Monthly Archives: March 2016
Unlocked: Is Fable Dead?
DOWNLOAD UNLOCKED 236 (Audio version)
On this week's Xbox show, we analyze the cancellation of Fable Legends and the apparent closure of Lionhead Studios. Could either have been saved? Can and will Fable continue on, or is it dead? Plus: our first impressions of The Division, Gears of War 4 continues to divide us, Doom multiplayer inches closer, Overwatch and Battleborn have a silly (albeit one-sided) feud, and more!
Oh, and Unlocked now has its own snazzy new homepage! Bookmark this: go.ign.com/unlocked
The Division Sets Ubisoft Sales Record
The Division is enjoying the highest day-one sales in Ubisoft’s history.
Ubisoft says the new game has sold more copies in its first 24 hours than any other game in its 30-year history.
The company stopped short of providing actual sales numbers, though.
CEO Yves Guillemot says: "The launch of The Division is a tremendous achievement for Ubisoft, and demonstrates our unrivaled capacity to create fantastic new game brands and transform them into entertainment blockbusters."
The Division was launched just yesterday on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Should we get those actual numbers, we'll share them with you here.
Suicide Squad Movie to Offer Fans Character Tattoos
Harley's Tattoo Parlor is apparently coming to this month's South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
The official Twitter account for the Suicide Squad movie posted a series of character-inspired tattoo designs today with the following caption: "The #SuicideSquad is ready to leave their mark on #SXSW #HarleysTatooParlor"
Check out the tattoo designs and the SXSW poster for Suicide Squad in the gallery below:
No further details on precisely where and when Harley's Tattoo Parlor will be operating or how much the tattoos will cost, but we'll let you know as soon as that's revealed. The SXSW Film Festival runs from March 11-19.
Early iPhone 7 Case Design Doesn’t Have a Headphone Jack
A new batch of leaked photos are reinforcing the idea that the next iPhone won't come with a headphone jack.
OnLeaks has shared several new photos showing an early version of an iPhone 7 case with cutouts for two speakers grilles at the bottom, but no hole for a 3.5mm headphone jack. Current rumors suggest Apple will drop the headphone jack, and move on to using Bluetooth or Lightning headphones that will come packed in with the phone.
The case alone is not a confirmation, however. After placing an iPhone 6s into the iPhone 7 case, the headphone jack is still easily accessible, bringing the accuracy of the rumors into question. There's a decent amount of time before the iPhone 7 goes into production, meaning its design can still change. The final version of the phone could look entirely different from its earlier designs.
9 Reveals from the Game of Thrones: Season 6 Trailer
The time for teasers has ended.
The full Game of Thrones: Season 6 trailer has finally dropped, setting the internet ablaze with piercing and potent imagery involving boats, horses, the Night's King, and many, many shots of Jon Snow's lifeless body. Like, we get it. He's dead. So very dead.
And as with many a trailer, we have questions. In fact, considering that this season of Game of Thrones is the first not to easily correlate to any published Song of Ice and Fire book, the "unknown" now looms large and casts a formidable shadow. But instead of raising a bunch of "What's that?"s and "What if?"s, let's hone in on what the trailer actually confirms for us. The actual, (mostly) irrefutable information we get from it. Sansa and Theon survived the drop. Davos is in mourning. Melisandre has doubts. Thant sort of stuff. And much more.
BvS Director Snyder Wanted to Cast Bale, But …
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder has revealed that he wanted to cast The Dark Knight Trilogy's Christian Bale in his superhero epic, but not as Batman.
“This is a total and opposite reality from the Chris Nolan movies. It’s another universe, so we couldn’t hire Christian Bale if we wanted to, because he doesn’t exist in our world. Maybe we could hire him to play another part. We did talk about that briefly," Snyder told FilmInk.
"I just wanted to hire Christian to play another part to make that obvious. Christian could play, like, Alfred with age makeup. No! Of course not. But you know what I mean. Even people at the studio would say, ‘Who are you getting from the other movies?’ And I was like, ‘Hey, come on guys, let’s all understand, it’s a different world.’"
XCOM 2’s First DLC Pack Detailed
Firaxis has revealed details on XCOM 2's first piece of DLC, Anarchy’s Children.
Anarchy's Children releases on March 17 and costs $5. The pack features over 100 new customization options ranging from new hair styles, to face paints, to helmets and armor, to decals, and more. The items are described by Firaxis as "post-apocalyptic"and "downright deranged." Check out how some of the options below:
Anarchy's Children is included in the Reinforcement Pack, which costs $20 and promises two other pieces of DLC, Alien Hunters and Shen's Last Gift, coming in the future.
Firaxis is also working on a patch for performance optimizations and gameplay bug fixes.
Sony’s VR Software Approach Is to Start Small
When it comes to developing games for its upcoming PlayStation VR platform, Sony is taking a "shotgun approach."
According to Polygon, Sony is developing several, smaller VR experiences, rather than allocate resources to one big game.
"It’s just the relative progression of any new media," Sony president Shuhei Yoshida said. "When the content side starts investing, you usually start small."
Yoshida told Polygon smaller games can have a "significant impact," something he calls "more preferable."
Yoshida has advised his team to think smaller, because bigger isn't necessarily better. He tells developers "while you’re working on something long-term, the whole industry will learn a lot and you’ll discover half of what you set out to do will become obsolete."
Sony Exec Says PlayStation VR Has Mass Market Appeal
PlayStation executive vice president Masayasu Ito said PlayStation VR's biggest advantage over competing platforms like Rift is Sony's headset "works with PS4."
In an interview with Polygon, Ito said the competing Oculus Rift might have better VR than PlayStation's own headset, but Rift is for a different audience.
"This is not for the person who uses a high-end PC. It’s for the mass market," Ito said. He also pointed out the mass-market appeal of PlayStation VR means it's more for "everyday use."
A device designed for everyday use, Ito said, "has to be easy to use and it has to be affordable." With the Rift priced at $600, and the HTC Vive coming in at $800, affordability is in the eye of the beholder. Sony said in the past it plans to price PlayStation VR "as a new gaming platform."
Preacher: 3 New Character Photos, Debuting in May
AMC has released new photos showing off the main characters of its upcoming Preacher series, which the network also confirmed will debut this May.
Check out the gallery below for a look at Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer, Joseph Gilgun as Irish vampire Cassidy, and Ruth Negga as Jesse's badass ex-girlfriend, Tulip O'Hare.
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin are executive producing the series based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.
Last month, Jackie Earle Haley joined the cast as villain Odin Quincannon.
Jordan Sirani is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @jdsirani.