Blizzard Debuts New IP 'Overwatch' At BlizzCon With A Beta In 2015

Blizzard Debuts New IP 'Overwatch' At BlizzCon With A Beta In 2015

Blizzard shocked everyone this afternoon by announcing their first new IP in eons outside of their famed Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo trilogy. It’s called ‘Overwatch,’ and just debuted minutes ago early on at BlizzCon 2014.

The game first debuted with a cinematic trailer, then was followed by a an actual gameplay vid, and then finally it was announced an early build of the game would be playable all weekend for Blizzcon attendees.

That’s one hell of a debut.

So what is Overwatch? There’s still a lot to learn about it, but from what we know so far, it appears to be a Blizzard shooter MOBA in the style of the upcoming Battleborn from Gearbox and the immortal Team Fortress 2.

The lore sets the game in the (relatively) near future in a Pixar-ish universe where a group of heroes had their order disbanded, and many became mercenaries. The former members of the Overwatch group fight against the forces of evil, and the result is the multiplayer game we see before us today.

The intro vids debuted about ten characters or so, almost all of which had guns or projectiles of some kind. There’s a giant armored Gorilla who can go bezerk, a dual-pistol wielding Reaper who gun-takas his way through rooms killing everything in sight. An angelic sniper medic, a Japanese samurai bowman, a mech-building inventor. There are a lot of familiar character types to be sure, but Blizzard has put their own spin on things.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Overwatch is the fact that it was kept a total secret, a rarity in this industry, and many were guessing that Blizzard’s big surprise was going to be a new Hearthstone expansion or something along those lines.

But past that, it’s the timetable that’s even more impressive. Blizzard could have just debuted the initial cinematic trailer and walked away, but theyimmediately followed it up with a gameplay video, and then announced the game was actually playable right that minute at the convention, with a beta coming in 2015. Needless to say, Blizzard is not known for moving quickly when it comes to their new releases, so the fact that they’re debuting their first new IP in eons and the game seems ready to roll in just a short while makes this a really, really big deal. Blizzard does not do small franchises, and Overwatch could be the beginning of something huge for them.

As for being an FPSMOBA, that’s a genre that was recently just coined by Battleborn, Gearbox’s game which looks at least somewhat similar to this. And then there are obvious echoes of Team Fortress 2, though calling it a “clone” of either game is extremely unfair given the limited information we have.

It’s interesting to see Blizzard essentially doubling down on the MOBA genre with this and Heroes of the Storm. HOTS is more of a direct competitor to king-of-the-mountain League of Legends, while Overwatch is expanding into a genre that doesn’t really exist yet, so it seems like there’s room for both in their roster. And past that, I think the most exciting thing about this is that this is a brand new Blizzard universe with new characters and lore. I’m very much hoping there’s a single player campaign in Overwatch to flesh out the story and introduce the universe, but given the format we’ve seen, I’m not holding my breath.

There’s obviously a ton we don’t know about Overwatch, including the full roster of characters, if the game will feature things like upgradable items, if it will be PC only or on consoles as well, if it will be free-to-play, subscription or just a box copy. Perhaps Blizzard isn’t even sure about all that themselves yet, but for now, this clearly seems like something for everyone to get excited about. More details to follow. Source

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd Charge dropped

Charge dropped against AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd

A New Zealand police charge of "attempting to procure murder" against AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has been dropped, his lawyer said.

Rudd, the 60-year-old drummer for the legendary hard rock band, had been accused of trying to have two men killed. But the Crown Solicitor decided there wasn't enough evidence to justify it, attorney Paul Mabey said in a statement.

"The charge alleging an attempt to procure murder should never have been laid. The Crown Solicitor's opinion was not sought. The charge is now withdrawn, within 24 hours of Mr. Rudd's first appearance in court," Mabey said. "Mr. Rudd has suffered unnecessary and extremely damaging publicity as a result of widespread and sensational reporting of a very serious allegation, which on any basis was never justified."

Rudd still faces other charges, including threatening to kill, Mabey said.

"Mr. Rudd will defend the charge of threatening to kill. Charges relating to personal possession of drugs are minor," he said.

Police searched Rudd's waterfront home in Tauranga on Thursday morning, TVNZ reported.

The Australian-born drummer moved to New Zealand in 1983, after being sacked by the group. He rejoined the band years later.

