Monthly Archives: October 2015
Zelda Producer Teases Surprise Twist for Wii U’s Open World
Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma is aware of the fan response to Zelda: Skyward Sword, and he wants to put a unique spin on the concept of an open world game.
“We actually had some feedback from Skyward Sword, where people were saying, 'This is not exactly the Zelda game I was looking for, I was looking for a bigger open world.'" Aonuma told IGN. “Unfortunately, I can’t go into details but I’m hoping to put a surprise, or kind of a twist, on my view of an open world game. I hope that you’ll look forward to it.”
Aonuma acknowledged the development team reads a lot of what fans think about the series, but not all of their feedback will make it into future Zelda games.
Fallout 4 Announcer Pack Starring Mister Handy Heading to Dota 2
Dota 2 players can get the Fallout 4 Announcer Pack starring Mister Handy by pre-ordering Fallout 4 on Steam.
The iconic utility robot from the Fallout series, Mister Handy, replaces the default announcer and Mega-Kills announcer with the Dota 2 Fallout 4 Announcer Pack. The pack is on offer for a limited time and will be available in Dota 2 by mid-November.
Dota 2 recently received the Rick and Morty Announcer Pack, joining many other packs such as Bastion's Rucks, The Stanley Parable narrator and Portal’s GLaDOS. Last month, Valve's MOBA was upgraded from the original Source engine to Source 2, making it the first ever game to fully use the engine.
Just Cause 3 Has Gone Gold
Just Cause 3 has gone gold ahead of its release in early December, meaning development on the game has been completed.
Founder and chief creative officer at Avalanche Studios Christofer Sundberg made the announcement on Twitter, saying, "Just Cause 3 is..... GOLD today!! Awesome work to our team taking this creation of ours and have evolved it with excellence!"
Set on the fictional island of Medici, Just Cause 3's Mediterranean playground clocks in at over 400 square miles. "I think we still have one of the biggest maps ever," said game director Roland Lesterlin.
New to Hulu for November 2015
With Spectre hitting theaters in a few weeks, Hulu is bringing almost the entire James Bond film catalogue - without Dr. No, but still extending up to 1989's License to Kill - to its subscribers.
Also on tap: Out of Sight, Zoolander, Grosse Pointe Blank, Rushmore, What About Bob?, the Death of “Superman Lives” documentary, and more.
Note: Titles with an "*" are available with a subscription to the Showtime premium add-on.
November 1st
IGN SPOTLIGHT
- License to Kill (1989)
Ranking Marvel’s Star Wars Comics
With the final trailer for The Force Awakens getting our Midichlorians pumping, we are ravenous for anything related to Star Wars. Marvel Comics has been putting out Star Wars comics the whole year, so now is a great time to sort through them and see which are the best of the best.
Luckily, every single Star Wars comic Marvel has put out is good, if not great. So even though we’re ranking them, you should feel confident picking up whichever one grabs your interest the most.
Also note that Chewbacca’s comic only has one issue out, so we decided not to include it on this list.
Slowing Xbox 360 Sales Offset Microsoft’s Gains in Gaming
During a call with its investors today, Microsoft announced revenue from gaming grew 6% over the same period last year. However, sales of software were offset by slowing Xbox console sales.
The decline in Xbox hardware revenue was blamed on "lower volumes of Xbox 360" consoles sold, according to Microsoft. Amy Hood, Microsoft's chief financial officer, mentioned the offset in gaming revenue during the call, saying the company saw growth both in Xbox Live services and its first-party game portfolio in spite of declining sales for its last-gen system.
RoboCop’s Kurtwood Smith Joins Agent Carter
Marvel Entertainment announced today that Kurtwood Smith (RoboCop, That '70s Show) has been cast in Marvel's Agent Carter.
Smith will join the second season as Vernon Masters, "a veteran of the War Department with a keen understanding of how to work the system."
“We had the pleasure of working with Kurtwood on both Resurrection and Chaos, and were well aware of what a commanding presence he is,” said Executive Producers Tara Butters, Chris Dingess and Michele Fazekas in a statement to Marvel.com. “So when we were developing the character of Vernon Masters, we wrote it with him in mind. We just never thought we could actually get him. Thankfully, we were wrong.”
TV Supergirl Joins DC Universe Online
In celebration of Supergirl's premiere on CBS next week, Daybreak Games has revealed an update for DC Universe Online that adds a new look for Kara Zor-El.
The DC Comics' superhero now bears a striking resemblance to Melissa Benoist's character in the upcoming TV series.
For a limited time, players will be able to see her sporting her new look in various missions and instances, anywhere she appeared in her classic garb. In addition, the costume is now available in Legends as an exclusive bonus for Members, and can be unlocked permanently for 100 Marks of Legend.
Supergirl makes its television debut on October 26. For our thoughts on the new CBS show, check out our review of the pilot.
Crunchyroll to Partner With Sumitomo for New Anime
Sumitomo Corporation and the popular anime distributor Crunchyroll are joining forces to produce animation that will be delivered all around the world.
According to the announcement, this "strategic partnership" will serve as "a joint venture for investing in new anime productions." Naturally, Crunchyroll will be handling distribution, which will thereby extend to international markets.
"With this partnership, the voice of worldwide anime fans can reach anime production studios directly through the Crunchyroll platform, which I believe will produce fascinating anime for a worldwide audience as a result," Sumitomo General Manger and Corporate Officer of Media Iehisa Nakamura said.
The Craziest Feature Cut From Halo 4
The Kinect was almost considered as a key part of the Halo 4 experience, according to the game's creative director Josh Holmes, who who sat down to speak with IGN for episode two of IGN Unfiltered (premiering tomorrow morning at 9am Pacific).
"The craziest idea was when someone suggested using Kinect voice interaction with Cortana throughout the course of the experience," said Holmes when asked what the craziest feature that never made into Halo 4 was. While he admits it was an amazing idea, he had doubts as to whether or not he and his team could have pulled it off all the way.
He does offer an interesting counter-point though (mild Halo 4 plot spoiler ahead):