Headlines Archives - Page 37 of 58

Grand Theft Auto TV series may star Daniel Radcliffe

April 9, 2015 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

Daniel Radcliffe may play Sam Houser, the founder of Rockstar Games, in the BBC drama Grand Theft Auto.

The show will be based on real-life events of how Sam Houser fought Jack Thompson, in the early 2000s, over the perceived violence, and sex in video-games.

Jack Thompson constantly attacked Houser and Rockstar Games in the early 2000s for pushing violence, sex, and drugs in their video-games. He was already known as the Florida attorney activist who attacked media companies for promoting rap and sex on radio. When Thompson found out of the existence of Grand Theft Auto he formed an obsession for closing down the company that developed the game. Jack Thompson was disbarred in 2008 due to inappropriate behaviour.

The actor that is supposed to play Jack hasn’t been cast yet.

The TV series will have as director Owen Harris, whom some of you may know to have directed a couple of episodes of UK’s Misfits, and the first episodes of Black Mirror’s season 2.

James Wood wrote the script, and the show was initially known as Rockstar Games – the name may very well change once again. Jim Spencer will be in charge of producing the show, and Mark Hedgecoe will be the executive producer.

The TV show will start shooting on the 20th of April, and it is based on David Kushner’s – Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto.

British co-founder Sam Houser and president of Rockstar Game has garnered a reputation of creating one of the most loved game franchises in the world – also the biggest one.

Grand Theft Auto has amped its portrayal of violence with each new installment – if we take into consideration Max Payne and Red Dead Redemption, we can say that every Rockstar game is about maniacs seeking justice, or revenge, by using sheer force.

Image Source: 1

The team behind Prey 2 talks about its cancellation

April 9, 2015 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

Prey 2 was the much awaited sequel to 2006’s Prey – a first person shooter set in a world where aliens abduct humans so they can feed off of them. Something along the lines of War of the Worlds, but without crazy turned Scientologist Tom Cruise.

Developer Human Head Studios shares some insight on why the game was never meant to exist – it was actually scrapped way back in 2011, 3 years before Bethesda officially announced the title’s cancellation.

“We stopped working on Prey 2 near the end of 2011, and had been working on it for close to two years. It was very close to an alpha state, with all major content pieces represented. We were at that point in a game where you can step back and see the whole picture and shift from developer to editor and decide which elements to cut and which elements to emphasis and polish.” – Chris Rhinehart, project director has stated for Develop.

Prey 2 was officially revelead in March of 2011, but by the end of 2011 Bethesda was not pleased with the quality of the game, announcing in October of 2014 that the game – ” […] wasn’t up to our quality standard and we decided to cancel it. It’s no longer in development. That wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s one that won’t surprise many folks given that we hadn’t been talking about it.”

Both developer and publisher have some contradictory views. While Bethesda is saying that the quality of the game was poor, and it lacked several key features, Human Head Studios are stating that – ” Our tech had progressed significantly past the live demo we ran at E3, Gamescom and PAX and was even more impressive. It’s my personal opinion that we would have been counted among the best looking games of the previous console generation.”

At this point, we really don’t know who to believe. It’s true, the demo that ran at E3 was brilliant, and we saw how much work was put into the Prey universe, but on the other hand, it was just a demo, and everything was scripted.

We will never know what Prey 2 could have been, but we are glad that the guys and girls behind Prey weren’t utterly destroyed by the cancellation of their 2 year project. They managed to get up like a Phoenix from its ashes, and help Irrational Games’ Bioshock: Infinite with level designers, system designers, programmers, artists and animators. Small teams from the studio also went on to create mobile free-to-play title Fort Courage, while other employees where put to work for Trion World’s MMO Defiance – art, level and character design.

Now the studio is hardly working on Lost Within – a survival horror game set inside a haunted asylum filled with monsters, where the player is tasked with confronting a famous killer who has been locked inside. It is rumoured to be released this Spring, or Summer – no official date exists at this moment. Lost Within is designed for smartphones and tablets. Published by Amazon Game Studios especially for their Fire devices, the game will also appear for iPhone and iPad. A trailer can be watched right here.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

The biggest games this year have been confirmed for E3 2015

April 8, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The E3 event for gamers is like opening up gifts 6 months prior to Christmas – but at the end of the day you have to put them back in the box.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is an event that takes place every year in Downtown Los Angeles.

