Monthly Archives: January 2016
Watch XCOM 2’s New Gatekeeper Alien In Action
XCOM 2's alien menagerie has a new member: The Gatekeeper. This floating ball at first looks kind of adorable in a Pixar sort of way, and seems like it should be voiced by Peter Dinklage. That is, until it busts open and reveals a Krang-like pink pulpy mass with a glowing eye and tentacles and starts zombifying anything within reach. It shares the Sectoid's ability to reanimate corpses as psi zombies (or make corpses and then reanimate them), though it can raise several at once. Plus it has several other potent-looking psionic abilities, and, as one would expect, a death ray.
It initially resembles XCOM: Enemy Unknown's Cyberdisc, but as a veteran of the 1995 X-COM: Terror From The Deep, watching this footage is giving me flashbacks to the dreaded floating Tentaculat, which was basically a flying Chryssalid from hell.
Agent Carter: Season 2 Cast Photos
With Agent Carter: Season 2 almost here, ABC have released new cast photos from the series.
Get a look at Peggy (Hayley Atwell), Edwin Jarvis (James D'Arcy), Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray), Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), Dottie Underwood (Bridget Regan) and Rose Roberts (Lesley Boone), along with new characters Jason Wilkes (Reggie Austin), Ana Jarvis (Lotte Verbeek), Calvin Chadwick (Currie Graham) and Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett) - the latter known to Marvel comics fans as Madame Masque.
Check out the images in the gallery below.
Agent Carter: Season 2 premieres January 19th on ABC.
181,000 Drones Have Registered With the FAA Since December 21
While there are sure to be many more unregistered drones enjoying the open sky, the Federal Aviation Administration announced today that over 181,000 have been registered so far.
This comes nearly two and a half weeks after the organization introduced a new registration program that went live on December 21, 2015. During the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas today, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the administration was "encouraged by the registration numbers we’re seeing so far." The challenge going forward is to make more people aware of the now-required process, as those that haven't register by February are subject to criminal penalties and imprisonment.
See All 52 Mortys in Rick and Morty: Pocket Mortys
To celebrate the upcoming Pocket Mortys Adult Swim has provided IGN with a each and every Morty found in the game.
Based on the rather popular Adult Swim Cartoon Rick and Morty, Pocket Mortys looks to be a riff on the Pokémon formula in which you battle — what else — Mortys.
These range from the mundane, like the unhygienic "Unkempt Morty," to the perhaps equally predictable (by Rick and Morty standards) Ex-Omega and Reverse Mermaid Mortys.
ReCore Delayed Until Later This Year
ReCore, the Microsoft-published action-adventure game from Armature and Comcept, won't be coming out until later in the year.
"We have not yet set a launch date for ReCore," a representative from Microsoft told us, adding the game will be ready "in the latter half of 2016."
Explaining the delay, Microsoft said it wanted to take the extra time to "ensure we provide the best experience to our fans."
Microsoft also said development is "coming along great," and that it "can’t wait to share more about the game" in the new year.
Recently Microsoft announced ReCore is coming to PC in addition to Xbox One, but it's not known if both versions will release simultaneously. Given Microsoft's commitment to Windows 10 as the sole platform for all of its hardware, it's probably safe to say both versions will release at the same time.
H. Moser & Cie’s Swiss Alp Watch Announced
Swiss watchmaker H.Moser & Cie has decided to take on the Apple Watch. Not by creating a smartwatch of their own, but by making a mechanical watch that resembles it.
Hodinkee had the exclusive on the Swiss Alp Watch's announcement, revealing that its face looks exactly like the one featured on the Apple Watch, complete with a rectangular shape with rounded edges and almost the same dimensions. For comparison, the Swiss Alp is 38.2 mm x 44 mm x 10.3 mm, while the smallest version of the Apple Watch is 38.6mm x 33.3mm x 10.5mm.
Netflix Makes Huge Global Expansion
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings confirmed today during a CES 2016 keynote that the video streaming service is now available worldwide.
"The number one question I get is: 'When is Netflix going to be available here?' The answer is now," he said.
… Netflix is now global. #NetflixEverywhere
— Netflix US (@netflix) January 6, 2016
The service is now available in more than 130 countries around the world, including South Korea, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and even Antarctica, among many others. Language support for Arabic, Korean, and both simplified and traditional Chinese was also added to the 17 other languages available.
Chevy’s New, Affordable Electric Car Boasts 200 Mile Range
Chevrolet officially announced the Chevy Bolt, its new electric car. During the company's keynote at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, it revealed that the car will retail for a little less than $30,000 (after federal tax credits for electric cars).
Chevy's Bolt boasts an impressive range of over 200 miles, more than its competitors—the Nissan Leaf and the BMW i3. TechCrunch notes that Chevrolet's Spark EV, the company's other electric car, costs less than the Bolt will, but comes up short with its 80 mile range.
The Bolt's concept was first shown-off in January of last year, though not much information was released. While the company still has its secrets regarding the Bolt, we now know that it'll feature the "rear camera mirror and surround vision," according to TechCrunch. Surround vision uses four cameras to give a "360-degree view of what's going on around the car." This mode, however, will only be activated while parking.
Psychonauts 2 Has Been Funded
Psychonauts 2 has hit its crowd-funding goal of $3.3 million as of this afternoon.
The Fig funding page now sits just over that goal, with five days left in the campaign.
"Holy Smokes! We did it you guys!" reads a brief note. "Psychonauts 2 is now fully funded! We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for making this possible. We’ve wanted to make this game for a long time, and now we finally can! So thank you, thank you, thank you!"
The sequel to the 2005 platformer was announced in December during The Game Awards, and raised more than half of its goal on the first day.
Knights Templar Show Coming from Jeremy Renner
History has ordered a 10-episode first season of Knightfall, an original drama series exploring the Knights Templar during the Crusades with Jeremy Renner (The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy) producing and guest starring.
Here's a brief synopsis of Knightfall, courtesy of History:
"Knightfall reveals the great secrets protected by the Templars and tells the story of faith, loyalty and brotherhood that help sustain these warriors on the battlefield, and the dark events that would forever sear the infamous date of Friday the 13th into the world’s psyche."
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye