At what point does willpower become arrogance? Peter J. Tomasi answers that question in Green Lantern Corps #14 when Guy refuses to call for a retreat during a rather gruesome fight between his Lantern team and the Third Army. The Guardians have been setting Guy Gardner up to fail in a big way, and now that their goal nears completion, Guy must deal not only with them but his own ego. While Tomasi has been not-so-gracefully planting clues to the Guardians’ shenanigans throughout his run on this series, he does manage to use them to good effect here.

This issue makes for a good read, but Guy’s characterization seems off in order to fulfill the necessities of the plot. During the opening battle, it’s hard to believe he was convinced the Green Lanterns would win a fight that clearly wasn’t going their way from the beginning. Guy is arrogant, not stupid. Despite that flub, the information that Kilowog and Salaak uncover proves that there are still some intelligent members of the Corps. Unfortunately, John Stewart gets a measly two pages, making this title more and more the Guy Gardner Show instead of a book about the whole Corps.

Artist Fernando Pasarin does a solid job throughout this issue, excelling most when we get to see his settings, such as Oa’s buildings and the interiors of Guy’s garage. As I’ve said before about his work in previous issues, some of his pages look too busy during the action scenes. It’s safe to say that the opening splash page did not need to have every single piece of the shattered construct to be visible.

Joshua writes for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl or on IGN, where he will air-bend, Force-push, and optic-blast his opinion into your brain.

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Hey, Fringe fanatics, ready to have your mind blown again?

After the last two tragic, game-changing episodes, it looks like Walter, Peter and Olivia are ready to take the battle to The Observers like never before.  On this Friday's episode, "Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There," a new tape is discovered, sending Walter out on his own to search for answers.  A few weeks back, I visited the set of Fringe in Vancouver and talked to stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble about this particular episode, which they were in the middle of shooting.

"Essentially, we're fighting Observers today," Torv said with a grin, also telling me that a ton of the episode takes place inside one particular building. "We've been in this, like, green hallway for days, and we've been doing it in parts too." 

Jackson -- who, at the time, had to keep quiet about the big change Peter went through in last week's episode -- was able to elaborate a little more on the whole "green hallway" aspect of the shoot.  "We are in the midst of the device that gets introduced in episode 1, about the tapes," he said.  "So that becomes the motivational device - plot device - of every episode mostly this season. That is the direct consequence of one of the pieces of Walter’s plan that he’s hidden. And it takes us into this hallway. He’s hidden a key component that, actually, I think will probably be for all the serious Fringe-heads the coolest reveal of the episode - What it is that’s in there."

Look, if Jackson's even geeking out about this fun reveal, then you know it's going to rock.  "This is one of those things you don’t want to tease too much, because maybe everyone will be like, 'meh,' Jackson shrugged. "The thing that we reveal in the episode that we’re shooting right now - if you geeked out on the mythology of the show - is going to be one of those 'knock-your-socks-off' moments."

Check out these two new clips from Friday's episode...

"We’ve mined our own history well for things going forward," Jackson continued.  "And it’s a smart show that takes things that either weren’t intended or were intended and is sort of engaged by its own mythology, and lets the story spin out of things that we’ve already established. So something that seemed incidental is going to come back to be crucial. And ultimately, it gets one of our characters to his or her natural finishing state in a way that is going to make the original intention -- or that thing that seemed incidental -- seem so f**king cool."

John Noble, whose Walter Bishop has now buried himself in his quest to take down The Observers, talked to me about his path on this particular episode. "In the episode now, I'm sort of going through a few manifestations of just retrieving Walter's lost memories, depending on what memories are coming up at the time," Noble said.  "So, it's an interesting challenge.  His brain is jangled.  Having regained a lot of his skills, now he's had them all shattered again, which creates a problem. Then we have little pieces of it returning at different times, and different manifestations of his character coming back."

"The reason [Walter] had his brain cut out was because he didn't actually like what he was," Noble added, "which was a man of hubris and arrogance. That sort of slips back in every now and again.  Some of the stuff is almost Walternate-like.  Very stern and hard."

"Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There" airs Friday, November 9th at 9/8c on FOX.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and on IGN at mattfowler. No other choice you will ever make will be as easy and render such a great reward.

