Monthly Archives: March 2015
Lost Writer Reveals Show’s Complicated Creation
Former Lost writer and producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach has written a highly informative essay looking back on the conception of the show and what it was like to be in the writers' room for the first two seasons. He also has a lot to say about the question of whether the show’s creators were "making it up as they went along," noting the answer is a complicated one, as is often the case for TV. With Lost, many notable elements fans would come to know as the series progressed were conceived very early on, even as the nature of doing an ongoing TV show also led to new elements being added all the time.
“The idea that there is a simple truth about the creation of Lost also begs to additional questions,” Grillo-Marxuach says in the lengthy and very detailed post on his website. “Did we ever know what the island was? And was it purgatory?”
Milestone Studios Announces MotoGP 15
MotoGP 15, the next major instalment in Milestone Studios' motorcycle racing series, has been unveiled and will release for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC this spring.
As detailed on the EU PlayStation Blog, the game will feature "a whole new level of rider customisation, an enhanced career mode and the entire 2015 season of the motorcycle world championship."
MotoGP 15 will feature over 20 different bike models for players to choose from, as well as 40 liveries sporting an array of official color options. The appearance of the rider can be modified as well, allowing gamers to pick their own boots, gloves, and outfit.
Evolve’s 4th Monster Just Wants to “Snuggle”
Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise: size matters. Evolve’s fourth monster, Behemoth, is lumbering, rolling proof of it. I got a chance to take the new biggest kid-on-the-block for a spin, and he’s a lot more interesting than you’d imagine a hulking physical brute to be.
It would be natural to assume, from his nearly comical size, that Behemoth is all about simply overpowering your opponents. After all, his health and armor pools are roughly 30% larger than the already-beefy Goliath’s. But those are resources he needs to be careful with. Throwing away armor to get in the hunter’s face is actually the easiest way to get yourself killed as Behemoth. What you need to do instead is make the hunters come to you on your terms.
One of Evolve’s New Hunters Looks Like a Batman Cosplayer
Evolve’s first major update is coming on March 31, and probably the most exciting new additions are the four new hunters entering the fray. I had a chance to go hands-on with all four of them, and I didn’t walk away disappointed. Let me run you through all four of them, along with full match footage for each.
First up is Torvald the assault. His auto shotgun is different from Parnell’s in that the full clip empties after one button press, making it an unwieldy, but devastatingly powerful weapon up close against the monster. He can even toss a shrapnel grenade on the way in, which creates a bunch of weak points in the monster’s armor to blast away at. His mortar cannon is what defines him though. With easy point-and-shoot targeting, he launches a salvo of 4 artillery shells that fly over cover, dealing heavy damage.
NASA Reveals the Next Steps to Mars With Asteroid Initiative Progress
NASA revealed more progress on its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), a step in the ongoing goal for humans to explore our solar system's Red Planet.
First, an uncrewed spacecraft will snare a boulder from the surface of a near-Earth asteroid using its robotic arms and move it into orbit around the moon for exploration by astronauts. NASA expects to take approximately six years for the robotic spacecraft to move the asteroid chunk into lunar orbit.
NASA's Orion spacecraft is then currently slated to launch the first manned mission consisting of a two-astronaut crew to explore the asteroid mass in the mid-2020s. The human missions will serve to test out new capabilities and technology for use in future human exploration to deep space, such as Mars.
We Have Jupiter to Thank For Earth’s Creation
Jupiter may have been the cause of the formation of our planet.
According to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the inner Solar System once contained a number of "super-Earths". Jupiter migrated inward from its orbit and "cleared out" these planets by sweeping them into the Sun, before returning to its normal orbit.
Jupiter's journey apparently laid the foundations for the creation of Earth and the other planets closer to the Sun.
The work came off the back of an observation that our Solar System is unusual in that it "lacks planets that reside in close proximity to the Sun".
Destiny of Spirits Does Not Have Much Time Left
The Destiny of Spirits team has announced via the Japanese PlayStation website that Sony will be ending the service of its free to play RPG Destiny of Spirits on June 30.
According to the announcement, "after this date, you will not be able to play or access the game, and all unused Destiny Orbs will expire." The end dates for Destiny Orb sales are June 30 in the Americas, April 28 in Europe, and April 29 in Asia.
Since its release in March last year, it has achieved over one million downloads.
In its final months, a "Fan Appreciation Campaign" will be launching, which will bring back past raid boss events with the final version 1.12 update.
First Trailer For James Bond SPECTRE Arrives Tomorrow
The first teaser trailer for the next James Bond film, SPECTRE, will be revealed tomorrow, March 27 at 4.45pm PT / 7.45pm ET/ 11.45pm GMT.
The teaser will be hosted on the official 007 site and will offer our first glimpse into the plot of the flick, which will see Bond following a cryptic message from his past that sets him off on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation, while M plays politics to keep the secret service alive.
SPECTRE, the 24th official Bond film, is helmed by Skyfall director Sam Mendes and features a returning Daniel Craig alongside Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Andrew Scott, and Dave Bautista.
Jeremy Clarkson: Return Not Ruled Out by BBC Exec
Jeremy Clarkson may one day return to the BBC in the future, according to the organisation's creative director.
Alan Yentob told Newsnight, "Of course I wouldn't rule that out, but that's not for now." Clarkson has yet to issue a statement in relation to the news, so whether he agrees with this assessment is currently unknown.
When asked about yesterday's decision to dismiss Clarkson over an incident involving him hitting a producer, he said it was a sad but correct decision. He also said it would be a shame to lose fellow presenters Richard Hammond and James May over the incident.
Borderlands: Handsome Collection Day One Patch is Huge
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection requires an 8.3GB day one patch on PS4, and an even larger 16GB patch on Xbox One.
The large patch sizes are mainly down to the Pre-Sequel's Claptastic Voyage DLC, which was only just completed and therefore couldn't be included on the disc. As you'd expect, there's also a host of bug fixes for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions too.
"For The Handsome Collection, a large day-one update will be available giving access to Claptastic Voyage and Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2. This update will also address various bugs," an update explains. "Although the update is large (as it's adding an entire and brand new add-on campaign), we strongly recommend that all players download it before playing The Handsome Collection."