Monthly Archives: February 2015
Oni Press Announces Invader Zim Comic
Update: Oni Press will indeed be publishing an ongoing Invader Zim comic. The series was announced at the ComicsPro retailer convention today. While no creative team has been revealed yet, creator Jhonen Vasquez and several veterans from the TV series (Aaron Alexovich, Eric Trueheart and Rikki Simons) will be involved in some capacity.
"I'm always confused when people say how much they miss Invader Zim because the show never stopped running in my head, and then I remember everyone else isn't in my head," Vasquez said in Oni's press release. "I try to imagine the world for all those people who don’t know what Zim's been up to since the show went off the air and it makes me shudder. How can people live that way? Hopefully this comic helps make the world a better place."
The Most Insane and Diabolical Villains in Gaming
Video game villains are a simple breed. Living, breathing humans are complex creatures whose wants and needs are nuanced and varied, but video game villains? Not so much. Motivated by an insane desire or drive to defeat the protagonist, take over or destroy the world, or perhaps kidnap a princess along the way, the diabolical nature of video game villains is pretty well established.
But some villains rise above the their peers and take insanity to unexplored levels. Below are 6 of gaming's craziest bad guys:
Livestream Event Shows Robot Surgery
There's over a full day of footage of robot-assisted surgeries on the internet now thanks to the Worldwide Robotic Surgery 24 hour event, or WRSE24.
As the field of robotics advances, it's become possible to create tools that allow surgeons to perform an operation without having to make a cut big enough to see what they're doing, instead using small robotic arms equipped with a camera to carry out a minimally invasive surgery.
This event, a world's first, broadcast over 24 hours of live footage of real surgeries being performed by doctors working with robots. The point, according to the background information on the event website, is to promote the idea that robotic surgery events should be broadcast from a surgeon's home institution, as studies show surgeons perform better in a familiar environment.
Better Call Saul Breaks Cable Records…Again
One week after breaking cable TV series premiere ratings among the 18-49 demo, AMC's Better Call Saul's Live+3 results (people who watched it live plus those who watched it DVR'd within three days) has the show breaking cable records for the 18-49 demo and the 25-54 demo.
Better Call Saul: "Nacho" Review
Per Deadline, the 3-day digital time shifting viewing numbers for the premiere episode, "Uno," show a total of 9.8 million viewers. That's a 40% DVR jump in 18-49s and 43% DVR jump in 25-54s.
Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden Announced for 3DS
A new entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Butoden franchise is heading to the 3DS, the latest issue of V Jump Magazine has revealed.
According to the article, Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is being developed by Arc System Works and will sport over 100 different DBZ characters. The 2D fighting game will feature both one-on-one and team-style battles with a new "Z Assist" support feature and "Ultimate Arts" finishing moves.
Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is set to launch in Japan this Summer with no word yet on a Western release. The last game in the series, Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butoden, was released for Nintendo DS in 2011 exclusively in Japan.
Numerous Health Features Were Dropped From the Apple Watch
The Apple Watch was initially intended to have multiple health-monitoring features that didn't make it to the final product.
When Apple first started developing its smartwatch, the company envisioned a device that could measure things such as blood pressure, heart activity, and stress levels, according to the Wall Street Journal's sources. Apple explored sensors that measured the conductivity of the skin and heart rate.
None of these features made it into the final design, however: some proved too complex, while others health-sensor technologies didn't meet Apple's standards for reliability. Results were inconsistent with people who had hairy arms or dry skin, and results also fluctuated depending on how tightly the user wore the watch.
App Store Update: February 17
Every day hundreds of new apps make their debut on the App Store, and hundreds more are updated or reduced in price. We have sifted through the noise and highlighted those select few that might be worth your attention.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
Imps in Tokyo – ($1.99)
Stylishly chaotic cartoon action involving demons streaking through Japanese skies:
Museum Establishes World Video Game Hall of Fame
The Strong, a collections-based museum in Rochester, New York, has established the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame will recognize games from all platforms, including arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile. In order to be considered for induction, a game must meet the following criteria: icon-status, longevity, geographical reach, and influence. The museum notes that if a game's influence is strong enough, it doesn't have to meet the first three criteria.
The Strong is currently home to the National Toy Hall of Fame, as well as the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, which contains over 55,000 video games and related artifacts.
Why We Haven’t Seen Another Zelda Like Majora’s Mask
During the N64 era, Nintendo wanted to use shorter development cycles to create new games in the Zelda series. The result was The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, which released in 2000, and it was developed in a single year.
In an interview with IGN, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma discussed the origins of Majora’s Mask, and why the Japanese video game maker hasn’t experimented with a one-year development cycle since.
“It’s interesting, because there’s definitely this way that we talk about that sort of thing in development circles here in Japan,” he explained. “It’s often presented as a challenge to the developers themselves to accomplish something like that, because it can be very difficult to do. Since I’ve been in the role of producer, though, it’s not something that’s been presented to me as a challenge to take on very often.
Rosetta Probe Spends Valentine’s Day Snapping Comet Photos
The European Space Agency's Rosetta probe spent Valentine's Day snapping high-resolution portraits of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The probe was a mere 10.6 km, or around 6.5 miles, above the surface of the celestial body and passed through the "zero-phase" angle, with the sun directly behind the spacecraft. This lead to ideal lighting conditions for capturing the uneven surface of the comet.
On its blog, the ESA also pointed out that such a pass provides the craft with more than just a great photo op, but it also allows "Rosetta’s instruments to sample the innermost parts of the comet’s atmosphere," or "coma."