Netflix has launched a Cursed Virtual Experience that invites users to discover more about the Arthurian legend series, created by comic book icon Frank Miller and writer Thomas Wheeler, which is available to stream as of today. The online hub at DiscoverCursed.com offers an interactive and immersive experience for fans to virtually enter the rich world of Cursed from the comfort of their own homes, without having to download any apps to devices. [caption id="attachment_2380518" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image credit: Netflix[/caption]

Augmented Reality Challenge

An augmented reality challenge can be accessed when visiting the website on a mobile device or by scanning the QR code on the homepage. From there, fans are presented with a quest of three challenges to follow the path of magic and discover their power. Users have the ability to channel their inner Nimue and conjure up roots or step into Merlin's shoes and strike lightning from their fingertips to ultimately receive the sword of power. At the end, participants can share their challenge experience by taking photos and downloading videos of themselves trying the effects and filters.

Virtual Panel With the Cast

The website menu invites visitors to join "a conversation with the cast" hosted by co-creator and showrunner Thomas Wheeler, who is joined on the virtual panel by Katherine Langford, who plays the magical Nimue in the fantasy series, as well as Gustaf Skarsgård, who portrays the ageless and enigmatic Merlin the magician, Devon Terrell, who stars as the young mercenary Arthur, and Daniel Sharman, who plays the mysterious Weeping Monk. Over the course of the discussion, the cast reveals behind-the-scenes secrets, mysteries and fun facts about the making of the show.

Exclusive Content

From the menu, users can also discover more about the story and how it links to the classic Arthurian legend by clicking to learn more about the series, as well as its characters, who are showcased in a carousel of profiles on the site. There is also a library of videos featuring exclusive content from the cast and crew, including a tutorial from Frank Miller on sketching Nimue, a featurette about the process of adapting and crafting the series, and a Q&A with Miller who answers fans' burning questions and offers fans a peek into the world fo the Netflix original series. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/13/netflixs-cursed-inside-the-world-of-frank-millers-new-fantasy-series"] Netflix describes its newly-launched fantasy series as a coming-of-age story whose "themes are familiar to our own time: the obliteration of the natural world, religious terror, senseless war, and finding the courage to lead in the face of the impossible." Season 1 of Cursed is available to stream on Netflix worldwide from today (July 17). Check out the first images from the show in the photo gallery below, and learn more about the literary adaptation in our exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the new series. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cursed-season-1-gallery&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Netflix has launched a Cursed Virtual Experience that invites users to discover more about the Arthurian legend series, created by comic book icon Frank Miller and writer Thomas Wheeler, which is available to stream as of today. The online hub at DiscoverCursed.com offers an interactive and immersive experience for fans to virtually enter the rich world of Cursed from the comfort of their own homes, without having to download any apps to devices. [caption id="attachment_2380518" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image credit: Netflix[/caption]

Augmented Reality Challenge

An augmented reality challenge can be accessed when visiting the website on a mobile device or by scanning the QR code on the homepage. From there, fans are presented with a quest of three challenges to follow the path of magic and discover their power. Users have the ability to channel their inner Nimue and conjure up roots or step into Merlin's shoes and strike lightning from their fingertips to ultimately receive the sword of power. At the end, participants can share their challenge experience by taking photos and downloading videos of themselves trying the effects and filters.

Virtual Panel With the Cast

The website menu invites visitors to join "a conversation with the cast" hosted by co-creator and showrunner Thomas Wheeler, who is joined on the virtual panel by Katherine Langford, who plays the magical Nimue in the fantasy series, as well as Gustaf Skarsgård, who portrays the ageless and enigmatic Merlin the magician, Devon Terrell, who stars as the young mercenary Arthur, and Daniel Sharman, who plays the mysterious Weeping Monk. Over the course of the discussion, the cast reveals behind-the-scenes secrets, mysteries and fun facts about the making of the show.

Exclusive Content

From the menu, users can also discover more about the story and how it links to the classic Arthurian legend by clicking to learn more about the series, as well as its characters, who are showcased in a carousel of profiles on the site. There is also a library of videos featuring exclusive content from the cast and crew, including a tutorial from Frank Miller on sketching Nimue, a featurette about the process of adapting and crafting the series, and a Q&A with Miller who answers fans' burning questions and offers fans a peek into the world fo the Netflix original series. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/13/netflixs-cursed-inside-the-world-of-frank-millers-new-fantasy-series"] Netflix describes its newly-launched fantasy series as a coming-of-age story whose "themes are familiar to our own time: the obliteration of the natural world, religious terror, senseless war, and finding the courage to lead in the face of the impossible." Season 1 of Cursed is available to stream on Netflix worldwide from today (July 17). Check out the first images from the show in the photo gallery below, and learn more about the literary adaptation in our exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the new series. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cursed-season-1-gallery&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