If you build it, they will come – every year developers, publishers, fans, gamers, and geeks all around the world, gather so they can witness the future of the gaming industry.

There are some big names confirmed to appear at this years E3 – some new entries, and some older ones that appeared last year also. But the thing is, we just have a fraction of the list at this moment, and it’s a huge list. See for yourself:

Assassin’s Creed Victory
Developer: Ubisoft Quebec
Publisher: Ubisoft

Video footage has already been leaked on-line, but it’s incredibly low quality and I don’t recommend you spoil this beauty. Just wait a little bit more, and you’ll definitely not be disappointed. Hint: the story is going to take place in 19th century London.

Crackdown
Developer: Cloudgine
Publisher: Microsoft

Crackdown had a short video teaser last year at E3, and it’s making a comeback this year – we expect a release date, and more awesome videos.

The Division
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Publisher: Ubisoft

Well, I’ve been waiting for this one since its first announcement back in 2013. Ubisoft has stated that The Division will be released in 2015, but for the love of God, we are hoping that this title won’t endure the same chaos that plagued Watch Dogs – it had so much potential, but the developers just destroyed it. I’m blaming Ubisoft and their horrendous deadlines for the mischief. Anyway, if you want to see a game-play trailer for The Division, you can do it right here.

Doom
Developer: iD
Publisher: Bethesda

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this E3 entry. I loved the last re-hashed version of Doom, but its expansion was poorly made, and it felt lackluster.

Fable Legends
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Publisher: Microsoft

I remember being a wee child when the first Fable was released, and it was tons of fun. So much freedom to do whatever you want – it was exhilarating.

Forza Motorsport 6
Developer: Turn 10 Studios
Publisher: Microsoft

We don’t know if the game will be playable on the floor, but it’s great that Microsoft announced the game for E3.

Gears of War
Developer: Black Tusk Studio
Publisher: Microsoft

The trailer will most certainly be played at Microsoft’s press conference. Gears of War has been an important exclusive franchise for Xbox, and later on for PC.

Halo 5: Guardians
Developer: 343 Industries
Publisher: Microsoft

I’m a little bit saddened, still, that Bungie has moved on to create other amazing titles. Hopefully 343, who are the new sovereign lords above Halo, will not fail us. It has been said that the developers will focus more on the story, rather than the multiplayer side.

Mass Effect 4
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: EA

Last year EA teased us with screenshots – now we expect more. But, come to think of it, why expect more? Its in EA’s hands, and everything that EA touches turns to copper. I would be more than happy with other publishers taking up the Mass Effect franchise. I still have to play the 3rd installment.

Minecraft: Story Mode
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games

I’m really loving Telltale Games. I adored the first season of The Walking Dead, blazed in a day through the season one DLC, and I waited like a pup in front of a Doggy Treat store for each new episode of season 2. Tales from the Borderlands is really great, but I’m not digging their Game of Thrones series – and I’m a huge GoT fan. But I have confidence that the bright minds at Telltale will not disappoint us.

Mirror’s Edge 2
Developer: Dice
Publisher: EA

Rhianna Pratchett, the writer of the first installment, isn’t going to work on the sequel and that somehow makes me lose faith in the whole project. I said it before, and I’m going to say it again – I don’t trust EA one bit.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony

We are not mad that it was pushed back to Spring of 2016 – we are glad that they take so much time to offer a great end-product. Naughty Dog hasn’t failed us yet, and there is no reason to believe they will be starting now.

This is just but a fraction of the huge list – that hasn’t even been fully announced yet. E3 2015 will begin on the 16th of June and it will end on the 18th of June.

Are you planning on attending this year? What games are you excited for? How about unannounced ones?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Screenshots leaked for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

April 8, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Square Enix’s futuristic action packed sequel – Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – is currently in development for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Last night, a Russian gaming site has leaked some screenshots from the upcoming title in the Deus Ex franchise – and they look jaw-dropping awesome!

The game will take place in 2029, that is two years after the events that took place in Deus Ex: Human Revolution – but unfortunately we don’t know anything more than that, neither the release date.

Since the start of the week, Square Enix has been testing a new game on social media, and Twitch, under the name Can’t Kill Progress. Today they have announced on Twitter that Deus Ex fans should tune in tomorrow at noon (ET) at deusex.com for more info regarding the title’s future.

