Monthly Archives: August 2017
Divinity: Original Sin 2 Will Be Fully Voiced
Divinity: Original Sin II is getting English voice acting ahead of its full release on September 14, developer Larian Studios announced.
The game's entire cast of roughly 1200 characters and creatures will be fully voiced, with more than 74,000 lines of dialogue and over 1 million words. This massive undertaking, which Larian Studios previously said would be too difficult to pull off, required the help of roughly 80 different voice actors.
Five of the actors are Harry Hadden-Paton (Dragon Age: Inquisition) as the Red Prince, a heroic lizard exiled from his own empire; Alec Newman (Battlefield 1) as a rebel-turned-pirate named Beast; Tamaryn Payne (Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game Series) as Lohse, a star musician; Alix Wilton Regan (Dragon Age: Inquisition) as the elven assassin Sebille; and Chris Finney (Mass Effect: Andromeda) as Ifan ben-Mezd, a mercenary ex-soldier on the run.
AMC Theatres Reportedly Blocking MoviePass E-Tickets
As AMC Theatres investigates legal action to prevent use of MoviePass following the service's new $10-a-month low price point, the theater chain has reportedly taken one measure to limit its use.
SlashFilm reports that an email sent to a MoviePass user informs them that the e-ticketing feature available to members in Boston and Denver has been disabled at AMC Theatres. Users instead have to book their tickets in person, as the majority of MoviePass users normally must.
Why Uncharted’s Female Leads Are Important
Uncharted has long been a series built on duos. Whether it’s Nathan Drake and Sully, Nate and Elena, or Nate and Sam, each pairing has its own unique dynamic adding layers and complexity to the narrative while revealing new sides of these respective characters. These duos are usually explored in respectful and complex ways, but there has long been a very specific one missing.
Until now.
Warning! Spoilers for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Ahead.
While driving through the lush valley of India’s Western Ghats, Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross often engage in small talk. These moments are largely innocuous exposition, but one moment in particular stands out. While discussing their history with the Drake brothers and the adventuring business, Chloe casually comments, “It’s nice to be with a woman for a change.”
Destiny 2 Preorder Guide
The Super-Sized Spoiler That Couldn’t Sink Terminator 2
Way back in 2011, a study out of UC San Diego and published in the Psychological Science journal found that exposing people to spoilers prior to reading a story actually tended to make them report enjoying said stories more. On average, those people who knew what was coming tended to describe gleaning more pleasure from the stories than the participants who hadn’t had them spoiled.
Just a few years later, however, a 2014 study out of VU University Amsterdam found the opposite. In this study subjects consistently reported spoiled stories were less fun, less moving, and less enjoyable in general.
Half-Life 2: Episode 3 Potential Plot Revealed by Writer
Shortly before Half-Life 2: Episode 2's 10th anniversary, the series' writer Marc Laidlaw has posted what appears to be one possible plot for Half-Life 2: Episode 3.
Laidlaw posted "Epistle 3" to his personal website, a letter written from the first-person perspective of "Gertie Freemont" about her adventures with "Alex Vaunt," in what appears to be a gender-swapped version of events following Half-Life: Episode 2 and its cliffhanger ending. He made sure to note, however, on his Twitter that this piece is by no means official to Half-Life's story and is "fanfic," as far as he is concerned.
Movies Podcast: DC and Star Wars Standalone Films
Welcome back to the IGN Movies Podcast!
This week, Jim Vejvoda and Tom Jorgensen talk up all those reports about upcoming DC movies (from standalone films to The Batman and a Joker-Harley Quinn team-up film) to Obi-Wan Kenobi getting his own standalone Star Wars movie.
We discuss director Jame Gunn's comments about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 setting up the next 10-20 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and also answer YOUR questions.
And with summer drawing to a close, we reveal our favorites movies of this past season.
Listen to our latest podcast by clicking the lovely large type below - right click to download.
IGN Movies Podcast #4
Xbox One X Breaks Preorder Record for Microsoft
Microsoft's upcoming console appears to be off to a strong start, as Xbox One X has set a new preorder record for the company.
According to a post on Xbox Wire, more Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition consoles were preordered in the first five days than any Xbox before. Microsoft said it saw record-breaking sell-out times for the console, which is currently sold out in many countries.
"The speed at which we sold through our initial preorder supply surpassed expectations, and what we experienced with preorders for the original Xbox One console," GameStop senior VP of merchandising Bob Puzon said.
Crackdown 3 Announced Too Early, Says Microsoft Exec
The reveal of Crackdown 3 at E3 2014 may not have been a bit premature, according to Microsoft Studios Publishing general manager Shannon Loftis.
Speaking to Polygon at Gamescom 2017, Loftis admitted the company "probably announced Crackdown too early," noting the game features three different modes, is being developed by three different studios, and was delayed to spring 2018 so the teams could up the game's overall quality.
How PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Xbox Compares to PC
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is well-loved, even in its Early Access stages, for being an intense, tactical and difficult multiplayer experience, and porting a multiplayer game with 100 players per match from PC to console isn’t without its challenges. The Xbox build of PUBG was playable on the show floor at this year’s Gamescom, and there’s a lot to adjust to, and a lot of unanswered questions.
Unsurprisingly, there were performance problems from the very beginning, but nothing remarkably out of the ordinary for PUBG. It's not a very pretty game, and the only noticeable graphical difference on the Xbox build seemed to be a slight change to draw distance, though that didn't seem to hinder gameplay in any negative way. The framerate was consistent and smooth, with developers aiming for, but currently unable to confirm, 60fps. It's still a bland, dull-looking game, but it ran almost as well as the current PC version, and I don’t think console players will be disappointed.