The developers behind Ghost of Tsushima had to lengthen some of the game's loading screens as Sucker Punch found that they were so fast, players couldn't read the tips. In an interview with Kotaku, Sucker Punch lead engine programmer Adrian Bentley noted that the team had to "artificially extend downtime" when the player died so that the loading screen tips could appear for "more than a fraction of a second.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/14/ghost-of-tsushima-gameplay-exploring-tsushima"] According to Bentley, this is down to Sucker Punch's engine loading strategy, which requires "as few disk reads as possible." "When you die, we only need [to] re-run this quick ‘spawn’ process with most of the data already loaded. In contrast, many other engines use serialization-based approaches, which require reloading a substantial amount of data to run again,” Bentley told Kotaku. Having played the game myself, the window between even longer loading screens felt ridiculously small, even when jumping from one end of the map to the other. Kudos to Sucker Punch for the coding tech, but it's still quite funny that the studio has had to make loading screens take longer so that players can actually read the flavour and tip text in the interim. It begs the question as to what loading screens will look like in the next-generation, as the PS5 and Xbox One adopt high-speed solid-state drive technology. We reviewed Ghost of Tsushima earlier this week, awarding it a 9/10 and calling it an excellent action game. If you're just hopping in, here's 40 essential tips and tricks for combat and exploration. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

The developers behind Ghost of Tsushima had to lengthen some of the game's loading screens as Sucker Punch found that they were so fast, players couldn't read the tips. In an interview with Kotaku, Sucker Punch lead engine programmer Adrian Bentley noted that the team had to "artificially extend downtime" when the player died so that the loading screen tips could appear for "more than a fraction of a second.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/14/ghost-of-tsushima-gameplay-exploring-tsushima"] According to Bentley, this is down to Sucker Punch's engine loading strategy, which requires "as few disk reads as possible." "When you die, we only need [to] re-run this quick ‘spawn’ process with most of the data already loaded. In contrast, many other engines use serialization-based approaches, which require reloading a substantial amount of data to run again,” Bentley told Kotaku. Having played the game myself, the window between even longer loading screens felt ridiculously small, even when jumping from one end of the map to the other. Kudos to Sucker Punch for the coding tech, but it's still quite funny that the studio has had to make loading screens take longer so that players can actually read the flavour and tip text in the interim. It begs the question as to what loading screens will look like in the next-generation, as the PS5 and Xbox One adopt high-speed solid-state drive technology. We reviewed Ghost of Tsushima earlier this week, awarding it a 9/10 and calling it an excellent action game. If you're just hopping in, here's 40 essential tips and tricks for combat and exploration. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Twitch has blocked the U.S. Army from running controller giveaways after they were allegedly found to redirect viewers to a military recruitment page. A report from The Nation dug into how the US Military is using online gaming to recruit teens. The Nation found that viewers watching the Army's channel were being presented with chat prompts to "win an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller." But when clicking the link to enter the giveaway, users were supposedly met with "a recruiting form with no additional mention of a contest, odds, total number of winners, or when a drawing will occur." When reached for comment by The Nation, the US Army declined to answer. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/16/dr-disrespect-speaks-out-on-his-twitch-ban"] A Twitch spokesperson issued a statement to Kotaku, announcing that the promotion had been removed. "Per our Terms of Service, promotions on Twitch must comply with all applicable laws. This promotion did not comply with our Terms, and we have required them to remove it,” the statement reads. Last week, the same account came under fire after it was found to be banning users who asked about war crimes in the stream chat. The US Army issued a statement in response justifying its approach, noting that "the user's question was an attempt to shift the conversation to imply that Soldiers commit war crimes based on an optional weapon in a game, and we felt that violated Twitch's harassment policy." Twitch has hit the news regularly recently, with banned streamer Dr. Disrespect saying he still doesn't know why he was kicked from the platform, and Donald Trump's channel serving a two-week suspension for broadcasting hateful content. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Twitch has blocked the U.S. Army from running controller giveaways after they were allegedly found to redirect viewers to a military recruitment page. A report from The Nation dug into how the US Military is using online gaming to recruit teens. The Nation found that viewers watching the Army's channel were being presented with chat prompts to "win an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller." But when clicking the link to enter the giveaway, users were supposedly met with "a recruiting form with no additional mention of a contest, odds, total number of winners, or when a drawing will occur." When reached for comment by The Nation, the US Army declined to answer. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/16/dr-disrespect-speaks-out-on-his-twitch-ban"] A Twitch spokesperson issued a statement to Kotaku, announcing that the promotion had been removed. "Per our Terms of Service, promotions on Twitch must comply with all applicable laws. This promotion did not comply with our Terms, and we have required them to remove it,” the statement reads. Last week, the same account came under fire after it was found to be banning users who asked about war crimes in the stream chat. The US Army issued a statement in response justifying its approach, noting that "the user's question was an attempt to shift the conversation to imply that Soldiers commit war crimes based on an optional weapon in a game, and we felt that violated Twitch's harassment policy." Twitch has hit the news regularly recently, with banned streamer Dr. Disrespect saying he still doesn't know why he was kicked from the platform, and Donald Trump's channel serving a two-week suspension for broadcasting hateful content. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

