DarendukesSuch an awesome scene.
Consider this your reminder to be impressive, but not too impressive, as you make your operatically violent way through life. Fans of Netflix’s now-canceled Daredevil were disappointed this week to learn that the series wasn’t on the ballot for an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Stunt Coordination this year, despite…
DarendukesThis game looks like it was made by filming toys. Kinda eerie.
The Switch remake of 1993's The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is here at E3, and we’ve capped as much footage of it as we can to show you. It’s beautiful, largely faithful to the source material and just a bit stumbly on the framerate, which they can hopefully smooth out by the game’s September 20 launch.
Darendukesneat
Not long after Apple acquired music recognition app Shazam last fall, the music-ID service introduced a new feature called Pop-up that allowed it to identify songs being played on the device itself, in addition to outside sources.
DarendukesDid I finish Gears 4? What happens?
Are you ready to chainsaw some more Locusts and (hopefully) spelunk the innards of another giant worm? Well, good news: Gears 5 is coming out on September 10.
DarendukesNow just make a mode where I don't have to eat and drink all the fucking time.
After admitting on stage that Fallout 76's first year hasn’t exactly been great, Bethesda is trying again with some big changes for the game going forwards.
DarendukesGreat. Now I have to buy this and an 8k TV.
Microsoft finally showed off some more footage for Halo Infinite—a weighty name for the sixth major game in the 18-year-old franchise. Halo Infinite will launch on Windows 10, Xbox One and Xbox’s newly-announced Project Scarlett console fall, 2020.
Come hell, high water, lawsuits, inadvisable Twitter threads, or equally inadvisable voice actor casting choices, Borderlands 3 is coming out. Currently, it’s scheduled for this September, which means it’s right around the corner. Gearbox, it seems, has decided to prepare players by sending them back to the colorful…
DarendukesHoly shit dude. A 3 year old had a The Nun themed party. That's parenting.
It would be easy to dismiss last year’s largely forgettable The Nun as just another of the many rote spin-offs made to capitalize on The Conjuring series’ success. This would be a mistake. The movie, which features a demon nun named Valak who looks like a scrapped Marilyn Manson video concept, has had an impact far…
DarendukesThanks for telling me about something I would have loved that died in the womb.
Enlarge (credit: Blizzard Entertainment)
On Wednesday, a vague tweet from a Blizzard game developer hinted at a canceled game project that fans would "never see," then announced his departure from the company. As questions started flying over what that game was, Kotaku super-reporter Jason Schreier showed up one day later with the scoop: the canceled game, which had been in development for two years, was a first-person shooter set in the StarCraft universe.
In addition to citing "three people familiar with goings-on," Schreier received a lengthy official response from Blizzard on Thursday that did not deny the game's existence and cancellation. It reads, in part: "As has been the case at Blizzard numerous times in the past, there is always the possibility that we'll make the decision to not move forward on a given project."
This project, which Schreier says was codenamed "Ares" within Blizzard, began as a Battlefield-like campaign against the series' Zerg aliens whose initial prototypes put players in control of a "Terran marine." The Schreier report says that the team had planned to put players in control of Zerg aliens, as well—but the fact that such content was only hinted at, as opposed to being internally playable, may point to how far along the game had gotten.
DarendukesJesus... here we go..
Enlarge / The forward end of the International Space Station is pictured showing portions of five modules. From right to left is a portion of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module linking forward to the Harmony module. Attached to the port side of Harmony (left foreground) is the Kibo laboratory module from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with its logistics module berthed on top. On Harmony's starboard side (center background) is the Columbus laboratory module from ESA (European Space Agency). (credit: NASA)
On Thursday morning, NASA held a press conference to announce that the International Space Station is now open for business. Previously, commercial organizations have only been able to use the ISS for research purposes; now NASA is open to letting them make a profit in low Earth orbit (LEO). "We're marketing these opportunities as we've never done before," said NASA's Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWitt earlier today.
For starters, the space agency issued a new directive that allows commercial manufacturing and production to occur on the ISS, as well as marketing activities. It's not quite "anything goes," though—approved activities have to have a link to NASA's mission, stimulate the development of a LEO economy, or actually require a zero-G environment. NASA has published a price list for the ISS, and it's setting aside five percent of the station's annual resources (including astronaut time and cargo mass) for commercial use.
