Netflix’s Altered Carbon Should Be Your Next Binge
Immortality is within reach in Netflix’s latest binge-worthy series. Altered Carbon, which premieres on February 2nd, is based on the popular 2002 cyberpunk novel written by British author Richard K. Morgan. It’s an ambitious project from the streaming giant that is a sci-fi adventure you don't want to miss.
Altered Carbon is set in a distant future where humanity has discovered a way to preserve human consciousness -- if you have the cash for a device called a Cortical Stack. Embedded in the spinal column, Cortical stacks house a person’s memories, so that even if the body dies, the stack can be preserved indefinitely.
The body someone is brought back into after they die depends on their cash flow. If they’re lucky enough to be super rich, they can look young and beautiful forever, but those who are unable to afford top of the line models could find themselves in a less than desirable situation. Like a 7-year-old girl in the body of an 80-year-old woman. Imagine that family reunion.
Out This Week: Dragon Ball FighterZ, Monster Hunter World, Iconoclasts
With so many new games and movies coming out, it can be hard to keep up. Lucky for you, IGN is here to help with a weekly round-up of the biggest releases each and every week. Check out the latest releases for this week, and be sure to come back next Monday for a new update.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
The Razzies 2018 Nominations Announced
The list of nominations for The Golden Raspberries - Hollywood's anti-awards for the worst films of the year - have been revealed for the 2017's crop (or is that crock?).
Transformers: The Last Knight - a film we called "a massive, shiny mess" - leads the pack with 9 nominations, while Fifty Shades Darker ("Is it possible to sit through Fifty Shades Darker without being bound and gagged?") follows on 8.
Darren Aronofsky and the co-leads of his film Mother! ("an exceptionally frustrating film") will likely be most upset with their nominations.
Civilization 6: Rise and Fall Makes it Fun to Fail
It is a dark time for the Cree Nation. Having failed to achieve greatness during the Ancient Era, we enter the Classical not with dreams of grand temples and expanded borders, but with the grim knowledge that all we can do is gather around the hearth fire and ride out the coming storm.
I’ve long been critical of historical strategy games for encouraging the player down an unimpeded path of snowballing progress. That’s just not how history works. For every great Roman emperor, you get a handful of terrible ones. Every civilization that has experienced a golden age of knowledge and military supremacy has also faced crisis and collapse. The system of Dark Ages and Golden Ages in Rise and Fall seeks to introduce some of that into the Civ 6 experience. And I actually had the most fun while I was failing.
Sonic the Hedgehog Creator Joins Square Enix
Yuji Naka, one of three creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, has announced that he joined Square Enix this year.
Announced through his Twitter account, Naka explained that "I’m joining game development as before, and strive to develop games at Square Enix. I aim to develop an enjoyable game, please look forward to it." No further information's been given on Naka's role or project at time of writing.
Just a quick note to let you know, I joined SQUARE ENIX in January.
I’m joining game development as before, and strive to develop games at SQUARE ENIX.
I aim to develop an enjoyable game, please look forward to it.
UK Daily Deals: Nintendo Switch for £256, Xbox One With PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fallout, Doom and AC: Origins for £460
50 Cent Wants to Make Another Game
Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson has been out of the video game game for 9 years - but he seems to want to get back in.
When asked by GameSpot if he'd want to make a third game in what I'm choosing to call the 50 Cent Trilogy, he said: "Definitely I'm interested
I just have to find the right concept. Everything I touch, I want to be unique. I want it to be special. And I put thought into it, because those things will be here longer than I would...when I come up with
, I want to make sure it's something we enjoy for a long time."
Jackson does already have one idea in mind, based on his upcoming superhero drama TV show, Tomorrow, Today. The in-development Starz show will reportedly star Jackson as a military veteran who gains superpowers after being experimented on by a prison doctor.
Make Your Wireless Network Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
We know what you're thinking, "Best router for gaming? Any serious gamer is on a hard-wired connection!" We hear you, but not everyone lives in a house and most apartments look down on you even putting a nail in the wall. Plus most homes still need Wi-Fi to connect all their smaller devices.
Thankfully, with the arrival of 802.11ac—now known as Wi-Fi 5—you can actually game over a wireless connection. Wi-Fi is also a great option if you're dealing with cable routing issues or barriers that prevents you from going wired. Plus, the next wireless protocol (802.11ax or Wi-Fi 6) is going to be as fast as 9.6Gbps, meanwhile, the current Wi-Fi standard maxes out at 3.5Gbps.
All this wireless speed is great news for people who might have wanted to game online in the past but gave up due to a flaky connection. We've tested and picked out all the top models currently available. We also took a look at their gaming features (if they have any, as not all of them do), and arrived at a conclusion both objectively and subjectively. Based on our testing and expertise, there were several excellent options, but only one had a clear claim to the title of the best gaming router. Read on to find out which gaming routers made our best-of list. Also stay up to speed with the best Black Friday deals from Amazon and Walmart.
Hearthstone Has a New World Champion
The newly revamped Hearthstone Championship Tour has come to an end in Amsterdam. More than 50,000 players competed to be one of the 16 finalists that qualified for the World Championship over the course of the last year, and now, after four days of incredible play and numerous upsets, Taiwanese player tom60229 has emerged victorious.
tom upset crowd favourite Fr0zen in the final match, coming back from 0-2 down to win three games in a row against Fr0zen’s Jade Druid, in an impressive performance. The USA's Fr0zen was widely tipped to win, having brought arguably the best line-up to counter the majority of the other players’ strategies – he was only one of two players that brought Control Mage - but ultimately tom’s composed play and next-level thinking pulled him through.
Hearthstone’s Raven on His Path to Becoming a Caster
Hearthstone’s competitive scene has evolved significantly over the last 12 months, thanks, in part to Blizzard actively trying to grow it as an esport. That has meant new competitions, globe-trotting events and higher production values. While all that changed, however, a handful of things stayed the same, such as the core casting personalities who provide insight into high-level play during tournaments, and keep the broadcasts entertaining when players are simply thinking.
Among those personalities is the UK’s Raven, who – usually paired with Sottle, also from the UK – has an easygoing style all his own. I caught up with him at the World Championship finals in Amsterdam (you can watch the final day of competition here) to find out how he became a caster, how he sees his role and what it’s like doing this for a living.