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Acclaimed game developer Peter Molyneux is hard at work with his new studio, 22 Cans, developing his next big game. While Molyneux is busy designing a series of interactive experiments, beginning with Curiosity, he has kept abreast of the developing game industry as it branches out to growing platforms like mobile, free-to-play, and social. He's had a chance to check out the Nintendo Wii U, as well as Microsoft's SmartGlass.

Thus far, he has reservations about tablet gaming.

Molyneux talks about the challenges that developers face when trying to create true multi-screen gaming experiences.

IGN: What do you think of the multi-screen experience that’s evolving with tablets and with the new Nintendo Wii U and Microsoft SmartGlass?

Peter Molyneux: The thing about the SmartGlass is that the tablet is a thing that you have with you all the time. Now, in that sense, I understand completely as a consumer and I’m excited to see what these guys do with it. But I do have a problem with it. I now have a screen in front of me on my lap and a screen up on the wall that I’m looking at. Which one should I be looking at? Should I be looking up at the big screen and down, or at my lap and up? Should I be checking down on my lap every few seconds?  What’s going to incentivize me to move my eyes from the wall to my lap?

In a way, part of me is excited by this. But part of me is worried that this is a bit of tech which us tech boys get really excited about, and until I see some really great uses of that SmartGlass or the Wii U GamePad, the jury is out for me to be honest with you. I can see it if I’m watching a football game that the scores would come up on the SmartGlass. I’m all there for that. I can see if I’m watching a TV episode and it gives me some background on the actors. I’m kind of there, but I can do that on the internet already. The real use for me is how it’s used as part of the entertainment experience, and then that divided attention that you’re demanding of a player is going to be really challenging to balance well.

IGN: Do you think also it could be a generational thing in the sense that you and I are both older, but there’s a younger generation that does currently watch TV and play on a tablet or a smartphone or a PC all at the same time?

Peter Molyneux: That’s a very interesting point, but I think what people do when they have multiple screens is something very simple. They will listen to the big screen whilst distracting themselves on the small screen. That’s not what SmartGlass and Wii U are talking about.

They’re talking about producing an entertainment experience that you’re engrossed in. So you’re not typing an email while watching TV. You’re playing a game while watching TV on the GamePad and that’s where my problem comes in. I know I need it when I’m watching a football game. I need SmartGlass to do my emails or check Twitter or distract myself, especially when the things are at a low point in the plot. But that’s not what SmartGlass or the Wii U are about.

It’s about giving you a second screen into the same experience, and that’s where I’m a little bit challenged. I agree that the younger generation has the ability to switch very fast between different things, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about them being in the same experience. I just think it’s like a lot of tech out there at the moment. There’s a huge amount of tech out there at the moment, including the cloud -- and the cloud has been around for some time -- and it’s not until we get the great applications that actually use that hardware and delight us with those experiences, that we’ve really appreciated its value.

IGN: What are your thoughts on what Nintendo is doing with the Wii U overall?

Peter Molyneux: I struggle to see anything amazing coming out of Nintendo. There are a few, “Oh, that’s smart,” but there’s nothing that makes me rush out as a consumer to buy the new device. I’ll give you a great example of how tech should be used.  It’s what Nintendo did with the Wii when it first came out. They introduced motion control.  They were one of the first companies to introduce motion control and they had a fantastic Wii Sports Game. As soon as I picked up the controller and started waving it around, I got it. I already understood it. But I’m not sure there’s a same sort of application out there for Wii U. I think to myself, “Well, what’s the reason to get it?”  Do you see what I mean?

IGN: I do. I’ve tried out a lot of the launch games and outside of the Nintendo games like NintendoLand and Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends and ZombiU, there’s not a lot of innovations. And I did find it challenging, even while standing at the kiosk, focusing on both screens.

Peter Molyneux: There you go. I had exactly the same experience. I played those games and I thought, “That’s cute.” But the psychology of making a game is hard enough because plasma screens are so big now. It’s hard enough to get the player to move their eyes from the center of the screen to the borders.

“

It’s hard enough to get the player to move their eyes from the center of the screen to the borders.