Be prepared to pay to reach LEO. The cheapest cargo option is $3,000/kg to get it there, then an additional $3,000/kg to dispose of it in the trash. If you want it back again, that'll be a $6,000/kg return fee, although round trip prices per kg are more expensive if you need power or life support on the way home.
As far as ideas go, KFC serving bags of crisp, fried chicken skin is an excellent one. Who doesn’t love the skin?
DarendukesThis will fail.
The hardware you get with the $129.99 Stadia "Founder's Edition."
Players will have to pay $129.99 up front and $9.99 a month, on top of individual game purchase costs, when Google's previously announced Stadia game-streaming service launches in November. A free tier will be available some time in 2020, as will a paid subscription tier that doesn't require the upfront purchase.
The Stadia Founder's Edition and its contingent Stadia Pro subscription will be the only way to get access to the Stadia service when it launches, Google announced today. That $129.99 package, available for pre-order on the Google Store right now, will include:
After the first three months, Stadia Pro users will have to pay $9.99 a month to maintain their membership. For that price, they will get access to Google's highest-quality streams, at up to 4K/60fps with high-dynamic range (HDR) and 5.1 surround sound. In 2019, users will not be able to sign up for Stadia Pro without investing in the Founder's Edition hardware package, and Founder's Edition packages will only be available "in limited quantities and for a limited time."
DarendukesThat was fast.
Just one week after the premiere of the first season of streaming service DC Universe’s Swamp Thing show—and less than two months after production of the show was abruptly halted and its episode order was cut from 13 to 10—Swamp Thing has been canceled (though the entire first season will air as planned, with new…
DarendukesLove that art style. Might check this one out on the ole Xbone.
I fell in love with Void Bastards before I even played a moment of it. The art style just instantly clicked with me in a way that rarely happens. I didn’t even know what kind of game it was until I started playing it earlier this week. It turns out this beautiful and stylish game is like a randomized Bioshock mixed…
Darendukes"...he was classified as having a Grade IV erection, the highest tally on the Erection Hardness Score"
New high score!
A man’s fall from a moped caused him much stranger trouble than anyone could have imagined. According to his doctors, a bruise near his genitals left him with a days-long erection—one that eventually required a trip to the emergency room to treat. Thankfully, doctors were able to resolve his awkward complication, and…
Darendukes“One theory holds that Americans had infiltrated the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and many historians do not deny that, on the day of the explosion, an agent of the enemy’s intelligence services was present at the station.”
Really?
We were huge fans of Chernobyl, HBO’s five-part miniseries about the 1986 nuclear reactor explosion. We weren’t alone, either; the series now has the—frankly, dubious—honor of being the highest-rated show on IMDb, having presumably bumped off The Shawshank Redemption. It has its critics, though. A compelling New Yorker piece
DarendukesEverCrack.... I lost two friends to this game. One barely graduated our senior year because he would skip school to play it.
Behold, EverQuest—looks a bit different than it did in 2000, eh? [credit: Daybreak Games ]
Twenty years ago, a company in Southern California launched an online game that would go on to serve as the model for many more titles to come in the massively multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG) space. And unlike many games that sought to replace it over the years, this one is still going today.
No, this isn’t about World of Warcraft—that game only turns 15 in 2019. Before there was WoW, there was the MMO pioneer EverQuest. This sword-and-sorcery-based game was developed by a small company, 989 Studios, but it eventually reached its pinnacle under Sony Online Entertainment after SOE acquired that studio roughly a year after the game's launch. Today, EQ marches on with a dedicated player base and another developer, Daybreak Games, at the helm.
I’ve been a dedicated player since the early days, and others like me would likely acknowledge the game peaked early. A variety of factors have whittled down the once-mighty player base since: many just simply walked away, either busy with life or quit because it took up too much time. The impact of World of Warcraft over time is also undeniable.
DarendukesIt seems like every year someone comes up with a cool way like this to produce clean(er) energy but nobody ever actually does it.
Enlarge / Artist's rendering of solar methanol islands. (credit: Novaton)
Imagine an open ocean, Sun beating down overhead, with 70 islands of solar panels, each 100 meters (328 feet) in diameter, bobbing silently out toward the horizon.