In October of 2013, Eidos Montreal head David Anfossi had stated that the game will – ” stretch across multiple games. Beyond the PC and console games, Deus Ex: Universe will also span across other media, including mobile games, books and graphic novels.” and that almost all of the original team is going to be working on their new project. The main theme they are going to tackle will be trans-humanism segregation.

In March of 2014, Square Enix filled a trademark for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market – Europe’s trademark and design registry, and since then no new info has been announced, or leaked regarding the games development stage.

Combining first person shooter, stealth and role-playing elements, Deus Ex is a cyber-punk themed video-game that has its roots way back in 2000. The game received critical acclaim and commercial success, and the dystopian world has won several awards – according to PC Gamer, it’s the best PC game of all time, and also by UK based gaming magazine PC Zone.

Trans-humanism segregation sounds like something you would find in an Orwellian world.

Are you eager to play the new installment in the series? Or do you think it will flop? Tell us in the comments section below.

Image Source: 1,2

You can pre-order Intel’s new PC on a stick

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Intel’s new PC on a stick is available for pre-order now via Amazon and Newegg – it will ship at the end of April.

Don’t think of it like something that would replace your desktop PC – it’s not case – but think of it as a step in the right direction.

What can it actually do?

Well it’s a PC on a stick that can turn your TV into a Windows, or Linux machine – just by sticking the USB dongle into a port.

Users that were lucky enough to get a hold of pre-release dongles have reported that while the stick can’t replace your desktop PC, it tries incredibly hard to do so – and it can run simple games from Steam, stream Netflix shows, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Youtube runs smoothly.

Also users have reported that they didn’t encounter any problems whatsoever when loading PowerPoint and other presentation software – this can come quite in handy if you pair it up with a projector.

It has an SSD storage of 32GB, so don’t expect to fill the stick with HD movies, but you can add a 256 GB Micro SD card and you can boost the storage size up to 8 times – you’ll have your very own mini system.

It sports a Intel Atom 64 bit Quad-core Processor, with 2 GB of RAM, WLAN 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.0, 1 HDMI port, and 1 USB 2.0 port.

Bluetooth makes it easy as pie for you to connect a wireless keyboard and a mouse.

It’s definitely not for gaming, but some users have managed to install even World of Warcraft – no, it doesn’t run smoothly as you think, it’s somehow stuck at 20-25FPS, but it isn’t that bad, it’s actually quite great if you think how much a little dongle costs.

Newegg is selling the USB stick for $150 and it also comes with a licensed version of Windows 8.1, but I’ve seen other retailers selling the device with Linux software on it for $100 – $11 more than the official $89.

I’m really intrigued about Intel’s new PC on a stick, and what its capabilities truly are – I need to test it out myself.

Are you going to exchange your old laptop with Intel’s new PC on a stick?

Image Source: 1

Watch the Mortal Kombat X Launch Trailer

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

With only a week to go until the official release date on April the 14th, developers of the Mortal Kombat franchise have released the launch trailer so fans can somehow endure what’s left of the waiting period.

You can watch the gruesome trailer right here.

I said it before, and I’m going to say it again – Mortal Kombat X is the embodiment of evil, and I’m going to enjoy every single piece of it.

The trailer was directed by System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian, and with his help, the team that was in charge of creating the video has managed to create a stunning launch trailer that will make us fans hunger for more. Chop Suey is the perfect song to be listening to while you see Sub Zero, Rain, Scorpion, Goro and countless others chop through their enemies.

Those who have pre-ordered the game will receive Goro as a free playable character, those who haven’t will most likely be able to buy it from the store – at this time, we don’t know if you can buy additional characters on release date, or somewhere in the near future.

Players will have to choose from 29 characters that will feature both old and new Kombatants:

Tanya, Predator, Tremor, Sonya, Liu Kang, Jason, Jacqueline Bridges, Takashi Takeda, Kung JIn, Goro, Mileena, Ermac, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Cassie Cage, D’Vorah, Kotal Kahn, Ferra & Torr, Raiden, Kano, Reptile, Kenshi, Kung Lao, Quan Chi, Jax, Kitana, Erron Black, Shinnok, and Johnny Cage. That’s one hell of a roster!

There are some rumoured characters that we would most definitely love to see make a comeback:

Sindel, Bo Rai Cho, Kabal, Cyrax, Smoke, Rain, Stryker, Nightwolf, Fujin and Baraka.

