LEGO Jurassic World Has Been (Finally) Revealed
Warner Bros. and TT Games have officially unveiled LEGO Jurassic World.
Details are scarce at the minute but we do know the game will follow a similar route taken by LEGO Star Wars in that players will be able to play through Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Jurassic Park III, and of course the LEGO video game version of the forthcoming Jurassic World in their entirety.
LEGO Jurassic World is currently scheduled for a June release for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, 3DS, and Windows PC.
We first learned about Jurassic World back in November via the credits of LEGO Batman 3. Before that, LEGO had announced it would be releasing licensed sets themed around Jurassic World, which are set for release in May, ahead of the film’s opening on June 12.
New Update is on its Way for Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies
Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies will receive a new update in January.
The update, which is scheduled for release at the end of January, brings with it a training mode, new weapon types, a guaranteed weapon recipe, and an increase to weapon enhancements from five to eight.
Also coming is the inclusion of two news classes, namely Criss and Yuri, as well as a new costume box, which will award one of 26 different – and permanent – costume items.
You can view the full breakdown of what to expect through this link.
If you’re a fan of the Counter-Strike eSport scene you’ll probably have heard of the issues the industry is currently dealing with. In November of 2014, allegations of cheating at the Dreamhack Winter 2014 tournament shook things up. That was followed by further allegations that a top team intentionally threw a match to receive a large payout from betting odds. After that last revelation, Valve got involved, advising partners not to allow members from the teams in question the opportunity to participate in further Valve-sponsored events.
Inventor of the Laser Charles Townes Dies at Age 99
Charles Townes, the inventor of the laser, has died at age 99, the University of California at Berkeley has announced.
Born in 1915, in Greenville, South Carolina, Townes first conceived the idea of a short-wavelength, high-frequency beam while sitting at a park bench in Washington DC during the spring of 1951.
With the help of fellow scientists and students James P. Gordon and H. J. Zeiger, Townes was the first to create a device capable of harnessing ammonia molecules to amplify microwave frequencies to around 24.0 gighertz. The device in question was dubbed a maser, which stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
Comic Book Reviews for January 28, 2015
Uncanny Avengers sees its big relaunch this week, with Marvel also delivering the next chapter in the search for the new Juggernaut, an illuminating issue of New Avengers that gets up one step closer to Secret Wars, and the followup to that crazy cliffhanger in Uncanny X-Men.
Over at DC, there was a huge twist in Batman (we talked to writer Scott Snyder about it!), another creepy issue of Gotham By Midnight, and one of the last few issues of Red Lanterns.
On the indie scene, we got the return of Casanova, the debut of a new Jonathan Hickman series called The Dead and the Dying, and another issue of Bitch Planet.
Nintendo Rolls Out Beta Affiliate Program for YouTube Creators
The Nintendo Creators Program, a service where Nintendo gives users a part of the advertising proceeds it receives from YouTube for Nintendo-related videos, is now available in beta.
“In the past, advertising proceeds that could be received for videos that included Nintendo-copyrighted content (such as gameplay videos) went to Nintendo, according to YouTube rules," a statement on the program's website reads. "Now, through this service, Nintendo will send you a share of these advertising proceeds for any YouTube videos or channels containing Nintendo-copyrighted content that you register.”
Steam Workshop Content Creators Have Raked in $57m
Valve has revealed today that, since the launch of its Steam Workshop service in late 2011, users who have created and contributed in-game items sold in Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have collectively pocketed over USD$57 million. Valve explains this money was earned by over 1,500 contributors across 75 countries.
“When we launched the Workshop late in 2011, we expected that it would grow, but not that it would grow this much, this quickly,” writes Valve’s Alden Kroll.
Valve has also announced that revenue-generating Workshops will no longer to be limited to in-house Valve games; the first curated Workshops for non-Valve games have now opened. Dungeon Defenders: Eternity and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare are the first games to join the program but Valve expects more curated Workshops “to become available for creators and players in various games over the coming weeks and months.”
Podcast Unlocked: Is the Xbox 360 Dead?
DOWNLOAD PODCAST UNLOCKED EPISODE 180
The Xbox's sales are down year over year for the fourth quarter, largely due to dwindling Xbox 360 sales. So it's time to wonder: is the old console toast? Also, IGN tech editor Alaina Yee joins us to share her first-hand, behind-the-scenes account of the Windows 10/HoloLens event she attended last week at Microsoft Campus. Plus: EA makes bank, the Xbox One's controller gets a firmware update, and we give you an In-N-Out Burger history lesson you absolutely didn't ask for.
Supergirl Has Found its James ‘Jimmy’ Olsen
CBS' upcoming Supergirl series has found its James Olsen in True Blood's Mehcad Brooks.
EW has the news, and stresses that Supergirl's Olsen will be a different take on the character from the one we know from the comics (aka 'Jimmy' Olsen). Brooks' character will be photographer at CatCo, the media company where Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, works, and had previously been working in National City for mysterious reasons. He may be a potential love interest for Kara, played by Melissa Benoist.
Brooks in True Blood.
The Marvellous Miss Take Review
We need more heist games in our lives. Stealth games are a dime a dozen, but only in heist games are you required to play with confidence. We need the thrill of strolling into a heavily-guarded museum or bank and lifting priceless items from under everyone's noses. And we need to feel vindicated and smug as we walk out of the place with no one the wiser. That's the essence that The Marvellous Miss Take attempts to embody, steering you to fearlessly swipe paintings and sculptures under the careful watch of patrons and guards. But though the game wants you to feel like you're overcoming incredible odds thanks to your innate cunning, its unreasonably small levels and erratic enemy behavior destroy the very confidence it demands of you.