AC/DC is one of the world's biggest-selling musical acts, and in 2003 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The band's latest album, "Rock or Bust," is scheduled for release December 2.

In a statement Thursday, the band said Rudd's absence wouldn't affect the album's release or a tour scheduled for next year.

"We've only become aware of Phil's arrest as the news was breaking," the statement said. "We have no further comment." Source

Hundreds line up for H&M's grand opening at The Galleria

Hundreds line up for H&M's grand opening at The Galleria

HOUSTON -- At least 600 people lined up and wrapped around the halls of The Galleria in Houston early Thursday.

It was all for the grand opening of H&M's first location in the heart of the city.

"I slept in my car, woke up and I was like, 'Let's go,'" said shopper Kendra Edmond.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time," said shopper Tyshae Phillips.

The new location, which opened at noon, will offer collections for women, men, teens and tweens. It features a separate "store within store" sections for accessories, lingerie, cosmetics and its plus size line.

It's also one of the first H&M locations to receive clothing from designer Alexander Wang.

"I thought everybody was going to be at work, but no, this is crazy, never seen anything like it, ever," said Phillips.

The first 300 shoppers in line Thursday received gift cards ranging from $10 to $300. The company also welcomed customers to bring in their old clothing for the launch of a new recycling program. At the grand opening, donors received a voucher for 15-percent off their next purchase at the store, which is located in the Nordstrom wing of the mall.

"This is my Black Friday," said Edmond.

"No this is worse, than Black Friday, a lot worse," said Phillips.

Shoppers have plenty to smile about. H&M is just the beginning. It's the latest in a string of new luxury and high-profile stores set to open or renovated at the Galleria in the next few months. Source

Unhappy With The Election Results

Unhappy With The Election Results? Just Look At The People Your Neighbors Voted Into Office

As the dust settles and we take a closer look at Tuesday night's election results, we can't help but wonder what some voters were thinking. As with every election, there were the incumbents who were able to win re-election, like Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), who just won a 23rd term in Congress despite being found guilty of a number of ethics violations in 2010, and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who joked about suicide just weeks before the election.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg in Congress. All hail the power of incumbency.

But there are some even stranger figures who got elected across the nation this week. Here are a few of them.

Jody 'Abortion Is Worse Than Hitler' Hice

Republican Jody Hice of Georgia had no problem winning his state's deep-red 10th Congressional District on Tuesday. Salon documents some of the most controversial viewpoints of the soon-to-be congressman: Hice has said Islam is not a real religion and doesn't deserve First Amendment protections, that legal abortion is "worse than Hitler's six million Jews or Mussolini's three hundred thousand," and that the gay community is trying to seduce and sodomize your children.

There's more. From supporting nullification to wanting to re-litigate the Civil War to suggesting that women should ask their husbands for permission to enter politics, the list goes on. And on.

(It's worth noting that Hice will take the seat formerly held by Rep. Paul Broun, who once declared that evolution and the Big Bang are "lies from the pit of hell." It seems fair to predict that Hice will represent the district with a similar mindset.)

Ryan 'Hillary Clinton Is The Anti-Christ' Zinke

Former Navy SEAL Ryan Zinke of Montana handily won a seat in Congress on Tuesday, despite expressing a number of controversial views throughout his campaign. Perhaps the most surprising of these was calling former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the "anti-Christ." Zinke later claimed the comments were a joke.

Zinke has been an equally ardent critic of President Barack Obama. He previously led an anti-Obama super PAC that claimed the president "conveniently took credit for killing Osama Bin Laden for political gain." Earlier this year, Zinke also appeared to suggest that he would support impeaching Obama if given the option when he gets to Congress.

Glenn 'What Do We Need Weekends For, Anyway?' Grothman

Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican running for the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Tom Petri, cruised to victory over his Democratic challenger on Tuesday. Grothman, like Hice, has established himself as a far-right politician with a number of divisive views. He once told The Huffington Post it was "a little ridiculous" that Wisconsin had laws against a seven-day workweek. In 2012, he claimed to the Daily Beast that women get paid less because "money is more important for men."

Grothman also believes that teachers should be banned from discussing homosexuality in the classroom because it could turn kids gay, that people on food stamps eat too well and that Planned Parenthood is "the most overtly racist organization." These are just some of the views Grothman will be taking to Washington.