The developers of Paper Mario have revealed that they are no longer allowed to make characters "that touch on the Mario universe," or modify existing Mario characters. In an interview with VGC, Nintendo veteran Kensuke Tanabe was asked about the process behind designing new villains for a franchise full of iconic antagonists like Bowser and Kamek. In response, Tanabe noted that "since Paper Mario: Sticker Star, it's no longer possible to modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario Universe." This means that the team behind Paper Mario: Origami King had to come up with new characters from outside of the existing Mario Universe for the game, as they couldn't riff off of established Mushroom Kingdom villains. New characters seemingly can't even resemble Mario characters: "We need to create original characters with designs that don’t involve the Mario universe at all, like we’ve done with Olly and the stationery bosses." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/paper-mario-the-origami-king-a-closer-look-trailer"] This resulted in the game's main villain King Olly and his younger sister Olivia, who serves as a helpful sidekick during Mario's journey. It seems like other developers dealing with the Mario property will have had to follow similar rules, as Nintendo wants to retain the current cast of Mario characters as-is for the foreseeable future. "Whether a character becomes an all-time hit or not isn’t up to us on the development side; I think it’s more the case that characters that fans truly accept naturally end up that way," Tanabe added, suggesting that fan demand will decide whether we see Origami King's new characters in another game. "I hope that the origami siblings in Paper Mario: The Origami King will stay in players’ memories, even if they do only end up appearing in this title." We reviewed Paper Mario: Origami King, giving the game a 7/10 and praising it for its personality and visual design. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

The developers of Paper Mario have revealed that they are no longer allowed to make characters "that touch on the Mario universe," or modify existing Mario characters. In an interview with VGC, Nintendo veteran Kensuke Tanabe was asked about the process behind designing new villains for a franchise full of iconic antagonists like Bowser and Kamek. In response, Tanabe noted that "since Paper Mario: Sticker Star, it's no longer possible to modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario Universe." This means that the team behind Paper Mario: Origami King had to come up with new characters from outside of the existing Mario Universe for the game, as they couldn't riff off of established Mushroom Kingdom villains. New characters seemingly can't even resemble Mario characters: "We need to create original characters with designs that don’t involve the Mario universe at all, like we’ve done with Olly and the stationery bosses." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/paper-mario-the-origami-king-a-closer-look-trailer"] This resulted in the game's main villain King Olly and his younger sister Olivia, who serves as a helpful sidekick during Mario's journey. It seems like other developers dealing with the Mario property will have had to follow similar rules, as Nintendo wants to retain the current cast of Mario characters as-is for the foreseeable future. "Whether a character becomes an all-time hit or not isn’t up to us on the development side; I think it’s more the case that characters that fans truly accept naturally end up that way," Tanabe added, suggesting that fan demand will decide whether we see Origami King's new characters in another game. "I hope that the origami siblings in Paper Mario: The Origami King will stay in players’ memories, even if they do only end up appearing in this title." We reviewed Paper Mario: Origami King, giving the game a 7/10 and praising it for its personality and visual design. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Disney appears to have quietly confirmed The Falcon and the Winter Soldier won’t be arriving in August as initially discussed; the series is absent from the newly-unveiled Disney+ August release schedule. The August release was originally revealed in a February earnings call. The news is far from surprising considering production on the six-part series ground to a halt back in March when its short Prague-based shoot was shut down during the early phase of the COVID-19 crisis. The bulk of the series was reportedly shot in Atlanta, prior to this unplanned pause. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/03/marvel-studios-disney-plus-big-game-spot] The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is a spinoff series focusing on Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson – who was personally handed Captain America’s shield by Steve Rogers at the end of Avengers: Endgame – and Sebastian Stan’s deprogrammed assassin “Bucky” Barnes (a.k.a. The Winter Soldier). Returning characters include Daniel Bruhl’s villainous Zemo from Captain America: Civil War, and Emily Van Camp’s Sharon Carter. The series will also introduce Wyatt Russell as John Walker – a.k.a. U.S. Agent. Click here for a quick rundown of how Sam Wilson became Captain America in the comics, which seems to be where this series is headed given how Avengers: Endgame concluded. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=from-iron-man-to-endgame-how-the-avengers-salaries-changed&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.

Disney appears to have quietly confirmed The Falcon and the Winter Soldier won’t be arriving in August as initially discussed; the series is absent from the newly-unveiled Disney+ August release schedule. The August release was originally revealed in a February earnings call. The news is far from surprising considering production on the six-part series ground to a halt back in March when its short Prague-based shoot was shut down during the early phase of the COVID-19 crisis. The bulk of the series was reportedly shot in Atlanta, prior to this unplanned pause. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/03/marvel-studios-disney-plus-big-game-spot] The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is a spinoff series focusing on Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson – who was personally handed Captain America’s shield by Steve Rogers at the end of Avengers: Endgame – and Sebastian Stan’s deprogrammed assassin “Bucky” Barnes (a.k.a. The Winter Soldier). Returning characters include Daniel Bruhl’s villainous Zemo from Captain America: Civil War, and Emily Van Camp’s Sharon Carter. The series will also introduce Wyatt Russell as John Walker – a.k.a. U.S. Agent. Click here for a quick rundown of how Sam Wilson became Captain America in the comics, which seems to be where this series is headed given how Avengers: Endgame concluded. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=from-iron-man-to-endgame-how-the-avengers-salaries-changed&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.