Star Wars Battlefront Sells 12 Million Copies in First 2 Months
Star Wars: The Force Awakens may be breaking box office records, but it's not the only Star Wars property that's been successful in the past few months. EA's Star Wars Battlefront has sold 12 million copies since its release in November.
The first-person shooter sold approximately 6 million copies in November and an additional 6 million in December. At an average retail price of $55, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told Fortune he believes the game has generated close to $660 million in earnings.
Although many of these sales came before The Force Awakens' release, Randy Nelson, content manager of Sensor Tower’s store intelligence platform, believes the movie's success has played a huge role in generating "buzz around all things Star Wars."
Don’t Expect the Next Game of Thrones Book Anytime Soon
George R.R. Martin has provided an update on the status of his next book in his popular A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, the basis for Game of Thrones, confirming Winds of Winter is not done, with no set date on when it will be finished or released.
"I won't make excuses. There are no excuses," Martin said in a post on his LiveJournal. "No one else is to blame. Not my editors and publishers, not HBO, not
David
& Dan
. It's on me. I tried, and I am still trying."
The author went on to say he's not sure when it will be done or published, noting he's still months away, "and that's if the writing goes well." Martin also said he has no intention of setting another deadline for himself "to trip over."
There’s a Mystery Waiting to Unlock in Steam’s Winter Sale
If you think you have what it takes to unlock a mystery, the Steam Winter Sale is awaiting your attempts right now. An alternate-reality game, the purpose of, and ultimate prize for unlocking, have yet to be determined, is now running its course on Steam.
Cue the X-Files theme music, because things are about to get mysterious. A subreddit dedicated to the cracking the case has a good breakdown of what is known so far.
On day 1 of the Steam Winter Sale, which began December 22, a comic showed up on the front page of the Steam storefront with a barcode on the cover. Scanning the barcode returned the same code as the one tattooed on Hitman 47 from the Hitman series.
Recreate Star Wars Melee Battle With New Hot Toys Figures
You've seen the movie, and you've seen the memes, and now you can recreate one of the most epic melee battles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the comfort of your home or office.
If you haven't seen the movie, you might want to just go ahead and skip over this story, as it contains mild spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The figures from Hot Toys are 1/6 scale and depict former Stormtrooper Finn and his melee rival, the unnamed Riot Control Stormtrooper the internet has dubbed "TR8-TOR." The two meet in battle during The Force Awakens and Finn is nearly out-classed by his former peer, but is saved by a well-placed shot from Han Solo.
Daily Deals: South Park for $13.37 and The Cheapest amiibo Ever
South Park: The Stick of Truth for $13.37
Is "1337" still a thing all the cool kids say? If so, this price is totally that.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Gold Edition for $40.63
That's over half of the normal list price of $89.99. The PS4 and Xbox One versions are also on sale, but it's the PC edition that's ranking in at the lowest price as of this writing.
32 Games to Keep on Your Radar in 2016
There are a lot of games to look forward to in 2016, but with all the big-name titles to anticipate, it can be easy to let some of the smaller gems slip under your radar.
Here are 32 great looking games you shouldn't overlook in 2016.
This Telltale-style adventure game from iNK Stories follows a young photojournalist named Reza as he experiences and gets caught up in the events leading up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a complicated era mostly overlooked in the realm of video games.
BB-8 Recreated with 3D Printing
A former Ubisoft Montréal employee has recreated BB-8, the cute robot companion from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with 3D printing.
Measuring in at about half the size as the real BB-8, J.R. Bedárd, a Canadian software engineer, was inspired to make the robot after seeing it at Star Wars Celebration last April. You can watch his creation in action in the video below.
"I've completed a couple of 3D-printing projects before and wanted to create my own (remote-controlled) version of this droid, on wheels," Bedárd told Live Science. "Being on wheels meant that I could add more 3D details and elements on the shell of the robot, as it doesn't need to be flat for rolling."
Major League Gaming Reportedly Bought by Activision Blizzard
Major League Gaming as we once knew it is through. eSports Observer reports that MLG's Board of Director's have approved an asset purchase agreement that gives Activision Blizzard "substantially all" of the company's assets.
The sale was approved as a "corporate action taken without a stockholders' meeting by less than unanimous written consent" of stockholders. Stockholders not involved in the decision were informed through a letter sent out on December 22, eSports Observer says.
However, Series B shareholder and eSports personality Scott "SirScoots" Smith says he was only notified yesterday.
NASA Photographs What It Calls a Space Lightsaber
The Force is apparently quite strong in the Milky Way, as a new photo from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope looks an awful lot like a double-bladed lightsaber.
Check out the clip from NASA below to see the image, which was taken of a newborn star within the confines of our very own galaxy. In fact, it was specifically found in the Orion B molecular cloud complex, a "turbulent birthing ground for new stars" that's 1,350 light-years away.
"Science fiction has been an inspiration to generations of scientists and engineers, and the film series Star Wars is no exception," NASA astronaut John Grunsfeld said. "There is no stronger case for the motivational power of real science than the discoveries that come from the Hubble Space Telescope as it unravels the mysteries of the universe."
Star Trek: USPS Unveils 50th Anniversary Stamps
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek's television premiere, the United States Postal Service is releasing exclusive stamps inspired by the classic sci-fi franchise.
According to USPS's announcement, a total of four Star Trek Forever stamps are on the way, featuring designs inspired by the show, including the Starship Enterprise and Spock's iconic Vulcan salute.
These new exclusive stamps were designed by Heads of State under the direction of esteemed artist Antonio Alcalá. See each of them below, courtesy of the official Star Trek Twitter account.