Resistance
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Omorpho wants to make resistance training easier with its weighted workout clothing
You can look like Killmonger and get a better workout with these shirts.
Disney’s 'Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance' ride opens December 5th
Disney's new Star Wars-theme park, Galaxy's Edge, will get its second ride before the year is up. Today, Disney Parks announced that "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance" will arrive in Florida at Walt Disney World Resort on December 5th -- Walt Disney's birthday. Immediately after the ride debuts in Florida, the team will head to California, where they'll unveil it at Disneyland Resort on January 17th.
PSA: Resistance PS3 trilogy going offline on April 8
Sony let us know last year that online play for the PS3's Resistance trilogy would end in early 2014, and a recent tweet from developer Insomniac Games has narrowed that ending date to April 8. Insomniac's post encourages fans to get online for the trilogy's final moments and "make some memories" with some of Insomniac's own employees. In response to an inquiry about continuing online support for the Vita's Resistance: Burning Skies, Insomniac tweeted they're "not sure" about that game's potential loss of online play. An optimist would take this as a significant withdrawal of the Chimera invasion, but with Sony's June 2012 statement that no Resistance games were in the works, it's a little sad to think we won't get another chance to fight back the invasive alien race. [Image: Insomniac Games]
Sony dropping online play for Gran Turismo 5, Resistance trilogy in 2014
Gran Turismo 5 and the Resistance franchise will be pulling the online plug in early 2014. Sony has announced that Gran Turismo 5 will conclude its online features on May 20, 2014, with the Resistance franchise on PlayStation 3 following on March 28. Also, as of January 28, 2014, the online connectivity of MAG, SOCOM: Special Forces and SOCOM: Confrontation will also cease to be. Since MAG and SOCOM: Confrontation are online only, we hope you enjoy your new coasters.
Resistance Collection invades retail on Dec. 5
The Resistance Collection, a bundle of all three of Insomniac's Resistance games for the PS3 will be available at retail starting on December 5.On top of the three Resistance games, there's some DLC in the package – the Aftermath multiplayer DLC pack, Skin bundle and Wraith skin multiplayer weapon for Resistance 2, plus the Brutality and Survival DLC packs for Resistance 3. All said and done, the Resistance Collection will set you back $39.99. (Or, about 14 Chiktumbs in Chimeran currency.)
Breaking free with your own IP: Insomniac's CEO on what's next (besides Ratchet & Clank)
There's a big craze these days with independent developers, though the idea isn't all that crazy. Developers, as it turns out, like to own the stuff they create – Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games is no different. And here's something you might not know about Insomniac: the studio owns virtually none of the iconic characters or worlds it's created. Not Ratchet, not Clank, not the world of Spyro the Dragon. That last one cuts especially deep considering the vast riches Activision's reaped from its Spyro-based Skylanders game. The former two are Sony-owned.With Fuse (which we think used to be Overstrike) and Outernauts, Insomniac is pushing in a new direction. "For us, we're at the point in our growth as a company where we can own our intellectual property," Insomniac president and CEO Ted Price told us in an interview last week. "That's been gratifying for us because, as creators, controlling your own destiny – controlling the IP that you build – is important." Beyond its financial importance, owning IP also means unfortunate spin-offs of properties you created can't be farmed out to other studios (see: Resistance: Burning Skies).It's important to note what Price says about his studio not being able to own its previous projects. When Insomniac started in 1994, it produced only franchises owned by its publishers. Quite literally everything the company created up until Outernauts and Overstrike/Fuse was owned by outside forces. That's why you will assuredly see more Resistance games, despite Insomniac outright stating it won't work on any more (at least any time soon) – Sony owns the IP rights to the Resistance franchise and can do with them as it pleases.
Researchers store memory bit on a lone molecule, could pave the way for petabyte SSDs
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) just deflated the size of a bit down to a solitary nanometer -- the length of an organic molecule. The international research team managed it by first embedding a magnetized iron atom into a molecule made up of 51 atoms, then taking advantage of so-called memristive and spintronic properties. By applying a current, they flipped the atom's magnetic charge, altering the resistance of the molecule as well -- which they subsequently measured, storing a bit. Compared to a typical magnetic drive which needs 3 million atoms per bit, a device made this way could theoretically store 50 thousand times as much data in the same size -- and would be an all-electric device, to boot. If the research ever pans out, a terabyte magnetic drive could turn into a 50 petabyte solid state unit -- hopefully ready in time for all those 4K home movies you'll need to store one day soon.
