Monthly Archives: November 2020

PlayStation Plus Games for December 2020 Announced

Sony has revealed that the PlayStation Plus games for December 2020 are Worms Rumble, Just Cause 4, and Rocket Arena. Announced by PlayStation.Blog, all of these games will be part of PlayStation Plus from December 1 through January 4, and are playable on both PS4 and PS5. Worms Rumble is the latest entry in the long running series that offers "intense, real-time, arena-based 32 player cross-platform combat." Featuring both Deathmatch and Battle Royale game modes, seasonal events, daily challenges, and community collaborations, there is something for everyone here. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/06/worms-rumble-battle-royale-and-new-arena-reveal-trailer"] Just Cause 4 puts you in the shoes of Rico Rodriguez in South America. 1,024 square kilometers of an exotic playground are just waiting to be explored with a wingsuit, grappling hook, and more. In our review of Just Cause 4, we said it "has everything you expect from a Just Cause game, almost to a fault. Relative to Just Cause 3 the improvements are widespread across its beautiful open world, but generally minor. So while blowing up yet another dictator’s army is the same kind of mindless explosive fun and physics-based comedy the series is built on, it doesn’t do much to incorporate the new weather systems or grapple mods into combat." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/12/04/just-cause-4-review"] Rocket Arena is an explosive online 3v3 shooter filled with fantastic heroes and distinctive rockets. Time dodges, lead your targets, and utilize unique items like the Rocket Magnet, Trip Mine, and Speed Boost in this game that we said feels a bit like Super Smash Bros. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/18/rocket-arena-preview-its-back-and-more-smash-bros-y-than-ever"] Lastly, there is still time to claim November 2020's PlayStation Plus games, which include Bugsnax, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

CryoSpace Announced

Kuklam Studios and Games Operators have announced CryoSpace, an isometric-view, single-player survival-horror game for PC that is heavily inspired by Alien and Philip K. Dick novels. Check out the announcement trailer above. In CryoSpace, your ship's colonization mission has gone wrong, and you've been woken up first. You're not alone, however. You'll need to wake up your fellow passengers, manage your oxygen, and just survive in the face of...well, you know. Aliens. And yes, the mean kind. Different crew members you bring up from cryosleep have different skills, and you'll need to manage the resources you have, such as food and weapons, as you attempt to stay alive on board the shipwreck. You'll also need to solve puzzles, set or avoid traps, and just survive. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cryospace-first-screenshots&captions=true"] Check out the trailer at the top of this page and the screenshots above. You can add CryoSpace to your Steam Wishlist here. We'll have much more on this game as its development progresses. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

CryoSpace Announced

Kuklam Studios and Games Operators have announced CryoSpace, an isometric-view, single-player survival-horror game for PC that is heavily inspired by Alien and Philip K. Dick novels. Check out the announcement trailer above. In CryoSpace, your ship's colonization mission has gone wrong, and you've been woken up first. You're not alone, however. You'll need to wake up your fellow passengers, manage your oxygen, and just survive in the face of...well, you know. Aliens. And yes, the mean kind. Different crew members you bring up from cryosleep have different skills, and you'll need to manage the resources you have, such as food and weapons, as you attempt to stay alive on board the shipwreck. You'll also need to solve puzzles, set or avoid traps, and just survive. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cryospace-first-screenshots&captions=true"] Check out the trailer at the top of this page and the screenshots above. You can add CryoSpace to your Steam Wishlist here. We'll have much more on this game as its development progresses. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

Bat-Winged Dinosaurs Took 150 Million Years to Evolve Into Expert Fliers

The body composition of two, tiny, bat-like dinosaurs made them more likely to be fallers than fliers, to paraphrase Littlefoot. Yi qi and Ambopteryx longibrachium used their wings to glide – just not all that successfully, according to a new study in the journal iScience. Dr. T. Alexander Dececchi, a paleontologist at Mount Marty University, and the other researchers utilized a technique called laser-stimulated fluorescence on the remains of a Yi to get information about soft tissue and bone configurations. They used the details to reconstruct how the dinosaur’s membrane and its supporting styliform bone may have looked and functioned. For the Ambopteryx, the team applied the results to create a similar model. Then they tried to figure out if these two types of dinosaurs were fliers, gliders, or neither.

Mathematical models let Dececchi and the others plug in different sizes for the dinosaurs’ weight and wingspan, as well as try various wing shapes and muscle configuration. Based on their findings, they conclude that neither species was likely able to take off from the ground. While they have plausible ranges of body and wing size for gliding, they were probably pretty mediocre at it.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-deaths-in-the-jurassic-park-movies&captions=true"]

Compared to other animals that glide with the greatest of ease, the dinosaurs would need to be faster and leap from higher points to stay in flight. That makes it harder to land safely.