NetherRealm Studios, and Warner Bros. Games have announced 4 limited eddition bundles for die hard fans:

Mortal Kombat X: Kollector’s Edition $150 – PS4/Xbox One – Available everywhere

Exclusive Scorpion figurine and Certificate of Authenticity, designed by Coarse
In-game Gold Scorpion Skin, inspired by the Coarse figurine
The Kombat Pack, which includes access to four add-on playable characters from Klassic Kombatants to Iconic guest characters

Mortal Kombat X: Kollector’s Edition &180 – PS4/Xbox One – Available only through Amazon

Scorpion Statue
Exclusive Steel Pack and Steel Card
Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties Comic Book Volume 1
In-game Gold Scorpion Skin
The Kombat Pack

Mortal Kombat X: Premium Edition $90 – PS3/PS4/Xbox360/Xbox One/PC – Available only digitally

The Kombat Pack

Mortal Kombat X: Limited Edition $95 – PS4/Xbox One – Available only through GameStop

Exclusive Scorpion Skin – this skin design, inspired by the Cold War, is a collaboration between NetherRealm Studios and a fan artist from the MKKollective.com
The Kombat Pack

I would definitely buy the Amazon one, but GameStop drives a hard bargain with that exclusive Scorpion skin.

What edition are you going to buy?

Image Source: 1

Aluminium battery prototype can be fully charged in 1 minute

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Researchers at Stanford University have announced the creation of a new aluminium battery that can be fully charged in one minute.

Besides being able to offer an unbelievable charging time, it’s also a safe alternative to the widespread conventional lithium-ion and alkaline batteries.

Stanford chemistry professor Dai Hongjie has stated – ” We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames. Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it.”

At its current state the battery prototype can’t be used in anything important – it can only produce 2 volts, far less that what an ordinary 3.6V lithium-ion battery can pump. The aluminium cells can only carry about 40 watts of electricity/kg whereas if you are to compare it to a lithium’s 100-206 watts of electricity/kg, it stands rather low in rankings.

We are fairly sure that aluminium batteries are contenders on the market, and they will soon get a place in our everyday devices. And why wouldn’t they? They cost a fraction of an lithium-ion battery, they can be recharged super fast, and they don’t explode in your pocket.

Aluminium batteries have come a long way. The first models cracked under the pressure after only 100 recharge cycles; now it can withstand up to 7,500 recharge cycles without losing its capacity – that’s 7.5 times more than the average lithium-ion battery.

The major problem, that we hope researchers at Stanford University can successfully tackle, is the one regarding cathode material. Nobody wants a 2 volt battery that can’t power anything – “Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density.Otherwise, our battery has everything else you’d dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It’s quite exciting.” – has stated Dai Hongjie in a Stanford press release.

We are witnessing an industrial revolution – and I thought that 3D printers will be the next big thing. Just think of how this new prototype battery can change our lives. Laptops that can last up to days, and not hours, no more camping near a power outlet for a few hours to recharge your phone, research can be done in regards to electric cars, and prolonging their mileage, hospitals that won’t need to rely on generators in case of a power-outage – and so many more uses.

It’s awesome to live in the future.

Image Source: 1

PlayStation Now adds new goodies to its streaming service

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Sony will be adding in April a ton of new goodies for PlayStation Now users – and it will be also available for Sony Blu-Ray players and TVs.

The most exciting game that will be available to Sony’s game streaming service has to be Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. An award winning game that ended the Uncharted trilogy – or so we have thought until we heard that Uncharted 4: A thief’s End is set to be released next year. It’s the perfect chance for gamers to catch up on the series, and fell madly in love with Naughty Dog’s rendition of a more charismatic Indiana Jones – if that’s even possible.

PlayStation Now will also receive two Team Ninja games – Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate. And for the casual gamers out there – Hustle Kings and Super Stardust HD.

It’s seem to be a month filled with great news from Sony. They have announced that their PlayStation Now service will be available outside of the PlayStation devices. Owners of Sony Blu-Ray players, 2015 models, and select 2014 Sony TV’s will be able to use the game streaming service. For more information regarding if your device is compatible with PlayStation Now, please read the FAQ sheet available on the official website.

PlayStation 4 owners will have PS Now pre-installed on their devices, and they will also receive a free seven day trial.

A subscription to PlayStation Now costs 20$ per month – or 45$ for 3 months – and it offers the user over 100 PS3 titles for pure enjoyment. The list of titles that are available on the streaming service can be read right here.

