Monthly Archives: February 2015
Xbox One: Which External Hard Drive to Get?
On this week's IGN Xbox podcast, we discuss running out of Xbox One hard drive and what decisions go into choosing an external hard drive to buy. Plus, rumors suggest that both Rock Band and Guitar Hero may be returning for the new consoles (and why we're FREAKING OUT), Microsoft makes a genius move to partner Forza with Fast and Furious, Batman: Arkham Knight's 'M' rating, why MMOs are finally hitting Xbox consoles, and much more!
NOTES:
The hard drive discussion starts at about the 05:30 mark.
AI Masters Almost 50 Atari 2600 Games Without Instructions
Researchers have developed a new kind of artificial intelligence that has demonstrated an ability to successfully teach itself how to play a large number of classic Atari 2600 games, according to a study published in the journal Nature (via the Belfast Telegraph).
By receiving only the pixels on screen and the game score as input the AI (referred to by the researchers as a “Deep Q-network”) was able to “surpass the performance of all previous algorithms and achieve a level comparable to that of a professional human games tester across a set of 49 games.” The key point is Deep Q-network was able to achieve this on a single algorithm without any specific programming instructions for the games. This separates Deep Q-network from well-known chess playing computers like IBM’s “Deep Blue”, which was powered by a complex chess playing program and had human intervention between games.
Blomkamp‘s Alien Movie Will Ignore Alien 3 and Resurrection
Neill Blomkamp's upcoming Alien movie will carry on Ellen Ripley's story from James Cameron's Aliens, and ignore the sequels that came later.
In an interview with Sky News (during a promotional tour for Blomkamp's upcoming sci-fi flick Chappie), Blomkamp and Sigourney Weaver revealed that they intend to give Ripley a "proper finish" - one the pair don't think was achieved in Alien 3 or Alien: Resurrection.
"I want this film to feel like it's literally the genetic sibling of Aliens," said Blomkamp. "So it's Alien, Aliens, and then this movie".
Sunny Team: The Show’s Like a Cartoon & Can Last Forever
We're about half way through Season 10 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the series shows no indication of slowing down its comedy momentum. IGN had the opportunity to speak with Sunny stars and executive producers Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton about Season 10 (and beyond), why it's lasted for so many years, where it's headed from here, and why in the name of all that's holy Sunny doesn't receive any Emmy love.
FX/FXX boss John Landgraf recently reminded reporters that Sunny is not only in its tenth season, but has also been renewed for two more and could, theoretically speaking continue on indefinitely. Both Day and Howerton attribute the series' staying power - at least in part - to the immutable nature of the characters.
You’ll Never Believe What the Joker Did Now
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Batman #39!
Today's Batman #39 by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo contained a great deal of twists and turns that have set the stage for next issue's Endgame finale. We hopped on the phone with Snyder to have him shed some light on the most recent developments.
Most notably, there's the bloody chopping off of dear Alfred Pennyworth's hand, but we also talked to Snyder about the mysterious new Talon, Joker's disfigured face, doing a tribute to the 1989 Batman movie, Easter eggs to look out for, and how DC's Convergence event will affect the series.
Creed Synopsis Suggests Rocky Balboa is Seriously Ill
Rocky Balboa may be dealing with a serious illness in Creed, the upcoming Rocky spinoff starring Michael B. Jordan (Fantastic Four, Chronicle).
According to the official synopsis, Balboa will be up against "an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring." The synopsis also reveals the name of Jordan's character to be Adonis Johnson, the son of Rocky's longtime friend, and former rival, Apollo Creed. Here's the full synopsis:
Adonis Johnson (Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa.
ToeJam and Earl Returns With New Kickstarter Project
ToeJam and Earl originally released for the Sega Genesis back in 1992, complete with big gold chains and funky tunes blasting from oversized boom boxes. And now, the game's creators are bringing the sequel to modern audiences.
Developer HumaNature teased ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove earlier in February, saying they've been too busy working on the project to release any new information. But the sequel's Kickstarter page details features, future plans and backer rewards should Back in the Groove get the $400,000 it needs.
5 Marvel Comics Brian Michael Bendis Should Write Next
Last week brought the somewhat surprising announcement that Brian Michael Bendis is ending his X-Men run as of May's renumbered Uncanny X-Men #600. Bendis has been the driving force behind the X-Men franchise since late 2012, and though his runs on All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men didn't wind up being as long as his Avengers saga, it's still been a wild ride for X-fans.
The question is, what's next for Bendis? We know he recently signed another exclusive contract with Marvel, but after penning lengthy, influential runs on the Avengers and X-Men franchises, helping birth the Ultimate Universe, and reinventing characters like Daredevil and Luke Cage, where do you go next?
We've picked out five Marvel franchises that Bendis is well-suited to tackle as his next big Marvel undertaking. Given Bendis' habit of writing two parallel series (Avengers and New Avengers, All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men), we've focused on assignments that will allow the writer to tackle two different sides of the same coin. We also point out the artists we'd like to see help Bendis bring these books to life. Check out our picks, and let us know what titles you'd like to see Bendis write in the comments below.
Meet Smite’s New Butt-Kicking Warrior Goddess
The third-person multiplayer online battle arena, Smite, today unleashed the newest member of its ever evolving cast of mythological combatants. Bellona, the Roman Goddess of War, enters the fray as the only female warrior along with a number of new changes.
Introduced in today's Battle Frost patch, Bellona is a physical melee god who changes combat weapons and styles after using an ability. This versatility allows her to play a number of roles, but she excels at shutting down basic attack-oriented gods with her new form of crowd control, Disarm, which prevents targets from using basic attacks for a short time.
Star Wars Rebels: Hera’s Clone Wars Connection Confirmed
Despite Star Wars Rebels being less than a week away from its Season 1 finale, we still know very little about the Ghost crew's backstories. However, in the latest Rebels Recon, Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo revealed a key bit of info about Hera Syndulla (fast-forward to about the 4:45 mark):
Ever since Hera's name was first announced, everyone assumed she was related to the Twi'lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but the creators would never give a specific answer when asked about it. So it's kind of funny then that Hidalgo oh-so casually confirmed here that Hera is in fact Cham's daughter.