Monthly Archives: January 2017

Amazon Echo Has a Mass Effect Easter Egg

If you own an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, you can try out this Mass Effect Easter egg right now.

Spotted by user Oserius on Reddit (thanks Eurogamer), you can ask the voice-activated helper gadget: "Does this unit have a soul?" To which it will reply: "Keelah sel'ai, my friend."

In Mass Effect 3, Legion asks this same question to its quarian creators. "Keelah sel'ai," is a phrase often used by Tali and other members of her race as a sort of exclamation of shock.

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Steam’s 5 Most Played Games of 2016 Didn’t Come Out in 2016

It turns out Steam’s most-played games of 2016 were all released well before last year.

Via GitHyp – a tool for tracking popular Steam titles – and Kotaku, it's quickly clear that in the ever-changing world of video games two things are constant: The first, gaming habits are hard to change. Second, Dota 2 is an absolute beast.

Let’s take a look at 2016’s most-played Steam games based on average players per hour across the whole year:

  1. 1. Dota 2 / 636,607 avg. players per hour (released in 2013)
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The Coen Brothers are Making a TV Series

Oscar-winning writer-director duo the Coen brothers have partnered with Annapurna Television to make The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, their first project for TV.

While the Coens' Fargo was adapted for television by Noah Hawley, it marks the first time the brothers have created a show themselves.

Per Variety, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs will be an original, six-episode miniseries, with each installment presenting a separate but intertwined storyline set in the Old West.

While the project is in its early stages, Variety reports that there are plans to combine the show with a theatrical release of some kind.

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Time After Time Will Incorporate Multiple H.G. Wells Novels

Time After Time, the upcoming ABC sci-fi series from Kevin Williamson, tells a story of an H.G. Wells who actually invents a time machine and travels from the 19th century to the present in pursuit of Jack the Ripper. Based on the 1979 novel and film of the same name, Time After Time chews through its source material in the pilot and sets up a more broad exploration of time travel, technology, humanity and H.G. Wells throughout the rest of the season.

The focus of the show will be on the relationship between Wells (Freddie Stroma) and Jack the Ripper, real name John Stevenson (Josh Bowman). Even though the first few episodes will give their own spin on Time After Time's obvious inspiration, Wells' novel The Time Machine, the show will only travel through time four times in the first 12 episodes.

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George Lucas Museum Coming to L.A.

Los Angeles will officially serve as the home of George Lucas' Museum of Narrative Art.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the filmmaker and Star Wars creator will fund the project and its building costs by providing $1 billion. Lucas will also provide the museum will his personal collection of art, as well as at least a $400 million endowment.

The museum will be located in L.A.'s Exposition Park.

"I always thought Los Angeles was the natural place to spread the vision of George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, to make art and creativity accessible and inspirational to the next generation," Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "It's a natural place to have this museum in the creative capital of the world and in the geographic center of the city. It’s a banner day for L.A."

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John Ridley’s Marvel Project Is a ‘Unique’ Take on Superheroes

John Ridley's untitled Marvel TV project is still in development, with the American Crime creator honing the series with Marvel executives.

The top-secret series was first revealed in 2015, and supposedly was a reinvention of a Marvel character. Ridley assured IGN in 2016 that the project was still very much alive, and now offered a new update on the development while promoting American Crime at the 2017 winter TV Critics Association press tour.

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Everything You Need to Know About the Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch conference gave us plenty of new information about Nintendo’s upcoming system, as well as first- and third-party games headed to the platform.

Here’s everything that was announced at the Nintendo Switch event.

A release date and price for the Nintendo Switch were finally announced. The Nintendo Switch will launch on March 3, 2017 simultaneously in Japan, the US, Canada, “major European countries,” Hong Kong, and “other territories” at a suggested retail price of $299.99 USD. (That’s 29,980 yen, if you care!)

Switch Box

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Game of Thrones: Sam Will Need a New Brother in Season 7

Don't expect to see Freddie Stroma back as Samwell Tarly's brother Dickon in Game of Thrones: Season 7. Actor Freddie Stroma confirmed to IGN that he was unable to reprise his role because he was committed to filming his new ABC series Time After Time.

"I was shooting this, so my character, I wouldn't be able to go back now," he said while representing Time After Time at the 2017 winter TV Critics Association. "It was still fun. I got to be in that world. I've watched all of it. It's just an incredible TV show."

Samantha Spiro, Hannah Murray, John Bradley, Freddie Stroma and Rebecca Benson in Game of Thrones Samantha Spiro, Hannah Murray, John Bradley, Freddie Stroma and Rebecca Benson in Game of Thrones

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Agents of SHIELD: Ming-Na Wen on the LMD Twist

Agents of SHIELD left off with a big reveal in December, as we learned that Agent Melinda May has been replaced by an LMD (Life-Model Decoy), while the LMD Aida has captured the real May.

With SHIELD back tonight, I spoke to Ming-Na Wen about this turn of events and what it's like for her to once again find herself playing two different characters, having previously protracted May's doppelgänger Kara Palamas/Agent 33. And whether we could eventually see a May vs. May LMD fight, like we did with May and 33.

IGN: I guess every couple of years you get to play two characters on this show!

Ming-Na Wen: I know! It's like, wait a minute, it's more work, right?

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