When you’re designing a game for a plasma screen you’ve got to really flash the corners of the screen. You’ve got to get movement in, otherwise people don’t notice anything in the corners. Getting people to move their eyes from the screen down to their laps is incredibly hard. There has to be some huge motivational thing like the words coming up, “Look at your GamePad now.” If you’re going to do that, from a design perspective that sounds a bit clumsy and complex.

IGN: As we look at the upcoming launches of three new consoles, what role do you see them playing in this evolving gaming ecosystem?

Peter Molyneux: Consoles have a very tough time ahead of them. The main issue is that existing console manufacturers are so embedded into the standard retail model in that they spend two years developing a game and then they push it out to retail stores and they’re done. They get a huge amount of money and then they move on to the next sequel that takes another two years. That world is gone forever.

Retail is still an important part of the console business, but a lot of consumers are starting to move to things like the iPad and to digital distribution. People don’t want to go down to a store and buy something that they can buy online just like they don’t want to go down to the store and buy music anymore. The console manufacturers have these two big problems. Their existing business model of development and investing in multiple million dollar development projects and then launching and having this marketing shock and awe campaign. Plus the fact that the technology that’s out there in every consumer’s hands through tablets and phones is now more accessible than ever, and their consoles are stuck in the basement or they’re stuck in the living room. That’s hugely challenging for them.

When you look at the number of units that Apple and Android and Motorola are able to make, the power of tablets and phones are going to exceed the power of consoles very soon now. That’s a problem for console manufacturers because if they’re lucky, over five years they’re going to sell 40 or 50 million devices. And if they’re very, very lucky they’ll eventually -- over a lifetime of consoles -- maybe sell 100 million. That is a drop in the ocean when you compare it to the number of smartphones that are in the market today, and then a tiny drop in the ocean when you compare the number of smartphones that are predicted in the market in the next few years. Just the scaling cost of producing hardware or the penetration of it means that they’ve got a real pricing issue.

“

We gamers love our games.

On the plus side, they have a very loyal following. We gamers love our games. We love setting up our gaming locations. We love going into them and inviting our friends.  So they have some loyal fans, but they used to be on the cutting edge of innovation. And they just feel like they’ve fallen back a step now and the people at Apple and Android have taken the crown of innovation from them.

John Gaudiosi is a freelance writer that, among other things, travels the world.

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Having just wrapped up the Breaking Points arc, writer Peter David focuses his title on the littlest of X-Factor members, Pip the Troll. Although the character has been known to frost the edges of David’s scripts with entertaining bits of sarcasm, he has had scant few opportunities to factor in as a major character since the Infinity Gauntlet saga. Here, Pip’s given the spotlight, and an amusing diversion builds into a major turn of events in the history of the character.

Admittedly, X-Factor #246 gets off to a slow start. David goes with a tongue-in-cheek noir style to capture Pip’s unique personality, and, while it works on more than one level, it appears – initially, at least – to signify nothing more than a momentary departure from the title’s rolling bundle of threads. Add to this the misshapen faces and variable proportions of Paul Davidson’s art, and you have a setup that does the job without inspiring slack-jawed admiration.

Things begin to turn around when we see Pip back in his natural environment at X-Factor Investigations. The glimpse of his secret contributions to the organization are interesting and amusing, but the interlude's biggest contribution is in serving as an effective separation between the story’s beginning and its ending. By the time the conclusion rolls around, the story feels nicely rounded, with Pip successfully filling the role of a sympathetic lead.

As the cover to X-Factor #246 suggests, the pieces of Peter David’s puzzle are slowly coming together, and Pip rises to a significant role. The story is good without being great; however, its contributions serve as an emotional touchstone for the series and a deepening of the title’s intrigue, making it well worth a read.

Poet Mase is a regular contributor to IGN who is happy to see Pip getting a little lovin' (if not from the ladies, then from the writer). Follow Poet on Twitter @PoetMase, or post a message on his IGN profile PoetMase.

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After many months of speculation, famed game designer Peter Molyneux's Curiosity is now available on the iOS app store.

Gamers have known for some time the basic premise of the app. Curiosity presents gamers with a gigantic cube made of of many millions (or perhaps billions) of smaller cubes. Participants worldwide can chink away at the cube block my block, cooperating to reveal what's underneath each layer.