It seems that Sony wants to move further and further into game streaming services. In 2012 the company has acquired Gaikai, and recently a buy-out has been publicly announced by OnLive – one of the pioneers of game streaming services. Rumours have it that Sony didn’t acquire OnLive only for their network, or hardware capabilities, but most importantly for their patents.

If you weren’t planning on using PlayStation Now, maybe with these new additions you are enticed to give it a try. I know I will replay the Uncharted series. What about you?

Image Source: 1

CERN LHC up and running after 2 year hiatus

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The Large Hadron Collider, or for short LHC, has been restarted after a 2 year hiatus, and is ready to go deep into new physics.

In 2012, scientists discovered the Higgs Boson, called The God Particle by the mainstream media, and it was one of the greatest things to be discovered in the past decade. Scientists are hopeful that now, after upgrading the LHC and spending $150 million, they will meddle with new physics and they will soon find out if Higgs Boson has relatives – distant cousins more likely.

Restarting the LHC after a 2 year hiatus doesn’t mean that it will start smashing particles. Scientists will need to re-calibrate each and every single instrument – ” It will take us about six weeks to two months to establish the first stable collisions for the experiments, because we have to commission all the instruments, all the systems one by one.” – Joerg Wenninger, coordinator of LHC operations.

Besides researching dark matter, scientists are hoping to prove, or disprove, the new so-called theory – Supersymmetry – it basically says that every particle has a partner particle.

If proven to be correct, this theory can fix major issues with the Standard Model – more exactly fixing the mass of the Higgs Boson. Supersymmetry can also explain how dark matter works, its mass, and how its linked to everything.

The Higgs Boson was thought to be the last missing particle to fill up the Standard Model, but with this new theory, questions have been raised on actually how many particles are there?

A scientist that is involved with the CERN LHC, Tara Shears from the University of Liverpool, has said that – “Of course in every particle physics experiment we’ve ever done, we’ve been wanting to make a big, unknown discovery, but now it’s become particularly pressing, because with Run One and the discovery of the Higgs, we’ve discovered everything that our existing theory predicts.”

So it’s safe to say that we will most likely enter a new era filled with scientific theories that will baffle our minds.

The Large Hadron Collider, commonly known as LHC, was built between 1998 and 2008 by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, and it is the world’s largest, and most powerful particle collider machine to ever be built. Spanning 27 km, or 17 miles, in circumference, and as deep as 175 metres, or 574 feet, it is also the world’s longest machine.

Image Source: 1

Appointment needed to purchase the new Apple Watch

April 6, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The Apple Watch will be available on the 24th of April, but somehow the boys and girls over at Apple have thought that clients who want to buy their device need to make an appointment. Now, I don’t really know if this is the worst decision a company has ever made, or just pure brilliant.

It’s an incredibly risky thing that Apple is trying to pull here – everyone wants to try out the product before buying it, and what company that is set out to make profits doesn’t want their customers to buy something just out of sheer impulse?

I bought an iPod once out of impulse because I loved how it was designed. I already had an mp3 player back home.

Now, let’s look at the bright side for a bit. Maybe Apple wants to be sure that every store has sufficient devices in stock for purchase on release day – but it doesn’t make any sense. History has taught us that people have stood in humongous lines before with the goal to buy their devices only to find out that they were too late for the party, and the stock was no more – they didn’t riot, they didn’t even complain, some of them whined, but in the end they came back and bought the device. You can’t ensure that everyone will have a chance on buying the product.

Another possible reason, that seems more probable, is that Apple employees will instruct each and every single customer that buys the Apple Watch on how to actually use the device. Guiding customers through the process of customizing their new gear, selecting which band they want, and if they prefer the Sport version or the standard Apple Watch, doesn’t seem like a bad idea – but the question here is why? Why go through all the hassle of explaining such details? Isn’t Apple known for its simplicity, and incredibly user-friendly design?

Buyers of the Apple Watch, or any smart watch, will consist of individuals that have already made their research regarding the product. You’ll not see Mark, my room mate, who doesn’t know the difference between a CPU and GPU, buy a first hand edition of the Apple Watch. Of course, there will be buyers that will acquire the smart watch only because it’s made by Apple, and it’s something new, but those aren’t in the target demographic.

In the end, we know that the Apple Watch will sell like crazy – crazy millions actually. In the last few months, Apple has plastered cities with billboards and commercials for their new device, ads on TVs, and of course articles on well known tech blogs.

Image Source: 1

Categories