Monthly Archives: February 2015
100 Finalists Selected for One-Way Trip to Mars
One hundred finalists have been selected from more than 200,000 applicants looking to permanently settle on Mars.
The Mars One mission is a non-profit group that seeks to begin human colonization of Mars by landing teams of four on the Red Planet beginning in 2024. The last round of applicants had 660 members, and now that the pool of would-be astronauts is down to a hundred the program can begin focusing on how well applicants work together - an important thing considering the length of the trip.
Fifty men and fifty women are still in the running, with 39 coming from the Americas, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, 7 from Africa, and 7 from Oceania. If selected for the 2024 launch, they'll never see home again. Last week a Guardian documentary asked why anyone would want to die on Mars, but the question the Mars One selection program has to answer is, "who could live there?"
Halo Nightfall Gets a Digital Release Date
Halo: Nightfall will release digitally on March 17, 2015.
The live-action show is set between Halo 4 and the forthcoming Halo 5: Guardians and follows the story of Jameson Locke; a bounty hunter-type and agent at the Office of Naval Intelligence.
The project is helmed by Executive Producer Ridley Scott and Director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, and stars the likes of Mike Colter, Christina Chong, Steven Waddington, and Luke Neal.
“Whilst investigating terrorist ‘chatter’ on the distant colony world of Sedra,” the presser-pitch reads, “Locke and his crew are caught in a horrific biological attack. Led by Locke, ONI agents are forced to coordinate with the local command who have a deep-rooted mistrust of ONI. As they unravel a plot that draws them to an ancient, hellish artefact, they are forced to fight for their survival and to make the ultimate choice between their loyalty and their lives.”
Terraria: Otherworld Announced, Isn’t Terraria Sequel
Terraria: Otherworld was announced today by Re-Logic and Engine Software. Otherworld is not a sequel to 2011's Terraria, but is instead an offshoot of the main game.
The game is set in an alternate dimension within the Terraria universe, and explores what "might have been," according to the game's newly-launched website.
Otherworld places the player in a "life-and-death struggle to restore a once-pristine world," to its original splendor. On the Terraria forums, lead developer Whitney "Cenx" Baird made it clear that Otherworld isn't a sequel to the sandbox game.
"This is NOT Terraria 2," she posted.
These Hulkbuster and Hulk Statues Bust Us Up
Kotobukiya's Toy Fair 2015 collectibles are typically beautiful pieces, featuring a mix of comic-book, movie and game inspired statues and figures. The Hulkbuster and Hulk ArtFX statues combine to recreate the already iconic scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Marvel Now X-Men are in the preliminary stage of getting 1/10-scale pieces, Tekken, Street Fighter, and Halo are among the games with statues in the works, and DC Comics is well represented as well, including a new line called Super Powers which is based on the classic look of the characters, complete with retro action-figure stylings. Oh, and let’s not forget Star Wars…
Check out all the images from Kotobukiya at Toy Fair 2015 in the slideshow below:
President’s Day Console Sales, Studio Ghibli Blu-Ray Discounts
A PS4 and The Last of Us Remastered for $360
Use code PREZ10 for the discount! Final day on this PS4 deal.
Now You Can Have Merle’s Knife-Hand Too
Daryl Dixon’s crossbow. Michonne’s katana. Merle’s unique knife-hand thingee! These weapons from AMC’s beloved Walking Dead are now available as role-playing pieces thanks to ThinkGeek, that purveyor of unique toys, collectibles, gadgets, and more. Perfect for cosplay purposes, or just your basic day-to-day simulated zombie slaughtering, these items are pretty cool.
Check out the images from ThinkGeek at Toy Fair 2015 in the slideshow below, which also includes a Mega Man Mega Buster Gun replica,
a flux capacitor USB car charger, and more:
Keep it locked to IGN for more from Toy Fair!
Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN at scottcollura and on Facebook.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate Sells Over 3 Million
Capcom has announced that global shipments of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate have surpassed 3 million since its launch.
These figures include the Japanese version, Monster Hunter 4G, which managed to sell over 1.6 million copies during its launch weekend.
According to the press release, the shipments also include download cards and sales of the download version on the Nintendo eShop. It also states that the entire series has cumulatively sold over 32 million units to date.
Make sure you check out IGN's review of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, a game in which "intense boss battles, deep combat, and awesome loot will keep you busy for hours".
Tenacious D and Weezer to Rock Your Rock Band Socks Off
New tracks from Tenacious D and Weezer are coming to the Rock Band store for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
On February 17, the Tenacious D song "Rize of the Fenix" from the album of the same name will be available, along with a jam from Weezer's Everything Will Be Alright in the End record, "Back to the Shack."
It's been nearly a month since any new songs came to Rock Band, when titles from The Arctic Monkeys, The Foo Fighters, and Avenged Sevenfold were made available.
Harmonix also circulated a survey last month with questions like "Which current-gen platforms do you currently own?" and "Would you be inclined to preorder a new Rock Band title?" Could the series that filled your living room with plastic rock instruments be poised for a comeback?
Microsoft’s Screamride Demo Coming Soon
Microsoft's mash-up game Screamride, which combines the building and design aspects of a Roller Coaster Tycoon with Burnout's crash mode, is getting a demo that will be available tonight.
Available on both Xbox One and Xbox 360, gamers "can try out each of the three career modes in the free demo," Microsoft said. The full game will feature 50 levels and a "robust level creation editor."
The game takes place in a futuristic rollercoaster testing facility, where brave, or perhaps insane, "ScreamRiders" test high-speed and destructive roller coaster designs. In IGN's Screamride preview, we called it two parts Roller Coaster Tycoon and one part Burnout.
We Visited King’s Landing in Real Life
As a Northerner, I was reluctant to visit King’s Landing.
Thankfully Dubrovnik, the fictional capital's real-life double, was quite different – welcoming, peaceful, and entirely without a dynastic suspicion of my ancestors.
Over the course of three days, I visited the continents of both Westeros and Essos, gazed upon the spot where Joffrey was wed (it’s really a car park), walked through the caverns where Daenerys chained her dragons, and took in several of the locations used for Season 5; I learned how close the real-life history of Dubrovnik mirrors that found in George R.R. Martin's fantasy epic; I also ate small donuts, a local delicacy in Croatia (this has no connection to Game of Thrones).