Monthly Archives: January 2015
IGN UK Podcast #263: Alex Garland’s Dark Soul
The podcast looks and sounds a little different this week as author-turned-screenwriter-turned-director – and sometime gamer – Alex Garland is our very special guest for the duration.
Garland burst onto the literary scene with The Beach back in 1996 before making the transition into movies with scripts for 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go and Dredd 3D.
And next week he makes his director debut with Ex Machina, a brilliant psychological thriller about a reclusive genius who creates what he believes to be the world’s first true artificial intelligence.
So rather than waste time with stories of what we've been up to and recaps of the week's news, we instead grill Garland about the making of the movie and his love of science-fiction.
H1Z1 Users Upset at ‘Pay To Win’ Airdrops
Zombie MMO H1Z1 may have launched in Early Access on PC, but recent problems are leaving the developers at SOE little time to even sleep.
Speaking via the game’s Reddit, SOE President John Smedley explained that issues regarding players being unable to log in have mostly been resolved, with the problem now only affecting around ten percent of users.
SOE currently has a long list of bugs the team aims to fix as soon as possible. Smedley goes on to point out that framerate on some of the game’s servers isn’t functioning as it should. That said, a patch should be live to address the issue at some point later today, along with the rebalancing of some hardware.
UK Man Arrested in Relation to PSN and Xbox Live DDOS Attacks
An 18-year-old British man has been arrested in relation to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live DDOS attacks at Christmas.
The man is accused of unauthorised access to computer material following the attacks that disrupted Microsoft's and Sony's online services over the holiday period. He is also accused of knowingly providing false information to law enforcement agencies in the US.
The arrest came as part of a joint operation between the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (Serocu), the North West Regional Crime Unit (Rocu), the National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Watch Dogs Dev Admits Game Is Flawed, Sequel to Take Risks
Watch Dogs creative director has admitted the action-adventure game was not perfect "in any way", promising a sequel would take more risks.
Speaking to GamesTM, Jonathan Morin admits that there's certainly problems with the original title, before saying the developer won't rest on its laurels when it comes to making a sequel.
"I don't think Watch Dogs is perfect in any way and there's a lot of room for improvement," he explained. "But you don't always see this when you ship a game. We deliver what we believe the brand should be at the time.
"But afterward, when you cool down after five and a half years
UFC Fighter Thinks She Inspired Mortal Kombat X Character
UFC fighter Felice Herrig has made an observation about one of Mortal Kombat X’s new additions.
Speaking via Twitter and Instagram, Herrig pointed out the similarities between herself and MKX’s Cassie Cage, saying “After careful investigation I think it's safe to say Mortal Kombat X definitely used my likeness for
.”
Turtle Rock Responds to Community Concern Over Evovle DLC
Turtle Rock Studios has taken to its community forums to explain the content and pricing models of Evolve’s downloadable content following fans’ vocal criticisms online.
Publisher 2K recently revealed Evolve’s various pre-order editions, its post-launch content and Hunting Season Pass. The pre-purchase packs and DLC options feature post-launch content of two extra monsters, monster skins and several new playable Hunters. Some members of the community suggested that the developer was splitting the completed game apart and spinning it off as payable DLC.
Diablo 3 Patch Rolls Out, Season 1 Concluding
This week’s latest patch for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls for PC and Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition for PS4 and Xbox One introduces numerous fixes and updates, and precedes the upcoming conclusion to the game’s first Seasons mode, tentatively scheduled for February 3.
Patch 2.1.2 addresses a variety of general, class, and item specific changes for Reaper of Souls, including the addition of new ancient and legendary items, according to the Battle.net blog. Nephalem and Greater Rift changes include a new “revive at corpse” option, replacing checkpoint revivals, but adding a spawn timer.
Poltergeist Remake is “More of a Kid’s Movie”
It looks like the Poltergeist remake is going to be more family-friendly than the original, which gave '80s children a permanent fear of trees, clowns, and bathroom mirrors.
Sam Rockwell, who will star in Gil Kenan’s 'reimagining', told Collider that the film will be told from the POV of a 10-year-old boy.
“The 10-year-old boy is really the protagonist this time. JoBeth Williams (who played Carol-Anne in the original) was the protagonist for the most part in the first one and now the kid, it’s really through his point-of-view. So it’s more of a kids’ movie, so I don’t know if it’s gonna be like rated-R scary."
The Rise of Indigenous Storytelling in Games
For isolated indigenous communities, video games are becoming the medium of choice to tell their stories, spread their values and make their way of life more accessible to outsiders.
More importantly, they are also being used as a tool to reconnect and reengage their youth with their own cultural heritage, and to help maintain it.
The Iñupiaq, the First Nations people of Arctic Alaska, have for thousands of years passed down their culture through scrimshaw art, dance and word of mouth, known as the oral tradition.
Over time these people have watched their way of life increasingly affected by an ever-changing world, forcing them to find new ways to keep their culture alive in the face of colonialism, assimilation and globalisation.
Daryl Dixon and Kitty Pryde Sing Sleater-Kinney
Well now this looks like fun.
Norman Reedus, Ellen Page and a passel of other celebrities joined forces for Sleater-Kinney’s music video No Cities to Love. Or should we say, joined voices.
As EW points out, the gimmick is that the stars are all proudly singing along to the song playing on their respective headphones. Neat idea. Check it out:
We’ve all enjoyed a good headphone singalong (much to the chagrin of anyone in earshot) and now we know we’re not alone. In addition to Reedus and Page, the video features Connie Britton, Fred Armisen, Gerard Way, Andy Samberg, Sarah Silverman, Brie Larson, Natasha Leone, J. Mascis, and Miranda July.