The cluster of islands is churning out electricity and sending it to a hard-hulled ship that acts as an oceanic factory. This factory uses desalinization and electrolysis equipment to extract hydrogen gas (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surrounding ocean water. It then uses these products to create methanol, a liquid fuel that can be added into, or substituted for, transportation fuels. Every so often, a ship comes to offload the methanol and take it to a supply center on land.
This plan was outlined in a PNAS paper published this week, which suggests it's an option for addressing the global economy's over-reliance on liquid fossil fuels. Removing excess carbon dioxide from our environment is crucial to mitigating the effects of climate change. But electrifying trucks and planes has proved intractable in the near-term, so finding a "greener" option for liquid fuel is seen as a helpful half-step.
We’ve already geeked out over Minor League Baseball’s Copa de la Diversión alternate hats, but a bunch of minor league teams have other alternative logos, names, and uniforms that they use throughout the year as well.
Darendukesomg lol
First responders airlifted an injured 74-year-old woman off Piestewa Peak near Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday morning. She was reportedly recovering by the afternoon, but bad luck and a little wind made what was supposed to be a gentle lift look like Air Force pilot training in the most un-fun possible way.
DarendukesSo hawt... want to touch the heiny...
It seems Diana Prince is going to war next summer when Wonder Woman 1984 hits theaters. A new poster debuted by director Patty Jenkins shows the DC superhero in a gleaming set of armor seemingly inspired by a famous comic book run.
Darendukesneat
Black Mirror’s newest entries have arrived, and, as one might expect, they came with some tunes from Miley Cyrus, star of new episode “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too.” In it, Cyrus plays Ashley O, a bubblegummy pop star whose path to fame was blazed with a hit called “On A Roll.” Upon hearing it, though, more than a few…
Darendukesword
It’s been one Henson of a wait, but the trailer for Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance is here, and it delivers on the promise implied by the very cool-looking images released earlier this month. In fact, at first glance, it seems almost impossible that this was all practical puppet work. But series…
Darendukeswut?
Achievement unlocked: basic human hygiene. While rumors swirl about the specs of a potential Playstation 5, Microsoft has blown whatever Sony has planned for E3 right out of the water by announcing that the next generation of Xbox will be soap. That’s right, finally, after enduring decades without a soap to call their…
Darendukessquish face!
When Georgina Price and her fiance Christopher Lardner adopted their first rescue cat, Herbie, the 16-year-old feline was near the end of his journey. Sadly, Herbie died just months later. And even though the couple had only known him for a little while, they were heartbroken by his passing. The loss, however, had opened their hearts for someone new.
More info: Instagram
Image credits: tummyandgummy
“I just kept thinking about all the animals that might only have five months left and would spend the whole of that time in a shelter,” Georgina told Meow. “We decided we would look for an extra special cat that might take a little longer to find a home.”
Image credits: tummyandgummy
While browsing the web, Georgina stumbled upon Toby and Quinton, a pair of bonded cats who both were in search of a new home. “I saw them on the RSPCA website and fell in love with their sweet little faces,” Georgina said. Quinton, a 7-year-old black and white cat, was missing all of his teeth and Toby, a 6-year-old short-haired feline, had a lot of loose skin.
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Eventually, Georgina found out that Toby had been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) or feline cutaneous asthenia (FCA), a congenital condition that can cause unusually stretchy, loose, and fragile skin due to a lack of collagen. “We’d never heard of EDS before we found him, we just knew that he needed a loving home and we have so much love to give,” Georgina said.
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Georgina and Christopher visited the duo at the RSPCA where they lived in a special unit. “They were both terrified and huddled right at the back. Toby just hid behind Quinton the whole time, trembling.”
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Georgina was able to pet Quinton, but she couldn’t touch Toby because he was just too scared. All things considered, she and Christopher were still confident they were ready to take good care of the exceptionally nervous special needs feline, so they adopted both Toby and Quinton.
Image credits: tummyandgummy
It didn’t take long for Toby and Quinton to find peace in their new home. Seven months later, these two are doing perfectly fine. Toby’s delicate skin condition, however, makes him prone to injury even when he’s simply grooming himself or playing with Quinton. “Toby and Quinton are inseparable and Quinton tries to clean up Toby’s face when possible and when they play, Quinton knows to keep his claws retracted.”
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Because of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Toby’s stomach hangs down to his knees, and Georgina and Christopher are concerned about the effect the added weight of this extra skin might have on his long-term health. “EDS can cause joint problems and the excess weight of his skin makes us think that he will have problems in later life,” Georgina explained.
