Star Wars' AT-TE Walker is (Almost) a Reality

I'm still waiting for my own C-3PO to take my drink order, but in the meantime this is pretty cool: Boston Dynamics is developing the LS3 -- Legged Squad Support System -- which is a walking, four-legged robot that looks like it could be a smaller, prototype version of a Star Wars AT-TE walker.

The AT-TE (left) and the LS3 (right)

The device is being designed for military support and is capable of carrying 400-pound payloads so that troops don't have to shoulder that burden. World News Australia (via Blastr) reports that the "vision for LS3 is to combine the capabilities of a pack mule with the intelligence of a trained animal. … The LS3 is capable of tracking certain visual and oral commands and uses GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and computer vision to guide itself."

Check it out in action:

No word yet on when we're getting AT-ATs, though.

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com

Will Fallout 4 Be Set in Boston?

Rumors suggest that Bethesda’s next Fallout game will take place in Boston. According to a thread posted by an anonymous Reddit user, scouting is currently underway at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The rumors are true, Fallout 4 will take place in Boston,” the user writes. “In case you haven't heard, Bethesda has recently been scoping out and researching Boston. They also have a strong connection to MIT.” The user notes that he “may or may not be an MIT employee” but “that's really all I can say for fear of losing my job.”

The rumor makes sense considering the lore behind The Commonwealth, the Fallout universe’s version of Massachusetts that’s been referenced in prior games. In Fallout 3 side quest The Replicated Man, players encounter a scientist named Dr. Zimmer who comes from The Commonwealth, a “war-ravaged quagmire of violence and despair” where he notes he and his colleagues created androids that have escaped and are running wild. Zimmer also references The Institute, which is presumably a future version of MIT.

As noted by our friends over at Gamespy, The Commonwealth also contains the Railroad, which runs in direct opposition to the Institute and aims to rescue the androids that have been created. A branch of the Commonwealth Police known as the Synth Retention Bureau is in charge of capturing androids that have escaped from the Institute.

Bethesda has declined to comment on the rumor of a Boston setting for now, but considering the impressive amount of mythology already revolving around The Commonwealth, it certainly seems like a plausible theory.

Bethesda’s Fallout 3 was released in 2008 and took place in a war-ravaged version of Washington DC, with expansions adding Pittsburgh and Maryland. Follow-up Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian in 2010 and was set in a future version of Las Vegas.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com