Monthly Archives: September 2016
How Classic Horror Movies Are Brought to Life
Halloween Horror Nights 26 kicked off recently at Universal Orlando, as the fan favorite event returned with one of its most impressive lineups yet.
The mazes at this year’s Horror Nights are focused on everything from American Horror Story to Krampus to the ever-popular The Walking Dead. You can get a look at much of what Halloween Horror Nights 26 has to offer in our slideshow below.
Last weekend, as HHN 26 began, I sat down with Michael Aiello (Universal Orlando’s Director of Entertainment - Creative Development) on opening night to discuss some of the big mazes this year – including The Exorcist, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Halloween – along with some of the event’s original concepts, as Halloween Horror Nights goes into its next quarter century…
Vincent D’Onofrio on Magnificent 7, Death Wish Remakes
I chatted with actor Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Kingpin on Marvel's Daredevil) earlier this week about his current film, The Magnificent Seven. D'Onofrio plays burly, lethal mountain man Jack Horne in the Antoine Fuqua-directed remake of the 1960 western.
But before we spoke about Magnificent Seven, I had to tell him how he once unintentionally helped catch a criminal ...
IGN: First of all, on a personal note, years ago, I was able to identify the guy who mugged me because as he's mugging me, pulling a knife on me, I was like, wow, he looks just like Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket. And of course, I'm at the station two hours later and ended up talking to the cop about Full Metal Jacket for about 20 twenty minutes.
How Virtual Reality Will Change the Music Scene
Most of you have probably noticed just how popular virtual reality is in the world of video games. But the promises posed by the latest wave of VR haven't stopped there.
Live music is now leveraging the medium in order to transport would-be concert goers from the comfort of their homes to the front row of the stalls, and few genres have made such impressive gains as the electronic dance music scene.
YouVisit is a specialist studio that prides itself in merging “technology with creativity,” reaching over six million different users with its broad selection of VR offerings to date. It’s also identified the vast potential VR has in tandem with large festival experiences. At last year’s TomorrowWorld in Georgia, the studio partnered with international superstar DJ Armin Van Buuren to create The Armin Effect.
Zorn Is Someone You’ll Never Want to Play Tetris With
Sometimes you get an offer that's too good to refuse, like when FOX reaches out to you and asks if you want to interview the animated lead of their new comedy series. After watching the Son of Zorn premiere, I felt like I had a good sense of who Zorn was as a person, but after our interview I soon learned there's plenty about him I never could have imagined.
Here's what we already know about Zorn from the series' pilot: he's a butt-kicking barbarian from Zephyria, he used to be married to a great woman named Edie and they have a teenage son together named Alangulon. He has a penchant for wearing a loincloth and nothing else. He isn't a fan of Edie's new fiance, Craig.
Sony Santa Monica Supports Girl Scouts Game Design Badge
Sony's Santa Monica Studio has teamed up with Women in Games International and Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles to support a new Girl Scouts badge for video game design.
The studio will host a workshop for Girl Scouts in Los Angeles 10am-4pm tomorrow (September 24) and October 1, during which the scouts will have the opportunity to learn "what it’s like to work in the video game industry from a professional, create a physical prototype, digital prototype, test their designs, and more".
‘Exclusive’ Titanfall 2 Multiplayer Mode Part of New Promotion
US restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings has teamed up with EA for a Titanfall 2 promotion.
Participants who eat at one of the 1175 US locations between October 28 and the end of November 2016, will receive access to an "exclusive" Titanfall 2 multiplayer mode and Titan insignia.
The mode will apparently offer a space "where players have the chance to earn huge rewards – more than anywhere else in the game".
"We're excited to partner with EA and offer our guests unique and exclusive opportunities to immerse themselves in one of the most anticipated releases of the year," Wild Wings' VP Todd Kronebusch told Business Wire (via Eurogamer). "From exclusive game content to our partnership with ELEAGUE that brings e-sports directly to our restaurants, we’re listening to our Guests and embracing their passion for gaming and competition.”
Star Wars Rebels Returns This Weekend
Star Wars Rebels: Season 3 debuts this Saturday, and new images and a clip have been revealed from the special one-hour premiere.
There's a lot of fan excitement going into Season 3 about the introduction of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the beloved Expanded Universe/Legends character who will finally be making his debut into official Star Wars canon via Rebels. In the gallery below, you'll see new images of Thrawn alongside his fellow Imperials (Grand Moff Tarkin included), Kanan in his new mask (now that he's been blinded by Darth Maul), and Ezra continuing to display increasingly impressive abilities - even as there is concern as to how much that Sith holocron he's opened up is an indicator that he is going down the wrong path.
IGN UK Podcast #350: Fear the FIFA and Forza
When planning what we'd talk about in this week's podcast, there was only one thing written at the top of the Google Doc.
"MUST ONLY TALK ABOUT THINGS BEGINNING WITH F."
It's unclear whether this is a new fricative fixation from Alex, or whether he just noticed that a lot of things beginning with "F" have been happening lately. Either way, for your latest FIFA 16. Forza Horizon 3 and Fear the Walking Dead fixes, Alex, Rory and Alysia are on hand.
And Rory also talks about his new Pokémon Go Plus - because he's a rebellious, plosive maverick.
Star Wars Uprising to Close
Mobile ARPG title Star Wars Uprising will permanently cease operations on November 17.
Kabam announced the shutdown plans over on its website. In-game purchases will be closing down ahead of the closure on September 22.
“Despite the best efforts of our team here at Kabam, unfortunately, Star Wars: Uprising will soon be decommissioned,” reads the notice. On November 17th, 2016, all Star Wars: Uprising servers will be shutting down permanently. As part of this shutdown, we will be shutting down payments today, September 22nd, 2016, to prevent additional payments from occurring.”
Opinion: Marvel’s Civil War 2 Is Failing
I doubt anyone was surprised when Marvel Comics began teasing a sequel to their Civil War comic book event late last year. This year not only marks the 10-year anniversary of the original Civil War comic, it's also the year that the Marvel Cinematic Universe experienced a Civil War of its own in the third Captain America movie. Marvel would have been foolish not to capitalize on that spotlight, right? Honestly, I'm no longer so sure. There's a clear apathy surrounding Marvel's latest big crossover that goes above and beyond the usual complaints about event fatigue. Civil War II simply doesn't have the same excitement or drive as the original.
One need only look at recent Diamond Comics sales figures to see that Civil War II isn't exactly lighting the comic book world on fire. Granted, the core mini-series is doing pretty well for itself, with the first issue selling 381,737 copies (based on Comichron's estimates) and topping the sales charts in June. But that still falls well below Secret Wars #1's 527,678 copies a year previous. And looking at July 2016's sales figures, it's clear that those numbers are rapidly dropping. Civil War II #4 sold 126,865 copies in July (again, according to Comichron), not even a third of what the first issue pulled in, and significantly less than what even the lowest-selling issue of Secret Wars sold last year.