🎮 Intergalactic planetary
🎮 Intergalactic planetary
Outer space, the deep blue sea, the depths of hell, and so much more...
Mornin’. Did you set your alarm so you could wake with the rising…Earth?
On this day in 1966, NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 sent back the first ever images of Earth as seen from lunar orbit, otherwise known as the iconic “Earthrise” images. Just a few weeks later, in early September, NBC debuted an obscure little sci-fi show you might have heard of called Star Trek.
Our collective obsession with space was kicked into high gear, and it still hasn’t slowed all these years later.
It’s fitting then that today’s newsletter has a lot of space talk, both real and imaginary. Counting down: 5…4…3…
—Eric Alt, Andrew Nusca, Tim Leong, Marques Edge
Buffed/Nerfed
What’s up and down in the world rn.
Buffed: Pink Floyd-inspired theories. China’s lunar rover (we warned you there’d be lots of space talk) was able to map 1,000 feet worth of hidden “structures” beneath the surface of the dark side of the moon. Starting syncing up side 1/track 1…now.
Nerfed: Your ability to sleep. New York City launched its first ever “Anti-Rat Day of Action” because residents have complained about “rats the size of Crocs.” They mean the shoes, but too late—you’re now imagining either crocodile-sized rats or Crocs made of rats and good luck sleeping tonight.
Buffed: VO job openings. Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario going all the way back to Super Mario 64, is retiring at the age of 67. “It’s-a me!”—thousands of voice actors vying for the gig.
Nerfed: Being twice shy. After being released early from his six-year prison sentence for wire fraud, Billy McFarland, the man behind the infamous Fyre Festival, appears to already be planning Fyre Festival II. Another unwanted sequel, it seems.
Buffed: Work excuses. “A bird dropped a fish on our power lines” is the new “my dog ate it” excuse, thanks (natch) to the never-boring state of New Jersey. —EA
Burning Questions: Which is safer: deep space travel or deep sea travel?
Asked and answered.
If you listen to the way in which space launches or space tourism are talked about versus how deep sea expeditions are discussed, you’ll notice that one always seems to be wrapped in Star Trek-inspired optimism while the other seems forever steeped in The Abyss-inspired anxiety.
But…is that fair?
Executive editor Eric Alt sat down with two experts to tackle this question: Sean Carroll, an expert in astrophysics and space exploration at Johns Hopkins University, and Robert Stern, an expert in sea exploration at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Shameless plug: ‘Diablo IV: Season of Blood’ is coming Oct. 17
You’ve already been hacking your way through zombies, goatmen, and winged fiends, and you’re probably thinking you’ve seen the worst Sanctuary has to throw at you.
You’ll never feel this good about being this wrong.
Blizzard has just announced that Diablo IV’s second season is coming just in time for Halloween, and it’s bringing vampires with it. But all is not lost, because actress and producer Gemma Chan is also joining the fray as a vampire hunter.
There will be blood.
Extractor: How movies have treated video games over the years
Investigations of interest.
As much as we love seeing our favorite games brought to the big screen, what happens when movies try to integrate the feeling and experience of actually playing a game?
Looking at everything from fun digital romps to dystopian thrillers, contributing writer Isaac Feldberg goes decade by decade to uncover some of the best ways gaming has been represented on the big screen.
Wayback Wednesday
This is a wayback within a semi-wayback.
This ad for Hearthstone’s “Kobolds & Catacombs” expansion may have only been released in 2017, but its heart is firmly in the 1980s.
Designed as a loving tribute to the gloriously cheesy (and sometimes budget-challenged) fantasy films of that decade—most notably, Muppets creator Jim Henson’s forays into the genre like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal—”The Light Candle” features Star Wars: Battlefront II’s Janina Gavankar as the “movie’s” heroine in what is apparently Kobold King Togwaggle’s complete auteurist effort (he wrote, directed, and stars).
From the deliberately cheap and dated visual effects to the over-the-top puppet designs, the ad proves you can only truly make fun of something if you deeply love it. This one was definitely from the heart. —EA
Wormhole
Click the following image and…well, we don’t want to ruin the surprise.
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About us
The Edit is a thrice-weekly newsletter exploring the intersection of gaming and life. Our love letter to millions of gamers around the globe, it is written and published by the Activision Blizzard King global editorial team.