But first, you're eased into a life of crime. You play as Sophia Take, an art enthusiast who saw her great aunt's collection swindled away and split among greedy one percenters. She takes matters into her own hands and sets out to steal the art back. (She even resembles everyone's favorite world-class educational thief, Carmen Sandiego.) Though Miss Take is brimming with resolve, she soon reveals that she's a little unsure of herself to Harry Carver, a well-to-do and benevolent master thief who she bumps into in the middle of a caper. Together with Harry and pickpocket Daisy, Sophia slowly accumulates more and more of her great aunt's collection, gaining more confidence with each heist. These three figures form the core of the game's story and characterization, and, though it's tempting to paint them as one-dimensional afterthoughts, the game pulls off some subtle tricks to fill in the gaps.
Sophia's initial uncertainty carries into the player experience as well. You must abscond with all the art on the current floor and then either board an elevator or make your way to the exit. Guards' fields of vision are represented by giant blue cones that protrude from their eyes as you look down on the floor from a semi-isometric view. The levels themselves are cramped, with guards' vision often filling 75 percent of a room, making success seem impossible. But the game invites you to overcome these feelings by trying to gradually make you realize the ease with which you can accomplish your goals. The controls are dead simple, as the game can be played solely with the mouse. Just click on a spot, and Sophia moves there. Hold down the left mouse button and she starts running, though her haste makes noise that attracts guards, as does whistling by holding the mouse button down over her.
You start the game feeling intimidated by the sheer number of blue cones covering the levels. You feel shy about walking up to grab a painting while a guard's back is turned, but you learn to time your pacing in order to boldly walk to your target before the guard is any the wiser. You're afraid to set foot in a heavily-guarded area for fear of stepping into a guard’s field of vision, but being seen doesn't get you caught immediately. Instead, a glimpse of you only gets a guard's attention and lures him or her to the last point at which you were seen. Stay in sight too long and you alert the guards, but duck out of sight in time and you can lure guards to wherever you need them to be.
Even Sophia’s partners' side missions encourage you to come out of your shell. Harry has a leg injury and needs a cane to walk, so he's unable to run. This means that his heists happen at night when guard activity is at a minimum. He must sneak around armed with only a weird ball-like contraption, which makes noise when thrown against a wall. This teaches you not to rely on running to and fro and also encourages you to actually use the many power-ups the game gives Sofia, such as smoke bombs that block vision or teleporters that let you make a quick getaway. Daisy's missions, on the other hand, require you to get up close and personal with guards, picking their pockets to get keys and make off with a safe's contents. Though Daisy's prowess at pickpocketing means that she can approach guards without them becoming suspicious, it teaches you, when being Sophia, not to be so timid when it comes to worming your way through the guard-filled minefield. When you start getting the hang of navigating the security and playing the guards like saps, your confidence starts to snowball until you feel like a master thief. And clearly Sofia does too, as after clearing a level, she puts her hand on her hips and throws heavy shade at the mooks she just put to shame.
The moments in which you should be slipping past a heavily-guarded room to snag a bust are often ruined thanks to a guard who happens to turn the wrong way.
At least, that's the experience the game wants you to have, and occasionally it succeeds. But, though the game attempts to convey scenarios that make you feel like you're succeeding against all odds, the game commits the sin of actually stacking the odds against you. The fact that most rooms are bathed in blue does make the levels somewhat unmanageable even when you learn all the tricks. The cramped corridors and tiny rooms make maneuvering more of a chore than it needs to be. Worst of all is the inconsistent enemies, who, aside from the frequency with which they change direction, are completely unpredictable. Guards patrol in whatever direction strikes their fancy with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Now, not having predictable patterns isn't necessarily a bad thing if a game is designed with unpredictability in mind, but with so little space to work with and only one tool at your disposal at a time, you often find yourself waiting for an enemy to happen to wander to just the right spot so that you can enact your plan. This also means that the moments in which you should be slipping past a heavily-guarded room to snag a bust are often ruined thanks to a guard who happens to turn the wrong way. This takes your supposed skill out of the equation somewhat and makes the game a frustrating slog.
It also doesn't help that the world itself isn't terribly interesting. For a game that seems built on slick intrigue, the levels themselves all play just about the same, albeit with varying degrees of frustration. Each floor you have to tackle is just a bunch of hallways connecting a bunch of bigger rooms. You barely ever get to use the environment to your advantage in clever ways, adding a thick layer of monotony to proceedings. Gimmicks such as dogs who can smell your footsteps, security cameras, and lasers add some much-needed variety, but once you encounter them once, you've seen all they have to offer. Levels also offer no visual panache, looking very sterile and plain, which is disappointing because the game's soundtrack embodies the slick, stylish world of high-class thievery.
The Marvellous Miss Take aims to be a different kind of confidence game, one in which you stroll into a level like you own the place and take whatever you wish with ease. All the pieces are in place to build you up and make you a virtual master thief, and Sofia's journey is the perfect embodiment of this process. It's just a shame that the game's level design and enemy combine to short-circuit the experience throughout, because there are so many individual pieces that make the game really easy to like. Sofia deserves better.
When Can You See The Walking Dead Movie Spoof?
ARC Entertainment has acquired the rights to distribute a Walking Dead spinoff movie -- titled The Walking Deceased -- for a North American release on March 20.
Check out the first round of images from The Walking Deceased (that clearly show the film's Walking Dead influences) below:
