Monthly Archives: August 2020
DC FanDome Split Into 2 Events After Fan Feedback
DC FanDome has been split into two separate events following fan feedback about panel clashes. The first, DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes will still take place this Saturday, August 22, with the second, DC FanDome: Explore the Multiverse, coming on September 12.
The Hall of Heroes line-up will include much of the big-name content scheduled for the original Saturday event, including the two new DC games. The organisers promise "special programming, panels and exclusive reveals from a wide variety of films, TV series, games, comics and more."
The Hall of Heroes content will be screened 3 times over the course of 24 hours on Saturday, and will only be viewable live on the DC FanDome platform, an "epic world designed personally by Jim Lee". That 24 hour time period will still begin on Saturday at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK (that's Sunday at 3am AEST). You can check out a new trailer for Hall of Heroes below:
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Explore the Multiverse will take a different tack. For 24 hours from September 12, viewers will be able to create their own schedule out of a "menu" of programming, watching as many panels and showcases as they like within that time, in whatever order they choose. You can view that menu on the DC FanDome site now.
The reason for the change comes down to scheduling - after the initial DC FanDome schedule was released, many fans responded about having to watch panels at set times, with clashes across the event's multiple digital stages. This switch now allows for a single Hall of Heroes line-up with most of the expected major announcements in sequence, and a more customisable experience later down the line.
"We heard the fans", reads a press release. "DC FanDome, a first-of-its kind, virtual experience for DC superfans around the world, was a lot to handle in one day! It turned out to be so massive that with so many hours of programming, not even The Flash could get through it in 24 hours!"
We'll still be reporting all the news from Hall of Heroes this weekend - here's how to watch DC FanDome along with us.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Vampire: Bloodlines 2 Unexpectedly Drops Narrative Lead and Creative Director
Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines 2 has seen its narrative lead and creative director unexpectedly dropped from the project, with the former saying he is "incredibly disappointed" after being "suddenly terminated" from the game's development team.
Paradox Interactive announced that lead narrative designer Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney "are no longer part of the team", adding that this was a joint decision between developer Hardsuit Labs and the publisher.
Paradox thanked Mitsoda and Cluney for their work, but offered no specific explanation for their termination. "These changes to the team are focused on one thing: to bring you the best possible Vampire: The Masquerade game", reads a statement.
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In a statement to Rock Paper Shotgun, Mitsoda - who headed up writing for the original Bloodlines game and has fronted much of the sequel's PR - clarified that he had been unexpectedly fired, saying "That this came as a shock to me is underselling it."
"The pride in the work, the fan expectations, and the support from co-workers who started out as fans kept me going through this long five years. And I’m incredibly disappointed and frustrated to say that this is where it ends for me on the project," Mitsoda added.
Bloodlines 2 recently received a major delay, pushing the game back to 2021. Mitsoda explained that he believes his work on the narrative side of the game had not contributed to that delay:
"I was not part of the conversations that led to the decision to delay production, and to my knowledge, there were no delays caused by the Bloodlines 2 narrative development. I am confident and proud of the work that I and my team put forward. When that work will be seen and what form it will take is unknown to me."
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Paradox added that Alexandre Mandryka (Assassin's Creed, Wahammer 40,000: Space Marine) had been brought on to fill the creative director role.
IGN has contacted Hardsuit and Paradox for comment.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 Demo Datamine Seems to Reveal a Second Secret Character
After a celebrity cameo was spotted, dataminers seem to have found a second secret character in the Tony Hawk demo files.
Halo Infinite Development Reportedly Hindered By Outsourcing, Halo TV Show a ‘Distraction’
A report has surfaced suggesting Halo Infinite's development and recent delay have been affected by outsourcing, with the upcoming Halo TV show also apparently a "significant distraction."
An investigative report into the "turbulent" development cycle of Halo Infinite from Thurrott alleges that a number of factors have contributed to the game's troubled development and eventual delay from Xbox Series X console launch into 2021.
One major factor in Infinite's delay supposedly stems from the fact that "a significant portion of the game is being outsourced to third-party contractors." This is standard practice in the games industry, especially in AAA, but in Infinite's case, the report suggests that the level of outsourcing has been unusually high, with "the coordination between the many different companies contributing to Infinite has been rough, at best."
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Thurrott's source claims that the outsourcing "was at a ratio higher than a typical studio undertakes during development," which has led to communication and collaboration headaches for 343 Industries. Apparently, the E3 2019 trailer for Halo Infinite was outsourced while the game was not in a playable state, which "over-sold expectations for Infinite's later demos." The report suggests that the marketing and engineering teams behind Halo Infinite "have been on two different planets," which has also led to issues in messaging the game.
The Thurrott report also dwells on the departure of high-profile creatives such as Tim Longo and Mary Olsen as a reason for the turmoil - both were creative directors who left 343 Industries in 2019. The recent rumour that the game was going to ship with multiplayer and campaign as separate entities is also corroborated, with the report suggesting that this came under consideration as a means to "meet the Holiday 2020 deadline."
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As well as the issues with outsourcing, one source told Thurrott that the long-gestating Halo TV series has "been a significant distraction for 343 management." According to the unnamed source, the show has been "taking their priority instead of focusing on making sure development progress is on the right path to reaching its targeted deadline."
For more on Halo Infinite, check out this episode of Next-Gen Console Watch 2020 where the team dig into the Halo Infinite delay, wondering how the Xbox Series X can compete without its flagship launch exclusive.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
Unaired Avatar: The Last Airbender Pilot Episode Released for Free
Nickelodeon has made the original, unaired pilot for Avatar: The Last Airbender available for all to watch.
Nerdist reports that the network released the pilot as part of a Twitch stream on Avatar's origins, titled Avatar: Creating the Legend. The low-budget episode, which debuts in the stream at around the 43-minute mark, was originally used to pitch the animated series to Nickelodeon executives, though it never actually aired on television.
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Instead, Avatar's pilot episode was made available for purchase on iTunes and some DVD sets but for many, this is the first opportunity to watch the early sample footage. The highly sought-after episode opens with Kya (whose name was changed to Katara when the season began production) explaining the war between the nations.
After the initial introduction, the episode introduces Aang, Kaya, and Sokka, who are in the middle of their adventures, as opposed to the team coming together after discovering Aang stuck in an iceberg in the hour-long premiere that aired in 2005. Momo also shows up in the episode despite not appearing in the broadcast series until the third episode.
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The original animated adventure series concluded with a widely lauded two-hour television movie in 2008, which we regard to be one of the best series finales of all time. Netflix dropped all three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender to its library in May, while The Legend of Korra arrived on the platform for US subscribers in August.
Netflix also has a live-action adaptation of ATLA in the works, however, original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko exited the project in June, later citing creative differences as the reason for their departure. Executive producer Dan Lin and his production company Rideback remain attached to the series, along with Nickelodeon.
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
FIFA 21 Won’t Feature Cross-Play, Even Across Console Generations
EA Sports has confirmed that FIFA 21 will not feature online cross-play, even across console generations in the same platofrm family.
The FIFA Direct Communication Twitter account announced the news in response to a question from the FUT Weekly Podcast about whether those who own the game on PS4 could play FIFA 21 online with friends on PS5.
"You won't be able to play across console generation or cross-play in FIFA 21," the tweet reads. "However, you will be able to carry over your FUT progression from PS4 to PS5 and Xbox 1 to Xbox Series X." This means that current-generation FIFA 21 players will not be able to play with their friends who purchase the game on next-gen consoles, even though the game supports Dual Entitlement - current-gen players will be able to upgrade to the next-gen version of FIFA 21 for free. Regardless, the next-gen version of the game will also not support cross-play, so Xbox Series X players will only be able to play with other users on the same platform, rather than the entire community across PS5 and PC. The saving grace is that if you do decide to upgrade, you'll be able to carry over your Fifa Ultimate Team, as long as you stick with the same console maker. In other FIFA 21 news, check out the changes coming to the game's career mode. EA has also announced a series of changes coming to FIFA 21 to combat trolling in online multiplayer matches. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.You won't be able to play across console generations or cross-play in #FIFA21.
However, you will be able to carry over your FUT progression from PS4 to PS5 and Xbox 1 to Xbox Series X. https://t.co/mUqU3zcAud — FIFA Direct Communication (@EAFIFADirect) August 10, 2020
Sega to ‘Aggressively’ Port Games to Steam After Persona 4: Golden Success
Sega intends to "aggressively" port games to Steam and other new platforms following the success of Persona 4 Golden's PC port, which launched in June of this year.
As reported by GamesIndustry.Biz, Sega's latest investor Q&A underlined the sales performance of Persona 4 Golden on Steam, which was "significantly higher than expected." The company has said that this will help govern its approach towards porting its older games onto new platforms.
"Going forward, we intend to aggressively promote the porting of previously launched titles to Steam and other new platforms," Sega explained. "Under such direction, we would like to take multi-platform rollout in account and prepare the PC version and others from the start."
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This suggests that Sega is open to porting more of its games to new platforms such as PC to capitalise on the success of "repeat sales," where players buy updated ports or remakes of classic titles.
Given the mention of preparing the PC version "from the start," it looks like Sega's future games will also keep the potential of the platform in mind during development. We've already seen games from the Yakuza series, Bayonetta and Vanquish spread to other platforms, but SEGA has plenty of other titles in the tank ready to be brought into the (Jet Set Radio) Future.
