Monthly Archives: October 2018

Taika Waititi, Bryce Dallas Howard Among Directors for Star Wars TV Series

Directors for Jon Favreau's live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, have been announced.

Dave Filoni from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels will be directing the first episode.

Taika Waititi, well known for Thor: Ragnarok, will be picking up another episode. Other directors include Bryce Dallas Howard, who is particularly known for her acting role in the Jurassic World films, while also previously directing short films – most recently Solemates in 2015.

Jessica Jones' director Deborah Chow will also have an episode, as will Dope's Rick Famuyiwa.

Jon Favreau will be executive producing along with Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson, with Karen Gilchrist serving as a co-executive producer.

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A Brief Look at Past Nintendo Hardware Upgrades

A recent report from The Wall Street Journal Japan suggests that a hardware revision for the Nintendo Switch could be coming in the second half of 2019. Though the article’s sources said upgrades to the handheld/console hybrid would likely include an improved screen, not much else is known about this potential revision.

In order to get a good idea of where Nintendo might go with a “New” Nintendo Switch, check out many of the past hardware revisions Nintendo has gone through.

Some of them remain well-regarded and some of them are simply ridiculous. Take a look at the slideshow below for 20 notable Nintendo console and handheld upgrades and see for yourself!

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97 Photos of the Coolest Toys and Collectibles at NYCC 2018

New York Comic Con is just getting started, and already some of the biggest names in collectibles are showing off their awesome upcoming slates.

IGN's team on the ground got up close looks at the newest statues, toys and collectibles from DC, Kotobukiya and Diamond Select Toys and snapped photos of our favorites. Click through the below gallery for the latest DC, Marvel and even John Wick figures:

But there's plenty more cool New York Comic Con coverage coming your way. Along with the coolest collectibles, we also have a snapshot of the best cosplay from the show.

For more cool collectibles, check out this lifesize Venom bust:

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Star Wars: First Photo from The Mandalorian Revealed

The first image from Jon Favreau's live-action Star Wars series has been revealed.

Favreau announced Wednesday details of the series, saying it will focus on Mandalorians and will take place after the stories of Jango and Boba Fett. It will focus on a "lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy."

the-mandalorian

Star Wars revealed more details about The Mandalorian, including that it is specifically set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order.

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What We Want From A Nintendo Switch Redesign

Last night, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nintendo may have a new version of Switch in the works for the second half of 2019. With millions of Nintendo Switch units already in the wild and the system regularly topping sales charts around the world, Nintendo doesn’t exactly need to get a system redesign out the door right away, but that won’t stop us from speculating what we’d love to see from it.

Nintendo is obviously no stranger to hardware redesigns on its handheld side. From the GameBoy Pocket to the Nintendo 2DS XL (itself a redesign of a redesign), the company has a long, weird history of selling slightly altered versions of their flagship portables to re-energize sales and reach broader audiences. But Nintendo Switch isn’t just a handheld gaming system, it’s also a hybrid home console, and Nintendo’s history of redesigning their console line is much slimmer – no pun intended.

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Nintendo May Be Working on a Playable Game Boy Phone Case

If a recent patent has any say on the future, Nintendo may be working on a playable Game Boy phone case that would work in tandem with your touchscreen smartphone.

Filed on March 16, 2018, this patent describes a phone cover that would enclose a smartphone and, via Silconera, "one of the key features of this Game Boy casing is the ability for inputs on the buttons on the casing to be sensed by the touchscreen beneath the buttons."

The familiar set of buttons would "use a conductive sheet within the cover that enables the touchscreen to sense the input when the nub on the bottom side touches the touchscreen, in the same way human fingers are sensed."

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EA ‘Closely Monitoring’ Sexual Assault Accusations Against FIFA Cover Star

After a report was published last week by German publication Spiegel Online detailing an alleged sexual assault by the cover star of FIFA '19, Cristiano Ronaldo, Electronic Arts said they are "closely monitoring" the situation, according to Polygon.

An EA Sports representative sent the following statement to Polygon.

"We have seen the concerning report that details allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo. We are closely monitoring the situation, as we expect cover athletes and ambassadors to conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with EA’s values."

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DC Universe Reveals Premiere Date Plan for Young Justice, Doom Patrol

At the first ever DC Universe panel, hosted at New York Comic Con 2018, Geoff Johns offered some new insights into the subscription service's upcoming offerings - including a new comic book prequel for Young Justice which will debut exclusively on the platform.

The one-shot prequel comic will "accompany the exclusive original animated series in 2019 and will be created by producer Greg Weisman and artist Christopher Jones," according to DC. Other new comics coming to DC Universe in October include New Teen Titans (#13 - #20) from 10/2 – 10/15, and New Teen Titans (#21 - #41) from 10/16 – 10/29; Batman: The Long Halloween from 10/23 – 11/5; and Batman: Dark Victory from 10/30 – 11/12.

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X-Men, Titans, Infinity Reys and More Awesome Cosplay at NYCC 2018

New York Comic Con 2018 has officially kicked off at the Javits Center in New York City, and with it brings plenty of fans showing up in awesome cosplay to showcase their favorite pop culture characters.

From Silent Hill to Joker to Venom and everything in between -- yes, you better believe there's a whole lot of Star Wars in there too -- check out some of the best cosplay IGN's team on the ground spotted at NYCC:

There's plenty of cool content coming out of NYCC, especially in the collectibles realm. Check out Sideshow Collectibles' Movie Premium Format Aquaman figure. Warner Bros. also displayed our first look at Black Manta's Aquaman costume on the floor of NYCC.

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Best Tablet for Kids 2019: Educational and Kid-Friendly Tablets

When I was young, all I had was a green-and-black-screened Game Boy. Kids today are different: they want a full-fledged tablet that can play games, watch videos, and read comic books. But that’s okay, because there are quite a few solid, affordable tablets designed just for kids.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to wade through all the garbage that's out there. There are a lot of companies selling old, underpowered, or overly locked-down devices that just won’t cut it, so you have to be careful when shopping for your little one.

In most cases, it’s best to stick with the big names: the same brands you’d buy from if you were looking for a regular tablet. In fact, you could just buy them a normal Android tablet and use its built-in parental controls. But for this list, I'm going to look at mostly kid-focused tablets and a few full-featured slates for those that are a little more grown-up. Here are the best tablets for kids.

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