Monthly Archives: November 2015
The 9 Best Gifts for Book and Game Lovers
Books are like video games in that you need to do a little work to enjoy them, but the pay-off is totally worth it. If you're looking for books this holiday that will excite the gamer in your life, we've assembled this list of greats for your consideration.
You don't need to be a true 90s kid to remember the knock-down, drag-out days of SEGA versus Nintendo. Console Wars by Blake J. Harris looks at the inside story of how SEGA positioned itself to take on what was the most powerful gaming company in the world at the time.
PlayStation Network Currently Experiencing Issues
UPDATE: With the exception of PlayStation Music, all services have now been restored.
PlayStation Network is currently experiencing issues across a number of its services, Sony Computer Entertainment has confirmed.
According to the network's status page, everything from Account Management to Gaming and Social have been affected. As such, PSN users may have difficulty signing in, launching games or accessing other online applications.
Additionally, PlayStation Store, as well as PlayStation Vue, Video and Music are all experiencing issues. PlayStation Now appears to be the only service unaffected.
Thoughts on Jessica Jones, Man in the High Castle, Master of None
Hey guys, on this week's Channel Surfing there's several new streaming series to discuss, as Netflix and Amazon have launched a lot of new content of late.
There's also a very awkward edit in the middle of the podcast due to a weird technical issue. Listen to hear the magic for yourself!
Topics include:
-Mystery Science Theater 3000 returning
-Jeffrey Dean Morgan cast as Negan on The Walking Dead
-Lost in Space coming back as a Netflix series
-FX canceling The Bastard Executioner
-FOX no longer reporting overnight ratings
-The Soup ending
-Reaction to W/ Bob & David
-Reaction to Master of None
Sony to Close PSP Online Store in Japan
Sony will shutter the PlayStation Store on PSP in Japan on March 31, 2016.
According to Sony's announcement (via Gematsu), PSP content will no longer be available for purchase through the handheld's online store. Anything you’ve purchased previously will still be available for download, though.
For clarity, the closure only affects those on PSP. If you have access to a PlayStation 3 or PS Vita, you’ll be able to purchase PSP content on those platforms.
Sony also announced it's closing its UMD Passport Service in Japan on March 31. For those who don't know, the service enables UMD owners to purchase a digital version of their content for a small fee.
What’s the Best Director-Actor Combo?
There's been some greats. Hitchcock-Stewart, Scorsese-De Niro, Scorsese-DiCaprio, Spielberg-Hanks, but what's the most successful collaboration in cinema?
We also have plenty of time to talk about Battlefront one week on, Netflix's Jessica Jones, and which is the best Goosebumps book.
Come on, that's a variety show. Watch the video above, or listen to the audio below!
IGN UK Podcast #307: What's the Best Director-Actor Combo?
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NES Remix Event Comes to Super Mario Maker
A NES Remix event has come to Super Mario Maker.
Owners can now head over to the events tab and download a NES Remix-inspired level. Upon completion of said level, users unlock a new costume for Mario – the Frog Suit.
“Become the world's greatest NES master!” reads the in-game description, via NintendoLife.
“In the NES Remix series, a variety of classic Nintendo Entertainment System games are given a new lease on life. This course gives you a taste of the Remix Stages from that series, where you can play old games with a new twist! Enjoy rushing ahead with a Super Star or experiencing a course in reverse!”
PS4 Remote Play Is Coming to PC and Mac
PlayStation 4 Remote Play is coming to PC and Mac at some point in the future.
Speaking via Twitter, president of Sony's worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida spoke briefly about the possibility of one day seeing Remote Play on PC or Mac.
“Some people asked if we plan to provide Remote Play function to PC,” says Yoshida-san, “and yes, we are indeed working on an official application for PC/Mac.”
Bringing Remote Play to computers would bring the PlayStation 4 in line with Microsoft’s Xbox App, which also allows users to stream gameplay from an Xbox One to a remote PC.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation Announces Five Dollar Computer
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced the release of its newest Raspberry Pi computer—the Pi Zero.
The Pi Zero is smaller and cheaper than ever, coming in at 65mm x 30mm x 5mm, and priced at just $5.
As the Raspberry Pi Foundation notes in a post on the company's website, owning a programmable computer is still a luxury. “Of all the things we do at Raspberry Pi,” writes Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton, “driving down the cost of computer hardware remains one of the most important.”
Pi Zero is equipped with a Broadcom BCM2835 application processor with a 1GHz ARM11 core—which should be noted, is “40% faster than Raspberry Pi 1”—, 512MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM, a micro-SC card slot, mini-HDMI socket for 1080p60 video output, micro-USB sockets for data and power, and an unpopulated 40-pin GPIO header—the same pinout as the Model A+/B+/2B.
Hitman 2 Free for a Limited Time to Celebrate 15 Years of Hitman
For the Black Friday weekend, you can download Hitman 2: Silent Assassin for free off Square Enix's online store to celebrate the series' fifteenth anniversary. Just make an account and use the promo code "FreeSilentAssassin" at the check out.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin came out in 2002 for the PS2, Xbox, GameCube and PC to largely positive reviews including an 8.7 from IGN. Reviewer Steve Butts wrote "while the title has significant improvements over the earlier version, it's a phenomenal game in its own right and one that's sure to have broad appeal, particularly among those gamers who like to put a little more thought in to their carnage."
Discovering Minecraft in 2015
Minecraft's incredible popularity is well documented, and utterly fascinating. This primitive-looking but hugely versatile experience is the best-selling PC game in history, as well as one of the best-selling games of all time. It has sold over 70 million copies between various platforms and now has its own convention.
This is no small feat: Mojang is holding onto something extraordinary to say the least. Yet for some reason or another, Minecraft had always eluded me. Rarely a PC gamer, I initially watched Markus "Notch" Persson's baby skyrocket from afar, a cultural phenomenon unlike anything I had ever seen.
So when Minecraft eventually made its way to PS4, with its popularity showing no signs of dropping, curiosity eventually got the better of me. Running out of things to play and a sale appearing on PSN made it seem like fate, and I decided one afternoon in July to finally see what all the block-filled fuss was about. Initially I started up Minecraft simply to occupy vacant gaming time between releases, what it turned into however, proved to be much more than a basic time-filler.