Monthly Archives: January 2016
New to Amazon Prime for February
Coming to Amazon this February is the Spike Lee joint Chi-raq, the third seasons of The Americans and The Newsroom, the second season of Girls, a documentary about a Nintendo enthusiast, and the original '80s Batman and Karate Kid. All free for Prime members on the Instant Video platform.
And for purchase, there's Steve Jobs, The Leftovers: Season 2, Broad City: Season 2, and more!
IGN Spotlight
- Nintendo Quest
In this documentary on Nintendo, gaming enthusiast Jay Bartlett hits the open road with best friend Rob McCallum in hopes of buying the 678 official retail-licensed Nintendo games for the '85 Nintendo Entertainment System in 30 days with no online purchases.
NASA Day of Remembrance for Challenger Astronauts
On this day in 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart less than two minutes after it launched, resulting in the deaths of all 7 crew members.
"Every year at this time, we take a moment to reflect as the NASA Family on the very broad shoulders on which we stand: the shoulders of those women and men of NASA who gave their lives so that you and I could continue to reach new heights for the benefit of all mankind," said NASA administrator, Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, Jr.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the tragedy, as well as the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster of 2003, NASA has established a memorial exhibit called "Forever Remembered" at the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando. The exhibit is almost 2,000 square feet and contains mementos of both flight crews donated by their families as well as pieces of the shuttles.
Sophie Skelton Cast as Brianna in Outlander
Outlander: Season 2 has found its Brianna in actress Sophie Skelton, Starz has announced.
Some spoilers follow for those who have not read the books.
Skelton will play the daughter of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). Starz describes Brianna as "a striking, redheaded young lady" who's "strong-minded and intelligent beyond her years." Like her parents, she possesses a "distinctly scholastic mind-set" as well as a "healthy dose of Fraser stubbornness."
Sophie Skelton
Microsoft Exec Offers Sea of Thieves Gameplay Hints
Ahead of Sea of Thieves' release later this year, Microsoft exec Aaron Greenberg stopped by the IGN office to discuss Rare's pirate-centric shared-world experience.
Speaking on the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered, the Xbox Games Marketing head shared his experience with an early prototype version of the game, noting that while the scale and visuals still need work, the core mechanic of "meet a bunch of people on a ship and we're going to an island" is there.
Greenberg described one particular experience he had when playing with Head of Xbox Phil Spencer and Microsoft CVP Kudo Tsunoda, highlighting the freedom and collaborative fun Sea of Thieves provides the player. "So we were playing with Kudo and Phil, and Kudo just jumps in the water and jumps onto another ship," he said. "He goes AWOL and then you don't see him for a while and then he comes back around and starts blasting cannons at their ship."
Become Dwarven Astronauts in New Action-RPG
“Why hasn’t anyone else done something like this?” That’s the first question that came to mind when I heard about We Are the Dwarves. It merges the traditional high-fantasy elements of the dwarf race with interstellar adventure – except space has a twist. The universe in We Are the Dwarves is literally made of stone and planets and stars exist in caves and hollows within the stone space. It’s like if you took a Drizzt Do’Urden Forgotten Realms book and mashed it together with Lost in Space.
In We Are the Dwarves, the stars are dying, leaving the dwarven race on the brink of extinction. Three kingdoms come together to form an expedition, sending three dwarven astronauts on a mission to find a new home. Smashfist, Forcer, and Shadow, from the Red, Yellow, and Blue Kingdoms, respectively, are put in a ship and fired off into deep space. The expedition hits a snag and the astronauts crash land, ending up stranded in uncharted territory.
Joseph Fiennes on Playing Michael Jackson, ‘Lighthearted’ Intent
There has been some controversy about the casting of Joseph Fiennes, a white actor, as Michael Jackson in the upcoming short film Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon. Fiennes has now spoken out in defense of the decision.
Speaking to TheWrap, the American Horror Story actor said that initially he had doubts. "I was like, 'Wait a minute, I think someone’s got this wrong. I mean, really?,'" Fiennes recalls saying after he was approached.
GameStop Is Publishing Insomniac’s New Game
The release of Insomniac Games' new title Song of the Deep (more details here) is going to be an experiment for the developer. Instead of being released through a traditional publisher, Insomniac has teamed with GameStop for what Ted Price, the company's founder, calls a "non-traditional developer-publisher relationship."
Song of the Deep is a passion project Insomniac has been working on for about a year. The underwater side-scrolling exploration game follows the adventure of Merryn, a 12-year-old girl who builds herself a small submarine to search for her missing father and along the way discovers a new world and lost civilization.
Comic Book Reviews for January 27, 2016
January wrapped up with a number of major comic book releases. DC delivered a stellar new issue of Omega Men and kicked off a new Suicide Squad mini-series, while Marvel finally launched the long-awaited Old Man Logan ongoing series and new issues of Extraordinary X-Men and All-New, All-Different Avengers. Meanwhile, IDW kicked off their latest Ghostbusters comic and Valiant gave plus-sized heroine Faith her own solo series. But Image was the publisher to beat this week, what between the launch of Cry Havoc and memorable new installments of Saga, Southern Bastards, Jupiter's Circle and Deadly Class.
Scroll down to check out our reviews for these and many other new comic book releases. And be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
Team17 Signs Teenager-Made Game Way to the Woods to Its Label
Team17 has announced a partnership with 16-year-old Anthony Tan to publish his game Way to the Woods.
The Melbourne-based student founded his own studio, Studio Happy Bee, and has been working on Way to the Woods. It's a game where you "play as a deer and her fawn, exploring a strange world filled with surreal imagery."
“Way to the Woods is an absolutely beautiful, unique looking game and upon speaking with Anthony, we could not have been more impressed," said Debbie Bestwick, CEO of Team17. "He’s an incredibly mature person for his age with a very bright future ahead of him and it’s mind blowing what he’s achieved thus far. Team17 is helping nurture a number of studios around the world and I personally can’t wait to help Anthony achieve his goals. We’re extremely excited to be here to share this journey with him."
World of Tomorrow: The Best Film at This Year’s Oscars
There are eight films nominated for Best Picture at this year's Oscars, the race pitting big-budget blockbusters like The Martian and Mad Max: Fury Road against the thought-provoking drama of Spotlight, The Big Short, Brooklyn, and Bridge of Spies. The gut-wrenching Room is a good outside bet, while the smart money is on The Revenant sweeping the board.
But in my opinion, the best film of 2015 wasn't a live-action feature, but rather an animated short; namely Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow.
The writer-director has been up for an animated Oscar before – with Rejected receiving a nomination in 2000 – but that was when Don was working with what he calls “paper, pencils, 33mm film, rocks, and fire.” World of Tomorrow is Hertzfeldt’s first foray into digital animation, and it’s the best thing he’s crafted yet.