Monthly Archives: December 2017
NASA and Google to Announce AI Breakthrough
NASA has announced it will hold a teleconference to reveal the new discovery made by the Kepler space telescope.
The conference will take place on Thursday, December 14 at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm UK (December 15 at 5am AET) and will stream live on NASA's website. Key researchers will discuss what has been learned using Google's machine learning approach to artificial intelligence to analyze data from Kepler.
Participants in the briefing include NASA Astrophysics Division director Paul Hertz, astronomer and NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow Andrew Vanderburg, Kepler project scientist Jessie Dotson, and Google AI senior software engineer Christopher Shallue.
Doki Doki Literature Club Hits 1 Million Downloads
Doki Doki Literature Club has surpassed 1 million downloads.
Dan Salvato, the founder of Doki Doki Literature Club (DDLC) developer Team Salvato, made the announcement, thanking the many media outlets and content creators who made the success possible.
"It’s only just now I’ve realized that nothing I’ve ever done in my life has had greater reach and popularity than a romance game with cute anime girls." he said. "It's not often that visual novels and/or romance games are given the treatment that you gave it," Salvato added, acknowledging the genre's traditionally niche appeal.
In light of the success of DDLC, Salvato said "I want to do my best to continue giving the Literature Club the attention it deserves while I work on my next game." Salvato says he doesn't have anything to announce at this time, but he is "considering options" to provide more "DDLC-related content" in the future.
Top Comics to Buy This Week
With dozens of comic books to choose from, let us show you which are the best coming out this week. Take a look at this list spotlighting our favorite comics that we know are money-well-spent and new books that look cool and are backed by some top-tier talent.
Check out our picks, then head to the comments to let us know what you’ll be buying this week!
By writer Dan Slott & artist Ryan Stegman | Marvel
New Avengers Digital Series Goes Back to Basics
The upcoming Avengers: Back to Basics comic follows the Marvel superheroes trying to save North America from a mysterious threat.
This six-issue bi-weekly series is written by long-time Marvel writer Peter David, with art by Brian Level on issues #1-2 and #5-6 and Juanan Ramirez on issues #3-4. Nick Roche and Chris O’Halloran are doing the covers.
Back to Basics follows the Avengers uncovering a new enemy as a solar eclipse is about to hit North America. It's described as a terrifying tale of Ragnarok and a great entry point for newcomers.
Avengers: Back to Basics art. Image via Newsarama.
Walking Dead: Exiting Star’s Father Claims Show ‘Fired’ Him
Following a surprising twist that signaled a major character exiting AMC's The Walking Dead, the star's father has spoken out. According to him, the actor was surprised by the decision, which he characterizes as a firing.
Spoilers follow for The Walking Dead episode "How It's Gotta Be."
In the episode, Carl Grimes, played by Chandler Riggs since the start of the show, was revealed to be suffering from a zombie bite. Riggs' father wrote a now-deleted Facebook post expressing his frustration with the situation and how it was handled by showrunner Scott M. Gimple.
"Watching Gimple fire my son 2 weeks before his 18th birthday after telling him they wanted him for the next 3 years was disappointing," he wrote. "I never trusted Gimple or AMC, but Chandler did. I know how much it hurt him. But we do absolutely know how lucky we have been to be a part of it all and appreciate all the love from fans all these years!"
Venom Movie Inspired by These Marvel Comics Stories
Sony's upcoming Venom film starring Tom Hardy will be inspired by the Lethal Protector and Planet of the Symbiotes comic storylines.
Collider reports director Ruben Fleischer revealed this new information during a Comic-Con Experience 2017 panel in Sao Paulo, Brazil this weekend.
Lethal Protector is a six-issue comic book series by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley released in 1993. The story follows Venom and Spider-Man agreeing to not fight each other so as long as Venom will stop committing crimes. The unlikely duo eventually find themselves working together to battle five offspring of the Venom Symbiote: Riot, Agony, Scream, Phage, and, Lasher. Lethal Protector sees Venom moving out New York City for San Francisco, and Tom Hardy confirmed during the Comic-Con panel that the Venom movie takes place in San Francisco as well.
Apple Acquires Music Identifying Service Shazam
Apple has acquired Shazam, the popular music identifying service, in a deal reportedly worth "around" $400 million USD.
"We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple," said Apple in a statement issued to Variety. "Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS." The company went on to say Apple Music and Shazam are a "natural fit," teasing it has "exciting plans in store" for the future of the service.
The Shazam logo (image via Shazam)
Kojima Explains Death Stranding Gameplay and Lore
“I’m trying to make something different. How to show that, how to have people see that, that’s something I’m trying to figure out.”
As usual, Hideo Kojima was calm and collected as I spoke to him just hours after the newest look at Death Stranding at the 2017 Game Awards. I’ve spoken with him several times throughout the past few years, from the forging of his partnership with Sony and his decision to use the Decima Engine, to the opening of his new studio deep in the heart of Shinagawa. But this time, something different happened. This time, I walked away from my time with Kojima with some actual, tangible details about the gameplay mechanics, philosophy, and lore of Death Stranding.
TWD: How Alexandria’s Fate Compares to the Comics
Walking Dead episode 808, "How It's Gotta Be," gave us a big character death and tons of action, with an ambush that came directly from Robert Kirkman's "All Out War" arc from the comic series. Of course, part of this episode's battle was already covered in a different section of the TV show, plucked and pulled out for use back in Season 7's finale, "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" with all that went down with Sonequa Martin-Green's Sasha.
Conan Exiles Official Release Date Announced
Conan Exiles will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 8, 2018.
Developer Funcom announced the multiplayer barbarian survival game will be leaving Steam Early Access and the Xbox One Game Preview program next year. The PC version will be priced at $39.99, while the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will cost $49.99.
Conan Exiles has been in early access all year and can currently be purchased on PC for $29.99 and for $49.99 on Xbox One's Game Preview program. Those who purchase the game on PC and Xbox One digitally prior to launch will receive the Conan’s Royal Armor in-game item. Digital pre-orders on PS4 will start at a later and will also include the same in-game item.