You can check out our 2008 review of Persona 4 here, in which we scored the game a 9 and called it "a significant improvement over the previous Persona games." If you're just digging into the PC port, check out our guide to making the best boxed lunches so you can boost your social links.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
A Total War Saga: Troy Review – My Kingdom For A Centaur
The Aegean Sea is a raging inferno. You may have heard tales of a great war between the ancient Greeks and the Trojans, a feud kindled by divine intervention, stoked by love and betrayal, and finally extinguished in an epic siege. In the newest Total War Saga, the Paris-Helen-Menalaus love triangle is the spark that doesn't just ignite the Trojan War of legend--it turns the entire eastern Mediterranean into a tinderbox.
As a more focused, more specific take on Total War, Troy has an epic tale to tell. But to the benefit of the series' strategic legacy, Homer's writings set the scene rather than deliver a script, leaving plenty of room for those of us who haven't memorised The Iliad to enjoy crashing one enormous army into another and watching the world burn.
At first, Troy seems a bit small. There's just the one map upon which the campaign is played. But that map is absolutely massive, taking in all of mainland Greece, a hefty slab of the western coast of modern-day Turkey and dozens of islands in between. The diverse geography provides a healthy mix of terrain types across the map, which in turn present different strategic challenges: The densely forested mainland is ideal for ambushes and funnelling armies through its mountainous corridors while the islands in the Aegean may be more exposed but any invading force is likely to have suffered attritional losses making the treacherous journey by sea.
Continue Reading at GameSpotA Total War Saga: Troy Review – Kings Of The Bronze Age
The Aegean Sea is a raging inferno. You may have heard tales of a great war between the ancient Greeks and the Trojans, a feud kindled by divine intervention, stoked by love and betrayal, and finally extinguished in an epic siege. In the newest Total War Saga, the Paris-Helen-Menalaus love triangle is the spark that doesn't just ignite the Trojan War of legend--it turns the entire eastern Mediterranean into a tinderbox.
As a more focused, more specific take on Total War, Troy has an epic tale to tell. But to the benefit of the series' strategic legacy, Homer's writings set the scene rather than deliver a script, leaving plenty of room for those of us who haven't memorised The Iliad to enjoy crashing one enormous army into another and watching the world burn.
At first, Troy seems a bit small. There's just the one map upon which the campaign is played. But that map is absolutely massive, taking in all of mainland Greece, a hefty slab of the western coast of modern-day Turkey and dozens of islands in between. The diverse geography provides a healthy mix of terrain types across the map, which in turn present different strategic challenges: The densely forested mainland is ideal for ambushes and funnelling armies through its mountainous corridors while the islands in the Aegean may be more exposed but any invading force is likely to have suffered attritional losses making the treacherous journey by sea.
Continue Reading at GameSpotTenet Tickets Available for Pre-Sale This Week
Tickets for Christopher Nolan's Tenet go on sale this Friday.
Warner Bros. sent exhibitors details about Tenet's theater rollout starting with advance ticket sales for sneak preview showings, according to Indiewire.
Tickets for those showings will go on sale Aug. 21, with showings set to begin Aug. 31. Tickets for standard showings of Tenet will be available for purchase starting Aug. 27 for when the movie hits U.S. theaters on Sept. 3.
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According to the contract sent to exhibitors, theaters can hold one showing per night per screen anytime after 5 p.m. unless the theater has premium format viewing like IMAX available. Those screens may show the movie twice.
Theaters that do show the film must not only abide by local ordinances regarding health safety, but also the National Association of Theater Owners safety standards, which are currently in a draft stage.
"These special terms are being offered to its exhibitor customers specifically for Tenet to address the special circumstances in the market...including high commercial risk from uncertain consumer demands, reopening rules, health and safety regulations, and socially distancing capacity issues," the contract reads.
"Exhibitor specifically represents and warrants to Warner that it shall comply at all times with all applicable laws and regulations at its theater(s), including without limitation, all laws, orders and standards relating public health and safety, such as rules and protective measures against the contraction and spread of COVID-19 or other illnesses and applicable voluntary health and safety measures and protocols regarding these matters as may be promulgated by the exhibition industry, such as NATO's published health and safety protocols."
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As the first of the big Hollywood studios to release a major title theatrically since the pandemic hit, Warner Bros. is reportedly asking for Warner Bros. is asking for a steep 63 percent "for all weeks of the engagement. That is at the high end, and its inclusion is significant because it varies from some deals in which top chains have preset expectations for how much they will pay based on total domestic gross."
Tenet is set to open in over 70 international territories starting Aug. 26, with the film opening in limited release in the US on Sept. 3.
While waiting for the movie, read about how Tenet has less CGI than most rom-coms, according to director Christopher Nolan. Also be sure to check out the movie's latest poster.
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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.