Monthly Archives: June 2016
Watch Dogs 2 Will Not Feature Map-Unlocking Towers
Watch Dogs 2 won't feature the map-unlocking towers familiar to players of Ubisoft's open world games.
Towers have been an integral part of progression in Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and even The Crew, and the original Watch Dogs used a version of them to allow for exploration around its version of Chicago.
However, speaking to Eurogamer, creative director Jonathan Morin has confirmed that Watch Dogs 2 is making a break from the UbiTemplate: "It's not a game where you open your map and everything's there. There are no towers. You just explore the world."
Our first-look at the game told us that players will instead unlock more and more activities by gaining followers for hacker activists DedSec, earned by completing missions or making discoveries in the open world, but it's now clear that the full map will be available from the beginning, allowing for a new measure of freedom in how you travel around it and what you complete as you do.
Person of Interest Creators on the Final Episode’s Events
Warning: Full spoilers for the Person of Interest series finale below.
Even though there is a spoiler warning literally right above this line, I’m still putting one extra spoiler warning if you haven’t seen the Person of Interest series finale (read Matt Fowler's review of the finale here). Okay, let’s go!
After five years and 103 episodes, the story of Team Machine has come to an end, with tragedy and triumph occurring along the way. I spoke to POI executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman about the big events in the final episode, including the death of John Reese, how they decided on what would occur and more – including what we can infer the future holds for the surviving characters.
Justice League: Jesse Eisenberg Will Return as Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor will indeed appear in Justice League, as Jesse Eisenberg has confirmed he'll be reprising his villainous role in Warner Bros.' upcoming DC film.
In an interview with ShortList, Eisenberg expressed his excitement in returning, saying, "it was the most fun I’ve ever had at playing a role, and most challenging, in a great way, and most rewarding," before adding that he'd "love to play it for years."
While production on Justice League is already well underway—read IGN's on-set impressions here—Eisenberg won't be filming until August, once his play The Spoils finishes its run in London.
Steven Spielberg Vows to Never Direct a Star Wars Movie
Despite being a big fan of Star Wars, Steven Spielberg will never direct a Star Wars film.
It's just not his genre, the director said at a press event for his upcoming Disney film The BFG. "It's certainly my buddy's, the Thomas Edison of science fiction, George Lucas, who created the entire series," Spielberg said, as reported by the Toronto Sun. "But that was never for me. I'm just a fan; I'm just with everybody else in the audience watching them."
Spielberg has had an influence on the Star Wars films, however. The legendary director suggested J.J. Abrams direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and reportedly discovered Alden Ehrenreich—who'll play young Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars solo film—at a bat mitzvah.
Crunchyroll to Stream 9 New Summer Anime
Crunchyroll announced it'll be simulcasting eight new anime and the second season of a returning anime this summer on a live stream today.
In addition to the second season of Active Raid, Crunchyroll will be simulcasting 91 Days, Alderamin, Taboo Tattoo, Orange, Mob Psycho 100, Sweetness and Lightning, ReLife, and the new Berserk anime. You can see artwork for each of the anime in the slideshow below.
The localized names of each anime are not final, and more information on each anime's air date, region availability will be announced at a later time along with more new anime in Crunchyroll's summer lineup. For more on anime, be sure to check out IGN Anime Club.
Power Rangers Movie Finds Its Zordon
Bryan Cranston's role in Lionsgate's upcoming Power Rangers movie has been revealed.
In a post on Twitter, the Breaking Bad star announced that he will play the Rangers' mentor, Zordon.
Excited to play #Zordon in the #PowerRangersMovie! T or F: #BlueRanger Billy Cranston was named after what actor? https://t.co/d3ltjpcDKb
— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) June 21, 2016
Zelda Producer on Voice Acting in Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is mixing up the series' formula in several exciting ways, including the addition of voice acting, and producer Eiji Aonuma has come forward to explain why for the first time it's being incorporated into the franchise.
"It’s really difficult to leave an impression on players with just text," Aonuma told Polygon, going on to point out that not every piece of dialogue in the game will be voiced. There are, however, specific instances in which he wants to "leave impressions on users" and is using voice acting to achieve that.
Report Suggests 2017 iPhone Could Eliminate Home Button
Though Apple is reportedly looking to largely stick to the status quo for the iPhone this year, the company might have much bigger plans for the device's 10th anniversary.
A new report by The Wall Street Journal suggests that Apple's iPhone in 2017 will remove the device's home button in favor of the phone's display employing a fingerprint sensor. The report also says, as has been previously rumored, that the 2017 iPhone will feature an OLED display.
Skull Island’s Kong Will Be Biggest Ever
Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has big plans for his upcoming monster movie, claiming the film will feature the largest King Kong to ever grace the big screen.
"This is going to be the biggest Kong there's ever been," Vogt-Roberts said during a Warner Bros. presentation at CineEurope (via The Hollywood Reporter). "Not 10 foot or 30 foot, but a 100-foot ape."
The event offered an extended preview of the film that featured clips of Tom Hiddleston as a former British SAS officer, Brie Larson as photojournalist Weaver, and a few other cast members, including Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly.
Archer Renewed for Three More Seasons
FX Networks has renewed Archer for three more seasons.
The animated comedy show will come back early next year with Season 8, followed by Seasons 9 and 10 in the future. All three seasons will run eight episodes. The show's latest season wrapped up earlier this month.
“We can’t say enough about what Adam
, Matt
and the entire Archer team at Floyd County have done to keep this series so insanely funny and vital through seven seasons,” said FX Networks president of original programming Nick Grad in a statement accompanying the announcement.