Battlestar Galactica's Game Has a Release Date, Giant Mechs Get Super Tiny, and More Tabletop News

Welcome back to the Gaming Shelf, io9's roundup of tabletop gaming news, releases, updates, and cool crowdfunding campaigns —focusing on sci-fi and fantasy games, typically. These past couple of weeks were really big on miniatures games—from the new skirmish set for Kings of War to build-it-yourself mech suits on Tiny…

It Wasn't Just the Dinosaurs That Were Fake, Even Jurassic World Itself Was One Giant Special Effect

Modern visual effects are easy to spot when they’re creating something you know doesn’t actually exist in real life. Velociraptors and T-rexes are obviously the work of talented visual effects artists, but in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, even the island under the imaginary theme park was a digital creation, brought…

Exclusive: Mystery Science Theater 3000’s new season gets a fitting premiere date on Netflix

Last Turkey Day, Netflix gave fans of bad movies and wisecracking robots something to be thankful for, renewing Mystery Science Theater 3000 for a 12th season. It was a fitting choice, extending the show’s Kickstarted revival on a date that’s long been synonymous with MST3K marathons and premieres.

6 Mistakes the Last Airbender Movie Made That We Pray Aren't Repeated on the New Show

Netflix announced last week that it’s doing a live-action series based on Avatar: The Last Airbender, starting production next year. Of course, as much as we’d like to forget, this isn’t the first live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon’s iconic animated series. And the previous version made a lot of mistakes. Bad ones.

Telltale Employees Left Stunned By Company Closure, No Severance [Update]

Telltale Games employees were surprised when CEO Pete Hawley announced the closure of the company at a staff-wide meeting. One employee, a source told Kotaku, had been working until 3 AM the night before with no inkling that the studio was about to let them and over 200 other employees go, leaving behind a skeleton…

Comixology Is Launching Its Own Prequel Series to French Sci-Fi Epic Prométhée

Comixology’s original series program isn’t just bringing completely new stories to the digital storefront, but interesting new collaborations with other publishers. We’ve already seen the likes of Marvel and Valiant launch exclusive series through Comixology, but now French publisher Delcourt is getting in on it.

An Oddly Pukey Update From Aquaman, and Work Begins on the Picard Spinoff

An intriguing new rumor hints at the timeframe of the Black Widow movie. Todd Phillips gives us a new look at Joker. The Birds of Prey movie has a release date. Plus, what’s to come on The Gifted and Z Nation, set pictures from X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and a new clip from Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors. Spoilers now!

The Final Fantastic Beasts Sequel Trailer Teases a Surprising Character Reveal [Updated]

So far, the trailers for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald haven’t so much actually shown us, well, the crimes of Grindelwald, as they have the ephemera surrounding them. This final trailer doesn’t just give us a better look at Newt Scamander’s new adventure (and those crimes), but a very weird Potter…