“If you’re going to be flying fast into a tree, it increases the chance you’re going to hurt yourself when you crash,” Dececchi told Popular Science. That inelegance, paired with legs not well-suited for running, could’ve contributed to these dinosaurs’ downfall, as better fliers, like Archaeopteryx, started competing for resources.

If Yi and Ambopteryx hadn’t gone extinct, they may have evolved to become better fliers. Pterosaurs started off clumsy but improved over millions of years. That’s according to a new study, published in Nature, from the University of Reading. Dr. Chris Venditti and the team used fossil remains of pterosaurs and metabolic rates of birds to estimate how far the reptiles could fly or glide before needing to stop.

Pterosaurs aren’t dinosaurs, but they did overlap with some of them. The winged lizards — what many of us grew up calling pterodactyls — are a group of around 200 known species. They started flying millions of years before birds and bats. Their membranous wings are more similar to bats and Yi and Ambopteryx than they are to birds.

[ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/12/new-tyrannosaur-species-discovered-dubbed-reaper-of-death]

Around 230 million years ago, the pterosaurs resembled the bat-like dinosaurs Yi and Ambopteryx. “They may have been climbing up trees and flying from one trunk to another, but not flying very long distances and not very agile in their flight,” Venditti told The Guardian.

With no other competitors in the sky, however, pterosaurs had time to work on these issues, and “pterosaur flight efficiency improved by 50% over the period from 230 million years ago to their extinction 66 million years ago,” according to Michael J. Benton, a professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Bristol, who worked on the study.

The two studies together each shed light on the evolution of flight, even if the pterosaurs ended up more successful for longer than the flying dinosaurs.

“I think people assume that flying magically bursts onto the scene, but there’s a big energetic hill to overcome in order to fly,” said Venditti of the pterosaurs.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/25/jurassic-park-the-t-rex-detail-you-never-noticed-and-other-secrets-revealed"]

Even as animals did gain the ability to fly, not all of them were as successful and there’s not necessarily a straight line you can draw between one extinct species and today’s birds. Professor Hans Larsson of McGill University's Redpath Museum, who worked on the study of Yi and Ambopteryx, told the CBC that paleontologists are confident that birds are modern dinosaurs. “What this new study brings in, though, is that it’s not a clearcut, single trajectory going into birds,” he said. For more dinosaur news, read about the T. rex fossil that was recently sold for $31.8 million and what scientists opinions are after extracting DNA from insects that were preserved in resin – basically Jurassic Park come to life. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jenny McGrath is a science writer for IGN. She never tweets, but here she is @JennyMcGeez.

Bat-Winged Dinosaurs Took 150 Million Years to Evolve Into Expert Fliers

The body composition of two, tiny, bat-like dinosaurs made them more likely to be fallers than fliers, to paraphrase Littlefoot. Yi qi and Ambopteryx longibrachium used their wings to glide – just not all that successfully, according to a new study in the journal iScience. Dr. T. Alexander Dececchi, a paleontologist at Mount Marty University, and the other researchers utilized a technique called laser-stimulated fluorescence on the remains of a Yi to get information about soft tissue and bone configurations. They used the details to reconstruct how the dinosaur’s membrane and its supporting styliform bone may have looked and functioned. For the Ambopteryx, the team applied the results to create a similar model. Then they tried to figure out if these two types of dinosaurs were fliers, gliders, or neither.

Mathematical models let Dececchi and the others plug in different sizes for the dinosaurs’ weight and wingspan, as well as try various wing shapes and muscle configuration. Based on their findings, they conclude that neither species was likely able to take off from the ground. While they have plausible ranges of body and wing size for gliding, they were probably pretty mediocre at it.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-deaths-in-the-jurassic-park-movies&captions=true"]

Compared to other animals that glide with the greatest of ease, the dinosaurs would need to be faster and leap from higher points to stay in flight. That makes it harder to land safely.

“If you’re going to be flying fast into a tree, it increases the chance you’re going to hurt yourself when you crash,” Dececchi told Popular Science. That inelegance, paired with legs not well-suited for running, could’ve contributed to these dinosaurs’ downfall, as better fliers, like Archaeopteryx, started competing for resources.

