Author: Trafficblast

The airline company Air New Zealand has offered George R.R. Martin a free trip to New Zealand so he can finish his next book, The Winds of Winter, which the author now says should be finished by July 2020. In a cheeky video, the airline talked about how the country only has six people per square mile and fantastic views to get inspired by.

Martin responded to the video on his blog. He says he was “tempted” by the offer, and added that he’s been to New Zealand before and has enjoyed its beautiful scenery. “I love New Zealand. You don’t need to convince me,” he said to the airline.

New Zealand is so beautiful that it might actually distract Martin from finishing his book, he said. “I fear that New Zealand would distract me entirely too much. Best leave me here in Westeros for the nonce,” he said.

Regarding the offer of a free flight, Martin said he appreciated the generous offer, but acknowledged, “I do have enough money to make it to New Zealand on my own.”

Instead, Martin said Air New Zealand should offer to fly other writers to New Zealand to help fuel their own creativity and to fall in love with New Zealand as he has. “And you have such big plans, I’m sure you could squeeze them in,” he said.

Martin will be back in New Zealand in 2020 for the World Science Fiction Convention in Wellington, at which he will serve as Toastmaster for the Hugo Awards. Intriguingly, Martin said he expects to have finished The Winds of Winter by the time the Convention is held in July 2020.

“If I don’t have The Winds of Winter in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done,” Martin said. “Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I’ll be fine.”

The Winds of Winter is the latest chapter in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, upon which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based. The final book, A Dream of Spring, will follow. According to Martin, the ending to his book series might be different to the HBO show. Or not.

The entirety of Game of Thrones Season 8 was controversial, and specifically the finale. Fans created an online petition asking for a remake, and Sansa actress Sophie Turner slammed it as “disrespectful.”

Amazon has made a huge hire for its upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show. Bryan Cogman, who worked on HBO’s Game of Thrones since the beginning and wrote 11 episodes of the fantasy drama, is joining Amazon to contribute to its ambitious Lord of the Rings TV series.

George R.R. Martin confirmed this on his blog, writing that Cogman will contribute to the Lord of the Rings show at Amazon in addition to developing his own series. Variety reports that Cogman will do some consulting work for the Lord of the Rings show, though his exact title is unclear.

Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff hired Cogman as their assistant at the start of the show’s production a decade ago. Weiss and Benioff had no experience writing for TV before Game of Thrones, so they turned to Cogman. Benioff knew him as his nanny’s husband.

Cogman eventually became the co-executive producer for the entire Game of Thrones series. The 11 episodes he wrote for Game of Thrones is only eclipsed by Weiss and Benioff. He was instrumental to Game of Thrones, according to cast members and Martin himself.

Sophie Turner, who played Sansa Stark, told Vanity Fair that Cogman was the backbone of Game of Thrones, while Jaime Lannister actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said Cogman is a “walking encyclopedia” of knowledge about Game of Thrones. Martin himself said Cogman was “the third head of the dragon” as it relates to his relationship with Weiss and Benioff.

You should really read this Vanity Fair story to find out just how important Cogman was to the creation, development, and success of Game of Thrones.

Cogman had a pitch for a new Game of Thrones prequel show for HBO, but the network reportedly decided to pass on it, which might have contributed to his decision to leave to join Amazon.

At Amazon, Cogman will work alongside the Lord of the Rings TV show’s creators, JD Payne and Patrick McKay, who–like Weiss and Benioff before them–have no experience writing a TV show.

The Lord of the Rings show doesn’t currently have a title or release date, and no casting has been announced as yet. We do know that it’s set in the Second Age, long before the events of The Lord of the Rings.

The NPD has released its report for April 2019, revealing the best-selling consoles and games of the month in the US , and providing an overall snapshot of the industry’s health during the month.

Starting with game sales, Mortal Kombat 11 was April’s best-selling game of the month, and immediately became the No. 2 best-selling game of 2019 so far, only behind Kingdom Hearts III. Also of note is that Mortal Kombat 11 is the first time a third-party game was the Switch’s top-seller for a month since Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was No. 1 back in September 2017.

Days Gone was No. 2 in April, and it achieved sales that amounted to the seventh biggest ever for a Sony-published game during its launch month. It is also developer Sony Bend Studio’s best-selling game ever after just one month on sale in the US. MLB The Show 19 finished No. 3 in April, and it continues to be the best-selling sports game of 2019 so far (a lot of the big ones are still to come such as FIFA 20, Madden 20, NBA 2K20, and more).

Overall, video game sales across console, PC, and portable reached $427 million in April 2019, which is up 15 percent year-over-year. On a year-to-date basis, game sales have now reached $1.9 billion, which is up 4 percent.

Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was April 2019’s best-selling console in terms of units sold and dollars driven, outperforming the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The 32GB neon red/blue system is 2019’s best-selling individual piece of hardware.

The strong performance of the Nintendo Switch was not matched by all platforms, as total hardware spending dropped 29 percent to $160 million in April 2019. All other platforms posted declines during the month. For 2019 year-to-date, hardware spending is down 16 percent to $918 million.

The Accessories category, which includes game cards, jumped 5 percent to $256 million. The Amiibo Super Smash Bros Series 1 packs sold the best in April, while the black DualShock 4 controller is 2019’s best-selling accessory so far. Game card and controller spending led the way. Year-to-date, Accessories spending is up 3 percent to $1.2 billion.

With hardware, software, and accessories combined, total video game spending in the US in April reached $842 million, which is up 1 percent. For 2019 so far, total spending dropped 2 percent to $4 billion.

April 2019 Best-Selling Games In The US All Platforms

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Days Gone
3. MLB 19 The Show
4. The Division 2^
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice^
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
9. NBA 2K19
10. Yoshi’s Crafted World*
11. Red Dead Redemption II
12. Mario Kart 8*
13. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
14. Minecraft#
15. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
16. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
18. Jump Force
19. Battlefield V*
20. Borderlands

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included

# Minecraft digital sales on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One included