Monthly Archives: August 2015
PlayStation Accepting Beta Testers for PS4 System Updates
Sony is now accepting applications to beta test future PlayStation 4 firmware updates.
According to PS Blog, PS4 owners can sign up on the PlayStation website to test the functionality of the next incoming major system update. The number of beta testers will be limited.
The beta program is expected to begin in early September.
PS4 beta testers will have the ability to roll back to the previous version of the PS4 system software, currently v2.57, at any time.
App Store Update: August 19
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.
Pac-Man 256 – (Freemium)
How long can you survive? This all-new sequel in the now 35-year-old Pac-Man series takes the infamous "Level 256" glitch from the original arcade game and personifies it as a monstrous wave of encroaching doom, constantly chasing Pac-Man through an endless maze. Keep munching dots to live!
Daily Deals: PS4 With Three Games, Daily Deals: PS4 With Three Games, Edge of Tomorrow
PS4 With Batman, Destiny, and Assassin's Creed Unity
Here's the biggest bundle Amazon has listed in ages.
Save $40 On The 1TB Xbox One Madden Bundle
A 1TB Xbox One with Madden NFL 16 for $360.
Over 85 Million Vaults Have Been Created in Fallout Shelter
Bethesda has announced that over 85 million vaults have been created in Fallout Shelter.
In a new infographic for the mobile game, Bethesda has provided nine numerical facts about Fallout Shelter. For example, over 81 million babies have been born in the management sim, and players have dealt with almost 120 million radroach infestations.
Not only that, Bethesda says there have been over 1 billion game sessions of Fallout Shelter played — equaling just a bit more than 29 million hours — since the mobile game launched in mid-June on the App Store. In fact, the management sim just came out on Android last week.
Two More Key Devs Have Left Amazon Game Studios
Two more key members of Amazon Game Studios have left the company.
Following Clint Hocking’s departure, director of narrative design Eric Nylund and principal game designer Jonathan Hamel are no longer with Amazon Game Studios. Both Nylund and Hamel updated their LinkedIn profiles to reflect their end dates as July 2015.
Nylund’s duties at Amazon involved “leading effort to create and manage the story of multiple game titles” and creating “new intellectual properties.”
Crossy Road Developer Releases Pac-Man 256
Hipster Whale has released its next mobile hit: Pac-Man 256, a new take on Bandai Namco Games' classic series.
Pac-Man 256 celebrates the series' 35th anniversary by turning the infamously glitched 256th level of the original Pac-Man game into a central mechanic. Players will direct Pac-Man through the maze while trying to outrun both ghosts and ever-looming glitches. Newly introduced power-ups include laser beams and freeze rays.
Like Hipster Whale's last game, Crossy Road, Pac-Man 256 uses a free-to-play model. Each time you die, you'll need to spend another credit to resume playing with your collected power-ups; credits refresh every ten minutes.
Wonder Woman’s Subtle Link to Krypton in BvS
Michael Wilkinson, the costume designer on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, has shed some light on the research-intensive process involved in crafting each superhero's suit for Zack Snyder's upcoming film. And along the way, he also revealed an interesting tidbit about Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman in particular.
"Zack wanted our character to be a fierce and intimidating warrior — gritty, battle-scarred and immortal," Wilkinson told People's Choice about Gadot's Wonder Woman. "Zack had a great idea to have some kryptonian script subliminally included in the details of the suit, so we made that happen. There is ancient Greek script on Wonder Woman’s weapons too."
Marvel Debuts New Red Widow Character
Marvel has revealed a first look at its newest femme fatale, Red Widow (via The Mary Sue), making her debut in Mockingbird S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary #1 next month.
En garde...
We don't know much about the character yet, but author Margaret Stohl, who will use the character in her upcoming YA novel Black Widow: Forever Red, had this to say about Red Widow:
Samsung Is Releasing a 16TB SSD Next Year
Samsung is reportedly going to release a 16TB solid state drive (SSD) next year. Introduced at the 2015 Flash Memory Summit, it will not only be the largest capacity SSD yet, but also surpass the current largest hard disk drive (HDD), which remains at 10TB.
According to industry sources from Business Korea, the PM1633a will be a 2.5-inch 15.36TB SSD with an estimated price tag of $5,000 to $7,000 USD.
While it's meant for server use by corporations – if the massive 16,000GB of storage and enormous price tag didn't give it away – the 16TB SSD could be a sign of what's to come in the future of the SSD as they begin to replace HDDs as the standard PC storage device.
Star Wars’ Boyega Joins Hanks and Watson’s Circle
John Boyega is going from Star Wars to James Ponsoldt’s adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel The Circle.
Deadline reports the Force Awakens star has landed a lead role in The Circle. He will play Ty, “the iconized-boy wonder visionary of the Circle” and will star opposite love interest Mae, played by Emma Watson, and Tom Hanks.
John Boyega as "Finn" in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.