Michael 'The Gays Are Out To Recruit Your Children' Peroutka

Michael Peroutka, a former Constitution Party candidate who has since turned Republican, won a seat on the Anne Arundel County Council in Maryland on Tuesday, receiving 53 percent of the vote against his Democratic opponent. Peroutka attracted scrutiny throughout his campaign for his involvement with the League of the South, a Southern secessionist group, which he severed ties with last month amid the controversy.

In October, Peroutka also decried what he called the LGBT "deathstyle," which he said needed to "recruit your children" to maintain its ways. He has also suggested that "there is no such thing as a civil right," and that gay people don't deserve protections because of their sexuality.

Mark 'Let's Go To War With Mexico' Walker

Republican Mark Walker secured an easy victory Tuesday in his race to replace retiring Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.). Walker raised some eyebrows on the campaign trail when he suggested that a solution to southern border violence and undocumented immigration would be to "blitz somebody with a couple of fighter jets for a little while." He went on to say he had no qualms with going to war against Mexico, though he later claimed he was joking.

Gordon 'Obama Is Literally Possessed By Demons' Klingenschmitt

Gordon Klingenschmitt cake-walked to a seat in the Colorado state house on Tuesday, taking nearly 70 percent of the vote in the state's heavily Republican House District 15. Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain, has made a name for himself as a prominent voice on the religious right. He has frequently made extreme anti-gay claims and suggested in his book that Obama is possessed by "demonic spirits," which, according to the Bible, has led the president to actions that are "worthy of death."

(Read more about Klingenschmitt at Right Wing Watch, which has tirelessly tracked his career.)

Saira 'NRA-Endorsed College Freshman' Blair

On Tuesday, 18-year-old Saira Blair won a seat in West Virginia's state legislature, securing the distinction of being the youngest lawmaker in the nation. Blair began her campaign at the age of 17 and, according to the Wall Street Journal, did most of her campaigning out of her college dorm at West Virginia University, where she is enrolled as a freshman. In May, she defeated a 66-year-old Republican incumbent in the GOP primary, and in the general election on Tuesday, she trounced her Democratic opponent, 44-year-old attorney Layne Diehl.

Blair is ultra-conservative. She has the NRA's endorsement and believes life begins at conception. She opposes Plan B contraception, gay marriage and labor unions, and says her focus is bringing jobs back to West Virginia.

The 18-year-old will join her father, a sitting state senator, in the upcoming legislative session, at which time she says she'll defer her spring semester of college. Source

Cleveland Browns

Browns drub Bengals, Andy Dalton for share of AFC North lead

CINCINNATI -- Cornerback Joe Haden led a line of Browns players jumping to slap hands with joyous fans in the first row. The stadium was filled with the sound of woofing.

Felt like times from way, way back when.

And with a dominating performance, the Browns suggested they've finally made it all the way back.

The team that has been the AFC North's bottom-dweller for years climbed into the top spot Thursday night. The Browns were all over Andy Dalton all night, turning a first-place showdown into a shockingly one-sided 24-3 victory.

With every interception and every sack, the Browns showed they're for real.

"This is a little different Browns team than the rest of the league is used to seeing," said Haden, who shadowed A.J. Green all over the field and shut him down again.

Cleveland (6-3) improved on its best start in 20 years and moved into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh. The Browns also snapped their streak of 17 straight losses to division opponents on the road.

The last win? Also in Cincinnati, a 20-12 victory on Sept. 28, 2008.

"A huge boost for our guys," coach Mike Pettine said. "Just look at the streaks we ended. Not many people gave us a chance."

Just like the Browns, the Bengals (5-3-1) were trying to break away from some bad franchise history. They've played some of their worst games in prime time and wanted to show they finally were ready to hold up under the national attention.

Instead, they crumbled along with their quarterback. They also got drubbed 43-17 during a Sunday night game in New England this season.

Cincinnati fell to 18-41 in prime time.

"It does confound me," coach Marvin Lewis said. "For whatever reason, the two times (in prime time) this year we didn't play well. Because we were at home, there was an energy and excitement instead of being steely eyed and focusing on what we have to do."



