Monthly Archives: April 2016
2006: The Year the PS3 and Wii Changed Everything
Welcome back to IGN's History of Awesome - a year-long look back at all the coolest and most influential games, movies, TV shows, comic books, toys, and tech that have shaped pop culture, and shaped the lives of an entire generation. Up this week is 2006, the year the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii launched.
Catch up on IGN's History of Awesome:
MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles Renewed for Season 2
The Shannara Chronicles will return for a second season.
MTV has renewed the fantasy series, which is based on the novels by Terry Brooks. "This dream team
delivered a beautiful, ground breaking show with compelling stories and character journeys which brought in new viewers," said MTV executive vice president Mina Lefevre. "I can’t wait to see what season 2 brings."
The Shannara Chronicles was the top-rated new series for MTV this year, and the network noted the show got over 16.6 million streams online.
For more on the series, be sure to check out IGN's review of The Shannara Chronicles: Season 1.
Behind the Scenes of the New Walking Dead Comic
Today marks the release of The Walking Dead: The Alien by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Marcos Martin on Panel Syndicate. Panel Syndicate is a place where Vaughan and Martin make comics meant to be read digitally -- their first comic was the neo-noir thriller The Private Eye and next up is the bilingual mystery Barrier -- but what makes them stick out is their "pay what you want" policy. You can download their comics, DRM free, and name your own price, including zero dollars.
The Walking Dead: The Alien Cover by Marcos Martin
Xbox 360 Production Has Ended
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has announced Microsoft will no longer be making Xbox 360 consoles.
"Xbox 360 means a lot to everyone in Microsoft," wrote Spencer. "And while we’ve had an amazing run, the realities of manufacturing a product over a decade old are starting to creep up on us. Which is why we have made the decision to stop manufacturing new Xbox 360 consoles. We will continue to sell existing inventory of Xbox 360 consoles, with availability varying by country."
Spencer went on to mention existing Xbox 360 hardware will still be supported, you'll still be able to buy 360 games through the online store, and Xbox Live services will remain active. Xbox One owners will still be able to play Xbox 360 games through backwards compatibility.
Dead Rising: Endgame First Look Photo and Release Date
Crackle announced at their industry upfront presentation Wednesday that their forthcoming feature film Dead Rising: Endgame, the sequel to last year's Dead Rising: Watchtower, will make its streaming debut June 20.
The company also released the first official still photo from the movie (seen below).
Crackle's official synopsis for Dead Rising: Endgame -- which, like its predecessor, is based on the hugely popular Dead Rising video game franchise by Capcom -- says the sequel "drops us into the zombie-infested quarantined zone of East Mission City where investigative reporter Chase Carter must stop a secret government conspiracy which, though seemingly aimed at ending the country’s zombie epidemic, will also kill millions of innocent civilians."
Shuhei Yoshida Reportedly Unsure If There Will Be a PS5
Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning has said that PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida has expressed uncertainty as to whether there will be a PlayStation 5.
Lanning made the comments on the Game Informer Show (as spotted by excellently monikered NeoGAF user generic_username), where he said he asked a question about the possible future console ahead of an on-stage interview between the two:
"I said, 'well, what does the PlayStation 5 look like?' and he said 'you mean if'.
I said 'are you willing to say that on a stage?' and he said 'yeah, it's an if'."
Skip to 45:04 to hear Lanning's comments.
Vikings: It’s Total War in the Midseason Finale
The first half of Vikings' fourth season comes to a close this Thursday, April 21st, with "The Last Ship," a ferocious midseason finale featuring a big battle between the Vikings and the French. One that eventually comes down to Ragnar against Rollo - Brother against brother.
IGN's got an exclusive war clip for you. One filled with arrows, crossbows, and mass death. Just the way we like our Norsemen conflicts. Check it out...
Who will survive the final fight? Find out in Vikings: "The Last Ship," airing April 21st on History.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA). Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/Showrenity.
Ex-Blizzard Staff Announce Embers of War
Fledgling studio Dark Rift Entertainment has announced its new game, Embers of War.
The 14-individual studio, made up of a large number of ex-Blizzard staff, describes the game as an "action-packed, story driven 3D tower defense game set in a robust sc-fi universe." Embers of War will feature two playable heroes, fully customizable towers and weapons, and 30-40 levels for launch. A number of game levels are also being designed to support co-op play, while voice talent includes Matt Mercer (Fallout 4) and Ashly Burch (Life is Strange).
Check out some of the art and the first trailer for Embers of War below, and you can play the demo if you're heading to PAX East this week.
Kerbal Space Program Gets First Major Update
Developer Squad's Kerbal Space Program received its first big update since its release—Turbo Charged. Patch 1.1 increases the game's performance "all-around," regardless of your PC specs.
The adorable physics simulator also has a newly remodeled user interfaces, though all interface elements should still feel familiar to veteran players. According to an update on the Kerbal Space Program blog, the most notable changes are to map view, staging, and IVA portraits.
A new feature that should prove very helpful to new players is the KSPedia reference guide, which works as the "primary source for information" for everything about the game. There's information about the "basics of building and flying," along with more advanced information on "docking," and "in-situ resource utilization."
Iron Man Director Loves Civil War’s Spidey
Jungle Book director Jon Favreau has been talking about Captain America: Civil War, stating that he thinks the Marvel movies are in "good hands" with the Russo brothers, and revealing that he loves the chemistry that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker has with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in the forthcoming film.
Favreau directed the first Iron Man movie – which put the building blocks in place for the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and continues to executive produce the features, meaning that he got an early look at the new film.
“I think Spider-Man made me smile every second the character was on the screen,” he revealed. “I was so pleased with the tone of the film in general, but those sequences specifically, and I just loved the way they introduced the character. I love the version of Tony Stark I saw, especially in those scenes. As somebody who was part of the beginning of the screen persona of Tony Stark, I thought that this was really impressive and a wonderful expansion of that character.”