But... what the heck does this actually mean? And how does it work? Let's take a look...

This is the first screen you see when you fire up the app. It's wholly white, which obviously blends right in with IGN's page background. It also already sets up the mysterious, high-concept mood:

The stark white screen stays until you tap it. Apparently Curiosity takes your initial tap as a "yes" to the stark question above. You're next told how many people before you have downloaded and fired up Curiosity - a surprisingly powerful and compelling way to get both the cooperative and competitive juices flowing. I was the 335th person to try out Curiosity:

The cube has many layers, but getting to the center won't be easy...

What's more, only one person will get to hit that final block and see what's actually there. I certainly hope they choose to share what they see with the world...

After this enigmatic and oddly compelling into... we're finally here! On the cube itself! So... now what?

You can swipe your finger to rotate the cube, or pinch two fingers to zoom in and out. Zooming in reveals sections that other users have chipped away at that aren't visible from a distance. It's neat to see them slowly materialize.

Users are already beginning to clear away sections of the cube in an ad-hoc form of self expression:

Each layer of the cube promises to have something new underneath. A new color, a photograph, a painting... something that will satisfy each players', well... curiosity. But for now it looks like each side of the cube just has a blue-green layer underneath.

But let's get down to brass tacks. How does curiosity actually work? Blocks are deleted simply by tapping on them. Gamers start with a set amount of coins. I wholly expected to be charged a coin for each block I deleted. I expected them to refill slowly over time, and perhaps be charged real money for extra coins. But it turns out Curiosity actually does the opposite.

Each block you delete earns coins. If you delete blocks rapidly in an unbroken burst of play (work? participation?) a coin multiplier begins to tick upward. At first each block deleted just earns you one coin. But then two, three, and on upward with no upper limit that I could find.

This is a supremely interesting design decision because it means you're earning exponentially more coins the longer you play in one unbroken chunk. A user that deletes 1000 blocks a few at a time will only have 1000 coins. But a user that breaks 1000 blocks in a single chunk could earn 50 times that much currency.

But... what are these coins actually spent on?

The chisels, bombs and firecrackers in the menu above make you a more efficient block clearer for a limited time by allowing you to clear more cubelets with a single tap. These power-ups range in price from a few thousand coins up to 3 billion for the diamond pickaxe. What's a little more interesting is that even accessing the stats menu costs coins - 100, to be precise. Inside, you can see how many cubelets remain on the current layer of the cube, how many users are participating, how many cubelets you personally have cleared and plenty more.

Interestingly, the outer layer of the cube contains 100,000,000 cubelets just on its own. All of which must be cleared one by one. Anyone want to crunch some numbers and figure out how many total cubelets are contained within the cube, if it is solid all the way through?

So, there you have it. A first look at Curiosity from Peter Molyneux's new studio 22cans. The app is both absurdly simple and wildly complex. It's very silly and yet oddly compelling. Perhaps most unusual of all, given the current state of the App Store, is that Curiosity is an entirely free download, with no In-App-Purchases in sight. Yes, the entire experience is 100% free, from top-to-bottom.

Is it a video game? A piece of interactive art? To me, it feels like a commentary on mass cooperation. With millions upon millions of cubes to break, there is no getting to the center without cooperation on a massive scale.

Curiosity also makes me think about the human desire for self expression. The cube's grey face has no instructions in the same way that a canvas of wet sand has no instructions. No one tells you to write your initials in the sand with your finger. Or draw something considerably less benign and more vulgar, if that's or disposition. But it still spontaneously happens, regardless. We all want to leave our mark on the world, even if it is fleeting.

And so it is with Curiosity. Gamers don't need to be told to communicate using the surface of the cube. It just happens. And like messages written in sand, Curiosity's very nature ensures that any message left is fleeting. It will be washed away by the actions of other users, replaced with a new layer of the cube and new engravings.

Until the center is reached, at least. After that... who knows?

Spot something especially memorable on the cube? Add it to our user-powered gallery of curiosity sightings!

Justin is Editor of IGN Wireless. He has been reviewing mobile games since the dark days of Java flip phones. You can follow him on Twitter at @ErrorJustin and on IGN.

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