Battleborn’s Incursion Mode Blends Strategy and Shooters
Balancing ranged and melee characters in a first-person arena is a difficult task to achieve, and with a few tweaks, Battleborn’s Incursion mode might just get there. Balance aside, wrecking others in this MOBA mode is a ton of fun.
Incursion has a similar setup to most MOBAs; two teams of five barrel down the map with weak AI teammates, or minions, to destroy the enemy team’s base. Incursion, however, adapts that formula for quicker matches by limiting every game to 30 minutes and replacing defensive towers with powerful spider-like mechs called Sentries. To win, a team needs to destroy both Sentries.
I played on the map Overgrowth, a jungle filled with neutral enemies, turret spots, and dead-end side paths. It features one long, winding lane with five main open areas — two being the team bases. While each team is guaranteed two areas by its Sentries, the one open area in the middle is where the war really happens.
Astronaut Captures Image of Thunderstorms from ISS
Living on the International Space Station is undoubtedly difficult, but at least it has a killer view.
From his position in Earth's orbit, astronaut Tim Peake took this image of the planet, capturing the lightning flash of three large thunderstorms taking place inside the atmosphere.
"Sometimes looking down at Earth at night can be kinda spooky," he wrote on Twitter.
Sometimes looking down on Earth at night can be kinda spooky. #Principia https://t.co/8Iu8oIYEoG pic.twitter.com/8dTv6ATPbk
The Top Selling Games for February Announced
According to numbers from the NPD Group, Far Cry Primal was the top selling game for the month of February.
However, according to a statement from the NPD Group, "decreases in hardware spending," as well a decrease in sales of new, physical hardware, "led to an overall decrease in physical spending of 12 percent."
Far Cry Primal wasn't the only new release in the top 10. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Street Fighter V and Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, also appeared on the list.
If all three versions of Fire Emblem fates were combined into one, the NPD Group said it "would have ranked third for new physical software sales" for the month.
The top 10 games for the month of February are listed in order.
Unreal Tournament: Classic Map Gets Next-Gen Facelift
Epic Games has released a new build of Unreal Tournament, including a "visually polished" version of the popular 'DM-Chill' map.
DM-Chill is an arena set in a frozen Nordic castle on a snowy mountain range, and is going to be used to test out a new multiplayer game mode known as "Showdown."
In Showdown, players are given one life and 200 health at the start of each match. Additionally, they can choose their spawn points to strategically determine the weapon locations they'd prefer to start near.
Powerpuff Girls Premiere Date Announced
The Powerpuff Girls are coming back next month.
Cartoon Network announced that the series reboot will premiere on April 4 with back-to-back episodes starting at 6 p.m. ET. After that, it will air new episodes every weekday through April 15 in the same time slot, ultimately leading to its regular weekly time, Thursdays at 6 p.m. ET starting on April 21.
For those who can't wait a month for sugar, spice, everything nice, and a dash of Chemical X, the South by Southwest festival in Austin will feature a premiere screening, along with a pre-party and a Powerpuff Girls parade. Premieres will follow in other regions around the world.
Tom Kenny will return in the new series to voice the Narrator/Mayor, while the girls themselves will be voiced by Amanda Leighton (Blossom), Kristen Li (Bubbles), and Natalie Palamides (Buttercup).
PlayStation 4 Tops Sales in February
Sony's PlayStation 4 was the top selling console for the month, according to numbers released by the NPD Group.
"We would like to thank our fans and partners for making PlayStation 4 the top-selling hardware platform and the software sales leader in February," Sony said in a statement.
PlayStation 4 continues to see strong year-over-year growth, Sony said. However, overall hardware sales were down 26% from the same period the previous year. Most of the decline was due to nose-diving sales of last-gen hardware. Decline for seventh-generation consoles, including PS3 and Xbox 360, declined 77% overall.
PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in January, as well. Since its debut, the PS4 has performed strongly sales-wise, beating out its competitors in almost every month.
Lethal Weapon TV Pilot Finds Its Martin Riggs
Rectify star Clayne Crawford has joined the cast of FOX's Lethal Weapon television series.
According to Variety, Crawford will star as Martin Riggs—Mel Gibson's iconic character from the original film series—in the upcoming pilot episode. The actor joins Damon Wayans, Sr., who was recently cast as Roger Murtaugh.
Crawford in Rectify - Photo credit: SundanceTV
Game Scoop!: Fable & Other Mismanaged Games
Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game talk show. This week we're discussing Fable Legends, Mass Effect Andromeda, Broforce, and more. Watch the video above or download the podcast below.
Download Game Scoop! Episode 381
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Batman v Superman: Jena Malone’s Role Revealed
Following last week's news that Jena Malone's mystery role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice won't make it to the silver screen, it appears Warner Bros. has accidentally revealed her character, which will appear in the R-rated Ultimate Edition home release.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
A screenshot from a Warner Bros. community survey was posted on Reddit (via CBR), which asked fans who they'd like to see featured in the marketing for Dawn of Justice. On the survey, Malone is listed as the actress who plays Barbara Gordon.
Obama Likens ISIS to Dark Knight’s Joker
While we don't normally cover politics here, we felt compelled to tell you about this very geeky analogy President Barack Obama reportedly made to describe the Islamic State and the danger they pose to the United States.
In the past the President may have described ISIS (or ISIL) as a "jayvee" basketball team, but now Obama has likened the al-Qaeda affiliate to Heath Ledger's anarchic Joker in The Dark Knight.
As The Atlantic reports: "Advisers recall that Obama would cite a pivotal moment in The Dark Knight, the 2008 Batman movie, to help explain not only how he understood the role of ISIS, but how he understood the larger ecosystem in which it grew. 'There’s a scene in the beginning in which the gang leaders of Gotham are meeting,' the president would say. 'These are men who had the city divided up. They were thugs, but there was a kind of order. Everyone had his turf. And then the Joker comes in and lights the whole city on fire. ISIL is the Joker. It has the capacity to set the whole region on fire. That’s why we have to fight it.'"