Monthly Archives: January 2016
Redemption as Former Donkey Kong Champ Regains Record
Wes Copeland has regained the Donkey Kong Arcade world championship with a score of 1,190,000.
As DonkeyKongBlog reports, within minutes of Copeland’s high-score feat, former champ Robbie Lakeman took to Twitch in the hopes of repeating history. Back in September of 2015, Lakeman – the then record holder – lost his title to Copeland when Copeland racked up a score of 1,170,500. Following Copeland’s win, Lakeman set out to regain his lost crown, and within just six hours of Copeland beating him, had set a new world record of 1,172,100.
UK Deals – Rise of The Tomb Raider under £20
The Movies that Influenced The Hateful Eight
Quentin Tarantino is a filmmaker who both wears his influences on his sleeve and plasters them all over his movies. So when IGN sat down with the writer-director to discuss new film The Hateful Eight, we asked what audiences should watch to prepare for his brutal and bloody western. Two of his choices were easy and obvious, being violent oaters that take place in the snow. And the third was a book that he was in the process of reading, but by an author whose work is an obvious influence on the Hateful Eight script.
But we’ll let QT explain, and also reveal the somewhat dubious Poirot-inspired nickname that Samuel L. Jackson picked up during the shoot…
“If they wanted to prepare a little bit, one of the things about this western is… I do like dealing in genres, but I also like dealing in sub-genres. So there’s westerns, and then there’s spaghetti westerns. In this case there’s also the sub, sub-genre of snow westerns. And snow westerns – there’s not that many of them, but they’re there.”
CES 2016: Logitech Updates the G502 Proteus Spectrum Gaming Mouse with RGB Lighting
Logitech’s popular G502 Proteus mouse is getting a minor refresh for 2016 but fixes one of the biggest gripes about the mouse: the lack of customizable lighting. The new G502 Proteus Spectrum will now feature full RGB control, allowing you to choose from 16.8 million colors with the company’s software. You’ll be able to choose a specific color or use lighting effects to continuously cycle through the color spectrum. If lights aren’t you thing, you can disable lighting altogether.
2015: The Triumphant Return of Single Player
In today’s blockbuster video game landscape, the more social your experience is, the better. Connectivity, shareability, retention, evolution: keep players online, all the time. The feeling of being truly ‘alone’ in a video game is fast becoming a thing of the past. After all, single player experiences tend to be finite, and thus increasingly redundant as games strain at the seams to be as eternal as possible.
But in 2015, this prevailing wisdom felt surprisingly absent. Last year, games like Fallout 4, Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, Batman: Arkham Knight, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain dominated our attention, and all were focused primarily on the single player experience.
You Can Control BB-8 with Sphero’s New Watch
Sphero's app-controlled BB-8 can now be controlled by the Force—sort of. The company showcased a motion-tracking watch at CES 2016 that'll control the adorable droid using just hand gestures.
Not only will you be able to move BB-8 using push and pull movements, the droid will also respond to combination arm and hand motions to control BB-8's head.
The wearable is only a prototype right now, and Sphero hasn't announced a price or release date. According to Gizmodo, the final version of the watch will look "completely different" when it ships later this year, but the "functionality will be very similar to what was demonstrated" at CES.
Toyota Implements Ford’s SmartDeviceLink Software
Ford has a new partner in its infotainment war against Google and Apple. The company announced that Toyota has signed on as the latest car manufacturer to implement Ford's open-source smartphone app interface into its products.
The interface, called SmartDeviceLink (SDL), was created in efforts to "accelerate an industry standard" while not limiting customers to just one or two in-vehicle infotainment interfaces. "With common industry software," Ford says, "developers can focus on creating the best experience on one platform—
Limitless: What is Eddie Morra’s Grand Plan?
Bradley Cooper will return in this week's Limitless, as an assassin makes an attempt on Eddie Morra's life, and Brian is tasked with sabotaging the FBI's investigation into the matter. The episode, aptly titled "The Assassination of Eddie Morra," will also introduce Georgina Haig's character Piper Baird, a former associate of Eddie's who turned rogue and lost everything. Still hooked on NZT herself, Piper goes to Brian Finch (Jake McDorman) for help.
Of course, this is all coming off the untimely death of Casey Rooks (Desmond Harrington), who was taken down by Agent Boyle (Hill Harper) in the previous episode. I recently got a chance to catch up with McDorman and talk about the ramifications of Boyle's decision, Haig's new character and Eddie's return...
LG Shows Off a New ‘Rollable’ TV at CES 2016
LG is bringing a new kind of OLED TV that can be "rolled-up like a newspaper" to CES 2016.
Such is the word in the manufacturer's press release earlier today. The 30R 18-inch display is just one of several items in the company's OLED (organic light-emitting diode) department, though it's also likely the most noteworthy.
Michael Bay Confirms He’s Directing Transformers 5
Michael Bay has confirmed he is directing Transformers 5.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the director said that he's currently in pre-production on the next Transformers film, which he'll be directing ahead of its summer 2017 release. "I’m doing Transformers... 5, is it?" Bay said, adding, "I’ve taken on a lot of work."
The director is currently doing post-production work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, which he's producing. For a sneak peek at the upcoming TMNT sequel, which hits theaters June 3, check out its debut trailer.