Stage 2 is back
Things are looking up for South Africa. South Africa’s through to the semi-finals, petrol and diesel might be cheaper in November and Eskom left the lights on all through Sunday. Nothing lasts forever though, especially when Eskom is involved. Stage 2 officially returns today, 16 October, from 16:00 until 05:00 on Tuesday morning.
Stage 2 will make a comeback at 16:00 on Tuesday until 05:00 on Wednesday morning, with that pattern set to repeat until further notice according to Eskom. You can thank Eskom’s “stable generation capacity” for the calmer-than-usual schedule, with the state-owned utility working on 13,158MW of breakdowns and another 6,051MW of planned maintenance.
According to the latest stats from EskomSePush (ESP), the country’s already suffered through 5,921 hours of load shedding in 2023 alone, a far cry from 2022’s record-breaking 3,776 hours of blackouts.
Ferrari is getting into crypto
In a move that might make you question what year we’re living in; Ferrari has begun accepting cryptocurrency as a payment method in the US, with plans to expand that to Europe and anywhere that crypto serves as legal tender in the future. That includes South Africa if you’ve got a few million bucks burning a hole in your crypto pocket.
That’s according to a report from Reuters, with the luxury car brand’s marketing and commercial chief, Enrico Galliera, confirming the change. Most companies generally tend to steer clear of crypto thanks to their wavering values that usually make them impractical for business. Ferrari doesn’t seem to mind the constantly evolving regulation and growing concerns about environmental issues.
Galliera reckons that with the help of new software and more renewable sources of energy, cryptocurrencies have made efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. “Our target to reach for carbon neutrality by 2030 along our whole value chain is absolutely confirmed,” he said.
So why the change? Money, obviously. Ferrari’s clientele has apparently been asking for the change, with most investing heavily in crypto. At first, Ferrari will accept bitcoin, ether, and USDC, before the method expands to Europe sometime in early 2024, with plans to expand that globally later.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Netflix just dropped the official trailer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – the anime series that’ll build off the original cartoon and Edgar Wright-led film of a similar name. It’s gorgeous, obviously, showing off Scott Pilgrim’s mission to take on Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes, all set to the Mortal Kombat theme in the background.
The series will mark the return of the film’s original cast, which includes Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, and plenty more. It’s also got Bryan Lee O’Malley – the comic’s creator – as a co-writer and executive producer alongside Edgar Wright. Netflix has spared no expense to keep all fans of Scott Pilgrim happy, with the video game’s soundtrack creator, Anamanaguchi, making a comeback.
Don’t expect this to be a one-to-one adaptation, however. Netflix is using the medium of animation to send Takes Off to new heights, and changing up the story here and there, according to the series’ creators. In an interview with Tudum (the streamer’s place for everything Netflix), Wright mentioned that O’Malley’s idea for the show “was way more adventurous than just a straight adaptation of the original books.” Hey, as long as it’s good.
If a trailer isn’t enough to hold you over till the 17 November premiere date, there is a sneak peek clip that might do the trick.
One million ants
We’ve seen some truly strange videogames in our day. Shaq-Fu may never be dethroned off the top of that list, but Empire of the Ants will do its best to try. Not to be confused with the 1977 film of the same name (seriously, what the hell was that?), Empire of the Ants will put players behind the eyes of everyone’s least-favourite picnic attendee in a story that’ll see a singular heroic ant trying to save its colony.
Yeah, we said it was strange. It’s based on a hit sci-fi novel (apparently) and is being developed by Tower Five with Microids set to publish. There’s already a trailer out, showing off some of the best-looking ants we’ve yet seen in a game. Sure, that’s a low bar – but considering the use of Unreal Engine 5, it makes sense that the game looks as good as it does. And it’s not just the ants that are lovely to look at. The entire trailer is filled with beautiful scenery to gawp at.
According to a release sent to Engadget, the game plays like a real-time strategy title, “with some 3rd person adventuring peppered throughout.” You’ll need to put “strategy planning, exploration, combat skills, but most of all, setting up local wildlife alliances will be necessary to survive the many challenges awaiting.”
If all that sounds awesome (because it is), you’ll need to wait until the game’s release, currently slated for sometime in 2024. It’ll release on PC and unnamed consoles – which will most certainly include the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S and perhaps a watered-down version for last-gen consoles.