Resistance: Burning Skies on PS Vita May 29
What better way to compliment your seasonal barbecues than with some nicely roasted Chimera? Nihilistic Software's Resistance spin-off, Resistance: Burning Skies, is gearing up for an early summer launch on PlayStation Vita. May 29 marks the fifth coming of the Chimera in New York City.Resistance: Burning Skies takes place during the fictional Chimera invasion of the American eastern seaboard back in 1951. Players assume the role of Tom Riley, an everyday firefighter from New Jersey. We got to check out the game back at E3 -- check out our preview for more.
This electric wire is four atoms thick, and you thought speaker cable was fiddly (video)
This should come as a great relief to anyone planning a quantum computer self-build: wires still conduct electricity and obey key laws of classical physics even when they're built at the nanoscale. Researchers at Purdue and Melbourne universities used chains of phosphorus atoms inside a silicon crystal to create a wire that's just four atoms wide and a single atom high -- 20 times smaller than the previous record-holder and infinitely narrower than anything you'd find at Newegg. The video after the break almost explains how they did it.
Behind the Mask: The best defense isn't a good offense
Blocking is one of the elements that separates Champions Online from just another MMO. Along with combat movement, blocking turns CO from another game of "1, 2, then 4 until dead" into a dynamic action experience. Blocking reduces incoming damage by a ton, even with no investment in upgrading it. It also gives you sizable energy boosts for every attack you block, which gives you comeback potential. Many players block only charged attacks, and even more simply never block. While it's important to block charged attacks, blocking isn't just for the few times when those happen.
Spoiler zone: The complete Resistance 3 trophy list
We were as surprised as anyone to learn that Resistance 3's single-player campaign is compelling and well done, and that its multiplayer is engaging and fairly enjoyable as well, but so far that certainly seems to be the case. No one will know for sure until the xenophobic shooter's September 6 release, of course, but for now we'd go so far as to say that we're actually excited for the release of a Resistance game. Targeting the completionist lobe of our perfectionism cortex, Insomniac has released the title's official trophy list, concealed after the break. It gives some spoilerific hints as to which bugs we'll be killing and where, so those of you looking to start the game with a mind as pure as the driven snow should take heed.
Resistance: Burning Skies set to engulf PlayStation Vita
Sony has announced at its Gamescom 2011 press conference details about Nihilistic's Resistance entry on the PlayStation Vita. Subtitled Burning Skies, the title (which serves as an immediate prequel to Resistance 2) casts you in the role of Tom Riley, a fireman who watches the destruction of the United States from ground zero. That task is made a lot more palatable thanks to Riley's proclivity for toting a wieldable fire axe at all times. We guess it's fortunate he decided to take his work home with him! A brief demo showed off familiar Resistance action, with a few neat uses of the Vita's touchscreen -- for instance, some weapons' alternate fire modes are controlled with a single touch. That sounds like the kind of power we can get drunk off of.
Resistance 1 and 2 'Greatest Hits' bundle incoming
Sony's looking to prime potential Resistance 3 purchasers with a Greatest Hits bundle of the first two titles: Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2. An insert included in the Battle: Los Angeles Blu-ray (which includes a Resistance 3 demo) spilled the beans, offering a Summer 2011 launch window for the re-issue, which will retail for $39.99. The Greatest Hits bundle also includes an exclusive Resistance 3 skin and "$10 worth of bonus content." Hit the jump for an image of the flier, courtesy IGN.
Behind the Mask: Resistance
I know I promised I'd cover tanking techniques this week, but Resistance, Champions Online's newest adventure pack, just launched, so I think that it's worth postponing my writeup on tanking for a bit. Don't worry, though! We'll get to tanking soon! Resistance, being the latest pack in CO's new content offerings, is also going to be the last adventure pack before the team starts doing the Comic Series. Although it wasn't quite as hyped up as Demonflame was, it was still a highly anticipated content pack. Does it live up to the hype?
iDVM Digital Multimeter collects voltage readings on your iDevice, shares them with whoever cares
This, dear reader, is the iDVM Digital Multimeter -- the world's very first iDevice-enabled voltmeter, from Redfish Instruments. Designed with auto technicians, electricians and engineers in mind, the iDVM uses an ad hoc wireless network to connect to any iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, allowing users to record voltage, resistance and current directly from their palms. Once you've purchased the multimeter and downloaded the accompanying iDVM app, you'll be able to gather electrical measurements from up to 30 yards away from your target, log data over extended periods of time and export your findings in spreadsheet or graph displays. The rechargeable battery-powered device can also read your measurements back to you, which should make you feel slightly less lonely while digging around your car's engine at 3 am. We're still not sure why anyone would want to juggle their iPhone while chasing down a shorted wire, but if you do, the iDVM starts shipping on June 1st, for $220 -- which could buy you about 40 less complicated multimeters from Harbor Freight. Full PR after the break.
