New Study Finds ‘Smarter’ People Prefer iPhones
According to a new study from online advertising network Chitika, states with more college graduates correlate with higher iPhone sales.
States with the largest number of iPhone users include Alaska (65.5%), Montana (60.1%), and Vermont (59.4%). On the flip side, Iowa (42.1%) and Delaware (42.2%) have the lowest iPhone sales.
The study also found that iPhone buyers tend to be wealthier, but because higher incomes also correlate with college degrees, Chitika says that result is redundant.
To collect its data, Chitika analyzed a sample of "hundreds of millions of U.S.-based iPhone ad impressions accessed via Chitika's mobile ad platforms between December 25-31 to account for holiday sales. Still, it's okay to take these numbers with a grain of salt. CNN reports that Chitika says its results "are not comprehensive" because the company focused on states and not smaller regions.
Kirby and Mario Party Pricing Revealed
Nintendo has opened pre-orders for Kirby and the Rainbow Curse and Mario Party 10, and revealed the prices for both.
Kirby is going for $40, the same price recently given to Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Mario Party 10 is a little more at $50. They're due out on February 20 and March 20, respectively.
Kirby is stylistically similar to Kirby: Canvas Curse, an early DS game, but sets the pink puffball in a clay-textured world. This version of Mario Party adds Bowser for asynchronous multiplayer, as up to four other players try to avoid Bowser's attacks and make it through the board game.
Nintendo recently revealed how Rainbow Curse will utilize the Kirby, Meta Knight, and King Dedede amiibos.
Will Castle in the Darkness Be 2015’s Shovel Knight?
Matt Kap, the lead artist on The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, is bringing his "retro action exploration platformer" to Steam on February 5.
Anyone who has any sort of familiarity with 8-bit games from the NES era should feel a warm glow nostalgia in their bellies from watching the game's trailer. Nods to Metroid, JRPGs like Final Fantasy, side-scrolling hack-and-slashers like Iron Sword can be seen, along with a healthy dose of Castlevania for good measure.
Kap has been working on the game for the past two years in his spare time. This is his first solo project, envisioned as something "he would have enjoyed as a kid," according to the game's website.
Will Ferrell Crashes NBA Game
During half-time at yesterday's Lakers-Pelicans game, Will Ferrell took out a cheerleader with a basketball for a scene in the upcoming comedy Daddy's Home.
Ferrell stumbles around -- while also stumbling over his words -- for one and a half minutes before attempting a half-court shot. He proceeds to knock the cheerleader over by hitting her in the face with the ball. He's then promptly carried off the court by security. Watch:
Directed by Sean Anders (That's My Boy) and written by Brian Burns, Daddy's Home stars Ferrell as a radio executive and Mark Wahlberg as a recently-returned freeloading father fighting for the attention of Ferrell's stepchildren.
The comedy is currently shooting, though there is no release date for the film at this time.
Rise of Incarnates Hitting Steam Early Access
Upcoming free-to-play fighting game Rise of Incarnates is coming to Steam Early Access on February 4.
Anyone who signs up for the game's newsletter on the Rise of Incarnates site before February 4 will receive a special Early Registration Gift, which includes a customization kit for each of the debut characters.
The Bandai Namco game will debut with eight different, customizable characters. The company promises that the characters have diverse powers and abilities that will "appeal to a variety of play-styles," while remain accommodating to different team strategies.
Players do battle in 2 vs. 2 arenas set in New York City and Paris. The matches come in several different flavors, including versus, arcade mode, and bot matches. "Players must employ sharp reflexes, mental resolve and strategic insight," during the matches.
Trials Fusion DLC Hits Next Week; Online Multiplayer Now Live
Ubisoft today announced new DLC for Trials Fusion, as online multiplayer is now available via a free update.
Titled Fire in the Deep, the latest (and biggest) content pack for Trials Fusion will be available January 27 for $5 USD, or free to Season Pass holders. Fire in the Deep introduces eleven new tracks, five new achievements/trophies, twenty-seven track challenges, and several new editor objects.
Today's free update adds three online multiplayer game modes: Online X-Supercross, Private Game, and Private Game with Spectator -- all of which Ubisoft detailed last year.
Water Literally Bounces Off This Laser Treated Metal
What happens when you "create a multifunctional metal surface by producing a hierarchical nano/microstructure with femtosecond laser pulses?" In case the answer isn't obvious to you, you make water bounce right off of metal.
Researches at the University of Rochester in New York have developed a "superhydrophobic" metal off of which water literally bounces. In addition to being incredibly water repellant, the surface is self cleaning, as well. The water applied to the surface takes "away a significant amount of dust particles on the altered surface," according to the team's paper in the Journal of Applied Physics.
Ronin Looks Like Gunpoint Only With More Ninjas
The studio behind Hotline Miami, Devolver Digital, has unveiled its new game Ronin, being created in collaboration with Tomasz Wacławek.
Due out on PC, Mac and Linux later this year, a debut trailer for the turn-based action platformer shows off elements that are clearly inspired by the critically-acclaimed Gunpoint, only with more katanas.
You're cast as a vengeful kunoichi, tasked with taking down five prominent heads of an evil corporation. Weapons as your disposal include razor wire, your katana and a grappling hook. 15 missions will be available at launch.
Seeing as the title will be on show at this week's PAX South, keep your eyes on IGN for more information very soon.
Game of Thrones IMAX Trailer
HBO has released a trailer for the upcoming IMAX showing of Game of Thrones' final two Season 4 episodes and exclusive Season 5 trailer.
At the thirty-three second mark, we also get a quick look at Season 5, as we see Tyrion in a (literal) tight spot.
The Game of Thrones special will run in select theaters across the U.S. from January 29 through February 5.
Season 5 kicks off Sunday, April 12th at 9:00pm ET/PT on HBO.
Jordan Sirani is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Nvidia’s GTX 960 Video Card: Impressions & Benchmarks
Today Nvidia has pulled the wraps off its all-new GTX 960 video card, the latest addition to its lineup of Maxwell GPUs. At $200 MSRP, it sits directly in-between the upper and lower tiers of the Nvidia product stack—and offers all the features of the more expensive cards while costing almost half the price. In other words, this is the card for 1080p gaming at 60fps at an affordable price.
If that doesn’t sound good enough, the GTX 960 is also designed to be overclocked higher than any card that has come before it, and it’s releasing along with a new GeForce graphics driver and a new version of GeForce Experience that lets you enable some Maxwell features a bit easier than in the past. It’s a hard launch for the GTX 960, instead of a paper launch, so by the time you read this, cards will be available from all the usual suspects (Asus, Gigabyte, etc.) at retail and online.