Dalton was 10-of-33 for 86 yards with three interceptions and two sacks and a passer rating of 2. It was another big-game meltdown for the fourth-year quarterback, who has led his team to the playoffs three years in a row only to lose opening games all three times.

"We didn't start fast, and that's on me," Dalton said. "I missed a couple early and could never get into a rhythm."

The game marked the first since 1986 -- when Bernie Kosar and Boomer Esiason were the quarterbacks -- that the intrastate rivals played with first place on the line so late in the season. The Browns won that one 34-3.



And they were in charge right from the start in this one, too.

Playing in a cold, gusty wind, Dalton was repeatedly off target and made a big early mistake. His first pass was high and incomplete. His next one was intercepted by linebacker Craig Robertson, who returned it to the 18. Five plays later, Ben Tate went into the end zone from 4 yards for the lead.

"We put a lot of pressure on their receivers by covering them tight," cornerback Buster Skrine said. "He overthrew a lot of balls. He started the game with an interception, and after that, nothing went right for him."

It never got any better for Cincinnati, which self-destructed in a tone-setting first half.

Kevin Huber's 25-yard punt into the wind set up a 59-yard touchdown drive by the Browns, highlighted by Brian Hoyer's completions of 17 and 22 yards to Travis Benjamin. Isaiah Crowell carried the last 2 yards for a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Billy Cundiff's 32-yard field goal made it 17-3 at halftime. It was Cleveland's biggest halftime lead in Cincinnati since 1994, when the Browns won 28-20.

The Browns essentially put it away late in the third quarter when Hoyer completed a 28-yard pass to tight end Gary Barnidge in the middle of tight coverage. Terrance West went in from a yard out for a 24-3 lead that sent some Bengals fans to the exits.

Cleveland rushed for 170 yards after managing only 158 in the previous three games combined. West led the way with 94 yards on 26 carries. Hoyer was 15-of-23 for 198 yards.

The only good moments for the crowd of 65,871 came after the first quarter when 4-year-old Leah Still -- daughter of defensive tackle Devon Still -- was on the field for a check presentation. The girl is fighting cancer and flew in from Philadelphia to see her father play for the first time.

The Bengals raised more than $1 million for cancer research and treatment through sales of Still's No. 75 jersey. Still wrote "Leah Strong" on the eye black strip across his face, and police officers at the game had his No. 75 on the back of their uniforms.
Game notes

It was Cleveland's most lopsided win in Cincinnati since a 34-0 victory in 1987 with strike replacement players. ... The Browns were missing top receiver Andrew Hawkins, inactive with an injured knee and thigh. ... It was Cincinnati's first loss at Paul Brown Stadium since a 27-10 defeat against San Diego in the playoffs to end last season. Source

Interstellar's Jessica Chastain barely talked to co-star Matthew McConaughey

Interstellar's Jessica Chastain barely talked to co-star Matthew McConaughey

Jessica Chastain may be a two-time Oscar nominated actress, with directors from Terence Malick to J.C. Chandor clamouring to work with her, but when Christopher Nolan offered her a part in the sci-fi epic Insterstellar, the 37-year-old admits crying "nerd tears".

"It's a thrilling space adventure movie and I knew it was going to have these sections that were so mind boggling in space," she says. "But for me, the core of the film is about the bonds of love between a father and daughter."

Interstellar is set in a near future in which an agricultural crisis has brought the world to its knees and dust covers the planet. Mankind has lost faith in science and NASA has been shut down, with the Apollo moon landings rewritten for the history books. Another planet that can support humans must be found, so former fighter pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is recruited to take a team, including a scientist (Anne Hathaway), into space through a wormhole in search of another galaxy.

Forced to leave behind his two children, Cooper is gone longer than anyone imagined and while he remains the same age in space, his daughter Murph (Chastain) grows from a petulant child (Mackenzie Foy) into an astrophysicist looking for her own solution to the crisis. "We've all at some point felt left or abandoned and it was kind of heartbreaking for me to play this woman who isolated herself because of the lies that just kept coming," Chastain says.

Stacked with Oscar winners, including McConaughey, Hathaway and Nolan regular Michael Caine, Insterstellar is one of the most hyped films of the year, however Chastain rarely crosses paths with her famous co-stars on screen.

"Because they are in different worlds in the film, I felt slightly that way on set because we never even had a cast dinner or anything that brought us together," she says says at the Los Angeles press day for the film. "My character was very isolated emotionally and literally in the film, so it's interesting that I'm only getting to know them all better now we are doing press."