If Yi and Ambopteryx hadn’t gone extinct, they may have evolved to become better fliers. Pterosaurs started off clumsy but improved over millions of years. That’s according to a new study, published in Nature, from the University of Reading. Dr. Chris Venditti and the team used fossil remains of pterosaurs and metabolic rates of birds to estimate how far the reptiles could fly or glide before needing to stop.

Pterosaurs aren’t dinosaurs, but they did overlap with some of them. The winged lizards — what many of us grew up calling pterodactyls — are a group of around 200 known species. They started flying millions of years before birds and bats. Their membranous wings are more similar to bats and Yi and Ambopteryx than they are to birds.

[ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/12/new-tyrannosaur-species-discovered-dubbed-reaper-of-death]

Around 230 million years ago, the pterosaurs resembled the bat-like dinosaurs Yi and Ambopteryx. “They may have been climbing up trees and flying from one trunk to another, but not flying very long distances and not very agile in their flight,” Venditti told The Guardian.

With no other competitors in the sky, however, pterosaurs had time to work on these issues, and “pterosaur flight efficiency improved by 50% over the period from 230 million years ago to their extinction 66 million years ago,” according to Michael J. Benton, a professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Bristol, who worked on the study.

The two studies together each shed light on the evolution of flight, even if the pterosaurs ended up more successful for longer than the flying dinosaurs.

“I think people assume that flying magically bursts onto the scene, but there’s a big energetic hill to overcome in order to fly,” said Venditti of the pterosaurs.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/25/jurassic-park-the-t-rex-detail-you-never-noticed-and-other-secrets-revealed"]

Even as animals did gain the ability to fly, not all of them were as successful and there’s not necessarily a straight line you can draw between one extinct species and today’s birds. Professor Hans Larsson of McGill University's Redpath Museum, who worked on the study of Yi and Ambopteryx, told the CBC that paleontologists are confident that birds are modern dinosaurs. “What this new study brings in, though, is that it’s not a clearcut, single trajectory going into birds,” he said. For more dinosaur news, read about the T. rex fossil that was recently sold for $31.8 million and what scientists opinions are after extracting DNA from insects that were preserved in resin – basically Jurassic Park come to life. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jenny McGrath is a science writer for IGN. She never tweets, but here she is @JennyMcGeez.

First Look at ‘Live-Action’ Clifford the Big Red Dog Revealed

Paramount Pictures has revealed a first look at the live-action/CG adaptation of Clifford the Big Red Dog, which is scheduled to open in theaters on November 5, 2021. The official Clifford movie Twitter account let the big, red dog off his leash on Wednesday, as they posted a teaser for the "live-action" movie adaptation of Norman Bridwell's Scholastic book series. The short video pans a line-up of different dogs until it finally reaches the titular red-furred canine, who towers high above the other pint-sized pooches. Check out the official teaser below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/25/clifford-the-big-red-dog-official-first-look-teaser"] "This holiday season, we're thankful for the pets whose love got us through the year," the voiceover says before teasing the movie's heart-warming adventure. "But next year, get ready to love even bigger." In the movie, middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) meets a magical animal rescuer (John Cleese) who gifts her a little, red puppy, she never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. While her single mom (Sienna Guillory) is away on business, Emily and her fun but impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) set out on an adventure in the Big Apple. Clifford the Big Red Dog is being directed by Walt Becker from a script written by Jay Scherick, David Ronn, and Blaise Hemingway. Becker's previous credits include Wild Hogs, Old Dogs, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, which was the fourth installment in that live-action/CG franchise. The movie grossed $234 million worldwide against a $90 million budget despite generally negative reviews. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-18-best-cgi-characters-in-live-action-movies&captions=true"] Over the years, live-action/CG hybrid adaptations have become increasingly popular, though they have been executed to varying degrees of success. Famously, Sonic the Hedgehog was redesigned following fan backlash amid the release of the movie's original poster and trailer. That decision ultimately paid off, as the Blue Blur ended up winning the box office race against man's best CGI friend in Call of the Wild. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

