as gamers was the introduction of the now-infamous Horse Armor Pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a seemingly innocuous $2 cosmetic bundle for your mount that is known to many as the genesis of microtransactions. From in-game currencies and season passes, to multiple editions of games and their exorbitant expansion packs, the culture of “games as a live service” has dominated the last decade of gaming news.

Books, Marvel, Video Games

Brittney Morris’ ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Wings of Fury’ Delivers

December 2, 2020June 3, 2021 Jamal Michel

There could not be a better time to grab the companion novel to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales than now. The game dropped on PS4 and PS5 November 12 to rave reviews, as the pop cultural significance of Miles Morales seems to be losing zero steam, and rightly so.

Author Brittney Morris (Slay, The Cost of Knowing and Together, Apart) packs a ton into the prequel novel — from Miles’ dealings with police outside of his uniform, to Peter having to grapple with being a mentor to a Spider-Man whose reality greatly differs from his own. Wings of Fury delivers a story both heartfelt and absolutely action-packed that leads directly into the start of the game on consoles.

Marvel, Video Games

Why ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ for PS5 Brings Me So Much Black Boy Joy

September 16, 2020June 3, 2021 Jamal Michel

My first real experience as the famous web-slinger, in a purely polygonal sense, came in the year 2000, when my dad surprised me with a copy of Spider-Man for the original PlayStation. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing, and the elation that came from donning original and secret costumes as our one and only friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man was something my little heart could hardly contain at the time.

Movies, Reviews, Video Games

NOC Review: ‘Detective Pikachu’ Falls Short of Being the Very Best

May 9, 2019June 3, 2021 Mike Manalo

Did I like Pokémon: Detective Pikachu? For the most part, yes. Would I recommend this movie to everyone? I don’t know if I can.

To elaborate, growing up, I played Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, and Silver. Then my mom wouldn’t buy me a Game Boy Advance, so I stopped counting after 251, and never played another console Pokémon game thereafter (at least until I became a grown-ass man, got a job, bought a Switch, and started playing Let’s Go Pikachu!). Then naturally the Pokémon Go phase happened, and I got obsessed again. However, as they began expanding the roster of Pokémon beyond the 251 I knew, I was completely lost about what any of the Pokémon that appeared from the Advance generation and up were, and ultimately stopped playing.

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Anime, Movies, Video Games1 Comment

Here’s Your Chance to Attend the Premiere of ‘Detective Pikachu’

April 24, 2019June 3, 2021 The Nerds of Color

The world premiere of Detective Pikachu in New York City is just around the corner. Though the film doesn’t come out until May 10, here are our first impressions:

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Anime, Movies, Video Games

New Sneak “Pika” at ‘Pokémon: Detective Pikachu’

February 26, 2019June 3, 2021 Mike Manalo

Charizards! Flareons! MEWTWO! Oh my!

A new trailer and poster for Pokémon: Detective Pikachu just hit this morning!

I think I’m officially devoid of any other words for this one folks. Just know I’m all in 1000% for this movie based on what we’ve seen so far!

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Movies, Video Games1 Comment

‘Detective Pikachu’ is on the Case in First Teaser Trailer!

November 12, 2018June 3, 2021 Laura Sirikul

When it was first announced that the world of Pokémon was finally getting a live-action film, fans all over the world of the video game, card game, and animated series were excited at the prospect of seeing their favorites come to life. Pikachu was finally becoming a live action creature, but many wondered… how?

Whoever had to create this live-action world for all of the Pokémon would have to really work closely with Japan’s The Pokémon Company to ensure these iconic characters are detailed for the hardcore fans. Fortunately, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu looks like it just did that.

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Animation, Marvel, Movies, Video Games1 Comment

The Year of Spider-Mania

October 2, 2018October 2, 2018 Keith Chow

Superhero media is everywhere.

Four of the Top Five movies of 2018 are superhero films, with Black Panther, Infinity War, and The Incredibles 2 taking the top three slots. There are literally dozens of live action superhero shows on TV, cable, and streaming. The number goes up exponentially when you factor in animation. Despite this moment of superhero saturation, there is only one character who can claim the title for Most Ubiquitous of 2018. That would be Spider-Man!

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Star Wars, Video Games

Janina Gavankar: How a Nerd of Color Became the Face of Star Wars

November 29, 2017May 8, 2020 Hard NOC Media

Since the NOC launched in 2013, actress Janina Gavankar has been one of the community’s biggest celebrity boosters. Now, finally, Janina is able to join us on Hard NOC Life! In the intervening years, she has racked up the nerd bona fides by starring in Arrow, True Blood, and Sleepy Hollow. But now, she is part of the biggest nerd franchise of them all: as Iden Versio in the blockbuster game franchise Star Wars: Battlefront II.

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Animation, Video Games4 Comments

Reviewing Netflix’s ‘Castlevania’ from a ‘Castlevania’ Junkie

July 19, 2017June 3, 2021 hiarashi

Recently Netflix has released the first “season” of Castlevania, a gory, animated version of the beloved Konami series featuring our favorite vampire killers trying to take down Dracula. I am a huge fan of Castlevania, from the platformer NES days to its Metroidvania-style games on the DS; I was curious to see how they would portray the game in a show format. There is definitely some potential if given to the right people. With only being four episodes long, how does show fare with the original material?

Long story short, some work is required but it is a good start.

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Conventions, Video Games

A Washed Up Gamer Goes to E3

June 16, 2017June 3, 2021 Ren Hsieh

There were more than 68,000 total attendees at E3 this week, and I’m almost certain all of them have been gaming more than I have in the past five years. I’m retired. Too many consecutive days of realizing I’d played through the night until dawn had me putting the sticks down. Not to mention, I just can’t keep up with these kids. I’m washed.

Yet here I got the fortunate opportunity to cover E3 for NOC in the conference’s first year open to the public. I had to do this, for the culture, for the kid inside who never finished Mario 2, and for the same kid that reached the end of Streets of Rage and chose to kill my brother to take over the gang.

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