The elegant redhead is surprisingly shy when it comes to talking about herself, even though she is a favourite for next year's Academy Awards with the soon-to-be-released A Violent Year.

Her co-star Hathaway, however, seemed eager to do it for her. "I think this is Jessica's best performance yet in an already considerable career," says Hathaway. "I had met her because we went through award season together the year I was in Les Miserables and she was in Zero Dark Thirty but we only had short, fun interactions on the red carpet. And then the first day we were doing camera tests for this film, Jessica had just come from a two-week gourmet cooking class and I remember being so charmed because she was describing how you poach the perfect egg and I realised she was a great actor because she was that passionate and intense about everything."

While Nolan grappled with a variety of technical challenges bringing the story to the screen, Chastain had her own struggles on Earth – she was covered in a dust created from biodegradable grated cardboard. "It was very Earth-friendly dust but it's not the most comfortable thing to have chucked at your face with winds everywhere," she says. "At the same time I knew Anne was in an astronaut suit trying to run in ice cold water and Matthew was on a glacier in Iceland and couldn't look down because of his space helmet, so I wasn't going to be ... complaining about dust!" Source

The Democrats Lost Generation

The Democrats’ Lost Generation

As Democrats take stock of their grievous losses in the 2014 elections, party leaders are confronting a challenge perhaps even more daunting than their defeats in the House and Senate: the virtual wipeout of the Democratic talent pool across the country.

After the Republican waves of 2010 and 2014, the party is depleted not just in its major-league talent, but also in its triple-A recruitment prospects. It amounts to a setback, Democrats say, that will almost certainly require more than one election cycle to repair.

At the start of the 2014 campaign, Democrats envisioned an election that would produce new national stars for the party in at least a few tough states – Georgia Sen. Michelle Nunn or Kentucky Sen. Alison Lundergan Grimes, for instance, or maybe even Texas Gov. Wendy Davis. Even if the party fell short in those “reach” states, Democrats hoped to produce new heavyweight blue-state Democrats – Maryland Gov. Anthony Brown, the country’s only black state executive; or Maine Gov. Mike Michaud, who would have been the first openly gay candidate elected governor.

Any of them could have landed on a vice presidential short list in 2016.

Instead, all of them lost.

Joining them were numerous down-ballot Democrats widely viewed as future contenders for high office: attorney general candidates in Nevada and Arizona who looked like future governors; aspiring state treasurers in Ohio and Colorado who could have gone on to bigger things; prized secretary of state candidates in Iowa and Kansas as well as countless congressional hopefuls around the country.

Arizona Rep.-elect Ruben Gallego, a state lawmaker who will be one of the few Democratic freshmen in the next Congress, said the party will need to redouble its efforts at recruitment and voter registration in order to bounce back. Along with other state and local Democratic leaders, Gallego predicted that city- and county-level officials would be the best place to look for ground-level Democratic recruits in the years ahead, thanks to the party’s strength in urban America and these officials’ relative insulation from national trends.

“The way we rebuild is really by having a deep investment in our local city council races and state races, by really starting to recruit and pipeline strong local candidates,” said Gallego, a 34-year-old Marine Corps veteran. “That’s where your good congressional candidates in the future are going to come from.”

Some Democrats hope their better-performing candidates will take another try at statewide office – and soon. New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said he would encourage Democrats like Nunn and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter to seek rematches in “a more favorable climate in 2016 and 2018.”

“People were swept out this year because of the red tide,” Buckley said. “I can envision them running again in a few years.”

Democrats, many of whom argued Wednesday that the election’s painful outcome reflected little more than off-year voter apathy, cautioned that there were a few bright spots on the recruitment front. They elected at least three new House members who could stand for statewide office: Gallego, Florida Rep.-elect Gwen Graham and Massachusetts Rep.-elect Seth Moulton, a decorated veteran who took on an incumbent Democrat during primary season.

And a pair of new governors, Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf and Rhode Island’s Gina Raimondo, have the potential to prove themselves as national figures. In a few states, Democrats add, they have already established powerhouse figures with obvious statewide and national potential, including several of California’s constitutional officers and the mayors of Los Angeles and Chicago.
Source