Monthly Archives: May 2018
How a Twitter Joke Brought the Xbox ‘Duke’ Controller Back to Life
Years after a horrifying gauntlet of negative fan reactions to the extraordinary size of the original “Duke” Xbox controller, Seamus Blackley, the man who wrote the original proposal for the Xbox, was rummaging through old boxes. It was there that he found an early model of the Duke, complete with black and white face buttons.
Remembering the laughs and traumas that went along with releasing such a controversially large controller, Blackley gave it to his young son to hold for a picture, highlighting his son’s small hands against the bulky hardware. After posting the picture to Twitter, countless fans began clamoring for the oversized peripheral to return.
“Suddenly this tweet gets like 80,000 impressions, hundreds and hundreds of responses,” Blackley says on the latest episode of our monthly developer interview show, IGN Unfiltered (see full episode above). “‘We love the Duke! We love the Duke!’ I’m thinking, ‘Love the Duke? Screw you. Where were you when I was getting golf balls thrown at me? Love the Duke...’ So I gave some crap and it started getting to the point where I felt like I was genuinely insulting people who loved it.”
IGN UK Podcast #435: Deadpool 2 Special with Josh Brolin
To celebrate the release of Deadpool 2 we've gone mutant MAD and run down some of the weirdest mutant powers from the X-Men comics.
We've also got Josh Brolin aka Cable aka the man with the naughtiest finger click in the galaxy for a big old interview where he does impressions of Marvel head Kevin Feige, questions Gav's British credentials and tells us about lies he's told.
Let us know what you think of the interview and Deadpool 2 which is out now.
The Top 25 Marvel Comics Villains
What's a hero without a great villain? Whether they're out for revenge, money, or world domination, Marvel Comics is full of them. But who is the baddest of the bad?
Check out our list of the top 25 Marvel villains -- watch the video above for the full list -- and then let us know your favorites in the comments!
M.O.D.O.K.’s mission statement is clear. It’s right there in his name - Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. This oversized villain was bioengineered by the scientists of A.I.M. to be the ultimate super-smart, tyrannical leader. And while his appearance may be comical, M.O.D.O.K. is certainly good at killing things.
M.O.D.O.K. is a multi-purpose villain in the Marvel Universe. He’s an enemy to many heroes, especially the Avengers and Fantastic Four. His master plans can be fiendishly brilliant or laughably silly, and sometimes both at once. There are even multiple versions of MODOK floating around the Marvel multiverse, including M.O.D.A.M. (Mental Organism Designed for Aggressive Maneuvers) and M.O.D.O.G. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Genocide).
Deadpool 2 Has Record-Breaking Preview Night
Deadpool 2 is already off to a roaring start at the box office, earning an estimated $18.6 million in Thursday-night preview screenings, which is a new record for R-rated movies.
According to THR, Deadpool 2 is already poised to make around $350 million at the worldwide box office this weekend.
The previous record holder was last year's highly popular horror film, It, with $13.5 million, which went on to gross over $700 million worldwide. Before that, it was the original Deadpool back in 2016, with a preview-night total of $12.7 million.
Devolver Digital Will Have ‘Big Fancy Press Conference’ for E3 2018
Devolver Digital will be hosting a "big fancy press conference" for E3 2018.
The press conference will be held on June 10 at 8pm PT/11pm ET/June 11 at 4am UK/1pm AEST live via Twitch.
Devolver Digital promises this year's conference will feature "actual game reveals" but has warned viewers to also expect "blood" and "possibly loss of life." The publisher held its first-ever E3 conference last year and you can view it again below:
E3 2018 will take place from June 12-14.You can find out when all of this year's E3 conferences and livestreams are scheduled for right here.
Don’t Expect Andy Serkis as Gollum in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series
It sounds like Andy Serkis won't reprise his role as Gollum for Amazon's The Lord of the Rings series.
In an interview with CinemaBlend, Serkis revealed he's not interested in playing the character again for the show, which is said to be set before the original trilogy.
"Oh boy, listen, I mean ... I don't think so," Serkis said, when asked if he'll return as Gollum. "And if I was anyone making those, they're obviously going to want to start fresh and create something brand new. And that's how it should be."
Serkis elaborated further, saying the creative team behind the series should want to go in a new direction with a new story and characters.
NBA Playgrounds 2 Delayed
NBA Playgrounds 2 won't release on May 22 as originally planned.
Saber Interactive announced the delay on the official NBA Playgrounds Facebook account. The developer said the sequel was pushed back because "there are exciting things brewing with the NBA Playgrounds franchise that we think will take arcade basketball to new levels."
However, details are sparse on exactly what those things are. "Please be patient with us, we promise that NBA Playgrounds 2 will be better than ever. We’ll have more details to share soon," Saber added in the statement.
Every TV Show Canceled So Far This Year
We're keeping a running tally on all of the TV shows canceled in 2018 so far. Since we first made our list back in May, thirty-seven more shows have been put on the chopping block.
Some of these cancelations were due to low ratings, while others, like ABC's popular Roseanne revival, were axed because of off-screen controversies. In recent news, Netflix canceled Marvel's Daredevil after three seasons, painting a dark picture for the future of the Marvel/Netflix universe.
How Paul Bettany Landed His Solo: A Star Wars Story Role
Paul Bettany landed his role in Solo: A Star Wars Story by sending a hilarious text message to director Ron Howard.
“Have you ever spent long winter evenings wondering why you’re not in the Star Wars franchise? I have,” Bettany wrote to Howard, as revealed on The Tonight Show (via EW). The director replied, “LOL I’ll get back to you.”
Howard did eventually get back to him, and the actor was on set a few weeks later. Bettany said if he hadn't sent the text, he would've never nabbed the role of crime boss Dryden Vos.
The Division 2 Will Launch Within a Year
The Division 2 will arrive before April 2019.
Ubisoft revealed the time frame for the sequel in the company's 2017-18 earnings report. The Division 2 was announced in March, though details were sparse at the time. E3 next month is set to be the game's big unveiling.
Now The Division 2, along with The Crew 2, won't be the only big games for the company within the next 12 months. Ubisoft also mentions "an unannounced franchise title" will come out before April.