Monthly Archives: March 2015
Apple Opening Research Center in Japanese ‘Smart City’
Apple has begun construction of a new research and development center in Yokohama, Japan, and hopes to complete the 25,000 square meter building by 2017.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the area around the facility is being developed as a 'smart city' by Panasonic and Nomura Real Estate Development and will include housing and retail.
In keeping with its futuristic surroundings, Apple claims the building will go green with "40 percent less energy", over 1200 newly planted trees and shrubs including a landscaped rooftop, and onsite recycled water treatment.
Oculus Hints They’ll Ship Something This Year
At today's Facebook F8 developer conference, Oculus chief scientist Michael Abrash discussed why virtual reality will soon be important to everyone.
He also hinted at the arrival of "something shipped by Oculus" this year, following a video teaser of an unnamed sci-fi VR game.
Outlined in Abrash's keynote were some of the shared goals between Oculus and Facebook, namely creating "shared memory" from immersive experiences by uniting the social elements of Facebook with the artificial "presence" generated by virtual reality.
In terms of how to establish that virtual sense of presence, Abrash defined reality in the same terms as Morpheus from The Matrix, whom Abrash quoted during his speech:
How and Why Bloodborne Lost Me
Even as someone who had never played one of From Software’s Souls games for any significant length of time, I recently caught some of the infectious enthusiasm from some of IGN’s Dark Souls superfans, who’d been counting down the days to Bloodborne’s release. I’ve often been told that I’m missing out on some great, challenging-but-rewarding action-RPG games, and that I just need to put in a few hours to get into it. So this time I figured, what the heck: I’ll dive in head first, power through the awkward early hours with determination and an open mind, and join the fun.
So I did, for about 12 hours… and I hated it. After beating the Cleric Beast boss, I have no interest in going back for more. This is the story of why.
App Store Update: March 26
Every day hundreds of new apps make their debut on the App Store, and hundreds more are updated or reduced in price. We have sifted through the noise and highlighted those select few that might be worth your attention.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
Jump'N'Shoot Attack – ($1.99)
ScrewAttack and FreakZone Games join forces to bring the spirit of Mega Man to the App Store in a new runner/shooter design. Take a look:
FF15 Director: All-Male Cast Makes Game ‘More Approachable’
Final Fantasy XV's core cast is comprised entirely of male characters, a decision that was made to make the game "more approachable," according to game director Hajime Tabata.
"Speaking honestly, an all-male party feels almost more approachable for players," Tabata told GameSpot in a recent interview. "Even the presence of one female in the group will change their behaviour, so that they'll act differently. So to give the most natural feeling, to make them feel sincere and honest, having them all the same gender made sense in that way,"
Daily Deals: $350 PS4, Mortal Kombat Kollector’s Edition, 3DS XL Smash and Amiibo Bundle
Insane New 3DS XL Smash Bros and Amiibo Bundle
Now here's a bundle: a New 3DS XL, an amiibo of your choice, and Smash Bros 3DS for $220. The New 3DS XL is normally $200, so you're basically getting an amiibo and Smash for $20.
Deep Silver Wants Your Face in Homefront: The Revolution
In an effort to increase the diversity in their in-game world of occupied Philadelphia, Deep Silver Dambuster Studios is accepting applications from the public to be scanned and modeled as non-player characters (NPCs).
Those interested can submit photos via the studio's official website. According to the terms and conditions, one must be at least 18 years old and able to travel to Nottingham in the UK for the 30-minute facial scanning process.
The developer will be contacting applicants throughout the year and reassures people to not become upset if they don't hear back right away. It's possible these scans will also be used in the studio's prospective projects, as a note on the site clearly states they're "looking for new faces to feature in Homefront: The Revolution and other future video games."
Steam’s Massive SEGA Sale Takes Place This Weekend
Steam has partnered with SEGA to launch a large weekend-long PC game sale beginning today and ending on Monday, March 30.
Featuring the entire catalogs of the Total War, Company of Heroes, and Dawn of War series, the sale also offers discounts on sports management games NHL: Eastside Hockey Manager and Football Manager 2015.
Alien Isolation is also available, with a 75% discount on its normal retail price.
Additionally, SEGA has complied all of their games into one large bundle available for $80, £60, €70.
Check back with Steam daily or SEGA's Twitter feed to stay up-to-date with all of their offerings.
Guess How Many Grenades Call of Duty Players Have Thrown
To celebrate the upcoming Call of Duty championships, Activision has shared some strange but impressive stats about the Call of Duty game series.
Before you take a look, go ahead and guess how many grenades Call of Duty players have thrown. Hint: a lot.
The stats above were gathered only from Call of Duty games that have been released since 2010, unless otherwise noted. The core Call of Duty games released in that time span include Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops II, Ghosts, and Advanced Warfare.
Human Torch to Join Marvel’s Inhumans
Update: This news was revealed by Wired UK, and in their report they specifically state that Johnny Storm is not an Inhuman, so there goes that theory.
Talking about the series, Marvel senior editor Nick Lowe said, "It's fitting that the first Marvel hero to encounter the Inhumans is joining up with them. Johnny Storm is one of the best characters in the Marvel U and he's shaking up the Inhumans side of the Marvel U in a big way. Just wait until you see the last page!"
The original story is below.
In a teaser image for the upcoming Uncanny Inhumans comic book, it was revealed that Johnny Storm -- aka the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four -- will be joining the Inhumans.