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Minimizing stress on his joints, Toby’s owners try to prevent him from jumping up or down from high places, but even though he requires a bit more extra care, Georgina and Christopher couldn’t be happier with Toby and his bro Quinton.
Image credits: tummyandgummy
His condition aside, Toby is just your average kitty. He enjoys bird watching, playing with bouncy balls, and snuggling with his owners. “He loves belly rubs and will plop himself next to you and look at you, waiting for you to rub his belly,” Georgina said.
Image credits: tummyandgummy
The woman hopes that sharing Toby’s story will not only raise awareness about his rare condition but will encourage more people to consider bringing special needs cats into their lives. “It doesn’t take any more to love them and despite whatever it is that may make them ‘special needs’, they are still beautiful animals with their own amazing personalities, likes, dislikes, and the ability to love you back.”
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Image credits: tummyandgummy
Be sure to follow Toby’s Instagram for more cute pics!
DarendukesDamnit. I would totally watch this show. Fucking Apple TV...
For All Mankind explores the question, "What if the global space race had never ended?"
Apple just dropped the first full-length trailer for its forthcoming sci-fi space-race series, For All Mankind. Developed by Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore, the series is meant to explore an alternate reality where the global space race never really ended.
For All Mankind (not to be confused with the 1989 documentary of the same name) joins a host of other TV series in development for Apple TV Plus, a new video subscription service launching this fall that features Apple original programming—yet another contender in the streaming wars. At a conference in March, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the fledgling streaming platform "the new home for the world's most creative storytellers, featuring exclusive original shows, movies, and documentaries."
Details about the series are scarce, but it will star Joel Kinnaman (of Altered Carbon fame, fresh off his stint as Erik Heller in the TV reboot of Hanna) as Edward Baldwin, possibly a US astronaut, judging from the new trailer footage. It opens with a recreation of the first crewed lunar landing in 1969, with a twist: the first man to set foot on the moon is not NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong but Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. (The real Leonov was part of the Voskhod 2 mission, becoming the first man to perform a 12-minute spacewalk on March 18, 1965.) "The shock across the nation at this event is just... indescribable," the trailer's fictional news anchor intones.
DarendukesMoby wrote a book? And people actually paid for it?
For weeks we have been subjected to nuggets of Moby’s personal life via unsolicited excerpts from his creepy-ass second memoir, Then It Falls Apart. One story involved Natalie Portman, who he claimed to have dated when she was 20 years old. Portman countered his claim with a few clarifications, most important among…
Darendukes"Hello, my name is Hideo Kojima. Thank you for purchasing my new game. As a thank you, I will now suck my own dick for 10 hours while you watch helplessly. It is very fun. You are super happy fun PlayStation owner."
Death Stranding main character Sam plugs into a "bridge baby."
Video game auteur Hideo Kojima's first game since leaving Konami, Death Stranding, finally has a release date: November 8 for PlayStation 4 consoles. The news came at the end of the game's most revealing "gameplay" trailer yet, though as you might expect from the enigmatic Kojima, Wednesday's trailer raised more questions than it answered.
Yes, we've seen long and utterly confusing trailers for this game before, but this one comes with a semblance of a plot anchor. From what we can tell, the game revolves around a United States that has been torn asunder by some kind of plague or extinction event. The hero, Sam, played by actor Norman Reedus, is asked by the president "to help us reconnect, to make America whole." To which the character Sam replies, "You're the President of jack shit."
Yet clearly Sam is compelled to do something. This trailer shows him generating ladders and ropes to scale rocky cliffsides, getting into melee fisticuffs, hopping on a stylish, three-wheeled military vehicle, stealth-crawling through tall grass and alongside giant tanks, shooting guns, and scanning environments to discover, and stealth-sneak around, spooky creatures made of dust.
Darendukesword.
There are plenty of wild rumors, mythologies, and eyebrow-raising stories from the long history of music, including claims that parts of synthesizers designed by electronic music pioneer Don Buchla had been dipped in LSD. But as engineer Eliot Curtis recently discovered, those claims might actually hold some truth.
DarendukesThat's fuckin metal.
A Russian Soyuz-2-1b rocket was struck by lightning yesterday, just seconds after liftoff. Remarkably, the uncrewed rocket continued on its mission as if nothing had happened.
