Death of Bob Hoskins, Mario Kart 8 Direct in Review, and Minecraft Realms! - BREAKING NEWS #3

Once again, I bring you the newest in video game news while I search for interesting topics for the Super Smash Bros./Gaming Revolution series, which will come to a close upon the release of the 3DS title. But until then, here's the latest in gaming culture:

Metal Mario makes his second appearance in the series.

First, on April 30th, 2014, Nintendo SHOCKED THE WORLD with a brand-new Nintendo Direct, this time being all about Mario Kart 8. The next game in the Mario Kart franchise is said to be Nintendo's biggest and best, exclusively on the Wii U console. There was so much going on in this Nintendo Direct that I'll just list off a couple of the things they talked about:

• New Characters:
• Baby Roslalina
• Pink Gold Princess Peach
• Wii U Bundle Kit with Deluxe Set, Mario Wheel Peripheral, and Controller
• Club Nintendo members who register Mario Kart 8 before July 31st will get a free download of one of six or eight Wii U titles.
• Online Modes:
• Worldwide
• Regional
• Friends
• Tournaments
• Introduce Mario Kart TV to showcase your best moments and even post to YouTube
• New Items:
• Crazy 8 - Gives you eight different items to use
• Piranha Plant - Attaches a Piranha Plant to the front of your kart
• Super Horn - THE ONLY ITEM THAT WILL DEFEAT THE BLUE SHELL
• Boomerang - It's a boomerang.

Think of all the possibilities...

Second, earlier this week, Mojang FINALLY released Minecraft Realms to North America. For those who don't know what Minecraft Realms is, here's the low-down: Minecraft Realms is a new multiplayer feature in which for the payment of $13 (a really small fee), you can invite up to twenty of your block-stacking friends to play Minecraft with you. You will even be able to play mini-games created by the community together, such as SethBling's DwarvesVSZombies. The best part is only invited players will be able to play with you. So it's kind of like a LAN Server that up to twenty people can play on except they are around the world and not in a close proximity of each other. Mojang said that these servers will be up 24/7 and even though this is only for PC right now but hopes to expand to both console releases and Pocket Edition as well.

Bob Hoskins: 1943-2014

Finally, sad news for both gamers and movie fans alike as British actor Bob Hoskins died on April 29th, 2014 at the age of 71. Known for his portrayal of Super Mario in the 1993 film Super Mario Bros. and as Eddie Valliant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Hoskins has provided his talent for countless years and winning the hearts of many movie-goers. According to CNN, "...His passing comes nearly two years after he retired from acting following a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease..." (Leopold). Despite this, he brought life to so many iconic characters and will be missed.



That will conclude your latest in BREAKING NEWS. Thank you for reading and as always, Gamers of the Nations, RAGE ON! I'll see you next time :)