First Look at ‘Live-Action’ Clifford the Big Red Dog Revealed

Paramount Pictures has revealed a first look at the live-action/CG adaptation of Clifford the Big Red Dog, which is scheduled to open in theaters on November 5, 2021. The official Clifford movie Twitter account let the big, red dog off his leash on Wednesday, as they posted a teaser for the "live-action" movie adaptation of Norman Bridwell's Scholastic book series. The short video pans a line-up of different dogs until it finally reaches the titular red-furred canine, who towers high above the other pint-sized pooches. Check out the official teaser below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/25/clifford-the-big-red-dog-official-first-look-teaser"] "This holiday season, we're thankful for the pets whose love got us through the year," the voiceover says before teasing the movie's heart-warming adventure. "But next year, get ready to love even bigger." In the movie, middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) meets a magical animal rescuer (John Cleese) who gifts her a little, red puppy, she never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. While her single mom (Sienna Guillory) is away on business, Emily and her fun but impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) set out on an adventure in the Big Apple. Clifford the Big Red Dog is being directed by Walt Becker from a script written by Jay Scherick, David Ronn, and Blaise Hemingway. Becker's previous credits include Wild Hogs, Old Dogs, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, which was the fourth installment in that live-action/CG franchise. The movie grossed $234 million worldwide against a $90 million budget despite generally negative reviews. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-18-best-cgi-characters-in-live-action-movies&captions=true"] Over the years, live-action/CG hybrid adaptations have become increasingly popular, though they have been executed to varying degrees of success. Famously, Sonic the Hedgehog was redesigned following fan backlash amid the release of the movie's original poster and trailer. That decision ultimately paid off, as the Blue Blur ended up winning the box office race against man's best CGI friend in Call of the Wild. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

PS5 Had PlayStation’s Biggest Ever Launch

Sony says the PS5 has had the biggest ever launch for a PlayStation, and confirmed that more units will be released before the end of the year. In a tweet thanking fans, the PlayStation account explained that the PS5 was "our biggest console launch ever". Sony doesn't frequently give actual sales figures, so we're yet to learn what number of units have been sold. With PS5 sold out worldwide, and amid demand-related issues for retailers, the tweet also explains that demand is unprecedented. "We wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year," finishes the message. It's not clear whether Sony means more stock beyond the extra Black Friday units we'd already had confirmed by some retailers. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] In terms of pure success, it's been an impressive launch for Sony, particularly given the shortages likely caused by COVID-19 production shutdowns, and the fact units couldn't be sold in physical stores. It means Sony can still hope for PS5 to outsell PS4 in its first fiscal year, a target of over 7 million units. If you're in the market for a PS5, or games and accessories for your new console, Black Friday could be the right time to find them. Make sure to check out our best Black Friday PS5 deals, and our best video game deals. [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

PS5 Had PlayStation’s Biggest Ever Launch

Sony says the PS5 has had the biggest ever launch for a PlayStation, and confirmed that more units will be released before the end of the year. In a tweet thanking fans, the PlayStation account explained that the PS5 was "our biggest console launch ever". Sony doesn't frequently give actual sales figures, so we're yet to learn what number of units have been sold. With PS5 sold out worldwide, and amid demand-related issues for retailers, the tweet also explains that demand is unprecedented. "We wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year," finishes the message. It's not clear whether Sony means more stock beyond the extra Black Friday units we'd already had confirmed by some retailers. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] In terms of pure success, it's been an impressive launch for Sony, particularly given the shortages likely caused by COVID-19 production shutdowns, and the fact units couldn't be sold in physical stores. It means Sony can still hope for PS5 to outsell PS4 in its first fiscal year, a target of over 7 million units. If you're in the market for a PS5, or games and accessories for your new console, Black Friday could be the right time to find them. Make sure to check out our best Black Friday PS5 deals, and our best video game deals. [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

Magic: The Gathering Getting Limited-Edition Cards Featuring Bob Ross Artwork

A new Magic the Gathering card Secret Lair set will feature artwork painted by the legendary Bob Ross. The new 'Happy Little Gathering' set is part of the limited edition Secret Lair series, which offers one-of-a-kind collectable sets from unique artists that reimagine famous Magic the Gathering cards. As reported by Vice, Wizards of the Coast has partnered with the Bob Ross estate to create a set of Land cards featuring environmental artwork from the soothing painter, who passed in 1995. Magic players will also be able to use these collectible cards in-game, and a recent leak suggests they may be brought to Magic the Gathering: Arena in the near future. The card set is available in foil and non-foil and will also feature an 'Evolving Wilds' card that features a variety of biomes from the Bob Ross back catalogue. You'll be able to pre-order the Happy Little Gathering set for a limited time only, from November 30 through December 14, 2020. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/13/magic-the-gathering-theros-beyond-death-cinematic-trailer"] Bob Ross has become something of an internet icon in recent years. The painter - whose Joy of Painting TV show was first braodcast in the '80s - has since become an action figure, a playable character in Smite, and the subject of a Twitch Marathon that garnered 5.6 million viewers. Back in September, we reported that Dungeons & Dragons would be getting its own Magic the Gathering set in Q3 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.