The minds at Respawn Entertainment are wizards when it comes to the action-adventure genre. Twenty-fourteen's Titanfall and its criminally underrated followup, 2016's Titanfall 2, challenged traditional boots-on-the-ground shooters with a heightened sense of scale and verticality, while the more recent Jedi: Fallen Order etched itself as one of the greatest Star Wars narratives told in any medium. The Los Angeles studio's fixation with exoskeletons, Blade Runner, and visuals that bleed Wachowski and Masamune Shirow's Ghost In The Shell is nothing new, but they are intertwined with world-building to create headier pockets of science fiction bliss. The free-to-play shooter set in the Titanfall universe first launched in February 2019. No extended gameplay reveals that cringe out with comms from Chad and the rest of the QA team.

Late last year, the Hugo Awards announced it would honor a video game for the first time. This week, it revealed the list of six finalists the community will consider before announcing a final winner at the 79th World Science Fiction Convention in August. The list is interesting, to say the least. The Hugo Awards is known for honoring the best in science fiction and fantasy writing, so it's something of a headscratcher to see a game like Animal Crossing: New Horizons make the shortlist. That's not to say it isn't a great game, but there were plenty of genre standouts from 2020 that could have made the list instead, including Half-Life: Alyx, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim or Umurangi Generation.

Would you buy an Apple TV/HomePod Frankenstein device? According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has one in the works. "The company is working on a product that would combine an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and include a camera for video conferencing through a connected TV and other smart-home functions, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters." Read more: Who do I pay to get the'phone' removed from my iPhone? Never one to underestimate Apple's ability to take an idea that, on the face of it, seems stupid and irrational and turn it into a multibillion-dollar craze, but this feels a bit weird even for Apple.

From writer-director Neil Burger ("Divergent") comes another young adult science-fiction tale, this one of a cruise ship in deep space full of restless teenagers under the supervision of a single adult. Some of the young people find out that the adult is keeping them drugged and docile and forcing them to reproduce artificially. Is that a recipe for YA trouble or what? Just when you thought you could not watch one more film of this kind, here is "Voyagers," a title that sounds enough like "Passengers" (2016) to put you off you spaceship-grown peas and carrots. The story is set in 2063 when Earth is ravaged, and scientists have searched for another planet to colonize.

In fact, I can't remember the last time I used one (sorry, Mum). But the latest batch from the Royal Mail has me wanting to send letters to every corner of the universe. The British postal service has released a wondrous new collection of artworks that will be featured on its tiny postage stamps, celebrating six classic science fiction novels by British writers. Set to mark the 75th anniversary of HG Wells' death and the 70th anniversary of John Wyndham's classic novel The Day of the Triffids being published, the collection features illustrations for Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Time Machine by HG Wells, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke, Shikasta by Doris Lessing, and of course, The Day of the Triffids. The artists behind the works are Sabina Šinko, Francisco Rodríguez, Thomas Danthony, Mick Brownfield, Matt Murphy, and Sarah Jones.

As research involving transplanting lab-grown human'mini-brains' into animals to study neurological diseases continues to expand, experts warn the work with these brain organoids could result in a'Planet of the Apes' scenario. The concern is animals could develop humanized traits and start to behave similar to the intelligent apes of the popular science fiction story. The warning comes from a team at Kyoto University who released a paper highlighting a number of ethical implications that could arise with brain organoid research. Although many see brain organoids as a way to quickly develop disease treatments, others fear that because they are designed to mimic the real thing, they too may attain some form of consciousness. Experts warn the work with these brain organoids could result in a'Planet of the Apes' (pictured) scenario.

There seems no end to the plethora of software solutions suddenly seeming to have acquired the quality of artificial intelligence (AI). Little more than a decade after phones reportedly grew "smart," you might now be wondering whether technology had crossed yet another historic threshold. For those of us who grew up watching 2001 A Space Odyssey and Knight Rider, the concept of non-human intelligence--whether benevolent or malevolent--is nothing new. Not only does science fiction fuel our expectations, it has often demonstrated an uncanny ability at predicting real life technological advancements. Is the age of artificial intelligence now upon us?

Creators Neil Pagedar and Pooja Shetty of the new sci-fi comedy series "OK Computer" feel it is time for us to become aware of how artificial intelligence is affecting life and lifestyle around us. "If science and technology is moving so fast, how quickly should civilisation, laws, lifestyle and structure change and be aware of these things? This was what we wanted to do with the show. The central premise of the show is that if AI kills a human being, who is to blame? Our life is surrounded by Artificial Intelligence. What will you do if your phone kills someone? These are very important and pertinent questions," said Shetty.

'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,' now streaming on Disney, marks a new direction for Marvel – a downsizing to television after 2 decades of big-screen superhero splendor. Marvel's top gun Kevin Feige, stars Anthony Mackie/Falcon and Sebastian Stan/Winter Soldier, and others gathered for a virtual press conference and discussed current and maybe upcoming developments. Q: Is there a possibility that there could be more seasons of'Falcon'? KEVIN FEIGE: It's a funny question and it's one that we obviously get asked much more in television. Because people expect it to be like what people know before.

Keanu Reeves' comic book series "BRZRKR" will soon be turned into an anime series and live-action movie. NXOnNetflix, Netflix's "home of all things geek," tweeted Monday to announce that the epic saga will come to life on its streaming platform. Netflix is developing a live action film AND follow-up anime series based on Keanu Reeves' BRZRKR, a brutally epic saga about an immortal warrior's 80,000 year fight through the ages. Reeves will produce and star in the film, and voice the anime," NXOnNetflix said in its post. Reeves will star in and produce the live-action movie and anime series. "BRZRKR" is originally penned by Reeves and co-written by New York Times bestselling writer Matt Kindt. It is illustrated by Marvel artist Ron Garney, with colors by Bill Crabtree. "The man known only as Berzerker is half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence...even at the sacrifice of his sanity," its Google Books description reads. "But after wandering the world for centuries, Berzerker may have finally found a refuge – working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else.