Why Smaller Conventions Are Better For Everyone
You might have read that PAX South 2015 broke some first-year attendance records, namely those of PAX East and PAX Australia. I can tell you from being there, that it certainly didn’t feel that way when I walked into the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio on day one to a tiny queue line that paled in comparison to those I’d seen at PAXs past. It was a concerning sight, but my concern melted away within a couple of hours on the show-floor. Now I want every convention to be PAX-South-sized, for your sake and for mine.
Regardless of its record-breaking attendance numbers, PAX South 2015 had the smallest show floor I’ve ever seen outside of QuakeCon. I could walk from one end to the other in two minutes or less at a leisurely stroll. Sure, it looks underwhelming compared to the spectacle of E3, but it’s a much better experience. How many times have you had 30 minutes to burn before your next panel and felt like you were already late? At PAX South, that’s enough time to walk the floor, find and play at least one cool thing you missed, and get to your panel with time to spare...where you won’t be waiting on a two-hour line for a seat.
Report: Ouya Receives $10 Million in Funding
Ouya, the Android-powered game console that smashed its Kickstarter goal in 2012, has received $10 million USD from Chinese investor Alibaba.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "people familiar with the matter" say the two companies are working together to incorporate Ouya's software and 1,000+ game library into Alibaba's set-top box.
We reached out to Ouya for confirmation, and a spokesperson declined to comment.
In 2012, Ouya closed out it's Kickstarter with nearly $8.6 million pledged -- well above its $950 thousand goal. Check out our Ouya review for more on the console we called "promising... but marred by design missteps."
Check Out New Tech That Could Change Virtual-Reality Gaming
New ways to game and interact with virtual worlds are popping up every day. Across the gaming industry, VR is making a huge impact on the way we experience games and entertainment, and it's just getting started.
Sony's Project Morpheus, Samsung's Gear VR, and of course, the Oculus Rift, are all pushing the limits of virtual reality and how we interact with the everyday world.
5 Ways You Know the Marvel Universe Really Is Ending
Thanks to Marvel's recent Secret Wars announcement, we know that their upcoming event comic centers around the complete destruction of the Marvel and Ultimate Universes and the creation of a new Battleworld in their place. Plenty of mysteries still remain surrounding Secret Wars and what it means for the ongoing fate of Marvel's comics, but New Avengers #29 shed some interesting light on the nature of this epic conflict.
Here are five ways in which that issue built towards Secret Wars and showed us why the Marvel Universe is doomed.
Warning - spoilers ahead for New Avengers #29!
Unlike DC's multiverse, which has been kept locked at a rigid 52 universes for the past several years, Marvel's multiverse includes countless thousands of alternate realities featuring numerous versions of heroes like Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc. But throughout the course of Jonathan Hickman's New Avengers run, we've seen entire universes be destroyed as the problem of "World Incursions" has grown.
Tech Fetish Episode 222: The World Really Likes iPhones
This week the Tech Fetish crew gathers to discuss Apple's Q1 profits of $18 billion USD (yup, billion with a "b"); Bill Gates also warning against the dangers of super intelligent A.I.; Spotify's imminent arrival on PlayStation consoles; and an update to the political situation with internet service in the United States.
NOTE: We recorded this episode a bit early (Wednesday), since Alaina's traveling this week. Today, the FCC did decide to reclassify the definition of broadband to 25Mbps down/3Mbps up in the U.S.
FCC Redefines Broadband Internet
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote to increase the definition of broadband internet from 4Mbps to 25Mbps download speed has officially gone through.
At the new FCC standard of 25Mbps/3Mbps, triple the number of households in the United States are now officially without broadband internet – nearly 20%.
Internet service providers can also no longer claim "high-speed" internet if their services fall below the new standard.
The FCC discussed its plans to raise the broadband threshold earlier this month.
While major providers such as AT&T and Verizon have opposed even a slight upgrade in broadband standards, the FCC still feels more could be done.
Ermac Revealed for Mortal Kombat X
NetherRealm announced another addition to the Mortal Kombat X roster today. Ermac is now the 14th confirmed fighter for the upcoming Mortal Kombat game.
During the stream, the team also teased that it would be revealing a new kind of "-ality" in the next month. So far the series has seen Fatalities, Animalities, Babalities, among various other finishers like Friendship. The stream also revealed that some of the costumes used for reveals are actually alternates, so we haven't seen the main costume for some characters.
Earlier this week, IGN debuted fellow ninja character Reptile. You can check out his moves, including a fatality, here.
Jessica Jones Casts Rachael Taylor… as Hellcat?
Casting on the Marvel/Netflix series A.K.A. Jessica Jones continues, with Rachael Taylor now set as the title character’s best friend Trish Walker -- known as Hellcat in the comics.
Doctor Who Joins A.K.A. Jessica Jones
Taylor joins Krysten Ritter, who stars as Jessica Jones, as well as Mike Colter, who’ll play Luke Cage, and David Tennant, who fills the villainous shoes of Zebediah Killgrave, a.k.a. The Purple Man. Taylor has appeared in TV series including Crisis, Charlie's Angels, and Grey's Anatomy, as well as films such as Any Questions for Ben? and The Darkest Hour.
Let’s Play Video Shows off Total War: Attila
Creative Assembly has released a "Let's" Play video featuring the studio's own James Given and popular Total War YouTuber Lionheart to show off the Viking Forefathers Culture Pack for the upcoming Total War: Attila.
Attilla is set in the Early Middle Ages at the fall of the Roman Empire, and the coming of new "barbarian" peoples to Western Europe and the Mediterranean. With several nomadic factions, the turn-based strategic game will task players with managing hordes the function like mobile cities.
The Viking Forefathers pack will bring three additional factions to the game: the Danes, Jutes, and Geats (of Beowulf fame), taking the war to the north of the continent. The video follows 12 turns of play as the Jutes and shows them grow in wealth and lay waste to villages.
Mario Party 10 Amiibo Pre-Orders Already Disappearing
Pre-orders for the upcoming Mario Party 10 amiibo figures went live on Amazon late yesterday, and as of this writing, they're already listed as "unavailable."
The Super Mario Series individual figures, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, and Bowser, appeared on the retailer's site yesterday and if you weren't quick on the draw, you missed out on the first round of pre-orders.
If you really want to get your next amiibo collection rolling, the Mario amiibo,
is still available for pre-order.
Don't fret, however. You can sign up for email alerts for when the other amiibo in the series become available again for pre-order.