Category: Gamespot

For many viewers and critics, the second season of HBO’s cop thriller True Detective was something of a failure, especially considering the acclaim that season one received. Now Michael Lombardo, president of programming for the cable network, has spoken frankly about why the show did not live up to expectations.

In an interview with The Frame, Lombardo addressed the time pressures that he placed upon the second season.

“When we tell somebody to hit an air date as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it’s ready, when it’s baked–we’ve failed,” he admitted. “And I think in this particular case, the first season of True Detective was something that [writer] Nic Pizzolatto had been thinking about, gestating, for a long period of time. He’s a soulful writer.

“I think what we did was go, ‘Great.’ And I take the blame. I became too much of a network executive at that point. We had huge success. ‘Gee, I’d love to repeat that next year.’

“Well, you know what? I set him up. To deliver, in a very short time frame, something that became very challenging to deliver. That’s not what that show is. He had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Find his muse. And so I think that’s what I learned from it. Don’t do that anymore.”

The second season of the show starred Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams. Even at its viewer peak, it fell short of what season one had achieved. The final episode was watched by an audience of 2.73 million in April, a 22% drop from the season one finale the previous year.

While a third season of True Detective is yet to be confirmed, last November Pizzolatto signed an exclusive deal to develop further projects with HBO.

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Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles are releasing collectible sixth scale figures from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The Kylo Ren figure is part of the Movie Masterpiece Series and is set to ship between January and February 2016. Sideshow sent us an early copy so we could take a close look at it.

Check out our unboxing video to see everything it comes with.

There is always a lot of detail with the Hot Toys figures. These are definitely for serious collectors. They pay close attention to making every stitch in the clothing and detail in accessories look as true to life as possible.

The figure comes with extra hands so you can mix up the way you put it on display. There is a lot of articulation for different poses. It comes with a pair of fists, relaxed palms, gesturing palms, and hands to hold the lightsaber. There is also an interchangeable arm holding the lightsaber. You can turn on the LED light inside to light up the lightsaber. The figure also includes a stand with Kylo Ren’s name and the First Order symbol.

Here’s some images of the figure in different positions and from different angles.

If you swap out the arm with the lightsaber and LED light, you can put the lightsaber in his other hand or slide it onto his belt.

If you’re familiar with Hot Toys figures, you know what to expect. These are amazing collectibles but again, they’re for the serious collector. You can pre-order it from Sideshow at the following link:

http://bit.ly/getkyloren

The price is $224.99. This is typical for these sixth scale figures. Plus you get the LED light in the second arm/lightsaber. There are some other figures from The Force Awakens available and more on the way as well.

Let us know what you think of this figure. Thanks to Sideshow Collectibles for the early look at it.

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Daredevil season two will debut on the same day that DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice arrives in cinemas, if a new report is accurate. Comicbook.com has revealed that the second season of the upcoming show will be released in its entirety onto Netflix on March 25.

While the news is yet to be confirmed by Marvel or Netflix, the site credits “independent sources”, and if true it is a fascinating development in the rivalry between Marvel and DC. Batman v Superman had already shifted its release date, from an original slot in May, to avoid a clash with Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War.

Last week new images were released for the new season, that include detailed looks at Elektra and The Punisher. Both characters play important parts in the Daredevil story, and will be making their first appearances in the show, portrayed by Elodie Yung and Jon Bernthal respectively. Check them out below, via EW:

Daredevil season two will see Charlie Cox return as blind crimefighting lawyer Matt Murdoch, with Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, and Scott Glenn all reprising their roles.

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Valve’s PC network Steam generated close to $3 billion in total game sales during 2015, according to independent financial data.

Of that, the top twenty best-selling games are estimated to have brought in more than $650 million. Grand Theft Auto 5 singlehandedly sold about 3.8 million units, equating to $160 million, while Fallout 4 sold some 2.7 million units and amassed $122.5 million.

These estimates come from an independent marketplace analysis by Steam Spy owner Sergey Galyonkin, who in a blog post explains that his estimates are not completely accurate.

Galyonkin uses a web API to track the sales data of more than 3,000 Steam games that were released in 2015, and calculates revenue by using each game’s lowest advertised price. That would suggest these estimates are conservative, and the final figures could be higher.

According to the Steam Spy data, Konami’s latest blockbuster Metal Gear Solid 5 is believed to have made $41 million, while GameSpot’s Game of the Year Witcher 3 brought in $38 million. Breakthrough indie hit Rocket League is estimated to have made more than $30 million.

Steam’s 20 Best Selling PC Games in 2015

1. Grand Theft Auto 5
2. Fallout 4
3. Metal Gear Solid 5
4. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
6. Rocket League
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
8. Mad Max
9. Mortal Kombat X
10. Elite Dangerous
11. Arma 3
12. Football Manager 2016
13. Cities: Skylines
14. ARK: Survival Evolved
15. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
16. Killing Floor 2
17. H1Z1
18. Sid Meier’s Civilization V
19. Dying Light
20. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Elsewhere in Galyonkin’s blog post, data suggests that the rate of new releases on Steam has begun to plateau.

Valve, which takes roughly a one-third cut from most games sold on Steam, is believed to have made close to $1 billion from all game sales in 2015, if the Steam Spy data is accurate.

Steam is the world’s biggest core games platforms. In January, it was revealed that the platform’s peak concurrent user number had passed the 12 million threshold.

Galyonkin estimates that more than 350 million games were sold across the platform in 2015.

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[UPDATE 7:30PM PST]: The PlayStation Network status page confirms that all aspects of the service have returned to normal, and several users have reported that they are able to login without any issues.

The original story follows below.

The PlayStation Network is experiencing problems this morning affecting all aspects of the service.

While Sony hasn’t yet addressed the issues on Twitter, the PSN service status page confirms reports of various problems. These extend to all platforms, including PS4, PS3, Vita, and the PlayStation website, and range from creating accounts to signing in to purchasing or downloading things from the PlayStation Store.

There’s no estimate on when things will be resolved, but the status page’s details for each of the affected services contains the same line: “Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, and we thank you for your patience.”

We’ll update this story as more information becomes available.

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Technology company Nvidia today announced a new supercomputer powered by artificial intelligence and designed to enable a car to drive autonomously. Called the Nvidia Drive PX 2, the supercomputer is the size of a lunchbox and has processing power equivalent to that of “100 MacBook Pros.” Speaking at the Nvidia press conference in the lead up to CES, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang described the Drive PX 2 as the “world’s first supercomputer for self-driving cars.”

The Drive PX 2 is powered by Nvidia GPUs and has 360-degree situational awareness around the car. It is capable of processing the inputs of 12 video cameras, as well as lidar, radar, and ultrasonic sensors. The unit features water-cooling, to enable operation in severe conditions.

The software which facilitates the processing is called Nvidia DriveWorks, which features a suite of software tools that focus on the testing and development of autonomous vehicles.

Nvidia also announced that Volvo would be the first car company to deploy “several hundred cars” with Drive PX 2 to “start developing their self-driving capabilities.” Huang further stated that he hoped Volvo would be the first of several other car companies to partner with Nvidia.

The Drive PX 2 development engine will be “generally available” in the fourth quarter of 2016. Early access development partners will be able to get their hands on it in the second quarter of 2016.

Earlier today Nvidia unveiled a program that would help users identify if their PC is ready for virtual reality. Called GeForce GTX VR Ready, the program helps to minimize confusion surrounding parts and applications required for VR gaming.

CES runs from January 6-9 in Las Vegas. GameSpot will have a team on the show floor, so be sure to stay tuned to the site for more big announcements as they roll out.

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