Monthly Archives: December 2016
The Elder Scrolls Online Adds Lootbox “Crown Crates”
Starting today, Crown Crates have been added to The Elder Scrolls Online.
According to a post on the game's official site, this new addition to the ESO Crown Store gives players the "chance to obtain exclusive and unique pets, mounts, and more alongside useful consumable items."
Crown Crates will be tied to a specific season, with a new season cycling in every quarter. The first season is Storm Atronach, and features an array of electric-themed goods, which you can check out in the gallery below.
Each crate includes a total of four items from a "randomized selection of useful consumables and collectibles" worth more than the cost of an individual create.
PC Mouse Wheel Inventor on Its Original Purpose
In addition the being the co-founder and chief engineer at Oculus, Jack McCauley is the brilliant inventor behind the scrolling mouse wheel, a creation that was originally intended to serve a different purpose.
On the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered, we asked McCauley how he came up with the idea for the scrolling mouse wheel, to which he replied, "It's not used in the way that I intended it to be used."
Instead of allowing users to move up and down with the wheel, McCauley said he "intended it to go forward into an application." Since users were already able to move along the X and Y-axis with a cursor, he wanted the wheel to allow a new method of control. "You can go X and Y with the cursor, but I wanted to go into it," he explained.
Arrow EPs on Bringing Back Original Characters for Ep 100
Arrow's 100th episode forced Oliver Queen to look at how different his life could have been had he never become the Green Arrow. It's a familiar plotting device for comic book TV shows and one that worked well for Arrow as it reflected on its past five season.
"There’s a reason why these stories are iconic or familiar tropes even in comic books," executive producer Marc Guggenheim said at an "Invasion!" screening event. "It’s because when you show the protagonist the path not taken and you basically put them in the situation where they can choose to stay on that path or go back to their life with all of its ugly aspects and challenges, and they choose the selfless choice of returning to that ugly past, it makes your character stronger because, it’s like I said earlier, it forced Oliver to double down on his mission and commit to this life with all of its losses and failures and challenges."
Vikings: Ragnar and Ivar’s Relationship Is Incredibly Important
Full spoilers for Vikings' Season 4b premiere, "The Outsider," continue below.
Ragnar and Ivar are off for the father/son bonding trip of a lifetime, but it's a journey that's already had its share of ups and downs.
The Vikings: Season 4b premiere focused largely on Ragnar trying to recruit as many of his former allies as he could on his quest to confront King Ecbert. Though he ended up leaving Kattegat with just Ivar by his side, star Travis Fimmel thinks everything worked out the way Ragnar wanted.
"His relationship with Ivar I think it's his favorite relationship," Fimmel told IGN on a visit to Vikings' set. "It's a bit like that Johnny Cash song 'A Boy Named Sue' where the father did a lot of stuff because he knew he wasn't always going to be there for him, to really toughen him up and just to show him that his weakness is actually his strength. ... Ragnar sees a mind in Ivar that nobody else sees and doesn't treat him as a cripple -- admits he's a cripple, but he always believes that his mentality is the strongest thing."
Alien: Covenant Image Teases Return of Familiar Creature
20th Century Fox has released a new image for Alien: Covenant, teasing the return of a creature familiar to fans of the 1979 original.
Warning: Potential Alien: Covenant spoilers below.
In celebration of Ridley Scott's 79th birthday, Fox posted the following photo on Twitter, showcasing the director alongside the Space Jockey. This mysterious creature first appeared in the original Alien, which was direct by Scott.
Alien: Covenant image, via 20th Century Fox on Twitter
Steam Winter Sale to Reportedly Begin on December 22
Valve's annual Steam Winter Sale will reportedly begin on December 22.
The sale's start date leaked in post on NeoGAF, which has since been corroborated by Eurogamer. Additionally, Eurogamer reports that the Winter Sale will conclude on January 2.
Coincidentally, last year's Winter Sale began on the exact same day in December, offering discounts on loads of popular titles, including Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the entire Witcher franchise.
Comic Book Reviews for November 30, 2016
This week's comic book lineup included new annual issues from DC and a pivotal new chapter of Suicide Squad, the return of Ghost Rider and a Star Wars annual at Marvel, an eventful chapter of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the debut of Valiant's newest hero, Savage.
Scroll down to see our reviews for these and various other new releases, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
DC COMICS
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Delayed
Ninja Theory, the development studio behind DmC: Devil May Cry and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, has announced that Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice has been delayed to next year.
The studio shared the news in an update video, saying they're "making great progress" on the upcoming action game that's based on Celtic mythology and explores mental illness. For the time being, however, they say in its current form Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is "not quite great enough" for a release in 2016.
Star Wars: What to Watch Before Seeing Rogue One
We're now mere weeks away from the release of another Star Wars movie, and the wait is getting harder every day. So why not pass the time by watching some episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Star Wars: Rebels?
The Top 10 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episodes
We've assembled a list of a handful of Clone Wars and Rebels episodes that can help get you in the mood for Rogue One. In most cases, these episodes probably won't have any direct ties to the new movie, but they do explore similar themes and can help fans get into the right mindset as they prepare to learn how the Rebel Alliance scored its first major victory against the all-powerful Galactic Empire.
Gears of War 4 Testing Multiplayer Cross-Play This Weekend
The Coalition has announced plans to test cross-play for Gears of War 4 competitive multiplayer this weekend.
Starting this Friday, December 2, Xbox One players will be able to face off against those on Windows 10, the studio announced on the game's official forums. The trial, which is being conducted to explore the possibility of a permanent cross-platform option for Versus play outside of Private Matches, will conclude on Monday, December 5.
According to The Coalition, the goal of this test is to gauge player feedback from both Xbox One and PC users, as the studio decides how to move forward in delivering cross-platform play.