Monthly Archives: January 2015
Would You Buy a Heart-Shaped Cell Phone?
A unique, heart-shaped cell phone from Ymobile is set to hit the Japanese market in March.
The Heart 401AB features a monochrome 0.9-inch, 128 x 36 display, while lacking a camera, web browser, e-mail, and SMS functionality, according to The Verge. It isn't intended to replace your smartphone, but rather compliment it as a fashionable secondary phone for voice calls.
A special Sailor Moon edition of the Heart 401AB will also be available. Check it out in the slideshow below.
A smartphone app will allow your contacts to be transferred to the Heart 401AB. The phone itself is navigated using built-in touch sensors. When it's time to make a call, the phone must be twisted into its more practical "straight" mode.
PSN Class Action Settlement: Do You Qualify?
If you were affected by the PlayStation Network outage of 2011, you may qualify for benefits agreed upon in a class-action lawsuit against certain "Sony Entities."
The Class in this case includes anyone in the US and its territories who had a "PSN account, a Qriocity account, or an SOE account," during any time before May 15, 2011.
If you were an account holder of one of the qualifying Sony Entities during the time period specified, you may be entitled to certain benefits from the suit. The benefits include a free PS3 or PSP game, 3 free themes, or 3 months of PlayStation Plus membership.
Anyone who suffered identity theft from the incident that led to out-of-pocket expenses can submit supporting documentation to claim reimbursement of up to $2,500.
Rainbow Six Siege: 5v5 or Bust
Our love for the Rainbow Six reboot is hardly a secret: we loved what we played at E3 2014, naming the destruction-tastic, 60fps first-person shooter our Game of the Show. It went dark shortly after its unveiling, though, with the Ubisoft Montreal development team quietly toiling away on the return of the beloved franchise ever since. Our interview with game designer Andrew J. Witts marks the first noise the team's made about the game in a while.
"'House' was simply the first map that we felt showed how different and claustrophobic Siege’s
Black Sails is Back! Here’s What to Expect…
Starz's pirate series Black Sails returns Saturday night for Season 2 with a bevy of plotlines in motion. When last we saw the characters, Flint (Toby Stephens) had been usurped as Captain thanks to a mutiny, while Vane (Zach McGowan) had returned to Nassau, accompanied by a new army of followers - and disrupting Eleanor’s (Hannah New) plans in the process.
I sat down the show’s creators, Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine, to find out what to expect as the new season begins, including the inclusion of flashbacks, some dangerous new enemies and much more.
IGN: You got the Season 2 renewal pretty early. Was that great for you as far as the ability to really plan ahead and getting to look at where you wanted to go?
DC’s First Month of Convergence Revealed
DC released their full solicitations for April 2015 this week. As you can see, big changes are afoot as the New 52 takes a two-month break and the Convergence event takes over the spotlight. The weekly Convergence mini-series will be accompanied by 40 two-issue books exploring various past incarnations of DC's heroes.
New Series:
- Convergence #1-4
- Various Convergence tie-ins
- Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest HC
- Vertigo Quarterly: SFX #1
- Wonder Woman '77 Special #1
The Art of the Uncharted Trilogy Preview
Dark Horse is set to release another entry in their growing lineup of video game art books. And even though they've already put out a book focused on Naughty Dog's library, they're hard at work on a volume focused specifically on the Uncharted series. The Art of the Uncharted Trilogy will include concept art and designs from the first three Uncharted games, as well as plenty of commentary from the developers. Consider it one way to tide you over until the release of Uncharted 4.
Is it Time to Rethink Our Loathing of Free-to-Play Titles?
The last few years have been an interesting time to be involved in the games industry. Where once there was a clearly established business model, where gamers would drop a one-time fee for all of a title’s content, increasingly we’re seeing a shift towards DLC, microtransactions and the fragmentation of features we’re expected to pay for in addition to our initial purchase if we want to experience them. Giving this, it’s hardly surprising to find the free-to-play label provokes a strong reaction from many gamers.
But is the tide starting to turn? As a slew of broken and bug-riddled games released at the tail-end of 2014 shows, unfortunately we’re now living in a world where an up-front fee for a triple-A game regrettably doesn’t guarantee quality.Could free-to-play offer a convenient try-before-you-buy alternative? According to Gameforge’s Jörn Fahrbach, attitudes in the rest of the world are slowly starting to catch up with those in mainland Europe. The F2P giant oversaw TERA: Rising’s removal of its sub fee in the EU and, with the recent launch of the Fate of Arun expansion pack, it seems more people than ever are expressing an interest in the MMO.
IGN UK Podcast #264: Ruck Bodgers
"Bidi-bidi-bidi. Hiya Buck!" Ah, who can forget Twiki, the loveable robot whose chrome dome bore more than a passing resemblance to the tip of a man's chap. But it's not for this reason Alex would love to see the classic 1970-'80s sci-fi show Buck Rogers remade for the 21st century. Disappointingly, Chris and Luke's television remake suggestions don't really bear any similarities to genitalia in any way, shape or form, but everyone agrees the world would be a better place if X-Files was back on our tellies.
The team also share their concerns over the Suicide Squad film following the departure of Tom Hardy and Jake Gyllenhaal, and weigh up the pros and cons of Microsoft's virtual reality competitor, Hololens.
Delayed Dying Light Gets a New Release Date
Dying Light is coming to Europe and Australia on January 28 via digital release, and will be available physically on February 27.
If you’re eyeing up the disk-based version, all pre-orders of Dying Light will come with two DLC packs, both Cuisine & Cargo and Ultimate Survivor Bundle.
As a thank you for the support thus far, Techland has said the Be the Zombie multiplayer mode – a mode that lets players invade other people’s game – will be free to everyone.
The news comes a few days after it was revealed that physical production has had an impact on the game’s release date.
Play The Sims 4 for Free with Origin Game Time
The Sims 4 is featured on Origin Game Time, allowing players to play the simulation title free for 48 hours.
Origin Game Time lets players play the game as much as they want for 48 hours for free from the moment they start the game. Users who play The Sims 4 during the promotion and choose to purchase the game at a later date will be able to carry over save their progress.
All Origin users have until February 2 at 10:00 a.m. PT/ 6:00 p.m. GMT/ February 3 at 10:100 a.m. AEDT to add The Sims 4 Game Time to their Origin Game Library. And be sure to check out our review of the sim title, where we thought it succeeded in being a deep and complex game when it comes to Sim interactions, with lots of entertaining emotional potential.