Champions Online: Long live the Resistance!
Despite the breaking news of Atari's divesting of Cryptic Studios, it is business as usual for the superhero MMO Champions Online. In fact, the studio has just launched its newest adventure pack, Resistance. According to Resistance lore, the inventor James Harmon unveiled his latest invention: the Trans-dimensional Teleportal. With a name like that, nothing could go wrong (/sarcasm off)! This device will take our heroes to another dimension called Multifaria, where an evil Citizen Harmon rules over Millennium City with an iron fist. It is up to players level 11 to 40 to join the underground resistance of Multifaria and stop Harmon's reign of terror. We have added Resistance screenshots to the Champions gallery and have the full Resistance launch trailer after the break. The adventure pack is available for purchase in the C-Store, and for added excitement, the GM team will run Resistance with you May 17th through the 19th starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT in Millennium City. Join the Millennium City chat and wait for GM Tiyshen's group invitation. %Gallery-17946%
Champions Online readies Resistance adventure pack
Ready for a new Champions Online adventure pack? Cryptic Studios is polishing up its Resistance content offering, which features a new story, new locations, and rewards according to a blurb on the official Champions website. Players will join forces and travel through a dimensional portal to Multifaria, a dystopian version of Millennium City where evil is running amok. Outlawed superheroes are humanity's only hope, and you'll need to rescue the imprisoned leader of an underground resistance movement to set the wheels of change in motion. Resistance, and all Champions adventure packs, features level-scaling content that allows for players between 11 and 40 to tackle the challenges either solo or in groups. Would you like to know more? Click through to the official website for details.
Behind the Mask: Big weapons, big news
It's an exciting time for Champions Online. Although there was a lot of speculation about the level of success of the Free-for-All expansion, we know just by the increase in content being output that the F2P launch has been a very big success. In the recent State of the Game, Rob Overmeyer announced all sorts of new content, including the Resistance Adventure Pack currently on PTS, the new weekly Comic Series, and the most asked-for feature: player housing! I could write a whole column speculating on the SotG, and while it'd be kind of a fun read, we all know I like writing informative stuff, and we have a lot of things to cover. Heavy Weapons has been live for a week now. Some of you guys have been waiting with bated breath for me to answer one question: Is Devastator worth buying?
Behind the Mask: The numbers are coming
Last week threw a bit of a wrench in my plans. I intended to interview a very prominent member of the Champions Online community for this column, but I was sidelined by the flu and some dental work. This delay means that things must be pushed back and shuffled around while some old ideas will come to the fore. This week, I decided to cover a controversial topic: Inertial Dampening Field. However, IDF affects player survivability in a very particular way, and in my 40-plus weeks of writing about Champions, I've neglected to cover one basic thing: how defense actually works. If you don't know how defense, dodge, and linear damage reduction work in tandem, it's hard to understand just how powerful IDF can be. I think this week's column would be very valuable to a lot of players, but it is pretty complicated, and the math involved will throw a lot of people off. I'll cover the nitty-gritty math and the rules of thumb, but if you're casual, this is going to be hard to swallow. Like my guide on gear (and the more recent forum post), this is one of those things most people will have to read a few times. As a side advantage, much of this information can be transferred to Star Trek Online, since it uses similar defense mechanics. If you don't want to worry too much about the specifics, hit the jump and scroll to the bottom, where I'll sum up all the essentials.
Resistance NGP being developed by Nihilistic, isn't a port
Insomniac Games, creator of the alternate-history FPS Resistance for PS3, tweeted its congratulations to Nihilistic Software, the apparent developer of the series' NGP incarnation (which was revealed in a promo reel of in-development games for the handheld during PlayStation Meeting 2011). Insomniac confirmed in a followup tweet that the title would be a "brand new Resistance game. Not a port." While Insomniac has handled all of the Resistance console iterations, including this September's Resistance 3, the well-recieved 2009 PSP spinoff, Resistance: Retribution, was developed by Sony Bend. With Bend currently linked to the Uncharted NGP game, however, it seems Nihilistic got the call to carry on the Resistance for the PSP successor. Little else is known about the title, aside from what can be inferred from the brief clip (pictured) in the promo reel -- which does seem to indicate that, unlike Retribution (a third-person shooter), Resistance NGP will be a first-person shooter. Nihilistic is perhaps most (infamously) known for being the original developer of the failed StarCraft: Ghost project, before going on to complete Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (EA), Conan (THQ) and the downloadable Zombie Apocalypse (Konami). The studio is currently finishing up PlayStation Move Heroes, published by Sony. [Thanks, Brian]
